Chapter 45
Huh…?
What’s happening to me right now?
Without any time to think, the scenery in front of me changed.
The emergency room.
The smell of medicine and the chilly winter air, the noisy sounds of the emergency room.
It felt like I was experiencing VR.
I could perceive everything, but my body was sitting on a chair and couldn’t move.
What’s going on here?
Before I could even ponder, there was a familiar face in front of me.
An old man lying on a hospital bed.
It was Grandpa Choi Ik-hyun, the one I saved on the day of the college entrance exam last year.
What?
Is this real?
If I could move my hand, I would have pinched my cheek.
It was so vivid.
Everything around me was realistic. Because it was literally reality.
Did I somehow go back to the past like in a movie? It was when I had such an absurd imagination.
-Cough!
My eyes turned to the old man who coughed and curled up.
The focus was on his ribs.
The area I pushed hard to save him.
At that time, I felt sorry for him when I saw that.
What did I say then?
-I’m sorry you seem to be in a lot of pain because of me.
Even though I didn’t move, my mouth moved and spoke on its own. It was a very amazing experience.
The lady next to me waved her hand at my words.
-Oh, don’t say that.
And the husband next to her nodded.
-If it wasn’t for Seon Woo-ju, my father wouldn’t have been able to lie on this bed, really.
-Thank you for thinking that way.
He said, handing me a business card.
There was this writing on it, along with the hospital logo.
[Professor Choi Yong-jae, Pediatric and Adolescent Cancer Center]
‘Huh?’
While I was feeling bewildered, the past me chatted with the other person.
-If your grandmother is uncomfortable or if you need anything at the hospital, please contact me. I’ll help you as much as I can.
Just by looking at that, the scenery around me started to change again.
It was reality again.
The hallway leading to the ward where Bi-ju’s younger brother was hospitalized,
I tried to move my hand as a test, and I could move it as I wanted.
It felt like I had been watching some kind of memory for a minute, but the time in reality didn’t seem to flow that way.
“Hyung?”
Bi-ju, who was walking ahead of me, turned his head to me. He asked me with a puzzled look, and I handed him the bag.
“Bi-ju, you said Minjun had to have another surgery, but you couldn’t find a good professor, right?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Maybe…”
I swallowed my saliva and said.
“There might be a good way.”
“Huh?”
“Take this. Can you go back to the ward first?”
“Brother, I don’t know the way…”
“Go left!”
I shoved the bag of apples to the bewildered Bi-ju and headed towards where Professor Choi was.
Bi-ju was going to the right.
“Bi-ju, left!”
“Ah, yes!”
After confirming that he was going to the left, I approached the other person.
“Hello!”
He looked puzzled as I greeted him with a bright smile.
He did that for three seconds.
A hearty smile bloomed on the tired face of the middle-aged man.
“Seon Woojoo?”
“Yes, it’s been a long time. Professor.”
My mind is still in chaos.
I don’t know why the sudden flash phenomenon occurred.
But that wasn’t important right now.
“Do you have some time? I know it might be a bit sudden, but I’d like to buy you a cup of coffee.”
I decided to try my luck.
***
The hospital room was quiet.
My parents had quietly left the room to have a meal, and Minjun, who had a fever all night, was asleep.
My one and only brother in the world.
Every year, when the new year came, Kim Bi-ju made a wish.
Please make my brother better. I don’t care if he doesn’t become an idol, just make him happy.
But his wish came true in the opposite way.
He had won the music show even before his debut, and he had a dream-like happy time.
On the other hand, his brother’s health worsened as time went by.
Lately, he had to be hospitalized several times a month because of his high fever.
He didn’t know his exact condition, but he could tell from the shadow on his parents’ faces that the situation was not good.
Today was a bit better than usual.
His fever had gone down a lot, and he had a good time with his members.
It would have been nice if his sister was here too.
He wanted to show his mom a smiling face.
‘Thank you, everyone.’
He thanked them in his heart as he looked around his members.
Kim Jung-hyun, who was sitting on the caregiver’s chair and reading Minjun’s children’s science book, Seo Ri-hyuk, who was looking at his phone with a frown, Wang Ji-ho, who was resting his chin and lost in thought.
