Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 278

Five Vital Signs – Episode 278 (278/502)

278. The Tumbler

Having expressed her gratitude to her mother-in-law, Lee Sori followed Nurse Im Jeong-suk to the intensive care unit (ICU).

“Patient Gu Min-woo is in the bed at the far end.”

“…….”

“Sori?”

Nurse Im Jeong-suk quietly called her name when Lee Sori, who seemed like she would rush to her husband, didn’t even flinch.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m okay. But, Nurse, now that I’m about to see Min-woo, I feel like I’m going to burst into tears, so I can’t bring myself to move.”

“Of course, you would feel that way when your family is hurt. If it’s too hard, you can come during visiting hours tomorrow. Don’t push yourself too hard.”

“No. My husband must be having the hardest time right now… I’m okay.”

“Alright. If you suddenly feel dizzy or like you’re about to collapse again, don’t hesitate to call the nurses.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

After listening to Nurse Im Jeong-suk’s instructions, Lee Sori headed to the bed where her husband was lying.

Clatter-

She slowly walked step by step, pushing the IV pole with the IV bag hanging on it. After passing several critically ill patients lying on the beds, Lee Sori finally saw her husband, Gu Min-woo.

“Honey…”

Her husband, lying on the bed full of monitors and wires, didn’t respond even when she called him. The scars on his handsome face and the bruises on his body seemed to vividly show the impact of the accident.

“I’m here. How much did it hurt? How much… Huhu!”

While following the nurse to the intensive care unit, she had repeatedly vowed not to cry in front of her husband. But the vow she had repeated so many times was useless, and tears flowed against her will.

Once the dam of tears burst, it couldn’t be easily controlled.

Seeing her healthy husband on a hospital bed, having barely survived a life-threatening situation in just one day, broke her heart.

“Huuuh!”

She wanted to say something, but Lee Sori couldn’t speak easily because of the endlessly flowing tears.

The nurses in the intensive care unit felt a surge of emotion at the sight of her sobbing, her shoulders shaking, and her mouth covered, looking so pitiful.

“Hahuk! I’m, I’m sorry, honey.”

After some time passed and her emotions calmed down, Lee Sori suddenly apologized to her husband.

“I was always proud of you. But today, for the first time, I regret supporting you.”

She knew very well that the job of a stuntman couldn’t avoid injuries.

Since her husband always lived with minor injuries, Lee Sori always gave him praise and encouragement rather than nagging him about those injuries.

But seeing her husband lying in the intensive care unit, having survived a life-threatening injury, she even regretted her support.

If she had stopped him from being a stuntman, if she had nagged him to stop, today’s events might not have happened.

Even though she knew it wasn’t true, she felt sorry, as if her husband’s accident was her fault.

“You said that if you get injured, the director must treat you well. So, the director treated you today too.”

Lee Sori gently took Gu Min-woo’s hand, who had no reaction, and continued to speak.

“But honey… you know what? I’m so grateful that you’re alive. I was so worried that something might happen to you. The director and the other doctors worked hard to save you. So, you have to get up. They made you sleep on purpose because they thought you might be in a lot of pain right now.

Your mother is worried, and so are the people in the movie industry. And our Haengun is also worried about his dad. So, get up quickly. Get up and put that ring on my finger. No matter what anyone says, you are the most amazing actor in the world to me. Min-woo, I love you…”

Lee Sori gazed at the sleeping Gu Min-woo’s face for a while before leaving the intensive care unit.

Even though he was injured, she felt a little relieved after seeing her husband’s face, which she had missed so much.

Lee Sori had no doubt that her husband would overcome his injuries and return in great shape.

After leaving the intensive care unit, she went straight to her hospital room.

Knock knock-

A moment later, Lee Sori, who was looking at her husband’s picture on her phone, turned her head when she heard the sound of a knock and the door opening.

“Mother, you’re back already…”

She thought it was her mother-in-law, who had gone to the convenience store to buy the things she needed since she had decided to spend the night at the hospital, receiving nutrients and fluids on Ui-jin’s recommendation.

“Sister-in-law?”

But the person who peeked into the hospital room was Kim Chang-hee, the head of the action team.

“I’m sorry. Can I come in for a moment?”

“Ah, yes. Come in.”

Kim Chang-hee, the head of the action team, was not alone.

“Sister-in-law, there’s someone who really wanted to see you, so I brought him along.”

“Hello. Nice to meet you.”

Kang Hyuk, the lead actor whom Gu Min-woo was doubling for, was also there. He had arrived at the hospital earlier after finishing his filming schedule, but he was only now able to greet Lee Sori because of the chaotic situation.

“I’m Kang Hyuk.”

“Yes, hello.”

Lee Sori knew he was Kang Hyuk as soon as she saw his face.

He was such a famous top star that his face was familiar, but she also knew him well because her husband always talked about him whenever he had the chance.

‘Hyuk-hyung [Hyung is a Korean term used by males to refer to older male friends or brothers] isn’t a top star for nothing. He’s a really genuine person.’

‘Why? Is he treating you well?’

‘Yeah. He tells the director in advance so that I don’t have a hard time during filming, and he looks out for me. He has a great personality.’

‘It’s not easy to do that once you become popular. He’s cool.’

