Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 483

Fifth Vital – Episode 484

484. If You Live, Endure, and Persevere

The moment the accident occurred, Lee Jungbon was struck on the side by the car, thrown forward, and then slid down the road with his motorcycle.

As Lee Jungbon was dragged and tumbled on the road, he had only one thought in his mind.

‘I can’t let Jungmi be alone…….’

Even in the midst of the accident, he was only worried about his younger sister.

‘Oppa? When are you coming?’

‘Why are you so late?’

She always nagged him for being late whenever he did delivery work, and he knew she’d probably nag him even more today.

‘Oppa? I’m really going to study hard and be successful. And I’ll take care of you. I’ll even find a nice person for you to marry, and when I have nieces and nephews, I’ll return the love you gave me twice over.’

This was a common refrain from Lee Jungbon’s sister, Lee Jungmi.

Thirteen years old. An age when she should be freely acting spoiled and receiving love from her mom and dad.

That was what his younger sister had said at that young age.

He still remembers it clearly.

After her elementary school graduation, he took her out to eat. She held a bouquet of flowers in her hand and clutched his hand tightly.

When he offered to buy her delicious meat, she said she wanted to eat pork cutlet, so he and his sister went to a pork cutlet restaurant in the neighborhood.

After ordering a generous amount of everything she wanted, she stuffed food into her small, squirrel-like cheeks and declared.

‘I’m going to take care of you, Oppa.’

He was both proud and heartbroken by what his sister, who had matured too early, said.

Every year on her birthday, his sister would elaborate on those words, lengthening the sentences, and later she promised to do everything her brother wanted to do.

That her brother was her everything and her teacher.

There were occasionally difficult days.

As a human, there were days when he was worn out by the world and by people, days when he faced his own helplessness and felt like collapsing.

There were times when he despaired at the fact that he had no parents to rely on, and there were times when he thought about giving up everything, even though he knew he shouldn’t.

He even considered ending it all with his sister, finding a peaceful escape together.

But then he would go home, look at his sister, and pull himself together.

‘Oppa? You had a hard day today, didn’t you?’

‘I’ve drawn warm water for you to wash up, Oppa. Did I do well?’

‘I’ll massage your shoulders after you wash up.’

Her eyes, sparkling like they contained jewels, were so lovely.

He was encouraged by his sister’s unwavering trust and reliance on him.

He crumpled up his ugly feelings like a tissue and threw them in the trash, gritting his teeth and deciding to live again.

Like the saying that if you live, you will live.

Like the saying that if you endure, you will endure.

Like the saying that if you persevere, you will persevere.

As he lived, endured, and persevered, the difficult times miraculously passed.

His sister was diligently attending college, and Lee Jungbon also began studying for the certifications he wanted.

There were occasional happy moments in the midst of difficult days, but he had never felt as happy as he had recently.

He felt happy whether he was studying, working, or spending ordinary days with his sister.

He was thinking of gradually reducing his delivery job and finding a safer part-time job because his sister was nagging him to think about his health.

But he never thought he would get into an accident like this.

‘Jungmi…….’

Lee Jungbon kept calling his sister’s name and tried to pull himself together, but the pain that was coming was too severe.

To be exact, the pain felt in his lower body was vividly rushing in.

It was as if his lower body was severed and thrown into boiling lava.

The pain, which he had never felt before and could not be expressed in words, seemed to surge through every cell, screaming for him to be saved.

Lee Jungbon even had the illusion that someone was torturing him to death.

It was that bad.

“Ugh! Ah…….”

Lee Jongbon was a muscular and well-built man because he used to work out so hard. But no matter how much he exercised and trained his body, it was useless in the face of an unexpected accident.

“Ugh!”

He tried to get up, bracing himself with both arms, his face pressed against the asphalt, but it was no use.

Rather, the more he moved, the more severe the pain from his lower body became, as if pouring oil on a fire.

Then he saw his cell phone on the ground in front of him. It seemed that the cell phone in his vest pocket had been thrown out when he collided with the car.

‘Please!’

Lee Jungbon, judging that it was a distance he could reach if he stretched out his hand, squeezed all his strength and reached out his hand in the midst of the pain.

“Ugh!”

It was clearly a distance that seemed to be within reach, but it was impossible.

Lee Jungbon was in so much pain that he was overwhelmed with the fear that he might die.

He didn’t want to die. There were still so many things he hadn’t done and he wanted to live longer.

He had to see his sister get married, and he wanted to continue sharing happy moments with her, but he was terrified that he might die like this.

Lee Jungbon forced strength into his trembling fingertips and reached out his hand to his cell phone again.

He had to contact 119 [South Korean emergency services number, similar to 911], and he had to let his sister Jungmi know.

He had to call and tell her that her brother was okay, and that he might be a little late, so she should lock the doors, but he felt like he was going crazy because his body wouldn’t listen to him.

“Ugh! Ugh…….”

Lee Jungbon, who was desperately trying to reach his cell phone, saw Im Majun standing over there.

“There…… over there……? Please!”

Like a hand that couldn’t reach the cell phone, a voice that couldn’t reach Im Majun was desperately ringing out.

* * *

Meanwhile, as Lee Jungbon was struggling to live on the road, Im Majun’s mentality was collapsing and turning into powder.

“Ha! Shit. I’m screwed.”

What should I do? What should I do? What should I do? Shit. Shit!

