Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 415

416. Beep- Beep- Beep-

“Are the *sujebi* [Korean hand-pulled noodle soup] okay?”

“I don’t think Mom can go.”

Kim Mal-ja’s demeanor was subtly different.

It was definitely not the cheerful expression she had before going to the restroom, when she suggested we go eat together.

She seemed to be forcing a smile.

“Why? You should come with us.”

“I think I need to go urgently.”

“Urgently? Suddenly? Where to?”

“My aunt just called and said something came up, and she needs me to come quickly.”

“Really? Is something wrong with Aunt? What happened?”

“I don’t know the details either. I need to go to find out.”

“Then I’ll go with you.”

“Yes, Mother. I’ll take you there. Get in.”

When the two of them said they would go together, Kim Mal-ja waved her hands, vehemently opposing the idea.

“No, don’t do that. Your aunt wants to talk to me alone. It doesn’t take long to get there from here. You must be hungry, so go eat with Hyun-joon.”

“Are you really okay? It’s nothing bad, is it?”

“I’m fine. It’s nothing bad, so don’t worry about it. There’s a taxi stand right in front, so go quickly.”

“Okay. Mom, call me when you get there.”

“Mother, I’ll be going then.”

“Okay, drive safely. Hyun-joon, thank you for today.”

Kim Mal-ja waved to her youngest daughter and her boyfriend as they walked out of the parking lot, then turned back to watch the car her daughter was in.

After confirming that it had completely left the alley, she walked slowly and entered a building, which, surprisingly, was the hospital she had just left.

She went around half of the building and re-entered our hospital through the main entrance.

Once inside, Kim Mal-ja passed the reception desk, went past the restroom, and turned the corner.

‘That’s strange. I’m sure I saw them go this way…’

Turning the corner, she saw an ATM and chairs in the hallway. She looked left and right, then approached someone sitting in a chair.

“Excuse me, but have you seen a man and a woman in patient gowns around here? They look like this.”

Kim Mal-ja took out her phone from her bag, clicked on a photo in her album, and showed it to them.

“I just came to send money after getting treatment, so I don’t know.”

“Okay, thank you.”

Upon hearing that, she returned the way she came and went up the stairs. After hesitating for a moment, she carefully examined the names of the patients hanging next to the hospital room doors, muttering them to herself.

‘Kim Go-dong, Lee Gi-young, Choi Soon-cheon, Lee Min-hoon, Kim Ye-joon…’

Like a child who had just learned to read, she carefully repeated each name one by one before moving on to the next room.

‘Lee Cheol-hoon, Park Gi-joon, Go Young-pyo. Not here either.’

Again, the name she was looking for was not there. After checking the names of all the patients in every room, she slowly walked towards the nursing station.

“Excuse me, can I ask you something?”

“Yes, please go ahead.”

“Um, among the people admitted here, is there anyone named Lee S…”

Kim Mal-ja put the phone she was holding back into her bag, stopping the words she was about to say to the nurse at the station.

“Yes?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

Turning away, swallowing the words she was about to say, Kim Mal-ja approached the nurse again.

“Are there any other patient rooms besides here?”

“Yes, there’s another ward upstairs.”

“Okay, thank you. Have a good day.”

After saying goodbye, Kim Mal-ja went up the stairs and, like before, went around to all the rooms, checking the nameplates in front of the rooms.

“…!”

As she continued to check the names in front of the rooms, a name that was more than familiar, a name that was practically tattooed in her mind, caught her attention.

Goo Dong-gon.

It was the name of the husband Kim Mal-ja had been looking for. And next to her husband’s name, another name caught her eye.

Lee Ye-rim.

It was definitely a woman’s name.

Thump- Thump- Thump-

“Hoo!”

With her heart beating faster and faster, Kim Mal-ja let out a short breath and slowly walked towards the small rectangular window in the sliding door of the room.

“Honey, we’re being discharged tomorrow. Let’s go eat something delicious.”

“You need to be careful about what you eat after the endoscopy. Let’s eat porridge.”

“I can eat anything tomorrow.”

Hearing the affectionate voices of the woman and her husband coming from outside the room, her footsteps towards the window faltered, then suddenly changed direction and quickly headed to the restroom.

Clack-

Kim Mal-ja entered the innermost stall, locked the door, lowered the toilet lid, and plopped down on it.

It was because she had seen her husband sitting on the bed, clinging to the woman like taffy, massaging her legs.

Beep- Beep- Beep-

She was so shocked by the sight that the pounding of her heart grew louder than before, and suddenly a ringing sound filled her ears.

Kim Mal-ja took out her phone from her bag and clicked on KakaoTalk [Korean messaging app].

-Don’t push yourself too hard if the price isn’t right. Don’t skip meals and take care of yourself.

-What do you mean push myself? You’re the one working hard running the restaurant alone. I’m eating well, so don’t worry. Sorry it’s taking a bit longer. I’ll be back before it gets too late.

Kim Mal-ja was lost in thought as she looked at the messages she had exchanged with her husband that morning.

A few days ago, her husband had left on a business trip to a local farm to secure a new supplier.

As a meat restaurant, they used a lot of lettuce, but the existing supplier had suddenly raised prices too much, making it impossible to continue the deal.

After looking around, they couldn’t find a solution, and they had no choice but to visit farms directly to find a new supplier.

So, Kim Mal-ja left the restaurant to her younger sibling for a few days and, as always, naturally planned to go down to the farm with her husband.

‘Honey? Ji-hoon’s mom?’

But two days before going to the farm, Goo Dong-gon suddenly changed his plans.

‘I’ll go to the farm alone.’

‘Alone? You can’t. It’s not just one or two places, you have to go around several places. How can you go alone?’

