Park Ho-yeon’s voice seemed a bit tired.

Not simply physically exhausted from overwork, but mentally relaxed, the atmosphere unique to such people was contained in their voices.

But the answer was still lacking.

Kang Tae-han paused for a moment and then opened his mouth.

“What is a mother’s last wish?”

[…] My father has been going back and forth about ten years ago. It’s a symptom called dementia. The symptoms got worse and worse, but since last year, he didn’t say anything and couldn’t move his body well.]

Park Ho-yeon was speaking in the calmest voice possible.

[Then, my mother’s condition suddenly became dangerous, too. To be honest, it’s hard to say for sure when it will happen. By the way… It would be nice if I could talk with my father at least once, something that I will keep thinking about when I said the other day.]

When my mother’s condition improved a bit, it was Park Ho-yeon who asked if there was anything she wanted to do.

At that time, his mother said that she wanted to talk with her father like before.

At the time, I passed it by saying, ‘I hope that’s the case too,’ but… As his mother’s condition worsened, the words of that time continued to linger in his mind.

However, that was something I couldn’t do on my own.

No, it was something that no one else could have accomplished. It is impossible to artificially restore the mind of a person with dementia. That was common sense, and it was reality.

However.

[That’s why I’m trying to ask you at least once with the feeling of trying to catch a straw.]

Park Ho-yeon has vivid memories of that day.

The memory of the moment Kang Tae-han regained consciousness of his friend, Shin Jun-ho, who was lying on the bed unconscious.

If so, just in case, if at all.

Wouldn’t it be possible to restore his father’s spirit to its original state, even for a moment? Park Ho-yeon had called Kang Tae-han with that thread of expectation.

“… All right.”

Kang Tae-han, who had been silently listening to him until then, nodded slowly and spoke in a calm voice.

“As soon as today’s schedule is over, I’ll go to the director’s hospital.”

[…] Thank you very much.]

“I’m just going down to Daejeon a day early, well.”

Kang Tae-han said that and hung up the phone.

* * *

“Then let’s go first.”

“You worked hard today too, Mr. Taehan.”

“And the manager too.”

After finishing the last guest who had a reservation, Kang Tae-han left for Daejeon.

It took about 8:30 to arrive at the destination after driving the car on the highway. When I parked my car in the parking lot and entered the hospital, I ran into Park Ho-yeon, who was standing in the lobby.

“Thank you so much for coming.”

“It was nothing. Rather, if the hospital director is standing in the lobby like this, aren’t the staff having a hard time?”

When Kang Tae-han looked around and said that in a light voice, Park Ho-yeon laughed and shrugged.

“If the patient’s family is having a hard time standing in the lobby of the inpatient ward, it must be that the staff training is wrong. Isn’t it?”

“That is not wrong.”

“and… Wouldn’t it be a little quicker if I personally came down and guided them? My heart is a little impatient.”

Saying that, Park Ho-yeon sent a signal to move to his seat with his hand, and started walking ahead.

When he got on the elevator that was on the first floor, Park Ho-yeon pressed the button for the seventh floor, the highest. Eventually, after walking along a quiet corridor lined with patient rooms on both sides, Park Ho-yeon stopped in front of a hospital room.

“This is where my mother is.”

Then he opened the door and pointed inside.

“Then excuse me for a moment.”

Kang Tae-han bowed his head and entered the hospital room.

The first thing he felt was the energy inside the hospital room.

‘… I guess you’ve already reached the limit.’

Each person has their own energy, and that energy has various characteristics. To the point where you can guess who it is just by feeling the energy.

However… The energy emitted by a dying person has a similar feeling. A dry, desolate, characteristic gray aura. And this hospital room was filled with such energy.

Sure enough, no vitality was felt in the body of the old woman lying on the bed. I could only feel the vitality needed to sustain life.

“You were very weak in the first place… This time you got pneumonia and your condition got worse.”

At Park Ho-yeon’s words, Kang Tae-han nodded slowly. Then, with slow steps, he approached the old man’s side.

“just… … .”

“It’s fine.”

The caregiver sitting nearby hesitated on what to do, then slowly stepped back from her seat as Park Ho-yeon nodded.

‘Hmm.’

Standing next to Nobu, Kang Tae-han immediately put his hand on the nape of her neck to check her condition. After a while, a bitter look passed over his face.

‘I can’t help this.’

Humans have a lifespan.

It is not that the day of death is fixed like fate, but the amount of energy that is born with when you come into the world is limited.

The concept of so-called congenital Qi (先天眞气).

In general, it is stored in the form of energy in the Myeongmun (命門) blood, although it is possible to slow down the rate of consumption according to the management of internal energy, it is impossible to replenish or reverse it again.

In that sense, this old lady… The amount of Seoncheonjingi was already showing the bottom. To be honest, lifespan has already reached its limit, and it was no different than surviving with the power of modern medicine.

‘I can breathe life into it, but… … .’

Even so, it doesn’t mean much. This is because the blood vessel itself is already weakened or the middle is cut off, so it cannot be properly circulated even if it is revitalized.

If you have to use an analogy, a jar that is already broken.

Even if water is poured, only droplets form on the broken jar pieces, and it is impossible to collect water there and collect it.

“What do you think? My mother’s condition.”

Kang Tae-han didn’t say anything. I just gently shook my head. He blew helpful vitality into the Jujube Point and slowly withdrew his hand.

“… Right.”

At Kang Tae-han’s answer, Ho-yeon Park nodded slowly.

Park Ho-yeon is a doctor. He was well aware of his mother’s condition. Even if you endure for a long time, maybe four or three days… No, it’s a situation where you can’t even guarantee tomorrow.

Still, I was just holding out hope.

