Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 51

51. Credit Card

A home in a high-rise apartment.

The hands and feet of a young man, who looked to be a college student, were wrapped in bandages and cloth. They were so thick they resembled bulky shoe boxes.

Knock, knock.

“Son?”

“……!”

The man, who was using his mouth to untie a bandage on his hand, startled at his mother’s voice.

“Are you okay?”

The man’s mother asked from outside the door, her voice cautious, laced with worry.

“Is everything alright?”

“Yeah! Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Did you take your medicine?”

“Of course. I took it.”

“Okay, I understand. Should I bring you some fruit?”

“No, it’s okay.”

“Call me if you need anything.”

“Okay.”

After hearing her footsteps fade away from the door, the man resumed unwrapping the bandages and cloth from his hands. After a long while, as the discarded wrappings piled up on the floor, the man’s bare hands and feet were revealed.

“Ugh!”

The man grimaced as if in pain, his bare skin exposed to the air.

He rose from his chair and retrieved a dusty photo album from the bottom shelf of the bookshelf.

His fingernails, which he couldn’t bring himself to cut, had grown long. Using the tips of his long nails, the man flipped through the album.

“You’re smiling… There was a time when I was like that too.”

The man’s expression, as he gazed at a picture of his happier self—a stark contrast to his current state—was a mixture of sadness and longing.

Occasionally, when he looked at pictures taken with his parents, the man carefully lifted the album with his arms, avoiding touching it with his hands, and pressed his nose against the picture. It was as if he were caressing his beloved parents’ faces.

“Our parents have aged so much because of me.”

After a long silence, the man closed the album and activated the video recording on his phone.

“Dad, Mom, it’s me. I wanted to write a letter, but I can’t even do that. So, I’m leaving this as a video.”

The man’s monologue echoed in the room, filled with desperation, urgency, and heartfelt sincerity.

“I really love you.”

Thud. Thud.

The sound of raindrops falling on the window, one by one, grew louder, mirroring the turmoil in the man’s heart.

* * *

“I’ll get up first.”

“Dr. Choi, aren’t you eating more?”

“Yes, I’ve had enough.”

“That’s strange.”

Euijin watched Choi Mona rise after finishing dinner, tilting his head in puzzlement.

“What is it?”

“You know Dr. Choi loves to eat, right?”

“I know. She even likes snacks.”

“Dr. Choi has a unique expression when she eats.”

“She does? I never noticed.”

“Dr. Choi is secretly serious about food. When I asked her if she knew any good restaurants, she gave me a list the next day.”

“Dr. Choi has that side to her.”

“Anyway, today, there’s no soul in her eyes when she looks at food, or should I say…”

“Wow! Dr. Jung, you’re really sharp.”

Nurse Lim Jeong-suk gave Euijin a thumbs up, impressed by his observation skills.

“Why? Did something happen to Dr. Choi?”

“She’s been a little different since she came out of Dr. Kim’s office.”

“Did she get scolded? No way. My senior isn’t the type to scold anyone. Of course, she does when there’s a reason, but she usually doesn’t.”

“I know that too. I don’t know what the two of them talked about, but I think a big change might be coming to Dr. Choi soon.”

“What’s it about?”

“I don’t know. Call it my intuition.”

“You’re something, Doctor.”

“Dr. Jung, I have good intuition. Oh, Jung, why are you so wet?”

Nurse Lim Jeong-suk, who had been speaking, addressed another nurse sitting at the table, noticing damp patches on her clothes.

“It’s raining like crazy outside. The sky is crying, and it feels like it’s going to thunder soon. I went out to the bank for a quick errand, and it started pouring as soon as I came out.”

“Did you get rained on because you didn’t have an umbrella?”

“No. I bought one at the convenience store and used it, but I still got soaked.”

“I’m suddenly worried because it’s raining so much.”