‘Hyung-nim [older brother or respected male acquaintance] is helping me. He said he’d introduce me to a couple of places, but they’re quite far away.’

‘Even if they’re far, what can we do? It’s our restaurant’s business, we have to go. And it’s not just my knees that are bad. You’re just as tired, aren’t you?’

He had been saying that his knees had been aching for a week, and for some reason, her husband’s words felt as warm as a *stove that day* [idiomatic expression meaning comforting or reassuring].

‘We always went together, how can you go alone? You have to be good at bargaining…’

‘Don’t worry. I’m not as good as you, but I’m good at bargaining too. And if you leave the restaurant, you’ll be worried and keep holding onto the phone. Just stay at the restaurant and put a hot pack on your knees.’

‘Are you really okay?’

‘I told you not to worry.’

‘Okay, I understand.’

Kim Mal-ja believed her husband’s words without any doubt, and instead worried about her husband traveling around the countryside alone.

“Hello? It’s me. Ji-hoon’s mom.”

Lost in thought, Kim Mal-ja hurriedly made a call somewhere.

-Sister-in-law, how have you been?

The person who answered the phone was Hyung-nim, who was supposed to introduce Goo Dong-gon to the farm.

She needed to confirm if her husband had gone to the farm.

“Yes, I’m doing well. I heard from my husband that you were going to introduce him to the farm. I’m calling to thank you.”

-Oh, really. No need for thanks between us. I heard you’re coming down with Dong-gon next week or the week after. Come and look around the farm with me and have something delicious to eat.”

“Next week?”

-Yes, he said he’s getting treatment for his back and getting a health checkup, so he might have to postpone it. Is Dong-gon doing okay?

“……”

-Sister-in-law? Hello?

“Ah, yes. He’s fine.”

-Is that so? I was worried because he wasn’t answering his phone. I’m glad he’s okay.

“Then, I’ll contact you again.”

-Okay. Tell Dong-gon to take care of himself.”

After exchanging a few simple greetings, Kim Mal-ja hurriedly hung up the phone.

“Hoo!”

As soon as she hung up, the pounding of her heart, which had been ringing in her ears, felt even louder than before, and she took a long sigh, trying to calm herself down.

Her husband hadn’t even gone to the farm, but he had been sending messages about prices and vegetable items every day as if he had gone to the farm, showing his meticulousness.

‘My heart is pounding like crazy.’

In fact, Kim Mal-ja had no idea that Goo Dong-gon was in the hospital.

A little while ago, she had suddenly jumped up from her seat while registering and waiting in the waiting room to hear the results of her daughter’s biopsy.

The reason was that she had seen her husband, Goo Dong-gon, wearing a patient gown. He was walking affectionately, supporting a strange woman right next to him.

At first, she thought she had mistaken him for someone who looked similar.

But after hearing the results of her daughter’s biopsy, which showed that there was nothing wrong, she relaxed and went to the restroom, where she saw her husband again.

No matter how much she thought about it, she was convinced that it was her husband, not someone who looked similar.

She needed to confirm.

So, she came out of the parking lot, thinking that her daughter, who had left earlier, might see her in the car, and deliberately went around half of the building and entered through the main entrance to check all the hospital rooms.

But she never thought it would really be her husband. She had a feeling, but on the other hand, she hoped it wasn’t.

“Ha! How could you…”

Then, what her husband had said early in the morning on the day he left for the farm suddenly flashed through her mind, giving Kim Mal-ja goosebumps.

‘Honey, what’s the name of that person you said was so good?’

‘If you suddenly say that person, how am I supposed to know who you’re talking about?’

‘No, why? The doctor who operated on you. You said he was very skilled, right?’

‘Ah! Doctor Kim Tae-kyung. Well, he’s a real doctor. The way he treats patients is different.’

‘His name is Kim Tae-kyung?’

‘Yeah. Why?’

‘Someone I know isn’t feeling well and asked me about a skilled doctor, so I asked.’

‘Who is it? Are they very sick?’

‘It’s a high school classmate of mine, but I don’t think he’s seriously ill.’

‘But I think that doctor moved hospitals. And he can only see patients if the department matches.’

‘That’s true. I’m just going to tell him the name. I don’t know where he’s not feeling well yet.’

‘Really? I hope it’s nothing serious.’

Goo Dong-gon had made a healthy friend into a sick person and found out the name of the skilled Tae-kyung from his wife.

Goo Dong-gon, who had a wife and children, was having an affair with Lee Ye-rim.

“Oh my!”

After confirming her husband’s affair, Kim Mal-ja had a throbbing headache and her mouth felt parched.

At the same time, anger surged to her throat.

Earlier, she had been so shocked by the affectionate *모습* [Korean word for ‘appearance’ or ‘sight’] of her husband and the woman that she had retreated to the restroom, but she couldn’t just stand by like this.

She was so betrayed and angry that she couldn’t bear it.

“Let’s get a grip! I need to get a grip. Let’s hold on tight.”

Thirty minutes after entering the restroom, Kim Mal-ja got up and stormed out.

Then, she went to the lounge she had seen earlier and drank cold water from the water purifier repeatedly.

It was because she needed to cool down her burning insides with cold water.

After drinking the water, she crumpled the paper cup and threw it in the trash can. Then, as she was walking towards the hospital room where her husband was, Kim Mal-ja returned to the lounge, stared at the trash can where she had thrown the cup for a moment, and then headed to the hospital room with it.

Creak- Clack-

And with the rather large trash can in her hands, she forcefully opened the hospital room door and went inside.

“…!”

Soon after, all sorts of trash poured down on Goo Dong-gon and Lee Ye-rim’s heads.