“Is this even possible, Chairman? Infected? Infected in District A!”
Park Mu-jin’s father raised his voice, and others chimed in from here and there. Some said they shouldn’t have accepted people from District B in the first place, while others suggested they should be expelled from the district immediately, especially the children. All sorts of stories were circulating.
Kim Ha-yoon’s father, sitting at the head of the table, listening to the people’s stories, pressed his temple and looked at Kim Ha-yoon, who was sitting in the first seat on the left.
“Captain Kim Ha-yoon, tell me. How are you going to take responsibility for this situation?”
Kim Ha-yoon replied with an indifferent expression, unfazed.
“It was a simple accident.”
“An accident? How can you call it an accident? There were several witnesses.”
“That’s right. We shouldn’t gloss over this; we need to take decisive action. I heard that adopted son of his is also in the unit. He’s living with our children, and we can’t stand the anxiety. Chairman, please do something. I beg you.”
As if Kim Ha-yoon wouldn’t listen, people clung to his father. Just as the Chairman, who had been listening silently, was about to speak, a knock came, and the secretary entered, followed by Anna and two doctors. Anna had a bandage around her neck but looked the same as before.
She politely saluted the people gathered and then sat down, moving the microphone towards her.
“Hello, I am the victim of yesterday’s incident.”
As murmurs arose, Anna waited for a moment before continuing her explanation.
“First, let me explain that I lived with Lee Seon-jae in that house and took care of the children. Lee Seon-jae was taking psychiatric drugs due to extreme stress after his heart surgery. In the meantime, he experienced hallucinations and visions as a side effect of the drugs he was taking, and on the day of the incident, his symptoms worsened, leading him to make an irreversible mistake.”
“Is that even a valid excuse? Who bites someone after taking psychiatric drugs!”
Immediately after, the doctor who had appeared with Anna took the microphone, and the Chairman’s secretary distributed files to the council members.
“I am Jo Tae-jin from the Department of Psychiatry. I am also the doctor who actually prescribed the drugs to Lee Seon-jae. The drug I prescribed, ‘Serumiculum,’ has excellent effects, but it also has the side effects mentioned earlier. As you can see from the handouts,”
In most cases, patients stop or change the drug, he said. It seemed that continuing to take it was the cause. He speculated that environmental factors, such as a noisy situation with a large group of people, might have triggered the symptoms to explode momentarily.
He added that there would be no problem if the drug was changed and that he would testify if it went to court. The council members, who had been listening silently, did not look pleased, and Anna continued.
“And the important thing is that it’s been a day since I was bitten, and I have no symptoms. If Lee Seon-jae was a real Infected, how could I be here?”
The council members were speechless because the two of them seemed to have rehearsed their lines. Kim Ha-yoon, who had been listening quietly, stood up and looked at the Chairman’s seat.
“May I leave now, Chairman? I have a mountain of work to catch up on.”
As soon as he gestured for him to leave, Kim Ha-yoon turned and walked towards the entrance. He looked at the people gathered as he passed. The committee consisted of a total of 28 council members, all prominent figures in District A. Perhaps the number was exactly 28. This fucking… It’s irritating.
As soon as he opened the door and came outside, Kim Ha-yoon turned to Anna.
“How did you time it so perfectly?”
“I hurried because I thought Captain might be in trouble.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. The test results say there’s nothing wrong except for the bleeding.”
She replied coolly, unlike her appearance, saying that she could just transplant the skin. As they came out of the building, Kwon So-young was waiting nearby in a car. After sending Anna and the doctor back, he got into the car, and Kwon So-young, who had been dozing off in the driver’s seat, looked back in surprise.
“What, you’re out early?”
“Wipe your drool.”
Kwon So-young roughly wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and then started the engine. She was always dozing off because she was constantly devoted to research. The news that she had dressed up nicely and visited with a cake was not welcome at all.
“You look haggard, probably because you’ve been grilled by the Old man.”
“I know, right? I’d have to die to stop seeing those people.”
“You’ll probably kill them first.”
“That’s not a bad idea either.”
“Don’t actually kill them.” There was a reason she said that. Her father was one of the 28 members of the committee, although he and she didn’t get along well, just like him.
Kwon So-young reached into the back seat and handed over a document envelope. It contained the test results of the hospitalized Matteo, or Lee Seon-jae.
“His inflammation level went up to 600. It’s a miracle he didn’t die from septic shock.”
“What’s his condition?”
“He’s in and out of consciousness.”
Kim Ha-yoon looked at the results and cursed quietly. He hadn’t imagined that Lee Seon-jae would have a seizure there. He had ordered Anna to keep a close watch on him for the time being because he had a slight fever and vomiting, but it had to be that day…
“But shouldn’t you at least shed a tear or two?”
“Why?”
“The kid must be furious.”
