#173

It was good that Yoon Ki-beom became disabled, and she was very happy that he was kicked out of the orphanage, but what happened afterward didn’t go as Kim Young-ja had expected.

Dr. Choi, who had searched all the renowned doctors in the country to save Yoon Ki-beom’s leg, was frustrated. He was in agony as if his own leg had been injured. He was in pain as if his own ankle had been caught in a trap, rotting, and on the verge of amputation. He despaired as if the ankle he had barely saved by digging out flesh and cutting bones was his own. He was always drunk, his eyes bloodshot, and he wandered around the orphanage like a madman.

The director and vice-director were impatient. They even brought Dr. Choi handsome and beautiful boys, begging and pleading with him, but Dr. Choi was disgusted with the orphanage itself.

He blamed the orphanage director and vice-director for Yoon Ki-beom’s injury. That arrow also returned to Kim Young-ja. Dr. Choi was furious with everyone responsible for managing the first and second-grade boys and girls.

One day, he even showed up with gangsters and made a scene. He insulted the director, beat the vice-director, and forced Kim Young-ja to kneel.

Without Dr. Choi, the orphanage was doomed. He was Galilla itself. That’s why the director, vice-director, and even Kim Young-ja were restless. They begged him to forgive them. But his heart showed no signs of turning back.

As Dr. Choi changed, problems began to arise with Special Activities. Those who had participated in the activities, trusting only Dr. Choi, began to withdraw one by one. There were more than a few who threatened the director to find their own way to survive. Even more people asked for donations and contributions to be returned. No matter how much the director coaxed and appeased, or how much the vice-director assured them that nothing would happen, it didn’t work.

In addition, bad rumors spread in the village. That the orphanage abused children, forced them into prostitution, and that there were more than one or two pregnant girls, and so on. It wasn’t just a rumor, it was the truth, but suddenly such stories began to circulate.

At that time, the children at the orphanage were also saying strange things among themselves. They said they heard a baby crying in the underground warehouse. The only people who knew that the babies were being thrown into the crematorium that the children knew as the underground warehouse were the director, the vice-director, and Kim Young-ja herself. Including Mr. Han, who built the crematorium, there were only four people. Dr. Choi still thought they were being buried in the mountain.

Dr. Choi, hearing the rumors, pressed the director, asking if it was true, and the director, after being scolded, grilled Kim Young-ja. He sternly asked if she had thrown away any living newborns.

‘Honey, do you know how much that’s worth? You didn’t throw away a living one, did you?’

In an elegant voice, she called the newborn “that.”

Kim Young-ja took the blame for everything. She was vented on. Dr. Choi, losing his reason, had Kim Sung-hwan torture Kim Young-ja. To hear the truth that she hadn’t thrown away any living newborns, he pulled out two of her healthy teeth and three of her fingernails. He even tried to cut off her little finger.

While being tortured, Kim Young-ja realized that if it came out that she was the one who had made Yoon Ki-beom that way, she would really die. She had to kill Mr. Han. Her accomplice, but that man, who was so weak, was the type to make up things that didn’t even happen if someone just twisted his wrist. Kim Young-ja, writhing in pain, resolved to commit murder.

She endured the torture, and as a form of consolation, she received some property from the director and vice-director. In addition, she also gained their deep trust. Of course, she killed Mr. Han. She burned his body in the crematorium he had built.

The three, fed up with Dr. Choi’s atrocities, agreed to abandon Dr. Choi. Then they began to reorganize the orphanage again.

A new orphanage without Dr. Choi. They moved from Ansan to Pyeongtaek. They built temporary buildings to create dormitories for the children, and the annex for pregnant girls was located as far away from the orphanage as possible. Everyone was busy preparing for the move.

Everything seemed to be returning to its place. They were filled with new hope, not knowing that Yoon Ki-beom, who had been kicked out of the orphanage, would return as an adult. On the day they crippled Yoon Ki-beom’s leg, they didn’t realize that Galilla Orphanage was over.

“So, did Yoon Ki-beom live or die?”

The man asked.

How could he be so calm?

The man never got excited. It was as if it were a fun game, and his voice was even cheerful.

“He died, of course.”

Kim Young-ja replied, filled with regret.

“At the hands of Kim Sung-hwan.”

One day, Yoon Ki-beom, who had turned twenty, returned to the orphanage with his thugs.

Na Jin-soo, who was unlucky, had his ankle amputated and was wearing a prosthetic leg, and the guy who was said to be Yoon Ki-beom’s cousin had brass knuckles on his left hand.

The three of them broke into the office with knives, axes, and hammers, and imprisoned the director and Kim Young-ja. Kim Sung-hwan happened to be away.

The director had no choice but to comply with Yoon Ki-beom’s demands. Because Yoon Ki-beom had evidence of illegal activities that had taken place at the orphanage. Videos and photos taken during Special Activities and photos of pregnant girls.

