Chapter 210
Arriving at the meeting spot, I spotted Dongjin already waiting for me.
"Juhan-ah, here!"
It was a bit late for dinner, so the place wasn't too crowded.
"Your face looks half its size," I said, sliding into the seat across from him. Dongjin let out a short chuckle.
"Just busy with work. Let's eat first. What do you want?"
"Recommend something tasty. Whatever."
I wasn't that hungry anyway, and food wasn't the real reason I'd come here.
Once the food arrived, Dongjin dove in like his nose was glued to the bowl. I scooped a few pieces of meat from my plate onto the side dish tray and pushed it toward him.
"What're you doing, man? Eat it yourself."
"You eat up. Your wife's heart must ache seeing how much weight you've lost."
"My wife likes skinny guys."
"Yeah, right. That's just talk."
"Lately, it's some actor. She's hooked on this drama and nagging me about it. Maybe the spark's gone."
No way. Dongjin's wife was the kind of woman who'd planned to follow him into death when he took his own life. She hadn't gone through with it only because of the kids.
If she'd left too, I never would've forgiven myself for turning my back on Dongjin when he came begging for help, with nowhere else to turn.
Even now... every time I looked him in the face like this, I resented the me from my past life who hadn't saved him.
"No chance."
"What do you know? Oh, right—my wife said we should grab a meal sometime."
"Sure, let's do that. The kids must be growing up fast. Uncle's gotta bring toys or something."
"Yeah, you've got money to burn. Treat 'em."
I let out a hollow laugh, watching him resume eating, then casually checked my phone.
It was August 2010 now. And the exact day Dongjin would take his own life was May 2, 2011.
"You mentioned the director's son was giving you trouble before. How's that going? Still?"
"Still a total shitshow. Dude, don't even bring him up. Pisses me off."
"He the type to sabotage you, frame you or whatever?"
"Frame? Oh, he'd do it in a heartbeat."
Dongjin answered nonchalantly, pulling a side dish I didn't like toward himself.
"If anything happens, tell me right away."
"Anything? Like what?"
"Anything. Even if it's not legal stuff—as long as it's too much for you to handle alone, I can help."
"Jeez. Why're you suddenly saying this? Obviously I'd call you if something came up. Gotta milk having a lawyer buddy."
Like hell you would. That guy had hidden everything from me until the very last second.
I had a million things I wanted to say, but nothing I could.
After dinner, we grabbed coffee and strolled the path around the hospital. Even late, a few staffers dotted the area.
"So, what'd you wanna ask me?"
We settled on a bench by some flower beds, and Dongjin got to it.
"Nothing big. Lee Jeong-chan's son, Lee Se-hyeong."
"Oh, Lee Se-hyeong? He comes to our hospital."
"Right. He had some spinal issue, ended up paralyzed from the waist down."
"Yeah. Probably doing rehab here. We consult with his department."
Dongjin slurped his coffee, sounding bored.
"Why?"
"You ever seen Lee Se-hyeong's chart?"
"Nah. The department head handles it personally."
"I see."
"Big-shot politician's kid, and Se-hyeong's famous himself. Security's tight."
"Rehab too? Department head overseeing that?"
"Yep."
I nodded slowly. Lee Se-hyeong's legs were perfectly fine right now. The fact he was still showing up at the hospital meant the neurosurgery head and rehab head were in on it together.
"What's the neurosurgery head and rehab head like?"
"Not sure about rehab, but ours... man."
Dongjin glanced around to make sure no one was nearby, then lowered his voice.
"...He's a total career climber."
"Career climber?"
"Word is the director's seat is shaky. So he's cozying up to politics. Hospital's got this nursing center approval headache—if that gets sorted, director gets reappointed, no question."
"And?"
"Rumor is the director'll promote whoever helps him keep his spot."
"Your boss gunning for that?"
"Bingo."
Dongjin nodded vigorously.
"And the director's son is in our department. Treats him like they were lovers in a past life."
"Didn't you say the head introduced you to a VIP recently?"
Dongjin sighed deeply at my question.
"After he introduced me, I was in on the surgery. Then the door opens mid-op, and in slips the director's son. Thought something was up, but they said they needed extra hands. We had plenty."
"Then what?"
"After that, that punk's been in the OR."
"...I see."
"Whatever. Not like I've ever chased VIPs."
"So your boss writes fake diagnoses for VIPs too, huh."
