Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 372

373. The Root of All Evil

Meanwhile, Tae-kyung, revisiting Yoo Hyuk-jin’s hospital room, decided on a slightly different approach.

It wasn’t about direct persuasion, but rather, a silent presence.

He visited the hospital room whenever possible, sometimes staying for thirty minutes, sometimes twenty. Even with just five minutes to spare, he’d make his way to the room.

He would sit silently beside Yoo Hyuk-jin’s bed, without uttering a word.

When a call came, he’d rush back to the emergency room, examination room, or even the operating room for an emergency surgery. When he had a moment again, he would return to sit in the chair for an hour or more.

Creak-

“Did the director come?”

“Don’t mind me, please, make yourself comfortable.”

The prison guards, initially nervous and unsure how to react, grew accustomed to Tae-kyung’s frequent visits.

Creak-

“The director’s here again?”

“He’s really something.”

The prison guards shook their heads, having watched Tae-kyung go in and out more than ten times.

Frankly, being a doctor, especially a hospital director, is a demanding job. He’s constantly busy with patients and leading the hospital. It was astonishing that he consistently visited Yoo Hyuk-jin, who remained stubbornly silent, whenever he found a spare moment.

“Aren’t you tired?”

“I’m used to it, so I’m not tired.”

“Director, I think it would be better if you stopped coming.”

A senior prison guard approached Tae-kyung, speaking in a hushed tone.

“Pardon?”

“I don’t think that guy will talk, so I’m telling you to stop wasting your time.”

“That’s right. Everyone has their stubborn side, but that guy is secretly very obstinate. Once he’s made up his mind, he doesn’t change it.”

Usually, inmates in the same cell become somewhat close. They share personal stories about their lives before prison, how they ended up incarcerated – their private lives, in short.

But Yoo Hyuk-jin didn’t participate in that.

Even in prison, many called him ‘teacher’ and confided their worries or future plans, but he never revealed his own story.

Furthermore,

If an inmate needed help, he wouldn’t hesitate to assist and try to solve the problem. Conversely, he never sought help from anyone.

The stories about Yoo Hyuk-jin circulating in the prison weren’t told by him.

No one knew how they spread. Some parts were accurate, while others were exaggerated, but he didn’t seem to care.

“There are various programs in prison to help inmates, including counseling and psychological programs, but Yoo Hyuk-jin has never participated in any of them. And very few prison guards know the exact details of his case. He never tells his own story.”

Several times, the counselor offered help, but Yoo Hyuk-jin refused, saying he was fine.

“I told you because I was worried that a busy person like you would waste valuable time.”

The senior prison guard had also tried to reach out several times, but it was useless, so he felt comfortable speaking frankly to Tae-kyung.

“He’s my patient, hospitalized in our hospital, so I’ll keep trying while he’s here. If it doesn’t work, then I can’t help it. Thank you for your concern.”

After the conversation with the prison guard, Tae-kyung brought another chair and sat in front of the bed. He looked at Yoo Hyuk-jin, who remained silent, and said.

“You said that to me, right?”

He knew Yoo Hyuk-jin wasn’t sleeping, even though his eyes were closed.

“You don’t trust the words of successful people who have a lot, even if a knife is held to your neck? Did I look like someone who has a lot? Then you’ve mistaken me… You can’t know a person by looking at their appearance.”

Tae-kyung began to tell his own story. The prison guards were in the hospital room, but he didn’t care.

When approaching someone, especially someone who has closed their heart, the best approach is to share your own story first.

People are drawn to those who share similarities and with whom they feel a sense of connection.

So Tae-kyung told his own story.

He wanted to show Yoo Hyuk-jin his true self, not as a young and successful hospital director with wealth and success.

“My father struggled with alcohol and passed away, and my mother raised us while working as a housekeeper and in a restaurant. My family was poor, and I rummaged through trash cans in the hagwon [private tutoring academy] district to study and get into medical school. I became a doctor, but I spent a long time paying off my brother’s debt and went through a crisis where I was in despair and almost died. All I have now is the title of director of this hospital, patients, employees, and the people I love. Do I still look like someone who has a lot?”

