Chapter 3: Fate

  The corridor was quiet, the deep night atmosphere made it float with a hint of chilliness. A few energy-saving lamps provided weak light, which spilled down from above, casting shadows on half of his face. Ahn Jun-hee, standing in front of the observation window, was like the shadow on his face, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.

  A man and a woman stood beside him, whispering: "... bilateral comminuted fractures of the legs, but according to the doctor, the situation is not serious, as long as post-operative care is done well, it can still heal, the trouble is..."

  As he spoke, the young man looked at Ahn Jun-hee with hesitation.

  It's unnecessary to say the following, as one by one, things that happened in his dreams started to reappear in reality, An Junhe also began to try hard to recall the content of those dream nights. Although it has been a long time and the memories are very vague, and the dreams themselves were fragmented, some important things, now thinking back, still clearly remembered in his mind.

  Perhaps it's just that the pain and hatred run too deep!

  An Junhe quietly pushed open the door, and with the faint sound of the door creaking, the damp air in the ward poured out. He took off his hat, and his short hair was disheveled in the dim light and shadows of the ward. In a corner of the room, a humidifier was puffing out steam, its sound masking the girl lying on the bed, her face pale and painful, her breathing so faint and weak.

  He sat lightly on the edge of the bed, her entire body sinking down with the mattress, her head slightly raised, the sweat on her forehead exposed in the lamplight, sparkling and translucent.

  He reached out to wipe the sweat from her forehead, gently smoothing back her disheveled hair, and perhaps sensing something, she stirred in her sleep, her pale, bloodless lips moving slightly.

  "Brother..."

  At that moment, tears flowed from An Junhe's red and swollen eyes, but behind the dim light of his tears, his eyes were filled with a ferocity and coldness that could not be concealed by sorrow.

  In that dream, at this moment quietly lying in bed, pale face, even in a deep sleep showing a painful expression sister, this beautiful girl who was born and grew up with him in his mother's womb, looking exactly the same, her pain had just begun.

  Apart from the comminuted fracture of both legs, what was more serious was the vertebral fracture caused by the impact at that moment. In those dreams, there were nearly 5 years of span, which were pictures of her sitting in a wheelchair, from the initial depression to gradually becoming cheerful. However, no matter how brightly she smiled, but in his heart in the dream, each picture was like another knife cutting into his already wounded heart.

  Perhaps she didn't know, every time she saw lively girls jumping past her, her eyes suddenly dimmed; every time she saw others singing and dancing on stage, hiding to cry, there was a brother who wanted to make her normal but had no power, how his heart would be gnawed by all kinds of negative emotions.

  An Zhixiu, a beautiful girl who loves singing and dancing, has the dream of becoming a star like many ordinary Korean girls.

  Just 18 years ago, family difficulties strangled her dreams, and for the next five years, paralyzed legs made it impossible to see hope of realizing her dreams, youth was also missed in this prolonged darkness.

  And it was all caused by that murderer!

  A young face with a wild and unruly expression suddenly appeared in his memories, the outline of which was so clear that it seemed as if he had deeply carved every line of that person's appearance into his heart.

  "I'll make him pay for this..." He muttered to himself, his voice low and determined. Then he leaned down and gently kissed his sister's cheek. As he stood up again, the emotions that had previously flashed across his face were replaced by a cold indifference. The intense aura that surrounded him was so strong that even the two people outside the hospital room could feel a chill run down their spines as soon as they caught sight of him.

  Although the atmosphere was cold and icy, it had already been retracted when An Junhe walked out of the ward. However, the two people outside knew that he had obviously decided to do something, and for a moment, they were somewhat tense. As An Junhe walked out of the ward, he bowed 90 degrees to the middle-aged woman: "Auntie, I'm sorry to have troubled you during my absence."

  "Don't say that, we're all relatives!" Aunt hurriedly said, then hesitated for a moment, "Junhe, you..."

  An Junhe, who knew what she was going to say, interrupted her and said, "Please rest assured, even if it's for the sake of taking care of Zhishu, there are some things I won't do." He turned his head to his brother-in-law, who had been wanting to speak but hesitated, and said, "Brother, take my sister-in-law back to rest. It's okay here with me. Also, we need your help to take care of the funeral hall tomorrow. I'll be back tomorrow, and if possible, please ask your wife to come and help take care of Zhishu."

  When Ahn Jun-he heard that everything was arranged, from small to large, his older cousin, who knew his personality well, knew that he had made up his mind and didn't say anything else. Fortunately, the older cousin knew that Ahn Jun-he always kept his promises, so since he promised not to do "some things", he wasn't worried anymore and just nodded in agreement.

  After the two of them left, An Junhe silently sat on a chair in the corridor, waiting for someone.

