Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 336

337. An Unfamiliar Child

“Hello.”

“Yes, hello…”

The security guard returned the greeting, lifting his head. The moment he saw the man’s face, his pupils dilated significantly.

“……!”

The tall, gentle-looking man before him was the very person Kim Sun-min was looking for.

‘That must be him…’

The security guard had volunteered for the night patrol specifically because of this man.

He was searching for a stranger, all because of Kim Sun-min’s earnest request.

To be honest, he hadn’t known the details and wasn’t thrilled about meddling. But Kim Sun-min’s unfortunate situation had moved him.

After hearing her story, he couldn’t refuse, feeling sorry for Kim Sun-min, who was about the same age as his daughter.

Wanting to offer even a small amount of help, he patrolled the complex more diligently than usual, but it was all in vain.

Just as he was wondering what to do, thinking it wouldn’t be easy to find someone in such a large apartment complex, the man walked right into the security office.

The security guard felt like heaven was helping him in this incredible situation.

“Ah! I found it. Here it is.”

His colleague took out a document envelope from the shelf and handed it to the man.

“This is it, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. Thank you. Here are some drinks for you to share.”

“Oh! You didn’t have to bring all this for such a small favor. Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”

“Okay, then. Have a good one.”

“That young man is very polite. He brought a whole box of Bacchus [a popular Korean energy drink] just for receiving a document. Here, take one, hyung [older brother or male friend].”

“…….”

His colleague took out a bottle of the drink and offered it to the security guard, but his gaze was fixed on the door where the young man had left.

Then, as if struck by an idea, he took out his phone and looked at the photo Kim Sun-min had sent, carefully studying the face of the man who had just left.

‘That’s him. That’s right! No doubt about it.’

“Hyung, I said, have a Bacchus?”

“Forget it. Bacchus isn’t the issue right now. I’m going out for a bit.”

“Huh!? Where are you going? Aren’t you going to eat the spicy seafood noodles?”

“Order it and eat first.”

“Hyung? Hyung!”

Despite his colleague’s shouts, the security guard left the security office without looking back.

“Why is that hyung like that today…? That’s strange.”

Leaving the security office, the security guard kept muttering to himself, following the man walking ahead.

“Building 150, unit 2xx. It was definitely Lee Young-hoon from building 150, unit 2xx. I’m sure of it.”

He quickened his pace, narrowing the distance between himself and the man. Just as he was about to catch up and call out to him,

“Excuse me…”

“Young-hoon?”

“Brother-in-law?”

People who appeared to be family members called out to him in turn. Seeing this, the security guard decided it wasn’t the right time and decided to wait on a nearby bench.

“Sister, brother-in-law?”

“Are you getting off work now?”

The man, presumably the brother-in-law, tapped the man on the shoulder and said.

“Yeah, I’ve been busy lately. But, where’s the head of this house?”

“Min-ji said her father and mother are taking her to sleep over tonight, so we’re on our way back from her in-laws’ house.”

“It’s nice that my parents and brother-in-law live in the same apartment complex, so we see each other often. Brother-in-law, why don’t you join your sister and me for some chicken and beer? How about a cold beer?”

“No, brother-in-law. Thank you, but I’ll pass.”

“Why? Come on, let’s go together.”

“It’s okay. You two go and enjoy yourselves.”

“Really not coming?”

“No. I’m not. I need to check work emails. I’m busy with a company project.”

“Is that so? Alright. Take care of yourself. Call your parents often.”

“I call them more often than my sister does.”

“I call them often too. Go in and rest.”

“Brother-in-law, let’s have a drink sometime.”

“Okay, go in.”

As soon as the man turned around after saying goodbye, his sister ran back to him.

“Young-hoon?”

“Why are you back, noona [older sister]? Where’s brother-in-law?”

“I have something to ask you, so I told him to go ahead.”

“What is it that you had to send brother-in-law away to ask?”

“Because your brother-in-law can’t hear it.”

“What is it?”

“I think I saw her today…”

The sister carefully watched Lee Young-hoon’s expression as she slowly continued.

“I think I saw her.”

“Who?”

“That girl. Kim Sun-min.”

“……!”

The moment the name ‘Kim Sun-min’ fell from his sister’s lips, Lee Young-hoon’s expression, which had been calm, crumbled instantly.

“What? Who?”

But he immediately thought he must have misheard and asked again.

“Oh my, don’t you remember?”

“I couldn’t hear you because of the car noise.”

“I saw Kim Sun-min.”

“Ah, really?”

“Don’t you remember? You and high school… No, you had something going on with her, don’t you remember?”

“…….”

Lee Young-hoon didn’t say anything and remained silent.

“Well, it’s been a long time, and you’ve been having a hard time lately, so it’s natural to forget.”

“But how did you see that person, noona?”

“I saw her in this apartment complex.”

“Our apartment?”

“Yeah. I saw her by chance, and when I asked if she was Kim Sun-min, she said she wasn’t. At first, I thought she just looked alike, but later I realized it was definitely her. She looked surprised to see me and left without looking back. Well, from her perspective, she would be surprised.”

Lee Young-hoon, already preoccupied with thoughts of Kim Sun-min, barely registered what his sister had said.

“Anyway, that’s why I wanted to ask if you had run into her.”

