Payback: Reversal

29 - The End Is Not The Answer

Walking through the hospital corridor, Yoohan wanted to chuckle at how familiar it felt even after five years.

The last time he was here, it was when his mother died. She was in a regular ward at that time, as if she wasn't a former wife of the—then—Chairman of HS Group. As if she wasn't the mother of the Group's heir.

The first wife had a cold once and demanded a VIP room. But apparently, a dying comatose ex-wife did not qualify for the same treatment.

Yoohan, however much he seethed at this, couldn't do anything while having his broken leg mended. He couldn't tap into his resources because his asset was being confiscated, and he couldn't tap into his hidden one without alarming the family.

But that might as well. He would hate to think his mother got a care from the group's money. He redirected the hospital bill to his own account, so that her mother didn't have to feel like she owed HS or the Chairman anything when she woke up.

Although she never did wake up.

For three months Yoohan walked back and forth from his VIP ward to her mother's room while getting his rehabilitation. He almost turned toward her ward now, like a habit. It was good that a sturdy hand pulled him in the right direction.

"You sure I shouldn't come inside?" Jay asked as they rode the elevator to the VIP ward.

Yoohan chuckled at the displeasure expression on the man's face. "What—do you think he would suddenly move and attack me?" he glance at the man who was no longer his bodyguard, but still acting like one. "Even if that's the case, you think I'll get done in by a man with a stroke?"

Jay looked at the younger man, whose black eyes darkened in the same way they always did when Yoohan talked about revenge. It felt like they were done, but a show always needed a finale, so Yoohan hadn't put off that flame of retribution inside of him.

He smirked as he replied. "I just want to see the show."

Yoohan scoffed, and the elevator opened. The nurse in charge of the VIP ward knew Yoohan enough to let him just waltz through unrecorded. Or it was probably a couple of million wons inside the basket of refreshments he received.

The same amount landed on the hand of the bodyguards stationed outside of the Chairman's—no, the old man's—room; the VIP room that Yoohan used five years ago. It was enough for them to suddenly have a craving for a smoking break, which they took together with Jay.

Alone in the hall, Yoohan stared at the familiar door before closing his eyes. He took a deep breath, and when he opened his eyes, they were dark and without light. Without hesitation, he opened the door and entered the room.

It was a suite room, so he was greeted with the seating area. On normal occasions, there would be a lot of people there; the children and the wife who would suck up for more position and inheritance, the secretaries and directors who would relay the condition of the company, the nurses who were dedicated to taking care of a single patient...

But there was none of them today. The seating room was empty—perhaps had never been occupied at all. Yoohan walked straight to the bedroom, and found a pair of widened eyes staring at him.

From the wild movement of those eyes, Yoohan knew the old man was yelling. Or he wanted to. The trembling mouth opened and closed repeatedly, but there was no sound coming out. The left side of the old man's body flailed and jerked, but it failed to make any movement in the young man's eyes.

Yoohan stopped at the foot of the bed, staring at the shaking eyes of the half-paralyzed patient. The stress and anger had spiked the old man's blood pressure so much that he ended up getting a stroke. Yoohan had this thought that perhaps he would feel some sort of pity when he saw his father in a helpless condition, but...