Dean Kim Chun Man was smiling broadly in his office. A special series about CSAT's was just playing on the local TV news.
Bits of news like this year's questionnaire trend and last year's average score went by.
"At last!"
The signboard of Hansung Hospital appeared large. It was the most important among the main news stories.
Against the backdrop of the special test ward that different broadcasting stations came to file a while ago, a good-looking reporter continued his fascinating remarks.
"...we have received news that both officials from the Office of Education and parents are grateful for the consideration of Hansung Hospital, where all high school seniors can take the test. This is Reporter Park Sang-chil from QBS."
Even the conclusion was terrific, so Kim Chun Man clapped his hands.
"Good, good. QBS did the cleanest job. I'll give you 10 points."
He stood up from the sofa and walked to his computer so he could watch it again. But, the CSAT special news that should have been finished continued for some reason.
"Huh?"
Since the main news was Hansung Hospital and it was natural to save the best for last, Kim Chun Man stopped his steps as he did not understand why there was more news after that.
"This news just came in. An unexpected hope came to a seriously injured patient from the bus crash who can't even see at the moment. Let's hear it from Reporter Jeon Sang-mil."
"Today, the neurosurgery staff of Myeong Sae Hospital announced a very unusual operation to the medical association. It was a special plan to cure the blind symptoms that occur due to swollen optic nerves from a concussion which should take two months of recovery time. A miracle was found for Jeong Taejun, who desperately wanted to take the test as the CSAT approaches....."
"...what the heck. A miracle? No way."
Just by looking at the atmosphere and the reporter's expression, the broadcasting station was dealing with this as a huge issue. As he was feeling irritated, confused, and astonished, the phone rang.
Tiririring~!
Kim Chun Man held the receiver to his ear without thought.
-Sir, it's the chief of neurosurgery. That…..at Myeong Sae Hospital. They say Dr. Park Dowook is going to perform an amazing surgery so I'd like to go….
"Shut up!"
The phone was thrown to the floor.
"Park Dowook? It's that b*stard again? Agaain!"
* * *
The day before CSAT, Myeong Sae Hospital General Ward 703.
"Ok. This is everyone taking the test tomorrow, right?"
At Seong Chang Soo's question, the four students sitting on wheelchairs nodded their heads.
"Tomorrow, Noh Myeong Deok and I will take care of your physical condition. You have to endure even if the lines attached to your chest and the IV attached to your forearms are uncomfortable. Those with broken limbs and ribs wouldn't have said they'd take the test without knowing all this, Right?"
"Yes!"
Considering they were in the ICU not so long ago, they were overflowing with energy.
"Tell us right away if you feel any pain even in the middle of the test. Although we can't teach you the answers, us from the emergency unit will take care of your bodies. As quick as possible."
One of the nodding students pointed at Jeong Taejun who had his eyes closed at the back.
"Doctor. Will Taejun also really take the test? When he can't see anything?"
"Uh, I'm also pretty curious about that. Dowook. Is he really going to take the test?"
Seong Chang Soo asked Dowook who was standing at the back. Dowook approached and sated their curiosity.
"He can. He'll be able to see tomorrow. Those from the association all agreed with this procedure. Although Taejun has to take the test in the operating room. It means he can't cheat."
Laughing at the joke, a student shook their head.
"Taejun has the highest grades among us. Taejun's the only one who reached the cut-off score for Seoul University."
Hearing Seoul University, Dowook asked.
"You guys were from the advanced class of that cram school, weren't you? One that gathers students who study well. Who plans on becoming a doctor here?"
No one raised their hand. Dowook forced a bitter laugh. Seong Chang Soo pouted.
"At least pretend to raise your hand! Don't you know how cool a doctor is! Who do you think is responsible for you lot being able to sit here?"
"The bus driver."
"What? Ummmm...."
Seeing as they were right, Seong Chang Soo became embarrassed but quickly continued to speak.
"Let's draw lots and have someone come. This doctor, no, this senior will take very good care of you. I'm a very warm person."
At those words, Noh Myeong Deok, who'd been standing behind him, shook his head slightly to say 'no.' A few of the students giggled.
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Seong Chang Soo glared at the giggling kids and said.
