You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 508

The relief I felt at the news of Kang Min-jae’s awakening was short-lived.

It quickly gave way to a wave of anxiety.

Now that he was conscious, it was time to check for any lasting aftereffects.

I looked at Dong-jin with anxious eyes.

“He regained consciousness about 40 minutes ago, and all his vitals are normal. He seems to be recovering very quickly. I rechecked his orientation, and there were no issues. He remembers everything from the accident… Of course, we’ll need to keep monitoring him.”

“So, you don’t think there will be any serious aftereffects?”

“Yeah, man. His pronunciation is great, no strabismus [misalignment of the eyes] or anything, and no paralysis.”

Hearing that, the tension that had been gripping my entire body instantly dissipated.

I staggered for a moment, and Kang Su-il quickly caught me.

“We can’t have you falling over, Attorney. Be careful.”

“Ah, it’s just the tension releasing. I’m fine. And thanks, Dong-jin.”

I steadied myself and grabbed Dong-jin’s shoulder, and he chuckled, patting my hand.

Then, he narrowed his eyes and started twitching his lips.

I knew what this signal meant.

I saw it often around me.

“Wow, I’ve never seen you this worked up. Not even when you got into Seoul National University or passed the bar exam. Wow, I bet you went home and cried. Hey, be honest. Did you cry at home? Is that the first time you’ve cried since you were born?”

It was a prelude to teasing me.

Dong-jin bumped my shoulder with his and started grinning.

Dong-jin’s teasing gave me confidence that Kang Min-jae was really okay.

“Stop talking nonsense. When is Kang Attorney moving to a regular room?”

“Well, we’ll keep him here until today, and if he’s okay, we can move him to a regular room tomorrow. Min-jae is very determined too. It’s a relief.”

“Thank you for everything, Director.”

“Sure. Oh, and I was going to just call your uncle, but he already visited this morning, and I thought he’d want to see him now that he’s awake… I wanted to sneak him in for a visit. Your phone was off, Ju-han, so I couldn’t even tell you, but you came at the perfect time?”

Dong-jin glanced at the nurse sitting a little further away and spoke in a low voice.

“Is that okay? Of course, I’d love to see him if I can… I just don’t want to cause any trouble for the doctor.”

He said that, but Kang Su-il was already turning towards the sink to wash his hands.

“I owe this guy a big debt. And he’s a patient who’ll be going to the VIP room anyway, so it should be fine. Our Chief of Staff and the Director are constantly checking on Min-jae.”

Dong-jin looked around and led us into the ICU without being noticed.

The people moving busily inside the ICU glanced at us, aware of the sudden visitors, but soon seemed to understand the situation and passed us by without acknowledging us.

After the disinfection process, I peeked past the door of Kang Min-jae’s room and saw the lower half of Kang Min-jae lying in bed.

“Oh, right. I thought there might not be time to explain with all the emotional reunion, so I’m saying this in advance. I’ve already explained it to your uncle.”

“…I’m not going to cry.”

“Oh, and just in case you’re worried about problems elsewhere, I should add that we can’t definitively say that other areas are okay besides the subdural hemorrhage [bleeding between the brain and its outer covering]. Other departments need to do more detailed tests. But there were no obvious external injuries, and he’s not complaining of pain anywhere, so it seems like his bones and ligaments are okay. Same with organ damage. We’ll do a detailed examination when he goes down to the general ward.”

I had been so focused on the subdural hemorrhage that I had temporarily put aside concerns about injuries to other areas.

Still, it was a relief that he said he wasn’t in pain anywhere.

It was a relief.

“Min-jae.”

When we arrived at the place where Kang Min-jae was lying, I could see him clearly now.

Unlike immediately after the surgery, many of the tubes and monitors attached to his body had been removed.

Kang Min-jae blinked his swollen eyes, and when he saw Kang Su-il, his eyes widened.

“Min-jae.”

Kang Su-il approached Kang Min-jae until he could see him clearly.

He reached out to hold his hand, but then looked at Dong-jin, wondering if it was okay.

Dong-jin nodded to indicate that it was fine.

Then, as if he had been waiting for it, he grabbed Kang Min-jae’s hand tightly and made eye contact.

“Do you recognize me, bro?”

“…Why wouldn’t I? You’re my Su-il hyung [older brother/friend].”

“Are you in pain anywhere? No, there’s no way you’re not in pain. Does it hurt a lot? Are you okay? Can you handle it?”

“My head and the surgery site hurt a bit, but they gave me painkillers, so it’s okay… I can handle it. The surgery must have gone well. Dong-jin hyung is the best.”

Even in that situation, Kang Min-jae raised his thumb towards Dong-jin with the hand that had the IV in it.

Seeing him think of doing that, he must really be okay.

“I must have worried you a lot, hyung. I’m sorry. I’m always causing you trouble… What if you don’t want to clean up after me anymore? But don’t disappear suddenly. If you don’t want to hang out with me, you have to tell me.”

“What are you talking about? But it’s good to hear you say that, so you must be doing okay.”

“Hehe, I’m okay, ah, my head… Laughing makes my head hurt.”

Kang Min-jae squeezed his eyes shut and laughed.

It was amazing that he could laugh in this situation.

“Oh, Min-jae. The attorney came with me too. You should give the attorney a big bow when you get better. You would have been in real trouble if it weren’t for the attorney.”

Kang Su-il said that and turned his gaze towards me, who was standing a little further away.

Kang Min-jae seemed to have noticed me then.

Because he had a bandage on his head, he couldn’t move freely, so he was essentially forced to fix his gaze in one direction.

He tried to look at me by rolling his eyes, and I took a few steps closer to Kang Su-il.

“Oh… Attorney, are you hurt?”

