The thin face quickly disappeared. The detective covered his face with both arms. As he seemed to be staggering along, leaning on the detective, he began walking on his own again. The guy who had always lived resolutely was still walking resolutely now.
Donghwa slid to pause the video. He stopped at the point where Geun-yeong’s face was visible.
He had become so thin that his already small face looked even smaller. There was a blue bruise on one side of his face, and unhealed cuts on his lips and around his eyes. If the wounds were still there after so much time had passed, what must they have been like initially?
‘The famous star doctor Ji, known as a diabetes specialist, was urgently arrested by police who raided after receiving a report that he was assaulting his adopted son, the victim.’
I remembered what the reporter had said in the news I first encountered. At that time, I couldn’t even imagine the extent of the assault Geun-yeong had suffered. I wondered how much the man I used to know as Ji Seokhun, whom I no longer wanted to call professor, could have hit him. I had imagined beating with a switch or something similar. But seeing the face with assault marks that still hadn’t healed, it seemed to have been worse than I had imagined.
In the end, Donghwa buried his face on the desk again. He felt sorry for that guy. So sorry. Just as he was about to burst into tears after trying to hold them back, a message notification rang.
He slightly raised his buried head to glare at his phone, ready to curse at anyone talking nonsense. The one who posted was Park Sanghun again. But.
[Let’s submit a petition or something.]
Woo Donghwa’s lips, which had been tightly closed to hold back tears, burst open. In an awkward state, neither fully raising his head nor keeping it down, he looked at the messages appearing below Park Sanghun’s post. He saw them all. After reading the posts, exactly matching the number of his classmates, Woo Donghwa finally cried.
* * *
The three-hour diagnostic examination was over.
Kyung Jiho, who had somehow ended up standing and waiting for the entire three hours, felt his legs give way the moment the small conference room door in the investigation department opened. He couldn’t take a step right away. Leaning against the wall, he looked at the face of the young man coming out of the door. He was gaunt and exhausted. Though it shouldn’t be possible, he seemed even thinner after just three hours. He wondered if they had given him water to drink. Unable to ask if it was over, he stood there awkwardly, but the young man spoke first.
“It’s over.”
And he smiled. He gave him a smile. Not just any smile, but a bright and clear one. Telling him not to worry. That he was fine.
Jiho couldn’t smile back. He was too busy looking at that face, staring at it continuously, and didn’t think about how he should smile back.
Jeonguk, who had just entered, approached Geun-yeong. He patted his shoulder a couple of times and nodded once. A gesture containing messages like “hang in there.” Then he went straight into the conference room. He asked the doctor who was gathering thick bundles of documents, aligning them by tapping them on the desk, and putting them in his bag:
“How did the results turn out?”
Only after hearing those words did Kyung Jiho realize he had forgotten to ask about the results. He couldn’t remember what he had been thinking about during the past three hours while chain-smoking. Something in his head seemed broken. Thinking was difficult.
“I will submit a report, but,”
Kyung Jiho came to his senses thanks to the doctor’s words. He looked inside the room where Prosecutor Jeonguk had entered. Although the doctor was lowering his voice, the content was clearly conveyed to Kyung Jiho’s ears as he watched the doctor’s lips.
“That friend is healthier than expected.”
After taking his eyes off the doctor, Jiho watched the young man who was picking up his coat from the sofa and putting it on. He wanted to praise him, tell him he did well, that he worked hard. He wanted to reassure him that everything would be okay now, that things would be resolved well. But he couldn’t say it. Before saying such things, he wanted to hug him. He wanted to embrace him.
Jiho couldn’t offer any words of encouragement as he forced himself to restrain his arms and hands that seemed ready to reach out and cause a big incident.
On the way home, they stopped at a side dish shop. They bought enough spicy stir-fried pork, pickled perilla leaves, and stir-fried dried shrimp with garlic stems for two people. The lady at the side dish shop, who knew Kyung Jiho well, gave them a container of young radish kimchi as service.
Sitting in the passenger seat of the car after setting off again, holding the bag of side dishes to his chest and staring at it, Geun-yeong said:
“The service is even bigger.”
Jiho nodded. And when he looked back, the young man was still looking inside the bag. Wondering if he hadn’t heard his response, he answered once more.
“Yeah.”
After hearing the answer, Geun-yeong took his eyes off the side dish bag, turned his head, and looked at the face of the man driving. The orange shadows of sunset were passing over his face. Thanks to the shadows that changed into various shapes according to the scenery outside the car window, there were differences in light and shade, but it was a face that looked quite fierce. This was due to the sharp eyes that were slightly squinted, perhaps because the sunlight shooting vertically from the sun touching the horizon was too bright, and the wrinkle between his eyebrows made him look even more so.
And Geun-yeong thought it was fascinating how the man formed close relationships, not just casual acquaintances, with everyone he knew—the side dish shop lady, the people at Boramchan Clinic, Detective Lee Dongjae, and others. If he were a sociable or affectionate person, it would be understandable. But despite always having a similar face like that, with his hands in his pockets standing askew, he readily offered a good job as soon as it was asked. People visited comfortably, slept there like it was their own home, and gave him young radish kimchi in a container larger than what could be bought with money. It was fascinating.
