Chapter 22
What she and her have in common
She had not eaten since the evening of the previous day, so she had been hungry for 20 hours.
It was not easy to get out of bed because her lips were dry, her vision was blurry, and her whole body felt numb.
Minju stumbled for a while due to strong dizziness and grabbed the head of the bed. All the Earth’s gravity seemed to attract only her.
She had a similar experience a long time ago. At that time, she really had no will for life, so she stayed still on the floor for a long time without resisting gravity and slept without drinking a sip of water.
Minju knew then that the reason why people with depression slept a lot was because they did not want to wake up.
Unlike that time when she was found starving by her neighbor who barely saved her life, no one would come to save her now. There were only two people in the world who knew that she was in this vast mansion, one of them was on vacation and the other was on a business trip.
She could not become the main character in an article with the title ‘Park Sang-yeon’s secret lover found dead, hidden in a large mansion.’
Minju finally overcame gravity and left the house alone without anyone’s help.
There were enough neuropsychiatric hospitals in downtown Seoul, but Minju was mentally burdened to show her condition to someone else.
Most of all, she was not in the right mind to search for a new hospital, and in fact, there was something she had wanted to ask Dr. Kim Myeong-hoon the other day but she had not been able to.
“Is this your first time at our hospital?”
The nurse in charge of the reception desk asked Minju.
“Yes, maybe.”
When Minju vaguely answered, the nurse presented a medical card that new patients had to fill out.
“Please write your name, address, social security number, and contact information here. Did you bring your car?”
“Yes.”
“Then please write down your car number next to it. I will register it for free parking for three hours.”
Minju was embarrassed for a while because she did not know the number of the car she drove. Then, she remembered the first digits of the car number engraved on the car key ring, so she hurriedly took the key out of her pocket and barely wrote it down on the medical card.
“It’s 31MAE xxxx, right?”
“Yes, that’s probably right.”
‘Probably’… Minju regretted saying that right away.
The nurses whispered among themselves as if Minju had come in a stolen car. It bothered her a lot, but Minju just pretended not to know, sat on the sofa and waited for her name to be called.
After a while, when a patient came out of Dr. Kim’s office, Minju’s name was called.
Minju felt a sense of security as soon as she entered Dr. Kim’s office. Whether it was because of the comfort of the interior or because the seizures she had experienced the other day had been treated in this room, she felt somehow comfortable.
Dr. Kim recommended warm tea to Minju like last time.
“This is lemon myrtle.”
“I’m glad there’s no caffeine in it. I can’t sleep at all.”
Minju took a sip of tea before Dr. Kim.
It was not because she was thirsty, but to show him that she, as a patient, would trust him, the doctor, unlike last time.
Dr. Kim, who must have noticed the sensitive signal, said with a friendly smile.
“It must not have been easy to come back, but thank you for your courage, Patient Choi Minju.”
‘Patient’, someone who was sick or injured and needed treatment. The hospital was a strange place where even normal people became patients.
“What are you most uncomfortable with? You can tell me everything. There is plenty of time, so think comfortably.”
“I have tinnitus and hallucinations. I keep hearing wrong things.”
“When did it start?”
Dr. Kim began to record medical treatment on Minju’s chart. Tinnitus, hallucination…
“I think it’s been about 10 years. It wasn’t severe at first, but it got worse. The sounds I hear have also diversified recently. I’ve always been told that there is nothing wrong with my hearing. Rather, I have excessively good hearing. I was told it could be a psychological problem.”
“At first, it must have sounded strange.”
“Yes, that’s right! Because it seemed like they thought I was crazy.”
Minju reacted strongly to Dr. Kim’s words as he read her mind like a book.
“Why did you change your mind? The reason why you came to see me. You had a change of heart.”
“Well… First of all, it has definitely gotten worse recently, and I think that’s why I’m increasingly arguing with my husband.”
Dr. Kim’s forehead reacted briefly to the word ‘husband’.
“Oh, you have a husband. Does your husband know about your condition?”
“No, I didn’t really say anything. However, my husband is also a very sensitive person, so I think he roughly noticed it.”
“I see. First, the most important thing is that the patient herself wants to be actively treated. But to treat it properly, you have to tell me what happened 10 years ago, the beginning of tinnitus. Can you do it?”
Minju was lost in thought for a moment.
“…But I really don’t know.”
“Yeah, this is enough for today. Let’s slowly solve the mysteries in your heart one by one. Is there anything else that’s uncomfortable besides the sound?”
“It’s hard to sleep because I’ve become so sensitive. I wish I could get a good night’s sleep.”
“Okay, let’s try some medicine to help you sleep well.”
Dr. Kim entered the medicine to be prescribed to Minju into the computer. Then he naturally asked the next question.
“How did you know about our hospital?”
“Well, actually… a friend told me about it.”
“Oh, I see. What’s your friend’s name?”
“Seo Hye-ryeong.”
There was a moment of silence. Dr. Kim’s face suddenly darkened when he heard the name Seo Hye-ryeong.
Minju took out Seo Hye-ryeong’s medicine bag from her bag and put it out in front of Dr. Kim.
“This is the medicine Hye-ryeong was taking. What exactly is it? Usually, drug information is written on the medicine bag, but this one doesn’t have that.”
“Usually, neuropsychiatric drugs do not display drug information. The hospital, not the drugstore, will prepare it for you directly. Sending prescriptions to pharmacies is also a very sensitive issue for patients, so in terms of privacy protection… But why are you curious about the medicine that Seo Hye-ryeong took?”
