Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 338

339. Misunderstanding

After a moment of silence, Kim Sun-min, as if having made up her mind, revealed the true relationship between herself and Seung-woo.

“He is my son.”

Tae-kyung didn’t say anything.

He felt it was better to listen to Kim Sun-min than to speak right now.

“When I was a student…”

Kim Sun-min, after uttering those words, paused to catch her breath and began her story with difficulty.

“So, I gave birth to Seung-woo when I was in high school. I lived with my parents. We were just an ordinary family, the kind you see everywhere. Then, around the time I entered elementary school, my parents divorced.”

It wasn’t a divorce caused by any particular problem or a major fault on one side.

It was a difference in personality, a common reason for divorce among many people. Her parents sat young Kim Sun-min down and spoke honestly about their decision.

‘Sun-min, I don’t think your mom and dad can live together anymore.’

‘Why?’

‘Your mom and dad don’t love each other as much as they used to. So, if we keep living together, it will be hard on all of us, so we’re going to live separately.’

‘Then, don’t Mom and Dad love Sun-min either?’

‘No, we love our daughter so, so much. We love you the same as before, now, and always.’

That’s how young Kim Sun-min came to live with her father. Although she couldn’t live with her mother due to her parents’ divorce, she didn’t feel her mother’s absence too keenly.

Her mother came to see her every weekend, went out to play with her, always said she loved her, and called her often, doing her best for her daughter.

That was until her mother met someone new and immigrated to another country.

Around the time Kim Sun-min graduated from elementary school, her mother left for Brazil.

“I was worried about not being able to see my mom, but I wasn’t really sad. My mom did her best for me, and I thought she should be happy too.”

“It seems your mother gave you a lot of love.”

“Yes, she really did. So, when I went to the airport with my dad to see her off, I smiled and said goodbye without crying.”

For a while, letters and gifts came from her mother from time to time, but at some point, contact naturally stopped.

Her father told her that it seemed like her mother had a child. So, Kim Sun-min hoped for her mother’s new life to be happy.

She missed her mother occasionally, but that was it. Because Kim Sun-min had her father.

Her father cherished and loved his only daughter very much. The neighbors all praised him for raising his daughter well on his own.

Her father, who was like a close friend, took on the role of both mother and father to raise his daughter.

He never came home late.

He always left a sticky note in the morning with words of encouragement and never forgot to tell his daughter that he loved her.

He asked and studied with his colleagues who were raising daughters, and even threw a celebration party with a cake and a bouquet of flowers when Kim Sun-min started her period in middle school.

Thanks to her father’s support, Kim Sun-min’s grades in school were also excellent.

“Not only your mother but also your father was really amazing. It seems your father gave all his love so that his only daughter wouldn’t feel lonely.”

“That’s right. I often thought that I was a very lucky child with good parents. My dad was the coolest dad in the world.”

“Then, your father now… Perhaps?”

Tae-kyung, who was asking about her father’s absence, trailed off, remembering what Inspector Kim had said about having only two family members.

Although it was an incomplete sentence, Kim Sun-min understood what he meant.

“My dad passed away on my high school entrance ceremony day.”

“Oh, dear…”

It was an accident. Her father, who was rushing to school to deliver documents for work, couldn’t avoid a truck driver’s drowsy driving and was involved in a traffic accident.

“When I heard about my dad’s accident, I held the funeral with my grandmother, but because it was so sudden, I didn’t really process it at first. I couldn’t believe my dad’s death.”

As a day passed, then two days, then three days, her father’s absence became palpable.

The notes he used to write every morning, the loving messages, the delicious smells that filled the small house every evening—none of that was there anymore, and she missed her dad terribly.

“My grandmother stayed with me for a while and then told me to go to her house because it was hard for me to be alone. But I said I didn’t want to.”

Her grandmother was worried about her only granddaughter and told her several times, but Kim Sun-min wanted to stay at home.

She didn’t want to leave the house full of memories with her dad. Kim Sun-min persuaded her grandmother by talking about her schoolwork.

Her grandmother also thought that it would be better for her studious granddaughter to be educated in Seoul than in the countryside, so she reluctantly agreed.

Kim Sun-min deliberately tried to live even more cheerfully. She worked really hard at school and in club activities.

But she was still young, and she couldn’t help but feel the occasional longing and loneliness.

At that time, there was someone who comforted her, cheered her on, studied with her, and helped her.

It was Lee Young-hoon, a senior in the broadcasting club.

“Seung-woo’s father was in the same school.”

“Yes, he had lived abroad since he was young, so he was 20 years old but a senior in high school. Maybe that’s why he seemed quite mature, considerate, and a very kind person to me.”

Lee Young-hoon was the first person to come to the funeral when her father passed away, and he was the one who comforted her the most.

The two of them spent more and more time together and naturally became a couple, and they spent even more time together after Lee Young-hoon received early admission for the first semester [early acceptance to university].

“I knew I shouldn’t have done that as a student, but I liked him so much that I crossed the line I shouldn’t have crossed.”

She was so happy that she didn’t feel her father’s absence or the thought of being alone. But that happiness didn’t last long.

“One day, my period was late, and something felt strange. I suddenly felt like I had a cold, and I was tired for no reason.”

“Those are early pregnancy symptoms.”

“I only found out that those were pregnancy symptoms after searching the internet.”

After hesitating, Kim Sun-min went to a convenience store and bought a pregnancy test, and the result was positive.

When she thought about it, they had been using contraception, but it was difficult for the two of them, who were still young and inexperienced.

Only then did Kim Sun-min realize that real safe contraception and protecting herself meant using condoms.

“At first, I couldn’t even tell him. So, I hid the fact that I was pregnant and went to school.”

