The Vice-Chairman I Accidentally Found - Chapter 9

“The Chairman is scheduled to be away for two days, today and tomorrow, due to a health checkup reservation.”

A health checkup? He didn’t remember receiving any notification about that.

Ha Joon was worried that perhaps there was a problem with his health.

“Yes, I understand.”

Narrowing his brows, Ha Joon, who was turning on his heel, hurriedly called Ji Hoon.

[Hey, Ha Joon.]

“Did you know the Chairman was hospitalized?”

[……]

A moment of silence passed on the other end of the line, and he was not the one who couldn’t understand what it meant.

“You knew? Why am I the only one who doesn’t know about this?”

His voice was markedly icy as he spat the words.

[It’s not because he’s ill, he’s just getting a health checkup.]

“He should have still told me.”

[He probably didn’t contact you on purpose because he knows you detest hospitals.]

Because you, who shiver at the mere mention of hospitals due to childhood memories.

“So, how’s the Chairman doing?”

[It’s just a checkup, right? Just a checkup, nothing to worry about.]

Ji Hoon added words quickly, trying to change the topic as if it was no big deal.

[That aside. Are you still calling the Chairman as ‘Chairman’?]

“……”

[It’s been 20 years already. Isn’t it time to start calling him ‘father’?]

“……I’ll decide that on my own. Hang up.”

Unable to find a retort, Ha Joon quickly ended the call.

“Secretary Park, I’ll be stepping out for a moment.”

Ha Joon, who returned to the vice president’s office, finished preparing for his outing.

“I’ll prepare the car.”

“You don’t need to come, Secretary Park, as this is a personal matter.”

Ha Joon told his waiting driver on the first floor that it was a personal matter and climbed into the driver’s seat alone.

“The class can be conducted here. Is it okay if we place the table over here?”

“Yes, that’s fine. Thank you.”

The playroom of the pediatric ward where the art class would take place.

She received various things needed for the class, such as the location, desk placement, and the list of children participating in the class, through the nurse.

“You can leave your materials bag here. If you need more space, should we prepare a larger place for you?”

The nurse pointed to the builtin cabinet on the wall behind the playroom’s back door.

“No, this should be enough. Thank you for your consideration.”

“We should be the ones thanking you. You don’t know how much the children are looking forward to this. Please take good care of our children.”

“Yes, I will. I look forward to it as well. See you then.”

Su Ah, who had said her greetings, left the playroom.

“Haah……”

He had parked in the hospital parking lot a while ago, but Ha Joon could not bring himself to get out of the car.

He had rushed over upon hearing the news of Hyun Sung’s hospitalization, but he couldn’t muster the courage to face the hospital.

“I should go in……”

Despite his words, his trembling thin hand didn’t seem to want to let go of the steering wheel.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay.”

Just as Ha Joon was murmuring the same words like a chant, his head buried in the steering wheel.

Knock knock. Someone was knocking on the driver’s side window.

Startled, Ha Joon quickly raised his head from the steering wheel.

“What are you doing here?”

It was Ji Hoon.

He had anticipated that Ha Joon would come to the hospital and that he would not be able to enter on his own.

I knew this would happen, that’s why I didn’t say anything. But to come here… Oh, my.

With a small sigh, Ji Hoon opened the driver’s side door.

Knowing that Ha Joon wouldn’t listen even if told to go back, he planned to greet him and send him back quickly.

Through the open door, Ha Joon reluctantly stretched out his foot.

“I got here a little while ago.”

A little while ago? More like a long time ago.

It was a given that when Ha Joon answered a question he hadn’t asked, you should think of the opposite.

Having spent 20 years together, he had already figured that much out.

The two quickly arrived at the hospital entrance, and from the moment they entered the lobby, Ha Joon’s fear was growing.

He wished he could walk as if nothing was wrong, but his forward steps kept wavering.

“Are you okay? I’ll tell your uncle that you came, so why don’t you just go back?”

Ji Hoon, who had been walking ahead, approached Ha Joon, who had stopped in his tracks, and spoke.

“No, I’m fine. I can go in.”

He looked like he was about to collapse at any moment, yet he said he was okay. What a stubborn guy.

Just when he was about to take another heavy step.

An ambulance arrived at the front of the hospital with a noisy sound, as if there had been an accident somewhere.

“Please step aside!”

The patients covered in blood and the hurried steps of the medical staff poured into the hospital lobby all at once.

“Honey! Pull yourself together! Honey!”

The piercing cries of the people chasing behind them tore at his eardrums.

He was right in the center of an unbearable chaos.

“Ugh!”

With the sudden horrific pain squeezing his chest, Ha Joon clutched his chest and stumbled.

“Ha Joon!”

Ji Hoon, who had been observing the situation in the lobby, turned his gaze toward Ha Joon.

“Are you really okay? Maybe it would be best to leave now.”

He grabbed Ha Joon’s swaying shoulder and sat him down in a chair.

“Just a bit. I’ll be okay in a bit.”

Ha Joon hid his pain, gritting his teeth and shaking his head with his eyes tightly shut.

It was a sight he didn’t want anyone to see.

From a young age, showing weakness and relying on others were impossible things for him.

He just had to swallow it all and endure the pain alone.

He needed time to escape the hospital alone.

“I need… water.”

A trembling voice slipped between his laboriously parted lips.

“Water? Okay. Just wait here. I’ll quickly buy some.”

Ji Hoon’s urgency was felt in his steps towards the concession stand.

“Ha… I’m okay. I’m okay.”

Ha Joon, who had been watching Ji Hoon’s retreating figure, tried to move with difficulty.

Was it because of the shock? Suddenly, his vision blurred, and the shapes of everything coming into view began to distort.

‘I can’t… I can’t find the exit……’

Fear of possibly not being able to escape from this place drained the color from Ha Joon’s face.

The hope he was desperately clinging to was sinking into the dark despair where he couldn’t see an inch ahead.

Ha Joon, with outstretched fingertips, leaned on the wall and moved forward aimlessly.

It didn’t matter where he was going, as long as it was a place without Ji Hoon.

How long had he been walking mindlessly?

Before he knew it, the noisy sound that was tearing his eardrums was gone.

“Ha… ha…”

Without even a moment to check where he had stopped, Ha Joon’s body slumped down against the wall.

He wrapped his arms around his knees, and buried his head between them.

“It’s okay. It’ll be okay. It’ll be okay.”

Just when those desperate words of selfcomfort leaked out with his trembling breaths.

“Excuse me! Are you okay? Excuse me!”

He heard a somewhat familiar woman’s voice calling him.