Series: The All-Rounder Employee Becomes a Legend
Chapter: 30
Title: Mom's Discharge
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Taeseok headed straight for the hospital.
In truth, he was anxious.
Will this really cure my mom's illness?
Could there be some kind of restriction?
Will I lose my memory if I use it?
Lose my memory?
Honestly, none of it mattered.
As long as his mom got better, he didn't care if he lost his memory.
In fact, he thought he could even risk his life.
Why? Because she was his mom.
Because she was the one who gave birth to him.
Was that why?
The unknown entity didn't try to stop Taeseok either.
‘Why? Why have you been so quiet lately?’
Taeseok pondered.
He didn't know who it was.
It could be his dad, his grandfather, his grandmother, or maybe even a real guardian angel.
An existence that controlled and persuaded him, hidden behind the form of messages.
A god, an angel, a fairy, or maybe a ghost?
It didn't matter what it was.
Because I won't hesitate in my choice.
Because I decided from the very beginning to use the elixir for my mom.
A brilliant glass bottle, like crystal.
Inside was an incomparably radiant, rainbow-colored water.
Taeseok carefully kept it in his bag.
And upon arriving at the hospital, he first looked for his mother's room.
Inside the hospital room. Next to his mom, Kim Hanul was by her side.
‘What's he doing here at this hour?’
But his mom was taking off her hospital gown and changing into regular clothes.
It seemed she was preparing to be discharged.
And the man was helping her.
His mom forced a smile and spoke to the man.
“Hanul, it's okay.”
“Hyejung…”
“There's still time, you know. My sister said she'll be here within three hours. I'll ask her to take me home when she comes. So you can go.”
“No! I'll do it. From now on, I'll be the one to take care of you, Hyejung. So don't say another word.”
At Kang Hyejung's words, Kim Hanul recalled the attending physician's warning from yesterday.
* * *
Yesterday. A meeting with Professor Kim Jeonghwan, an oncology specialist.
“The triple-negative breast cancer has metastasized not only to the lymph nodes but also to the lungs and liver. It seems further treatment will be impossible at our hospital.”
“What do you mean, you can't do it? You're the best. The best in the country.”
“Mr. Kim Hanul, please calm down. You're a doctor just like me, so you know. We don't make empty promises.”
“Isn't there another way? Is there really nothing?”
“For now, it would be best to preserve her quality of life for the time she has left. The patient wants that as well.”
And this morning. The final rounds on the day of her discharge.
To the doctor who told her she was being discharged, Taeseok's mother, Kang Hyejung, asked this.
“I'm not sure if I should ask this.”
“Go ahead.”
“How much time... do you think I have left?”
“I don't believe it will be very long, so it would be best to get your affairs in order.”
“……”
A silence fell.
It was cruel, but a doctor must only convey the facts.
At Professor Kim Jeonghwan's words, she lowered her head and said,
“Thank you.”
The professor and his residents left with apologetic looks on their faces.
After the doctors left, Kang Hyejung finally burst into tears.
‘It's not fair. I want to live longer! If I'm gone, what will my Taeseok do?’
But she knew it herself.
Unlike before, her body wouldn't move properly.
Since the cancer had spread to her spine, she could now only get around in a wheelchair.
‘I never even got to go on a trip with my son…’
Come to think of it, there were so many things she hadn't been able to do.
That's why she wanted to live even more.
Normally.
She wasn't asking for much.
Just as long as other people live.
She just wanted to live that long.
But now, she had to accept it.
There wasn't much time left.
And so, her tears wouldn't stop.
* * *
Back to the present.
Kang Hyejung resented the wheelchair she could only get into with Kim Hanul's help.
Her shaved head, visible in the mirror, made her despair.
And she felt guilty for showing such a sight to her son.
At some point, her son had started watching.
“Taeseok…”
Her son opened his mouth to speak.
“Mom. You're being discharged?”
Perhaps because she was in front of her child, her resolve hardened.
Kang Hyejung spoke as if nothing was wrong.
Come to think of it, she had been a pretty terrible mother.
She couldn't earn money and was just a burden to her son.
And yet, she was good at acting, at putting on this kind of expression.
“Yes. I told the doctor I wanted to be discharged. That's why I'm leaving.”
“The wheelchair? What's with the wheelchair?”
“……”
But that, too, had its limits.
Today, she just couldn't manage to look strong.
Her son's words made Kang Hyejung's heart ache as if it were being torn apart.
But her son didn't let go of the thread of hope.
“Mom, I can fix everything. So. Don't worry.”
‘Son, thank you for saying that.’
But that made it all the more heartbreaking.
In the end, she couldn't hold back her tears.
Drip, drip.
Tears fell onto the everyday clothes she had just changed into.
She thought, wiping her tears with her sleeve.
‘Stupid, how could you cry in front of your son!’
There was a man watching Kang Hyejung in the same room.
He read the heart of the woman he loved and spoke to her son in a harsh tone.
“Kim Taeseok! Be quiet.”
“Sir…”
“I said, be quiet! Let's talk at home. For now, I'm taking Hyejung in a deluxe taxi, so you come separately.”
“……”
“Give me some time. I have something to talk about with her.”
“…Yes.”
Kang Hyejung and Kim Hanul got into the deluxe taxi.
The man gripped the woman's hand tightly and said.
“Don't cry in front of me anymore.”
“……”
“Hyejung.”
He took her hand once more. He wanted her to feel the warmth of his hand. And then, he revealed his true feelings.
