Seventeenth Story: Geomoon Island - and red camellia Sukho's plane landed in Yusoo airport safely and he went to harbor area to catch a ferry boat to Geomoon Island. The ferry boat had a name, Geomoon Island. Sukho thought, 'How nice to ride a ferry named Geomoon Island to visit an island having same name!' When the ferry started moving out to sea, he saw many seagulls flying around the boat. The ferry boat sailed along the shoreline passing through bridges and small islands. After two hours of voyage, the boat reached the Geomoon island. This two hour sail was like a compressed time capsule of past 34 years. Though situated on a remote isolated island, Geomoon harbor was bustling with many hotels, restaurants and tourists. Once crossed bridge away from harbor, the scenery changed to a stretch of beautiful coast with white sands. He went further to find a house where Captain Chung was living. Finally he reached a small house completely surrounded by Camellia bush. This was the house Captain Chung was living with his wife and two daughters. He was spending his late years as the lighthouse keeper and fisherman, enjoying the sight of camellia flowers all around him. Luckily, he was at home and was pleasantly surprised by the sudden visit by Sukho. "Wow Dr. Kangwhat a surprise! We met last March in Southern California and now we meet again!" After this warm welcome, they sat down in his living room and Sukho told him what had happened during past months. His narration covered all about his encounter with Soonhae, her recovery from depression, the discovery of his liver disease, his visit to South China Sea from Vietnam and his plan to live with Chong-il. Captain's surprise doubled. "What? Liver cancer? And you need liver transplant to survive!" But Sukho did not tell him about James Nguyen who might be his own son and his last hope. Captain Chung, after recovering from his shock, said "Dr. KangSeemingly, there is no hope left for you. But think of those Vietnamese boat people at the blink of death from starvation and robbery by pirate. Obviously, there was no hope but they did not give up. They waved white shirts with a last glimmer of hope. I am asking you not to give up now. If liver transplanting will save your life, do it by all means. You should live longer and have happier days. Also you should continue your work as a doctor and help other sick people." "Do you think so?" "Of course. Don't even think of retire to this small island and live like a hermit. You are much different from me and you have a lot more to offer to others.""Am I different from you?""Yes indeed. I am only an ordinary fisherman with little skill. You are different!" Later they went out to stroll around. They passed cemetery of British soldiers. "These are the tombs of Britons who died during the two year period of their occupation of this island. These young soldiers died while longing to see their loved ones at home." Sukho was very surprised to hear British troop was stationed there. Captain explained that during mid 19thcentury near the end of Yi dynasty, British government dispatched troops and occupied this island without any international protocol. This was a safeguard against potential invasion of Russians to southern part of Korean peninsula. They stationed for two years and during this period, several soldiers died and buried here. This cemetery reminded Sukho and Captain Chung of Sungmin's grave at Dongjak military cemetery in Seoul. Captain Chung spoke "Yes it is like your friend Sungmin who died in Vietnam." "In my imagination, these camellia flowers are the blood drops oozing from the heart of my friend. Do you agree?" "Yes I feel the same way. I strongly believe the spirit of Captain Han is residing in this island. That is why I am living here. Whenever I see these camellia flowers, I remember him. From now on, whenever I illuminate ocean with my light beam from lighthouse, I will think of Ninh's soul resting peacefully at the bottom of sea.""So you think the souls of Sungmin and Ninh are in this island?""Yes I am very sure of it." They strolled further to the sandy coast and watched over a small island named 'West Isle'. The view of this small island drenched in sunshine was breathtaking. The foamy waves were hitting steep cliff along the shore and small rocks in the middle of the sea. Camellia flowers were greeting visitors from everywhere. Sukho was very impressed by the beauty. "Captainplease allow me to live with you. I don't want to go back to the civilization which is filled with needlessly fierce competitions. You told me the souls of Sungmin and Ninh live here. Then what else would I need? Please accept me as your family." "Oh Dr. Kangdon't be sentimental. This isle is not as easy and pretty as you see now. It fits to fisherman or farmers. Well educated persons like you better live in cities. So I strongly urge you to go back to Seoul now. Have liver transplantation and live longer. I see there are many who want to help you and you will be fine. Now is the time to start lighthouse operation. So long and hope to see you again!" "Sure Captain. I will return. Maybe I will be back many times." There were many passengers waiting for the ferry. He boarded a ferry boat and returned to Yusoo harbor then took a plane back to Kimpo airport. By the time he got back to Seoul, it was already very dark. On the plane, he swore himself over and over "I will live. I will live longer for better days!" Though