Good Night, Brother! - Chapter 9.10

Eun Hyun’s voice wavered like a bleating lamb, filled with disbelief. Unable to stand, he leaned against a wall, his breaths growing shallow.

“Maybe it’s a misdiagnosis? We should get a second opinion at another hospital. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do with something like this?”

“The hospital he went to is one of the best in Daejeon.”

“Still… We should double-check. Let’s go somewhere else.”

“He’s refusing. He doesn’t want treatment, Eun Hyun.”

“What? Why not? Why would he say that?”

“I don’t know, son… I don’t know…”

Her composure finally shattered, and she began to sob openly. Eun Hyun stood motionless, gripping his phone as he listened to his mother’s anguish.

What were they supposed to do now?

Eun Hyun could vividly imagine his father lying in bed. When his paternal grandmother had passed away, his father had spent a long time just lying there after the funeral.

“Tomorrow’s the day we get the biopsy results… Can you come down and try to talk some sense into your father?”

“Tomorrow?”

Tomorrow was Thursday. Detecting hesitation in Eun Hyun’s tone, his mother assumed it was due to work and asked again.

“Is it hard to take time off from work?”

“No, no, that’s not it… I’m just wondering if Dad would even want to see me.”

Eun Hyun worried that seeing him might only add to his father’s stress.

“…Eun Hyun, when parents are sick, there’s no one they want to see more than their children. Your dad misses you both terribly, but he’s too stubborn to say it. Why did you have to get on his nerves like that last time?”

“…Can I come with Yi Hyeon?”

“Of course. You two need to convince him to go to the hospital, even if it means dragging him there. I can’t do it anymore.”

His mother, Lee Ji Min, sighed in a weary tone.

The next morning, Eun Hyun and Yi Hyeon hurried to Daejeon.

When they arrived, their father was lying on the master bedroom bed, just as their mother had described, his back turned to the door. Even though his sons had arrived, he didn’t stir. Dressed in nothing but a tank top and boxers, he looked smaller and frailer than ever. As a child, Eun Hyun had always thought his father was towering. When had his back become so small?

Standing at the doorway, their mother watched as the brothers approached their father. Eun Hyun sat on the edge of the bed, placing a hand on his father’s shoulder and shaking him gently.

“Dad, we’re here.”

“Dad, we’ve come to see you.”

“…Oh, okay,” came the mumbled reply.

“Won’t you look at us?”

Only then did their father slowly turn his head to look at them. His face was gaunt, a testament to the emotional toll he had endured, and it made Eun Hyun’s heart sink. Fighting back his emotions, he spoke softly.

“Dad, come with us to the hospital, okay?”

“I said I’m not going, so stop nagging me…”

Their father turned his head away again, staring at the wall. Eun Hyun found himself thinking his father was being a bit childish, and sharp words were on the tip of his tongue. But instead, he used the charm he’d honed in the workplace to coax him.

“Then, Dad, how about we at least have a chat? It’s been a while since we’ve talked.”

“What would I even talk about with you two?”

“Dad, if you say that, you’ll make us feel really hurt.”

Yi Hyeon chimed in, trying to help. Eun Hyun, summoning all the affection he could muster, spoke again.

“Yeah, Dad. We came all this way to see you. Isn’t it a bit much to treat us like this?”

Still, their father remained silent, lying with his back to them.

Eun Hyun’s eyes wavered. His father had always been sensitive to others’ emotions, but now, even their pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears. Illness, it seemed, could change a person so drastically.

After a moment’s hesitation, Eun Hyun reached into his pocket and pulled out the ultrasound photo he had taken last week. He hesitated again, wondering whether to show it, but once he’d taken it out, he couldn’t back down.

“Dad, take a look at this, okay?”

“What is it?”

“It’s an ultrasound picture of the baby in my belly.”

“…”

Eun Hyun spoke nervously, remembering the time his father had angrily thrown a tissue box at him. But to his surprise, his father turned over without protest, took the photo, and adjusted his glasses. Peering at it closely, he scrutinized the image before muttering,

“…Looks pretty cute.”

It was the same thing Yi Hyeon had said.

“Does Yi Hyeon take after Dad’s personality…?”

Eun Hyun frowned slightly, feeling conflicted. His father, unable to take his eyes off the photo, studied it as if tracing the baby’s form. Then, breaking his silence, he spoke.

“…Do as you like.”

Startled by the unexpected permission, both Eun Hyun and Yi Hyeon looked at their father with wide eyes.

“If it makes you happy… If you’re happy, then what right do parents have to say otherwise?”

“Dad…”

“I’ve thought about it a lot. When a person is born, they should live as they please. Now that I’m at the end, I regret not living the way I wanted.”

“Dad, don’t say things like that.”

“Yeah, why are you talking as if you’re about to die?”

Their mother, who had been leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed, finally couldn’t hold back and interjected.

“Oh, come on! What exactly did you want to do with your life that you didn’t?”

Looking at the ceiling as if reminiscing, their father replied dreamily,

“I always wanted to be a ship captain. Didn’t I tell you that?”

“…”

Lee Ji Min had heard it before. Back when they were a young couple in university, they’d talked about their dreams. After graduation, they’d both found jobs, saved up, and gotten married. Even after marriage, her husband would sometimes admire people on TV who worked at sea, saying how cool they were. She’d thought it was just his romantic nature.

“With a white hat and a pipe in my mouth…”

A pipe? Seriously? His wife’s eyebrows shot up at the absurdity of it all.

“Dear.”

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