His mind plays the following imagery… A middle-aged woman applies red lipstick which smears out of her lip line and she shakes him violently. A screech fills the room, "Tell me that I look pretty!".
Han Gyeol's condition worsens as he feels a throbbing headache. As time passes, he continues to be surrounded by lightheadedness. Enclosed in a capsule of darkness, Han Gyeol loses consciousness. The only words he could hear were a faint sentence, "Han Gyeol! Are you okay? Wake up! Oh God… oh my God".
A few hours later, he regains consciousness and finds himself in a hospital gown.
[Where am I?]
His eyes dart around, noticing an IV drip on his hand. The smell of iodine diffuses into his nostrils. He notices a familiar figure sat on a chair.
[Please God, protect my son. I beg you!]
"Dad?" A weak mumble escapes his lips
Groaning slightly, he tries to get up. Only to be succumbed by the headache. His father notices that he regained consciousness and rushes to sit next to him.
"Han… how did this happen?", His father's voice cracks, brows knitting together.
"It's not that bad Dad, it's alright-".
"What do you mean all right peppy, you passed out!" His moistened eyes narrow, his jaw clenching.
Woo Bin wonders, "Have I not been a good father… I should've paid more attention."
He exhales while rubbing his forehead, "How did this happen? Please be honest"
"I'm worried for you. Who else do we have except for each other?".
Han Gyeol's eyes well up and gazes towards his hands. He feels as if his words are stuck in his throat as an object in the quicksand.
"I was reminded of Mom again… I thought I had moved past it already but now I'm back to square one." He shuts his eyes tightly
"I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry that I couldn't take you out of that earlier. Had I taken care of that case sooner, I would have been able to protect you" his father takes his hand. His thumb instinctively rubbing tenderly.
"Dad, please don't say that again! You are the best father I could ever have!" His hand holds onto his father's hand. As if it's his lifeline.
"It's as if you're here with me as a result of my generosity in the past." His eyes glinting with tears ready to fall.
[Even though I'm deeply flawed. You've loved me regardless, Dad.]
Witnessing this moment, his father pulls him in a long embrace as they both sob their sorrows away.
As they pull away slightly, Woo Bin is reminded of something.
"Ah right. Tae Mi stayed here for a while and sent some tangerines for you. She couldn't stay longer due to some issues."
He glances over the basket with tangerines and thinks, "Maybe I was overthinking… I feel a bit bad for thinking like she didn't care."
Little did he know that she had left him in the hospital to visit a party with her friends. Was it all a game for her?
Two young women surrounded her, holding wine glasses.
"Hey, Tae mi. Didn't you go to see your boyfriend"
Tae mi swirls the rich, red wine in her hand with a slow motion. Her eyes follow the other woman, "I've already sent him a gift. Isn't that enought?
The second women places her glass on the table, "Tae mi, darling. What other gift could he have than you visiting him."
"Mhm. Right...maybe I should" She rolls her eyes. Her frown replaces with a wry smile.
"I'm sure he'd love it."
Sometimes lovely deceptions agonize you more than the harsh truth. Devouring you like a slow poison, you only realize when the damage has been done.
[The next day at Zephyr & CO.]
Jennifer is seated at her desk going through her task checklist with a resting face. Her murderous gaze looks as if she's thinking about committing several war crimes and atrocities. Despite the look of it, the back of her mind continues to play the "chipi cat meme".
"Hmm… so the marketing team it is." She nods slightly, pressing her lips.
She checks the contents of her USB to avoid any mishaps. This takes her back to the memory of when a person accidentally opened an inappropriate file due to the mix-up of the office and home USB.
[Lord, what a great moment to remember.]
She could feel her soul cringe out of her body.
[Now, we're all set. No space for mistakes.]
Entering the marketing team, she greets her comrades who have been worn out due to monstrous stress.
"Is everyone present here today?" Her gaze flickers around like a 4-dimension radar.
Ms. Nam fiddles with her pen, "Our new intern is on leave for today."
"Why so? Is everything all right?" Her brow tugs up.
[He looked okay yesterday. What could've happened?]
"He ended up passing out due to stress and was admitted to a hospital yesterday…" she rubs the back of her head.
[I hope he is all right.]
Listening to her words, Jennifer's expression changes to concern and she nods.
"We cannot delay this meeting further, but it's an important one… wait a minute I've got an idea!".
[This should work.]
She pulls out her phone, "Can anyone record while I follow up with the presentation?"
One of her co-workers takes the phone. She makes sure that the record button is pressed and everything on the screen is visible.
"All right everyone, let's get started." She exhales deeply.
Reading through the contents, she explains it to them thoroughly.
"As you all know, if we desire greater sales… we need to focus on the inclusivity."
She purposely puts more emphasis on the word "focus" to awaken all the sleepyheads who had been scrolling through social media past 1 am.
They listen to her intently and nod in agreement.
"Thankfully, there has been an abundance of the need to be inclusive amongst the youth recently so it would be great if we can contribute to it."
"Does anyone have any questions?"
A coworker says, "What if we use the same inclusivity in our advertisements?"
[If we add inclusivity then we may be able to reach more audiences.]
"That's an innovative idea. I was just wondering about it." She nods in acknowledgement.
"We can use sign language also known as ASL along with subtitles and a voiceover. It will help normalize differences and that's what makes us stand out from the others."
Ms. Nam raises her hand and says, "What if we end up getting in trouble if they find it offensive?"
Smiling confidently, she says, "Rest assured. We'll make sure that it's well researched and opinionated by the users of ASL so there's no room for offense.".
She continues with the meeting and exchange of ideas as she moves on to the next slide. She sneakily slid a Rick roll clip into it waiting for anyone to notice.
[Heh. I bet y'all didn't expect it, huh.]
Noticing a few co-workers' smiles, she feels utter satisfaction in catching them off guard.
"Mission successful + respect." She thinks.
As the meeting comes to an end, she ends the recording and collects Han Gyeol's contact information.
In the Choi household, Han Gyeol continues to rest on the bed peacefully.
[It feels creepily calm today. I wonder if-]
This moment of serenity is interrupted by a beep on his phone.
The text says, "Hello, I'm Jennifer Lee from the O/I psych. Department."
The following moment creates the same feeling as when you are doing your business and you're interrupted by your parents thinking that you are doing witchcraft in the restroom.