Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 57

57. Lips and Cold Sweat

In that moment, as I was tracking the flow of the Fifth Vital,

“Sir!”

A security guard in a jacket labeled ‘Staff’ approached.

“You can’t go up here.”

“Ah, okay.”

“It’s dangerous, please come down quickly.”

The security guard scanned Tae-kyung up and down, noticing the well-groomed man acting strangely.

“Sir, are you drunk by any chance?”

“No, I’m not.”

“You don’t smell like alcohol, so I guess not. But why did you climb up here?”

“I was looking for someone.”

“If you’ve lost a child…”

“No, I was looking for someone I came with.”

“Okay. Anyway, please don’t climb up here, it’s dangerous.”

“Yes, I’m sorry.”

Even after the security guard warned him, Tae-kyung remained standing there, trying to sense the flow of the Fifth Vital he had felt a moment ago.

“It was definitely in the left direction…”

However, the target seemed to have moved, as he could no longer sense it. He circled the area just in case, but it was the same.

‘Well, it’s Stage 2, so it should be alright.’

Tae-kyung, pacing back and forth, eventually decided to return to his seat. The stage he had sensed earlier smelled like Stage 2. (In this context, ‘Stage 2’ likely refers to a level of illness or condition detectable through Tae-kyung’s special ability.)

In reality, Stage 2 isn’t a critical situation. Of course, the smell changes from moment to moment depending on the patient’s condition. But earlier, the intensity of the smell wasn’t strong even within Stage 2, so he judged that it wasn’t a serious situation.

“Senior, over here!”

Ui-jin, who had been craning his neck like a meerkat, watching the aisle, called out to Tae-kyung.

“Why did it take you so long?”

“Well, I mistook the section and got a little lost.”

“I knew it. I thought you wouldn’t be able to find me, so I kept watching the entrance.”

“But the seating here is unique.”

Unlike the surrounding area with rows of chairs, the section where they were sitting had a table and good seats.

“I put some thought into it so we could watch comfortably.”

“Wow, this is really a prime spot. Thanks.”

“It’s nothing.”

Ui-jin had planned an extensive itinerary for today. He was planning to confess his feelings to Tae-kyung over drinks at the after-party after dinner.

It was sudden, but he wanted to make things clear rather than just liking him on his own. He wasn’t a young teenager whose unrequited love wouldn’t matter, and he felt he needed to make a decision before his feelings grew any bigger.

“Oh, right! Senior, do you know the rules of baseball?”

“I know that much. The batter hits the ball and runs to 1st base, 2nd base, 3rd base, and then scores.”

“Then do you know how many points a home run is worth?”

“Isn’t a home run also 1 point?”

“No. A solo home run is 1 point, 2 points when there’s one runner, 3 points when there are two runners, and 4 points when it’s a grand slam.”

“Ui-jin, you really like baseball, don’t you?”

“Of course. This is easy peasy.”

Contrary to the answer that elicited Tae-kyung’s admiration, Ui-jin had thoroughly studied baseball theory the day before.

“It looks like it’s starting.”

After that, the two of them became more engrossed in the game than they had expected.

“Oh~ a hit. Nice.”

They rejoiced when their team got a hit and became gloomy when they were out.

“Ah, no!”

“Out. They caught it.”

“I know. That’s too bad.”

“But it’s still early, so we can catch up. There’s that famous quote from Yogi Berra.”

“What is it?”

“It ain’t over till it’s over.”

“I know that saying too. It’s not over until it’s over.”

“That’s right. You never know with baseball until the bottom of the 9th inning.”

“Then do you know what’s most important at this point?”

“A home run?”

“No. Cheering. And to cheer properly, we need ‘Chicken God’.”

Come to think of it, more and more people around them were enjoying chicken.

“Chicken is good. Chicken tastes even better when you eat it here.”

“Of course.”

“I’ll buy the chicken.”

“I already ordered and paid for it in advance with the app.”

“Then should I go get it?”

“Are you going to get lost again? I’ll go get it. What would you like to drink? Cola, beer?”

