Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 242

242. A White Lie

Kim No-dam was quite surprised to hear the word “divorce” coming from his daughter’s mouth.

“Seon, Seon-ah. What are you talking about? Divorce…”

“Exactly what I said. Mom and Dad, please get a divorce.”

There was no hope or expectation in his eldest daughter’s eyes as she mentioned the word divorce again.

He wasn’t sure exactly when it started.

Middle school? No, elementary school, he thought that’s probably when the memories began.

Whenever Seon came home from school with her younger brother, she always said the same thing to him.

‘Wait a minute! Count to 50 here. Got it?’

‘Are you playing again today, Sis?’

‘Yeah.’

Seon always played number games with her brother in the alley where they could see the front gate.

Well, to be precise, it was a way to buy time disguised as a game. While her brother counted to 50, she would quickly run to see if her parents were fighting.

He didn’t know the exact reason at the time, but his father was often home. Looking back now, he guessed it was probably because he was unemployed due to frequent business failures.

‘They’re fighting again…’

When she heard her parents raising their voices as she climbed the stairs to the second floor, Seon sighed and went back to her brother.

‘Stop! 47.’

Seon tried to forget the sound of her parents fighting and guessed how far her brother had counted.

‘Wrong! It’s 45.’

‘Too bad. Since you got it wrong, Sis, should we go eat tteokbokki [spicy rice cakes]?’

‘Sounds good. But can we go to the arcade? I want to play the airplane game today…’

‘Then let’s eat tteokbokki and go to the arcade.’

‘Really? You’re the best, Sis!’

Seon always used the allowance her parents occasionally gave her in this way.

‘Seon-ah, if you hear loud noises when you come home, play outside with Seon-uk for a while. Okay?’

Her mother asked her to do this, but Seon didn’t want her brother to know that their parents were fighting, so she never went straight home.

Thanks to Seon’s efforts, her brother didn’t realize that their parents were fighting frequently until much later.

Because of that, Seon-uk also wandered around for a while. But the couple, always focused on fighting, had no time to worry about their children’s problems.

“Seon-uk and I were always like this. You didn’t know, did you, Mom and Dad?”

“…”

Kim No-dam didn’t know what to say to his daughter’s confession, which he had never heard before.

“I don’t understand why you two live together while making each other so miserable. I think it would be better to break up and live your own lives comfortably instead of hating each other.”

“…”

“At first, Seon-uk and I thought it was better for you to live together, no matter how much you fought, than to get divorced. We thought it would be better when we got married later. But I was wrong.”

“Seon-ah, I’m sorry. But we’re enduring it all for you.”

It was ironic and absurd, but Kim No-dam’s words were true.

The couple was unhappy and struggling with their marriage, but they couldn’t bring themselves to break up because of their children.

They felt that their children would bear the brunt of the damage if they divorced.

They both felt the same way, so they decided not to divorce, even if they fought.

“For us? Dad, how can you say that? Do you even know how Seon-uk and I have been living? If you really cared about us, you wouldn’t say that.”

The daughter was dumbfounded and angry at Kim No-dam’s words. It just sounded like a flimsy excuse.

“If you really cared about us, you shouldn’t have lived like that. Did you ever try to understand what Seon-uk and I were worried about during our adolescence, or what we were struggling with when it came to our careers? But now you’re saying it’s because of us…”

“Seon-ah, that’s…”

“Dad, when we talked on the phone last time, you asked me why I don’t have a boyfriend? It’s not that I don’t have one, it’s that I can’t. No matter how good someone is to me, I’ll end up ruining the relationship. Because I’m your daughter.”

Kim Seon, who was diligent, loved her job, and had a good personality, couldn’t trust men or herself.

Even in her school days and after entering society, there were people who approached her, but in the end, the anxiety that was deeply rooted in her heart closed her off.

Because she grew up in a home where fighting was more familiar than love, she felt that she would not be able to have a normal family.

That’s why she didn’t have a boyfriend like all her friends. The same was true for her brother.

What the siblings learned from their parents was distrust rather than love.

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

“Ugh! Stop saying you’re sorry. I’m so tired of it. So please stop saying it’s because of us and just try to make your children feel better.”

