Rage (3)
The holding cell was a goddamn awful place. Across the way, the drunks locked in the opposite cell traded filthy jokes and stared with skin-crawling eyes—an utterly, thoroughly fucking awful place. Yeonjeong could not understand why she had to be stuck in here.
Soyun had never gone down from a hit that light, and she had been a good kid who smiled through her tears even when she got hit.
That little bitch…
Yeonjeong ground her teeth until they ached. Collapsing over one slap to the cheek? What a cunning little brat.
Ah, fuck.
She forced the rage down, vowing she would not let this slide once she got out. First she had to get the hell out of this shitty place.
"Excuse me."
"What?"
With her phone confiscated and nothing she could do alone, Yeonjeong spoke up to the officer standing watch outside the cell, intending to request a lawyer visit. The same kind man who had thrown himself into her divorce case even for the pitiful fee she had offered.
"…You're being pretty casual. What's your name? I'm filing a complaint."
Even locked up, her pride still scraped the sky as she demanded an answer. The officer only smiled and replied.
"Why should I? You still don't get it? The second they booked you in here, you were fucked. Do you even know the public is screaming for your head?"
"W-what did you say?"
"So why the hell did you hit that kid? Evidence collection is already finished, and the political side is watching too. You're not walking out of here. From this cell it's a straight shot to the detention center and then prison."
"W-what? I-I'm a woman! I didn't even hit her that hard! Anyway, I'm calling my lawyer! Give me my bag."
"So you know a lawyer? Well, that's a legally guaranteed right. I'll put the call through."
Fortunately the lawyer came the moment he got the call. Thank goodness—he really was a decent man. If he had been a little taller and his face a bit cleaner she might have tried to seduce him. Still, there was no way she could hit on a balding guy.
Who was she? Oh Yeonjeong, the campus queen back in her university days. She had put on a few years, but thirty-six was still young. A man like this…
"Lawyer Kim!"
"Oh my, Ms. Yeonjeong. Are you all right?"
"Do I look all right to you right now? Get me out of here, quickly!"
"All right, calm down first. I'll handle everything. You brought the divorce papers, didn't you?"
"Huh? Ah. Yes, yes. They should be in the bag. But Lawyer, I'm really struggling right now. Can't you get me out sooner?"
"Hmm. That might be difficult. We're still in the investigation stage. Once it moves to trial, I'll file for bail."
"Why not!?"
"Please don't get too worked up, Ms. Yeonjeong. I'll take care of the divorce papers myself. Just hang in there a little longer."
"What? You're leaving already?"
"There's nothing more I can do at this point. Bail applications only become possible once we reach the trial stage."
"No! Even so—!"
"I'll be going."
His tone had turned cold in a way it never had before. Yeonjeong could only stare helplessly at the lawyer's back as he walked away without a single glance behind him.
"Visit's over, right? Come on out."
"Ah."
Korean National University Hospital, Director's office.
"Director, is this really the kind of work I should be doing in the field? I am still the head of the legal team, you know."
Lawyer Kim, freshly returned from Yeonjeong's visit, sipped his coffee at a leisurely pace. Across from him sat the hospital director, Yoo Wonjun, likewise nursing a cup.
"But you agreed to it as well, didn't you?"
"Well, true enough. Still, I could have just sent someone suitable from legal. That woman turned out to be even dumber than I imagined, so things went surprisingly smoothly."
"The divorce is finalized, then?"
"Yes. Completely finished. But are you sure about this? This incident could damage the hospital's image."
"What's done is done; nothing we can do about it. Even I never imagined she would actually strike Patient Seol Ayeon. Still, it wasn't without its harvest. At the very least we were able to drive that woman straight into the dirt. In that sense, one could even call it a good thing. How do you plan to handle the defense going forward?"
"It didn't go exactly according to the original plan… but I'm washing my hands of it here. She doesn't have the money to hire a retired judge, so she'll get a public defender. And she's the type who would never admit to the crime even if you begged her. Between the aggravating circumstances and the public pressure, a prison sentence is locked in. Just in case, I'll put out a few feelers."
"Any chance of a suspended sentence?"
"With public opinion boiling like this, the judiciary doesn't have much room to maneuver, does it? The evidence is ironclad. Even the public defender will only go through the motions. But Director, what wind has gotten into you? You've never stuck your neck this far into someone else's business before."
"Well, it would be a lie to say I didn't feel pity when I looked at that child."
"That's a surprisingly unexpected answer."
—Clack.
The director set his coffee cup down and smiled faintly. It really was laughable. She had just been a terminal child. One more patient he saw every day in this hospital. Nothing more, nothing less. He thought of Soyun as he had met her in the PICU and on the hospice ward.
"Director~ Hello~ You're looking handsome again today!"