“I think you mistook someone, noona? Even if the complex is big, wouldn’t we have run into each other already if she lived in the same apartment?”

“That’s true too. Now that I think about it, you both were young and only have difficult memories of each other, so what good would it do to meet?”

“Go on. Brother-in-law is waiting.”

“Okay. I’ll go. Go in and rest.”

“Okay. I’ll go.”

After parting with his sister, Lee Young-hoon walked towards his apartment.

*Beep boop*

Lee Young-hoon entered the password and went inside, placing his bag on the dining table chair. He haphazardly loosened his tie, which was constricting his neck, and collapsed onto the sofa.

This was a very different side of Lee Young-hoon than usual.

Because he was so meticulous, even on days when he worked late and came home late, he would take off his clothes, shower, and tidy up before resting.

But today, he didn’t.

Whether it was because he was exhausted from a recent company project or because he suddenly heard the name of an old acquaintance, he didn’t know the reason himself.

‘She saw Kim Sun-min.’

Just now, the words his sister had said kept echoing in his head.

“Why would Sun-min be here? It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t…”

There are people who, no matter how much time passes, never fade from memory. For Lee Young-hoon, Kim Sun-min was one of those people.

Faded memories felt like they happened yesterday, and he occasionally wondered how she was doing.

“Ha!”

As if trying to shake off the echoing in his head, Lee Young-hoon sighed, shook his head from side to side, and got up.

He felt like he needed to gulp down ice water that was so cold it made his head spin to come to his senses.

He opened the refrigerator door and was about to fill a cup full of ice with water when,

*Ding-dong*

The doorbell rang unexpectedly. He hadn’t ordered delivery, and his parents weren’t supposed to come, but the doorbell rang.

Still holding the water cup, Lee Young-hoon thought someone had pressed the wrong button and was about to drink the water. But then the doorbell rang again.

“Who is it?”

Closing the refrigerator, he checked the video phone screen in the living room and saw it was the security guard.

-Sorry for the late hour. I’m the security guard from the complex.

The security guard, who had been waiting for Lee Young-hoon and his sister to finish their conversation, had briefly moved some luggage at the request of a resident.

He had missed the timing to approach Lee Young-hoon and, after much deliberation, ended up coming to his house.

“No, it’s okay. But what brings you here…?”

-Yes, well, is your name Lee Young-hoon? Is that correct?

“I’m Lee Young-hoon, but what’s this about?”

-I came to deliver this to you.

The security guard held up an envelope he took out of his pocket to the camera.

“To me? From who?”

-From Kim Sun-min.

The moment that name was clearly and distinctly heard,

*Crash*

Lee Young-hoon, his grip loosening, unknowingly dropped the water cup.

“Who did you say just now?”

-I said Kim Sun-min. Kim Sun-min asked me to deliver it to you.

*Click*

Lee Young-hoon, as if he didn’t even notice the broken water cup, immediately headed to the front door. At the same time, he realized that the person his sister had seen was indeed Kim Sun-min.

“Here it is.”

The security guard handed Lee Young-hoon the envelope as soon as he saw him.

“……!”

As soon as he saw the name Kim Sun-min written small on the envelope, Lee Young-hoon immediately recognized her handwriting.

Even after so much time had passed, there was no way he wouldn’t recognize her handwriting from the countless letters they had exchanged.

“Excuse me, but are you… do you know Sun-min?”

“No. I don’t know her. I was just asked to do this.”

“If you have time, could you come in for a moment and explain what happened?”

“It’s okay. I’ll explain it here. It’s not that long of a story.”

The security guard, who happened to see the scattered glass shards on the floor, stood at the front door and explained what had happened.

“That’s all I know. I was only asked to do that by Kim Sun-min.”

“I see. Then, do you know why she asked you to deliver this to me?”

“No. I don’t know that either. Maybe you’ll find out when you read it?”

In fact, the security guard knew the reason to some extent, having heard the situation from Kim Sun-min, but he didn’t say anything.

First of all, it wasn’t his place to interfere, and it was best for the parties involved to resolve it themselves.

“I’ll be going now.”

Thinking that he had done all he could, the security guard left the house, hoping that the two would resolve their issues.

“Yes, thank you.”

*Click*

As soon as the security guard left, Lee Young-hoon, not even thinking about going to the sofa, stood at the front door and immediately took out the letter from the envelope.

-It’s been a while, sunbae [senior/upperclassman]. It’s me, Sun-min. Were you surprised to suddenly receive a letter?

I heard that you live here, and I wanted to meet you and talk in person, but I prepared this letter in advance in case we couldn’t meet.

It’s been so long since our relationship ended, and I’m really sorry for contacting you so abruptly like this.

Sunbae, I’m ashamed to ask, but please help me.

You’re the only person I have left to ask, so even though I know it’s a long shot, I’m so desperate that I had no choice but to contact you.

I lied to you that day we last saw each other.

“If it’s a lie, could it be…?”

After reading all the words written in the letter, Lee Young-hoon had a look of utter shock on his face.

His eyes trembled, and he reread it several times, but the content remained the same. Then, when he saw the photo of the child in the envelope, he finally lost strength in his legs and collapsed to the floor.

“How could this be…?”

The fingers holding the photo trembled violently, and the pounding in his chest wouldn’t stop.

“……!”

He had never seen the child in person, but the face in the photo was not unfamiliar.