The daughter, overwhelmed with emotion, poured out all the feelings she had been hiding and left the waiting room in tears.

“…!”

Tae-kyung, who had been listening to everything outside, saw Kim Seon hurrying out and moved inside.

“Seon… Ah! Doctor?”

Kim No-dam, who was getting up from his seat calling his daughter’s name, stopped as he saw Tae-kyung entering the waiting room.

“How did the surgery go?”

“Were you worried? The surgery went well.”

“Is that so?”

“The reason why the patient kept saying she was in pain was because of a small wound on her stomach.”

“On her stomach? So, you’re saying the knife my wife used caused a wound on her stomach?”

“Yes, but the wound wasn’t too big, so we treated it well and finished it off nicely.”

“That’s a relief. Thank you. I’m sorry for raising my voice in the emergency room earlier.”

“Don’t mention it. It’s okay.”

“Life isn’t easy.”

After apologizing, Kim No-dam sat down heavily on the chair and rubbed his face with his dry hands as if he was frustrated.

“Did you hear the conversation I had with my daughter a little while ago?”

“I was waiting outside and overheard it.”

“My wife and I have the same temper. We can’t stand each other and we don’t want to lose, so we’re always fighting. We fought so hard that we ended up in the hospital, I’m embarrassed for you to see this.”

“It happens more often than you think.”

“Pardon?”

“You may not know this, but there are more people who come to the emergency room because of marital fights than you think.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Tae-kyung sat next to Kim No-dam and continued.

“I don’t know the full extent of your situation, but it seems like you don’t hate each other that much yet.”

“Hah!”

Kim No-dam, who was listening to him, burst out laughing and said hollowly.

“You’re saying that because you don’t know us. You heard what my daughter said earlier. We’re always fighting…”

“But do you know what they say? That when you truly hate someone, you don’t even want to see their face?”

“I know. I know it well.”

“If you really hate someone to death, you don’t even want to see their shadow. You don’t even want to exchange a single word, and you don’t care what they do. In other words, you treat them like they don’t exist. But the fact that you still have the energy to fight means that you still want something from each other and you still care about each other, doesn’t it?”

“…!”

“Then I’ll be going now.”

Tae-kyung got up from his seat, looking at Kim No-dam, who was speechless. And he threw one last word at him as he said goodbye.

“Yes. Thank you again.”

“You’re welcome. Oh, right! Your wife was worried about you.”

“Pardon? Worried about me?”

“Yes, she said she was wondering if her husband was okay because he must have been surprised by what happened.”

Tae-kyung decided to tell a white lie for a moment.

“If that’s the case, then your wife is interested in you, right?”

Of course, Lee Han-soon didn’t say it that way. And frankly, he didn’t want to meddle in the affairs of a couple who fought every day.

But the reason why Tae-kyung lied was because of the daughter who had been crying a little while ago.

The daughter had told Kim No-dam to get a divorce, but she had probably been holding back because she didn’t want her parents to divorce.

And more than anything, he wanted to reverse the feeling of distrust that had arisen from the couple’s fighting.

He thought that if the siblings saw their parents getting closer again, their closed hearts would gradually open up.

In fact, for the couple’s relationship to improve, they would have to fundamentally change.

Of course, he didn’t know if they would change with just one word, but he thought there was a possibility if they still cared about each other.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, Doctor.”

“I know it’s presumptuous of me to say this, but they say that parents are a mirror to their children. Please be a mirror to your children.”

After that, Kim No-dam sat in his seat for a while before heading to the hospital room where Lee Han-soon was staying.

“Yo, you… honey?”

“Why are you here now?”

The wife, who had woken up from anesthesia, looked exhausted.

“I went to see the doctor…”

“He just came by.”

“I went to the bathroom. Where’s Seon?”

“She went to the convenience store.”

“The doctor said they found the spot where you were hurting and treated it well.”

“I heard. The doctor was very thorough.”

“I know, right? Are you feeling better?”

Kim No-dam sat down awkwardly next to the bed where his wife was lying.

“You went through a lot because of the surgery, didn’t you?”

“I went through a lot because it was my fault… It’s my fault.”

