Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 421

Fifth Vitality – Episode 422 (421/502)

422. Big Shot

‘Are you Kim Tae-kyung?’

‘Yes, I am.’

‘I hear you want to marry our Euijin?’

‘If you allow it, I would like to marry her.’

‘I cannot allow it. We don’t like you.’

‘Mom? What are you talking about? You liked me seeing him.’

‘Euijin, listen to your mother.’

‘Why are you doing this too, Dad?’

‘No matter how I think about it, that friend is not right for you. Look here, Mr. Kim. Please leave our house now.’

-Woof! Woof!

“……!”

-Woof! Woof woof!

Tae-kyung woke up with a start from the weekend morning dog barking next door, sitting up in bed.

“What was that?”

He shook his head from side to side, his hair a mess, and looked around the house, finally calming his startled heart.

“Wow! It was a dream. What a surprise.”

Tae-kyung, who often spent more days at the hospital than at home even on weekends, was waking up at home this morning because today was the day he was going to visit Euijin’s house to greet her parents.

He had deliberately gone to bed early the night before in good condition, but perhaps because he was nervous, he even had a dream where they opposed the marriage.

For a moment, it felt so real that Euijin’s parents were really against the marriage, and he was quite taken aback.

“Get a grip!”

Getting out of bed and going to the bathroom, Tae-kyung drank a glass of cool water and then called Euijin.

-Sunbae [senior/older colleague or friend], are you up?

“I just woke up. Did you sleep well?”

-Yes, I slept very well for once and even had a good dream. What about you, Sunbae?

“A good dream?”

-I dreamed I won the lottery, you know? It was even worth 1.7 billion won [approximately $1.3 million USD].

“Really? Shouldn’t you buy a lottery ticket today? Some people who won the lottery had the numbers appear in their dreams.”

-Unfortunately, I can’t remember the numbers. What about you, Sunbae? Did you have a good dream?

“Dream? No. I just slept well.”

Even if it was just a dream, he didn’t want to say that her parents opposed the marriage. He knew Euijin would worry if he told her.

“Euijin, I’ll get ready and pick you up later.”

-Okay, drive carefully when you come.

“I will.”

Hanging up the phone, Tae-kyung changed into his workout clothes, tied his sneakers tightly, and left the rooftop to run around the neighborhood.

It felt like ages since he had run among people heading to work early, and the morning air brushing against his cheeks felt refreshing to his heart.

As beads of sweat began to form on his forehead, he finished his run, which lasted nearly an hour, and returned home.

“Whew! That’s refreshing.”

“Oh my! You scared me.”

As Tae-kyung stretched and came up to the rooftop, someone reacted in surprise.

“Who is this! Isn’t it our doctor?”

“Hello? Are you okay?”

The woman who had fallen on her bottom on the rooftop floor in surprise was the landlady.

“I was wondering what man was coming in since the doctor is never home. But how come you’re home today?”

“It’s my day off, so I’m back from exercising.”

“Exercise is good. I came up to dry peppers because the sun is good, but I see the doctor. Are you doing well?”

The cheerful landlady was genuinely happy to see Tae-kyung after a long time.

“Yes, I’m doing well. Are you doing well?”

“I’m doing well. I’m doing too well.”

“Are you not feeling unwell anywhere?”

“No. But you seem to have become more handsome. How can someone who is busy all day at the hospital looking after patients look even better?”

“You flatter me. Thank you.”

“His mother is beautiful, so her son is good-looking too. My sister-in-law went to see you for a checkup the other day, and she said you took such good care of her. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“That’s right! Look at my mind. Wait here a moment.”

The landlady, who had been neatly arranging peppers on a mat, suddenly seemed to remember something and hurried down from the rooftop, returning with several containers of side dishes.

“I was going to put them in a shopping bag, but I didn’t have one, so I just brought them like this. Take these.”

“What are all these?”

“One is seasoned dried squid, one is perilla leaf pickles, and this is aged kimchi salad. It’s my mother’s aged kimchi, and it’s so delicious. It’s seasoned with sesame oil she squeezed herself, and it’s a rice thief [so delicious you’ll eat a lot of rice]. It’s delicious even if you just eat it with rice when you don’t have an appetite.”

“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”

“My mother always gave me a lot of side dishes when she came.”

Tae-kyung’s mother would always make side dishes when she came to her son’s house and always shared them with the landlady.

The landlady, who had not forgotten her gratitude, decided to give Tae-kyung some side dishes when she saw him after a long time.

“Your mother’s cooking skills are really good. I’m not that good at cooking, but it should still be edible.”

“I think they’ll all be delicious because they’re all my favorite side dishes.”

“By the way, Mr. Kim? Well…….”

The landlady, who had been happily continuing the conversation, hesitated as if she had something to say.

“Is there something you want to say?”

“There is, but……. Do you have a moment?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Then, will you sit here for a moment?”

The landlady gestured to Tae-kyung, making room on the bench.

“I’m in a *kye mo-im* [rotating credit association].”

“A *kye mo-im*?”

“Oh my! It’s not like that. You thought I was asking you to join my *kye* [rotating credit association]?”

“No.”

To be honest, for a moment, Tae-kyung really thought that the landlady had something to say because of the *kye mo-im*.

“There’s a big shot *unni* [older sister/woman] in our *kye mo-im*, you know?”

“A big shot?”

“Yes. She’s called a big shot not because she does anything illegal or anything, but because she runs a big business with her husband and makes a lot of money. This *unni* has a lot of money.”

“Ah, I see.”

“But this *unni* has three children, and only the youngest daughter hasn’t gotten married yet. So, she asked me if I knew anyone suitable. And you suddenly came to my mind. Look here.”

Once she started the story, the excited landlady clicked on a photo saved on her phone and showed it to Tae-kyung.