he himself was a medical doctor, there was nothing he could do to prolong his life. Everything depended on the provision of others. As he was so tired after whole day of trip, he checked in a nearby hotel and slept soundly. Eighteenth Story: You can live if you have liver transplant In the morning, Sukho called Chong-il who was very delighted. "Oh! Sukhonow we meet again. I am so happy to have you again." It had been so long since they met. Though they were childhood friends and were very close, they spent so many years away from each other one in Korea and the other in US. But even after this happy reunion, Chong-il felt guilty toward Sukho thinking Sukho had to live bachelor life because he tookSoonhae from him. Actually, Sukho went off to US due to his hurt from this incident. "SukhoI must pay back my due from the past!""What due? I am just happy to be a member of your family." "But there is good news. I found a donor for you!" "Did you say a donor for my liver?""Yes. While you were in Vietnam, I communicated with Dr. Liu who told me everything about your condition. I got a copy of medical record from UCI Hospital and made an arrangement to perform liver transplant operation. You may know that I have done at least 1000 transplantation surgery so far so I am a world renowned expert in liver transplant. Maybe God has prepared me for this reasonto save your life!" That was true. After his training in US, Dr. Chong-il Kim had performed liver transplant surgery more than 1000 time and his success rate was impressively 98%. So he became known worldwide as one of the best surgeon in this area of liver transplant. "But who is going to donate liver?""I can not name that person but the blood type matches 100% --so this is a perfect donor for you." "But I want to know the name. Please tell me" "Don't be surprisedhe is Mark McKnight of Fullerton, California. I didn't believe it myselfas he is the man who took Soonhae from us. But he is willing to donate his liver for you!" "What? Mark did? How can he?" Then Sukho remembered what he said "Dr. KangI will be near you. I will offer my liver and even my wife, Soonhae!" "Yes that is right. Mark said he wanted to payback what he owes you. It is the same feeling I have to you. Anyway, he will be here soon. He will be here alone." "AloneSoonhae is not coming?""No but she will be here by the time the surgery is over." It was heartwarming conversation. Sukho became a member of Chong-il's family and Chong-ilwould perform liver transplant surgery. A week passed since Sukho became a family member. Sukho was scheduled to be hospitalized next day. It was a busy day to prepare for the surgery -- He went through a number of x-rays, blood tests and computer imaging. Dr. Kim told him the donor, Mr. McKnight arrived a day earlier. Due to the immunization check, Sukho would not have a chance to meet him before operation. "Sotomorrow is the big day. You will be admitted to hospital and get liver transplant surgery.""Thank you Chong-il. I am so grateful!" But that evening, Chong-il could not sleep. He was very much worried because he could not perform the operation as scheduled. Why?here is some technical explanation need to understand his worries. The liver for transplantation comes from two different sources. One is from living human and the other source is from dead person. So Sukho was getting liver from a living human. Human liver is an organ weighing about 1500 gram and has two parts of lobes. In general, right side of lobe is larger than the left one. The Typical ratio is roughly 60% to 40%, that is, 900 g : 600 g and for surgery, smaller lobe of donor is removed and transplanted to the patient. Even if portions of liver organ are removed, donor can live a normal life. But once in a while, trouble occurs when the donor's lobe is too small or receiver's lobe is too big. Then the amount of liver tissue received is not enough and the surgery is not effective. But if the larger lobe is donated, the donor can not survive. That is why recently, a patient gets two donor lobes. For example, if you have two donor liver of 30% each, you have 60% of liver tissue. This is good but it is very hard to find two donors at the same time. This was exactly why Dr. Chong-il Kim was worried so much. Mr. McKnight's liver was too smallit was only 30%. This is not large enough and therefore, the transplantation would be useless. "Ohtoo small, too small. Where can we get another liver tissue?" He already scheduled the surgery and everything else was ready. So he could not wait for another donor. What should he do? But Sukho did not know this problem and rather insisted to meet Mark McKnight before surgery. So all three men Sukho, Chong-il and Mark met at Chong-il's office. It was an emotional meeting. All the past bitter sweet memories erupted. One time, Sukho and Chong-il hated Mark for taking away Soonhae now Mark was sacrificing his liver for him. Time passed and wounds were healing. After emotion filled greetings, Sukho spoke- "Mark- I can not thank you too much. I am very confident that this competent surgeon, Dr. Kim here will successfully perform the surgery. And I have one other request for you. Just one." "What is it? Let me hear!" Mark said. "After the surgery is completed and I get fully recovered, can we visit Geomoon Island with you and Soonhae? Can we do that? One day is enough. I want to meet Captain Chung one more time and look around the camellia flowers." "Did you say, Geomoon Island?" "Yes I did. We can take a ferry boat to that pretty island." "Surelet's visit that island. I will ask Soonhae to go with us." "Thank you again. And I strongly believe I will have full recovery after the surgery. From now on, I will live healthy life with the liver you gave me. See you tomorrow at the operating room. I will pray for you and me." