PEN Vol 1 Ch. 16

Shadow 3 (Part 1)

Thirty years ago, Cheon Sejoo was abandoned in front of Angel Orphanage.

While the bells heralding the start of the new year rang out and many people laughed, wishing for a happy new year, Sister Maria, the head nun of Angel Orphanage, was praying with the other nuns when she heard a loud crying sound from outside.

Rushing outside, she found a newborn baby lying alone on the cold ground. Wrapped in a thick blanket, the baby, who had arrived at the orphanage on New Year’s Day, was crying loudly with a red face as if to say, “Notice me, save me,” drawing Maria towards him with his powerful cries.

Sister Maria hurriedly picked up the baby and, grateful to God for giving her another life to save, kissed the baby’s forehead. She then named the baby Sejoo (世主), meaning “master of the world,” as if to say, “Then be the master of the world,” in response to the baby’s deafening cries to announce his presence to the world.

This was how Cheon Sejoo came into the world.

From a young age, he was exceptionally intelligent. He started walking before he was ten months old and spoke fluently before he was two years old.

Because he was exceptionally smart, Sejoo quickly understood his situation. As a result, he matured faster than any other child at the orphanage. Cheon Sejoo never fought with his friends in kindergarten and knew how to understand and act in a way that pleased Maria and the other nuns. He was a child who took care of himself thoroughly from a young age. The first time Sejoo ever got into a fight was when he was eight years old.

During a summer rainstorm so heavy that he could hardly see ahead, the woman who had abandoned Cheon Sejoo in front of the orphanage eight years ago left another baby at the orphanage’s doorstep. It was a coincidence that the person who discovered the baby this time was the same child who had been abandoned by her first.

He was running an errand for the head nun, wearing a raincoat, and had just returned from the supermarket. Cheon Sejoo found a small bundle of blankets with an umbrella placed in front of the orphanage door. As he approached, he saw a baby with a pale face, eyes gently closed in sleep. Thinking the baby was adorable, Cheon Sejoo took out the postcard tucked into the outer blanket wrapping the child.

The raindrops, pouring incessantly, invaded the inside of the umbrella covering the baby.

Pitter-patter, the sound of rain echoed in his ears as Cheon Sejoo read aloud the letter left by the baby’s mother.

“This is Sejoo’s younger sibling. Please raise them as a family. …I am sorry.”

On that day, when the rain poured down heavily as if a white curtain, Cheon Sejoo gained a younger sibling.

The woman already knew that the child she left behind had been given the name Cheon Sejoo. Perhaps their mother was one of the women who volunteered at the orphanage, avoiding Maria’s eyes.

However, Maria did not bother to look for her. She did not pity her, assuming the circumstances that made her unable to raise the child. She was simply grateful that Sejoo would not be left a complete orphan and gave him a younger sibling.

Though neither a mother nor a father, he now had a family. Cheon Sejoo was immensely happy about this and vowed to God that he would take good care of his younger sibling. From that day on, the child became the pillar supporting Cheon Sejoo’s life.

The baby, with the umbilical cord still attached, was very different from the ever-vocal Sejoo. Unlike Cheon Sejoo, who cried loudly, this baby rarely made a sound, even when hungry or when the diaper was soaking wet.

Thinking the baby was fine, one could turn away for a moment, only to find the baby had vomited the milk all over their clothes without making a fuss. Because of this, the nuns had no choice but to pay more attention and take extra care of the child. Thus, Maria gave the baby the name Hye-in (慧仁). Hye-in was a child born with the wisdom to live in this world.

In the orphanage, there were more children left by their parents, like Cheon Sejoo and Cheon Hye-in, than those children who had lost their parents. The children there waited every day for their parents to come for them. Amidst this, Cheon Sejoo, who suddenly gained a family member to be with, became the object of envy among the children.

The children teased Cheon Sejoo, saying that since his mother had left another child with him, she would never come to find him. Yet, at the same time, they envied the fact that Sejoo’s mother knew her child was there. Sometimes, their own parents would abruptly stop contacting them as if they had forgotten their children were in the orphanage.

Around that time, Cheon Sejoo was a head taller than the other kids, so the mischievous children, instead of bullying him, would torment Cheon Hye-in who couldn’t speak. They would pull away the blanket covering the lying baby and snatch away the milk bottle clutched tightly in her hands, throwing it away.

Cheon Sejoo did not stand by and just watched this. Sejoo, who had something to protect for the first time in eight years, hit the friend who was bullying his younger sibling with a rock he found in the orphanage’s backyard.

Maria was very shocked by his display of violence, but realizing it was to protect Hye-in, she felt somewhat relieved. Instead of scolding Cheon Sejoo, she taught him how to protect his sibling.

She whispered that violence was only a temporary means and that to protect his sibling, he needed to become a greater and better person. From that moment on, Cheon Sejoo eagerly awaited the day he could become an adult capable of protecting his sibling.

Until Cheon Sejoo became a middle school student and Cheon Hye-in had turned six years old, their mother did not come to the orphanage. As the lives of the parents who had left their children in the orphanage stabilized and they took their children back, his friends disappeared one by one, however, the two siblings remained there until the end.

One day, suddenly realizing that their mother might never come to take them back, Cheon Sejoo understood that he had to take on the role of a parent for Hye-in. From that moment, Sejoo began to study.

Although he was born intelligent, it was not easy to keep up with his friends who received parental support in their studies. However, Cheon Sejoo stayed up all night memorizing textbooks entirely and studied the reference books he got from his teachers with the determination to remember every point.

