Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 302

302. The Letter

“What is it?”

Returning home, the grandmother spoke to the grandfather, who was lying on the patient bed in the main room.

The grandfather, suffering from a disease that weakened his muscles, couldn’t speak and conveyed his intentions with his eyes, but miraculously, the grandmother understood almost everything.

Seeing his wife return late at night and come back at dawn, the grandfather wondered what was going on.

“Judging by the way you’re looking at me, you must be curious. Your granddaughter went to heaven today.”

“……!”

The grandfather’s expression, which had been full of curiosity, instantly crumbled.

“I received a call earlier, and I’m on my way back from the hospital.”

Like the grandmother, the grandfather was always anxious about his unstable granddaughter’s condition.

Every time the grandmother rushed out in the early morning, he suspected it was the hospital, but he never expected it would happen so suddenly.

“The welfare worker will be here to see you later. Don’t give them a hard time and listen carefully. And you, pray in your heart that your granddaughter goes to a good place.”

“……!”

“What! Do you have something to say to me? The closet?”

The grandmother asked, noticing the grandfather repeatedly gesturing towards the closet, and the grandfather blinked again.

Since there was no reason to go out, only one jacket hung in the closet, like a single suit for a gentleman.

“What’s in here…….”

The grandmother rummaged through the pockets of the grandfather’s jacket, which hung alone, and was momentarily speechless when she pulled out something.

It was a picture of Chaeryang. And it was a picture of her smiling brightly.

The grandmother, who had never seen her granddaughter smile before, paused for a moment at the sight of her cheerful face.

“This child can smile too.”

And the grandmother immediately understood why the grandfather had asked her to take out this picture.

It was to use it as her granddaughter’s funeral portrait.

“You want me to use this picture, right?”

The grandfather blinked clearly.

Go Chaeryang was always a child with an expression full of anxiety and loneliness. But the grandfather wanted his only granddaughter’s funeral photo to be a bright one.

“Okay. This picture will be good. That would be good. I’ll be back.”

The grandmother wiped away the tears from the grandfather’s eyes, who was crying silently, finished her preparations, and headed back to the hospital a few hours later.

Arriving at the funeral hall on one side of the hospital, the grandmother stood blankly, staring at the altar.

She didn’t have any special affection or attachment to her granddaughter, but she still wanted to hold a funeral for her.

Even though they were not well-off, she thought it would be easier on her mind to at least have some semblance of a proper farewell for her last journey.

“Have you arrived? Please let me know if there’s anything you want to add.”

The staff member in charge of the funeral quietly approached and asked.

“There’s nothing like that.”

“Is the size of the hanbok [traditional Korean clothing] okay?”

“Yes. It fits well.”

The grandmother, wearing the black hanbok prepared by the staff, answered, fiddling with the coat strings for no reason.

“And as you requested, we proceeded with the utmost simplicity.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Having thought that no one would come to visit the granddaughter who had lived a short, wandering life, the grandmother consulted with the staff and shortened the funeral period.

She eliminated all the procedures that she felt were unnecessary during the funeral and kept everything as simple as possible.

She hesitated about whether to set up a mourning altar, but the grandmother decided to set up one for just one day to quietly remember and mourn her granddaughter alone.

Thanks to the staff who helped her with everything from early morning, the mourning altar was quickly set up.

“I have a favor to ask, may I ask?”

“Yes, please do.”

“I was wondering if it would be possible to change the funeral portrait to this one.”

The grandmother handed the staff the picture of her granddaughter smiling brightly that her grandfather had given her.

“Of course. Absolutely. I think this picture is better too.”

Soon after, Go Chaeryang’s funeral portrait was changed. Was it because of the picture of her smiling brightly without any worries? The desolate funeral hall even seemed brighter.

“A smiling face suits her so well…….”

The grandmother approached the desolate altar and looked at her granddaughter’s picture once more.

Just as Grandma Kim Gil-ja was sitting alone in the empty funeral hall, leaning against the corner, she heard footsteps from the entrance, and she thought the staff was coming in again. The staff had been coming in frequently to ask if she needed anything, perhaps feeling sorry for the old woman who was alone without any family or mourners.

“You don’t have to keep coming……!”

The grandmother, who was getting up from her seat, stopped speaking and paused at the unexpected visitor.

“T, Teacher!”

It was none other than Taekyung who had come to the funeral hall.

“How did you get here, Teacher…….”

“I came to pay my respects to patient Go Chaeryang.”

The grandmother was at a loss, not expecting any mourners.

“May I come in?”

“Of course. Come in.”

Taekyung, who was on duty, took some time out to visit the funeral hall. He wanted to say goodbye to Go Chaeryang on her final journey.

Taekyung, who brought white chrysanthemums, formally greeted the grandmother and then prayed for Go Chaeryang, who was smiling on the altar, and placed the flowers.

‘I hope you forget all the bad memories here and always smile there without feeling any pain or sadness.’

“You must be busy, how did you come?”

“I’m still okay. And please accept this.”

Taekyung handed over an envelope containing condolences.

“No. Teacher, I don’t think this is right. I’m grateful that you came, but please don’t do this. I didn’t even expect any mourners, so I didn’t even prepare properly.”

The grandmother said, looking at the funeral altar with only the picture on it.

In fact, she didn’t have enough money to pay for the expensive flowers, let alone mourners.

“But I can’t accept this because I feel sorry.”

“The amount isn’t large. Please accept it.”

Taekyung pushed the envelope into her hands, which were vehemently refusing, comforted the grandmother, and left the funeral hall.

“Elderly?”

The staff member who entered the funeral hall called out to the grandmother, who was staring blankly at the white envelope Taekyung had given her.

