SMW 93

“Your recovery is fast. At this rate, you’ll be able to take off the cast and start rehabilitation soon.”

Director Kim wore an expression of joy, as if he were genuinely happy that my arm had healed. Though I had no idea what was actually going on in his head.

“I apologize for the sudden request for a consultation. I couldn’t find the time to visit the hospital due to the preparations for the inauguration ceremony, so I came straight here.”

“No, not at all. It is an honor for me to serve the President. By the way, you’re finally doing it. I’ve been waiting to see when you would.”

“The inauguration will be conducted unofficially, with only key figures in attendance.”

At the implication that there was no place for him there, a flicker of disappointment crossed Director Kim’s face. He truly was a greedy old man.

“Why? Are you disappointed?”

“No, absolutely not. How could I possibly feel disappointed with the President?”

“Right. I must have been mistaken for a moment. There’s no way our Director Kim would dare feel that way toward me.”

“I… yes, that’s right.”

Director Kim’s face stiffened. He was the director of the hospital sponsored by H.S. Group and Chairman Baek Han-gu’s primary physician. He was also the man who had performed the final surgery on Grandma.

“Anyway, how is the Chairman’s condition? I’ve been too busy lately to pay much attention, and I only barely managed to make time today, but I’d like to hear your opinion first.”

“Well… what opinion is there to give? He hasn’t shown any significant improvement yet, so it’s simply frustrating.”

“What about the possibility of him regaining consciousness?”

“A coma can last for days, weeks, or even several years, so I cannot say anything definitive on that part. However, since he is breathing on his own and his organ functions are maintaining normal levels, I believe we can look toward the future positively. This is all thanks to you, isn’t it, President? Because you provided appropriate emergency first aid when the Chairman collapsed, we were able to complete the surgery without delay. Otherwise, who knows what would have happened.”

“Even if I hadn’t been there, there are doctors on standby in the annex at all times, so there would have been no cause for concern.”

Chairman Baek Han-gu’s estate was divided into the main house, the annex, and a gallery housing expensive artworks collected from around the world, with a backyard decorated with a pond and a pavilion in between. Since it took a good thirty minutes to walk between the buildings, the people here usually moved by car. Among them, this annex was equipped with state-of-the-art medical facilities, used to check the Chairman’s health and provide appropriate treatment at any time.

“That may be so, but it takes more than five minutes by car from the main house to here. After the heart stops, brain damage progresses within that amount of time, so if CPR hadn’t been performed properly, a far worse situation could have occurred.”

Even so, in the end, he never woke up. It had already been nearly a year since Chairman Baek Han-gu collapsed from a heart attack early this year and fell into a coma. That was the reason why the eldest son, Baek Seol-ha, who had been working overseas, was hastily appointed to the position of President. Despite that, Director Kim’s claim that this was all thanks to me was so ridiculous that I let the corners of my mouth curl up.

“I learned CPR at a nearby fire station when I was young. Someone I lived with had a poor heart, so I had to be prepared for any emergency. Oh, by the way, Director, you know who that was, don’t you?”

“Pardon? Ah… yes, I do.”

The season was already shifting into winter. Perhaps it was because of the heating turned on to warm the chilly room, but beads of sweat formed on his forehead. Seeing him fidget, unable to even meet my eyes, finally made me feel a bit better.

“I was grateful back then. Of course, the result was regrettable, but I believe this time will be different. For my sake, the Chairman must wake up.”

“Of course. I will do my utmost to care for the Chairman.”

“That’s reassuring. As expected of someone who has been the Chairman’s physician for so long.”

I placed my hand on Dr. Kim’s stiff shoulder and leaned down.

“Don’t make any more mistakes. I want to see you for a long time, Director Kim.”

“That…”

“I wish to speak with the Chairman alone. Do not follow me; wait here.”

I left the consultation room and walked down the hallway. Unlike the main house, which was built in the traditional Hanok style, the annex was a modern building. At the end of the wide marble hallway, where expensive artworks were displayed, two bodyguards were standing. Having been notified in advance, they bowed their heads and opened the door as soon as they saw my face.

Upon entering, I found a large bed in a room decorated like a luxury hotel. There lay Chairman Baek Han-gu, deep in sleep, relying on life-support systems. His muscles had completely wasted away over the past few months, and because he was only receiving basic nutrition through a tube, his gaunt body looked utterly pathetic. It was enough to make one wonder if this is what a living corpse looks like. Even though the space was cleaned and disinfected daily, I felt as if there was a smell of decay.

I heard that Madam Lee Eun-sook and Baek Min-ah had visited a visit our sitefew days ago; I thought it [visit our site]might have been quite [Read on Read BL Novels]shocking for them. To me, it wasn’t a very unfamiliar sight.