“……”

At that moment, Yoo Hyuk-jin, who had been keeping his eyes tightly closed, showed a flicker of emotion on his face.

“Yoo Hyuk-jin, I heard that you have many followers in prison and help people in need? Why are you trying to bear your own difficulties alone like a fool while trying to help others?”

“……!”

“Do you know what one of the important things in life is? It’s eating well and excreting well. But it’s not just the body! We have to get rid of the waste in our hearts to live well. If you keep enduring like that, you’ll get sick in your heart. Just like you told the inmates to live hard, you also need to receive help and excrete the waste in your heart to get rid of the desire to die.”

Tae-kyung got up from his chair after saying everything he wanted to say and continued.

“It’ll be boring if I say the same thing over and over again, so I’ll leave it at that for today. Thank you for listening to my boring story.”

“Is that true?”

It was then, as Tae-kyung, having finished his heartfelt words, was turning around.

“If I excrete!”

Yoo Hyuk-jin, who had been listening to the long story with his eyes closed and without any reaction, raised his voice and opened his mouth.

“If I excrete the lump in my heart, will the desire to die really disappear?”

“If it makes Yoo Hyuk-jin’s heart comfortable, then wouldn’t that desire to die disappear too?”

“The director’s words that he would help me? Are those words still sincere?”

“I don’t lie in front of patients.”

“Then would you listen to my story?”

“Of course.”

Whether it was because of Tae-kyung’s sincere story or if his mind had simply changed, it was clear that there was a shift in Yoo Hyuk-jin’s heart.

“That’s great! You should have done that sooner. People feel comfortable when they say something out loud.”

“It’s worth the director’s efforts.”

“Prison guard?”

“Yes. Tell me.”

The prison guards, who had been listening to the two people’s stories in the hospital room and were happy as if it were their own business, lost their smiles at Yoo Hyuk-jin’s words that followed right after.

“I’m sorry to both of you, but if you allow me, I would like to talk to the director alone.”

Yoo Hyuk-jin wanted to talk to Tae-kyung alone.

“Even so, that’s a bit difficult. Isn’t it?”

“Of course. Senior. I know it’s hard for you to say that, but that’s not right.”

They knew how he felt, but they couldn’t leave Yoo Hyuk-jin, who had tried to escape, alone with Tae-kyung.

“It’s hard to believe, but I’m not trying to run away or even thinking about it. If you’re so worried, you can put handcuffs on my feet while I talk to the director.”

“Let’s do that. I’ll keep a close eye on you. And I think it’ll be okay if you two are in front of the hospital room. I’ll ask you.”

“……I understand.”

Eventually, they agreed to Yoo Hyuk-jin’s request on the condition that he was handcuffed.

Tae-kyung, after briefly checking the emergency room situation, returned to the hospital room, and the prison guards decided to sit outside the hospital room and wait.

“You can talk comfortably now.”

“Can I ask you one thing before that?”

“Of course.”

“If I had continued to refuse treatment, were you really going to report Chang-gyu to the police?”

“No. I said that to treat Yoo Hyuk-jin.”

“I knew it. But I’m curious as to why the director would help me so much.”

“Well, Yoo Hyuk-jin’s words that he wanted to die sounded like he was asking for help.”

“……!”

He flinched for a moment at Tae-kyung’s words, took a deep breath, and began to tell his story.

“I know that saying I want to die in front of a doctor is a cruel thing to say. But once the director hears my story, he will understand my feelings. And aren’t you curious as to why I suddenly changed my mind?”

“I’m curious.”

“Like the director’s mother, my mother also worked as a housekeeper. I felt like there was something similar, so I started to think that if it was the director, he would listen to my story and grant my request, so I wanted to talk. But my story is……”

Yoo Hyuk-jin paused for a moment and then spoke again.

“It’s a scary, hideous, miserable, and unpleasant story, but can you listen to it?”

“Yes, I’ll listen.”

“I lived with my parents and my younger sister, who was quite a bit younger than me, as a family of four.”

His parents were ordinary people, but they were wonderful people who lived diligently and earnestly.