I was wondering what to say, but I was taken aback by what he said.

Kang Min-jae’s eyes were on the small bandage on my chin.

“That’s strange… You weren’t hurt then.”

“Don’t worry about useless things like that; worry about yourself, Kang Attorney.”

I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t help but speak harshly.

Kang Min-jae’s attitude was the problem.

It was because of this attitude that Kang Min-jae had crashed into that dump truck.

It was because of this attitude that his almost last words were nonsense like, ‘I’m glad the attorney looks okay.’

His attitude causes so many problems.

If I don’t fix that mindset somehow, he’s sure to cause another accident.

“I’m okay…”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Are you okay enough to have blood in your head, okay enough to have a hole drilled in your skull for surgery? Are you okay enough to be in the ICU?”

“No, I mean, I can’t argue with you when you put it that way, but anyway, I’m okay now…”

“If you’re okay right now, will you be okay forever? Don’t you know how scary aftereffects are… Even if there are no aftereffects, is it over if the result is good? Don’t you think about how worried other people are because of you? I told you not to gamble. Before… I told you not to gamble before. You said you wouldn’t.”

“I never said I wouldn’t, I just reflected… And it wasn’t gambling this time.”

“It wasn’t gambling? You didn’t even know if you’d live or die if you crashed, how is that not gambling?”

“Not that. The result is certain, isn’t it? The attorney lives. So it’s not gambling…”

“…Are you crazy?”

“Ah, ah, I’m sorry. Ah, I knew I was going to get scolded… That was the scariest thing when I woke up. Hehehe, ah… Ah, my head… Ouch, the IV line!”

Kang Min-jae tried to touch his head when a headache came on while he was laughing, but the IV line was pulled, and his hand hurt.

But seeing him still laughing, I was really speechless.

I wondered if there was any point in me getting angry, and even if I did get angry, nothing would change. I had regretted scolding Kang Min-jae not to speak right before he lost consciousness, and it seemed foolish to get angry again.

“How’s Son Jeong-min…”

“That’s enough. We’ll talk about that later. Just think about yourself now, Kang Attorney.”

“I got better, can’t I get a compliment…”

“What’s so great about you that I should compliment you? I should scold you.”

“I’m in pain… I’m a patient…”

I thought for a moment that he was immature, but I knew that Kang Min-jae wasn’t that kind of immature person.

It wasn’t long, but I could read his unspoken true feelings.

He just wants to end it like this.

He knows that me scolding him is ultimately because I’m worried about him, so he wants to gloss over it by saying, ‘I’m fine now, right?’

Rejoicing that both I and Kang Min-jae survived the accident.

Above all, Kang Min-jae knows the guilt I have.

So he knows that I think even him being like this is my fault, so he’s trying to end it as a childish happening.

Even if he looks like an immature person, he’s trying to turn the moment that could have been a tragedy into a comedy.

But I didn’t want to accept his attempt.

“You deserve to be scolded.”

Kang Su-il, who had been quiet, also chimed in.

“Ah, why are you doing this too, hyung?”

“Now that I see it, I spoiled you too much. You need someone like the attorney to scold you. Good for you. You know the patient shield ends someday, right?”

“You guys are too much…”

Kang Min-jae pouted.

“Wow. Seeing Min-jae like that, he can go to a regular room right away.”

“Huh, really?”

“No, you idiot. Stay here until today. You need to rest more. But these two were so worried, so I brought them here. You both saw that Min-jae is really okay, so you must feel relieved now, right?”

“Yes, I’m relieved. Thank you, doctor.”

Kang Su-il’s eyes looked like he would give Dong-jin a big bow if there was enough space here.

“Ju-han, you?”

“I don’t know.”

“He’s lying as soon as he opens his mouth. Min-jae, I’ll tell you later how Ju-han was while you were lying down. I really thought you were his son. I don’t know when he got married in secret and had a son your age.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

“Anyway, he’s pretending to be cool. I saw him crying last night.”

“Don’t say crazy things. Anyway, I’m leaving, so call me when Kang Attorney goes down to the general ward.”

I left the ICU.

I could relax to some extent now that I had seen with my own eyes that Kang Min-jae was okay, and I didn’t want to keep him tired by staying there because of my own selfishness.

As Kang Min-jae said, he’s still a patient, isn’t he?

He just had brain surgery and just regained consciousness, so it would be quite tiring to be surrounded by so many people talking.

“Oh. Attorney, why are you coming out of there?”

When I came out of the ICU, Tae-shik was sitting in the waiting area, waiting for me.

“Ah, I went to visit because Kang Attorney woke up.”

“Huh, really? Kang Attorney woke up? How is he? Is he okay?”

“He’s fine. Seeing him talking nonsense as soon as he woke up, he must be doing okay.”

“Wow, that’s really a relief. Ha, that’s really a relief. I was worried that if Kang Attorney didn’t wake up today, I’d have to carry you to the emergency room. Ah, that’s great. There are no aftereffects, right?”

“It doesn’t seem like there are any yet. But why would I go to the emergency room if Kang Attorney didn’t wake up?”

“You were about to starve until Kang Attorney woke up. You were about to collapse from malnutrition.”

Come to think of it, I realized that I hadn’t eaten anything for a long time.

Suddenly feeling hungry, I put my hand on my stomach.

Then Tae-shik narrowed his eyes and looked at me.

“You’re hungry, right?”

“…I am.”

“Let’s go get something to eat. Ah, after eating, get some sleep. You don’t seem to have slept much either, I heard from Sang-gil.”

“We need to buy things that Kang Attorney will need when he moves to the general ward.”

“I’ll have the kids buy that stuff, so eat and sleep, you idiot.”

I was just saying what’s humanly right, but I don’t know why I’m being scolded.