“I know. I hope nothing happens on a day like this…”

“That’s right. Accident and emergency patients are worse on days like this. I hope the rain stops soon.”

The expressions of the two people, who had been laughing and chatting, suddenly turned worried because of the downpour.

* * *

Rumble- Crash!

“Oh my!”

A woman walking through the apartment complex was startled by the loud thunder.

“You’re really scared of thunder.”

“Am I pretending to be scared? I really hate rain and thunder.”

“Someone who hates that goes to buy *tteokbokki* [spicy stir-fried rice cakes] in the pouring rain with thunder? And at dinner time?”

“I watched a *tteokbokki mukbang* [eating broadcast] on my way home from work, and I wanted to eat it so badly that I couldn’t help it.”

“You already ate dinner, didn’t you?”

“I only ate a little. *Tteokbokki* is always the most delicious when you eat it as a late-night snack.”

The young couple walked, carefully shielding the *tteokbokki* bag from the diagonal rain.

“Honey, the rain is going to get into the *tteokbokki*. Hold it tight.”

“What? Hold the *tteokbokki*?”

“Don’t you want to?”

“Of course, I do. If I listen to my wife, good things will happen even while I’m sleeping. Why wouldn’t I want to?”

“You’re the best, honey.”

“Honey, so, can I play games when I go in?”

“You’re going to play games again? What’s so fun about that game where you only shoot guns?”

“It relieves stress, and it’s fun. I’m supposed to squad with the club members today. Huh?”

“Okay, do it.”

“Really? You’re the best, honey.”

Thump!

The two, who were hurrying, stopped again at the sound of thunder.

“The thunder is fierce.”

“Honey, didn’t you hear something just now?”

“Thunder?”

“No, not the thunder. Something heavy.”

“I don’t know. It’s probably just thunder.”

“Is that so? Let’s go eat *tteokbokki*.”

The woman, thinking she had misheard, entered the apartment with her husband.

* * *

“Doctor, my child wants to go to the bathroom. Can they go?”

“Of course. But please have a guardian go with them.”

“Yes.”

“How is patient in bed 3 with N&V (nausea and Vomiting) now?”

“They’re fine now.”

“Keep checking on them.”

It was past 11 p.m., and the beds in our hospital’s emergency room were full. Usually, there are one or two empty beds at this time, but tonight, a surge of patients arrived.

“Oh, doctor. My stomach feels like it’s going to burst.”

“I keep having diarrhea. Am I going to die?”

“That’s why I told you not to eat raw food. It’s all because of the president.”

“No, why is it my fault? You all said it was good too.”

“Okay! Okay! Patients, this is a hospital. There are other patients here, so please lower your voices.”

“Oh, yes. I’m sorry.”

Nurse Lim Jeong-suk, who had issued the same warning 10 minutes ago, repeated it and returned to the station.

Members of an online cafe had a get-together for a *hoesik* [*hoesik* is a Korean company dinner], and they all showed symptoms of food poisoning and came to the emergency room.

“It’s going to be noisy until sunrise tonight.”

“But we’re grateful that there are no seriously ill patients. All the patients are settled, so let’s slowly send our turtles home.”

“Are you really okay with that?”

Nurse Lim Jeong-suk asked, looking worried at Taekyung’s words.

“What if a seriously ill patient comes and needs an OP (operation)? What are you going to do alone?”

“I’m Kim Taekyung. It’ll be hard, but I can do it. Have you forgotten that I operated alone on my first day?”

If someone else had said that, it would have sounded like bragging. But this was Taekyung.

The name ‘Kim Taekyung’ alone was as solid as a gold mine, synonymous with trust and faith. Honestly, with Taekyung around, I didn’t envy having ten doctors.

“How can I forget that? Send our turtle teachers home quickly.”

“I’ll be right back. Dr. Lee, Dr. Choi. Can I see you for a moment?”

Taekyung called Lee Chanhee and Choi Mona out of the emergency room.

* * *

“You called us, Doctor.”

