Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 425

Fifth Vital Sign – Episode 426 (425/502)

426. Vacation

Just as his suspicion was solidifying, the convenience store door opened with a notification bell.

‘Did he come here to squeeze money out of the director?’

Ding-dong-

“Welcome.”

The owner, who reflexively greeted the customer upon hearing the sound of someone entering, recognized Tae-kyung and greeted him again with a brightened face.

“Director, welcome.”

“Hello.”

“Hey! Tae-kyung?”

“You came? Come here. We’re eating kimbap [Korean seaweed rice rolls].”

Park Joon-seok and Lee Jae-hyun, who were at the table, waved at Tae-kyung, acknowledging him.

“Okay. I’ll pay for this, sir.”

“Excuse me, Director?”

The owner, who was calculating the price of the almond milk Tae-kyung brought, suspiciously looked at the two people at the table and said in a low voice.

“Are those two people who just greeted you really your friends?”

“Yes, they are my friends.”

“Really? They’re really your friends? It’s not like they were childhood friends who suddenly contacted you and came to visit, is it?”

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen them, but…”

“Right? I knew it.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Director, be careful because those people might be voice phishing scammers [phone scammers who trick people into giving out personal information or money].”

“Huh?! Voice phishing?”

Seeing the flustered Tae-kyung, the convenience store owner told him the story he had heard from a neighbor earlier, saying that the two men were suspicious.

“So, you thought they were voice phishing scammers? Not at all. The two of them are my college friends.”

“Is that true? I misunderstood perfectly normal friends. I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay.”

“But Director, are you going somewhere?”

The owner asked, looking at Tae-kyung, who was wearing casual clothes and a backpack instead of his usual gown.

“I’m going on vacation today.”

“Well, people need to rest sometimes. That’s good. Have a safe trip.”

“Thank you. Have a good day.”

Tae-kyung, having finished paying, left the convenience store with the two men.

“How have you been?”

“Man, how long has it been since the three of us got together?”

Lee Jae-hyun and Park Joon-seok couldn’t hide their joy at seeing Tae-kyung.

“When was the last time we saw each other?”

“I don’t even remember when the three of us were all together.”

The two, whose tone was full of joy, were medical school friends.

Back in those days when they were madly devoted to studying, Tae-kyung was a self-proclaimed outsider who focused solely on studying with tenacity.

His family wasn’t well-off, and he had goals he wanted to achieve as a doctor, so he studied even when others were playing, walking the path of a loner.

There were those who approached him, and they were Park Joon-seok and Lee Jae-hyun.

The two were friends who occasionally gave Tae-kyung, who was studying with a zeal that went beyond diligence, a chance to laugh and breathe.

After graduating from medical school, they went their separate ways, and the time they spent together decreased.

All three had difficult times in their lives, so there were times when they didn’t contact each other for a while, but they never completely broke off contact.

When Tae-kyung moved to Our Hospital and things went well, the two friends were the ones who congratulated him the most.

They were so busy with their lives that they only contacted each other, but after Lee Jae-hyun’s persistent persuasion, the three of them coordinated their schedules and went on vacation together.

Tae-kyung, who was always at the hospital, initially had no intention of going.

He was worried about leaving the hospital for one night and two days. However, the doctors and staff strongly recommended that he take a vacation, as he hadn’t been able to rest comfortably even once, so he eventually decided to go.

Originally, they were supposed to meet at Tae-kyung’s house and leave, but Tae-kyung had left the file containing the medical column manuscript that he had promised to send to the media at the hospital, so they met at the hospital and departed.

“Oh, right! Stop for a second.”

While walking side by side, Park Joon-seok, the eldest brother who was two years older than Tae-kyung and Lee Jae-hyun, stopped walking.

“Hey, Jae-hyun. I’ve been thinking, and this doesn’t seem right.”

“What again?”

“We’ve come all the way here, shouldn’t we take a look at Tae-kyung’s hospital?”

“That’s right. Tae-kyung, let’s take a look at the hospital.”

“Yeah. We’ve come all this way, let’s see it.”

“Hyung [older brother or male friend], I’ll show you next time. The staff is 정신없어요 [chaotic/busy] now.”

“Why? Isn’t it quiet since it’s early in the morning?”

“It’s quiet, but our staff is busy. Next time you come, I’ll buy you meat and show you around properly.”

“Okay. But it has to be Korean beef.”

“Okay. I’ll buy you Korean beef, hyung. Heh!”

“What? Why is he laughing by himself?”

Park Joon-seok asked, looking at Tae-kyung, who suddenly smirked at the two of them.

“I don’t know. What is it? Let’s laugh together.”

“I just remembered what the convenience store owner said.”

“I saw you paying for a long time earlier. What did he say?”

“He asked if you two were really my friends.”

“Why would he ask that?”

“He thought you were trying to voice phish me.”

“What!? No way. What about us looks like… No, looking at hyung, I can see it.”

