Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 182

Five Vital Signs – Episode 182

Episode 182. Tenacity, Endurance, and a Bit of Madness

The way he carefully presented his business card seemed earnest and respectful.

“Ah, yes. But why are you giving this to me…?”

“It’s because I really want to bring you on board, so I came to find you in person.”

“Me?”

“Yes, I’m completely serious.”

The man’s attitude was sincerity itself. He explained in great detail to Tae-kyung the real reason he had come.

Tae-kyung, who had no outpatient appointments or emergency calls, listened to the man with a degree of seriousness.

In fact, the man was so earnest, bordering on desperate, that it was hard to cut him off.

“I’ll 맞춰 [match] everything to you, of course, including the time and date, and even anything else you might want.”

“Ah… I know very well that you do great work. I’ve even seen your videos from time to time.”

“Oh, really? I’m honored.”

The man’s face lit up with anticipation when Tae-kyung said he knew about his work.

“So, how about…?”

“But I’m sorry, I don’t think I’m that famous, nor am I someone who can influence others. I’m just an ordinary doctor who tries to do his best for his patients every day.”

“You’re anything but ordinary…”

“And there are many excellent doctors in our country. I think it would be more appropriate for them to go out there.”

“Hahaha!”

The man, having been politely and respectfully rejected, laughed awkwardly.

“I think you might be mistaken about something. As far as I know, you don’t do much outside activity and practically live at the hospital, don’t you?”

The man seemed to have done quite a bit of research on Tae-kyung.

“Yes, well, I am at the hospital a lot.”

“And you don’t watch TV or YouTube videos very often, do you?”

“No.”

“See? You’re so busy taking care of patients day and night that you don’t know what’s going on in the world. You’re much more influential than you think. Look at this!”

The man opened the first page of a file he had prepared and placed it on the desk.

“We conducted our own survey for a month on ‘The Most Wanted Person to Meet,’ and do you know who came in first place?”

“…”

“Look here. It’s you!”

As the man said, the file showed Tae-kyung ranked first in the survey, beating out famous celebrities, sports stars, and politicians.

“So, please, change your mind.”

“I appreciate the thought, but I’m not very good with words, and I’m more shy than you think. I’m sorry to interrupt, but I have to get up for my patients. Nurse Lim?”

Feeling that he would be stopped if he continued the conversation, Tae-kyung quickly called Lim Jeong-sook.

Click-

“I’ll help the patient outside with the prescription 안내 [guidance].”

Lim Jeong-sook quickly understood Tae-kyung’s intention and lured the man outside.

“I’ll leave this file here, so please read it and think about it again. Thank you for the consultation.”

“Yes, goodbye.”

Click-

“Please pay at the desk and pick up your prescription. Goodbye…”

“Excuse me, Nurse?”

The man hurriedly cut off Lim Jeong-sook, who was about to say goodbye, and continued.

“Yes?”

“You realize what’s going on, don’t you?”

“Yes, to some extent…”

“I know you’re busy with hospital work, but could you persuade Dr. Kim Tae-kyung? My words aren’t working at all. I think it would be great if he appeared on the show.”

“My words won’t work either. He’s not interested in that kind of thing.”

“Ha! I understand. Thank you for your trouble.”

The man finished paying, took his prescription, and headed to the back door leading to the parking lot. Three men and women, who appeared to be his 일행 [group], quickly followed him.

“How did it go?”

“…”

“PD! How did it go?”

The woman across from the man raised her voice when he didn’t answer.

The man who had asked Tae-kyung for something after receiving treatment was Park Pil-seung, a PD [Producer-Director] from SBC broadcasting station who was directing a program.

Park Pil-seung was a star PD in the entertainment industry, successful enough that even ordinary people knew his name.

“I’m about to explode, so tell me quickly.”

When Park Pil-seung remained silent, Wang, the writer who had been working on the show with him for a long time, raised her voice again.

“Calm down, 언니 [older sister/female friend].”

The assistant director and junior writer next to Wang were also anxious.

“선배님 [senior], what did the doctor say? Is he going to appear on the show?”

“Oh, well… I was rejected. He said he couldn’t do it.”

“See! I knew it.”

“What are we going to do?”

“He refused with such a kind face, not giving me any room to maneuver. But he’s much better in person. He’s tall and would look great on camera. And he says he’s not, but his speaking skills are also above average.”

“What does it matter if he refused?”

There was a good reason why Park Seung-pil and his team were trying to recruit Tae-kyung.

They were creating a program called ‘After School Exam Time,’ which invited people who had become 이슈 [issue/hot topic] in Korea, whether ordinary people or celebrities, to tell their stories and take exams to win accumulated prize money.

It was one of the broadcasting station’s flagship programs, consistently achieving nearly 10% viewership in these days when viewership ratings have become meaningless.

However, the video of a top star couple, known as a loving couple, that had been filmed as a special for the program could no longer be aired.

The top star couple themselves had notified them that they would be getting a divorce soon and asked them not to air the show.

It was like a bolt from the blue for the production team.

It was a frustrating situation, but they knew that unbelievable things happened every day in the broadcasting industry. However, it was a serious problem that there was no show to air in place of the video that had been edited and for which advertisements had been received.

The next episode that had been filmed was too bland to be aired as a special.

This was especially true because a 무난한 [unremarkable] episode was usually aired after a special program to adjust the 강약 [intensity].

“I’m going crazy. I’m going crazy!”

Wang 탄식 [sighed], shaking her head with the force of a crazy woman in the neighborhood.

In fact, Wang had wanted to recruit Tae-kyung in advance and air him on the special. However, Park Pil-seung wanted to recruit Tae-kyung for the next special with the theme of people who save lives.

Park Pil-seung had insisted, and the top star couple had been filmed first, which ultimately led to this mess.

