A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 435

Chapter 85. Truth (1)

“That can’t be. My Kyung-wook would never take his own life!”

Seo Mi-ae retorted firmly.

Although the family was poor, her son had grown up to be diligent and upright.

He never lost his smile in any situation and was considerate of others.

And that wasn’t all.

As a religious person, he believed in the afterlife.

He was also a dutiful son who called home every day to say he was doing well in the military.

For such a son to commit suicide…

The people in front of her must be mistaken or misunderstanding something.

“Are you sure you’ve come to the right person? My son’s name is Yoo. Kyung. Wook.”

Seo Mi-ae deliberately pronounced her son’s name clearly.

“There’s only one Lieutenant Yoo Kyung-wook in the search battalion. We’ve come to the right person.”

The soldier with glasses adjusted them and continued speaking.

“We’ve investigated in many ways, and unfortunately… it seems your son took his own life.”

“Do you have evidence?”

Seo Mi-ae’s voice was sharp as she asked.

“Are you aware that your son recently broke up with his girlfriend?”

“Ah… no.”

“You know they’ve been dating since high school and were very close, right?”

“I know.”

Seo Mi-ae nodded as if acknowledging it.

Her son’s girlfriend’s name was Min-jung. She often came to the house, and they talked.

She was so lovely, calling her ‘Mother, Mother’.

They broke up…

Why didn’t her son tell her about the breakup?

Because he didn’t want to worry her?

Or…

Did he think he could win Min-jung back?

Questions filled with doubt swirled in her head like dust until she heard it from her son’s own mouth.

“But, Officer.”

“Yes, please speak.”

“Breaking up with his girlfriend is certainly painful, but I don’t think Kyung-wook would take his own life for that reason alone.”

“Your concern is understandable.”

Jong-gyu, a member of the truth investigation committee, nodded.

“However, after investigating the members of the platoon Kyung-wook commanded, there was a common opinion that Kyung-wook was very depressed.”

“…”

“Working at the GP [Guard Post, a military outpost] means that outings and overnight stays are strictly controlled. The opportunities to win back his girlfriend would also decrease, so he would have felt even greater psychological pain.”

“Was a suicide note found?”

“No. There was no suicide note.”

“Actually… I knew there wouldn’t be a suicide note.”

“How so?”

Jong-gyu asked with wide eyes.

“Because I don’t believe Kyung-wook took his own life. Officer, I think there’s been a mistake. Please reveal the truth.”

“…”

“My Kyung-wook. He was definitely wronged.”

Seo Mi-ae grabbed Jong-gyu’s arm and clung to him.

As a mother, how could she stand by and watch her son be falsely accused?

If there was a misunderstanding, it had to be corrected.

“Mother, I understand your feelings. But investigations aren’t driven by emotions.”

Jong-gyu was struggling because he couldn’t coldly shake off Seo Mi-ae when someone spoke.

“Can I talk to you for a moment?”

Jong-gyu turned his head towards the voice.

A handsome man in his early 30s, looking bright and tall, had approached him like a ghost.

* * *

Second floor, left end of the hallway.

Warm sunlight and a cool breeze poured in through the open window.

“What? You want me to tell you about the investigation process?”

Jong-gyu frowned upon hearing the main point.

“That’s confidential. I can’t just tell you that.”

“Is it a problem for a doctor to want to know the circumstances of a patient’s injury?”

Jun-hoo strongly countered.

In fact, Jun-hoo knew it too.

That Jong-gyu wouldn’t tell him something that he hadn’t even announced to the media yet.

But would he back down so easily?

Absolutely not!

Jun-hoo wanted the truth.

At the same time, he wanted the perpetrator to be punished and for Kyung-wook, the victim, to be cleared of false charges.

“I have nothing more to say, so I’ll be going.”

“I have a lot more to say.”

Jun-hoo blocked Jong-gyu, who was trying to walk past him.

Jong-gyu changed direction this way and that, but each time, Jun-hoo blocked his path.

It was only natural.

No one on Earth could handle Jun-hoo’s physicality.

“Ha… are you really going to be like this?”

Jong-gyu glared at Jun-hoo with a frown.

“Yes. I’ll keep doing this until I get a proper answer.”

Jun-hoo answered shamelessly.

Jun-hoo had no justification for getting involved in this case. His authority as a doctor wasn’t particularly relevant either.

Treatment and criminal investigation were separate matters.

In other words, the only solution in the current situation was to push forward relentlessly.

“What are you so curious about?”

Jong-gyu sighed and put his hands on his hips.

“I want to know the specific grounds for judging that Lieutenant Yoo Kyung-wook committed suicide.”

“Isn’t that confidential?”

“Aren’t you going to announce it to the media soon anyway? I’ll review it for you instead. If I can’t accept it, the public won’t accept it either.”

“I’m going crazy. Seriously.”

Jong-gyu rubbed his face with his palms.

He thought he only had to return to the unit smoothly, but he had unexpectedly encountered a stumbling block.

He wanted to ignore him, but.

It was also uncomfortable to be completely cold to the doctors who had treated the patient.

Judging from Jun-hoo’s attitude.

It seemed like he would keep clinging to him like a leech and bother him if he didn’t get a proper explanation.

“I’ll give you some information, but external disclosure is prohibited. If what we talked about today leaks out before the official announcement, you’ll have to be prepared for disciplinary action.”

“Of course.”

Jun-hoo nodded.

“Let me start with the motive for taking his own life.”

“No. I want to hear about the gunpowder residue first.”

“You know about gunpowder residue?”