Lee Jae-hyun, who was denying Tae-kyung’s words, nodded towards Park Joon-seok and continued.

“That convenience store owner has an eye for things. I saw it on the news before, but hyung looks somewhat similar to those voice phishing scammers.”

“Hey! You jerk, don’t talk about others. Your face looks more like it.”

“What are you talking about? Hyung, don’t patients sometimes get surprised when they come into your office?”

“Not at all. They don’t get surprised.”

“You two are still the same. Still the same.”

Park Joon-seok and Lee Jae-hyun had been arguing about whose face was better since college.

“But didn’t you say you were bringing a car? Why did it suddenly change to a bus?”

“Tae-kyung, don’t even bring it up. Someone scratched hyung’s car bumper yesterday and ran away, so it’s in the shop.”

“Really? Is it badly dented?”

“I think I’ll have to replace it with a new one. If I find out who did it, I won’t let them get away with it. By the way, what time is our boat?”

“Oh!”

Lee Jae-hyun, who checked the schedule at Park Joon-seok’s words, raised his head in embarrassment.

“We need to get to the terminal quickly. If we miss the 20-minute boat, we won’t be able to get on the island.”

“Why are we even going to an island?”

“Hyung, it’s different once you go. Stop grumbling and let’s go quickly.”

“There, a taxi is coming. Taxi!”

Tae-kyung, Park Joon-seok, and Lee Jae-hyun, with excited hearts, hurriedly took a taxi.

The three were heading to the terminal in a good mood, thinking about spending a sweet vacation.

Fortunately, they arrived at the terminal without being late, walked to the back seats of the bus, and sat side by side.

“Hyung, why are you grinning so much?”

Lee Jae-hyun, who was sitting in the middle, looked at Park Joon-seok, who was looking out the window and grinning, and asked.

“Guys, it still feels good to go on a trip even when you get older.”

“Of course. Who doesn’t like to play, whether they’re kids or adults?”

“There’s someone like that next to you.”

“Yeah. Hyung, do you know that he still writes his surgery 복기 [review] notes by hand?”

“He’s 독하다 [determined/stubborn]. 독해 [stubborn]. Every time I see Tae-kyung, I think of that saying.”

“What?”

“Studying was the easiest thing in the world.”

“Me too.”

“But that’s true. What’s easier than studying in the world?”

“Hey, you jerk! Stop talking about studying while we’re going on a trip, and what do you want to eat at the rest stop later?”

“Hey, 베둘레헴 [Bethlehem]? Are you eating again?”

“When you take the bus, you have to stop at the rest stop no matter what. Let’s definitely go later.”

“Okay, let’s go. Let’s go!”

The three, who were determined to secure food at the rest stop, fell asleep as if it were a competition, and arrived at their destination without waking up even once for exactly four hours.

“Hyung! Wake up.”

Tae-kyung, who woke up first, started waking up the two in turn.

“Ahem! I slept well. What! Did we already arrive? We missed the rest stop.”

“Jae-hyun, you wake up too.”

“Still, it’s 우등 [premium bus], so we came comfortably. Money is good.”

“What time did we say our boat was?”

“Just a moment! It says the boat is slightly delayed. We have about an hour left until departure, what should we do?”

Lee Jae-hyun, who checked the passenger ship website on his phone, continued.

“I looked it up, and it seems like there’s a market and a local festival today, should we go there?”

“Let’s go out and think about it. I feel like my bladder is going to explode.”

“Thank you for your hard work, driver.”

With Park Joon-seok, who urgently needed to use the restroom, leading the way, the three got off the express bus.

* * *

○○ Bus Terminal.

A loving father and son, who looked like two peas in a pod, were sitting on a bench inside the terminal.

“Dad?”

The elementary school son, who was sitting quietly, grabbed his father’s arm and said.

“Yeah? What’s wrong, son.”

“Is that our bus?”

“No.”

“When is our bus coming? How long do we have to wait?”

“See that number 9 written on the ceiling? Our bus will stop in front of that number 9. Is it hard to wait?”

“No. It’s a little hard, but today is a day for Mom, so I’ll try my best.”

“My son is 멋진데 [cool/awesome]?”

The man stroked his son’s head as if he were cute, saying with a lot of strength in his shoulders.

“Oh! Dad. Look over there. A bus is coming to number 9. Our bus is here.”

“That’s right. Dad’s hand!”

The child got up from the bench, took his father’s hand, and headed to platform 9, where the bus had arrived.

“One person, two people, three people, four people, five, six, seven… twelve. Dad. How many people have to get off before it’s over?”

“Well, Dad doesn’t know that. But the bus left early in the morning, so there probably aren’t many people on it.”

“Dad, how much does that bus cost? Do you have to give them 100 million more?”

“Well, buses are expensive. Why, does Jisang want to have that bus?”

“No. I’m going to buy it for Dad when I make a lot of money later.”

“Dad? Our son is 효자네 [a dutiful son]. I’m grateful just hearing it.”

