Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 460

461. Market

She met Lee Jae-cheon, dated, got married, and had Seol-rae, but her life wasn’t happy.

“Why weren’t you happy?”

As far as Seol-rae knew, her parents seemed to have no major problems on the surface.

She had never seen her parents raise their voices or get annoyed with each other.

It was an ordinary but seemingly happy family.

“Is there something I don’t know? Did Dad or I make things difficult for Mom?”

“No. Not at all. Your dad is a really good person, and Seol-rae is such a lovely daughter that I don’t deserve to be her mother.”

“Then why?”

“The problem is Mom.”

“What does that mean?”

“Mom didn’t love Dad anymore, and she didn’t want to live as a mom.”

Go Su-i loved Lee Jae-cheon, but she hesitated a lot when he asked her to marry him.

She knew she wasn’t the type of person who could build a family and live well.

She had told Lee Jae-cheon about this from the beginning of their relationship, and he said he understood.

The two loved each other passionately like other couples, and as time passed, Go Su-i’s firm resolve gradually faded.

Then, a child came between them. Go Su-i was pregnant.

Lee Jae-cheon proposed to his beloved, and Go Su-i hesitated before accepting.

They were adults and lovers who loved each other, and they decided to take responsibility and be together because of the child.

That’s how their married life continued. But as time passed, Go Su-i found it difficult to continue this life.

It was an ordinary day without anything particularly outstanding, but she wasn’t happy as a housewife, wife, and mother.

She suppressed these feelings, thinking that everyone else lived like this and she was just being dramatic.

She wondered if things would change if she worked, but it wasn’t easy, and she didn’t love Lee Jae-cheon anymore.

She was tired of living with a sense of belonging to any place.

She wanted to live freely, doing the things she wanted to do. Go Su-i told Lee Jae-cheon everything.

He had noticed his wife’s changing demeanor and initially opposed it, but eventually decided to let Go Su-i go.

It was a mutual divorce, and he was given full custody of their child.

It wasn’t that she didn’t love her daughter. Of course, she loved her, but she entrusted everything to Lee Jae-cheon because he was a better person to raise her than herself, who prioritized her own needs.

Go Su-i devoted herself to work after the divorce to rebuild her career, and although it was difficult, she was satisfied with her life.

She sent Seol-rae’s child support to the extent she could afford while working.

Lee Jae-cheon refused to accept it, but she wanted to fulfill her duty as a mother.

“You must be surprised to hear what Mom said, right?”

Go Su-i told her daughter everything without missing a single detail.

She thought her daughter would be disappointed to see her different from other mothers, but she didn’t want to lie.

“Dad said we should tell Seol-rae about the divorce, but Mom opposed it. The reason was that I thought Seol-rae was still young. I was going to tell you when you went to college, but when I thought about it, Seol-rae is no longer a child, and I think I was wrong. Aren’t you mad at Mom?”

Seol-rae shook her head.

There was a time when she hated her mother for not contacting her and seeming to not care about her, but not anymore.

Rather, she felt relieved after knowing her mother’s true feelings, and she could understand her mother.

“I’m sorry for making things difficult for Seol-rae because of my selfish heart. I’m also sorry for not living as an ordinary mother like others. I’m really sorry.”

“No. I don’t think that’s something Mom should be sorry about. A friend of mine once asked me why I studied so hard, and if studying was fun. I told her that I really enjoyed it and liked it.”

“Mom knows that our Seol-rae likes to study. You can’t do anything you hate.”

“That’s right. If I didn’t like studying or if it wasn’t fun, I wouldn’t have done it even if it meant getting the lowest grade. I think Mom is the same.”

“……!”

“I don’t do anything I hate either, but you can’t force yourself to live as a mother if you hate it. We live to be happy, so I don’t think Mom needs to live a hard life.”

Seol-rae sincerely understood her mother and was becoming an adult whose thoughts had grown as much as her body.

“Mom also has her own life. It’s enough for me to know that Mom hasn’t forgotten me and still loves me. That’s enough.”

“Thank you for saying that. Our daughter is more mature and a better person than her mother. Seol-rae, do you want to live with Mom from now on?”

Go Su-i had heard from Kim Ha-seon that Seol-rae missed her mother a lot.

She had discussed it with Lee Jae-cheon and heard that it would be okay to live together if Seol-rae wanted to.

“No.”

“Why? Is it because you heard Mom’s story? If that’s the case……”

“No, Mom. It’s not because of that.”

She wanted to live with her mother, but not anymore. If she followed her mother now, she would feel sorry for Kim Ha-seon, who had been there for her during difficult times.

More than anything, Seol-rae wanted to get along well with Kim Ha-seon.

“I want to live with my stepmother. Is that okay?”

“Of course.”

“Instead, I’ll visit Mom often on your days off.”

“Okay. Mom will contact you often too. Thank you for growing up so well even though Mom hasn’t done anything for you.”

Seol-rae, who learned about her biological mother’s sincerity, felt as if she had brushed off all the small dust that remained in her heart and was completely clean.

“Seol-rae, should Mom take you home?”

Go Su-i asked after finishing their long overdue conversation and leaving the cafe together.

“No, Mom. Someone is waiting for me.”

“Your stepmother is waiting?”

“Yes. We’re going in together.”

“Okay, go in carefully and I’ll call you.”

After parting with her biological mother, Seol-rae called Kim Ha-seon.

“Where are you, Stepmom? Yes. I just came out of the cafe.”

After a while, Kim Ha-seon, who had bought side dishes from the market, quickly returned to the cafe.