“Let’s have cola since we’re having drinks later.”

“Of course, we should have a drink later. Then I’ll get cola.”

Thanks to the pre-order, Ui-jin quickly returned with the ‘Chicken God’.

“Here! Chicken has arrived.”

When Ui-jin opened the warm box, the savory smell of the golden-brown chicken filled the air.

“I really love the smell of this crispy fried chicken.”

“I know, the smell is amazing!”

Tae-kyung, who was about to pick up a plump chicken leg, suddenly stopped talking.

“Senior? Senior?”

“… Huh? Why?”

“What do you mean ‘why’? You frowned while you were talking.”

“It’s not that, I smelled something.”

“Smell? What kind of smell is coming from the chicken?”

While Ui-jin brought his nose close to the chicken box, Tae-kyung got up from his seat and turned his head from side to side.

‘It’s definitely…’

It was very faint, but it was definitely the smell he had felt earlier. It was the faint ammonia smell wafting through the chicken smell coming from all directions.

Since he had smelled the same smell for the second time, he wondered if there was someone who needed treatment. But now wasn’t the right time to take any action.

‘Ha! This is awkward.’

The problem was that there were too many people. He couldn’t go around smelling each and every one of these people like a sniffer dog.

“I don’t smell anything. Senior, don’t you smell anything?”

“I guess. I must have smelled it wrong…”

Just as he was about to sit down, thinking that there was nothing he could do this time,

“…!”

In a fleeting moment, the smell became strong.

Sensing that moment, Tae-kyung’s head turned to follow the smell like an S pole [South pole of a magnet] drawn to an N pole [North pole of a magnet].

“It’s okay. Stop drawing attention like that.”

At the end of his gaze, following the direction of the smell, he saw an elderly man with two men in suits. Judging by the smell, it seemed like they had just taken their seats.

‘It seems to be coming from that man.’

Tae-kyung was still standing in an awkward posture, holding a chicken leg in one hand and his head half-turned, wondering whether to sit down or not.

“Senior, why are you standing like that?”

“Oh, no. I was just amazed by the beer vendor.”

“Well, it’s only in the baseball stadium, so it’s amazing. Aren’t you going to eat the chicken leg?”

“I’ll eat it. I should eat it.”

Ui-jin was enthusiastically adding this and that from the side, but it was difficult for Tae-kyung to concentrate.

Once he started paying attention, his brain kept consciously focusing on the source of the smell.

-We would like to thank the audience who heated up the kiss time and take a special moment to introduce someone.

As an event during the change of innings, the kiss time ended and the announcer began to introduce someone.

-Especially for today’s opening game, the owner of the Blue Moon team, Nuga Group Chairman Kim Hyung-gun, has visited the baseball stadium.

“Senior, look at the screen over there.”

Tae-kyung’s gaze, which had been directed at the man, shifted to the screen for a moment at the sound of people’s enthusiastic cheers and Ui-jin’s call.

“I’m seeing that famous tycoon here.”

“Oh! That person…”

Tae-kyung’s eyebrows twitched as he faced the screen. The man he had been fixing his gaze on appeared on the screen.

“Senior, you know that person too, right? He owns Saehee Mang Hospital and Geoin Pharmaceutical, Nuga Group is all his. I heard he’s self-made, he’s an amazing person.”

“He’s really amazing.”

Amazing or whatever, Tae-kyung didn’t even care whether that person was a tycoon or a beggar.

“That person looks tired. Look at me. Why are you worrying about a tycoon?”

Ui-jin said to himself and moved on, but Tae-kyung strongly agreed. Especially his lips were too pale.

Besides, the way he was waving his hand on the screen looked unnatural.

In fact, Tae-kyung had been watching Chairman Kim Hyung-gun since he sensed the smell. It wasn’t always the case, but diseases that gave off this level of smell were mostly found in the elderly. But when he looked around, most of them were in their twenties or thirties, or at most in their forties.

The only elderly person among them was that tycoon.

“Ui-jin?”

After a moment of hesitation, Tae-kyung decided to pass by the chairman’s vicinity just in case.