Jong-gyu’s voice rose an octave.

Gunpowder residue.

The traces left after firing a gun were called gunpowder residue. Even doctors often didn’t know about gunpowder residue.

“Yes. I know. So, did you find gunpowder residue on the patient’s hands?”

“No. We didn’t find any.”

“If the patient took his own life, shouldn’t there be gunpowder residue on his hands?”

Jun-hoo asked, pressing him.

Jun-hoo found evidence that the patient did not commit suicide in the absence of gunpowder residue.

“Well… in some cases, gunpowder residue may not remain even after firing a gun.”

“What specific cases are you talking about?”

“It’s hard to explain in words, but there are such cases. We actually did experiments and came to that conclusion.”

“…”

Jun-hoo was speechless.

Was this what he called an explanation?

Was he glossing over the most important part like this?

To put the current situation in perspective, it was like this.

‘I’m going to make pasta now. First, boil the pasta in boiling water, then roughly cook it with the prepared ingredients, and the pasta is complete.’

…That’s how he was explaining it.

In short, it was nonsense.

“Excuse me, Committee Member.”

“Yes.”

“Do you know what a paint candy is?”

“Isn’t that the candy that turns your tongue blue when you eat it?”

“That’s right.”

“But why are you suddenly talking about that?”

Jong-gyu tilted his head, as if he didn’t understand.

“I know a way to keep your mouth from changing color even after eating a paint candy.”

“Is that really possible?”

“Yes. If you eat the candy carefully so that it doesn’t touch your tongue, cheeks, teeth, or palate.”

Jong-gyu made a face after hearing Jun-hoo’s explanation.

He realized that he was being mocked for the explanation he had just given.

“Geez… you have a strange way of making analogies. Anyway, there is such a method. Just because you don’t understand it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a lie.”

“Were fingerprints detected on the gun?”

Jun-hoo turned the topic to fingerprints.

If Lieutenant Yoo Kyung-wook pulled the trigger himself, the lieutenant’s fingerprints should have been on the gun.

“No. No fingerprints were detected either.”

“You keep claiming the lieutenant committed suicide, but you keep telling me the opposite?”

Jun-hoo crossed his arms and sneered.

“If you clean the gun before firing it, fingerprints may not remain.”

“Then did the lieutenant clean the gun before firing it?”

“…”

“Didn’t you investigate?”

“Officially, he didn’t clean the gun, but he may have cleaned it separately on his own.”

“If he may or may not have cleaned the gun, shouldn’t you consider both possibilities?”

Jun-hoo seized the opportunity and launched an attack.

Just like swordsmanship, there was a flow to rhetoric. When you gained momentum, you had to push forward aggressively.

“But why are you only assuming that the lieutenant cleaned the gun so that there would be no fingerprints on the gun?”

“There are other reasons too.”

“What are they?”

“It’s also possible that the lieutenant fired the gun while wearing gloves.”

“Fired the gun while wearing gloves?”

Jun-hoo scoffed. He had never heard of committing suicide with a pistol while wearing gloves.

Nevertheless, Jun-hoo decided to approach it cautiously.

Because if he completely ruled out any possibility, there would be no difference between him and Jong-gyu.

“Dr. Min-seok.”

“Yes.”

Min-seok revealed his presence for the first time in a while.

“Was the patient wearing gloves when he was brought to the emergency room?”

“No. I didn’t see any.”

“The doctor in charge said he didn’t see any gloves?”

“Then the soldiers must have taken off the gloves.”

“Did you secure the soldiers’ testimony that they took off the lieutenant’s gloves?”

“…No.”

“Then didn’t he wear gloves?”

“They may have been so flustered that they forgot what they did.”

“You’re interpreting the situation in a way that’s incredibly favorable to you. I’m impressed.”

“Don’t be sarcastic? Originally, there’s no need to bother with these stories, but?”

“Thank you for your time. Then, goodbye.”

Jun-hoo bowed lightly and walked towards the opposite hallway.

Min-seok hurriedly followed behind him.

“Are you really going to back down like this? You didn’t get anything?”

Min-seok asked with a worried expression.

Min-seok was also in a position to want to reveal the truth.

“I only see what I want to see and hear what I want to hear, so what talent do I have?”

Jun-hoo laughed in vain.

He tried to extract meaningful information while talking, but he failed.

If the other person had locked the door to their heart.

Even Jun-hoo had no way to open it.

Stumble. Stumble.

While walking down the hallway with a heavy heart, his eyes caught sight of the left passage where the intensive care unit was located.

Now there was only one way left.

To restore the patient and regain the truth.

* * *

An alley of restaurants a little away from the Hankook Medical Center.

Jong-gyu and Beom-shin took a seat in a secluded alley.

“That young doctor had quite the personality, didn’t he? He was asking questions like an investigator?”

Beom-shin shook his head, recalling his conversation with Jun-hoo.

He thought he would back down if he gave him a suitable answer, but Jun-hoo meticulously questioned the key information related to the case.

One would be mistaken that Jun-hoo, not Jong-gyu, was a member of the truth investigation committee.

Jong-gyu did not respond to Beom-shin’s words.

He took out a cigarette from his military pants pocket.

Click!

Whoosh!

A sigh-filled cigarette smoke rose in the air. It rode the wind and went up to the sky.

The cigarette tasted particularly bitter today.

Jong-gyu sucked on the cigarette smoke in succession until his throat became dry.

The size of the cigarette was instantly reduced by half.

“The higher-ups are telling me to handle it as a suicide, what am I supposed to do, damn it!”

Jong-gyu exclaimed.