“What… It was my father’s side rather than my mother’s that I wanted to ask you for.”

Returning the father’s spirit so that he can say his final goodbyes. Since that was the main purpose, it cannot be said that it has failed yet.

But even so, it was unavoidable that his face was colored with a somewhat sad expression.

* * *

“Originally, my father was also in the 7th floor hospital room.”

Heading back down the corridor toward the elevator, Park Ho-yeon spoke in a low voice. Kang Tae-han was walking behind him without saying a word.

“The mind is a problem, but my father’s health condition wasn’t that good either. You had to get as much rest as possible. Of course, he didn’t even have the mind to move his body. By the way… … .”

He paused for a moment with a subtle expression on his face, then spoke again.

“Since my mother is hospitalized in the hospital room next door, she visits me every day. Originally, he dragged his motionless body and stood there without saying a word until the caregiver took him back.”

“Has your condition improved?”

“That’s not right. Both mind and body were the same. just… It was a crowd. That’s how you came to visit your mother every day.”

Originally, the relationship between the two was not bad. Park Ho-yeon added that and smiled sadly.

Was it because she was worried about her mother? As a son, I wanted to respect my father’s will, but as a doctor, I couldn’t. So he decided to move his father’s hospital room.

“That’s why my father’s hospital room is on the fifth floor.”

Saying that, Park Ho-yeon pressed the elevator’s 5th floor button. After a while, the two arrived in front of the hospital room where Park Ho-yeon’s father, Park Jae-seong, was.

“I’m here, Father.”

When Park Ho-yeon opened the door and greeted him, the old man sitting on the bed turned his head this way. But that’s all. Other than that, there was no response.

“… Since I moved the hospital room, I’ve been living in this state all the time except when I’m sleeping. Still, sometimes… … .”

Park Ho-yeon, who continued to speak, had a distorted expression in an instant.

He remembers the proud look of his father.

A father who was more sincere and wiser than anyone else. He watched right beside him as his father started a small shop and built a business with his own hands.

When you listened to it in your old age after prospering your business like that, you left only as much assets as you needed, returned most of them to society, and then retired with applause.

He was such a wonderful father that I couldn’t help but respect deeply, not only as a son, but also as a member of society.

To think that the last years of my father, who had lived such a wonderful life, were so shabby. Seeing that neither his wife nor his son recognized him, he was heartbroken.

He was well aware that dementia was something he could not choose and could not prevent, but he couldn’t help but feel bittersweet at the savagery of the world.

“… I’m sorry. I’m a bit emotional.”

Park Ho-yeon, who had been silent for a moment, apologized to Kang Tae-han. Meanwhile, Kang Tae-han shook his head at his words and slowly approached the bed and Park Jae-seong, who was sitting there.

‘The energy here isn’t that good, but… … .’

The characteristic gray aura felt in a dying person.

This place was also filled with that desolate energy. However, Kang Tae-han could clearly feel the small but clear energy felt inside.

“Ah, be careful. When someone touches the father… … .”

You can hate it. He usually stays still, but if someone touches him, he can suddenly take offense.

However, Park Ho-yeon was unable to conclude the words he was trying to say and blurted out his words in the middle. When Kang Tae-han put his hand to the nape of his neck, it looked as if his father slightly lowered his head and showed the nape of his neck. As if you were waiting.

Has it been that long?

“I think I can.”

“… what, what?”

Kang Tae-han said in a very calm voice.

That kind of voice that says it’s possible just because it’s possible. Park Ho-yeon wondered if he had heard it wrong, so he asked without realizing it.

“I can’t give you a definitive answer, and it will take some time, but… I think I can do the director’s request.”

Park Jae-sung’s physical condition was not good. This side, too, had reached the end of its lifespan, and its body and blood vessels were in a state where there were almost no healthy places. If only there was a difference… … .

‘I was leaving the last bit of vigor.’

The small stamina remaining in his lower leg was shining like a small candle, but clearly.

Is there a mission yet to be fulfilled, or is there any promise left? Either way, a certain strong will was defending this energy while breaking even the person’s instincts.

“… Is it really?”

“Yes, it is not impossible.”

At those words, Park Ho-yeon was speechless for a moment.

Suddenly, too many emotions came to mind. In the meantime, his smartphone, which he had put in his pocket, rang.

“… hello?”

[Director, I think it would be better to come to room 713. The patient’s condition is not getting better… … .]

It’s a call from a nurse in charge of my mother.

If you are in a situation where medical treatment is needed, you will not go to the doctor and go to the director. That doesn’t mean looking for the director… It meant looking for the patient’s family. Because of an unexpected death.

“… All right, I’ll be there soon.”

Park Ho-yeon left those words and put his smartphone in. He looked at Kang Tae-han with a puzzled expression.

“You go up first.”

Because the room was so quiet, Kang Tae-han could hear the conversation. When Kang Tae-han pointed upward and said, Park Ho-yeon silently nodded and left the room.

“Okay, then… … .”

There are only two people left in the room.

Kang Tae-han made the old man sit upright, then went behind him and placed his right palm on top of the Myeongmun-hyeol.

It is unknown what the energy remaining in this old man was reserved for. Because it wasn’t something I could talk about.

But there were clues.

The story of how he went to his wife’s hospital room every day while not feeling well physically or mentally. It must have contained the old man’s wishes, thought Kang Tae-han.

“Let’s do a retrospective together, old man.”

Glow counterbalance. Just as a candle burns up splendidly at the end, the phenomenon of reviving firearms and energy at the last moment.

Originally, it wasn’t a phenomenon that could be caused by someone’s intention or help, but… If the subject had a sufficient level of vigor and willpower, the story would have been different.