Because she was originally thin, her pregnancy wasn’t that noticeable. But as her belly grew and her body became tired, it became difficult to go to school.

Kim Sun-min, full of worry and fear, finally told Lee Young-hoon the truth.

‘I’m pregnant.’

‘……’

Lee Young-hoon thought she was just going to break up with him because Kim Sun-min had been avoiding him and not meeting him for a while.

He was going to try to stop her if she said she wanted to break up, but he didn’t know what to say to the unexpected bombshell confession.

‘I know you’re surprised, but I didn’t know what to do either, so I told you…’

‘I’m sorry!’

Lee Young-hoon grabbed Kim Sun-min’s hand, who was confessing her feelings, and said he was sorry.

‘I didn’t even know… How hard it must have been for you all this time. It’s my fault… I’m sorry for making you go through this because of me. I’m really sorry.’

Although he was young, Lee Young-hoon’s actions were not childish.

‘I’ll be with you until the end.’

He knew that his actions as a student were wrong, but he didn’t want to cowardly run away.

‘Min-sun, let’s discuss together and decide what to do. If you want to have the baby, I’ll take responsibility for you and the baby until the end. And if you want to get rid of it, I’ll go to the hospital with you.’

At this time, Lee Young-hoon was more worried about Kim Sun-min than the baby. He was worried that she might not be able to pursue her future because of the baby.

‘First, I’ll tell my parents. I don’t think this is a problem we can solve on our own.’

‘Oppa [term used to address older brother or male friend], is it okay to tell your parents? I think they’ll think badly of me…’

‘It’s something we did together, and it’s a result we did together, so why would they only think badly of you? And my parents aren’t that harsh. Trust me.’

That was Lee Young-hoon’s misunderstanding.

No matter how good the parents are, no one would easily accept the fact that their son got a high school student pregnant.

‘Is Kim Sun-min the student?’

‘……Yes.’

But Lee Young-hoon’s parents’ reaction was cold, and there was someone even worse—his sister.

‘I heard that our Young-hoon said some nonsense about being together in the future and taking responsibility, but a student? That doesn’t make sense. You’re still at an age where you should be studying, so do you want to ruin your future by having a baby? I’m telling you nicely as an adult, I’ll give you all the expenses. Get rid of the baby.’

‘……’

‘That’s good for everyone. I don’t want to see our Young-hoon’s future ruined because of that child.’

‘……’

‘Hey! Why? Aren’t you talking? Huh! You have to answer when an adult speaks! That’s why kids who grew up without parents act like that.’

Lee Young-hoon’s sister, who was quite older than him, brought up her successful younger brother’s future and poured out harsh words to Kim Sun-min, who had no parents.

‘A young girl trusts her face and gets pregnant with a man at that age! Huh? Are you proud of being pregnant at that age?’

‘I know I did wrong, but you’re going too far.’

‘What? Mom, did you hear what she said?’

‘What good would it be for our Young-hoon or you to have a baby? You’re smart, too. You have to keep studying. It doesn’t make sense for a high school student to get pregnant and give birth.’

‘No education, no parents, and being so brazen… Look at her. Hey! Where are you staring?’

‘Stop talking about my parents. And I’m not that brazen. Don’t talk carelessly.’

‘What? Where are you talking back like that? Huh! Hey!’

Slap-

The sister even slapped young Kim Sun-min on the cheek.

‘You! Just try giving birth to this child. I’ll make sure you can’t even lift your head in Korea.’

Reality was worse than a 막장 [makjang – Korean slang for over-the-top drama] drama.

Young Kim Sun-min received indelible wounds from the adults, and Lee Young-hoon didn’t know about this.

She had to suffer completely alone.

After that, Lee Young-hoon couldn’t meet Kim Sun-min due to the surveillance of his entire family, and Kim Sun-min’s heart was devastated by his family, who came to her every other day and made violent remarks.

In the end, she decided to get rid of the baby.

‘I’ll get rid of it.’

‘You, is that real? I won’t let you get away with it if you say something different later!’

‘……Yes.’

The day before going to the hospital, she had prepared her mind, but Kim Sun-min couldn’t go to the hospital in the end.

She didn’t want to abandon the life that came because of her mistake.

She couldn’t possibly kill a young life.

As she became obsessed with that thought, Kim Sun-min thought she should go to her grandmother’s house in the countryside.

Just in case, she left a long message to Lee Young-hoon and his mother and sister.

-I have no intention of giving birth to a child while being insulted like this by your aunt and sister. Just as Oppa is a precious son, I was also a precious daughter to my parents. And I’m a smart person with a bright future. So, I’m going to get rid of the baby. So, don’t look for me. If you suspect and look for me, I won’t stand it then either. I’m going to spread everything that happened with Oppa.

She also poured out harsh words for the first time to Lee Young-hoon, who came to her house after hearing the news from his sister.

‘Sun-min. You’re going to the hospital, is that real?’

‘It’s as you heard. I’m going to get rid of the baby.’

‘Sun-min……’

‘I’m going to get rid of the baby and start over in a place where no one knows me. Oppa, go to college and study hard and live your life. I resent you a lot. So, let’s end our relationship here. I don’t want to see your face anymore.’

‘Okay. If that’s what you want, I’ll follow you. Then, I can’t break up with you. And let’s go to the hospital together.’

‘Don’t you understand? I don’t like you anymore. I’m uncomfortable even seeing your face!!’

Lee Young-hoon was shocked by Kim Sun-min’s appearance, who spoke with a cold face without blinking an eye. And everyone, including his sister and his parents, who were watching nearby, believed her words without a doubt.

That’s how Kim Sun-min, who dropped out of school and went down to her grandmother’s house in the countryside, gave birth to Seung-woo after a full-term pregnancy of 39 weeks.

She was only 18 years old.