The director gave them 39 million won in cash that he could immediately raise, and the remaining 261 million won was to be delivered the next evening. Yoon Ki-beom and his thugs took the money and happily left. They probably thought they had won.

Kim Sung-hwan, who returned to the orphanage late and learned of this fact, suggested killing Yoon Ki-beom in a surprisingly calm voice. And so they did.

The next evening, as soon as they met Yoon Ki-beom, he stabbed him in the stomach with a sashimi knife. He grabbed the terrified thugs and gave them knives as well.

Stab Yoon Ki-beom, or you’ll die.

How clever. How cruel.

Kim Young-ja shuddered as she recalled the scene.

It wasn’t Kim Sung-hwan who killed Yoon Ki-beom. It was Na Jin-soo and Yoon Ki-beom’s cousin who stabbed Yoon Ki-beom to death in order to survive. They stabbed him so much that his organs popped out, and they cut open his stomach.

She knew that Yoon Ki-beom’s body was burned in the crematorium, but she didn’t know the details of what happened afterward. She didn’t want to know.

Even after Yoon Ki-beom died, the orphanage showed no signs of recovery. It fell endlessly. Even after abandoning Dr. Choi, even after killing Yoon Ki-beom, they couldn’t escape the cycle of decline.

The director embezzled the property to protect her Husband and children. Kim Sung-hwan was the same. Kim Young-ja learned for the first time then that Kim Sung-hwan also had a family. She thought he was single like her, with a clean family register, but he wasn’t. Kim Sung-hwan had a son and two daughters with his wife, who was a teacher.

Kim Young-ja was the only one who didn’t have a real family. Because of that, Kim Young-ja was in charge of all the dirty cleanup.

Kim Young-ja had to extract the stillborn fetuses instead of Dr. Choi, and Kim Young-ja had to burn those fetuses as well.

Because of her lack of experience, the girls died.

‘Unlucky.’

As if it were a habit, Kim Young-ja said that while burning the dead girls and fetuses.

Excluding the fetuses, more than five girls died due to Kim Young-ja’s unskilled surgery. It was never intentional, so she didn’t feel any guilt. The girl and she were just unlucky.

Of course, she could have refused to do it. But she didn’t. Kim Young-ja had to do this. A white-clad angel, Nightingale. If not her, then who?

It was no wonder that the children at the orphanage started running away. the children disappeared almost every day, and Kim Sung-hwan would somehow catch them and bring them back.

In the meantime, the children’s food and clothing became increasingly poor. With no one to supervise, the orphanage was like an animal kingdom. Rape and serious assault occurred frequently, but no one stopped it.

As the children’s condition became unusual, the contracted factory requested termination, and the police and public officials who had been taking care of the aftermath began to back away.

Of course, there was gossip. Ominous rumors spread in the newly moved village. The day after people peeked around the orphanage, the police came and went.

Kim Young-ja married the public official in charge of the orphanage, who had four children, as if grasping at straws. She struggled to save the orphanage with her Husband’s help.

Kim Young-ja’s life was in Galilla. Money was at stake. If she could just maintain that well, she could live well for the rest of her life, just like the director and vice-director had. She knew better than anyone how to make money easily, and she couldn’t let go of that.

But in less than a year, the marriage ended in disaster, and the orphanage was followed by accusations and lawsuits.

Unlike Kim Young-ja, who was obsessed with the orphanage, the director and vice-director were already looking for other ways. She was resentful.

What have I done, what have I done for you!

She couldn’t stand it.

In the end, the orphanage closed down. Now Kim Young-ja had to find her own way to survive.

There was a slush fund in the orphanage. Cash and dollars that the director hadn’t been able to embezzle, as well as numerous ledgers, albums, and videotapes.

The three gathered again and racked their brains. The director suggested burning the most dangerous evidence first, but Kim Sung-hwan got angry like a madman. He threatened to kill anyone who touched it. The director and Kim Young-ja, who had witnessed Kim Sung-hwan killing people, knew that his words were not just words. So they swore never to touch the data.

Now, the key was who would manage the remaining money and the dangerous data. The director’s Husband and children, who had divorced for show, had already immigrated to the United States, and Kim Sung-hwan, who had made enough money, was only greedy for the remaining data rather than the money.

Kim Young-ja, who had only taken a small amount of money, stepped forward.

‘Director, who else but me can manage that? Especially that data, that thing. Oh my. The moment it becomes known to the world. You know?’

Kim Young-ja stepped forward to manage everything, including the data. The two, who were facing inevitable long-term prison sentences, had no choice but to trust Kim Young-ja.

In the end, the slush fund became Kim Young-ja’s share.

It was a whopping 2 billion won.

All of this is mine, I was so happy.

She had to take on all the data that should never be revealed, but she didn’t even notice that.

