A Life Debt

“Yes, please speak comfortably.”

As I gestured, Go Eunhyeok continued in a low, calm voice.

“A lot more children than you’d think come to my clinic. That’s why I’m often mentioned in online cafes and such…”

Go Eunhyeok trailed off with a troubled expression.
But I fully understood what he was trying to say.

“Are malicious rumors spreading, by any chance?”
“…Yes. Continuously since that day. Since they were the ones who brought up a lawsuit first, I feel like I need to prepare, but with the situation being what it is, I can’t seem to focus on my work.”
“Have you reported them?”
“No, I think they’re using multiple IDs. Even if I request a takedown, they quickly post similar things with another ID. Can you look into this as well?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Thank you.”

Go Eunhyeok let out a pained sigh and repeatedly wiped his face with his hands.
It seemed he still had more to say.

“…Well, neither of them have told the full story, so I don’t know the exact details, but if I’m guessing correctly, I’m worried about the child. He’ll eventually find out the truth… It breaks my heart.”

I couldn’t offer any reply to Go Eunhyeok’s words.
I had heard once that the more a person richly understands the pain and joy—that is, the emotions—of others, the stronger their sense of justice is.
And also that some are born with that sense of justice, while others acquire it through incidents or accidents.
The Go Eunhyeok I knew was someone who fell into both categories.
I looked at Go Eunhyeok, then at Lee Ilwoo, who was watching Go Eunhyeok with a look of pity.

‘What happened between those two?’

This was the first time I had seen Lee Ilwoo show that level of familiarity with someone.

[It’s amazing. I never knew Mr. Lee Ilwoo could make that kind of expression.]

I nodded once to Gram, and to Go Eunhyeok, and opened my mouth.

“Then I will check if we can proceed as you’ve requested and contact you.”
“You must have been quite bewildered… Thank you for listening.”
“Not at all. Please get home safely.”

Go Eunhyeok bowed his head and left the office.

Chime.

Lee Ilwoo watched him go and then stood up from his seat.
He seemed to have made up his mind.

“Attorney, I need to step out for a moment…”
“Go ahead. You can grab a coffee while you’re at it. I need some time to think as well.”
“Thank you.”

Chime.

Lee Ilwoo pushed open the still-swaying door and disappeared.
I searched the portal sites while trying to organize Go Eunhyeok’s story.
It was to find the posts related to Joy Clinic.

‘This is more malicious than I thought.’

I had only found a few posts to save as evidence, but the content made me frown instantly.

[…Anyone would think that doctor killed someone. A lot of patients must have left by now, right?]

‘To be worried about the child even in this situation is quite remarkable.’

However, more than half of the countless comments did not go as the original poster intended.

[Is that the Joy Clinic at that intersection? My kid loves that doctor so we only go there. He’s not that kind of person.]
[That’s right, I only go there too. He was great when I took my mom last time. No excessive treatments, he only does what’s necessary.]
[Are you planning to open a clinic nearby? If not, why would you write such a ridiculous post;;]

Of course, for every comment like this that supported Go Eunhyeok and denied the malice, there was a rebuttal from the original poster.
But it seemed that at least among his long-time regulars, almost no one believed the words.

‘I guess the way you live your life eventually comes back to you.’

[I can feel what a good doctor he is. And that people trust him as a doctor.]

‘It’s quite touching. Maybe that’s how Mr. Go Eunhyeok was able to endure.’

By the time I had finished organizing every single comment into a file, Lee Ilwoo returned.

Chime.

“I bought you a coffee too while I was downstairs.”
“Ah, thank you. Did you have a good talk?”
“Yes, thanks to you.”

I took a sip of the warm coffee Lee Ilwoo handed me and opened my mouth.

“If it’s not too rude, could you tell me how you two know each other? No matter how I think about it, I can’t find a connection.”
“…It’s a common story.”

Lee Ilwoo said as he slowly rolled up his sleeve to show me a scar.

“Before I was an agent, I was a soldier. I was dispatched to a civil war zone, and I was caught in a bombing there.”

A faint smile appeared on Lee Ilwoo’s lips.
He pointed to a long scar that started from his right rib and extended to the center of his abdomen, as if it were nothing special.
Without any emotion of sadness or pain.
Lee Ilwoo then lowered his soft black knit sweater, concealing the scar.

“I thought I was going to die right there. Blood gushed out with every breath I exhaled, and it was getting harder and harder to breathe.”

Lee Ilwoo stared at the coffee in his hand for a moment before speaking again.

“…Actually, I think I thought it wouldn’t matter if I just died.”

Lee Ilwoo slowly exhaled and looked at me across the table.

“All around me were constant screams and the sounds of explosions, and the situation where the limbs of a comrade who had my back just moments before were blown away by a bomb repeated itself endlessly.”

I couldn’t say anything.
I couldn’t fathom how much time Lee Ilwoo must have spent to be able to tell this story without his voice trembling.

“That’s when I met Dr. Go. He was there for medical volunteering. It was a cliché situation. ‘Leave me behind.’ ‘No.’ ‘I can’t do that.'”

Lee Ilwoo gently stroked the cup with his thumb and continued.
I waited for Lee Ilwoo’s next words and took another sip of coffee.
The coffee had cooled to a perfect temperature.

“He was supposed to leave the next day. The war had escalated too much. He stayed a few more days to monitor my progress, and Dr. Go was also caught in a bombing.”
“Ah…”
“His injuries were severe. So much so that he was discharged from service. But he didn’t want to waste that time, so he started preparing to become another specialist.”