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ But Dr. Kim had to postpone the surgery for one week. He needed another donor but there was no one. One weekone week was the only time he had to find another liver. Nineteenth Story: Someone is praying for you If there is a will, there is a way. Dr. Chong-ilKim agonized over second donor and finally he found one before the one week deadline passed. Now everything was ready. He told to Sukho; "SukhoI am so happy. Tomorrow morning, you will get back to hospital for the surgery. We found second donor for your liver transplant." Finally, Dr. Kim, the world renowned expert in liver transplant could perform a surgery for his dearest friend, Dr. Kang. So Sukho was sent to operating room for getting new liver and the donor person was sent to another operating room to extract liver tissue. Sukho's bad liver was completely removed in preparation of receiving new liver. Meanwhile, 40% of donor's liver was extracted and moved to Sukho's room to be transplanted on him. Chong-ilwas the chief surgeon but there were eight more medical doctors and four nurses assisting him. This was a difficult surgery requiring a lot of precision and speed. After 10hours of non-stop concentrated effort, the surgery was over. Chong-iltook off his surgical gloves and exerted a big sigh of relief. He extracted one lobe of liver from a woman and transplanted it to a man who still loved her. He felt very happy and satisfied in bridging between two lovers. He whispered to Sukho who was still in total anesthesia. "Sukhonow I had a chance to pay back what I owe you. Thanks for giving me a chance." Then he moved to next room where the new donor was laying still on her bed. Holding her hands, Chong-il whispered. "Over the years, I have blamed you and have been angry toward you. I labeled you a faithless woman but now you have donated your liver to the man who loved you all his life and also the man you have been keeping in your heart. Now you are living in his body. This is a true love!" The donor was deep in sleep. Then the anesthesiologist approached Chong-il with a look of concern. "Dr. Kim the liver donor is still in sleep. Don't you think it is about time she would wake up?" "Well - I hope nothing went wrong. What do you think?" "Her condition was very bad. I understand she was bed-ridden for so long due to depression. That lengthyinactivity could have degraded her liver function." The anesthesiologist looked very worried. "Let's do our best. I believe she will wake up." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chong-il, the world renownedauthority in liver transplant could not sleep due to the concern about the prognosis of donor. He performed such transplantation surgery over thousand times with success rate of 98% but he did not feel good about this case. An anxiety of bad omen engulfed him. Usually, the extraction process for donor's liver was easy and simple work but in this case, it was not so easy. First of all, Chong-il had personal feeling about this donorwho could be his own wife. Maybe he was overstressed and may have damaged an artery by mistake. When he opened the donor's chest with his surgical knife, he saw blood from artery. Then when he opened abdomen, the sight of pulsing artery and dark-red liver caught his sight. But when he was about to extract the liver, he could not find it. Momentarily, his vision was blinded as if sunlight hit his eyes. "The woman laying here could have been my wife! Now she is Mark's wife but in her heart, only Sukho lives. She loves him more than anyone else!" This thought made him lose his calm and concentration. But soon he recovered and extracted the liver and then transplanted to Sukho as planned. His trouble started earlier. Though Mark offered his liver, his was too small and the transplantation surgery of his liver would not do any good. So he told Mark that his liver can not be used. "MarkI know how much you care forSukho. But unfortunately, yours is too small and transplantation would be useless.So we should search for other donor." "Really? My liver is not usable? Oh, no!" Mark was really disappointed. "That is true, Mark. That is the reality. But I will find another donor. I promise!" That evening, Mark told this story to his wife Soonhae who just arrived from US. "Soonhae as you know, I offered my liver to Sukho but mine is too small and can not be used. So Dr. Kim is looking for another donor." "If he can not find another donor, will Sukho die?" "Yes he will!" "Oh he can not die. He should live!" Then they slept that night. With a good luck, a liver patient can receive a healthy liver from a victim just killed by traffic accident. So when a patient waiting for organ transplantation hears the sound of ambulance, a hope surges. This is an irony by a sudden tragic death of a life, other lives can be saved. To save a life, another life must lost. Sukho had same feeling then felt ashamed of him. "I myself am a doctor whose job is saving lives but here I am waiting for someone else to die so that I can prolong my life? How pitiful am I! What