Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 490

Fifth Vital Sign – Episode 491 (490/502)

491. More importantly, where is your sister?

Now, all that’s left is to close the opened muscle and suture it sequentially.

However, the suturing of this muscle needs to be slightly different and… well, robust. It needs to be rugged.

The gluteal muscle is one of the muscles that withstands the strongest force in the human body.

To reattach that muscle, it must endure that tension.

In short, it means that ordinary suturing methods won’t suffice.

It must be done with thick thread, repeating the knot several times. It must be done strongly, as if trying to contain contents that are about to burst out.

Of course, it shouldn’t *just* be strong, because then blood won’t flow.

It must be strong, but below a certain threshold.

Adjusting strength is, of course, a matter of sensation and experience. Knowing this, Taekyung sutures the gluteal muscle himself.

“Um, Doctor, I, um…”

Lee Chanhee asked, looking flustered from the side.

He must have wanted to try it himself since he had done suturing before. But suturing the gluteal muscle was not something Lee Chanhee could do at his current skill level.

“No.”

“Ah! I’m sorry.”

Lee Chanhee quickly apologized at Taekyung’s firm refusal. He felt sorry and embarrassed for offering to do it.

“No, it’s not that you *can’t* do it…”

Taekyung said, continuing to suture the firm gluteal muscle.

“You haven’t done this *specific* procedure before… That’s why. This particular aspect of the suturing isn’t easy.”

“Yes, I understand what you mean.”

Taekyung pulled the knot tightly with both hands.

“Now, Chanhee, close the subcutaneous layer and skin above the muscle.”

“Yes, Doctor, leave it to me. You’ve worked hard.”

“Everyone, you’ve done a great job.”

“You’ve worked hard.”

Taekyung’s surgical gown, as always, was soaked with sweat – even more so today.

A rewarding and arduous surgery was completed in a place that was hard to tell whether it was a construction site or an operating room.

Afterward, after entrusting the final suturing to Lee Chanhee, Taekyung hurried out of the operating room.

Normally, he would have watched until the surgery was completely finished, but he couldn’t do that now.

It was because of the urgent patient that Nurse Lim Jeongsook had mentioned during the surgery earlier.

Taekyung first headed to the guardian waiting room where Lee Jeongbon’s guardian, Lee Jeongmi, was.

“Are you the guardian?”

“Doctor!”

Lee Jeongmi, who had been sitting in a chair with her head bowed and praying, sprang up like a spring.

“Did you wait long?”

“Is my brother okay?”

“Of course. He’s fine. He’s currently undergoing final suturing, so he’ll be moved to the recovery room in a bit, and then to the inpatient room. See that monitor up there? An announcement will appear on that screen.”

“Doctor, thank you so much. I’m truly grateful.”

Lee Jeongmi bowed her head deeply, repeatedly expressing her gratitude.

“You’ll fall. Be careful. You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you? Now, don’t worry too much and focus on helping Lee Jeongbon recover well.”

“Yes, Doctor. Thank you again.”

“Okay. I’ll see you again during rounds.”

“Yes, thank you.”

The moment Taekyung left the guardian waiting room with a warm and smiling face, a sense of tension settled on his face.

*This doesn’t feel good.*

A bad feeling was enveloping his whole body.

Taekyung hurried to the emergency room.

* * *

A few hours ago from now-

That time when Lee Jeongbon was taken to the operating room in an ambulance with Im Majun and was undergoing surgery.

Kana, who was hit by a hit-and-run while properly crossing the crosswalk, was still lying next to the ground transformer in that state.

At that time, Kana’s younger sister, Kyoko, was asleep while studying.

“Ugh!”

Kyoko, who had fallen asleep without realizing it in an uncomfortable position, raised her stiff body and looked for her phone.

“What time is it now?”

After stretching and rubbing her eyes, she checked the time on her phone and it was well past midnight.

“It’s already this late? How many hours have I slept…”

Kyoko, who had slept longer than she thought, muttered to herself and left the room.

“お姉ちゃん(Onee-chan/Sister)?”

Kyoko, who came out of the room, poured water from the water purifier and then called out to her sister, Kana.

“Sister?”

When she peeked into her sister’s room, the lights were off.

“Hmm! What’s going on?”

Her sister, who had a good relationship with her boyfriend, often went on dates. But no matter how much she dated, she usually came home at this time, but not today.

‘Did she get a proposal?’

She had already received a touching message from her sister earlier with a picture of the ring. Kyoko thought her sister might be late because of the proposal.

But something felt off.

The sisters, who came to Korea to study abroad, took care of each other even more in a foreign land. Because of that, their relationship was strong.

They often contacted each other so that there would be no worries.

But Kyoko was worried that her sister hadn’t contacted her yet after receiving the proposal.

It was even more concerning because her sister contacted her more often than she did.

Kyoko called her sister on her phone.

Only the ringing tone rang repeatedly, and her sister’s voice was not heard.

‘What’s going on?’

She didn’t worry too much because Korea was generally a safe country, even in the early morning hours. But she couldn’t help but feel uneasy because her sister wasn’t answering the phone.

She called again, but still only the connection tone rang helplessly.

