Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 112

Fifth Vitality – Episode 112 (112/502)

Episode 112: Just Let Me Die

On a foreign deep-sea fishing vessel-

“Hey, what are you doing, man?”

Ko Young-chul’s colleague called out to him as he was resting after a burst of intense labor.

“I was writing down all the things my princesses want to do when we get back to Korea.”

“Let me see. Going to the zoo, playing at the beach, eating Korean beef [Hanwoo, a premium breed], taking family photos? Are these really things the kids want to do? Or are they just things you want to do?”

“How did you know? It’s actually what I want to do. Hahaha.”

Happiness filled Ko Young-chul’s face as he laughed awkwardly.

“These days, what kids like taking family photos? Anyway, it’s especially tough today.”

“It’s always harder when you come back after a few days of rest.”

“That’s true. If I watch a few YouTube videos and play a game or two on my phone during breaks, it gets a little better. But this time, I think it’s even harder because we’re in a place with no signal.”

“I want to watch videos of my kids too, but I can’t, so I don’t have any energy.”

“You really love your kids. But why did you decide to remarry?”

“Huh?”

Ko Young-chul looked slightly flustered at his colleague’s unexpected question.

“No, I’m just curious. When I see you, I don’t think you’re the type to remarry, so I was wondering how you did it.”

The colleague was curious about Ko Young-chul’s remarriage because he was very shy and didn’t approach people first.

“I just thought she was a good person.”

“You mean your current wife?”

“Yeah. Actually, Seyoung’s mom was sick for a while, and she would sometimes say things like, after she’s gone, Seyoung is still young, so she should meet a good person and live happily. That way, she would feel more at ease.”

“Wow! It might be rude to say this, but she was a really wonderful person.”

“Right. Seyoung’s mom was a really wonderful person. She was too good for me. That’s why I couldn’t forget her, but people are so fickle.”

“Why?”

“My current wife took care of Seyoung a lot. When we were first getting to know each other, she brought her clothes, food, and all sorts of good things.”

“You must have been grateful.”

“Of course. I liked seeing that, and we got closer. Then I thought it would be good for Seyoung to have a family with someone like that. I started thinking less about Seyoung’s mom who went to heaven first, but I guess that’s just how people’s hearts are.”

The biggest reason Ko Young-chul opened his heart to Do Han-yeon and decided to be with her was because of how well she treated Seyoung.

“I haven’t gotten married, but I can understand how you felt a little bit.”

“That’s good enough. What does a bachelor know? Just find a good person soon.”

“Hey, are you ignoring a bachelor’s feelings?”

“Yeah, I’m ignoring them.”

“Young-chul?”

Ko Young-chul, who had been talking to his colleague for a while, got up when the captain urgently called for him.

“Where’s Young-chul?”

“Yes, Captain, I’m here.”

“Oh, you were here. Go quickly and answer the phone.”

“The phone? I got a call?”

“Yeah. Hurry up.”

Watching the captain with an unusual expression, Ko Young-chul headed to the captain’s cabin.

The only way to contact the land in an area with no signal was through the phone in the captain’s cabin.

It was usually used to request help in sudden emergencies or to communicate with transport ships carrying consigned goods. It was also used to contact the families of the crew and navigators on board if something very urgent happened.

“I don’t have anyone who would call me. Captain, where is the call from?”

“Just go and answer it. It’s an urgent call.”

No matter how much he thought about it, Ko Young-chul had no idea who would be calling him. He asked the captain again, but the captain just repeated the same thing.

“Hello?”

-Hello. Is this Mr. Ko Young-chul?

“Yes, this is Ko Young-chul. Who is this?”

-This is the OO-dong Police Station.

“The police station? Why is the police station calling me…?”

Ko Young-chul wondered what was going on with the police and thought that something might have happened to his family. Otherwise, there was no way someone would be calling him from far away Korea in the middle of a foreign sea.

“Did something happen to my family?”

-Is Ko Seyoung your biological daughter?

“Yes, she is. What happened to Seyoung?”

-Ko Seyoung is currently in the hospital.

“The hospital…?”

-Ko Seyoung is currently hospitalized after surgery.

“Su-surgery? Why? Why suddenly? Was there an accident? Are my wife and second child hurt too?”

-Mr. Ko Young-chul. Please listen without getting alarmed. Ko Seyoung has been continuously abused by Do Han-yeon. As a result, she missed the treatment period, and her appendix ruptured, requiring surgery. Fortunately, the surgery was successful…

“……!”

Thud-

Ko Young-chul slumped to the floor, dropping the phone. The unbelievable, terrible news felt like he had been hit in the head with a blunt object.

-So you need to come back to Korea as soon as possible. Mr. Ko Young-chul?

The police officer who made the call called out to Ko Young-chul, but he was overwhelmed by the shock and couldn’t hear.

-Mr. Ko Young-chul?

“Young-chul? Are you okay?”

The captain, who was next to him, kept calling out to Ko Young-chul, who was shocked and startled.

“Aaaah!!!!!!!!”

Eventually, Ko Young-chul started screaming and wailing like a madman.

His only daughter, the daughter his dead wife loved so much, his everything, was abused.

His heart felt like it was going to explode.

‘Honey, our Seyoung is so pretty because she looks like me. We were destined to be a family.’

‘I remarried you because of our Seyoung.’

‘How am I going to send Seyoung off to get married later? I’ll be too sad.’

Do Han-yeon’s words flashed through his mind like a panorama, and he felt like he was suffocating.

He wished someone, anyone, would tell him that it was all a dream, a joke.

‘When are you coming, Dad? I miss you, Dad.’

Only then did he realize the meaning of Seyoung’s words during the call, and his heart began to crumble.