a shame!" Chong-il also agonized over this problem'why Mark's liver is so small? How can I save the life of my dear friend, Sukho?' So after postponing the surgery schedule by one week, he was searching all over to find another donor but without avail. Five days passed and his level of stress went up sky high. That afternoon, Dr. Kim had successfully completed a liver transplant surgery on other patient and entered to his office to rest on his chair. His secretary told him that alternate donor for Sukho was not found yet. This news made him even more tired and he was about dozing off in his chair. At that moment, there was a knock on his door and the secretary entered. She said "Dr. Kim. A lady wants to see you. I told her you are too tired to meet anyone but she insisted on seeing you saying it is an urgent matter." "Well, then let her in. I want to hear her."A woman entered and to his surprise it was Soonhae who arrived from US just a couple of days ago. "YouSoonhae! How can you …" Chong-il's heart pounded. To Chong-il, she was a woman of both love and hate. She promised to marry him 30 years ago but betrayed him. She paid the price by suffering severe depression and barely recovered. Mark told Chong-il she was still in America so he was very surprised by her appearance. Soonhae told Chong-il why she was there. She wanted to donate her liver to Sukho. "So you want to give portion of your liver to him?" Chong-il asked still not believing her true intension. But she showed firm determination about her decision of donating her liver. She also made it clear that as she ruined the life of Sukho, the only way to atone her sin was to give away part of her liver and let him live. While hearing all this, Chong-il was enduring a feeling of jealousy and some degree of anger. "So you loved Sukho more than me?" "…" "You can't answerdoes this mean I am right?""No I love you both.""Then can you donate your liver for me also?""Of courseif you need it." She showed tears and pleaded. "Dear Chong-il please forgive me. I was a bad girl I betrayed your love!" "Don't think about itI already forgot all about it. Everything I forgave." "Oh thank you. Give 40% of my liver to Sukho and remaining 60% is for you." "What are you talking about, Soonhae? Giving the remaining liver to me?" "The portion of my love to Sukho is 40% and to you is 60%..."Chong-il could not make out her mumbling. Does this mean she loved him 20% more than Sukho? Then should he feel flatteredknowing she love him more? It was confusing. But now important matter is to save the life of Sukho. Her liver will save him from certain death. "Soonhae you are an angel. Yes I will take your offer and transplant 40% of your liver to Sukho. Thank you so much!" Immediately, Chong-il informed her intension to Mark McKnight. He was very surprised. "Really? She volunteered to donate her liver tissue to Sukho?" Mark was recalling his conversation with his wife Soonhae a few days ago and regretted to have said about Sukho's condition. He remembered to told her that though Mark offered his liver, it was too small to be effective. Soonhae was very shocked and sadden by the fact without another liver donor, Sukho would die for sure. After that conversation, Soonhae gave a careful thought then quickly decided to donate her organ to save Sukho's life. Knowing all this, Mark decided to keep the secret of Soonhae's sacrifice from Sukho because if he knew who the new donor was, he might refuse her offer because of his love for her. Fortunately, her blood type matched perfectly and her physical condition was acceptable as a donor. So the surgery went on using Soonhae's liver but Sukho still was thinking he got donation from Mark. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A week passed after the surgery and Sukho recovered significantly. So he insisted Chong-il to meet Mark to express his deepest thanks. Chong-il said-- "No problem. Mark also recovered fully and will be discharged from hospital today. On his way out, I will ask him to see you. But as you need more care due to your weaken immune system, I can not let you meet anyone else." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sukho was on his bed when Mark walked in. He was so appreciative to Mark, he expressed his thanking words in tears. "Oh my dear Mark! I can not thank you too much. You gave me your liver and saved my life." ". . ." But Mark did not answer and just gave a smile. "MarkI have a request which I asked you before. When I am fully recovered and ready to travel, please take me to Geomoon Island. I want to go with you and your wife Rose." "Yes - you said about it but why Geomoon Island?""Over there, Sungmin Han, my dear friend and Soonhae's brother is living with Captain Chung." "How can it be? Sungmin died long time ago! Is he living there?" "Not just Sungmin. My dear Ninh who was buried in South China Sea is there too. Camellia flowers are there also." "So Ninh also lives therethen everyone is living in that island… Sure I will go. I will guide your trip to Geomoon Island." "We don't have to take trip all together. We can meet at the Geomoon harbor. Go to Yusoo city. From that harbor, take a ferry to Geomoon harbor. I will wait for your at the harbor. And please come with your wife Soonhae. During this trip, build a good memory with her. When we meet, I will prepare a bouquet of camellia flowers to welcome you two." "OKI will be there." Mark promised Sukho then left the