“Take this, both of you.”

The files that Lee Chanhee and Choi Mona received contained materials about a conference.

“The first file is the conference material, and the second file is what I’ve picked out as good things to look at together.”

“What is this?”

“Why are you giving this to us?”

“Why? It means I want you to attend tomorrow. So, both of you go home now.”

“Yes?”

“……!”

“Why? Do you want to work all night and attend?”

Going home and attending the conference. It was something they couldn’t believe.

“I don’t know about anything else, but this one is really good to listen to. It’s helpful not only for surgery but also in all directions. I applied separately because I wanted you two to hear it.”

As a doctor, the more conferences and seminars you attend, the better. But it’s difficult to attend with a work environment where day and night are reversed.

Even if they were told to attend on their own, the two would never have applied. Taekyung knew that, so he prepared it secretly.

“It starts at 9 a.m., so go home and sleep now, and when it’s over at 3 p.m., go home and rest and go straight to work. Don’t eat lunch boxes, and if you look across the street, there’s a beef restaurant. Eat as much as you want with this.”

Taekyung, seeing the two were still in shock, stuck his credit card into Lee Chanhee’s finger.

It was the first card he had obtained after paying off his debt and escaping his status as a credit delinquent. He decided to use that card for the first time to buy beef for his juniors.

Even though he had never eaten beef himself.

“I don’t understand why you’re doing this for us.”

“Doctors have to study for the rest of their lives for the sake of their patients. And don’t try to understand, just accept it. Don’t you want to?”

“No.”

“Dr. Choi, don’t you want to go?”

“Ah, no. I was just worried that it was too much.”

“I’m not just sending you. There’s a condition.”

“A condition?”

“Do you both have laptops?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Me too.”

“Write down the lecture from beginning to end on your laptop, word for word, and submit it to me tomorrow. That’s all. I’ll give you exactly 3 minutes from now. Run to the doctor’s office, grab your bags, and go home quickly. Aren’t you going?”

Both of them hesitated, feeling guilty. That’s when it happened.

“It’s going to be canceled anyway, so I’ll cancel it…”

“Thank you, I’ll be back.”

“Thank you.”

As soon as Taekyung threatened to cancel it, the two ran to the doctor’s office without looking back.

“Doctor?”

Lee Chanhee, emerging with a backpack slung over his gown, approached Taekyung instead of heading for the main gate.

“Why?”

“Since I have to write down the lecture tomorrow, there’s no homework today, right?”

“Wouldn’t there be?”

“No.”

Lee Chanhee, receiving only a sharp glare for his attempt, headed straight for the main gate.

“You’re a tough one. A tough one!”

* * *

The heavy rain that had fallen with the thunder the day before had stopped as if it were a lie by dawn.

“Good morning.”

Woof- Woof-

A gray-haired old man greeted the apartment security guard with his small dog.

“Elder. It’s too early to call it morning yet. It’s 5 a.m. now.”

“This time *is* morning for me. Can you see this? The time to get *yaksu* [medicinal spring water] is the beginning of the morning.”

“Be careful not to slip because there are puddles of rainwater.”

“Don’t worry. Still, the fine dust is gone because of the pouring rain, so it’s very refreshing.”

“That’s right. You’ll be able to see the sky very well today. Have a good trip.”

“Okay. Let’s go, Happy.”

The old man nearly fell when his dog suddenly jumped into the flower bed of the apartment and barked after walking about 3 meters.

Woof-

“You almost made me fall.”

Woof woof- Woof-

“Let’s go if you’ve peed. Come out quickly.”

Woof woof woof woof-

“Happy? Why is such a small guy so energetic?”

The old man approached the dog because it wouldn’t come out, and that’s when it happened.

“Is there a rat there…!”

The old man’s expression, after discovering something he could never have imagined inside the flower bed, was one of utter shock.

“Why is there…a, a, a person…Hey!”