Track 6. Battle for the Sun
Ji Seokhun called the secretarial office to ask for his outpatient appointments to be postponed for the day.
He had to hide his desire to yell at and hang up on the secretary who was stumbling over her words trying to conceal her dismay at having to call around 80 patients, as he wanted to shout that he was in no condition to see patients right now.
In the absence of Geun-yeong, who had been like a remedy for his obsessive-compulsive tendencies, he didn’t think he could tolerate people who kept coming for regular appointments while managing their blood sugar terribly. Today’s appointments were impossible.
After ending the irritating call, he waited by two phones as he had been doing all night.
Late last night, two messages came to Geun-yeong’s phone. They were from Woo Donghwa, a friend close to Geun-yeong. The first one said [What are you doing?], and the second one said [Are you sleeping?]. He didn’t reply, and there had been no contact since then.
Around 10 AM, he received a call from an unfamiliar name and answered it. It was a classmate from school. When asked if he was the professor, he confirmed and said that Geun-yeong had stepped out briefly. He suppressed his rising irritation at the guy who shouted, “Yes! Thank you, Professor! I’m the class president Park Sanghun! I’ll hang up now!” and ended the call with a standard response.
After that, both Geun-yeong’s phone and his own remained quiet. There was no contact from that trash-like guy saying he had found information about Kyung Jiho’s personal details or residence.
Then at 12 PM, he wondered if Geun-yeong was eating properly. Yesterday at 6 PM, this morning at 8 AM, and now. This worry repeated around mealtimes. However, Seokhun hadn’t realized that he himself hadn’t eaten anything.
He didn’t tell the housekeeper to stop making noise while preparing meals. It would also feed the woman who was making equally unpleasant noise.
While forcibly enduring the irregular noises from both sides and the imperfect situation, his phone vibrated. It was Geun-yeong’s, with an unsaved number. Seokhun answered immediately.
“Hello.”
[Hello, this is Choi Internal Medicine in Samjeong-dong. Is this Ji Geun-yeong’s phone?]
Choi Internal Medicine?
“Yes, it is.”
[Are you… Ji Geun-yeong?]
Judging by the voice, it was a suspicious question implying the age didn’t match.
“I’m his guardian. Please go ahead.”
[If you’re not the patient… it’s a bit difficult to…]
Seokhun gripped the phone tightly as if it were the caller’s neck.
“I am Ji Geun-yeong’s father, Ji Seokhun. I’m also an endocrinologist. Please speak to me.”
[Ji… Seokhun?]
After recalling the familiar name a couple of times, the person on the other end shouted the name of a famous tertiary hospital as if having a sudden realization, and then began chattering unnecessarily in an excited tone.
[Ah! So you’re Professor Ji Seokhun! I’ve often seen your presentations at conferences! Oh my, this is truly an honor, Professor! Especially your research on Apo-J Cell genetic trait changes in Type 1 diabetes patients—I thought it was truly remarkable!]
He wasn’t unaware that his research was impressive. Seokhun had to hide his desire to cut off the man who seemed poised to continue with his praises.
“May I know the reason for your call? Did Geun-yeong come in for an appointment?”
[What? Yes. He came to get Lispro insulin. Since his diabetes wasn’t registered, I ran a few routine blood tests, and well…]
The phone was trembling slightly. No, it was the hand holding the phone that was trembling.
[The C-peptide levels were… normal. It was so strange that…]
Seokhun forcibly swallowed the saliva he had gathered in his parched mouth. Moistening his dry throat, he spoke as if it were a matter of course.
“That’s probably right.”
[Then, perhaps…]
His mouth went completely dry. The vanished saliva turned into cold sweat. A chill ran down his cooling spine.
[Did you… succeed in… beta cell… recovery? My God… that’s impossible…]
Seokhun’s shoulders slumped with a heavy sigh. His strength drained completely, making the phone feel so heavy that he had to switch it to his other hand.
“Since this isn’t something that can be made public right now, I won’t discuss it further. For now, please don’t register Geun-yeong’s diabetes.”
[Ah! Yes! Of course! Um… did you conduct that research to cure your son? Is that why you didn’t register him?]
“I’m with a patient, so I can’t talk for long.”
[Yes! Ah! Yes! Of course! Then I’ll—]
Just before the conventional farewell ended, something suddenly occurred to Seokhun.
The fact that the kid had visited for treatment meant…
The moment he deduced the implications, his skin crawled. Goosebumps rose all the way to the tips of his hair. Soon, cold sweat ran down his spine. With his entire body trembling from tension and each cell tingling, it was difficult to maintain a normal tone, but he tried his best as he asked:
“Did you… prescribe insulin to Geun-yeong?”
