Chapter 50

Apparently you can still drown on land after almost drowning.

I woke up to Taejun calling my name. But it didn’t feel like I was waking up. It felt more like I was pushing through a thick, obnoxious jelly. Even though I knew I had opened my eyes, they were blurry and I couldn’t get them to focus for an uncomfortably long time. I was groggy and disoriented.

I felt Taejun’s hand holding mine, but it took a minute longer than I expected for me to be able to react to it with a slight squeeze.

Finally my eyes and ears focused and the dark blob to my left solidified into my older brother. In my woozy state I was glad to see him. I tried to greet him and immediately gagged on something in my throat. I started to raise my hand to take it out of my mouth, but Taejun stopped me.

“You’re intubated,” he told me. “You won’t be able to talk until they take it out.”

I stared back at him dumbfoundedly. Intubated? What for? The last thing I could remember was… Idiotically, I tried to ask Taejun what happened but didn’t manage to make anything other than an awkward gargling sound.

“They had you on a ventilator for a bit, but your oxygen levels kept dropping. Eventually the doctors discovered your lungs were filling with fluid. Luckily for you they drew it while you were unconscious, but they’ll probably have to do it again and you’ll probably still need to keep the tube for a little bit just in case.”

I could barely make sense of what he was saying. Well, it wasn’t like I could reply either. I gestured at him nonsensically. I needed this tube out. How else was I supposed to tell him what happened?!

Taejun watched me wave around at him like a useless mime. “Don’t move your left arm around so much, you’ve got a lot of stuff connected there.”

I put my arms down unhappily. Well, it wasn’t like I was getting through to him anyways. But Taejun had never needed much input from me.

“I put together what happened pretty quickly,” he told me. I tilted my head at him like a dog. “Salt. You had it all over your skin.” A dark look crossed over his eyes and he had to steady himself before he could continue in a eerily calm manner. “When Han Sungmin was questioned, he confirmed my suspicions.”

Sungmin! So he had been caught. I tried to convey surprise with an exaggerated expression so that Taejun would tell me what had happened to him.

“Yes, he was brought in this afternoon. Him and most of the Seven Directions gang. They’d tried to go into hiding, but one of them was holding onto your phone. It’s got a tracker on it. Led our operatives right to their base of operations in Daegu. Pretty much all of the upper heads of the gang were apprehended. The Seven Directions gang is finished for good.”

I was too stunned to even be annoyed at the revelation of Taejun secretly putting in a legitimate tracking device into my phone. So that was it. The gang was over. (So much for the little one man crusade I’d planned on the dock… probably for the best, though.)

Wait, afternoon? How long was I out?

A monitor next to the bed started beeping. The high repetitive tone quickly became annoying. A nurse appeared a few moments later as Taejun and I were looking at it. She tapped at it until the beeping stopped.

“You’ve spiked his heart rate,” she scolded Taejun. She shooed him from the bed. “What have you been telling him? Your brother needs to rest. You can talk to him later.”

Taejun seemed taken aback by the nurse’s exuberant bossiness. I was too. I was dying to speak to him more about what had happened while I had been blacked out. But then again, being unable to ask any questions or offer any input was frustrating as well.

“Lay down,” the nurse commanded me. I settled back into the hospital bed petulantly. She fussed over me and my various attachments. It was odd being in the bed after all the other times of being the one standing next to it. Despite him trying to hide it, I could see the anguished concern on Taejun’s face, and the faint dark circles under his eyes. He probably hadn’t slept at all last night.

Despite that, he suddenly put his hand into his pocket to look at his phone. He read that message with a frown. Comical. At this point they should just microchip him… or however phones worked. I watched his jaw clench as he replied. The nurse watched him impatiently.

“I’ll be back later when they come back to check your lungs for fluid again,” Taejun promised. “Just rest,” he told me. Then he whirled off. I’m sure he was rushing off to finish whatever task he’d been summoned for. But it was a bit odd to see him leaving so abruptly.

“He’s a busy one, isn't he?” the nurse asked me. She laughed at my irritated expression. She knew full well I couldn’t reply. “Doesn’t really seem to know how to take care of someone else. But that’s alright. The nurses here will cover for him.”

She turned on the TV mounted to the wall and handed me the remote. “Settle down for now. Try not to get too worked up again, and press this button if you need anything.” The nurse showed me a button by the bed.

As she left, I just stared at her in bafflement. She didn’t know Taejun. Taejun-hyung was a model older brother, and perfectly capable of taking care of others.

Taejun didn’t come back for the checkup like he said he would, but that was sort of expected. Work usually had a pretty hefty grip on him, and it was probably pretty crazy today after the bust.

It ended up being a good thing.