And Sunwoojoo, who was not here.
He covered his face with his hand as he thought of his face.
‘Ah, how embarrassing.’
He would have been embarrassed even if he had done it in a place with a mood, but he had spilled his inner thoughts while picking out things at the mart.
‘I don’t usually say things like that…’
He felt like he had told him everything, even the most trivial things.
But he couldn’t help it.
He was waiting for him with his deep eyes, as if he would listen to whatever he said.
But he felt a little relieved.
It was the first time he had told someone such a thing.
‘But why did he bring up the surgery?’
He didn’t understand what happened earlier.
Seon Woojoo had sparkled his eyes as if he had found an important opportunity.
And then he approached the man in the white coat.
‘Does he know the professor?’
Kim Bi-ju thought that when he saw him.
“Hey, hyung.”
He turned his head and saw Wang Ji-ho sitting next to him, crouching.
He didn’t have his usual witty expression, but a face that looked very nervous.
Kim Bi-ju smiled at him.
“Is your ankle okay?”
“Yes, I put on the patch that hyung bought for me.”
Wang Ji-ho lifted his ankle and showed him the patch that was stuck on it. It was poorly attached and the corners were already loose.
“Let me see.”
Kim Bi-ju properly attached the patch to the youngest’s ankle. Then he looked at Wang Ji-ho, who was crouching as if he had something to say.
“I have something to say to hyung.”
“What is it?”
“Well… I’m sorry for being immature all this time. I was also sorry for throwing a tantrum this morning because I was hungry. And I’m sorry for messing up the room all the time. Oh, and…”
So that’s what it was.
He had been pale since he met him at the hospital, so he thought his leg was hurting a lot.
But it turned out that he was watching his mood.
“Hyung must have been worried about his brother every day, and Ri-hyuk and I always annoyed hyung at the dorm.”
“Don’t drag me into this. I was good to Bi-ju hyung.”
Seo Ri-hyuk, who was looking at his phone, said.
The youngest, who had glared at him for a moment, looked around with a dejected face.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“It’s okay.”
Kim Bi-ju smiled and patted Wang Ji-ho’s head.
As I thought that, I wished Minjun would have some hair to stroke too.
“I just thought you were cute as usual. You’re still like that.”
“I’ll do better from now on.”
“Me too.”
When Seo Ri-hyuk intervened, Wang Jinho frowned.
“Why are you sneaking in when I’m apologizing? Do it separately.”
“Don’t you like it?”
“Guys.”
Kim Jung-hyun, who was reading a book, spoke.
“Minjun just fell asleep.”
The two younger brothers immediately shut their mouths. Seeing that, Kim Bi-ju smiled inwardly.
It was fine if they didn’t change.
They were one of the few things that brought joy to his life.
He would feel happy whenever they liked his cooking, or whenever they wore the uniforms he ironed and left with a neat look.
While Wang Jinho and Seo Ri-hyuk were having a staring contest, Kim Jung-hyun came over.
“Where did Woojoo hyung go?”
“I don’t know. He said he had something to say to a doctor he knew.”
Unlike the two younger brothers, Kim Jung-hyun was a comfortable friend to him.
He was the same age and didn’t need any special care, a friend who lived well on his own.
Maybe that was why he told him his situation early on.
Then.
‘What about Woojoo hyung to me?’
It was hard to define in one word.
Seon Woojoo was one of those people who seemed familiar yet unfamiliar.
Sometimes he seemed very warm, but sometimes he was cold.
When he rested, he would lie on the sofa all day like the laziest person in the world, but on weekdays he would stay up all night in the practice room.
Sometimes he would lock himself up for hours working on a song.
He was a person who was hard to figure out.
One thing for sure was that he made impossible things possible.
He snatched the first place in the year-end evaluation when the morale was at its lowest, and he snatched the first place in music shows and music charts.
So if he had to define Seon Woojoo, he would say he was someone he wanted to rely on.
He felt like he could solve all his problems.
He wanted to tell him his worries.
That was why he confided in him about his brother’s reoperation earlier.
‘That’s ridiculous.’
Seon Woojoo was not Superman, how could he solve his brother’s hospital problem?
