Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 318

Five Vital Signs – Episode 319 (318/502)

319. Eight-Lane Road

00 Elementary School-

“Excuse me, could you tell me where the counseling office is on the first floor?”

Kim Sun-min, having rushed to the school, was looking for the counseling office.

She had been to the school before, but it was her first time looking for the counseling office, so she quickly asked a passing staff member.

“The counseling office? Go around that corner and it’s a little ways down on the right. You’ll see a sign.”

“Thank you.”

Rushing in the direction the staff member had indicated, she immediately saw the sign for the counseling office.

“……!”

Just as Kim Sun-min was about to grab the doorknob, she pulled her hand back and checked her face on her phone.

She had rushed so quickly that her hair, which she had tied up in the office, was disheveled. After quickly tidying up her appearance, she hurriedly entered the counseling office.

Creak-

“Are you here for, uh… him?”

As soon as she quickly opened the sliding door and entered, a middle-aged woman stared at her with sparks in her eyes, as if she had been waiting.

The woman, with her hair styled to maximize volume and wearing an extravagant brooch-adorned dress, pointed at Seung-woo with her chin and said,

“Are you his mother?”

“Mrs. Man-woo, she’s Seung-woo’s sister.”

“Sister? No wonder she looks so young…….”

Before the homeroom teacher could finish speaking, the middle-aged woman sized Kim Sun-min up and down with a displeased expression.

“Sister or whatever, that’s not important right now. You heard the story on your way here, right?”

“Yes. I’m really sor…….”

“Whatever.”

Kim Sun-min tried to apologize quickly, but the middle-aged woman wouldn’t listen.

“Man-woo? You, raise your hand. Son! Raise your hand.”

“Ah, I was playing a game……. There, happy?”

“See this?”

The middle-aged woman pointed to the bandage wrapped around her son’s finger and glared at Kim Sun-min and Seung-woo, who was quietly looking at a book.

“My son went to the hospital and got stitches on his finger.”

“……!”

Kim Sun-min flinched at the mention of stitches. When she received the call from the homeroom teacher earlier, she had thought he had just cut his hand on paper.

Of course, the fact that he had cut his hand on paper and bled was also a problem, but she hadn’t heard that he had gone to the hospital for stitches, so she couldn’t help but be more surprised.

“I heard that he asked your brother a question, but he kept ignoring him. There were friends around, and he asked him to play together, but he kept ignoring him, so how embarrassed would our child be? Right? So, he told him to stop reading and talk, and then, wouldn’t you know it, he snatched the book away, and our Man-woo’s finger got cut.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s not just about being sorry……. Look here! Do you know what kind of son my son is? He’s the youngest child and the eldest grandson in our family. He’s a precious son we’re raising with the utmost care, so what are we going to do if this leaves a scar on our child’s hand? Huh?”

It was true that the middle-aged woman’s son, a large child, had stitches on his finger. But there was more to the story.

After receiving a call from the homeroom teacher at school, the woman rushed over and was quite dumbfounded to see her son’s bleeding finger.

‘Oh, you must be very surprised? I’ve stopped the bleeding, so it will stop soon.’

‘Listen! You’re just the school nurse, not a doctor. What do you know?’

The school nurse had done a good job of stopping the bleeding, but the woman ignored her and took her son to a nearby hospital.

She went to the hospital huffing and puffing, but the doctor also said that if the bleeding was stopped well, it would heal. He told her to disinfect it well and be careful not to get it wet. However, the woman looked at her son’s deeply cut finger and insisted on getting it stitched up so it would heal quickly.

The doctor said it was just one stitch, and giving him anesthesia for that one stitch would be more difficult for the child.

However, the woman did not budge from her desire to have it stitched up nicely.

In the end, the doctor gave in to the woman’s stubbornness and stitched it up.

It was true that the cut was a bit deep, but it wasn’t serious, and it was the woman who insisted on stitching up a wound that would have healed on its own.

Meanwhile, the woman was talking as if this whole situation was Seung-woo’s fault.

“He was in so much pain getting this stitched up at the hospital……. I was so upset I almost cried.”

“Mrs. Man-woo, I’m really sorry.”

Kim Sun-min remained standing, unable to sit, bowing her head and continuing to apologize politely.

“Seung-woo’s sister, please sit down.”

Seeing Kim Sun-min still standing, the homeroom teacher, who was sitting next to Seung-woo, got up and offered her seat.

“Mrs. Man-woo, I will cover all the medical expenses.”

“No, you’re saying strange things. When did I ever ask you to pay for the medical expenses? You look like you don’t have any money anyway…….”

The woman trailed off slightly, making sure Kim Sun-min could hear her, and continued to speak rudely without filtering her words.