Lee Ilwoo smiled, took a sip of coffee, and added.

“He said he wanted to save as many people in danger as he could, even one more. Trauma surgery, of all things.”

There was a time when the profession of a doctor was considered noble.
A time when it wasn’t about being good at studying that made you a doctor, but the desire to save people.
At least in Lee Ilwoo’s eyes, Go Eunhyeok was a ‘real’ doctor.
And in my eyes, too.

“I owe my life to that conviction.”

I smiled and replied to Lee Ilwoo.

“That’s not a common story.”
“…Pardon?”
“You met a good person. And at a time when you desperately needed help.”
“Ah… That’s true.”
“Then let’s find more ways to help that good person.”

We put our heads together for a long time after that.
Lee Ilwoo for Go Eunhyeok, and I for Lee Ilwoo.

“I really can’t figure out the Chairman’s hobbies. Does he like old things, or does he just like anything that glitters?”

At the same time Cha Yohan and Lee Ilwoo were talking, a visitor appeared at Jo Hyeokjun’s castle-like traditional house.
Jo Hyeokjun, who was, as usual, lovingly stroking his collectibles one by one, snorted at the voice.

“Seeing your precious self make a personal visit, you must be really desperate.”

Jo Hyeokjun retorted without turning around.
He made no effort to hide the fact that he was looking down on the man with his gruff voice.

“Given the situation, I thought I should make a move myself.”
“You’ve turned the whole country upside down, and now you’re saying that? You can’t even do a simple job properly, and you dare to threaten me with a stupid ledger? Me, Jo Hyeokjun?”

The man did not reply.
Because he didn’t reply, and because Jo Hyeokjun didn’t turn around, Jo Hyeokjun didn’t know that the man was smiling.

“Showing up here now is no different from begging, ‘Please save me.’ What makes you think I should look upon that favorably when I’m already tired because of you?”
“Do you think I came here to be saved?”
“Then why are you here? You’re the one who always pretended not to know when I suggested we talk face-to-face. I shouldn’t have entrusted the job to a guy like you with an unknown background.”

Thud.

The man, with his hands behind his back, followed Jo Hyeokjun, who was leisurely strolling through the detached building, at a moderate pace.
He continued to speak in a calm tone despite the pouring contempt.

“Watching you, Chairman, I realize that no amount of money can change innate vulgarity. I heard you were the same in your youth as you are now. You teach me a lesson in many ways.”

Jo Hyeokjun could not tolerate that provocation.
The reason he collected beautiful things so obsessively stemmed from the childhood the man had mentioned.

“What! You bastard!”

However, when Jo Hyeokjun turned around, he was startled.
The man was already standing right behind him.
Silently, quietly.

“You know what this is, right?”

Something hard and cold touched his chest.
He couldn’t not know.
It was the gun Jo Hyeokjun had procured for the man.
No, it was one of them.
Jo Hyeokjun stumbled backward.
Instead of chasing him, the man just stood there and smiled.
His arm remained fixed in place.

“…What do you think you’re doing to me with something I got for you? No, do you really think you can shoot me here?”

As Jo Hyeokjun’s shout ended, the man erased the wide smile from his face and tilted his head slightly.

“Why do you keep thinking I can’t do it?”
“Because…!”

Only then did Jo Hyeokjun sense something was wrong.
The surroundings were too quiet.
It was different from the usual quietness of the house due to his own obsession.
This was…
The silence when all signs of human presence had disappeared.

‘How did he get in here? Without the butler?’

The question finally arose.
Following the question, he saw the wide-open door of the detached building behind the man’s shoulder.
The people who should have been guarding the door were nowhere to be seen.
Only light streamed in.
Jo Hyeokjun hastily backed away and pressed the hidden emergency button in the detached building.

Click, click.

His uneasy feeling was correct.
No one came running. Not a single footstep could be heard.
Except for the man in front of him.

“No one is coming. Because I made it so.”
“You, what are you here for. What do you think you’re doing in my house!”
“Don’t you know better than anyone what kind of person I am, Chairman? As for what I’m doing, I’m about to show you.”

Thud.

The man stopped three paces away.
Jo Hyeokjun swung the ornate cane he was leaning on and drew the sword hidden inside.

Whoosh!

The man moved his hand lightly, as if he already knew the identity of the jewel-encrusted cane.
And without hesitation, he pulled the trigger.

Bang!

Jo Hyeokjun’s cane went flying.
Jo Hyeokjun clutched his numb hand from the shock and collapsed to the ground.

“Ugh… You bastard, you think you can get away with this!”
“This is not the time to be worried about my safety, Chairman.”

The man smiled handsomely with a cold face and aimed the gun at the head of the collapsed Jo Hyeokjun.
Smoke was still rising from the muzzle.

“Bang.”

The man flicked his wrist upward and pronounced the word playfully.
To his shame, Jo Hyeokjun flinched reflexively.

“You should be worried about your own safety, Chairman. Still, for old times’ sake, I’ll grant you one wish.”
“What, what kind of trick is this.”
“But this is only if you fulfill my request splendidly.”

Swoosh.

The man knelt and made eye contact with Jo Hyeokjun.
He still had the gun aimed at Jo Hyeokjun’s forehead as he smiled brightly and added.

“Cha Yohan, you know him, right?”