Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 195

Five Vital Signs – Episode 195

195. The Truth of That Day

SBC Broadcasting Station

– Hello?

“Yes, this is the After School Exam Time team.”

– Hello. I’m calling to report a hit-and-run incident after watching yesterday’s broadcast. Thank you for your hard work.

“Ah, yes. Please tell me what you know. Yes, that’s right.”

After the broadcast, the production team’s office was flooded with calls.

– I think I might have witnessed the incident?

– I think something might have been recorded on my dashcam.

– I am the culprit.

With the tremendous public interest, hundreds of calls came in, but unfortunately, there were just as many prank calls, and there were no reports that clearly helped the case yet.

“Is there anything worthwhile?”

Park Pil-seung, who had met with the head of the entertainment department, approached Wang, the writer, who was gathered with the production team.

“We’re getting more reports than ever, but nothing concrete yet. What about the police station?”

“I contacted the detective in charge earlier, and they’re also getting a lot of reports, but it seems it will take some time to verify them.”

“It’s a relief that people are so interested. Oh! Why did the director suddenly call you in?”

“That’s… our team is getting a bonus!”

“Really?”

“Wow!”

At the word ‘bonus,’ the production team cheered and rejoiced.

“The director said that yesterday’s broadcast had the highest viewership ratings, so we’ll get a bonus this month.”

The special broadcast featuring Tae-kyung recorded the highest viewership ratings not only in its time slot but also for the entire day yesterday.

As soon as the viewership ratings were officially released in the morning, the head of the entertainment department repeatedly shouted Tae-kyung’s name, whom he had never met before, in his office.

“Seriously. Mr. Kim Tae-kyung is practically our benefactor.”

“Not just practically, he *is* our benefactor. He saved many people.”

“That’s right. I’m really grateful; shouldn’t we send him something?”

“I was going to, but when I talked to him, he refused, saying it was okay.”

“I wonder how a person can be so perfect, even in character. He’s really amazing.”

“Instead, he asked us to help with the hit-and-run incident reports.”

“Of course. I’m sending anything that seems important from the reports to the detective right away.”

“Good job. It’s going to be tough with so many calls, but let’s all cheer up thinking about the bonus.”

Amid the flood of calls, the production team kindly answered every call to help Lee Soo-jung’s family.

* * *

Our Hospital

“Doctor! I enjoyed watching you on TV yesterday.”

“Our doctor has such a great look that he looks really good on screen.”

“Congratulations on winning the prize money.”

The day after the broadcast, Tae-kyung was receiving congratulations in every hospital room he entered while making his rounds.

“I wondered why you weren’t on TV sooner, but now you’re finally here.”

“Thank you for your congratulations.”

The patients all sincerely congratulated him as if it were their own experience.

In fact, all the patients hospitalized in the hospital cheered and raved as if they were watching a sports game every time Tae-kyung answered a question correctly the day before.

“Doctor!!”

Lee Chan-hee, who had been approaching Tae-kyung with a burdensome expression whenever their eyes met, didn’t pass by this time either and approached Tae-kyung.

“What is it, again?”

“What do you mean, ‘again’? I’m talking about the prize money. What are you going to do with that prize money?”

After the broadcast, Lee Chan-hee’s interest was all about the prize money. Of course, not for the ridiculous reason of asking for the prize money, but he was very curious about where Tae-kyung, who had little interest in money, would use that huge prize money.

“Why are you so curious about that, Doctor Lee?”

“I’m just curious how you’re going to use such a huge amount of money.”

“Lee Chan-hee?”

“Yes, Doctor.”

“Look back.”

“Back? Why suddenly back…”

“Do you see over there?”

When Lee Chan-hee turned around at Tae-kyung’s words, Choi Mona was gesturing for him to come quickly with her hands on her hips.

“Stop being curious about the prize money and go take care of the patients. What are you doing? Aren’t you going?”

“No. I’m going. I’m going.”

When Tae-kyung glared at him, Lee Chan-hee quickly ran to the emergency room.

“Whenever I see Doctor Lee, he reminds me of my youngest brother. He’s so cute.”

Nurse Lim Jeong-sook, who was watching the two of them from the reception desk, said with a smile.

“Yesterday, he was the most excited when you succeeded in the last stage and ran around the doctor’s office.”

“It seems like Doctor Lee was more excited than I was.”

“Oh! I took care of what you asked for.”

“Thank you.”

“We should be the ones thanking you.”

“Excuse me, Doctor…?”

Tae-kyung was walking to the examination room with Nurse Lim Jeong-sook when he heard someone calling from behind.

“Hello. Hyun-woong, say hello.”

“Hyun-woong, say hello.”

“Hello, Doctor.”

The people who greeted Tae-kyung and Nurse Lim Jeong-sook were Lee Soo-jung and her son, Hyun-woong.

“Doctor, do you have a moment?”

“Yes, let’s go into the examination room.”

Lee Soo-jung took her son’s hand and entered the examination room with Tae-kyung.

“Hyun-woong, are you okay now? Are you not sick?”

“Yes, I don’t hurt at all now.”

Tae-kyung stroked Hyun-woong’s head and asked about the child’s condition.

“Are you taking your medicine well?”

“Yes. I’m taking it well. Actually, I came here to say something to you.”

The reason Lee Soo-jung visited Our Hospital was to thank Tae-kyung.

Lee Soo-jung, who watched the broadcast the day before, shed tears while watching the scene of her husband’s accident. She thought the broadcast would be brief, but it was longer than she expected and introduced in great detail.

As soon as she saw the broadcast, Lee Soo-jung called Wang, the writer, to express her gratitude to the production team, and unexpectedly heard a story.

‘Writer, I enjoyed the broadcast. Thank you to the PD [Producer-Director] and everyone.’

