Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 379

After finishing his conversation with Yoo Hyuk-jin, Tae-kyung went down to the emergency room to see Oh Chang-gyu. There was something he wanted to ask him.

“Oh, Doctor? Do you happen to have a picture of Yoo Hyuk-jin’s younger sibling?”

“Yes, I do.”

Oh Chang-gyu seemed to guess why Tae-kyung wanted to see Yoo Hyuk-jin’s sibling’s picture and didn’t ask for a separate reason.

“Could I take a look?”

“Yes, just a moment.”

Having decided to help, he was curious to see if the two really resembled each other.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust or doubt Yoo Hyuk-jin’s words, but he wanted to check just in case.

When a person becomes fixated on one thing, completely absorbed in it, and severely obsessed, they sometimes believe what they think rather than what they see.

In simple terms, he wondered if Yoo Hyuk-jin was mistaken because of his animosity towards Cha Tae-chul.

He even wondered if Yoo Hyuk-jin was so obsessed with Cha Tae-chul that he believed the woman he was seeing resembled his sibling. If that were the case, Yoo Hyuk-jin might need mental help. That’s why he wanted to check the picture.

“This is a picture of Hyuk-jin that I have.”

Oh Chang-gyu found a picture taken with several people in the past and showed it to him.

“You can probably find that woman easily by searching the internet.”

“Can you send me that picture?”

“I’ll send it to you right away.”

“Okay. Thank you. They say the two look alike, but do you think they resemble each other, Doctor Oh?”

“Yes, they do look alike.”

“I see. Get back to work.”

After checking the emergency room situation and heading to his office, Oh Chang-gyu followed Tae-kyung and called out to him.

“Excuse me, Director?”

“Yes?”

“It’s not a lie.”

“A lie?”

Tae-kyung couldn’t understand Oh Chang-gyu’s sudden words.

“What Hyung [older brother] said isn’t a lie.”

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about, Doctor Oh.”

“Did Hyung say that the reason he was trying to escape from the hospital was to kill Cha Tae-chul?”

“No, he didn’t say that.”

“All of that is true. You may find it hard to believe after hearing everything, but Hyung really doesn’t intend to harm that guy. Really.”

“So, you’re saying that you’re telling me it’s not a lie because you’re worried I won’t believe what Yoo Hyuk-jin said, and therefore won’t grant his request?”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

Oh Chang-gyu was worried that Tae-kyung wouldn’t believe Yoo Hyuk-jin’s words and therefore wouldn’t grant his request.

“But, Doctor Oh, didn’t you tell me earlier that you didn’t know exactly why Yoo Hyuk-jin was trying to escape…?”

“That’s right. Hyung didn’t tell me the reason, so I don’t know exactly.”

“How can you be sure he’s not going out to kill Cha Tae-chul if you don’t know the reason?”

“Hyung’s mother gave me a letter before she passed away.”

Yoo Hyuk-jin refused his mother’s visits except for the first couple of times after he went to prison. Of course, it wasn’t because he didn’t want to see his mother.

He felt too guilty to show her his pathetic self any longer, so he kept refusing visits.

Knowing this, Oh Chang-gyu told Yoo Hyuk-jin about his mother’s news whenever he went to visit, and vice versa, he told his mother about her son’s news.

Both Yoo Hyuk-jin and his mother told Oh Chang-gyu to stop, but he enjoyed doing it and didn’t find it difficult since he didn’t visit often.

As time passed, Yoo Hyuk-jin’s mother, who was in the hospital, handed him a letter she had written herself when Oh Chang-gyu came to visit.

‘Chang-gyu, I’m sorry to ask you this, but please give this to Hyuk-jin. I want to give it to him myself, but I can’t because I’m not feeling well.’

‘Yes, don’t worry. I’ll give it to Hyung.’

He didn’t open the letter, but he knew the contents through his mother.

‘I hope our Hyuk-jin will let go of everything now. I hope he’ll let go of his hatred for those guys, his desire to kill them, and his anger that has turned him away from the world, and live for himself. If Hyuk-jin keeps doing that, his father and sibling won’t be at peace up there. The living must live on.’

She asked him not to commit any more murders and not to stain his hands with that dirty blood anymore.

“That letter was left before she passed away, so it was like a will from his mother to Hyung. That’s why I said that what Hyuk-jin told you wasn’t a lie. Hyung is the kind of person who keeps his promises with his mother.”

Tae-kyung finally understood why Yoo Hyuk-jin had accepted the last condition while hesitating.

While listening to his persuasion, he must have been reminded of the contents of the letter containing his deceased mother’s will.

“It makes sense after hearing what you said, Doctor Oh. But it seems like there’s one more person who needs to find their own life besides Yoo Hyuk-jin…”

“Yes?”

“It seems to me that that person also needs some help.”

“Who is it?”

“Well, we’ll find out soon enough.”

“…?”

“Never mind. Get back to work.”

Leaving Oh Chang-gyu scratching his head, Tae-kyung muttered to himself as he entered his office.

“There’s someone else as nosy as I am.”

Sitting in his desk chair, Tae-kyung searched for the woman who had announced her marriage to Cha Tae-chul on the monitor.

Typing the words ‘Yerang Corporation marriage’ into the search bar, related articles immediately appeared, and he could see pictures of the two.

– Cha Tae-chul, the second son of Samto Group, and Go Yi-ji, the youngest daughter of Yerang Corporation, have announced their engagement.

“It’s real.”

As Yoo Hyuk-jin said, the woman Cha Tae-chul was seeing did look similar to his sibling.

Tae-kyung alternated between looking at the picture on his phone that Oh Chang-gyu had sent him and the monitor, lost in thought.