And like all parents, they loved and cherished Yoo Hyuk-jin and his younger sister more than their own lives.

The family of four was happy every day.

The family’s financial situation was also good.

They weren’t rich, but they weren’t poor or lacking either. It was because his father and mother had been working as a driver and housekeeper in a certain house for a long time and received a high salary.

The house where Yoo Hyuk-jin’s parents worked was not just a well-to-do house, but a very wealthy one, known as the ‘Chairman’s house’.

It was a prominent family, ranking among the top 30 in the Korean business world.

A high fence surrounded the house, and inside, numerous people took care of the housework, including several housekeepers, drivers, and gardeners, besides his parents.

‘Hyuk-jin, let’s have dinner.’

‘Wow! Is this all meat? How can there be so much meat?’

‘They gave it to us from where your mom and dad work so we could eat it.’

His parents would come home with their hands full of food, not only during holidays but also on weekdays, saying it was from the chairman’s house.

Yoo Hyuk-jin didn’t realize the significance of the place where his parents worked until he was a senior in high school.

One day, after school, he received a call from his mother and visited the chairman’s house.

‘Son, you’re here? Was it hard to come?’

‘No. But is this the house where mom and dad work?’

‘Yes. The house is big, isn’t it?’

‘It’s really big. It’s like watching the chairman’s house in a drama.’

‘The house is nice, right? Your mom and dad will make a lot of money and let Hyuk-jin and Hyun-jin live in a nice house too.’

‘Huh? I don’t need such a big house. Our house is cozy and better.’

He was surprised to see such a big house for the first time, but he wasn’t envious. He was just curious.

Yoo Hyuk-jin, optimistic and cheerful, wasn’t ashamed of his parents working in someone else’s house. When his school teachers or friends asked, he always told the truth.

Rather, he was always proud of his parents who worked hard.

‘Wow! The house is huge. It’s super big.’

That day, Yoo Hyuk-jin’s younger sister, a kindergartner, also came with him.

‘Mom, this place is like a palace. There are so many trees. Wow! There’s a dog too. Hello, dog. You’re cute.’

‘Hyun-jin likes it too.’

‘Mom, why did you tell me to come?’

Unlike his younger sister, who was amazed and surprised by everything, Yoo Hyuk-jin was curious as to why his mother had called him all the way there.

‘The madam wanted to see you, so she called you.’

‘The madam of this house wants to see me? Why?’

‘She wants to treat you to a meal.’

‘A meal? What does that mean, a meal……?’

‘You’ll know when you go inside.’

After the ambiguous conversation, Yoo Hyuk-jin followed his mother into the house.

‘Madam, this is my son Hyuk-jin, and this is our youngest Hyun-jin. Hyuk-jin, you have to say hello.’

‘Hello. My name is Yoo Hyuk-jin.’

‘Welcome. Nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you from your mother.’

The person called madam was different from the people in the drama.

She didn’t ignore her subordinates or act haughty like the stereotypical wealthy women in TV shows.

She had a warm smile and an elegance that couldn’t be faked.

‘You have a very good figure because you resemble your parents. Who does our Hyun-jin princess resemble to be so pretty?’

‘Mom, Dad.’

‘She speaks well too.’

He was welcomed by the madam and even treated to delicious food in the kitchen.

‘Madam, the eldest son’s English class is over.’

While they were eating and enjoying refreshments in the living room, another housekeeper approached and said.

“Mom?”

And as soon as those words were finished, a boy came down from the second floor and walked to the madam.

‘Is our son’s class over?’

‘Yes. Mom, who are these people?’

‘Say hello. They’re the son and daughter of the housekeeper. This is Hyuk-jin and this is Hyun-jin. She’s younger than Tae-cheol. Isn’t she pretty?’

‘Hello. My name is Yoo Hyuk-jin.’

Yoo Hyuk-jin greeted the boy, who nodded at the madam’s words, with a smile.

‘Hello……’

The boy, who greeted with a shy gesture and an unusually shy expression, was Cha Tae-cheol, the eldest son of this family and the root of all evil.