Kyoko thought for a moment about contacting her sister’s boyfriend, Oh Siwon, but she hesitated. She felt it would be a considerable imposition and potentially disruptive to contact him at this late hour.

After thinking for a while, Kyoko put on a simple hoodie and went out of the house.

Her sister had promised to buy bread with stickers from the convenience store, so she decided to go directly to that convenience store just in case.

Kyoko, who came down the alley following the bright streetlights, quickly approached the convenience store that was visible in the distance.

Ding-dong-

“Welcome.”

“Hello. Excuse me, can I ask you something?”

“Yes. Ask me.”

“Has my sister been here?”

The night shift worker seemed a little embarrassed by Kyoko’s sudden question.

“Ah! I’m sorry. It’s not that… I’m the person who called to say I was going to buy sticker bread tonight…”

“Yes. I know. The person with the last four digits of the phone number XXXX, right?”

Only then did the part-time worker understand what Kyoko was saying and responded.

“Yes, that’s right. My sister was supposed to come instead of me, but has she not come yet?”

“Yes. Anyway, here…”

The part-time worker showed the sticker bread that had been set aside behind the register and continued to speak.

“I was keeping it for you. I was going to give it to you when you came, but you haven’t come yet.”

“Ah! Is that so…”

An uneasy feeling began to spread in Kyoko’s mind, who had been hoping everything would be fine.

Thinking that she couldn’t just stand there, Kyoko picked up her phone again.

It was very late, but she thought she had to contact her sister’s boyfriend, Oh Siwon.

“Goodbye.”

Kyoko was about to leave the convenience store, greeting the part-time worker with her phone in her hand.

“Excuse me?”

The part-time worker called out to Kyoko, who was about to leave.

“Yes!?”

“If your sister is coming to buy bread, I was wondering if you were going to wait.”

Kyoko was planning to call Oh Siwon and wait in front of the convenience store to see if her sister was coming.

“Yes, I’m going to wait in front of the convenience store.”

“Then it’s late, so don’t wait outside and sit over there.”

The part-time worker pointed to the window side in the back. It was a place where customers could eat simple food, and the structure was such that you could see outside from the window.

The part-time worker didn’t have any ulterior motives in telling her to wait at the convenience store.

She looked like a college student of a similar age to her, and it seemed safer for a young woman to be inside the store than waiting alone outside in the early morning hours.

“Is it okay?”

“Of course. Wait comfortably.”

“Um, please ring this up.”

Kyoko, feeling grateful for the part-time worker’s consideration, tried to buy a small chocolate at the checkout counter.

“No. It’s okay. Don’t do that. Just wait comfortably.”

“Thank you…”

Because the part-time worker adamantly refused, Kyoko decided to just wait for her sister.

Kyoko, who was sitting by the window where she could see outside well, called Oh Siwon.

After hearing the connection tone briefly about twice, Oh Siwon’s voice was heard over the phone.

* * *

-Hello?

Oh Siwon, who was going home after parting ways with Kana, received a call while driving.

-Ah, Brother-in-law. Hello. This is Kyoko. Sorry for the late hour.

The two were close because they often saw each other with her sister.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s okay. Kyoko, are you doing well?”

Oh Siwon, who was talking naturally, found it a little strange that Kyoko, not Kana, was calling.

He hadn’t turned on his phone for a few minutes after charging it in the car because the phone’s battery was running low while he was going home.

He was about to contact Kana right away, but Kyoko contacted him at that moment.

“More importantly, where is your sister?”

-I’m calling because of my sister.

“What do you mean ‘because of your sister’? What are you talking about?”

Oh Siwon’s voice suddenly became louder than before.

-Brother-in-law? My sister hasn’t come home yet.

“What!? She hasn’t come home yet?”

It was already past the time she should have arrived home after stopping by the convenience store.

-Yes…

“Kyoko, I’ll call you right back, so hang up for a second.”

-Ah, yes.

Oh Siwon hung up with Kyoko and immediately called Kana.

Ttu- Ttu- Ttu-

That’s strange. Only the ringing tone went, but Kana didn’t answer the phone. He repeated it a few more times, but the result was the same.

Oh Siwon called Kyoko again.

-Yes, Brother-in-law.

“My sister isn’t answering the phone.”

Unless they were working or had urgent business, the two always answered each other’s calls, even late at night.

Especially on days when their date ended late like today, Kana would leave a message because she knew he was worried.

Come to think of it, it was strange.

She always left a message saying that she had arrived home so that it wouldn’t interfere with driving, but today, even that simple text message hadn’t come.

Oh Siwon had a bad feeling.

-I kept calling my sister too, but she didn’t answer. I was a little worried, so I called you while waiting at the convenience store where my sister was supposed to buy bread.

“It’s strange… I dropped my sister off near the convenience store earlier, and she hasn’t arrived yet?”

-Is that so? I’m worried that my sister hasn’t come yet and isn’t answering the phone.

“Kyoko, don’t worry too much, I’ll turn the car around right now. I’ll call you as soon as I get there.”

-Yes, Brother-in-law.

Oh Siwon, who hung up the phone, quickly turned the car around at the U-turn signal.

‘It’s okay. It’s nothing…’

Even though he was muttering to himself that nothing would happen, Oh Siwon’s heart was strangely getting more and more anxious because this was the first time this had happened.