"Then… does that mean Ayeon can live?"
A girl who had always smiled so brightly. Even someone as bloodless and tearless as himself had been moved by her without noticing. Truly laughable, wasn't it?
"Father. So I can just block that woman now, right?"
"Yes. Scrap that number entirely and get a new one. How are things at Asan Hospital?"
"It's one of the Big Five. Of course it's fine."
Even after the broadcast, Yeonjeong had never contacted them. Enraged by that silence, the director had laid a meticulous plan. He had power, after all; it was nothing he couldn't do. He dug through hospital records to find the number, then sent Lawyer Kim to approach Oh Yeonjeong—who had already been demanding a divorce—with the offer of handling the suit for an absurdly low fee that anyone would have found suspicious. There had been obstacles, of course.
"I'm sorry for dragging you into it as well."
"It's fine. If this is how you want to use me, I'm all for it. I was furious myself. A child searching that desperately for her mother, and she never even came to see her… I thought you were better than she was."
He had used his emotional son, so unlike his own cold-blooded self. Oh Yeonjeong had kept demanding Soyun's death insurance payout. She had wanted, by any means necessary, to snatch even the last money left to a husband buried under billions in hospital debt.
Though that money is gone now, thanks to the divorce.
They had refunded every hospital bill paid so far and added a modest consolation payment. On top of that came Soyun's death insurance. Enough for Mingi to live the rest of his life alone. No—enough for two people to live comfortably together and still have plenty left over.
"Stupid and vicious on top of it… Someone who should never have had a child went and had one. I was so angry every time we exchanged messages."
"That the child who came out of that woman's womb was Soyun… the world really is full of things that make no sense. Don't you think so, Lawyer Kim?"
"Indeed."
"Do you know the first thing that woman said when I approached her? On our very first meeting she asked about my salary."
"What an empty-headed bitch."
"If it were only empty-headed it would be better. She's greedy on top of it, so disgusting I couldn't even eat after meeting her."
"You didn't sleep with her, I hope?"
"She kept trying to drag me to a hotel every date, so I used the hospital as an excuse and ran. Even if we'd gone, I doubt I could have gotten it up from the sheer disgust."
"Well done, son."
Oh Yeonjeong had never listened to a word Lawyer Kim said. To break her determination to seize the death insurance, another method was needed. What Director Yoo came up with was simply to give her what she wanted.
The tall, good-looking, high-earning professional man from a wealthy family she so desperately craved. He had attached his own son—so she could make a fresh start without any property division.
To account for the situation after her release, however, he had disguised his son—a professor at Asan University Hospital—as a professor at Korean National University Hospital. No point risking trouble by getting tangled with one empty-headed bitch.
"The divorce is finished, and after she serves her time she'll have no money left. That woman is completely finished. If she tries to sue Mingi after she gets out, I'll cover it."
"Lawyer Kim, didn't you just tell me you found it strange that I was meddling in other people's affairs?"
"Mingi isn't exactly a stranger. I'm a divorcé myself."
"Ah, right. So you are."
"Then I'll take my leave. I'm on duty starting this evening."
"All right. Drive carefully on the way back."
"Yes. Take care, Lawyer Kim."
"Go on in."
—Clack.
The door to the director's office closed. The last glimpse of his father's face through the crack was not the warm, smiling mask he always wore. It was a cool, cold smile.
"Honestly, I don't know why I have to step in. Both of them are still children."
"…It's been a while, Bulja."
"Ah. It has been a while. Professor Lee and… Chief Kim, was it? The older sister and the father are meeting me for the first time, I take it?"
"I've been promoted to chief myself now."
"Oh, congratulations on the promotion."
The family members who had rushed over at the news that Ayeon had woken, along with Chief Kim and Professor Lee, found themselves face to face with those golden eyes for the first time in a long while.
"Whoa…"
"Does my voice strike you as strange, young lady?"
"Ah, y-yes? Ah. It is… a little strange."
"For reference, the main personality will remember this conversation as well, so do be careful."
"The main personality will remember the conversation?"
"Of course. In fact she's listening right now—ugh."
Mid-sentence Bulja clutched his head with both hands as if a headache had struck.
"If you have complaints, speak up for yourself instead of me, will you? What am I supposed to do if you keep saying you hate this and hate that? Ah, she's gone and hidden herself."
"Just now… you were speaking with the main personality?"
"Yes. She got angry and told me not to talk, then said do whatever I want and ran off."
"Ran off, you say?"
"Dumped the cleanup on me and went to sleep. What a wicked little thing."
"…I see. But last time you clearly said the main personality wouldn't remember what the other personalities did."
"…The situation's changed a bit. Things have gotten thoroughly tangled."
Bulja gave a bitter smile.