“Hello, Father.”

“…”

Naturally, there was no answer. I stared silently at the wrinkled, gaunt hand before speaking again.

“Looking at you like this suddenly brings back old memories. My grandma also lay in a hospital bed just like this. I can’t tell you how my heart broke whenever I held a hand where the bones were all protruding, just like this. It was two months. She held on for exactly two months before she passed.”

The excuses the doctors gave while she lay there, unable to wake up after surgery, were consistently aimed at shifting responsibility and evasion. Because of her age, because it was a dangerous surgery even for a healthy adult, because temporary comas after surgery are common, or even that she was just unlucky. Every time I heard such words, I grabbed the doctor by the collar and threw them out of the room.

In the past, such behavior would have gotten me kicked out of the hospital, but no one dared treat me carelessly. No, they couldn’t. From the moment I signed that contract, I was Chairman Baek Han-gu’s person. I had signed that contract to save Grandma, but what I actually gained from it was power—the power to achieve anything other than what I truly wanted.

“Do you remember? Right after signing the contract, I knelt before you and the doctors. I begged you to please save my grandmother. I crawled like a bug, just as you described it back then. Isn’t it strange? I had already completed the transaction by signing the contract, so why did I beg like that?”

I had known. I knew that man could kill Grandma.

But I could do nothing. The more time passed, the more precarious Grandma’s life became. Moving hospitals at that point was out of the question. Even if I tried, there was no way any hospital or doctor would have accepted Grandma and me. That was why I had no choice but to cling miserably to even the smallest possibility.

“I found out later that Grandma was preparing to expose what you had done. I heard she was trying to meet Chairman Baek Han-pil.”

From the perspective of Yuseon Group’s Chairman Baek Han-pil, a younger brother who snatched away a thriving business would not be viewed kindly. Battles within chaebol families were [stolen content]not about pride. They were simply a business of taking and being taken from. A crazy plan to replace a dead child with an illegitimate one would cause a significant stir unauthorized copyif leaked to the press. That would deal a severe blow to the corporate image due to owner risk, making it a very tempting deal. How annoying she must have been. From that man’s perspective, she must have been quite a nuisance. So, he wanted to clear her away.

But before the meeting between the two could take place, that man visited Grandma, and by the time I returned home, she had already collapsed from a heart attack. And by signing that contract, all the plans Grandma had prepared became useless.

“Thanks to that, I learned something valuable. That if something is bothersome, you can just clear it away by any means necessary.”

I slowly took in the sight of the pathetic old man and stepped closer to the bed. Then, I leaned down and whispered softly into the ear of the old man who could not hear.

“Everything you possess bothers me. Because if you had nothing, Grandma and I would still be living happily.”

If that were the case, there would be countless types of wine that Grandma and I would have drunk over the last ten years. Today, as I left work, I would have headed home with tteokbokki and red bean bread from a snack shop by the stream, deciding in my head what kind of nagging I’d receive. And I wouldn’t have wasted ten years of my life uselessly longing for someone.

“And yet, you are still alive. Even though you had the same disease as Grandma, underwent the same surgery, and fell into the same coma.”

The reason was simple. I didn’t want to become a person like you. I didn’t want a happiness obtained by killing someone. I couldn’t do that. That would have been a betrayal of Grandma, who raised me with integrity, and a deception toward the one person who, for a time, had liked me.

That is why I chose to keep you alive. Vice Chairman Baek Han thinks all of this is something I orchestrated, but the truth is not that. This is simply that man’s karma. I straightened my back and moved away from the bed.

“In a little while, there will be an inauguration ceremony for your eldest son as President. Since he is still young, there were many concerns about whether he is qualified for the position, but fortunately, there are many people helping him, so it seems he’ll be able to manage. Chairman and Vice Chairman Baek of Yuseon Group said they would help a lot, so you must be reassured, right?”

There are desperate things that, the moment they are touched, hide their teeth even further.

“If there is one problem, it’s that Baek Seol-ha is a very fragile person, both physically and visit our sitementally. Now that his visit our sitefather has become like this, the unauthorized copymental shock seems to have severely damaged his heart. Like father, like son—I worry that he might actually die from overwork.”

I wore a gentle smile, like a child boasting to their father.

“So wake up quickly. That way, I can show you something interesting.”

Chairman Baek Han-gu’s life had been an easy one, with nothing difficult. That’s why I wanted to let him know. The magic of how things easily obtained easily disappear. That was all he would see when he opened his eyes.

“You took away what was precious to me, so now it’s your turn.”

The moment desperate things reveal their teeth is not when their reverse scale is touched. It is after everything has ended.