“Shibal! [Korean profanity, equivalent to ‘fuck’]”

Im Majun, who repeated the same words, spat out relentless curses and then froze like a stone statue.

Like a wind-up doll blocked by a dead end wall, he was just pacing back and forth.

“Hoo!”

Im Majun, who was constantly exhaling short sighs, took out a cigarette from his 10 million won [approximately $7,500 USD] suit jacket and quickly smoked it.

As the harsh Marlboro smoke stabbed into his lungs, he seemed to come to his senses.

“Hoo-ha!”

Im Majun flicked the burnt cigarette butt far away and went back to his car.

Then, he went to the driver’s seat, took out the black box memory [the car’s event data recorder], and wet a handkerchief with bottled water from the vehicle holder.

Then, he scrubbed the steering wheel, the car door handle, the black box, and everywhere his hands had touched.

He wiped it like crazy, as if he was going to make it shine, and then he stuck the handkerchief inside his jacket pocket and walked away from the car.

That’s right. Im Majun was thinking of running away now.

He was scared. Of what he had done.

He was afraid. Of what was to come.

He was anxious that his life, which had been prosperous with money that didn’t decrease even if he spent it thanks to his wealthy parents, would collapse.

He didn’t want to, and he had no intention of doing so.

With that thought, Im Majun scratched his head and kept walking, but suddenly stopped.

Rrrrrrrrrr

The cell phone he was holding tightly in his hand vibrated violently, and a call came in.

On the screen, he could see the words ‘My beloved Mrs. Kim’ and knew it was his mother’s call.

Im Majun hesitated for a moment and did not answer the phone. The phone stopped vibrating and rang again.

And he stared intently at the phone screen and carefully pressed the call button.

-Hey! Im Majun!

As soon as he put the phone to his ear, Kim Mi-hye’s scolding poured out.

-Hey, you. What are you doing until this hour? Huh! I told you to come home earlier, why haven’t you arrived yet? Are you going to keep making your mother old? Are you still at the hotel?

“…….”

Im Majun, who was holding the phone to his ear, didn’t say anything.

-Majun? Are you listening to your mother?

“…….”

-Son! Majun?

“Mom…….”

A slightly trembling voice, an unusually subdued tone. Kim Mi-hye could instinctively sense that something had happened to her son.

-You! What’s wrong? Majun?

“Mom, what should I do?”

-What do you mean what should you do? What’s wrong? Why are you like this?

“Mom……. Shit. I caused an accident.”

-What! What do you mean an accident?

Kim Mi-hye’s breathing changed slightly beyond the phone at the word accident.

“I came out of the hotel and was driving home when I hit someone.”

Im Majun, biting his lower lip tightly, told Kim Mi-hye about the accident.

-What!? You hit someone? So you’re saying you hit someone with your car?

“Yeah, I was driving and suddenly a delivery motorcycle popped out……. So I couldn’t stop. I’m sure in my memory, that bastard came out first, right? I definitely couldn’t see it. I don’t know! I don’t know either.”

-So what did your mother tell you? I told you I’d send you a driver! I can’t live like this!

Kim Mi-hye, who heard about her son’s accident, was flustered and tried to raise her voice, but quickly lowered it.

She was talking on the phone in the living room, so it was okay, but she was anxious that her husband might come out, so she went to the furthest room and continued the call.

“Mom, what should I do?”

-How’s your body? Are you okay, Majun? Are you hurt anywhere?

“Yeah. I crashed into a streetlight and the car is broken, but the airbags deployed well so I’m fine.”

-So where are you now? Are you at the hospital?

“No, I’m scared so I just left the car and walked away.”

-Walked away? Then what about the injured person? Were they taken away in an ambulance?

“No, they seem to be in pain, frowning on the road over there. I don’t know. I’m too scared to get close.”

Im Majun said, looking back at Lee Jungbon, who was lying on the road.

-Hey! Are you crazy right now? What are you going to do if you run away now? Go quickly!

“Go? Where?”

-Where else? You have to go to the injured person. Do you know that if you go like this, it’s a hit-and-run?

“Hit-and-run? Ah, shit, I can’t do that. Mom, should I run away to a foreign country?”

-Get a grip!

Kim Mi-hye raised her voice to Im Majun, who was planning to run away to a foreign country.

-You’re talking nonsense. Do you think the Korean police are that easy?

“Then, shit. What should I do? Does Mom want me to go to jail and be with criminals? Huh! What am I supposed to do if my life ends like this!”

Im Majun, whose mentality had turned to powder, said in an almost crying voice.

-Who’s going to jail! Why would you go? Don’t worry. Mom will take care of it! Do as Mom tells you from now on. Then you’ll have no problem. First, go to that person right now! Go!

“Go! Who are you talking about? The person who had the accident?”

-Yes. Go to that person quickly and say exactly what Mom says. Majun! What are we? Huh! We’re chaebols [large family-owned business conglomerates, similar to Japanese zaibatsu]. Have you ever seen a chaebol in Korea get heavily punished for committing a crime?

“No. I haven’t.”

That was true. Korea, which is particularly lenient to chaebols, is even jokingly called a chaebol republic in foreign media.

No matter how much they cause accidents and make a fuss, chaebols are always treated leniently.

-That’s right. You wouldn’t have seen it. So stop talking nonsense and go to the injured person! Quickly!

Im Majun, who was listening to his mother, walked towards Lee Jungbon, who was still lying on the road in a mess.