Lee Sori also had a good impression of him because her husband always praised Kang Hyuk whenever he came back from the movie set.

“First of all, I’m really sorry for causing you concern with the sudden accident. I should have taken better care of Min-woo. I’m sorry.”

“No. It’s not Kang Hyuk’s fault. My husband was just… unlucky.”

“How is Min-woo doing?”

“Yes, we have to keep an eye on him, but he has overcome the biggest crisis. Thank you all for your concern.”

“That’s a relief.”

The two people were as happy as if it were their own business and looked relieved after hearing about Gu Min-woo’s condition.

“Um, there’s one thing I’m curious about. Will my husband not be able to film anymore?”

Lee Sori still couldn’t forget the expression on Gu Min-woo’s face the day he was confirmed to be cast in this movie.

It was something he had been wanting so much, so he was as happy as a child and put more effort into filming than anyone else.

It was common for a stuntman who was doubling to be replaced by another stuntman if they were seriously injured.

If it was an injury to the lead actor, they would wait as long as possible, but waiting for a stuntman’s injury was practically impossible.

But she felt bad about having to tell her husband that he wouldn’t be able to film the movie when he woke up.

She was upset even though she knew it couldn’t be helped because he was a stuntman.

“He’ll probably be replaced by another stunt actor, right? Um, Mr. Kim, Min-woo will be disappointed when he wakes up and hears that. He worked harder than ever on his diet and exercise while preparing for this movie.”

She hoped her husband wouldn’t do stuntman work anymore, but this movie was different.

She knew how much he had sweated for this movie, so she wanted him to find out about the departure news later. Her husband would be more upset than anyone else if he heard the news of his departure.

“So, please tell him that story later.”

“I understand what you mean, but I don’t think there will be a need to tell Min-woo that.”

“Yes?”

Kim Chang-hee, seeing Lee Sori’s puzzled expression, nudged Kang Hyuk, who was standing next to him.

“This friend Kang Hyuk is insisting that it has to be Min-woo or no one. Tell her yourself.”

“Actually, after Min-woo was injured, the director and the American film company urgently exchanged words. To tell you the conclusion first, there will never be a case where Min-woo leaves our movie. You can trust my words.”

“Re, really?”

“Yes, I didn’t put on airs. There’s no one who can replace Min-woo. I don’t want to film this movie if it’s not Min-woo, and the American headquarters highly value Min-woo’s action acting, so they said to wait first.”

There were three years left until the movie’s release, and it was a movie with a lot of CG and post-production work.

Because of that, the American production company judged that there was enough time to wait for Gu Min-woo to recover from his injury, even if it took several months.

It was possible because Gu Min-woo was being recognized that much.

For now, Kang Hyuk’s filming will proceed as soon as Gu Min-woo recovers from his injury, and it was decided to do other filming first.

“That’s a relief. Thank you. I heard that you always took good care of my husband on the set. I’m also grateful for that.”

“No. I’m lacking in action acting, but I’ve improved a lot thanks to Min-woo, so I’m more grateful. I think I’m lucky to be able to work with a good person.”

“Thank you for saying that.”

“And the movie production company has decided to handle the financial aspects of the injury and rehabilitation, so don’t worry.”

“Yes.”

“Sister-in-law! Our Min-woo will definitely get up in good shape and return to the set. So, don’t worry too much. That guy’s nickname is Tumbler [someone who is resilient and bounces back from setbacks].”

“Yes, I think so too.”

“Ah! That’s right. And would you like to take out your phone once?”

“My phone?”

“Instead of that, I’ll show you with mine. Take a look at this.”

As if there was something to show, Kim Chang-hee, the head of the action team, took out his phone, accessed the portal site, and handed it over.

Lee Sori, who was wondering why she was suddenly being asked to look at her phone, looked surprised the moment she saw the screen and turned her head towards the two people.

“Why? Min-woo’s name is here… How did this happen?”

Her husband’s name was on the real-time search rankings of the most famous green window portal site [referring to a popular South Korean search engine, similar to Google].

We support the speedy recovery of actor Gu Min-woo.

Kang Hyuk

Stuntman Gu Min-woo

Movie set accident

Kang Hyuk’s Byeolstagram [Korean slang for Instagram]

Filming of the movie Hero suspended

Gu Min-woo’s face

Kim Seon-ho

Kim Seon-ho leaves

Tomorrow’s weather

Her husband’s name was plastered all over the space where famous people’s names often appeared. In addition, there were quite a few articles about Gu Min-woo.

=Stuntman accident on the set of a famous movie.

Tonight, a stuntman was injured while filming the world-famous movie Hero at a movie set in Seoul.

The stuntman is said to have participated in several works, including domestic dramas and movies, and the accident appears to have occurred while filming a wire scene today.

-Ah! This person is really good at action acting, so it’s a shame that he got into an accident.

-The person Kang Hyuk mentioned is this person. He’s still young, so I hope he recovers quickly.

-Actor Gu Min-woo, I came after seeing actor Kang’s post. I got to know you because of actor Kang, and I’ve become a fan before I knew it. I’ll pray that you shake off your injury and get up.

“What on earth happened?”

Lee Sori asked the two people with a curious expression, reading a few of the countless comments under the article.

“This all happened because of Hyuk.”

“Yes?”