“Yes, Senior.”

“I’m going to the bathroom for a moment.”

“Make sure you find your way back this time. It’s that way, so don’t get confused.”

“Okay. Watch the game.”

Tae-kyung, who had put down the chicken leg he was holding, turned around and headed towards Kim Hyung-gun.

With each step he took, the Fifth Vital became more and more perceptible. And as he passed by him, he was certain.

‘I knew it…’

As expected, Kim Hyung-gun, the culprit of the smell, was right. From now on, Tae-kyung began to observe him closely, staying a little behind.

‘It’s worse than before?’

His lips were getting paler and paler, and he kept wiping his forehead as if he was sweating in the not-so-hot weather. Also, he felt the concentration of the smell slowly increasing.

Since gaining this strange ability, Tae-kyung had never ignored his gut feeling, which he had previously dismissed. Strangely, that intuition often played a decisive role in saving patients. Of course, it seemed that this intuition had developed further after he gained the ability. And now, that chairman was giving Tae-kyung a strong intuition.

The Fifth Vital had never been wrong. So he decided to trust his ability and his intuition as a doctor.

‘Lips and cold sweat.’

Tae-kyung began to summarize the symptoms Kim Hyung-gun had shown so far.

First of all, the blue lips meant that the oxygen supply was not smooth. And the cold sweat could mean that he was putting a strain on his whole body.

‘His breathing is uneven.’

Also, he seemed to have difficulty breathing, as he intermittently took deep breaths in and out.

Judging from the current circumstances, Kim Hyung-gun was having difficulty with circulation and breathing. His vitals were probably fluctuating.

As soon as he thought that far, Tae-kyung couldn’t stay still. Then, suddenly, he remembered what Ui-jin had said earlier.

‘Chairman of Saehee Mang Hospital…’

After a moment of hesitation, Tae-kyung took out his cell phone, searched for a contact, and began to make a call.

“Ha! I guess I was overreacting. It would be strange if he answered the phone.”

It was a call to a classmate who wasn’t an ‘assa’ [Korean slang for ‘outsider’ or someone who doesn’t fit in] and didn’t have many friends, but got along well with Tae-kyung. But only the dial tone kept ringing from beyond the phone.

‘Well, it’s been over 10 years since we last contacted each other…’

Just as he was about to give up and hang up at the prolonged dial tone,

-Kim Tae-kyung!?

A thick male voice was heard from beyond the phone.

“Hey, it’s Tae-kyung.”

-What! Is that really you, Tae-kyung?

He probably saw Tae-kyung’s name on the screen and answered out of curiosity.

“That’s right.”

-Hey, I heard you got fired from Shinhwa University. How could you get fired when even a guy like me is a professor? Is that even possible? Your news was a hot topic among the classmates. I was so shocked to hear that you were out of the game…

The classmate poured out words like a storm, as if he was curious about Tae-kyung’s recent situation, but he didn’t have the time to listen to it now.

“Hey, I’m sorry to contact you so suddenly.”

-Sorry? I should have contacted you first. I’m grateful that you contacted me first. Tae-kyung, let’s not do that and meet up.

“Okay, sure. But hey, you don’t have to go into surgery right now, do you?”

-I’m still a professor, so I’m okay on weekends unless there’s an emergency call.

“It’s not that, I just wanted to ask you something urgently.”

-What is it? Tell me.

“Hey, do you know Kim Gun-hyung?”

-Of course. He’s the chairman of our hospital.”

“Has he been hospitalized in your hospital recently?”

-Oh! How did you know that?

It was purely a guess. The person who answered the phone was a professor of surgery at Saehee Mang Hospital.

Tae-kyung had a rival relationship with Shinhwa University Hospital in the past, but if you had to pick one, Saehee Mang Hospital was the top-tier hospital.

“What was he hospitalized for?”

-Hey, Tae-kyung?

The classmate, who had been leading the conversation with joy until now, immediately changed his tone when he asked about Kim Gun-hyung’s illness.

-Still, this isn’t right. Do you think I’m a joke?