30
Baek Seong-Woo knew this man. He had been here yesterday, but he was a Hunter that he had never seen before.
He was sure of that since this country has a good way of managing their Hunters, their names get put on a special list. Seong-Woo had checked, and this man’s name was not there. However, he had cured the patient completely.
“Oh…”
His mouth was open, but he could not say anything. The man looked at him and asked a question.
“Are you Baek Seong-Woo, surgical specialist?”
“……..Oh, Yes… Yes, that’s me.”
“We met yesterday. Do you remember me?”
Of course he did. How could he forget that moment? It was him.
“I suppose you are stressed out. You’re smoking heavily.”
Baek Seong-Woo’s eyes were shaking. He knew why this man had come. He was not the Hunter that was secretly being trained by the government, he had already researched that. If he were being trained by the government, he wouldn’t have killed Park Jeong-Nam at the Ga-On High School. He also saw a recent news report that said this man was now a supervisor for ROKHA.
The man in front of him, Lee Hwan, opened his mouth and whispered. “I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:”
Seong-Woo looked up at him in surprise. He was reciting from the modern Hippocratic Oath.
“I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.”
The doctor closed his eyes tightly and clenched his fists.
Lee Hwan continued reciting.
“I will remember that there is an art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drug.”
His heart was hurting as if it had broken.
“If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty.”
He released his fists and opened his eyes. “Above all, I must not play God.”
The words came out of Lee Hwan’s mouth like a recorded file. Seong-Woo felt relieved. Now, it did not matter. He didn’t know how much the man knew about his secret mission, but that was not it. His thoughts should be the only thing that matters, as well as his conscience and guilt.
Lee Hwan spoke, but it was neither a threat nor blame.
“I’m a bit late, but thank you for healing my teacher.”
Lee Hwan shook the doctor’s hand. It was a true, solid expression of his thanks.
Seong-Woo’s eyes were already misty. He felt as if tears would come out any minute.
‘No, I don’t deserve this. I am a doctor, but I almost killed my patient.’
Lee Hwan bowed his head.
“You can continue your smoking. I’ll see you later.”
He then turned around. He was ready to open the door and get out of the room when Seong-Woo suddenly grabbed his hand.
“I… have something to tell you.”
‘I don’t deserve your thanks. Because of money, I was about to break the law.’ That was what the doctor wanted to say, but Lee Hwan shook his head, saying,
“Do as your heart says, as a doctor.”
***
I went inside Mr. Gu’s hospital room, and our eyes immediately met. No words were exchanged as I sat next to him and he closed his eyes.
Ten silent minutes passed.
Was he sleeping?
As soon as I thought that, Mr. Gu opened his eyes.
“I saw the news.”
“……..”
“I heard that Jeong-Nam and his parents died.”
With a reproachful eye, Mr. Gu stared at me. His eyes were reflecting his mind, and it seemed to ask about the truth of the news. So I told him the truth.
“The news is correct. They are dead. I killed them.”
“…Did you really have to do that?”
Without any hesitation, I answered. “Of course.”
“……….”
“Normally, kids are easily influenced by someone else. Compared to adults, their views are very limited. It’s like a frog in a small well. That’s what children’s views are.”
“………”
“As you have taught me, if they don’t know about their actions, it is just right to give them another chance.”
“……….”
“But Park Jeong-Nam was not like that. He was outside of the well and did as he wanted. The same applies to Park Soo-Ho.”
“……….”
Mr. Gu was still staring at me.
“I had no choice but to kill him. Teach him a lesson? It is possible, but he would have plotted for revenge and done something worse. Even if not now, he would have done something later. I’ve faced those kinds of situations a lot.”
“……….”
“Mr. Gu, if I start something, I do it until it’s finished. That’s how I lived in Valhalla.”
“……….”
“I’m still the Lee Hwan you remember, but I have changed a bit.”
Mr. Gu sighed before asking. “I heard that you are a supervisor now.”
“That’s true. I just got the job. I wanted you to be the first to know, but I postponed that plan so that you could rest some more. I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings.”
As I was speaking, the door burst open and a girl wearing Ga-On’s school uniform walked in. Her eyes were full of tears.
“Mr. Gu…”
When she saw me, she froze. She wanted to head directly to Mr. Gu, but I was blocking her way. I guess she had seen what I had done to her classmate.
I smiled and decided to go. “I’ll see you later. Take care.”
I stood up and went for the door. The student rushed to Mr. Gu and cried as she sat beside him, telling him that she was sorry for not coming earlier. She thanked him for his help. As Jeong-Nam had died, her curse was removed.