ward. Sukho didn't seem to notice anything. Some said "Lights are usually followed by shadows" and that's what happened to Soonhae she did not awake from her anesthetics and could not gain her conscience for a week. It seemed her prolonged depression and bed ridden days severely weakened her immune system. Neurologist checked her EKG and it was not good. Her liver function dropped extensively and amount of urine she produced was too little. All these symptoms are clear indications of her kidney problem. As time progressed, her prognosis worsened. After a series of tests and checking, doctors practically gave up the chance of her recovery. They even concluded her chance of death is 80%. They stated; "She will soon die or at best, she will be brain dead and become vegetative state." Dr. Chong-il Kim was suffering a lot from this outcome. He had performed over 1000 surgeries in his career as surgeon but this was the worst result. How could this happen? He used exactly the same technique and followed same procedure as he did for all of his surgery. Though he had a flash of blackout at the beginning part of surgery, later he was somewhat more careful becausethe donor was a woman who could have been his wife. So it did not make any sense why this case had such a poor result. You need only 15% of your original liver to survive. Soonhae had retained 60% of her liver. So why her liver completely failed and her life was in danger? Medically speaking, this made no sense at all. Chong-il asked many other experts in this area for second opinions. One of them was a medical school faculty who had extensive experience in liver disease. He and Chong-il had this conversation; "Dr. Kim-- I suspected liver damage in the process of surgery so I checked everything including liver scan and CAT scan but everything was normal. She still has 60% of her liver and they are intact. But the liver stopped functioning. I can not understand." "Does she have any pathological or immune problem?""No wayeverything else is fine. Maybe she gave her remaining 60% of her liver capacity to someone else. If that is true, though her liver exists physically in there, functionally it is non-existent." "Can it be possible? I have never heard about such silly thing." "Well, Dr. KimI also know it is silly. But I have no other explanation…" "Soher liver stopped functioning and she is going to die . . " Chong-il agonized over this problem for several days without any answer. Then he recalled his conversation with Soonhae. "Dear Chong-il I loved you more than I did Sukho. So I want to give 40% of my liver to Sukhoand the remaining 60% to you."What was the meaning of her saying? Did she give 40% of her liver to Sukho so that his life could be saved .. then remaining 60% to Chong-il as a compensation for his suffering from broken marriage bow caused by her betrayal? Is so, she was actually trying to give portions of her organ to those two men she loved? 'Oh no! Soonhae I can not take it!it is not a compensation. It is another punishment!' Chong-il wailed. Chong-il broke to tears thinking about poor Soonhae. Modern medical science could not explain her suffering and her sacrificial deed to pay back her debt. Then Chong-il noticed an irony. Though he got larger portion of her liver, or rather her life, if Soonhae dies, the liver would be useless. On the other hand, Sukho got smaller portion of her organ but that portion of her body would live in Sukho's body during his life. That means Soonhae's love would stay with Sukho much longer than with Chong-il. Twentieth Story Ferry boat to Geomoon Island One month later, Sukho was discharged from hospital and stayed with Chong-il's family. He was treated as a member of family and everyone cared for him. He had to take a bulk of medication to prevent rejection symptom from the transplanted liver. As his recovery progressed so fast, soon he needed just small amount of medication and could handle daily chore without any help from others. But Sukho noticed something strange from Chong-il's behavior. He lost some weight and showed some sign of depression. He was talking much less but Sukho could not see any significant problem from him. Many days passed and following week was the time that Mark McKnight promised to come to Korea with his wife and meet Sukho at the harbor. Finally, the day he promised to meet Mark arrived. That morning, Sukho was about to leave Chong-il's house to catch a plane to Yusoo when Chong-il followed him. "Sukho I am going with you." "You? Are you sure?""Yes looks like I should." "OK thank you. I hoped you would go with me." So both took plane to Yusoo city. Yusoo literally means beautiful water. And the city itself was very pretty. The city was filled with camellia flowers and the harbor area offered beautiful scenery with numerous seagulls flying over. They bought tickets and boarded aferry boat named Geomoon Island. They sat on one of the benches on upper deck. Soon, the ferry left harbor and sailed southward along the coast and parted wave though smaller islands. In two hours, they would meet Captain Chung and possibly Mark with his wife, Soonhae if they got there earlier. Sukho's heart was filled with joy at the prospect of meeting everyone he cared in his life Chong-il, Sungmin, Mark and Soonhae. That means all the good friends from the Chungju days would be there all together. Then add a couple more precious persons Ninh and Captain Chung. Sukho would not need any other