“I've thought a lot over the past month. And I've made a decision.”
“……”
“Let's get married.”
“What are you talking about? Hanul, you need to live your own life.”
“This is my life. I never should have given you up to Hyunggon. Then we both could have lived happily...”
“……”
“That punk Hyunggon is probably cheering for me from heaven right now, don't you think? Considering what he did, he wouldn't be able to oppose our love.”
“You know it's not possible. Taeseok….”
“I'll convince Taeseok. No, I'll take responsibility for him for the rest of my life. That kid, Taeseok, still seems immature, but I'll make a man out of him. I'll raise him like my own son, my own flesh and blood. So don't worry about that and let's tie the knot. Okay? Hyejung.”
Kang Hyejung couldn't answer in the end.
She couldn't answer.
Still, she knew this one thing.
That she hadn't lived her life in vain.
Why did the hand gripping hers feel so warm today...?
* * *
After arriving home, Hyejung soon lost consciousness and fell asleep.
Her stamina had been greatly weakened by the continuous chemotherapy for the metastasized cancer.
Kim Hanul laid her down and placed a warm, damp towel on her head. Then he stayed by her side, massaging her cold hands.
Meanwhile, Taeseok was watching his mother lying in bed, looking for the right moment.
“Sir, when are you leaving?”
“What?”
“I asked when you're leaving.”
“Is that really what you have to say to me right now?”
“I want to be alone with my mom.”
“This kid, really, to the very end…”
Kim Hanul disliked Taeseok's childishness.
But he was mistaken.
Taeseok wasn't being childish.
He was waiting for the right moment to use the elixir.
At Taeseok's words, Kim Hanul reluctantly got up.
“Call me right away if anything happens. I'm going to pack my things and come back. I'll be staying at your house for a while, so don't you dare object to that.”
“Yes. I understand.”
But the answer was unexpected.
‘Did he just agree?’
So he asked one more time.
“Don't you hate me. You're the one who made me feel this way.”
“Yes. I know. I know how you feel, sir, so please, just leave for now.”
With that one answer, Kim Hanul felt that Kim Taeseok had accepted him.
‘…That kid.’
Was that why? He left without another word.
Seeing Kim Hanul leave, Taeseok took out the elixir he had hidden in his bag.
A radiant light. The rainbow-colored water held within.
He tried to pour it into a glass cup…
But it wouldn't pour.
Even when he grunted and tilted it a full 90 degrees, the contents of the crystal bottle showed no sign of moving. An object from another dimension that defied even the laws of gravity.
‘Why? Can't I use it? Can't I use it on my mom?!’
Just then, the unknown entity responded for the first time.
[System Message: You should have asked how to use it first. Put it directly into her mouth.]
At the entity's response, Taeseok knew.
‘You were watching. Pretending not to know all along…’
At that, the entity once again became mute as a clam.
Taeseok brought the mouth of the crystal bottle to his mother's lips as she lay there.
Then, the rainbow-colored liquid flowed into his mother's mouth on its own.
It was amazing. A golden flash of light was erupting from his mother's entire body.
But Taeseok was anxious.
Because at some point, the rainbow-colored liquid in the bottle stopped coming out.
‘Keep going. Why did you stop! Why did you stop?!’
But no matter what he did, the liquid wouldn't go in.
Taeseok stared blankly at the elixir, still more than half full.
But then... something strange happened.
His mother, who had been asleep just moments before, suddenly turned over, revealing a sleeping habit.
She would bend her legs, then straighten them.
She even clasped her hands, hugged her pillow, and curled up.
‘Huh?’
And then came a system message.
[Aren't you going to drink it?]
‘What?’
[Are you going to leave your back as it is?]
At the entity's words, Taeseok put the mouth of the crystal bottle to his own lips and gulped down the radiant water.
Then, strangely, once about 1/5 was left, the liquid stopped coming out.
And Taeseok felt a refreshing sensation, as if his back had been completely straightened out.
‘This fast?’
[Hide the elixir at once. Surely you aren't thinking of revealing it to the world, are you?]
‘……’
Taeseok put the crystal bottle in his bag.
Then, to see the results, he woke his mother.
“Mom! Mom! Wake up.”
“Huh?”
At that, his mother shot up, looked at Taeseok, and spoke.
“Son, did it go well?”
“Yeah. Mom, never mind that for now, try walking.”
At her son's words, she shot to her feet. Then she threw off the blanket, got out of bed, and tried to walk.
She wiggled her fingers and felt that her body had changed.
‘Huh?’
Thinking her body had improved drastically, she shook her head in disbelief.
‘What’s going on? Is this a miracle?’
Taeseok grinned.
And pretending not to know anything, he excused himself.
“Mom, I'm just going to pop over to the mart and buy some food.”
“Huh?”
Then he turned away and shed tears of joy.
‘Thank you. Thank you so much.’
[If you fail the tutorial, you may be returned to the starting point. Please do your best.]
The young man left the room.
The new employee shouted for joy.
Now, the world finally seemed worth living in.
It felt like a world he'd never experienced before was opening up to him.
And so, he was overjoyed.
He even did some waist-bending stretches he never usually did, twisting his body this way and that to check its condition.
And he was certain.
That both he and his mother were completely cured.
So he leaped toward the sky and shouted.
"Uwaaaaaaah!"
Just then, a middle-aged man named Kim Hanul, who had come out of the alley and was waiting for a taxi, witnessed Taeseok and shook his head to himself.
‘That kid's completely lost his mind. He's snapped.’
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