Behind the staff member, other people were also visible.

“What is all this! I never ordered anything?”

“I know. The director came here, right?”

“Yes, a little while ago……. Did the director order it, perhaps?”

“Yes, Director Kim Taekyung paid for the entire funeral expenses.”

“Oh my…….”

“Please take good care of it, Manager.”

“Of course. I’ll pay extra attention to it.”

The staff member asked the man who was decorating the altar with chrysanthemums and continued.

“And the director didn’t forget to say that he wanted you to do your best to ensure that the deceased had everything she needed on her way to the afterlife.”

Taekyung, who had heard about the grandmother’s situation from the funeral staff, decided to help by using the hospital’s internal system for helping patients in need.

“I can’t thank you enough……. But I don’t know if I should accept this help.”

“Please accept it, Grandma.”

The grandmother, filled with gratitude, surprise, and a sense of guilt, didn’t know what to do. But the surprises didn’t end there.

Starting with Taekyung, the hospital’s medical staff and employees visited the funeral hall one by one, as if they had made a promise.

‘I heard the director went to pay his respects to patient Go Chaeryang.’

‘Really? That’s just like the director. Actually, I was thinking of going too.’

‘You too, Nurse Im? Me too.’

Team Leader Choi, who saw Taekyung visiting the funeral hall, told Nurse Im Jeong-suk, and the employees who heard the news visited the deceased whenever they had time.

And Kim Il-sang, who had witnessed everything in the emergency room the day before, was one of them.

“Chanhee-ya?”

“What, what’s wrong? Does your butt hurt?”

Lee Chanhee wondered what was going on when his friend, who had disinfected the affected area well yesterday, came to visit without contacting him.

“It’s not that, did you happen to see that student Go Chaeryang yesterday? Are you going to her funeral?”

“Oh, I was about to go now, but I came out again after receiving your call. Why?”

“Um……. Can I come with you to pay my respects?”

“You, don’t tell me you came to the hospital to go to the funeral?”

Kim Il-sang quietly nodded. It was the first time in his life that he had seen someone’s death so closely.

He seemed to have mixed feelings along with a great shock the day before. It was, in a way, natural.

Anyone who saw such a sight would have felt similar emotions.

Moreover, Kim Il-sang wanted to mourn the deceased because it was the death of a friend who was still too young. One flower that had been buried in a difficult life was too pitiful.

“Okay, let’s go together. I heard that some of the patients who were in the emergency room yesterday also paid their respects. I think it was because she was a young patient.”

The two visited Go Chaeryang’s funeral hall, quietly paid their respects, comforted the grandmother, and came out.

“Hey, Chanhee-ya?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t know what this feeling is, but my heart feels heavy.”

Kim Il-sang said with a blank expression after leaving the funeral hall.

“I don’t know if it’s because I haven’t been to a funeral in so long or because the deceased was young, but my heart feels heavy.”

“All deaths are heavy. I feel that way every time I see it.”

“I don’t know if it’s okay to feel this way, but suddenly I have this feeling that I want to live my life to the fullest. To be honest, I was going to die because it was so hard after my girlfriend cheated on me and broke up with me.”

“You crazy bastard. Why would you die because of that kind of woman?”

“That’s right. At the time, I couldn’t hear anything and it was so hard that I wanted to die. But after experiencing what happened yesterday and today, I feel like life is really precious. I feel grateful for no reason…….”

“Isn’t that natural? It’s because you realize through others that things that should be there might have disappeared, so you feel that way.”

“Now that I hear you say that, I think you’re right, Chanhee. You must be busy, go in quickly.”

“Are you going already? You have nothing to do. Let’s eat something and go.”

“No. I don’t want to waste my time. I’m going to live my life to the fullest so that I’m not ashamed of that student.”

“Yeah, that’s a really good idea.”

“Go in.”

Kim Il-sang waved his hand vigorously and left the hospital.

“Il-sang, go in safely and contact me!”

Lee Chanhee was relieved that his friend, who had been so down just a few days ago, seemed to have regained his energy.

* * *

“Did you see everything just now?”

The grandmother, who had been greeting the people from our hospital who had been visiting the funeral hall all day, said to herself, looking at her granddaughter’s picture.

“Many people came to remember you. I’m so grateful. Right? I was worried that you would be lonely even on your last journey, but I’m glad.”

“Excuse me.”

The grandmother, who had been looking at Go Chaeryang’s picture and arranging the flowers piled on the altar for a while, turned her head at the sound from behind.

“Hello. Is this Go Chaeryang’s funeral hall?”

“Yes, it is. Come in.”

The grandmother, who thought that this was also a staff member from our hospital, guided the man in.

The man, who entered with heavy steps, placed a single chrysanthemum on the altar, bowed, and mourned the deceased.

“Thank you for coming.”

“I have something to give to you, Elder. This…….”

“No. I can’t receive any more.”

The grandmother, who had decided to only accept the hearts of the staff members who came to pay their respects, had stopped receiving condolence money after the first few times.

“Then, at least this…….”

“Thank you, but I’ll only accept your heart.”

“This is not condolence money.”

The man quietly said as the grandmother expressed her refusal upon seeing the envelope that was handed out again.

“You must receive this. It’s a letter left by your granddaughter.”

This man was not a staff member of our hospital, but the motel owner where Go Chaeryang had stayed.

The owner, who had been distracted by the unexpected incident, found the letter while cleaning Room 307 and came to find the grandmother to deliver it.

“A letter written by Chaeryang?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The grandmother could tell that the letter the man handed her was her granddaughter’s suicide note.