Unless he had some connections.
It was hard enough to schedule a surgery with his father’s network, who used to be a college professor.
He was thinking that when it happened.
“Bi-ju!”
The sound of the door opening and the scream startled everyone.
The one who opened the door and came in was his mother.
“Mom?”
His mother, whose face was flushed, ran towards him. And then she hugged him tightly.
He was confused.
What was going on?
He wiped the tears from his mother’s eyes and asked.
“Mom, what’s wrong?”
“Minjun, Minjun…”
She couldn’t finish her sentence, as if she had a lump in her throat. Kim Bi-ju calmly waited for her to speak.
“Minjun’s surgery date has been set!”
“What?”
“They said they could schedule the surgery!”
What did she mean?
Not only the members, but he also stood there with a bewildered expression.
Then three men appeared at the door.
Seon Woojoo, who had a faint smile on his face, his father, who had tears in his eyes like his mother, and the doctor he had seen earlier.
His mother wiped her tears and smiled.
“Bi-ju, this is Professor Choi Yongjae.”
“Ah.”
It was a name he had heard before.
He was an authority in pediatric cancer surgery. He heard that it would take at least three months to get a surgery from him.
He was thinking that when it happened.
“Professor Choi said he would supervise our Minjun’s surgery.”
“Really?”
I would not have been more surprised if the world was going to end tomorrow. Kim Bi-ju opened his eyes wide and looked at his father.
He nodded.
And the calm-looking professor standing in the middle.
Kim Bi-ju awkwardly greeted him and then looked at Seon Woojoo.
He felt an indescribable heaviness as he saw him nodding with a smile.
***
I thought of the characters from Toy Story.
The green aliens.
The cuties who waited in the claw machine and said ‘ooh’ whenever something happened.
The people in front of me were like that.
Every time Professor Choi Yongjae continued to speak, the people in the room said oh, ah, and um.
“The surgery schedule will be like this. I don’t mean to be rude, but you must not tell anyone about what happened today. It could cause trouble if the word gets out.”
“Yes! Yes! Of course.”
Bi-ju mother kept nodding.
Bi-ju father took off his glasses and wiped his tears with his sleeve.
“How can we thank you for this… You gave up your vacation for us…”
“If you want to thank someone, you should thank Seon Woojoo here.”
Professor Choi pointed at me.
“He’s the benefactor who saved my father’s life at the risk of his own. How can I refuse his request? I have to help him as much as I can.”
They all looked at me with pressure.
Professor Choi added.
“Of course, I can’t guarantee that the surgery will go well. But I can tell you this. I will do my best to supervise it.”
He didn’t give the patient any false hope, as doctors do.
But his sincerity was conveyed by his best.
Bi-ju’s parents and our members bowed their heads repeatedly.
Finally, when Professor Choi left the room, my siblings ran to me.
“Hyung, what’s going on?”
“Did you know that professor?”
“Is this real?”
I explained to them slowly.
He was the son of the grandfather I saved on the day of the college entrance exam, and I happened to run into him today and asked him for a favor.
I cautiously asked for his help, but he counter-offered to supervise the surgery himself.
Bi-ju’s parents met him on their way up to the ward.
When the short story was over, Bi-ju couldn’t continue.
“Hyung…”
But I couldn’t say anything either.
Bi-ju’s father came up to me and hugged me.
“Thank you, really.”
I heard his voice, which sounded just like his son’s, in my ear.
Before I could come to my senses, his mother and Bi-ju joined us. I don’t know why I was in the arms of this crying family.
I didn’t feel bad.
Rather, I felt good.
“Mom, what’s wrong?”
Minjun, who was asleep when the professor came, woke up from the noise. He looked at us with a bewildered face.
Bi-ju quickly explained the situation to him.
And that day.
In my hand, as I returned to the hostel, was a trophy model of a board game.
It was the trophy Minjun gave me.
It was much smaller than the trophy I received for winning the music show, but it was a more precious gift to me.
***
And a little later.
We were in the practice room, sitting around the phone, listening to the news.
It was the result of Minjun’s surgery.
My mother, who was sobbing, told us what the professor had said.
It went very well.
So buy him a backpack and school supplies before next spring.