Then he could understand right away.
Though he stood askew with that expression and spoke rough words, he was constantly helping others despite that. He was helping him without expecting anything in return, regardless of his own benefit. It certainly wasn’t just because of his profession. It was because he was a righteous person.
He was a kind person. He was a good person. The people around him must have recognized the warm heart hidden beneath his rough exterior. Of course, he was no different. He recognized that he was a warm and gentle person, and that’s why he liked him. He wanted to lean on him.
He liked him so much that he would occasionally feel sad because the man knew about his dirty past and had seen all of his worn-out body.
Thinking that he shouldn’t look at the man’s face for too long, Geun-yeong looked back at the side dishes in the bag. He smiled silently while looking at the young radish kimchi that was much bigger and more plentiful than what could be bought with money. Because the man was a good person, and so everyone liked him. That made him happy.
And that made him sad.
The corners of his mouth, which he had forcibly raised, fell down helplessly.
Track 15. Messenger
When the two returned home, Lee Dongjae wasn’t there, of course. But Bong Tae-gu and Baek Moonjong were there as if it were perfectly natural.
Bong Tae-gu, who pretended to run hurriedly from the kitchen to the entrance, a distance of just a few steps, embraced Geun-yeong tightly.
“Good job~ You worked hard~ Everything will be fine~”
Kyung Jiho grabbed the back of the neck of the guy who had hugged him and pulled him away. It was jealousy toward someone who so easily did and said what he himself couldn’t bring himself to do.
“You’ll burst that way. Man.”
After pushing away Bong Tae-gu, whom he had pulled off with harsh words, Kyung Jiho stepped up to the entrance and bowed his head in greeting to Baek Moonjong, who was watching the news.
Baek Moonjong, who had raised one hand in greeting to Kyung Jiho, tilted his head looking for Geun-yeong, who was hidden behind the large Kyung Jiho and the equally large Bong Tae-gu.
“Geun-yeong, where’s our Geun-yeong, let me see your face. Well, did you do well?”
Geun-yeong, who had been hidden behind the large men who cast shadows, felt tears welling up the moment he heard Dr. Baek Moonjong’s voice. After quickly blinking two or three times to dry his wet eyes, he stretched out his head to show his face and smiled brightly.
The electric rice cooker was making a loud noise as it struggled to cook rice. The savory smell of white rice cooking permeated the air, with a spicy scent cutting through it. Baek Moonjong had bought flatfish sashimi, and Bong Tae-gu was boiling a spicy fish stew with the leftover fish parts.
Though the rice wasn’t ready yet, Baek Moonjong was already wrapping sashimi, placing two pieces of fish on a lettuce leaf with a generous amount of ssamjang. While closing the lettuce head in a round shape, he explained why he had brought the flatfish sashimi:
“I don’t know what Detective Kyung hasn’t been feeding you, but you’ve been reduced to just bones.”
“No! He took good care of me, but I couldn’t… eat well…”
Geun-yeong, who didn’t want Detective Kyung to be blamed, answered hurriedly but then glanced at Nurse Bong. Though he lowered and dragged his voice quietly at the end, he worried it might already be too late.
After hearing Geun-yeong’s words, Baek Moonjong nodded his head in a tempo that meant something like “Hmm… I suppose so…” and pushed the wrap in his hand into his wide-open mouth. Nurse Bong was also busy putting sashimi, red with chili sauce, into his mouth, and Detective Kyung, with a face that didn’t seem to care much, was just bringing a piece of sashimi with shredded garlic to his mouth.
After confirming there was no suspicious sign on anyone’s face and feeling relieved, Geun-yeong quietly sighed. Then he picked up his chopsticks. He put the empty chopsticks in his mouth, pretending to eat while observing the three people.
The three people with distinct personalities also had different styles of eating sashimi. Dr. Baek used ssamjang (bean paste), Nurse Bong used chojang (vinegar sauce), and Detective Kyung was eating with garlic, without dipping in either sauce.
What was that about?
…It was cool.
Not just that. The orthodox way he held his chopsticks stretched out neatly was cool. His large hand holding the tips of the chopsticks, the veins and tendons prominently visible on the back of his hand were cool. The way he rested one hand on his waist, though Geun-yeong didn’t know why he did that, was also incredibly cool. Being so tall that he had to slightly bend his upper body every time he ate something, and how his scapula and latissimus dorsi muscles bulged and moved each time, was cool.
Although he had started by observing all three people, Geun-yeong realized he had ended up only stealing glances at Detective Kyung, so he put down the chopsticks he had been holding in his mouth. He pouted and sighed dejectedly. At this rate, even if Detective Kyung just raised his thumb, it would look like an elaborate dance move, and even his breathing would sound like a melodious song. Though he thought he should give up, somehow, he felt even more desperate.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