Mr. Gu patted her head gently before they continued their conversation.
I already knew that Mr. Gu was an excellent teacher. There was even a student who cried for him. If that as not a sign of being a great teacher, then I didn’t know what was.
I left the room and encountered a man in the hallway. He was the doctor I had talked to before visiting Mr. Gu, Baek Seong-Woo, the surgical specialist.
Right now, he was not wearing his doctor’s uniform. When I saw him in the smoking room, his face had looked really bad, but now he looked much better. He smiled and told me the reason for his brightness.
“I quit my job.”
I looked at him silently.
“I don’t know what I was afraid of.”
He was watching Mr. Gu and his student through the window. They seemed to be having a nice conversation. It really looked like an ideal relationship between a student and a teacher.
“It’s nice to see that.”
“I agree.”
Seong-Woo looked at me and asked, “I don’t know if this helps, but you can always visit me if you need anything. I can check if you have diseases or give you some advice.”
Hm.
“What are you going to do?”
“I’ll probably launch some kind of business. I do have some money saved up for it.”
He laughed and told me his plan.
“Call me when you launch your business. Send me the location as well and I’ll celebrate with you.”
He smiled awkwardly, and we shook hands.
After that, I left the hospital. Yoo Ee-Na was waiting for me outside the doors, holding two cups of coffee.
“You finished quicker than I thought.”
“I wanted to stay longer, but there was a more suitable guest for him.”
She handed me a cup of coffee that was still warm to the touch. I bet she used her skill to keep it warm.
“Now, let’s go register.”
***
At the age of eighteen, some people randomly awakened their power. To be more specific, when a person turned eighteen, they also opened the possibility of awakening their ability, which meant that it was random. Some people awakened their powers in their twenties, thirties, or even their forties. The only requirement was to become an adult.
This made the process of registration much more important.
It had been decided by the world that all non-registered awakeners were considered illegal. No one argued against this policy, and since it was correct, everyone got that. Awakeners were not like ordinary people. If they were hiding their difference, they were already a potential threat. All they had to do was register, so awakeners usually conformed to the rule.
It was common knowledge that if you tried to avoid registering, it meant that you wanted to hide something. Even a child and his pet cat knew that the world between Hunters and ordinary people was divided.
All they had to do was register, and if they became inactive, they would eventually be considered ordinary people. There was no reason not to register.
If someone didn’t register, they were probably a criminal who was trying to hide their identity. Or, like in my case, just too lazy to do so.
If they got caught, they could just pay a fine for it. I learned that while I was studying for my GED.
“Can you explain it to me again?”
I shot a glimpse at Yoo Ee-Na.
I knew it was kind of repetitive, but whether you were in Valhalla or Earth, the stronger person always got more. Someone who respected a strong person like Ee-Na would seek her advice. I was simply trying to aim for a higher place.
“Does registration start at 11 am?”
Ee-Na had a prim-looking expression on her face, I guess because she had already explained this to me many times.
“Yes, it does. Monday to Thursday, from 11 am to 6 pm. If you violate the rules, then you would be charged as a criminal. You’re lucky that you even got a chance to register.”
I had to laugh. Me? Lucky? Those were not the correct words.
“Not the way I see it.”
“Alright! Then think what you want!”
I could see she was a bit frustrated with my attitude. Maybe it was because of my responses or how I accidentally smirked when she said that.
Anyway, I would still have to register. A phrase came to mind, ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do,’ so I would try to fit in with the Hunter’s role. As long as I didn’t don’t cross the line, I could respect them as well.
That was my view toward the Hunters. Their powers were obviously easily attained through a system. The problem is that they don’t recognize or acknowledge Ee-Na’s power as much as they should. In fact, she doesn’t realize her ability’s value herself.
“You said your skill was acceleration.”
“That’s true.”
“And you are the only one who possesses it.”
“As far as I know, yes.”
“Then aren’t you a unique skill holder?”
Yoo Ee-Na’s face betrayed her mixed emotions. I could even, just barely, see a tear in her eye.
“Unique skill holders receive their unique skills from the beginning. I learned that skill after doing some training. Because of that, I’m not considered a unique skill holder.”
“That’s just the definition from the dictionary. As far as I know, my brother’s ability and Park Jeong-Nam’s ability are similar to yours, which means that you are also a unique skill holder.”
“You must be joking.”
“I’m your advisor. No matter where I am, I always do my best for my duty. That’s what I call responsibility. I don’t lie about things like that.”
“…So you’re saying that I’m a unique skill holder?”
“Yes.”
“Are you flattering me?”
“If you think so, then you can take it as flattery.”
“……….”
Comments