Chapter 344: Mayfly (3)

Haru's father, Lee Hyung-Moon, dropped to his knees in the hallway with his hand clutched in mine.

"Hey, hey! You better let go of me! Let go!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

As I released his hand, he lost his balance and fell backward in his attempt to pull away.

Thud.

Lee Hyung-Moon pathetically landed on the marble floor with a loud thud and yelled under his rough breath. "

Ugh!"

Then he got up and rubbed his hand which had turned red. "Just you wait. I was going to let this go quietly, but now you're done for!"

I wasn't sure what gave him such confidence, but he seemed brimming with it.

"That's my line," I retorted.

I had gathered all the evidence of Lee Hyung-Moon's abuse toward Haru when I took him in.

Now that we had found Haru's mother, I could easily proceed with a parental rights termination lawsuit. After all, Haru's guardianship would naturally be transferred to his mother once we won.

At that moment, security guards approached us when they noticed the commotion. "What's going on here?"

I showed them my staff pass and identified myself as Haru's talent agent. "A stalker who's been following Haru showed up, so I'm throwing him out."

"Oh, I see."

The priority of the security team at the broadcasting station was the safety of the celebrities appearing on their shows.

Hearing that the intruder was Haru's stalker, their expressions hardened in an instant.

"Hey. What are you even doing at your age? Get out of here right now!"

"You're not going to like what happens if you keep causing trouble here."

As the guards growled and closed in on him, Lee Hyung-Moon frantically waved his hands. "C-causing trouble? Stalker? No way! What are you talking about? I'm Haru's father!"

The guards looked at me with uncertain expressions. "Is this true, Mr. Jung?"

"He is Haru's father, but he's been in a rehab center for alcoholism and has a history of abuse. He showed up here right after getting out and demanded money from his son."

The guards exchanged looks and then began speaking into their intercoms. "Yes, please check on Haru's father. Yes, yes."

While they were confirming his identity, Lee Hyung-Moon shot me a smug look as if to say "Let's see you try and get rid of me now."

At that moment, the guard receiving updates began to nod. I couldn't understand what they were talking about because he was talking through an earpiece, but his expression grew increasingly stern.

As soon as he ended the chat, he and the other guards surrounded Lee Hyung-Moon with scary faces.

"You've been beating him since he was a kid, huh?"

"How could anyone hit their own child?"

They must have received a direct message from the PD, as they started speaking sharply.

Shocked by their unexpected reaction, Lee Hyung-Moon stammered. "W-what are you saying? I told you, I'm Haru's father!"

The guards took hold of Lee Hyung-Moon by his arms, linking them with theirs. "You're not listening at all, are you? Come with us."

Lee Hyung-Moon struggled. "Hey! Let go! I said let go of me!"

In the end, Lee Hyung-Moon was hoisted into the air by the two burly guards.

"Let's go quietly, sir."

"Why would you show up on such an important day for your son? What were you planning to do here anyway? Are you really his father?"

The guards continued berating Lee Hyung-Moon as they carried him out.

Thrashing his legs and shouting, Lee Hyung-Moon turned his rage on me. "Let go! Jung Yoon-Ho! You fucking bastard! This isn't over! Just wait and see what I'll do!"

Lee Hyung-Moon's furious voice echoed down the hallway.

Fortunately, the studio doors were soundproof and no one inside was aware of the commotion outside.

I let him go for now because there were too many eyes and security cameras around, but I had no intention of ending it like this.

'I need to bring Haru's mom here as soon as possible,'

I thought.

If I drove quickly enough, it would take about an hour and ten minutes to reach Suwon Hyo Nursing Hospital where Haru's mother worked.

It seemed I would have to go there myself and bring her back. That way, I could perfectly counter any moves Lee Hyung-Moon might make.

I immediately contacted the company to proceed with the lawsuit preparations and informed Sae-Ri's family who were on their way to Seoul that Lee Hyung-Moon had shown up at the venue and been removed, and that I was now heading to Suwon to find Natalia.

***

At Suwon Hyo Nursing Hospital, Na Yung-Hee rubbed her sleepy eyes as she woke up in the cramped on-call room. "

Yawn

~ that was a good sleep."

Na Yung-Hee stretched and glanced at the clock on the wall of the on-call room. "Hmm? It's already 6:10?"

Na Yung-Hee began stretching and left the on-call room to prepare for her night shift.

At that moment, Head Nurse Lee Jung-Mi who was coincidentally passing by looked surprised upon seeing her. "Oh? Ms. Yung-Hee, did you not go home yesterday?"

"No, the hospital bed is quite comfortable."

