“It seems like the one who needs to recuperate in the hospital isn’t me but Ahjussi’s son.”
The coughing had stopped, but his voice was still thinly cracked. It was a smaller and weaker voice than usual, but the curtness hadn’t gone anywhere. Then the Vice Director sat down on the sofa next to the bed and said:
“That can’t be. Taejeong is still being punished.”
Taejeong wasn’t in this hospital right now. When he was suffering from high fever, even in his confused state, Seonwoo had asked about Taejeong’s whereabouts. At that time, the Vice Director pushed back Seonwoo’s wet bangs and said: Taejeong is at home.
When he heard those words, Seonwoo felt deflated. So deflated that the consciousness he’d been desperately clinging to until just before became faint as if losing strength. From then on, he repeated the cycle of falling asleep as if fainting, waking up to be force-fed porridge, and falling asleep again. It took several days before he could have a proper conversation like now.
“But the surgery was done, right?”
“That was because I found Seonwoo’s efforts admirable.”
“Then if it wasn’t for me, you would have just left it as is.”
“Seonwoo doesn’t understand well. People don’t die just because one bone is damaged.”
“…….”
“He’s my only child, so would Ahjussi want to hit him?”
They weren’t communicating. Seonwoo felt like he was having a conversation alone with a wall, so he didn’t answer anymore.
“What’s wrong with leaving home and living it up spending money on hotel life that doesn’t match his station? People are supposed to spend according to what they have. How can Ahjussi stop him from wasting his own life? But he only learns bad things from somewhere and keeps doing useless things. At times like that, don’t I have to fulfill my parental role? So I did it as discipline, just one shoulder.”
The Vice Director fiddled with his eyebrows, stroking them with his fingers as if it was no big deal.
“If Taejeong became well-behaved like Seonwoo, Ahjussi would be really comfortable.”
“…….”
“Seonwoo-ya. Ahjussi has worked hard throughout my life, but I’ve also been lucky.”
Then he spread his palm and slowly folded his fingers one by one.
“The on-duty resident happened to relay even the patient’s name. The person who received that call happened to be a doctor I know. What do you think the probability is of getting a call to me at that hour in the morning?”
When listed out in words like that, it was makjang drama level. That’s how much that day was an absurd stroke of bad luck for Seonwoo and Taejeong, and an unexpected stroke of good fortune for the Vice Director.
“No matter how much Taejeong struggles, he can’t escape. Now it seems even he himself is aware of that, so that’s fortunate at least.”
“…….”
“What is Seonwoo going to do from now on?”
It was an ambiguous question whose meaning was unclear. But Seonwoo answered immediately without showing any sign of contemplation.
“What more do I need to do?”
Then the Vice Director smiled slightly without answering and rubbed the handle of his mug.
“Come to think of it, you’re at the hospital but you haven’t looked for Seonmin.”
“……”
“Have you already become emotionally independent from your parents?”
He almost shot back, “Because I already met her plenty in my dreams while I was sleeping,” but just kept his mouth shut. Seonwoo didn’t want to share even a bit of his memories with his mother.
After that, the Vice Director continued rambling incomprehensible nonsense before leaving when his phone rang. The abalone porridge had already cooled to lukewarm. Seonwoo forced himself to eat it to fill his stomach. Of course, he didn’t touch the pear juice the Vice Director had personally brought him.
After finishing his meal, he got down from the bed. Seonwoo walked slowly around the spacious hospital room. His body, especially his head, still felt heavy, but there was no problem walking on his two feet.
When he left the bedroom area, there was a small living room. It had everything—a TV and even a wide sofa. There was some kind of space on the wall, and when he opened it, it was a closet.
The clothes he had worn in weren’t there. Instead, a navy-colored outfit was hanging. It felt closer to pajamas than outerwear. Whatever it was, it didn’t matter as long as it wasn’t a patient gown.
Seonwoo unbuttoned and took off the patient gown top. Both the insides of his arms were covered in dark blue bruises. While he suffered from the high fever, his veins kept swelling and bursting, so they had to change the IV needles frequently. There was nowhere left to insert the needle, so they had temporarily removed it while he ate.
That’s why changing clothes was easy. And so was leaving the hospital room.
Unlike the general ward, the premium ward didn’t have a nurse station in the hallway. There was a separate office in another space. In other words, there were no nurses stationed in the hallway.
Seonwoo quietly left the hospital. He’d be caught quickly anyway because of CCTV, but it didn’t matter.
When he got into the taxi, the car started before he could even state his destination. The taxi driver asked where he was going, completely unaware that Seonwoo was a patient who had escaped from the hospital.
Outside the window, it was sunny. It had rained so much, yet there wasn’t even a trace of wetness on the ground. The road was quiet without traffic, and the driver drove safely, observing the speed limit.
But he’d been feeling motion sick since earlier. At first, he thought he was just dizzy, but his stomach felt stuffy like he had indigestion. He had forced himself to eat, but he hadn’t eaten hastily. Besides, he had picked out only the rice grains, excluding the chunks, so it was strange.
“……”
Seonwoo rolled down the window slightly and leaned his heavy head against the car body. If it were up to him, he wanted to lie down in the back seat. He wanted to rest with something soft under his head. He crossed his arms, then uncrossed them, crossed his legs, then uncrossed them… He kept changing positions restlessly. He repeated that behavior until they arrived.
“I don’t have my wallet right now, so I’ll bring it from home. I’m sorry.”
Getting out of the car, Seonwoo bowed his head toward the taxi driver. Then the driver glanced once at the large gate and didn’t say much.
To enter the house, he had to press the door lock at both the main gate and the front door. It was when Seonwoo passed through the gate and was crossing the yard. Someone opened the front door and came out.
“Seonwoo? Weren’t you hospitalized?”
It was none other than the housekeeper. Judging by her bewildered expression, she didn’t seem to have come out to greet Seonwoo warmly.
“I didn’t hear you were coming today?”
The housekeeper rummaged through her apron pocket. He could see her taking out her phone. Seonwoo closed the distance and spoke in a friendly manner.
“The hospital food was bad, so I was discharged early. But Ahjumma, could you pay the taxi fare for me? I took a taxi here, but I think I left my wallet at the hospital.”
“Oh my, so there’s a taxi waiting in front of the house right now? Oh dear, that won’t do…”
The phone went back into her pocket. The housekeeper went to find her wallet with hurried steps. Following her into the house, Seonwoo said,
“I’m sorry. I’ll definitely give it back to you later.”
“Oh, why make such a fuss over taxi fare? It’s fine, so just rest.”
As soon as he confirmed the housekeeper going out with her wallet, he went up to the second floor. The stairs where he had been forcibly dragged up by both arms, he was now climbing on his own, taking two steps at a time with big strides.
His destination was Taejeong’s room. As soon as he approached the door, he grabbed and turned the doorknob right away. However, with the sound of something catching with a clunk, it didn’t budge at all. But Seonwoo didn’t stop his hand.
“Hey.”
Rattle, rattle, the sharp metallic sound of the lock mechanism engaging continued. Seonwoo shook the doorknob as if to break it. His eyes weren’t in their right mind.
“Open the door.”
He even kicked it irritably. Even so, the closed door didn’t budge at all. Seonwoo let go of the doorknob and walked with big strides to the second-floor living room. The side table next to the sofa. The key was right where he remembered it.
Clutching it, he returned to Taejeong’s room. He pushed it into the keyhole. Even without applying force, he could feel it naturally engaging.
Soon, when he heard a click, goosebumps rose on the nape of his neck. Seonwoo flung the door wide open without knocking.