people. But Chong-il did not talk and even sighed often. Is something wrong? "Hey Chong-ilMark gave me his liver and saved my life. Also we are going to meet Soonhae at this island. I am so thankful to youyou made all this possible!" "…" Chong-il was silent. "Chong-ilI owe my new life to you. I am indebted to you!" "…" Still Chong-il did not say a word. Finally, the ferry boat arrived at the harbor overlooking coast and cemetery of British soldiers. Everywhere they looked, sea of camellia flowers filled the scenery. Chong-il who visited the island for the first time was equally impressed by the beautiful sight. He could understand why Captain Chungdecided to settle down in this remote island as a fisherman and lighthouse keeper. At the harbor, a wave of seagulls was flying overhead and they could smell the sea. But no one was there to greet their arrival. They stood there waiting then a few minutes later, a shopkeeper approached and told them. "Are you looking for Captain Chung? WellCaptain Chung asked me to tell you to come to the white sand shore. He was with an American." "White sand shore?" "Yes. He said you will know what he means." Sukho knew what he meant. Captain wanted him and Chong-ilto come to the white sand covered shore near beautiful cliff covered with camellia flowers. They walked along the beautiful road leading to the shore. When they arrived there, Captain Chung and Mark McKnight were there to greet them. At the first sight of him, Sukho repeatedly thanked Mark for his donation of liver. Sukho owed his new life to him. Otherwise…. Mark looked very healthy. Sukho thought he made a remarkable recovery from liver donation surgery. But there was no sign of Soonhae whom Sukho was longing to see. He asked Mark "By the way, where is Soonhae?" "…" He did not answer. "Is she still in US?" "…." How strange! No one said anything about her. Even Chong-il did not want to talk about her. Far out from the ocean, big waves moved in and hit the cliff with white foam. The burning red camellia flowers were also burning Sukho's heart. One moment, it was like the fierce fighting spirit of Sungmin who were killed in Vietnam. In another moment, the fire was Ninh's spirit of burning passion. It is already late afternoon and camellia flowers in setting sun were bleeding from their petals. Mark finally spoke "Dr. Kanglisten carefully, Soonhae could not catch a ferry boat to Geomoon Island. Actually, she can not take the ferry boat at any time.""What? She can not get onboard the boat? What do you mean?" "She can not be here even tomorrow or any days after." "She can't?" Sukho asked again sensing something very serious. Then Chong-il who was silent so far spoke. "Sukholisten! Your new liver was from Soonhae, not Mark!" "What? Soonhae donated her liver?""Yes indeed. But after donating her liver, her liver function degraded drastically and she eventually fell into coma. Possibly, her immune system was destroyed from her prolonged depression. Our medical team did our best but she died!" "What did you say? Soonhae is no longer alive?""True. The funeral service was held two weeks ago." "Soonhae passed away? Oh no! She gave me her precious organ but she herself could not survive?"Sukho broke into tears. He longed for her all his life but she was gone forever! So there was no chance to see her any more? But she gave him another life! Then it dawned to him both of his dear women died but Soonhae's death was different from that of Ninh. Though there was no trace of Ninh after her death at the South China Sea, part of Soonhae was still living in Sukho's body. "Yes, Soonhae did not die. She is still alive in me!" He asked Chong-il "Where did they bury Soonhae?""In Chungju next to the grave of her grandfather overlooking the Cathedral church." "That is good. I also thank you again, Mark!" "That was best choiceshe always wanted to be back at Chungju." "So, after all, I owe so much to you and your late wife." Sukho agreed that the best place for Soonhae to rest was Chungju. He was planning to lay a bundle of red roses on her grave just as he did for Ninh. When thinking about red rose, he remembered the famous Irish folk song, "The last rose of summer" this was Soonhae's favorite song. I'll not leave thee, thou lone one! to pine on the stemSince the lovely are sleeping, go sleep thou with them'thus kindly I scatter thy leaves o'er the bedWhere thy mates of the garden lie scentless and dead. The last time Sukho saw Soonhae was about 2 months ago. That time, she was recovered from her depression and showed Sukho a smile. It was a good memory to keep. How sad would it be if her last face he remembered was that of an anger or indifference? So, you were gone just like the last rose of summer. Before you left, you gave me your precious organ and I got new life! Sukho closed his eyes. Flash of emotion rushed in. "SukhoMark's liver was too small to be effective. His was 30:70 ratio and I had to search for another donor. At that time, Soonhae heard about this and rushed to Korea. Her liver was adequately large and the transplant surgery was very successful. But after the surgery, her liver function degraded quickly and it followed many complications. Eventually, her heart as well as liver stopped completely. Maybe my medical decision was not proper. That way, I am guilty of her death. I am taking the blame…" Chong-il started weeping. His feeling of guilt and regret toward Soonhae could be the burden he had to carry rest of his life. This world's best expert in this field seemed to have made a serious mistake. Oh how can I repair my mistake? Then Chong-il thought "Well she left 60% of her liver for me. So I am living another life with her liver in my heart!