“How is she? She’s good-looking, right? This family’s children are all good-looking. They graduated from SKY universities [top universities in South Korea] and went to study in the United States and do that thing called……. simultaneous interpretation. The big shot *unni* wants a smart son-in-law, and you’re smart and good-looking. If you marry her, this family has enough wealth to build you a hospital. I think you two are a perfect match. What do you think?”

“Thank you for the thought, but I have someone I’m going to marry.”

Tae-kyung answered firmly without hesitation, to the point that her expectant eyes were embarrassed.

“Oh? You had a girlfriend?”

“Yes. I have a girlfriend.”

“I should have asked that first……. I made a mistake. I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay.”

“When did someone who’s always at the hospital have time to date? Have you set a wedding date?”

“No. Not yet.”

“Okay, date well and give me a wedding invitation later. Okay?”

“Of course.”

“I’ll go now.”

“Thank you for the side dishes. Go in.”

The landlady, who had thought of Tae-kyung as a match for her acquaintance, went down with an embarrassed expression.

Tae-kyung, who came into the house, cleaned the house thoroughly, finished getting ready, and headed to the officetel [studio apartment] where Euijin lived.

“Sunbae!”

Euijin waved her hand energetically and ran towards Tae-kyung, who was waiting in the parking lot.

“Don’t run. You’ll get hurt if you run in heels.”

“It’s just that I only wear Crocs at the hospital every day, but I’ve worn heels in my heyday, so I won’t fall. Wow! By the way, aren’t you too different today?”

As Euijin said, Tae-kyung looked completely different from usual today.

Instead of the gown and scrubs he always wore like a second skin, he was wearing a *meotjin* [stylish/cool] suit, and his unadorned natural hairstyle was like a neat pomade like an actor in a drama, exuding the *poseu* [force/aura] of a professional businessman.

Euijin couldn’t hide her smile as she looked at Tae-kyung.

“I put some effort into it. How is it? I even got my hair done at a *syap* [shop/salon] for the first time today. Is it okay?”

“Hmm!”

“Don’t you like it?”

“What should I say……. Keuk!”

“Don’t just laugh, tell me what you think. Is it weird?”

“No! It’s totally *meosiseo* [cool/awesome]. It really suits you. The best!”

“Don’t joke around.”

“I’m not joking……. My boyfriend is handsome. No joke, you’re really *meosiseo*. How about me? Am I okay?”

“Not just okay, you’re very pretty.”

Tae-kyung said, raising his thumb.

In fact, Euijin was always pretty.

Even when she was wearing a crumpled gown or scrubs, she always looked like shining sunlight in Tae-kyung’s eyes.

Love was full in Tae-kyung’s eyes as he looked at Euijin, so much so that it could be felt even without saying it.

“Ah! I feel like it’s a waste to just go like this?”

“What’s a waste?”

“I’m going to take a picture because it’s the first time I’ve seen you like this.”

“What picture? No way.”

Tae-kyung was more embarrassed to take pictures than he thought.

“Don’t do it. What if someone sees us?”

“There’s no one here, who’s going to see us? Look here, Sunbae. Mr. Kim Tae-kyung, look over here.”

“Don’t do that, come here.”

As Euijin held up her phone and tried to take a picture, Tae-kyung gestured and called her over.

“I don’t want to. Are you going to stop me from taking a picture?”

“No?”

Tae-kyung approached Euijin, who was stepping back and joking around, took her phone, and naturally wrapped his arm around Euijin’s shoulder, continuing to speak.

“We have to take it together.”

Click-

“Ah! I just closed my eyes, take it again.”

“Why? You look pretty.”

“Pretty? I look like a *motnani* [ugly person]. Take it again.”

“You look cute and pretty in my eyes? And we’ll be late if we don’t leave now. Here! Get in quickly.”

Tae-kyung opened the car door for Euijin, comforting her as she was feeling disappointed.

“Oh my gosh, what is all this?”

As soon as she got in the car, Euijin looked back at the back seat, filled with the scent of flowers.

“You bought a gift? I told you not to prepare anything.”

In the back seat were bouquets of fully bloomed baby’s breath and a warm rice cake cake.

“But it’s not polite to go empty-handed when it’s the first time I’m greeting them.”

“Mom and Dad told me not to buy anything……. But Sunbae?”

“Yeah.”

“How did you know my mom likes baby’s breath? My parents also like rice cakes, and you even got a rice cake cake. You have such good sense?”

“Really? I worried a lot, but I made a good choice.”

Tae-kyung, who answered with a shrug, thanked Nurse Lim Jeong-suk in his heart.

He couldn’t go empty-handed to the first meeting with his girlfriend’s parents.

However, he didn’t want to bring an obvious fruit basket, so he asked Nurse Lim Jeong-suk for help, and he was able to get good information.

“Mom and Dad will really like it.”

“Really? That’s a relief. And there, you’ll see one more flower besides the baby’s breath.”

“Oh! There really is.”

Euijin took out a lisianthus hidden behind the bouquet of baby’s breath.

“Is this for my mom too?”

“No. That’s for you. It’s your favorite flower, isn’t it?”

“That’s right. How did you know I like this flower?”

“You told me once before. You said you liked it the most because of the flower meaning, too.”

“Did I? I don’t even remember, but you remember everything.”

The flower meaning of lisianthus is unchanging love, and Euijin couldn’t take her eyes off the flower as she smelled its fragrance.

“I have to remember what my girlfriend said.”

“Do you know you’re even sweeter today?”

“I know. I’m originally sweet.”

“Ah, the scent is so good. Do you know it makes me feel so good to receive flowers? Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Did you buckle your seatbelt? Then let’s go.”

The two, who boasted a sweet atmosphere in a place other than the hospital, headed to her parents’ house in a good mood.