I found out why Taejun said I was lucky to be unconscious for the first fluid drawing. It was a painfully uncomfortable experience. After the doctor finished the procedure, I had to take a few moments to collect myself after the panic I’d had to fight the entire time. The pulling of the fluid coming out for some reason reminded me of the same sensation of the water going in, despite it being a very much inverse experience.

The nurse (the same one as earlier) soothed me after. “You’re ok,” she reassured me, with such gentle authority that I actually believed her. She’d offered me her hand to hold, and I sheepishly released it from my white knuckled grasp. Despite how tightly I’d squeezed her hand she showed no indication of discomfort as she beamed at me.

I felt a little awkward. Even though I knew it was her job, the care and kindness she was showing me was a little overwhelming to me. I wasn’t even able to express the gratitude I felt towards her. Because they’d had to draw out more fluid, the tube stayed in.

The best I could do for now was to nod at her as far as I could in the imitation of a deep bow. I don’t think it got through to her though because she made me sit up immediately.

“Stay upright,” she bossed at me as she checked the op site.

I’m not sure what time my brother ended up coming back, because I ended up sleeping for the rest of the day, through the night, and well into the next day. I’ve never slept so much in my life. But I guess when you’re not really allowed to move much because you’re hooked up to a ton of mystery machines there’s not much else to do other than pass the time sleeping off your various discomforts. I had a lot of concerned thoughts, so many that I couldn’t focus on one without another one coming up to demand my attention. As I chased them back and forth, I eventually gave in to the mental exhaustion and just slept.

After today’s checkup, the doctor decided that I no longer needed the tracheal tube. I was pleased. Apart from the discomfort of having a foreign object perpetually lodged in your throat, the inability to speak to anyone had been extremely frustrating.

“Exhale,” the doctor instructed. As I did so, he carefully pulled out the tube. I fought the reaction to gag from the unnatural feeling of it sliding back out. The length of tubing that came out of me was pretty shocking.

“All of that was down my throat?” I said in surprise. Or at least that’s what I tried to say. What actually came out of my throat was completely incomprehensible gargling. As I winced and put my hand to my throat, the doctor and nurse laughed cheerfully.

Taejun was not as amused. Clearly he hadn’t enjoyed the same luxury of rest that I had. The dark circles under his eyes were even darker today, and he looked worn out and pale. “What’s wrong with his throat?” he demanded, despite the medical professionals’ nonchalance.

“He might have some difficulty speaking for a little while. Just a side effect of being intubated for some time. You’re probably experiencing a bit of soreness because it’s quite irritating to have that tube down there,” he said to me. “Perfectly normal, but Nurse Moon here will keep monitoring you to make sure there's no lingering or unexpected complications.”

“You’re recovering well,” the doctor said brightly as he stood up to continue his rounds. “Rest and recovery, that’s the best thing for you now.” I dipped my head gratefully at him as he left.

As he left, someone else entered. Nurse Moon puffed up like a righteous mother hen. I could see why. The man who entered was clearly some sort of law enforcement. He had that telltale stiffly formal carriage, and signature dark suited outfit.

“Agent Baek,” the stranger greeted my brother. I suddenly remembered where I’d seen him before.

“Investigator Cha,” my brother returned. They shook hands.

Mr. Cha ignored the bristling nurse completely and instead turned to me. “Baek Jaehyun, my name is Cha Siwon. I’m the lead investigator for the Seven Directions case.”

I did the best respectful bow that I could while still in bed. I tried to return his greeting, but all I could really manage was an awkward barely intelligible croak.

“He still can’t talk?” Investigator Cha frowned as he turned to my brother.

“Not well, it seems,” Taejun said. He shot me a glance. I suddenly felt quite nervous. Somehow in my daze from yesterday I’d temporarily forgotten that I’d been arrested and hadn’t yet given any sort of statement.

“How long until he can?” Investigator Cha asked. He seemed impatient.

“We just took the tracheal tube out not five minutes ago,” Nurse Moon said defensively.

Investigator Cha gave Nurse Moon a tight lipped look, then returned his attention to my brother. “We need your brother’s statement as soon as possible. Until then we can’t continue to assume that he’s not implicated in this case.”

The corner of my brother’s mouth twitched slightly as a flicker of anger passed over him. I wonder if Investigator Cha noticed. If he had, that didn’t stop him. “He seems lucid now, so unfortunately I’m going to need to cuff him again.” He produced a pair of restraints.

“Is that really necessary?” Taejun seethed.

Investigator Cha hesitated, but only for a moment. “It’s just procedure. You know this. If this was anyone other than your dongsaeng…” Investigator Cha’s words died out as Taejun’s eyes narrowed. “We’ve already given him quite a lot of leniencies already out of respect to you.”