Lee Jung-Mi shook her head. "Goodness, Ms. Yung-Hee. You're such a hard worker. You need to take it easy sometimes. You can't just work all the time, you know?"

It baffled Lee Jung-Mi that Na Yung-Hee had avoided drinking, watching TV, or doing anything besides working for the past five years.

Na Yung-Hee smiled gently. "I feel best when I'm working. By the way, how's Mrs. Bok-Nam in Room 301?"

Though her shift didn't start for a few hours, Na Yung-Hee asked about a patient's condition.

Lee Jung-Mi shook her head. "You're impossible. Anyway, Mrs. Bok-Nam is a bit down because she can't go for walks right now."

"I see, I'll go check on her."

"Just check quickly and come out. Let's go have dinner together."

"Okay~"

Na Yung-Hee bowed before heading to Room 301.

When she entered the six-person ward where only Park Bok-Nam remained and watched TV.

Park Bok-Nam had fractured her ankle a week ago while getting out of bed and hadn't been able to go for walks since.

Na Yung-Hee asked with a smile, "How's my beautiful Mrs. Bok-Nam doing? How's your leg?"

Park Bok-Nam, who turned 85 years old this year, finally turned her gaze away from the TV. "Look who it is! Miss Korea is here!"

"Oh, there you go again. I'm no Miss Korea."

"To me, you're even prettier than Miss Korea!"

"Thank you for saying so."

Na Yung-Hee adjusted the elderly woman's blanket and asked, "By the way, do you need to use the bathroom?"

"No, I'm fine for now."

Just then, Park Bok-Nam pointed to the TV she had been watching since earlier. "Hey, Ms. Yung-Hee. Can't we have food like that here? It looks so delicious."

On TV, the second part of

Table of Mukbang

finals was airing. Baek Jong-Suk was expressing his admiration for the red soup being presented as a final dish.

"That red soup is called borscht and apparently it's a Russian dish. Doesn't it look tasty?"

"I guess so. I'll ask and find out."

Park Bok-Nam nodded appreciatively. "By the way, I heard you were originally from Russia too. Is that true?"

Na Yung-Hee smiled with her eyes curving into crescents. "Yes, but I don't remember much from back then."

"Oh~ is that so?"

Na Yung-Hee nodded. "Yes. But Mrs. Bok-Nam, is that TV show really that good?"

Since she didn't watch TV herself, Na Yung-Hee didn't understand what was so entertaining about it.

"Yes, it's so moving and impressive to see that little boy making it to the finals. It makes me tear up. Look there, look!" said Park Bok-Nam excitedly.

Park Bok-Nam pointed at the screen where Baek Jong-Suk was speaking.

-Is it still a secret who you made this dish for?

In response, Haru, the young boy on screen, didn't say a word and only smiled faintly.

-Ah, Mr. Haru really knows how to handle a broadcast. Alright, let's have a taste first. It's a completely different dish from the soybean paste stew we had earlier, though.

The broadcast displayed captions identifying the dishes as Russian borscht soup, shashlik, and bread.

At that moment, Na Yung-Hee suddenly froze in place as she watched the TV. Then she started shedding tears as big as raindrops.

Drip, drip, drip.

Seeing Na Yung-Hee cry, Park Bok-Nam was startled and reached out her hand. "What's wrong, Ms. Yung-Hee? Are you thinking about your homeland? I can ask the kids to bring some Russian food when they visit. Do they sell that in places like Itaewon?"

Na Yung-Hee wiped her tears and shook her head. "N-no. I'm okay, Mrs. Bok-Nam..."

Just then, the door swung open and Lee Jung-Mi appeared. "Ms. Yung-Hee! The chief said to hide you quickly!"

"Hide me? Why?"

"Someone's here to take you away!"

Na Yung-Hee's legs instantly buckled at those words and she clutched the side of Park Bok-Nam's bed.

Lee Jung-Mi hurried over to support Na Yung-Hee. "I-it's okay. The chief is holding them off right now. Let's go, quickly!"

"Yes, yes, Ms. Lee."

Terrified as if her heart was about to burst, Na Yung-Hee quickly left Room 301.

***

After arriving in Suwon, I headed straight to the chief's office at Hyo Nursing Hospital.

According to the private investigator in charge, the hospital chief personally conducted pre-admission consultations.

I made an appointment with the chief under the pretense of discussing my grandmother's admission process, and only revealed my true intentions once inside the office—I was looking for Na Yung-Hee, also known as Natalia.