“I wanted to know why my friend was sick and how hard it was.”
‘Friend? I can’t believe I’m calling my one and only enemy ‘friend’!’ Minju could not stand it because it felt detestable.
“It’s true that I prescribed it, but as you know, it’s difficult to tell you because it’s the patient’s personal information.”
“Yes, of course I understand. But it’s because there’s an unavoidable situation. Please, sir.”
“I’m sorry. When you go out, please make an appointment for next time. Ah! And the medicine I’m giving you today may have temporary side effects. It only lasts during the process of adapting to it, so you don’t have to worry too much.”
“What side effects are there?”
“It’s a drug that relieves nerves, so it’s possible for the body to feel a little drowsy and the memory and concentration to be lower. There are people who gain weight sometimes.”
“Can I have sleepwalking or something like that? Like Hye-ryeong?”
“The medicine I gave you today won’t cause sleepwalking. Don’t worry.”
After hearing Dr. Kim’s answer, Minju still felt regretful and could not get up for a while.
Dr. Kim did not urge her, but he did his job ignoring her moderately.
‘What did I expect?’ Taking a step without gaining anything, Minju asked herself.
‘What’s the real reason I’m here? Was it an excuse to meet Dr. Kim again?’
It was not easy to overlap Minju who ran all the way here last night and Minju who had no courage to open the door and face Hye-ryeong.
After returning to the car with the prepared medicine, Minju compared her medicine with Hye-ryeong’s medicine. When she confirmed that there was no overlapping drug, she wanted to rest for a bit.
She tilted the back of the driver’s seat and closed her eyes for a while. But suddenly… the passenger door opened.
Surprised, Minju screamed unknowingly.
“Ahh!”
Dr. Kim was sitting next to Minju, who opened her eyes.
“Doctor, what are you doing now?”
“Who are you? Why are you in Seo Hye-ryeong’s car?”
She was surprised to hear that the owner of the car was Seo Hye-ryeong, but Minju looked at him as shamelessly as possible.
“I told you earlier that I’m Hye-ryeong’s friend.”
“Don’t lie. The house address you wrote down is the same as Seo Hye-ryeong’s address. In addition, you came with Seo Hye-ryeong’s car and now you’re investigating her! Tell me who you are. Hurry up!”
Dr. Kim was a little excited.
“Don’t shout.”
Minju calmly spoke in a low voice as if blaming Dr. Kim.
Rather, when her identity was revealed, her expression seemed to be more relaxed as if her heart had been relieved.
“I told you before. There’s really an unavoidable situation.”
“What’s this situation? Why did you come to the hospital room where Seo Hye-ryeong was hospitalized and overturned everything? Don’t deny it. I just checked the CCTV.”
Just then, Minju’s cell phone rang loudly. Minju signaled to Dr. Kim to be quiet and answered the phone. It was Sang-yeon.
“Hello?”
“Where are you? You’re not outside right now, right?”
‘Is where the hell I am so important? Is that the only thing you’re going to ask me? Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?!’
“Of course I’m at home.”
“Did we talk on the phone last night? Your number was on the call list.”
‘Right, there’s only a number and not my name. My contact information is not saved at all.’
“I guess you don’t remember?”
“Oh, I drank a lot.”
“How can you drink so much that you don’t remember? Are you all right?”
“Well, I’m okay. But nothing happened yesterday, right?”
She wanted to ask ‘Sang-yeon-ssi, what were you doing with the girl in the hotel room yesterday? Huh?’
“What do you mean? I just wanted to talk to you, so I called.”
“I’m at the airport right now. I’m taking a flight in the morning.”
“Aren’t you supposed to come back tomorrow?”
“I missed you, so I moved up one day.”
“Oh, okay.”
“What’s going on? You don’t seem happy at all.”
“No way. I’m happy.”
“See you in about 15 hours.”
“Come safely.”
When the call was over, Dr. Kim asked.
“Was this Park Sang-yeon?”
“There seems to be no reason for me to answer your question. Please stop.”
“He always checks where his wife is and forces her to stay at home as much as possible. On days when she is caught going out without her husband knowing, punishment always follows. He often can’t remember what he has done when he drinks beyond control.”
Minju’s ears perked up and reacted to the word ‘punishment’.
“He is an alcoholic with a condition so serious that he cannot play the piano without alcohol. The reason why he quit the piano and turned to conducting is because of hand tremors. When he leaves the house, he completely forgets about his wife at home. He neglects her on the pretext of focusing on work. And finally, he forces his emotions on her. Who do you think I’m describing?”
Dr. Kim disclosed information about Sang-yeon without break.
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”
Her heart sank inside, but Minju clenched her teeth and said firmly.
“You are never Seo Hye-ryeong’s friend. As far as I know, Seo Hye-ryeong doesn’t have any friends.”
Minju’s mentality, which was barely holding out, shook.
“…I see. Seo Hye-ryeong didn’t have any friends. It’s the same for me.”
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For the first time, she found something in common between her and Hye-ryeong.
She could not explain it logically, but she had a strong feeling that maybe Sang-yeon had chosen her for that reason.
“I’ll see you on your next appointment. I have more things to tell you.”
Dr. Kim got out of the car without saying anything more about Minju’s suspicious acts.
The words he left behind completely changed Minju’s target. From Seo Hye-ryeong to Park Sang-yeon…