Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 329

330. I’ll Take Responsibility

“Do you happen to know a child named Seung-woo who lives in room 202?”

“Of course.”

“Absolutely.”

The grandmother and grandfather answered simultaneously, looking at Detective Kim.

“Why are you looking for Seung-woo, Detective?”

“I’m looking for his sister, his guardian.”

“If it’s his sister, you mean Seon-min…….”

“What about Seon-min?”

The grandparents were curious about why a detective was looking for the siblings so early in the morning.

“Detective, what’s going on?”

“Did something happen to the kids? Did it?”

“Excuse me, but what is your relationship with the siblings? Are you family?”

“No.”

“We’re not family, but my husband and I adore those children.”

“My wife and I are their neighbors who live upstairs. We sometimes look after Seung-woo, so we’re close to the siblings.”

“Are you aware that Seung-woo is a bit different from other children?”

Detective Kim, hearing the elderly couple’s words that they knew the siblings well, asked that question just in case, to confirm.

With the whereabouts of Seung-woo’s sister currently unknown, he couldn’t blindly believe the words of even a close elderly couple.

“Of course, we know. Seung-woo has autism spectrum disorder.”

“Our Seung-woo may have autism, but he’s incredibly bright and smart. He’s such a lovely child.”

“What on earth is going on? Even if you’re a detective, you need to explain so we can help you.”

“My wife is right. If you keep asking questions, how are we supposed to know?”

“We are currently looking for Seung-woo’s sister.”

“Seon-min’s whereabouts?”

“What are you talking about right now? Huh?”

The grandfather and grandmother reacted in surprise.

“Yesterday, Seung-woo was found alone at Woori Hospital in Yeoul-dong by the hospital staff.”

“……!”

“No, what is all this? Why is Seung-woo alone at the hospital?”

“Detective, nothing happened to Seung-woo, right?”

The elderly couple looked bewildered and worried, as if something had happened to their real grandson.

“Yes, the child is fine.”

Detective Kim, assuring them that Seung-woo was okay, told them the whole story and asked about his sister.

“So, after hearing Seung-woo’s words, the hospital director asked for help, and I came here myself.”

“Goodness, how could this happen…….”

“Frankly, the children’s situation isn’t easy. Seon-min’s situation has been difficult. She had been behind on rent, working part-time at night after work, and then suddenly got fired from her job. She didn’t show it much, but she must have been struggling a lot inside.”

“Seon-min doesn’t usually talk about how hard things are, so it must have been even harder for her.”

The grandparents explained in detail about Kim Seon-min’s situation as they knew it, defending her.

“But Detective? Seon-min would never do that. I guarantee it. I’m not just saying this because I’m old and know people well, but because I’ve been watching and experiencing it all along.”

“This man is right. She doesn’t meet friends, and she saves everything she wants and wants to eat, focusing solely on her brother. She treats her brother like a mother raising her child. She’s so admirable. We haven’t known Seon-min for long, but she’s definitely not the type to have extreme thoughts.”

“I understand what you’re saying.”

Detective Kim felt a sense of irony.

Considering only what Seung-woo had said, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think that Kim Seon-min had made an extreme choice or abandoned her brother.

But hearing the words of the elderly couple who had been watching her, he also thought that she would never do such a thing.

“You mentioned earlier that Kim Seon-min was going on a field trip with Seung-woo?”

“That’s right. I ran into her early yesterday, and she said she was going on a trip with Seung-woo before starting her new job, so I told her to have a good time.”

“She probably isn’t home right now.”

As the elderly couple said, it was likely that Kim Seon-min wasn’t home, but it was necessary to confirm since he had come all the way here.

“Does the landlord live here?”

“Yes, the landlord’s house is on the top floor.”

Detective Kim immediately went to the landlord’s house, explained the situation, and asked for cooperation.

“Oh my! Goodness! What is all this so early in the morning. I woke up from my sleep and I’m hearing all sorts of things. Grandma, is what this detective saying true?”

“It’s true. Why else would a busy detective come at this hour? So, please cooperate.”

“Okay. What can I do to help?”

“Confirming Kim Seon-min’s whereabouts is the priority right now, so could we check the house?”

“Have you tried calling her?”

“Yes, I have.”

Detective Kim had called Kim Seon-min’s phone number that the elderly couple had given him a little while ago, but unexpectedly, he only heard a recording.

-The service has been temporarily suspended due to the customer’s circumstances.

The phone had been immediately suspended. Therefore, it was necessary to check if she was home.

“Well, even if I’m the landlord, this is a bit much. And I saw on TV dramas that these days, the police can’t just go into someone else’s house without permission…….”

“I will take full responsibility for any consequences.”

That wasn’t wrong, but there was no time to argue about this and that in case something happened.

“Didn’t you hear what the detective said? He said he’ll take responsibility. And is procedure more important right now? Seon-min can’t be reached, you know?”

The grandmother scolded and urged the landlord, who was hesitating.

“Cheol-hyeon’s mom! Please help him.”

“Ugh! Okay, I don’t know either. People are more important. Follow me.”

Eventually, the landlord took the emergency key and went down to room 202 with Detective Kim.