I wondered what leniencies they were talking about. I’d been mostly unconscious throughout this ‘arrest’. Taejun fell silent as he watched Investigator Cha attach one end of the cuff to the bed. I wonder what good that did. This bed had wheels. But before he attached it to me, he stopped short. Investigator Cha must have really been sweating. Both my brother and Nurse Moon were glaring quite fiercely at him.

“I’m sorry about this,” he apologized, not to me, but my brother.

“We have Han Sungmin’s statement,” my brother said, as if that would make a difference. “My brother is a victim in this situation.”

“It seems likely,” Investigator Cha admitted. “But we have two eye witnesses who also claim to have seen him attempting motor vehicle theft.”

“Almost undoubtedly under duress,” Taejun snapped.

“There’s no–”

“Proof?” Taejun snapped. He seemed to grow a few inches as he loomed over Investigator Cha. Despite being his senior, the poor investigator flinched back against Taejun’s ferocity. “Should I ask the doctor to give you a sample of the salt water they’ve been drawing out of his lungs? The fact that he can’t even speak to you right now shows you just what he went through that night. There’s no willful intent for criminal collusion here.”

To his credit, Investigator Cha replied calmly to Taejun’s brewing fury. “I understand that this is a difficult situation for you and you’re concerned for the welfare of your family. But I’d appreciate it if you didn’t speak to me that way, Agent Baek.” But he seemed to have been swayed somewhat by Taejun’s words, as he removed the cuff.

“You’re an excellent agent and the department values all the exemplary work you’ve done so far. I won’t cuff your brother. But we absolutely need to speak with him as soon as possible, and we absolutely do not want him to disappear before then.”

“He’s still wearing the tracker on his ankle,” Taejun growled. But he was soothed by Investigator Cha backing down from cuffing me, and his tone was no longer so antagonistic. “And I’ll be with him. He’s not going anywhere.”

Mr Cha considered Taejun’s words for some time. He exhaled. “Please let me know when we can interview your brother as soon as possible. And get some rest. You’re stretching yourself out too thin.”

He nodded at me as farewell.

“Thank you, Investigator Cha-ssi,” I managed to croak. He stopped short to hear me speaking but Nurse Moon stepped in between us.

“I’ll let you know personally when the patient can speak to you,” she said as she bustled him out.

I sank back into the bed in relief when he left. At the same time, Taejun flopped down onto a chair. Our eyes met and despite the tension before, the comedy of our synchronized collapse broke through a little. A small smile touched Taejun’s face.

I hadn’t realized the thing on my ankle was a tracker. I had so many unexplained instruments and tubes taped onto me that I’d just assumed it was another device the hospital had inflicted upon me. I lifted my foot slightly to look at it.

“I hate that you have to wear that,” Taejun said mournfully. I let out a small, sore little chuckle. I wondered if my stalker brother had considered the irony of him saying that. He’d literally bugged my phone!

For some time Taejun didn’t say anything. We sat in silence, each contemplating our own thoughts.

“You’re–” I started. My throat was sore, and it ached deeply when I tried to speak. It felt like there was a tight lump deep in my esophagus. Taejun waited patiently to see what I was going to say first.

“– so against me wearing cuffs,” I finished finally. I massaged my throat with a wince.

Taejun blinked at me slowly. “That’s the first thing you choose to say, huh.”

I mean, it was the most recent thing on my mind. He’d also been extremely adamant about me not being cuffed at the station the first time I’d been arrested for fighting the guy with the knife. And today he’d almost gone to war with his own colleague over it. Seemed like a weird hill for the perfectionist Taejun to die on. It was a small thing really. A handcuff was only slightly uncomfortable.

“It’s a psychological thing,” Taejun replied. “Despite the promise of being considered innocent until proven guilty, seeing someone cuffed, especially when giving a statement, already creates a mental bias of guilt, even if the person being interviewed is entirely innocent. Once you’re cuffed, it becomes an uphill battle to prove your innocence. As you’re uncuffed you’re just a witness, not a participant.”

Oh. While I was thinking about it being a minor inconvenience, Taejun was out there digging around into others' mental impressions to manipulate them. Not for the first time, I wondered about the way Taejun’s brain worked. He seemed to be superhumanly aware of how people perceived things and how to best work with or change that perception, which is why he’d excelled in law. Maybe he should have taken the bar and become a lawyer instead.

He was looking at me, but not directly at me. I realized he was staring at my ankle bracelet. Even though he’d supposedly got some sort of story from Han Sungmin, I wondered if he truly believed I was innocent and unprosecutable in this case. Or if he was just trying to convince himself (and by extension, everyone else around him) that.