Chapter 37 : Child’s Heart (2)

Whoooosh.

Rain pours endlessly outside the window.

Just like my heart.

Ahn, the lawyer sitting in the taxi’s passenger seat, also has a cloud of gloom hanging over his face.

We looked out the window silently, each lost in our own thoughts.

“We’ve arrived.”

“Thank you.”

Lawyer Ahn paid the taxi driver and got out of the car first.

I opened my umbrella and silently followed him.

“You’re here.”

“Yes, Producer. How have you been?”

“I’ve been well. It’s just that the people who should be here might not be.”

I followed the direction the producer pointed.

There was a screen with many people’s names written on it.

Among them, a name I didn’t want to encounter here was displayed.

“I came for the filming, but my heart is heavy.”

“Please capture that feeling well. Our Haeum was a truly beautiful child.”

I’ve agonized a lot about this.

The thought of whether it was right to put this on air filled me up to my throat.

At those times, I thought of Haeum.

I asked myself again and again what that kind child would have wished for.

Each time, there was only one answer.

‘Grandpa! Please save our grandpa!’

Yes, Haeum. This time, I will definitely save you.

So please watch over us from heaven.

Swallowing my tears, I informed the production team of ‘The Day of Curiosity’ about Haeum’s passing.

“Oh-hooo-hooo.”

The sound of sorrowful weeping grew closer. I couldn’t bring myself to enter the funeral hall and stopped.

“Haeum-ahhhhh!”

“Father…”

“I am a sinner. I am a wretch who killed his own child.”

“Hoo-hoo.”

“The one who should die is living right here, so how can it be that our baby goes first?!”

Lee Chil-hong beat his chest, blaming himself.

Beside him, Haeum’s mother was sobbing silently.

“I’m truly sorry to you two as well. So never forgive me!”

After finishing his words, Lee Chil-hong bowed to apologize to his son and daughter-in-law.

At that, his son, Lee Kang-ho, was horrified and, along with his wife, pulled Lee Chil-hong away.

“Father, please don’t do this. This is absolutely not your fault.”

“Mother’s right, Father. You’ve taken care of your two grandchildren day and night without any compensation. How can that be a sin?”

“No, it’s not! I am a sinner who devoured my grandchild. So I’ll follow Haeum. Haeum-ah!”

“Oh-hooo-hooo. Father, please…”

“Father, if you keep doing this, let’s just all die together. That would be better.”

“Why are Mother and Father doing this…”

Ultimately, the three family members embraced each other and collapsed on the floor.

Next to the camera director capturing the scene, the producer also swallowed a gulp and turned his head.

“It may be heartbreaking, but please capture it well. That was our Haeum’s last wish.”

I took out Haeum’s diary.

And I showed the child’s last diary to the producer.

“You see? Haeum is a child with such a beautiful heart.”

“Indeed. An angel has returned to where she belonged.”

“…Yes. There, our Haeum… will happily wait for her family for a long, long time.”

The angelic child had embarked on a long journey.

I had kept the diary beforehand on behalf of the grieving family.

“Lawyer, let’s offer our condolences now too.”

“Yes, let’s go.”

Entering the funeral hall, we lit incense for Haeum, who was smiling brightly in her portrait, and mourned.

And we offered words of comfort to Lee Chil-hong and his son and daughter-in-law, who were still unable to control themselves, and handed them the diary.

Ka.

Da.

“I should have returned it sooner, but I was so preoccupied that I’m only giving it to you now.”

I had kept it until today.

They wouldn’t have been able to bring it from home to here.

But what they needed now was Haeum’s last farewell.

The feelings densely imbued in each page of the diary.

That’s why I had retrieved the diary with Lawyer Ahn on the day we went to meet Mr. Lee Chil-hong at the hospital.

With the reason that I wanted to show it to Mr. Lee Chil-hong whenever he felt emotional during the prosecutor’s investigation later.

Sure enough.

The couple bowed deeply, shedding tears.

“…Thank you. Thank you so much.”

“My husband is right. If we didn’t have even this right now, we would have found it really hard to bear.”

They caressed the diary with trembling hands.

As if it were Haeum.

Unable to watch them any longer, Lawyer Ahn and I left.

Only the lit camera continued to capture the scene for a long time.

One hot summer day.

I headed to a small conference room in the company with Lawyer Ahn Gyeong-hun.

I was a little nervous knowing which client was coming today.

It had been almost a month since I last saw them at the funeral.

In fact, I could roughly guess the reason for their visit.

It was because of the disposition result notice from the prosecution that I received by registered mail yesterday.

Since I had delivered it to Lawyer Ahn, I knew its contents well.

Documents from the court and prosecution are initially handled by the secretary before being delivered, so there was no way I wouldn’t know.

It was also me who personally delivered the disposition results to Lee Kang-ho and his wife.