Kwon So-young was worried about the situation but also found it amusing. In fact, Kim Ha-yoon didn’t care whether Lee Seon-jae lived or died. There were plenty of other subjects for experimentation. However, if Lee Seon-jae died, Ire would definitely experience a change of heart. He would have no reason to stay here. So, he had to win his heart somehow, so that even if Lee Seon-jae disappeared, he would still trust and follow him.
Ire couldn’t leave the hallway, his face anxious. The isolation ward was off-limits to anyone other than medical staff, so he could only pace back and forth in front of it.
As he was biting his fingernails with an uneasy expression, the door opened from the inside, and the doctors came out. Among them was the one who had been in charge of Matteo’s surgery. He stopped them and asked what had happened, and the elderly doctor stepped forward to speak on behalf of the group.
“The inflammation has spread a lot in his body. We’re administering drugs, so we’ll have to wait and see. The good news is that, unlike before, the patient’s will is very strong.”
“I want to go in and see his face…”
The doctor called a nurse nearby. He said that visits were usually difficult, but he would make a special exception. With the nurse’s help, he armed himself with a gown and mask, and after disinfecting, he went inside. Most of the medical staff were dressed in the same attire as him, so he couldn’t tell who was who.
Following the nurse inside, he came to an individual room, where Matteo was lying with a respirator on. Seeing him like that, he felt like bursting into tears. He barely managed to control his emotions and went closer, only to see blood smeared on his parched lips.
When he realized it was Anna’s, he felt breathless.
“Matteo…”
Matteo didn’t respond, and Ire bit down hard on his molars. He wanted to hold his hand and beg him to wake up, to hold on, but he couldn’t. The nurse told him that he had to leave. He reluctantly moved his feet and returned outside the isolation ward, sitting on a chair and waiting for time to pass like a stone statue.
Why did he do that? Why…
The doctor had told him that he was taking psychiatric drugs. It was the first time he had heard that. He said that he had been experiencing severe aftereffects after the surgery and that he had been suffering from depression and anxiety as a result. He said that there was a possibility that he had been suffering from auditory or visual hallucinations as a side effect of the drugs he had been prescribed. He added that Drugs could cause side effects at any time.
The doctor said that it wasn’t a disaster that had only befallen Matteo. It was like an accident. But not everyone who takes drugs bites someone’s neck. Besides, depression and anxiety? The Matteo he knew was someone with a stronger mental fortitude than anyone else.
In the end, the tears he had been holding back burst out, and he rubbed them away with the back of his hand. He took a deep breath and tried to make a cold judgment about the situation.
-He said he didn’t have surgery. He said he only saw them open and close his chest.
Park Mu-jin….
Could that guy know something?
Should he go to Park Mu-jin right away and demand to know what happened?
But there were definitely surgical scars, and it was true that Matteo’s health had noticeably improved after the surgery. If Park Mu-jin’s words were true, then none of this made sense. It was impossible for a damaged heart to get better overnight without doing anything.
While his head was about to explode with all sorts of thoughts, Kim Ha-yoon appeared from the opposite side. In that instant, he realized that there was no need to go to Park Mu-jin. The man who knew exactly what was going on was right there. But the man was also the one who could hide the truth more thoroughly than anyone else.
“Did you cry?”
As soon as Kim Ha-yoon reached out his hand, Ire stepped back. In the chilly atmosphere, Kim Ha-yoon’s eyebrows twitched. He looked like he was asking, “Are you avoiding me?” Kwon So-young and Anna were behind him. Ire passed by Kim Ha-yoon and went straight to Anna.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. As you can see, I’m fine.”
“That’s a relief… I’m sorry.”
“Oh, why is Ire saying that?”
Watching Anna, who was acting nonchalantly even though she must have been surprised, Ire continued.
“I heard that Matteo was taking Drugs. Is that true?”
Anna nodded without hesitation. She said that he had been very anxious about his condition worsening after the heart surgery. She also carefully added that it must have been difficult for him to settle in a new place. It was something he had never known. Why? Why didn’t he know anything? All this time, he had been so focused on his smiling face whenever he went home that he had been complacent, thinking that his choice was right…
As he lowered his head, unable to bear it, Kim Ha-yoon grabbed his shoulder with his hand.
“Let’s go out for now. It’s better to get some rest.”
“I want to stay here…”
“Don’t be stubborn. It won’t get better if you do this.”
What if something happens in the meantime? What if the situation becomes really bad and he can’t even protect his last moments? He don’t want to lose Matteo. His heart was more desperate than anyone else’s, and if he could, he wanted to dig out his own heart and give it to him. As he stood his ground, Kim Ha-yoon sighed and went to sit on the chair in front of the hallway.
He watched what he was doing, and he tapped the seat next to him with his hand.
“Okay, then. I’ll stay with you.”