“There was also gold. Gold bars. It was the first time I saw them.”

Kim Young-ja chuckled.

The year in prison was a happy one. What did it matter to spend just one year in prison when she had so much money?

She cheered at the news that the director had died in prison. She raised a toast.

But the problem was after her release. A letter came from Kim Sung-hwan. He found out her address no matter where she moved and urged her to visit him.

Kim Young-ja had no intention of returning the property at all. What kind of money was this? If she had this money, she wouldn’t have to work for the rest of her life and could live comfortably for the rest of her life. So she pretended not to know and moved.

But even though the director had died, Kim Sung-hwan was still alive and well. Letters flew in from prison every time. Kim Young-ja was so stressed that she even looked into ways to kill Kim Sung-hwan in prison. She moved again and again. She hid her identity and blended into the crowd. She changed her appearance so much that even her parents wouldn’t recognize her.

Even then, she almost died at the hands of Kim Sung-hwan. By the hitmen Kim Sung-hwan sent, twice. It was a miracle that she was alive. It was really a stroke of luck. She saved her life, but the wound left by the hitman still remained large on her left thigh.

How painful and scary it was, Kim Young-ja still had nightmares. When it rained, it throbbed and hurt.

After being stabbed by the hitman, she hadn’t been able to sleep comfortably for even a minute. She liked flashy things and always dreamed of living in the city, but she couldn’t even think of living in the city. After all, she had almost been stabbed to death in Seoul, the biggest city, in an expensive apartment.

After that, she moved from this province to another province. Then, this time, she became the target of the loan shark thugs sent by Dr. Choi. Because Dr. Choi belatedly wanted to get the data back. Those albums and videotapes, those disgusting things, he wanted them back. Or he would kill her.

In the end, Kim Young-ja lugged all that money and those documents and hid in the countryside. She didn’t live in an apartment, but in a dilapidated, crumbling house.

More than a year had passed since she settled in Gimje, and since no one came looking for her, she finally dared to renovate the interior last year. She decorated it like a house fit for a queen, just like the house where Dr. Choi and his wife had lived.

The interior decorators who renovated the house turned into thieves and threatened her, but Kim Young-ja didn’t budge. Would she, who had even been stabbed with a knife, be swayed by mere threats? She would shout out all sorts of gruesome curses, even revealing the knife scar on her thigh, and they would be startled and run away. Or she would just give them a few bucks and that was the end of it.

But no matter how much she decorated and lived like in a palace, her anxiety didn’t go away. She would have liked to take sleeping pills, but she couldn’t because she was afraid of being attacked in her sleep. Her drinking only increased day by day. She would go to a nearby city to drink, and if she was lucky, she would have sex and come back. That was Kim Young-ja’s only pleasure and outing.

Even though she lived hidden in this dilapidated house, she found solace in looking at her home, which was no less than a queen’s. Dressing up in expensive clothes from her closet, eating expensive meals, and drinking expensive alcohol made her feel like a noblewoman, just like the director she had first met in ’79.

Noblewoman Kim Young-ja.

Not the dead director, but this Nurse Kim Young-ja was the noblewoman.

Kim Young-ja often looked up at the ceiling. The cash and documents that should have been thrown away long ago, hanging from the beautiful chandelier, made Kim Young-ja feel good but also anxious. Still, she hoped. She prayed that she wouldn’t be caught this time.

But her prayers were not answered. In the end, she was caught again. She thought the pursuit was over, but it wasn’t. It seemed she had used up all her prayers on Yoon Ki-beom’s ankles.

“Tiresome. Really.”

Kim Young-ja sighed and looked at the man in front of her. Even from the lower half of his face revealed beneath the deeply pressed hat, she could tell how pretty he was.

Then it occurred to her that this man was excessively gentle. Of course, he had tied her up, poured oil on her, and threatened her, but he didn’t resort to violence or utter curses.

The men Kim Sung-hwan sent were all burly in appearance, small and nimble. They spoke in vulgar language and cursed frequently. The people from the detective agency were the same, but they were gentlemen compared to the men Kim Sung-hwan sent. Some even came in suits.

Could it be that Dr. Choi sent him, not Kim Sung-hwan?

He kept mentioning Kim Sung-hwan’s name, but the fact that he kept bringing up the documents made it clear that he was from Dr. Choi’s side.

Yes. Mentioning Kim Sung-hwan’s name might be something Dr. Choi ordered him to do. The thought relieved her a little. At least Dr. Choi was someone who would back down if he got what he wanted. He wasn’t a psycho like Kim Sung-hwan. He was a sensible adult.

As Kim Young-ja was feeling relieved, she suddenly thought of a boy. She didn’t know why, but the man in front of her reminded her of that kid. The boy who looked like Yoon Ki-beom’s twin. The shy boy who could imitate other people’s actions and voices perfectly.

Chapter 174