The man hugged his son tightly as if he were cute and rubbed his cheek.

“Ew! Dad’s beard.”

“Sorry, Dad didn’t shave today, so it’ll be prickly.”

“No. It’s okay.”

“Jisang, let’s go.”

“Did everyone get off?”

“I think so.”

When the driver got off the bus, the man took his son’s hand and was approaching the number 9 bus that had departed from Seoul.

“Oh! Dad, wait a minute.”

But the son, who was walking, let go of his father’s hand and picked something up from the floor.

“This! That 아저씨 [mister/man] dropped it.”

“Really? Excuse me.”

Having heard those words, the man grabbed his son’s hand and chased after the men who had just passed by, calling out to them.

“Excuse me?”

When the man tapped one of the men on the back and called out to him, the three men walking ahead turned around at the same time.

The men who the father and son were chasing were Tae-kyung and his friends who had gotten off the bus at platform 9.

“Are you calling us?”

When Lee Jae-hyun spoke to the man, his son came forward and held out his hand.

“This, is this 아저씨’s [mister/man]? 아저씨 [mister/man] dropped it.”

The child handed over nothing other than a credit card.

“That’s right. It’s my card.”

Only then did Lee Jae-hyun realize that the card he had put in his phone pocket had fallen out.

“Our son just picked it up next to the bus.”

“Thank you. Thank you. If it wasn’t for you, 아저씨 [mister/man] would have been in big trouble.”

“Jae-hyun. Don’t just say thank you, buy the kid something. What would have happened if you lost your card while on vacation? First, I’m going to the bathroom.”

Park Joon-seok, who urgently needed to urinate, spoke quickly and headed to the bathroom first.

“That’s right. What should 아저씨 [mister/man] buy you? I’m really grateful and want to repay you somehow…”

“No. It’s okay. Jisang, it’s okay, right?”

“Yeah. It’s right to return other people’s things. I didn’t do it to get anything. So, 아저씨 [mister/man], you don’t have to repay me.”

Tae-kyung and Lee Jae-hyun couldn’t help but smile at the child’s smart answer.

“Then will you take this chocolate?”

Lee Jae-hyun handed over the unopened chocolate he had bought at the convenience store in the morning.

“No. You shouldn’t eat food given by strangers carelessly. And I don’t like chocolate because it rots my teeth.”

“Really? You’re very smart. Okay. Thank you for picking up 아저씨’s [mister/man] card.”

“Yes.”

The father and son, having said goodbye to Tae-kyung’s group, headed back to the bus parked at platform 9.

“Mr. Lee Joon-hyuk, you have two items, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Here you go.”

“Thank you. Driver.”

After receiving the 택배 [delivery service] items from the bus driver, the father and son went inside the terminal.

“Dad, Dad? Is this Mom’s cake?”

“Yeah. That’s right. A teacher who makes bread in Seoul made it with the pictures that Jisang and Jiyoon drew.”

“Really? I want to see it too.”

“Okay. But we can’t take it out and look at it here, so let’s look at it from above. Look this way.”

“It’s real. The family that Jiyoon and I drew is on the cake.”

The child, who saw the cake through the transparent vinyl attached to the box, widened his eyes as if he were amazed.

“Our whole family is there, right?”

“Yeah. Mom is going to love it so much.”

“Let’s have a good surprise party for Mom later.”

“Trust me.”

The father and son seemed very excited at the thought of having a birthday party for their mother.

After that, Lee Joon-hyuk stopped by the convenience store, bought his son chocolate milk, got a large box, put the cake box and gift box in it, and left the terminal.

“Jisang, it’s hard to hold hands because of Dad’s box, so hold onto my clothes tightly instead. Okay?”

“Dad, Dad? Look over there. It’s a drone. A drone!”

Despite Lee Joon-hyuk’s words, the child was 정신이 없었다 [distracted/preoccupied] looking at the sky.

Today, there were more people on the street than usual because it was a market day and a local festival. In addition, there was a drone show on one side, and the son, who liked airplanes and drones, couldn’t hear his father’s words properly now.

“Jisang! Are you listening to Dad? Lee Jisang?”

“I’m listening. And I’m holding onto Dad’s clothes tightly, so don’t worry.”

“There are a lot of people today, so you have to stick close to Dad. You can’t go ahead when you see the toy 아저씨 [mister/man] like last time.”

“I won’t. But Dad, can we go over there and watch the drone for just a little bit?”

He couldn’t refuse his son’s request, who was speaking earnestly with sparkling eyes.

“Okay. I got it. Just 10 minutes.”

Lee Joon-hyuk, who lived on the island, decided to go see the drones that his son liked because there was still time left before the boat.

“Hold on to Dad’s clothes tightly.”

The father and son slowly walked through the crowd and barely reached near the drones.

“We’re here. Jisang, aren’t you tired?”

But the man’s expression hardened in an instant as he turned his head towards his son.

“……!”