They called and said they absolutely wanted to meet in person to receive the notice.

Lawyer Ahn said it would be possible late this afternoon since he had no trials, and they said they would meet him then without delay.

“That’s a real relief.”

“Yes. The power of broadcasting was really immense.”

“Indeed. Again, the material you, Yoo-hee, created and sent was used almost as is.”

“Perhaps the production team felt the same way as I did?”

“Rather than that…”

Lawyer Ahn Gyeong-hun suddenly stopped walking and seriously pushed up his glasses.

“You mustn’t waver.”

“Pardon?”

“What on earth are you talking about?”

I was puzzled by the sudden comment, but he spoke with emphasis in his voice.

“No matter what those TV station people say, you absolutely must not change your dream, Yoohee.”

“Oh, that.”

Of course.

The rumor that being a slave to a broadcasting station is true slavery is widespread even here.

Especially for the youngest writer…

‘Ugh, I don’t even want to think about it.’

I shivered and answered firmly.

“Lawyer, as I told you last time, I only have one dream. It will never change, so don’t worry.”

“Hearing that puts my mind at ease. Then, shall we go?”

“Yes.”

I understood why Lawyer Ahn had suddenly said that.

It was because the broadcast, made exactly from the materials I sent, received a passionate response.

Though not as much as Cha Kang-hyuk, it caused quite a stir, known as the ‘Haeum Incident.’

Especially the funeral scene, which brought tears to everyone’s eyes.

Lee Kang-ho and his wife had even revealed the child’s diary, in addition to the funeral, for their father.

“I also watched the broadcast and was very indignant and cried a lot.”

“You did, too.”

The same went for me.

The broadcast included not only the child’s last message but also CCTV footage of the road at the time of the accident and an interview with Lawyer Ahn.

-On this day, the 8-year-old granddaughter, who was the apple of her grandfather’s eye, was going on her first picnic of her life with him.

Lawyer Ahn’s voice was heard along with a video of the car calmly driving on the road.

-But at some point, the car suddenly started to speed with a roar.

The car’s acrobatics began, accelerating like a mad movie.

Lawyer Ahn also raised his voice accordingly.

-Please pay attention to the brake light section of the vehicle here.

The bright red brake lights repeatedly turned on and off.

However, the car’s speed did not decrease at all.

Instead, it sped wildly towards an unknown destination.

-This is proof that the driver kept stepping on the brake, and it didn’t work properly.

A somber voice echoed on the screen. He continued speaking without stopping.

-The reason why a recklessly speeding vehicle during rush hour caused only two casualties is shown here.

No sooner had Lawyer Ahn Gyeong-hun finished speaking than the car veered off the road.

Lee Chil-hong drove with all his might, avoiding other cars, until he reached a point where there were no pedestrians.

And finally, there, he turned the car’s direction off the road, avoiding other vehicles.

-As a result, Mr. Lee Chil-hong suffered serious injuries requiring three surgeries, and his only granddaughter had to leave this world.

[Unfortunate. Some might say that. But.]

A heavy narration flowed, transitioning to Haeum’s funeral scene.

Soon after, the child’s coffin being carried out played amidst everyone’s tears.

[He believed he could save both the people and his granddaughter by turning the wheel. The grandfather believed that if he threw himself to cover his granddaughter, the child would be safe.]

-Haeum-ahhhhh!

With the narrator’s voice, the screen switched to inside the funeral hall.

In it, an old man’s blood-curdling cry echoed.

[In the end, he couldn’t save his beloved granddaughter. Because a protruding structure on the road pierced into the child on the passenger seat.]

-I am a sinner. I am a wretch who killed his own child.

[The grandfather, who lost his granddaughter, is strongly demanding his own punishment. At that moment, I had this question:]

Amidst the sorrowful rain, an old man sits forlornly holding a pink diary.

He couldn’t even bring himself to enter his granddaughter’s columbarium.

-Baby…

The diary pages rustled in the wind.

And it stopped on one particular spot. The screen zoomed in persistently on that part.

-When I grow thiisss big, Grandpa, I’ll buy you lots of yummy things. Until then, I hope Grandpa lives a long, long, healthy, and happy life.

[The last wish of a child who couldn’t grow this big. Was it to accuse her grandfather of a crime?]

Those were the words I wanted to ask the world.

Who could point fingers at a grandfather who more desperately than anyone else wanted to save his granddaughter?

Now, the answer to that question is in my hand.

I lowered my gaze and stared at the disposition result notice.

“Yoo-hee, shall we go in now?”

“Yes, Lawyer.”

The door opened.

I bowed to the couple, who had sprung up from their seats upon seeing us, and greeted them in the conference room.

And at the end of my gaze, one person sitting upright came into view.

The owner of this notice, Mr. Lee Chil-hong.

It was now time to deliver the world’s answer to him.