At that moment, Chief Kim Chul-Soo who appeared to be in his early 40s pressed the intercom button with a wary expression. He then asked Head Nurse Lee Jung-Mi to check if there was a patient named Natalia.

However, when I quickly clarified that the person I was looking for was not a patient but a caregiver, Kim Chul-Soo tilted his head in confusion.

"We don't have anyone by that name among our caregivers... Perhaps you have the wrong information?"

Though Kim Chul-Soo played dumb, I had already verified everything.

'

It looks like they won't reveal anything easily,

' I thought.

Realizing I would have to wait with the private investigator team, I stood up. "I'll leave for now, but please tell Ms. Natalia that her son is desperately looking for her. And let her know that Haru's father is using his parental rights to obstruct his son's future."

Kim Chul-Soo seemed like he wanted to say something, but he kept his mouth shut in the end. He pressed the intercom and called for security.

Two security guards entered as the door opened. "Mr. Kim, what's going on?"

Kim Chul-Soo glanced at me. "Please escort this gentleman politely to the main entrance."

"Understood."

The two security guards flanked me. "Please come with us."

I stepped into the hallway with the guards leading me.

Just then, the private investigator team waiting outside called.

-Ms. Natalia just exited through the back entrance. What should we do?

In that instant, I realized Kim Chul-Soo had been stalling me to buy time for Natalia to escape. That was the reason he had instructed the guards to guide me to the main entrance.

"Don't let her get away! Hold her there—I'm coming right now!" I exclaimed.

The security guards looked shocked. "What are you doing?"

"My apologies, but I'm in a hurry."

I shook off the guards and dashed toward the emergency stairs.

After exiting through the back door, I saw two private investigators blocking two women on their way to the parking lot and one of them was Natalia—Haru's mother.

With her hair dyed black and pinned up, Natalia was trembling as she hid behind the woman in a pink nurse's uniform.

I signaled the private investigators to step back and apologized to the frightened women. "I'm sorry, Ms. Natalia! I didn't mean to scare you. I had no choice because I just had to get a message to you."

Natalia glanced nervously and spoke. "Wh-what message?"

"Haru is desperately looking for you right now."

Natalia's face lit up with surprise. "Mr. Haru? He's looking for me? Not my husband?"

Something felt off.

I was puzzled. '

Did she refer to her son as Mr. Haru? Why would she call her own child that way?

'

Suddenly, a chilling thought crossed my mind. '

No way. Could it be... has she lost her memory?

'

According to Sae-Ri's grandmother and people from the neighborhood, Natalia had adored Haru more than her life. She used to call him her "treasure" all the time.

Even while fleeing from her abusive husband, she had left a letter with Sae-Ri's grandmother asking her to take care of Haru until she could come back for him.

However, Natalia didn't seem to recognize Haru, which could only mean one thing.

I tried to keep my voice steady as I asked, "Ms. Natalia, have you... lost your memory?"

Natalia glanced at Lee Jung-Mi beside her.

At that moment, Lee Jung-Mi clutched Natalia's hand tightly and shouted, "Wh-why would Ms. Yung-Hee lose her memory? It's nothing like that, so please just go away!"

It seemed Lee Jung-Mi thought I was sent by Natalia's husband.

The moment I was about to clarify the situation, Kim Chul-Soo urgently burst through the back entrance of the hospital with one of his slippers left behind in his rush. "Wait a minute!"

Kim Chul-Soo was panting heavily as he stood in front of Natalia and Lee Jung-Mi while spreading his arms wide. "You can't take Ms. Yung-Hee away!"

Kim Chul-Soo's eyes filled with intense suspicion shot daggers at me.

It seemed he had completely misunderstood, thinking I was here to take Natalia to Lee Hyung-Moon using Haru's name.

Just then, Natalia who had been trembling the entire time cautiously spoke up. "Mr. Lee, Ms. Lee... please let me talk to him for a moment. I don't think this man is lying."

"Are... you sure?"

"Yes. And he said I have a son..."

The realization that she was a mother seemed to give Natalia a small surge of courage. At Natalia's words, Kim Chul-Soo and Lee Jung-Mi reluctantly stepped aside.

"Your name is Jung Yoon-Ho?"

"Yes. I'm Mr. Haru's talent agent. And Mr. Haru is currently living with me away from his father."

I briefly explained who I was in response to Natalia's question.

Then, I asked. "But is it true that you've lost your memory?"

Natalia nodded slowly. "Yes. All I know is that I was running away from my husband and had a car accident five years ago. I don't remember anything else."

My suspicions were confirmed. Natalia had lost all her memories except for the fact that she needed to flee from her husband—even the memories of her own son.