‘No, you should thank Mr. Kim Tae-kyung, not us. In fact, the initial amount of time was half of what was broadcast yesterday, but Mr. Kim heard the news and asked us to increase it. So we were able to cover it in more detail.’

In fact, Lee Soo-jung knew that her husband’s accident news was broadcast because of Tae-kyung, but she didn’t know these details at all.

As soon as she heard this news, Lee Soo-jung decided to thank Tae-kyung in person.

The hit-and-run case has not been resolved yet, but she was grateful just for the fact that the case became famous enough for the whole nation to know.

“Thanks to you, Doctor, it was even broadcast, and I’m really indebted to you. I don’t know how to express my gratitude. Thank you so much.”

Lee Soo-jung sincerely conveyed her feelings and bowed her head in greeting.

“I’m grateful that I was helpful. I was going to contact you anyway.”

“To me?”

“Yes, I heard you’re having a hard time because of the hospital bills. As you know from watching yesterday’s broadcast, I’d like to help with Cha Dae-han’s hospital bills with some of the prize money I received.”

“Yes…?”

Lee Soo-jung was stunned by the unexpected words she had never expected.

“You’ll probably be contacted by the production team within this week.”

Before going on the broadcast, Tae-kyung had been thinking of giving some of the prize money to Lee Soo-jung’s family without hesitation if he won the prize money.

He had seen many patients who had struggled because of money, so he wanted to help so that no one would give up treatment because of money.

Besides, it was not money earned through hard work, but prize money won by luck through broadcasting, so he didn’t feel like it was his money, so he didn’t regret it.

After the broadcast shooting, Tae-kyung asked Park Pil-seung, who asked for his account number, to send tens of millions of won [Korean currency], which was part of the prize money, to Lee Soo-jung.

He wanted to give it all to her, but he thought it would be too burdensome for the recipient. So he decided to send an amount that could cover the hospital bills.

Tae-kyung knew that consideration and help should not be burdensome for the person receiving it. And he plans to give the rest to his mother in Yangpyeong [a county in South Korea], and finally use the remaining amount for the staff.

The thing he asked Nurse Lim Jeong-sook earlier was to ask for the sizes of the staff to give them work shoes as a gift.

“Excuse me, Doctor. I’m really grateful for your words. But I’m also a person with a sense of shame…”

Tae-kyung stopped Lee Soo-jung, who was about to continue speaking as she stood up from her chair with an expression of embarrassment and apology.

“I’ve also had a hard time because of money, and I’ve seen patients who are struggling because they don’t have money, so I know that feeling well. Please don’t feel sorry and don’t think it’s burdensome.”

After refusing several times, Lee Soo-jung decided to accept the hospital bill assistance with Tae-kyung’s sincere persuasion.

Lee Soo-jung, who was so grateful for his kindness that she couldn’t even speak properly, replaced her greetings with tears.

“Sob! Really… Thank you. I will never forget this grace for the rest of my life.”

“Mom! Are you crying? Are you sick somewhere?”

“No, Mom’s not sick. I’m grateful to the doctor. The doctor helped us.”

“Really? Thank you, Doctor, for helping our mom.”

Young Hyun-woong didn’t know exactly what was going on, but he echoed his mom, who was repeating the words of gratitude.

Lee Soo-jung, who resolved the hospital bill problem, which was a big concern, with Tae-kyung’s unexpected consideration and help, held her son’s hand tightly and left the hospital with a warm heart.

* * *

A residential complex.

Despite the clear weather with not a cloud in the sky, the room was dark with tightly drawn curtains and filled with a musty smell of cigarette smoke.

“Phew!”

The man who seemed to be the owner of this room exhaled thick cigarette smoke and stuck a cigarette butt on the ashtray piled up on the cup.

“I’m going crazy. Really…”

The man, who felt somewhat familiar, was the same man who was startled to see Lee Soo-jung at the donut shop a while ago.

– I only want one thing. I hope the hit-and-run driver is caught and pays for his crime. And if anyone has witnessed it, please help.

The man, who felt haggard and tired, was replaying Lee Soo-jung’s interview video that was broadcast the day before.

“Ha! Fucking hell.”

Chewing on his lower lip and spitting out profanity with anxious eyes, he clicked on the file with the mouse after Lee Soo-jung’s interview ended.

Squeak- Bang-

In the video, a car running at high speed in deep darkness suddenly stopped with a loud noise and slammed on the brakes.

Near the stopped car, the figure of Cha Dae-han lying down was captured.

And after a brief silence, the driver’s seat door seemed to open, but soon after, the door closed again, and the car left the scene of the accident, leaving Cha Dae-han on the floor.

“I’m going crazy. Really…”

It was a video he had seen dozens of times, but every time he saw it, his heart shrank and he felt goosebumps all over his body.

Tak- Tak-

The man opened an internet window and searched for ‘hit-and-run sentence’ and ‘hit-and-run escape’ and examined the contents.

After looking at the terrible truth of that day and the information about hit-and-run penalties, he pondered for a while and then made a call somewhere.

– Yes, this is the After School Exam Time production team.

“…”

– Hello?

“I, uh, called after watching yesterday’s broadcast. Is this the place to report the hit-and-run accident?”

– Yes, that’s right. Are you trying to report the accident?

“Yes…”

– Please speak comfortably.

“…”

– Hello?

When the man didn’t answer, the production team member who answered the phone kept calling him.

– Hello? Can’t you hear me?

Tak-

The man, who couldn’t bring himself to speak, had no choice but to hang up the phone in a hurry.

Creak-

Shortly after, as if he had made a decision, he suddenly moved the accident video to his cell phone, jumped up from his seat, and left the house. And he quickly drove the car out of the house and turned off the engine in front of the building.