Clang-

“Here you go! But you’re really taking responsibility if any problems arise, right?”

“Yes, I’ll take responsibility.”

Detective Kim said firmly once again and entered the siblings’ house that the landlord had opened.

The small house could be checked in just a few steps, and contrary to everyone’s worries, Kim Seon-min was nowhere to be found in the house.

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

Detective Kim left the clean and well-organized house with a sense of disappointment.

“Do you two remember what Kim Seon-min was wearing?”

“Of course. I remember.”

After that, he collected information about the clothes Kim Seon-min was last wearing from the elderly couple and the landlord, and then headed to the logistics center where she worked.

“Kim Seon-min, where on earth are you? Ha!”

* * *

At Woori Hospital, the woman who had taken Seung-woo to the hospital the day before, when he couldn’t be reached, contacted the hospital and came in person.

“Is that the child?”

Taekyung pointed to Seung-woo, who was still sleeping, and asked the woman.

“Yes, that’s him.”

“Could you tell us about the situation when you brought the child?”

“I was coming to the hospital with my son, and there’s a bench under the hospital’s main gate, right?”

“The bench on the street?”

“Yes, that’s right. A young woman and a child were sitting there. The woman asked if I could take her brother since I was going to the hospital.”

The woman explained in detail, trying to recall as much as possible.

“She said she was going to the hospital soon too, but she had dropped her wallet and had to go find it quickly, so she asked me. She didn’t just say it, she really seemed desperate. Anyway, I was going to the hospital, so I took the child.”

“Did she say anything else or did you notice anything particularly strange?”

“She didn’t say anything else or anything particularly strange……! Oh, there is one thing.”

While speaking, the woman seemed to remember something.

“I think she had been crying.”

“Crying? The child?”

“No, the woman. I couldn’t see clearly because she was wearing a hat, but she looked a bit tired, and her face and voice seemed like she had been crying for a while. And she definitely said she was in a hurry, but as I was taking the child towards the hospital, I looked back and saw her looking at her brother and then running in the opposite direction. After that, I put the child in the waiting room and waited with my son, but there were too many patients, so I canceled my appointment and just left to go to another hospital.”

“I see. Thank you for coming all the way to the hospital.”

“It’s nothing. I’m a mother raising a child too, so I was worried after hearing the news and came before work. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help.”

“It’s okay.”

“I hope the child finds his sister soon. Take care.”

In the end, they even met the woman who had taken Seung-woo, but there were no major gains.

Still, after hearing from Detective Kim a little while ago that his sister wasn’t home, Taekyung felt a bit relieved compared to yesterday.

Of course, he couldn’t completely relax until he was able to reach her, but he thought that Seung-woo’s sister hadn’t made an extreme choice as everyone had feared.

And a few hours later, Detective Kim visited the hospital.

“Hello.”

“Hello.”

“Where is the director? Is he in the emergency room?”

“No. Detective Kim?”

Nurse Im Jeong-suk called out to Detective Kim, who was hurrying towards the emergency room.

“Yes.”

“Is the director in the examination room?”

“If he’s in the examination room, is he seeing a patient?”

“Yes. There are no more outpatients scheduled, so it won’t take long.”

“It’s okay even if it takes a long time. The patient is more important than me. Oh! How is the child doing?”

“Seung-woo?”

“Yes.”

“He ate breakfast well and looked at the book the director gave him as a gift, and now he’s playing with his friend in the medical office.”

“Friend? Does our hospital have a friend of his age?”

“Yes, he made a friend. Kevin, Seung-woo even named him.”

“Kevin! Is it a foreign friend?”

Kim Kyung-sa, watching Im Jeong-suk heading to the reception desk with a full motherly smile, approached the medical office.

“He must be good at foreign languages if he’s called a genius.”

Detective Kim, muttering to himself and looking inside through the glass door, made an absurd expression and let out a hollow laugh when he realized Kevin’s identity.

“No, Nurse Su? Did you just call that Kevin?”

“Of course. Seung-woo even gave him a name.”

“No, that’s just a model.”

“Anyone can see that’s Kevin.”

Kevin’s identity, which Kim Kyung-sa couldn’t help but be dumbfounded by, was the human body model in the waiting room.

Seung-woo liked the model so much that Taekyung moved it to the medical office so he could play with it as much as he wanted.

He thought it was a good thing since the children sometimes burst into tears because of the starkness of the model, with its wide-open eyes and the brain clearly visible behind its head.

“Isn’t he scared of that? I get goosebumps every time I see it…….”

“Scared? Isn’t it cute?”

Taekyung, who had finished his examination in the meantime, approached Kim Kyung-sa, who was still dumbfounded, and said.

“To think that’s cute, you’re definitely a born doctor.”

“Not the model, Seung-woo. It’s cute that he gave that model a name.”

“Seung-woo is cute.”

Kim Kyung-sa followed Taekyung into the examination room and continued to speak.

“Anyway, I’ve looked into this and that about his sister.”

“You’ve been working hard since morning, I hope it’s good news.”

“There’s good news and bad news, which would you like to hear first?”

“I’ll hear the bad news first. I think that would be better.”