“I told you so. I told you not to do it because there were rumors of their divorce.”

“I’m sorry. It was the same three years ago. So I thought it was just a 찌라시 [rumor] this time too.”

“What are you going to do about this? Do you have anyone to recruit? Does anyone have any ideas?”

“But Kim Tae-kyung is the only one who fits the special.”

“I told the director that we had recruited Mr. Kim, what are we going to do? Should we edit and air the unbroadcast footage?”

“What 개떡 같은 소리 [nonsense] are you talking about for a special! We have to recruit him.”

Park Pil-seung, who had been listening to his team members, said confidently.

“Who?”

“Who else but Kim Tae-kyung. What are the broadcasting station guys best at? That’s tenacity, endurance, and a bit of madness. We have to break through with that.”

“Do you have a plan? He’s going to reject all offers since the 세리세라 [Que Sera, Sera – Whatever will be, will be] incident.”

“Seok-hoon, you brought the corporate card, right?”

“Of course.”

Park Pil-seung received the corporate card and smiled slightly, raising the corners of his mouth.

“Why are you smiling?”

“I have a good idea. You’ve all been too busy with broadcasting to get a proper health checkup, right?”

“Why the sudden health checkup?”

“Why else? From tomorrow until Kim Tae-kyung allows it, we’re getting treatment. Let’s go! Let’s 접수 [register].”

“Yes!”

While the two junior members were quietly looking at each other at the unexpected countermeasure, Wang raised her voice.

“Yes, let’s go. We have to show this much effort to recruit him. We can’t cancel the broadcast.”

“That’s right! You’re 괜히 [not without reason] Wang for nothing. If this goes well, we’ll get a bonus. Let’s go!”

“Yes, PD.”

Park Pil-seung and Wang, who had confidently 외친 [shouted], headed back to the hospital with their juniors.

* * *

An apartment in Seoul

Sitting on the living room sofa and staring blankly at the clock on the wall, Lee Soo-jung didn’t know how the day had passed.

Whether she was handing out flyers in the morning or working at the mart in the evening, her mind was elsewhere.

It was because she was about to meet Go Gye-deuk a little later.

After her first child’s motorcycle accident, Lee Soo-jung, who had made up her mind, decided to grant Go Gye-deuk’s request in exchange for sponsoring her husband’s hospital bills.

“…?”

“Mom?”

Hyun-joon, the eldest, who came out of the bathroom after washing up, called Lee Soo-jung several times.

“Oh, oh! Son, what’s wrong? Are you hungry? I bought donuts, do you want some?”

“I’m okay because I ate 떡볶이 [spicy rice cakes] with the kids after 야자 [night self-study]. But Mom, are you sick somewhere?”

“Sick? I was just thinking about something.”

“Were you thinking about Dad again?”

“I always think about Dad.”

“Mom, I’ve been thinking…”

Hyun-joon, who was carelessly drying his wet hair with a towel, stopped and sat next to Lee Soo-jung.

“About Dad’s accident. What if we report it?”

“Report it?”

“You know, those shows that introduce stories of people who have been wronged. If we let them know about Dad’s case, it’ll be broadcast nationwide, and I think more people will know about it.”

“Actually, Mom didn’t say anything, but I already did it once.”

“Mom did?”

Hyun-joon was surprised to hear this for the first time.

“Yeah. You know Sora 이모 [aunt/older female friend], who works with Mom at the mart, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Sora 이모 suggested that I report it to the news.”

Shortly after her husband’s accident, Lee Soo-jung listened to a mart colleague she was close to and reported it to the evening news.

There was a 제보 [tip-off] email address and phone number in small subtitles on the news, so it wasn’t difficult to report. However, the answer from the broadcasting station was different from what she had expected.

-We have carefully reviewed the 제보 [tip-off] email you sent, but we regret to inform you that it is somewhat difficult to broadcast it. We hope that the patient will recover quickly and that things will work out well.

The answer that came back a week later was a rejection.

Disappointed as much as she had expected, Lee Soo-jung called and asked why.

“Actually, we’ve been broadcasting about hit-and-runs for a few weeks. It’s hard to broadcast on the same topic again.”

It was a big deal for Lee Soo-jung and her family, enough to shake up their daily lives, but to the broadcasting station people, hit-and-run was just a common item.

She realized then that it wasn’t easy for ordinary people like her, who had no power, to have their stories broadcast. So after that, she had no choice but to focus on handing out more flyers.

“They talk so well on TV about being on the side of the citizens… It’s too much. Then should I upload it to YouTube?”

“It’s not easy to make videos like that. I have to study too, so let’s think about it.”

“Yes. But Hyun-mi and Hyun-woong are quiet today.”

“They both fell asleep early today. Isn’t it hard to study until late?”

“It is hard. Actually, there’s nothing more comfortable than studying. I have to work hard.”

Lee Soo-jung was grateful that her eldest son was focusing on his studies as promised after quitting his part-time job.

“Are you going to eat breakfast tomorrow morning? Or eat toast…”

Rrrrrrrrrrrr

Lee Soo-jung, who was heading to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for the children in advance, stopped talking when she felt the vibration of her cell phone in her hand.

-I’m near you now.

The person who sent the text message did not reveal who he was, but Lee Soo-jung instinctively knew that it was a text message sent by Go Gye-deuk.

-I’m in the empty lot past oo Shopping Center.

-I know where that is. I’ll go out.

“Mom?”

“Yes?”

“I like anything.”

“Hyun-joon, Mom’s going to the convenience store for a while.”

“At this hour?”

“That’s because I’m out of toast bread.”

Lee Soo-jung, who couldn’t tell her son the truth, made an excuse to go out.

“Then I’ll go.”