“Hey! Do you have more money than me? Who are you showing off your money to?”

“No. That’s not what I meant…….”

“Usually, isn’t an apology the first thing you do in a situation like this? Your brother hasn’t said a single word of apology so far. Do you know that?”

“Mrs. Man-woo, I think there’s some misunderstanding, that’s…….”

“Teacher, are you taking their side right now? Are you?”

When the homeroom teacher, unable to watch any longer, tried to intervene and mediate the situation, the middle-aged woman gave him a dissatisfied look. Moreover, she was a difficult person for a new teacher who had been appointed less than a year ago to deal with.

“No. Mrs. I’m not taking anyone’s side.”

“Enough! And I’m not done talking yet? Do you interrupt children like this when they’re talking at school?”

“Yes! Ah, no.”

“Then wait until I’m finished. Anyway, as I said before, I don’t want an apology from the sister, but I want the child to apologize to our child directly…….”

“Seung-woo, Man-woo hurt his finger, so you should apologize. Will our Seung-woo apologize?”

“…….”

Kim Sun-min came in front of Seung-woo, bent her knees, and matched his eye level, speaking coaxingly, but Seung-woo, who was looking at the book, did not react.

Even in this commotion, Seung-woo seemed indifferent, as if there was an invisible wall around him.

“Our good Seung-woo, let’s apologize to our friend.”

“…….”

The child’s gaze was still fixed on the book, and his lips were sealed.

“Hey! Slowpoke, no, Go Seung-woo! Because of you, my finger bled and I got stitches, aren’t you going to apologize?”

“Oh, my! Oh, my! He’s not moving at all.”

“Hey! You hurt me?”

“Man-woo, if you shout like that, Seung-woo might get scared. I’m sorry, but please don’t shout and just talk to him.”

“Unbelievable!”

Kim Sun-min spoke cautiously after seeing Seung-woo flinch when the large child suddenly shouted. Then, the middle-aged woman scoffed and looked dumbfounded.

“No, you only see your child getting scared, but you don’t see our child getting hurt and scared? And it’s not like he’s starving, but how did you raise him that he doesn’t even know how to apologize?”

“I’m sorry. Seung-woo, let’s apologize to our friend. Huh?”

“Hey, you heard your sister, right? If you apologize quickly, I’ll let it go.”

“Not a friend. Pushed me over.”

Seung-woo, who had been looking at the book, finally opened his mouth and spoke softly as the large child continued to tease him and urge him to apologize.

“Seung-woo fell? Why did you fall?”

When Kim Sun-min asked, Seung-woo pointed his finger directly at the large child while looking at the book.

“Man-woo, did you make him fall?”

“No, he took the book from me and sat down huffing and puffing and fell on his own.”

“That’s a lie. It’s bad to lie.”

Seung-woo whispered quietly after hearing the brazen answer, but no one heard him.

“Unbelievable, he’s been keeping his mouth shut until now, and all he can say is a lie? You’re really hopeless, aren’t you?”

“Man-woo? And Mrs. Man-woo. Seung-woo didn’t do it on purpose. I’ll apologize on his behalf. I’m really sorry again. I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again and give Seung-woo a warning.”

“That’s why children who grow up without parents are always obvious. And he’s a [special needs child], right? That’s why he’s like that.”

“……!”

The word that followed the middle-aged woman’s words, rather than the words ‘grew up without parents,’ felt like it struck Kim Sun-min’s heart.

The expression that had maintained composure until now crumbled without fail the moment she heard those words.

“Mrs. Man-woo. Your words are a bit excessive.”

In the end, the homeroom teacher, unable to watch any longer, said a word.

The middle-aged woman was a so-called successful housewife from a wealthy family.

Her two daughters, who had already graduated from elementary school, were both former student council presidents, and the woman herself was a former president of the parent-teacher association, with a great deal of influence.

Moreover, she was someone who occasionally donated development funds to the school, so ordinary teachers could not easily say anything to her.

The homeroom teacher, who had just been appointed this year, had no choice but to be mindful of her. However, the homeroom teacher, who had been watching the situation quietly until now, could no longer betray his conscience and wanted to say what he had to say.

“Teacher. Are you perhaps talking to me right now?”

“Yes, and in fact, Man-woo was the one who bullied Seung-woo while he was looking at the book.”

“What? What are you saying as a homeroom teacher?”

“It’s as you heard.”

“What! As you heard……. Hey! Do you know who I am?”

“Yes. I know. You’re Man-woo’s mother.”

“You, are you taking the side of those foolish siblings right now? Huh!”

“Please watch your words. Seung-woo is a smart child.”

“Is this who’s teaching whom right now? Aren’t you going to apologize right now?!”