Cheon Sejoo set his sights on entering medical school It wasn’t because he had a grand mission to save people’s lives. It was simply because Hye-in believed that being a doctor was the best job in the world, which inspired him to pursue that dream.

His natural intelligence combined with effort paid off. At the age of nineteen, Cheon Sejoo entered Korea University’s medical school with the highest entrance score, known for having the highest entrance requirements in Korea. Because his birth was registered on January 1st, he started school a year earlier than others. Therefore, Che3on Sejoo was able to stay at the orphanage until he finished his first year of university.

However, once he turned twenty, he had to leave the orphanage. Cheon Sejoo rented a room in the city with the 5 million won he received as a settlement subsidy and the 10 million won from an anonymous sponsor, along with the money he had earned from tutoring over the past year. He then took his younger sister, Cheon Hye-in out of the orphanage.

Korea University was in Seoul, while the orphanage was in Suwon. Although he could live in the dormitory and technically didn’t need to rent a place, Cheon Sejoo wanted to provide Hye-in with a proper home for her own. He wanted to provide her, during her sensitive teenage years, a private space that she didn’t have to share with others.

In that way, Cheon Sejoo attended school while living in the dormitory and visited home on weekends to take care of Hye-in. During this time, Hye-in, who was now a middle school student, was left alone in the house he had secured. His desire to provide a home just for their family left Hye-in alone in an empty house, making her feel isolated. However, at that time, Cheon Sejoo was unaware of this.

In order to become a doctor, one had to study hard even in the time meant for sleep, and Cheon Sejoo was no exception. Moreover, there were expenses that scholarships and sponsorships couldn’t cover, so he had to take up private tutoring in his spare time to provide allowance and living expenses for Hye-in, despite his already packed schedule.

Six years had passed just like that. After graduating from medical school and passing the national medical exam to obtain his medical license, Cheon Sejoo became an intern at Korea University Hospital. As an intern, he had almost no personal time. Although he was physically much closer to Hye-in than when he lived in the dormitory, he could only see her once or twice a month, so Cheon Sejoo didn’t notice the changes in her.

Whenever Cheon Sejoo was not around, Hye-in, who was always teased by her peers at the orphanage, grew up to be someone who didn’t easily reveal her inner thoughts, and this was the same even with her brother, Cheon Sejoo. Hye-in did not tell Sejoo that she was being bullied at school.

She didn’t want to create unnecessary worries for her brother, who had become a doctor. She didn’t want to be a burden, a hindrance, or an obstacle to his future. That’s why it was only after Hye-in’s funeral that Cheon Sejoo learned she had been bullied.

Cheon Sejoo had decided to become a doctor solely because of Hye-in. She had asked him to become a doctor and help people as poor as they were. However, through six years of study from pre-med to medical school, Cheon Sejoo also developed his own goals.

Even now, his goal was not altruistic, to save people’s lives. Rather, seeing professors driving nice cars and wearing fine clothes made him want to give Hye-in only the best things.

A house so big it would make your eyes widen, a warm home where no wind could seep in, a food eaten not to fill the stomach but to savor its taste, and expensive clothes that combined both functionality and design.

And now, all the things he wanted to give Hye-in were gathered in one place. Yet the person receiving them was not Cheon Hye-in, but someone else. Moreover, that person had a frown on his face as if he found all of this simply unsatisfactory.

“……”

Cheon Sejoo sat at the table, propping his chin on his hand. He was staring intently at the person across from him who was continuously playing with his chopsticks while stealing glances at him. It was amusing how the boy, who was eating a lot, didn’t seem to be enjoying it, as if it was written all over his face that he wasn’t eating because it was delicious, but kept chewing tirelessly, nonetheless.

Kwon Sejin, who had hurriedly fled to his room in a panic after Cheon Sejoo had made a teasing joke when they stepped out of the elevator, stayed holed up there until Cheon Sejoo returned with a takeout course meal. Even after knocking, he didn’t come out, so when Sejoo peeked inside, he saw Sejin sleeping soundly on the bed. It was only thirty minutes ago that he had woken him up to eat.

Sejin, seeing the spread of food, had sat down with a look that said, ‘What’s a thug doing with course meals? He’s going all out.’ Despite his expression, Sejin was now emptying every dish on his own while Sejoo hadn’t even picked up his chopsticks. Ever since he had devoured two whole chickens, Sejoo had noticed that Sejin ate quite a lot for his size.

“Stop staring at me. Are you trying to make me choke?”

Sejin, unable to endure his gaze any longer, snapped, raising his eyes. He had a small stature, with small hands and lips, but he lacked even a speck of manners, never once using polite language at him. Cheon Sejoo, unfazed by Sejin’s reaction, continued to look at him while sipping his beer and asked.

“Why do you use formal language with Ehwagak’s manager but speak informally to me?”

Kwon Sejin had met Han Jiwon, Ehwagak’s manager, only once, last Wednesday. Despite Sejoo being the one who had given him shelter, fed him, and helped him, Sejin was courteous to her but always bristled at Sejoo. It didn’t make Sejoo angry or upset, but he was curious about what Sejin’s answer would be.

“You’re supposed to use formal language with people worthy of respect.”

“Who says so? Your kindergarten teacher?”

At Cheon Sejoo’s mocking question, accompanied by a small laugh, Kwon Sejin glared at him and continued speaking.

“That manager works in the service industry. People in that line of work deserve respect. After all, they bow their heads and serve people like you…”