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Captain Chung lost everything because he chose to rescue 96 Vietnamese refugees at South China Sea. Since that incident, he gave up his worldly ambition and retired in Geomoon Island. That was 30years ago and he knew what kind of life it had been. He was sure that this was not an easy place to retire by professionals. Captain Chung told to these three men, Sukho, Chong-il and Mark; "See? The ferry boat to this island is always full. This is a very small island and not fit for people like you. If you had any intension of retire here and live with me, I strongly urge you to give up that dream. Please stay at my home tonight but tomorrow morning, by all means catch the ferry back to Yusoo harbor and return to your places in the city. Leave your sad stories in this island so that such unhappy story will be burnt up by the flames from red hot Camellia flowers. On the petals of red Camellia flowers, write down your sad stories and your dreadful loneliness. Forget all your dark days and concentrate on the task given to you by Lord. Don't follow my path of this wasteful secluded life." Evening twilight was burning red in the sky. Camellia flowers spewed out even stronger red color by reflecting this twilight. Then soon the sun set and it became dark all over. "Oh before it gets even darker, let's go home. We can enjoy a fresh catch from the sea. Excellent food is waiting for us! My wife is waiting to welcome precious guests!" … ~The End~ Reality and Fiction Review of camellia by Ki Jo Sung Honorary chair, Koran Headquarter of International Pen Club This work titled "Camellia in Geomoon Island" is a recent novel by Dr. Kyu Ho Yun, a medical doctor. The author resides in Orange County of Southern California and he is gentle and popular physician just passed his 60th birthday. He was born in Chungju, Korea and educated in Korea; after elementary school, high school and college, he entered and graduated Yonsei University Medical School. Then he moved to New York State for further training. After 5 years of intensive training, he became a specialist in internal medicine. Then he settled in Southern California and opened his clinic in Garden Grove. He is a competent and empathic doctor helping patients of various ethnic groups including Korean, Vietnamese and Hispanic origin. He started writing novels because he had life-long passion for literature. But more importantly, he wanted to share human emotions, especially the emotions of sorrow and loneliness. Through his novels, we are comforted and feel a sense of oneness. His literal works are motivated by his desire to describe true nature and pattern of human life. Such efforts have been successful and he is gaining recognition as a novelist. Some of his works were translated into English and Spanish. I hope this English version of the novel further promote mutual understanding and cooperation between Korean and Vietnamese communities. The main theme of this novel centers around the event in which a Korean tuna boat captain named Jeiyong Chun (Jin Sung Chung in this novel) rescued 96 boat people who were adrift in South China Sea in 1985. But such rescue action was against company policy and the captain was severely reprimanded. He lost his job and spent tough days for a long time but in 2004, to express their deep appreciation for his heroic humane act, Vietnam community in Orange County invited him and his family and honored him in a big ceremony. For this novel, in addition to this captain Chun, the author fictionalized a number of good people he knew. Therefore, it is hard to separate the reality from fiction and the story deeply touches our hearts. Main theme of this novel is the friendship of three childhood buddies, Sukho Kang, Chong-il Kim and Sungmin Han. Sincere but unsuccessful love stories of Sukho with two women, Soonhae and Ninh Le, a Vietnam beauty, are entangled in the story. Soonhae is Sungmin's sister and though her first love is Sukho, she chooses Chong-il for marriage. Sungmin, an army lieutenant, was killed in Vietnam and his friends, Sukho and Chong-il goes to war as medical officers. While her first love and fiancée boys are away in Vietnam, Soonhae's grandfather, an Episcopal priest and her only remaining family member, passes awayand in desperation, she marries another man, Mark. Mark McKnight is a son of priest of same church and right after the wedding ceremony, they move out to America. In this novel, two milestone events are waiting readersfirst is the invitation of CaptainChung and his family by Vietnamese community in honor of his rescue action of 96 boat people. Second event is Dr. Kang's encounter with Soonhae whom he adored all his life. But Soonhae is in a severe depression and Dr. Kang is instrumental for her cure and recovery. In the course of this effort, Sukho realizes Soonhae's true heart belongs to him. But Sukho falls seriously ill due to liver malfunction and Soonhae sacrifices herself to save Sukho by donating her liver. This may be the most heart-warming part of the novel. Mark, Soonhae's husband, offered himself as the original donor but his liver was not fit for the transplantation and hearing this, Soonhaedecides