[What? Ah… yes. He said he didn’t have any to use right away, so…]
The other doctor couldn’t be confident about the situation where he had to admit he’d prescribed medication before test results came back, essentially falsifying the prescription date. And Seokhun felt as if a fireball had dropped on his head. His head throbbed as if severely struck. Anger boiled to the point of making him forget the throbbing pain. Clenching his molars to suppress the urge to shout, he said:
“I… see. Yes… may I ask your name?”
[Excuse me? No, why do you need my name, I mean, the student seemed in such a hurry that I—]
The doctor, overlooking that he had already mentioned his hospital name, tried to hide his name, and Seokhun grabbed the phone as if wringing the neck of this stupid bastard and said:
“No. I want to thank you. For taking care of our Geun-yeong.”
The sound that came out through clenched teeth transformed into a normal tone as it traveled through the phone.
[Ah, haha, oh, yes, I thought you were going to scold me for prescribing without doing blood tests, hahaha! But of course, for a patient already using an insulin pump, what meaning would such procedures have—]
“I’ll hang up now.”
Unable to bear it any longer, Seokhun ended the call. And he was thinking of immediately having the director of Choi Internal Medicine permanently expelled from both the endocrinology and diabetes societies for doing something he wasn’t asked to do. He was planning to make sure the man could never show his face anywhere again. He was even considering inciting patients to shut down the hospital. And that would still be getting off easy.
He couldn’t hold the phone with his arm falling limply. He extended his powerless hand to pick up his own phone. He immediately called the person, no, the trash, he needed to speak with. Before the person on the other end could open their mouth, he stated his business.
“If you catch Kyung Jiho within 24 hours, I’ll pay double, no, triple the fee. 24 hours. Please find him before then without fail.”
After ending the call, Seokhun stood up. Since Geun-yeong had visited a clinic and received an insulin prescription, this was not a matter to just wait around for. From now on, every hour, every minute, every second was urgent.
He knew exactly where he needed to go immediately. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.
This morning, he had told that trash-like guy to meet a police officer named Lee Dongjae who had admitted Kyung Jiho to the hospital. However, the guy refused, saying that meeting police was difficult regardless of the money offered due to his identity. When asked what he was doing now, he said he had been staking out a place where he’d tracked vehicle movements for 12 hours. He added with a smirk that this too was hard work. Seokhun almost threw the phone.
That trash would still be sitting in the middle of the road searching for a needle in a haystack. While he was doing that, it seemed Seokhun himself would have to meet this police officer named Lee Dongjae.
At that time, on the road passing the northern intersection of Seongsan Bridge and heading toward Mapo District Office Station.
The smile that had been flowing on the man’s face since leaving home was completely gone as he stared at the rearview mirror. With an expression dripping only coldness, he was watching one vehicle reflected in the mirror.
It was a black car that had been parked on the shoulder near the Seongsan Bridge junction, a no-parking zone. It was problematic that it was parked in a prohibited area, but he had also noticed that the driver’s side window tint exceeded legal limits. What was even more suspicious was its route after that. Since entering the national highway, the car had been following him continuously. As a test, when he entered the right-turn-only second lane, he saw the car that had been following in the first lane also force its way into the second lane.
Kyung Jiho gave a cold sneer.
Taking the two-lane road, I pulled over in front of the convenience store. But I didn’t just park normally. I positioned the car with more than half of it up on the sidewalk before getting out. In the side mirror, I could see that car also stopping a block behind me. But it couldn’t just remain stopped there. Cars that were obstructed by this suddenly parked vehicle began honking their horns. As if having no choice, the driver started moving at a crawling pace, passing by Kyung Jiho’s car, which wasn’t obstructing traffic because it was parked with more than half of its body on the sidewalk.
Snorting once more, Jiho wiped the smile off his face and entered the convenience store.
When he came out with a pack of cigarettes, that car had stopped at a bus stop across the block. It was parked in a spot where it would have to move if a bus came along, waiting for Kyung Jiho’s car to leave.
And Kyung Jiho didn’t get into his car right away. He leaned against the hood of his car, opened the cigarettes he’d just bought. He stuffed the crumpled wrapper into his pocket, then pulled out a lighter. He shook the cigarette pack, took one out, and put it between his lips. Shielding against the wind mixed with urban pollution, he lit the cigarette.
As he was about to finish the cigarette, a bus was approaching. He dropped the cigarette as the ember reached the filter and stubbed it out. Just as he was using his sneaker to push the butt into a drain, the bus passed in front of Jiho.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