“Ughaaaa!!!”

Screaming and wailing, he suddenly got up and tried to jump into the sea.

“Hey, hey! Grab Young-chul.”

“Let go! Let go of me!”

“What’s wrong, man?”

“Seyoung!!!”

The fact that he had given Seyoung hell made him want to die.

“Captain, just let me die. I want to die, so let me go.”

Smack-

While his colleagues, who didn’t know what was going on, were stopping him, the captain slapped Ko Young-chul’s cheek, who was out of control, and shouted.

“Hey, you bastard. Is this the time to be doing this? Huh?”

“Captain, why are you doing this?”

“Why are you hitting him?”

“You guys don’t know, so keep quiet. You, get a grip. Your child is waiting for you to come, and you, the father, are talking about dying. Huh?”

“……”

“Aren’t you going to your daughter? You shouldn’t be doing this, even for your daughter’s sake. Do you understand?”

“I’m, I’m sorry. I’m just so upset… Captain, I feel like I’m going to die. Sob!”

“I know. I know, but you need to pull yourself together. Hey! Haul up the nets. We’re going back to port.”

“Yes? The nets?”

“Yeah. Haul them up quickly.”

Although he was a rough sea man, the captain had a deep heart and couldn’t ignore Ko Young-chul’s plight. The date for the transport ship to arrive was far off, and there was no ship to call here.

Turning the ship around now would result in huge losses, but this was the only way the captain could help Ko Young-chul.

“Captain. Thank you so much.”

“If you know, then that’s enough. Go pack your things. All right! All right! The rest of you, quickly haul up the nets.”

The captain quickly hauled up the nets and started turning the ship back to port.

* * *

In the early morning hours, two young people were wandering around our hospital.

“Is this the right place?”

“Let’s check the announcement again.”

-This is the hospital where Sera is currently hospitalized. The address is OO-dong, OO number. You will see our hospital sign right away. It’s behind the hospital parking lot, but please park in the nearby public parking lot if possible. And above all, we earnestly ask that you do not interfere with the hospital’s treatment. We want to quietly deliver hope to Sera. Please follow the rules so as not to harm Sera and the medical staff treating other patients.

“We found it.”

After rechecking the post on the online community with their phones, the two headed to the wall connected to the hospital’s main gate.

“We can put it here. Looks like some people have already been here.”

“Yeah, there are quite a few.”

The two took out yellow sticky notes from the shopping bag they had prepared. Then, they attached the sticky notes to the wall and left short messages.

-Sera, I love you.

-Sera, we’ll be with you.

After attaching the papers, the two quietly left a small doll on the wall and left the hospital.

* * *

“Lee, are you leaving?”

As Tae-kyung, who had been seeing patients until now after Kim Kyung-sa went, was about to leave the emergency room, the station nurse called Lee Chan-hee.

“Yes?”

“The doctor is leaving. Lee, why don’t you go and ask him?”

“Me?”

Lee Chan-hee, who was waiting for the patient’s test results, answered while looking at Tae-kyung’s back.

“We can’t ask him.”

“What’s wrong with that? I think you can ask him…”

“Still. You said you were curious too, Lee.”

“Of course, I’m curious. Okay. Then I’ll ask on behalf of everyone.”

In the end, Lee Chan-hee, unable to contain his curiosity about what the topic was, called out to Tae-kyung.

“Doctor?”

“What?”

“Is it true?”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden? Put a subject in your sentence.”

“I was wondering if it’s true that Assemblyman [Member of the National Assembly] Gam Deok-chan’s side contacted you, but you refused.”

“Oh, it’s true. Why?”

An hour ago, Tae-kyung had received a direct call from the office of a famous assemblyman.

The chief aide who contacted him expressed his intention to sponsor the child, but Tae-kyung refused outright.

“Yes? No, why did you refuse when Sera is in this situation? That person is an assemblyman, so he has a lot of money. It would be good to receive sponsorship.”

“Of course, I have to refuse.”

“So why?”

“Lee Chan-hee, have you ever treated an assemblyman?”

“Me? Of course not. Where would I treat an assemblyman?”

Unlike Lee Chan-hee, Tae-kyung had. At the hospital he used to work at, he had treated quite a few assemblymen.

He hadn’t treated all the assemblymen in Korea, but all the people on that side he had seen so far had one consistent thing in common.

They never moved without a purpose. And the assemblyman who contacted him was not just trying to give sponsorship.

“He asked me to take a picture. The aide.”

“A picture? You mean a picture with the doctor?”

“No. A picture of the three of us, me, and Seyoung. He said he would buy a game console that kids like these days, so he wanted to take a picture of the assemblyman directly presenting it and giving the sponsorship in the hospital room, so I said one thing and hung up right away.”

“What?”

“I said, I’m okay, but do you want to use even a young child who has gone through such a difficult experience in your political arena? Get your act together and do your job well.”

“Wow! Our doctor is so cool.”

Lee Chan-hee raised both index fingers and made a pleased expression.

“What’s so cool about that? It’s obvious. I’ll be in the examination room. Call me if there’s an urgent emergency.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Tae-kyung, who came out of the emergency room, headed to the lobby. Then, a woman wearing a hat, who had been sitting quietly in a corner chair in the waiting room, slowly approached.

“Excuse me, Doctor?”

“Yes, guardian. Is there a problem with the mother?”

“No. Not yet.”

The woman who gave the ironic answer was Kim Jin-kyung, the daughter and guardian of Yoo Ji-cheon, who was hospitalized on the second floor.

“I waited because I had something to give to the doctor.”

“To me?”

“Yes.”

Kim Jin-kyung, exhausted, took out a crumpled white envelope from her jeans pocket and held it out.

“This. …Please.”