“Why? Did you already come out? Weren’t you supposed to have dinner with your mom and sleep together today?”

At the cafe, Seol-rae heard an amazing fact about Kim Ha-seon from Go Su-i.

Lee Jae-cheon told Go Su-i about his remarriage when he decided to remarry.

She said it was okay because she thought he could remarry. However, she asked him to make sure his remarriage partner could get along well with Seol-rae.

A few days later, Go Su-i received a photo on her phone.

It was a long handwritten letter written by Kim Ha-seon.

The content was that she would try to be a good mother to the lovely Seol-rae and raise the child with the same heart that she loved her son.

Go Su-i felt relieved when she saw the letter, thinking that she was a good person and that she would love her daughter a lot.

Seol-rae felt a little touched when she heard this story from her mother.

“Why are you making that face?”

Kim Ha-seon asked Seol-rae, who was staring at her without saying anything.

“Did things not go well with your mom?”

“No. It went well.”

“Then why did you come out so early? Did your mom leave?”

“Yes, we decided to go next weekend. Stepmom, what side dishes did you buy?”

“You like spicy pork, right? Tomorrow, spicy pork bulgogi [Korean marinated grilled pork]……”

Kim Ha-seon’s words, which she said without thinking about the ingredients she bought, stopped abruptly.

She thought she had heard something, but she wondered if she had misheard.

“Seol-rae, what did you just say?”

“I said Stepmom.”

“Did you call me Stepmom? Really?”

“Yes…… The expression ‘Aunt’ is wrong. I’ll slowly get used to calling you Mom.”

“Is this a dream? Oh my god! Seol-rae called me Stepmom…… Do you know that I’m feeling so good right now?”

“Yes, you look really happy.”

“Let’s go quickly! Let’s go have a delicious dinner. Is there anything else you want to eat?”

“Everything Stepmom makes is delicious.”

Seol-rae has two mothers.

A biological mother and a stepmother.

Other people might think it’s a little strange to have two mothers, but that wasn’t important.

Seol-rae thought that she should live a healthy and happy life with her two mothers who loved and cared for her.

The two people who got on the bus together sat side by side and had a pleasant conversation as they headed home.

The awkwardness could no longer be found on Seol-rae’s face with Kim Ha-seon.

Seol-rae thought that happiness might not be something grand, but something trivial like this, and she was glad that both her mother and stepmother looked happy.

* * *

Our Hospital-

“Dr. Choi, you worked hard.”

Lee Chan-hee, who had dinner and briefly entered the medical office, was joking next to Choi Mona, who was looking for data on her laptop.

He was imitating Tae-kyung’s demeanor, remembering Choi Mona’s shy expression when Tae-kyung praised her in the emergency room earlier.

“……”

“You have no idea.”

“Stop it.”

“You worked hard on finishing the Lee Seol-rae patient……헉! [Gasp!]”

Lee Chan-hee, who kept joking, finally stopped joking after being poked in the side.

“Ah! It hurts. Mona, it hurts so much.”

“I told you to stop. Do you know that sometimes when Dr. Lee jokes around, he looks like a child?”

“I know. My grandfather told me that men are born and live like children until they die.”

“No, but why are you so excited today? Is there something good going on?”

“Of course. I feel good because I saw my girlfriend’s cute side earlier.”

“Cute my foot! I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Really! Can you still say that after seeing this?”

Lee Chan-hee shook his head and opened the drawer as he passed by Choi Mona, who was focusing on the monitor.

Choi Mona looked at the drawer, wondering what was going on, and saw that it was full of sweet jellies of all kinds. They were all jellies from Choi Mona’s favorite brand.

“What? Did you buy all of this?”

“You like that, right? I ordered it directly because it was a new product this time.”

“Wow. My boyfriend is the best!”

“Of course. This is nothing.”

The two, who had been dating for some time, were becoming familiar and reliable to each other.

“Thank you, Dr. Lee.”

“You’re welcome. Try one.”

Just as she was about to pick up a bag of jelly at Lee Chan-hee’s words, the phone on her desk vibrated.

Rrrrrrrr

“Yes. Ah, really? I’ll go right away.”

“Emergency room?”

“Yes, the professor and Dr. Jung went into the operating room a little early. But they’re saying something strange.”

“What do you mean?”

“They said the ER is a market right now?”

As soon as she received the call, the nurse told her to come quickly, saying that there was a commotion in the market.

“Really? Looks like a lot of new patients came in. Let’s go right away.”

The two stopped what they were doing and went straight to the emergency room.

Even at this time, the two did not dream that the emergency room would become a den of terror today.

“You! You’re worse than an animal!”

“You crazy b****! You’re not one to talk, are you? Am I the only animal!”

As they got closer to the emergency room, fierce curses began to fly.

“Mom!!”

Then, they heard a voice crying and calling for their mother.

Lee Chan-hee and Choi Mona went inside with the conviction that today would not be easy.

Then, the inside of the emergency room was a sight to behold.

“Dr. Soo, what’s going on?”

“Dr. Choi, be careful!”

At that moment, something flew towards Choi Mona, and Lee Chan-hee caught it.

When he checked the object he caught, it was an eyeshadow palette used for eye makeup.

“Dr. Soo!”

This time, Choi Mona caught an object flying towards nurse Lim Jung-sook.

“What is this?”

“It’s an electronic cigarette.”

Lee Chan-hee answered Choi Mona’s question.

It was slightly thicker than a finger and long, so they could tell it was an electronic cigarette device.

“You see beds number 8 and 9 over there?”