He had confidently said he would help, but he was at a loss as to how to deliver this news.

Even if he went to the company without a plan, it was unlikely that the daughter of a well-known company would easily meet someone she didn’t know.

Moreover, even if he managed to get a chance to speak, the next step was another concern.

Just hearing about Cha Tae-chul’s past could be a wound for the woman.

It wasn’t an ordinary story, and he was wondering how to convey such a huge story when his thoughts deepened into worry.

Knock-knock-

“Yes~”

“It’s a late-night snack delivery.”

“Yes, come in.”

Tae-kyung’s eyes, saying to come in as if it were natural for a late-night snack delivery he hadn’t ordered, seemed to already know who it was.

Click-

“Sandwich delivery.”

With a lovely smile, Ui-jin shook the sandwich and entered the office.

“I was getting hungry anyway; only my girlfriend knows me best.”

“I came at just the right time then.”

“Of course.”

Tae-kyung and Ui-jin had no secrets from each other.

When things didn’t go well at work, they were the first people they looked for, and they didn’t hesitate to give advice on patients and shared even the smallest stories.

But since last night, from the evening until well past midnight, Ui-jin felt that Tae-kyung was a little strange.

It felt different from his usual busyness, and his expression looked serious from time to time, and it was clear that something was going on.

She wanted to approach him out of concern, but she didn’t feel like it was the right atmosphere, so Ui-jin hadn’t looked for Tae-kyung until now.

She wasn’t visiting the office now to find out what was going on.

She thought that there must be a reason why someone who always told her everything hadn’t said anything, so she didn’t intend to ask.

However, she was worried about whether it was really a big deal and whether he was okay, so she came to see his face with a late-night snack.

“Wow! This is so delicious!”

Tae-kyung, who was really hungry, ate the sandwich deliciously and showed a satisfied expression.

“You must have been very hungry, Sunbae [senior/older colleague]? You’ll get indigestion. Eat slowly.”

Ui-jin handed him a warm tea that she had brought with the sandwich and continued.

“I ordered it in advance in the evening, but you seemed very busy today, so I brought it now.”

“I know. I was so busy today that I didn’t even get to see your face properly.”

“I was a little worried because your expression didn’t look good earlier, but I’m glad you seem okay now.”

“You’re not going to ask what’s wrong?”

“Um… Maybe it’s because the most talked-about person in our hospital right now is Yoo Hyuk-jin. I think it’s something related to that patient.”

Hearing her words, Tae-kyung looked at Ui-jin with loving eyes.

“As expected! It’s not just because you’re my girlfriend; you’re really smart.”

“Well, I guess it’s because I’m influenced by my smart boyfriend. So, the problem is solved, right?”

“Well, I’ve put out the biggest fire for now, and I’m trying to solve the rest well.”

“That’s good. Okay! Then finish eating your sandwich.”

“Ah. Yes.”

Ui-jin, who had been sitting on the edge of the desk with her back to the monitor, handed Tae-kyung the sandwich he had put down and turned around.

“Sunbae? Can I check my email for a moment?”

“Of course. Sit here and do it.”

“No. I just need to check if the professor has seen the email I sent him during the day… Oh! It’s Yi-ji.”

Ui-jin, who was looking at the monitor to access her email, recognized Cha Tae-chul’s marriage article that Tae-kyung was looking at.

“Why were you looking at Yi-ji’s marriage article, Sunbae?”

“Who?”

“Here, this friend.”

Tae-kyung, who quickly swallowed the sandwich in his mouth, asked, and Ui-jin pointed to the woman in the article and answered.

“This person?”

Tae-kyung, with a surprised expression, asked again.

“Do you know this woman?”

“Don’t you remember? I told you about it once before. My junior is getting engaged soon, and she invited you and me to go together.”

“…!”

Now that he thought about it, Ui-jin had told him about her junior’s engagement a month ago and asked him to go with her, but he didn’t know that the woman was the woman Cha Tae-chul was seeing.

“She’s my high school junior.”

Now that he thought about it, it was natural for Ui-jin to know that woman.

Just as Ui-jin knew everything about Tae-kyung’s family, Tae-kyung also knew about Ui-jin’s family.

Her father was the head of a successful law firm, and her family members were also affiliated with that law firm, with a high reputation as a family of lawyers recognized in Korea.

In short, it was a great family.

Back in her pre-med days, there was a slightly arrogant classmate from a very wealthy family.

One day, the confident and energetic kid came to class looking like she was about to die after joining a club.

Since the kid who always boasted high tension was looking like she was about to die, the other classmates asked her why, and she said that she was a little uncomfortable because a club senior was from the same neighborhood.

When they asked what was so problematic about being from the same neighborhood, she said that in the neighborhood she lived in, you could know who everyone was just by skipping one house.

In short, there was an upper-class connection, so they all knew each other to some extent.

So, it wasn’t that surprising that Ui-jin knew the daughter of Yerang Corporation.

‘Then, could it be?’

Tae-kyung, who was thinking seriously for a moment, wondered if Ui-jin might know about Cha Tae-chul.

“Sunbae, you still don’t remember, do you? You were so busy that you didn’t hear what I said properly, did you?”

“No, I remembered. Ui-jin, do you happen to know this man too?”

“Who? Cha Tae-chul?”

“Yeah.”

“I know him. I don’t know him well or have any personal connection with him, but I only know that he used to be from the same neighborhood.”

“Do you know how the two met? Are they on good terms?”

“I heard they met through matchmaking… Oh, right! Now that I think about it, my sister asked me if Yi-ji was okay when she heard that she was meeting Cha Tae-chul.”

“Okay as in?”