Creak-

Just as the middle-aged woman was reddening her face and shouting so loudly that the counseling office echoed, the vice principal entered.

“Mrs. Man-woo.”

“Ha! Vice Principal. Do you know what that teacher said to me?”

“Mrs., I’m sorry. I think there’s some small misunderstanding…….”

“Misunderstanding? What kind of freezing [exaggerated] misunderstanding are you talking about? I can’t entrust our Man-woo to that kind of teacher.”

“Of course. I understand how you feel. First, calm down and talk to me.”

The vice principal, who had experienced this kind of thing many times, soothed the middle-aged woman and gestured to the homeroom teacher to take Kim Sun-min and Seung-woo out.

“Hey! Can’t you all stand there? Where are you going?”

The homeroom teacher ignored the middle-aged woman’s words, who was raising her voice, and quickly took the two out of the counseling office.

“Our Seung-woo likes milk, right?”

The homeroom teacher went into the faculty room for a moment and then quickly handed Seung-woo the milk he had brought.

“Yes. I like milk. 200mL of milk contains 200mg of calcium, 100mg of sodium, 9g of carbohydrates, 8g of fat, 5g of saturated fat, 9g of sugar, less than 0.5g of trans fat, 25mg of cholesterol, and 6g of protein, and milk is rich in protein, and that protein contains casein…….”

“Seung-woo, the teacher gave you milk, so you should say ‘Thank you’ first.”

Kim Sun-min said soothingly, watching Seung-woo rattle off information about the milk that no one had asked for.

“You should say thank you.”

“Yes. Thank you. Say it.”

“Thank you, Teacher.”

“You’re welcome. More than that, you must have been very surprised, ma’am?”

“No. More than that, I’m worried that the teacher might be in trouble because of us.”

“Not at all. Don’t say that. I’m sorry that I couldn’t be more proactive.”

“No.”

In fact, Kim Sun-min was somewhat aware that it wasn’t Seung-woo’s fault that the large child had hurt his finger.

She knew that Seung-woo would not react first unless his world was disrupted. However, the reason she didn’t strongly argue with the other parent was because there were many people who wouldn’t believe her even if she spoke, so she was just trying to let it pass.

“How about you take Seung-woo home today?”

“Yes, I think that would be good. Thank you in many ways. Seung-woo, you have to say goodbye to the teacher.”

“Goodbye.”

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow, Seung-woo.”

Kim Sun-min took Seung-woo’s hand and left the school.

“Seung-woo, aren’t you hungry?”

“Not hungry.”

“Then do you want a snack? Ice cream?”

“Ice cream. Mom is an Alien ice cream [a popular flavor from the Baskin-Robbins ice cream chain in Korea].”

“Okay. Ice crea……. Yes, hello.”

Forgetting the heavy atmosphere in the counseling office, Kim Sun-min quickly answered the phone when it vibrated while they were talking about ice cream.

-Min-sun, it’s me, where are you right now? There’s a problem. That is…….

“Yes!? Manager, I’ll be right there.”

Kim Sun-min, who received a call from the company, looked surprised and quickly hung up the phone.

“Seung-woo, I’m sorry, but can we eat ice cream later tonight? Your sister will definitely buy it for you.”

“Definitely buy it. Promise?”

“Yes, I promise, thank you.”

Kim Sun-min postponed the ice cream promise for a while and hurried to drop off Seung-woo.

She could see that the green light was on at the crosswalk at the large intersection past the school.

Exactly half of the numbers on the crosswalk sign were gone.

“Seung-woo, your sister is in a hurry, so let’s go a little faster today.”

Normally, she would have waited for the next signal, but a very urgent situation had arisen, so she didn’t have time to wait for the long signal interval at the eight-lane intersection.

“Let’s run just a little.”

Kim Sun-min took Seung-woo’s hand and started to cross the crosswalk, but unlike Kim Sun-min’s hurried heart, Seung-woo didn’t follow.

“White line……. White line!”

“Seung-woo, let’s do it later.”

Seung-woo, who never passed by the white line on the crosswalk, repeated that pattern today. [Seung-woo has a compulsion to step on the white lines of the crosswalk.]

“Ah! Ah! I don’t want to!”

Kim Sun-min, realizing that there was no other way, picked up Seung-woo and struggled to run across the crosswalk with only a few seconds left.

“Haa! I’m tired.”

The signal changed as if waiting for the two to cross the crosswalk, and Kim Sun-min breathed out and put Seung-woo down.

“White line! Didn’t step on 7 of them.”

But at that moment, Seung-woo, who had been talking to himself, turned around and ran into the crosswalk without even being able to stop him.

It was also an eight-lane road where many cars were already running.