“…!”

Kim No-dam flinched at Lee Han-soon’s words. Even though she had surgery, she wasn’t the type of person to react like that.

He expected her to say, ‘It’s all your fault that this happened,’ in a sharp voice, as she always did. But he was slightly taken aback when she said something completely different.

In fact, the reason why Lee Han-soon said that was also because of Tae-kyung’s words.

A little while ago, Tae-kyung had visited the hospital room before Kim No-dam and told a white lie to the wife as well.

‘Your husband kept asking if you were okay and was very worried about you.’

Lee Han-soon, who heard that he was worried about her, had the same reaction as her husband. She was surprised that her husband, who had been bickering with her all her life, was worried about her.

“Um… Seon’s mom? …Never mind.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“I’m sorry.”

“…”

Lee Han-soon didn’t know what to say to her husband’s apology.

“To be honest, I didn’t think you would go that far when you held a knife. But when I came to the hospital and saw you having surgery, I thought I had gone too far.”

He had never thought of saying ‘I’m sorry’ out loud. But once he managed to say that one word, the next one was easier than he thought.

More than anything, he felt bad seeing his wife, who always had an angry look on her face and seemed like a tough woman, lying sick.

“I know it’s useless to say this now, but I still wanted to say I’m sorry.”

“What’s wrong? Are, are you sick somewhere?”

Lee Han-soon was bewildered by her husband’s apology.

“I’m not sick, you are. I’m fine. It’s all because of me today.”

“Is it because of you… It’s the same for me. It’s because I can’t control my temper, it’s not your fault.”

“I’ll be careful from now on. Seon’s mom, let’s live normally from now on. I’m sorry.”

Lee Han-soon felt a surge of emotion at her husband’s sincere words. She never thought that what she had done, thinking it was the end, would be a new beginning.

“I can’t promise to treat you as well as others, but I’ll let you live normally. Let’s stop fighting.”

“What’s wrong with being normal? That’s the hardest thing to do.”

“That’s true. By the way, is there anything you want to eat?”

“I can’t eat anything for a while.”

“That’s right! You can’t eat, can you?”

“When I get out of the hospital, let’s have jokbal [pig’s feet dish] and soju [Korean distilled spirit].”

“Let’s drink later and I’ll buy you jokbal.”

The anger was no longer felt on the faces of the two people who exchanged a slightly awkward but normal conversation like other couples.

As a result, the white lie that Tae-kyung had told the two people worked.

“Mom, Dad?”

And the eldest daughter, who had been listening to her parents’ conversation outside the hospital room, quietly smiled and entered the room.

“Did you go to the convenience store?”

“Yeah. How are you, Mom?”

“I’m fine.”

She didn’t know what had happened in the meantime, but she was happy just that her parents weren’t angry with each other.

“What are you thinking about, Doctor Lee? Did you see Park Hyuk’s patient?”

Nurse Im Jeong-suk, who was at the station, approached Lee Chan-hee, who was standing there blankly.

“Ah, yes.”

Lee Chan-hee, who had come to see a patient, was amazed by the reconciliation of the couple who had been fighting to the point of stabbing each other.

“Lee Han-soon’s patient. I’m amazed that she reconciled with her husband. The atmosphere in the emergency room was completely fierce. I thought they were going to get divorced right away…”

“You’ll know when you get married later, but people who are really going to get divorced don’t even fight.”

“I still don’t understand, though?”

“Husbands and wives fight to the death and then live together again. They’re infinitely far apart and then infinitely close again. That’s what husbands and wives are.”

“It’s hard for me, who’s unmarried, to understand the world of couples.”

“Of course. You have to get married to understand it.”

“Well, anyway, I’m glad that the patient and the guardian reconciled.”

“Of course. I’m glad. Doctor Lee, should I introduce you to someone nice?”

“Really? Who is it? Is she pretty?”

“She’s pretty. And she has a strong personality. You might know her.”

“Who is it?”

“Um. Doctor Choi Mona?”

“Pardon? Choi Mona? Oh, no! Nurse Su? How can you say that? Doctor Choi and I are comrades. Comrades!”

Lee Chan-hee shook his head violently and ran down the ward.