Dongjin waved it off like it was obvious.
"Duh. Dude's a fixer, a total fixer."
"Fixer?"
"Military exemptions for elite kids, prosecutor's summons excuses, you name it. Cuts through anything."
That was answer enough.
Lee Se-hyeong was faking his disability thanks to that head's "help."
"When I finally leave medicine someday, I'll blow the whistle on that fixer shit. Watch me."
Dongjin didn't need to stain his career as medicine's traitor to expose it.
I'll handle that.
Once Lee Se-hyeong's scam blew up, the hospital enablers would all go down too—especially the neurosurgery head who'd signed off on the fake diagnosis.
Dig into him, and it'd only be a matter of time before the politicians' kids he'd faked docs for came to light.
"Doctor! There you are!"
A young doctor came rushing up then.
"Oh, Lee. What's up? No pages."
"Not that. The head's back from his trip—brought gifts."
"Yeah? Leave mine at my desk."
"...He wants you to come get it yourself."
"Ugh, fine."
Dongjin grumbled, standing.
"Gotta head in?"
"Yeah. Oh, Juhan. Got a favor."
"Favor? What?"
"Come up with me first."
Clueless, I followed him inside. He told me to wait at the lounge by the wards, so I blended in with the patients, watching TV while he reappeared.
About 20 minutes later, Dongjin emerged, a huge shopping bag in hand.
"Juhan."
"Back? Why's your head making you come get gifts yourself?"
"Beats me. Just some crappy chocolates. From the Chocolate Museum, he says. On a boondoggle, that jerk."
He showed me the small box.
"I hate chocolate. You take it."
"Nah."
"Take it. It's a bribe—got a favor to ask."
He shoved the box at me, then handed over the big bag.
"What's this?"
"My socks and underwear. Drop 'em at our apartment security on your way home? Haha. Wife's not there anyway."
"She's not home—why bring laundry?"
"Took the kids to her folks', coming back late. Need stuff for day after tomorrow, but she can't swing by. Was supposed to go home today, but you showed up with your 'favor.' Pretty please?"
"You bastard—"
"Thanks! Catch ya!"
He was already waving and sprinting toward the doctors' lounge.
I picked up the bag from the floor with a wry chuckle. His place wasn't even on my way home—it was the opposite direction.
After dropping his undies and socks at security as requested, I drove home.
Habitually got out, then remembered the chocolate he'd forced on me and grabbed it.
Not some amazing gift worth fetching personally—just chocolate covered in German.
I set it on the table, showered, and flopped on the sofa. Absentmindedly flipping channels.
Wait.
Didn't Lee Se-hyeong go to Germany for his spinal surgery?
Election was still awhile off, but to fake a recovery in time to walk on election day, the surgery timeline needed to line up now.
He'd need docs ready just in case.
What if the head's trip was for that prep?
"..."
I stared at the chocolate box.
Couldn't read German, but it had English-ish vibes, so I scanned it.
[Schokoladenmuseum Köln]
Cologne Chocolate Museum
Heard from Dongjin the head bought it at the Chocolate Museum.
And his "trip" was to Cologne.
I punched a few terms into a portal site.
> Searching: Köln Rückenmark (Cologne, Spinal Cord)
> Top Result: [Hospital Name] — World's leading spinal cord specialist hospital in Cologne
> Patients with spinal injuries regaining ability to walk post-surgery
Just those two words, and bam—the top hit was a hospital.
Plugged the English name into search, and English pages flooded in.
Web docs on Cologne's top spinal cord hospital. Tons of stories about lower-body paralysis patients walking again after surgery there.
I called Dongjin immediately.
"Yeah, Juhan? Drop off my socks and undies okay?"
"Not important. Your department head."
"Our head? Why?"
"What was his Germany trip for?"
"Trip? Heard it was a conference. Not sure."
"Hmm, got it."
> Searching: Cologne Neurology Conference
> No matches. No neurology or related conferences in that timeframe.
A neurosurgery head would hit a neuro conference, obviously.
No such conference. Nothing else around then either.
Only one answer left.
Lee Se-hyeong got surgery there.
And now he was secretly prepping to fake going for it—building an airtight alibi.
To nail entry/exit records, he'd actually fly to Cologne. Lee Jeong-chan wasn't dumb enough to skip that evidence.
Which meant I had to expose Lee Se-hyeong's lie first.