  He, in his dream, on the day he returned from the army, was too heartbroken over his mother's death to come to the hospital. The details of the accident involving his mother and sister were also handled by several uncles, so the specific details are not clear. All I know is that my uncles insisted on sending the perpetrator to prison, and the court indeed made such a judgment, but the result was actually no different from failure.

  In modern society, no matter which country, people with money always have more privileges than those without money, especially in a country like South Korea that follows the path of capitalism, where the magic of money is fully utilized.

  In a possible future, the man was sentenced to two years in prison, and the uncles' goal of punishing the perpetrator seemed to have been achieved. However, they overlooked the role that money could play. Not long after the verdict, the man appealed again, and although the high court upheld the original sentence, it added a condition of suspended execution for one year. If someone were to say that there was no involvement of the man's family behind this, nobody would believe it.

  Then came the disaster of my mother's side of the family, with relatives of uncles being harassed by various black societies, and businesses and work began to encounter all sorts of setbacks. As time went on, these disasters became more and more intense, until finally several uncles were beaten so badly that they had to be hospitalized.

  These things, An Junhe in his dream didn't know at first because he had already taken his sister to Jeju Island and opened a travel agency with the help of a fellow soldier. Later, with the increasing support for the tourism industry at home, his business expanded rapidly, even venturing into catering, keeping him busy day and night until several years later when he returned to Busan again to expand his business and learned about these things from several aunties.

  Whether it was him in his dreams or the current him, he was grateful for the persistence of his uncles, but in his opinion, they chose the wrong way.

  The law is often not for the benefit of ordinary people, especially when capitalists are the main force in society. In a money-oriented society, expecting the law to uphold justice and fairness is itself an illusion.

  Now that he knows what's going to happen in the future and has already missed one chance to change things, Ahn Jun-ho doesn't want to miss another opportunity.

  According to his understanding, today the perpetrator's side will send someone to his sister's hospital room, hoping to communicate with their family members one last time and try to settle the matter privately. However, in the future shown by the dream, this communication did not go well. The furious aunt and uncles who rushed over after losing their sister beat up the people from the other side until they were thrown out of the hospital. This failed communication led to them finally losing face and resorting to dishonorable means for revenge afterwards.

  This incident also reveals the unreasonableness of the uncles, even until the end, they did not know what the other party's background was like, except for knowing that the perpetrator was called Jiang Zaiyuan, nothing else was clear, so much so that An Junhe in his dream a few years later wanted to investigate but had no way to start.

  And now he is waiting here, just wanting to see who is standing in front of him!

  …………

  Quan Baogen spent half a day in the hospital before finally finding the place he had asked the nurse about. It was the orthopedic ward on the 5th floor. The quiet corridor didn't have many people walking back and forth, with dim wall lamps stretching all the way to the end of the corridor. From afar, he could only see a man wearing a hat sitting at the door of one of the rooms, probably a family member of some patient.

  As he thought so, he was about to find his destination according to the room number at the door, when a loud mobile phone ring suddenly rang out in the quiet corridor. Quan Baogen was startled and the man wearing a hat in the distance also turned his head to look over. The distance, dim light and shadow of the hat made Quan Baogen, who was nearsighted, unable to see what the man looked like. He didn't pay much attention to it either, and he bowed slightly to apologize for the disturbance before answering the phone.

  At the same time, An Junhe withdrew his gaze, and a hint of puzzlement floated onto his face.

  "Quán Bǎo Gēn? How did he find this place?"

  His eyesight and memory had always been good, so even from a distance, he recognized Quan Baogen, who had parted ways just a few hours ago. At that time, a sense of absurdity surged in his heart, and subconsciously, he felt that the other person seemed to have come specifically to find him. After all, at the time on the bus, Quan Baogen's persuasion for him to become a star had left too deep an impression on him, causing his first reaction to be associated with that.

  So he stood up and prepared to go over and say hello. After all, they were acquaintances, and whether or not he wanted to see them, courtesy was necessary.

  But the next moment, the faint sound of conversation from over there made him stop in his tracks.

  "Yes, Director. I just met Jiang Ziyuan... Yes, I'm looking for the family members on that side and want to communicate with them again..."

  "......Yes, yes, I'll be careful......"

  An Junhe quickly turned around and walked towards the exit on the other side of the corridor without stopping, the faint sound behind him getting farther and farther away. His body began to shake uncontrollably until he passed the corner of the staircase, making sure that no one in the corridor could see him. He suddenly stopped, leaned heavily against the wall, clenched his fists, and punched the handrail of the stairs in front of him with a loud bang.

  A loud "bang" sound, the steel railing twisted violently under that terrible force.

  His knuckles cracked, and a thin line of blood seeped out. An Junhe raised his head, took a deep breath, feeling the pain that had penetrated to his bones, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, revealing a hint of ferocity:

  "Ah...... what a coincidence......"