I stayed in the ward for five months. I was only visited twice the entire time. Once by Mr Kang, the man I presumed to be my father, who stared at me from a distance like I was some parasite, and then never came back.
The second visit was from an old woman with a cane, her fish-like eyes were cold, there wasn't a hint of fondness in her gaze.
"Useless illegitimate child, if that Wench was going to die after all her big talk she should have taken you with her. Instead, she left another barrier for Joon-Ki. Luckily the Dragon Group are willing to overlook this incident and continue with the arranged marriage, so you better live quietly" she tutted through her thin wrinkled lips, then she also left. If I'd had any strength, I would have wagged my fist at her, did this woman realise she was threatening a baby? Pathetic.
After that, no one came for me. My time spent in the hospital was rather dull. I was in an incubator being looked after by nurses. There wasn't much I could do, I was very much helpless. Being a newborn baby was much like being an old man; it was difficult to move my limbs, I was constantly tired and very weak. It felt annoying having to rely on the nurses for every little thing.
One nurse, in particular, took special care of me. She was young and had a plain face, and would always be there by my side, constantly giving me small sad smiles. One time while she held me she whispered, "It's not your fault any of this happened Kang Ho. No matter how badly that wretched family treats you, remember it's not your fault. Soo-Ah would have wanted you to be happy."
Her whisper shocked me, not because of the content or the suggestion that she had known my birth mother, but because of that one name, 'Kang Ho'. Was it a coincidence? No, I didn't believe in coincidences.
Now that I thought about it the villain from 'Overcoming Obstacles' had a similar backstory to my current situation.
In the novel, Kang Ho's mother, Bin Soo-Ah, had been the true love of his father Kang Joon-Ki, a chaebol, heir to one of the biggest corporations across East Asia, 'KangMung'. Soo-Ah and Joon-Ki had been high-school sweethearts, but they were opposites. Soo-Ah was an orphan from a poor no-name background, while Joon-Ki was an heir to KangMung, so there was a lot of resistance towards their union. In the end, they eloped and ran away together, however that's when Soo-Ah became ill. It turned out she was pregnant and her body couldn't handle the child. The Doctor advised Soo-Ah to have an abortion and that any future pregnancies could kill her, but she didn't listen.
Soo-Ah wanted to have Joon-Ki's child and prove that she was worthy to his family, since the Kangmung Group valued family and blood ties. She made a deal with Joon-Ki's mother that if she survived the child-birth she would be able to marry Joon-Ki.
However, things didn't work out as she had planned, she had underestimated how dangerous her pregnancy really was. Despite the extra care and her constant hospital visits, after only four months she collapsed and an emergency surgery took place.
Soo-Ah didn't survive but the baby did.
Joon-Ki had been at a shareholder meeting when he heard the news, it was a dramatic scene in the novel. He left everything and got in his car, but there was traffic so he hopped out and ran for miles to get to the hospital, only to find the love of his life dead on the operating table, and the baby that had killed her living well.
Joon-Ki hated himself for being weak and not fighting against his family. He regretted giving in and not pushing for Soo-Ah to get an abortion, and all the hatred in his heart was projected onto his newborn child Kang Ho.
"Ah" it all made sense considering that look he had given me when he saw me in the incubator. The names also matched. I was Kang Ho, and I had somehow ended up inside the world of the novel "Overcoming Obstacles" that my last victim had written.
I giggled a little and they came out as baby-like squeals. This was interesting. How had I ended up here?
There was a poet I once killed who told me that fiction was simply true stories from other worlds, that gave us a peek into the realms that we couldn't see. That same poet had told me that before we die we get glimpses into the new world that we'll be reborn into, a sign from above. I had thought his words were only nonsense at the time; it had been the 70's, the Poet had been a hippy who had taken all kinds of psychedelic drugs and was short a few brain cells, but maybe he had been onto something. They say 'drunk words are sober thoughts', perhaps he had been right.
The novel 'Overcoming Obstacles' had given me a glimpse into my future and the world I was reborn into.
I didn't like the fact that Kang Ho had been depicted as some third-rate villain in the novel, especially since I was Kang Ho, it hurt my pride. But, oh well, I simply had to do better than the writer. I would show this world a true villain.
In the novel, Kang Ho was very much a victim of circumstance. Being an illegitimate heir he was constantly reminded of how unwanted he was while growing up, the emotional neglect made him a monster. On that point I'm very different from Kang Ho, while I also grew up unfortunately in my previous life, if I was to argue, Nature over Nurture, I'd say nature. I was born a monster.
As a child, I never cried nor showed much empathy, out of curiosity I always dissected things. It began with insects and then it grew to bigger animals. It wasn't the act of killing itself, but more the superiority of the act, it made me feel excited. The sensation of having power over another being was glorious.
My parents had been ordinary farmers, they didn't know what was wrong with me. Eventually, they called a priest to see me. Father Johnson, a fat hypocrite.
Father Johnson told them that a demon had possessed their son. He advised them to give me to God, that being raised as a Priest would purify me. My parents stupidly agreed and sold me off to the Church and that's how I was abandoned in my previous life as Daniel Slade.
Of course, the priest didn't have good intentions. He was just a man taking advantage of mentally ill children and gullible parents, he was a child predator, and I was one of his many victims.
He taught me many things and in turn when I grew older I also taught him many things. When Father Johnson went missing the Nuns never knew they had been eating him for months in the lunches I packed for them.
The very memory made me laugh.
The plain-looking nurse was surprised by the baby in her arms suddenly chuckling, she smiled and tickled my nose, "You're so giggly today Kang Ho, how cute."