to give hers. The operation was very successful and Sukho recovers still thinking he has Mark's liver. This way, the unfinished love between Sukho and Soonhae comes to fruition by having a part of her inside him. Sukho's another girl friend, Ninh, is a beautiful Vietnamese college student and is the only daughter of a powerful army general. Ninh is molested by Viet Cong who kidnapped her and her brother. Lieutenant Kang renders medical treatments and they fall in love to each other. But at her father's order, she marries a Vietnamese army officer, Captain Tran, and gives birth to a son, Jimmy Nguyen. The Republic of Vietnam loses war and the old glory and comfort areshattered. Parents commit suicide and Ninh, her son James, and her brother Qui flees country as boat people. Right before they got recued, Ninh dies in the hands of pirates and Qui and James immigrate to US. Due to the shock of such ordeal, Qui Le loses his sight but became a pastorafter meeting a caring Amerasian wife. James becomes a competent lawyer and is instrumental in finding and inviting Captain Chung. To Sukho Kang, though he could not marry any of the two women, he was truly loved by both Soonhae loved him so much, that she gave him her liverand eventually lost her own life. As for Ninh, her brother tells Sukho that he was her only true love. This sequence of events is well narrated and such story-telling will be helpful in building a closefriendship between Korean and Vietnamese communities. Also the story tells us that course of lives crisscrosses. Passing his 60th birthday, the author planned this novel based on his childhood memory of his home town Chungju. One of his friends, Sang Jin Ko, was grandson of an Episcopal priest and passed away at his young age. Mr. Soon Hee Yoo is one of his high school friends and was a member of Tiger Corp dispatched to Quy Nhon, Vietnam. Dr. Yun had reunion with him in US. Another high school friend, Kwon Hoo Kim graduated from Korean equivalent of West Point and was killed in action at Pleiku only two weeks after he landed in Vietnam. The author combined his memory of these real people in this fiction for more heart-warming story and attractive characters. After making a trip to Chungju, Korea and Da Lat, Vietnam, Dr. Yun planned the story plots and detail. This novel is based on his philosophy of his sincere attitude and his humanism. The last scene is very impressive where all four surviving characters gather together in a small island, named Geomoon Island,and at the urging of Captain Chung, they bury all the sorrow and pain of life in the isle and start another life of their own. We can appreciate the diversity of this story telling. This novel has 20 short stories and each story has different color. The novel starts with the first story tellingthe scene of firework over Disney Land and concludes with 20th story titled "The ferry boat to Geomoon Island". As stated earlier, the story is a fiction but as it is based on many real people and real events, the readers can not tell which is fact and which is a fabrication. A story telling requires both the attractiveness of excitement based on fiction but at the same time it should be realistic enough so that reader can feel same emotion through plausible events. Such harmony of reality and fiction attracts more readerships and one reason why Dr. Yun's novels are successful. While reading this novel, I tried to fathom the true intension of author's message by putting myself in his mind. Then I agreed his intension to tell the diversity of human life and also his attempt to find a meaning from such diversity. Purpose of reading a novel is to understand the life history of other human beings and also to explore the depth of human psychology. To do this, we need systematic construction of a story. The relationship among characters, the inner cause of each event and effect of such event must be fully understood and echoed to readers. This takes a good story telling skill. I can confidently say that this novel satisfies such requirements. The plot is solid and storytelling is very fluent. This is another reason why I can say Dr. Yun has a talent as novelist. In day-to-day encounter, we envy a person who can tell the story or argues his/her points very effectively. A successful novelist can do this in a written media and the writings must show fluency in the flow of story telling. Dr. Yun does this very well. Each character shows own color and the links among the people make sense. But the good nature of each person is properly shown throughout the story. Such work takes good talent and concentration power of story writing. Therefore, we can conclude Dr. Yun studied human characters no less than professional novelists. Fundamental characterization of this novel can be summarizedas high standard of human moral, desire for pure love and spirit of sacrifice for other person. Such spiritual characterization is a good reflection of author's level of morality. At the same time, it is an idealistichuman standard. Dr. Kyuho Yun strives to lead such life and his view is adequately illustrated in the story. A novel should contain enough diversity of human characters and flow of events and it should play the same tune for readers. From this stand point, this novel is a success. I sincerely hope Dr. Yun continues to tell many more stories and such work will motivate more readers to understand the beauty and joy of reading Korean novels.