"You guys are overlooking something but. Us. doctors. We are people who scored really well on the test you are about to take. Second try, third try, and finally entering medical school, we're masters. Our Myeong Deok here passed on the third try. What do you think? Do you want to hear how to do well on the CSAT or not? Should I just go or not?"
"I want to hear!"
"Me too!"
"Are you coming to med school or not?"
"Go!"
"You. I like how loud your voice is. You have the right to hear the story. Myeong Deok, cue."
Seong Chang Soo's jokes were well-received by the kids.
The rigid atmosphere of having to take the test in a hospital ward full of medical staff seemed to ease, so Dowook smiled as he watched. Then, his eyes fell on Jeong Taejun, who looked sad the whole time.
'Why is he like that?'
That night.
Lying on the bed, Jeong Taejun turned his head at the sound of the door opening.
"Mom?"
"Your parents are resting for a while."
It was the voice of Park Dowook, the doctor who would allow him to see tomorrow.
"I heard from Minji that you are short 4 points? In math at that?"
"I keep making mistakes while calculating. Even though I know all the formulas."
"That's why I brought the goddess of math."
"Huh?"
A rustling sound, then the sound of a notebook being opened could be heard.
"It's nice to meet you, Taejun."
The female voice that came from right beside him was very beautiful. Taejun's cheeks blushed as a sweet smell blew into this place that smelled like disinfectant.
"Who….are you?"
"I'm Lim So Yool, Dr. Park's friend."
Right after, he heard the conversation between Park Dowook and Lim So Yool.
"This is Taejun's test paper. Is it possible to fix?"
"He seems to have a poor understanding of the concept of numbers. It should be alright if we fix his impatience."
The sound of writing continued. Then, the beautiful voice asked a question.
"Taejun, do you remember the 21st question? When the constants a and b satisfy the following conditions….."
Her private tutoring to review the mock test questions that he had solved the day before the accident in a quiet and clear voice.
There was no way of knowing if it would actually help tomorrow, but it was enough to relieve Jeong Taejun's anxiety over the fact that he couldn't review anything for the past few days.
He thought Dr. Park brought his friend over just to help him calm his nerves.
"As soon as you see the problem, you think of the properties of the right function, base function, symmetry, and all kinds of formulas. That's why you can't see past the numbers to penetrate the essence."
"The cram school teacher said it's usually solved….."
"Usually? Do they know what usual means when they say that? Did you learn to be average?"
"N-no."
The sound of laughter could be heard from somewhere.
"Now, what is being asked in this question is the properties of a and b. So when you're looking for the solution, you're turning only in this direction, so you miss that there are several paths to the answer."
"Several paths?"
"Make your own functions. Just replace what you don't know with 'x' and you've started half of it. The problem with you is that you ignore the trial and error that comes with solving and only keep the results in your head. You're afraid of worries."
She spoke in a scary manner. It was scary but easy to remember. It was totally different from the lectures where topics were matched to the test.
However, thinking that it might be really helpful, Jeong Taejun focused on her voice.
* * *
November 15.
On the morning of the CSAT, when public officials and office workers were delayed to work and traffic in the city was restricted, the whole nation cheered for the high school seniors.
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Two test sites were also set up at Myeong Sae Hospital.
Entering one of them, the supervisors from the Office of Education were bewildered by the surgeon's explanation in front of the sterilizing tool cart.
"If you go outside, you have to disinfect your hands when you come back in. Even if it's uncomfortable, please don't take off your mask."
The state of the operating room prepared for Jeong Taejun to take his CSAT was both unfamiliar and amazing to the supervisor.
A 3D image of the patient's head was displayed on one side, and the desk and chair for the test where the body would be fixed to were different from the usual.
Beyond the window overlooking the operating room, dozens of people watched the scene.
"There's an hour left. Scrub nurses, please hurry up and prepare the rest. If the supervisors can follow Dr. Nam over there and learn how to disinfect their hands first. Hana."
"Please come this way."
The supervisors followed the doctor wearing round glasses and washed their hands at the disinfection site outside the operating room.
A few minutes after returning and settling down, Jeong Taejun entered the operating room on a stretcher.
"Please sit Taejun over here. Fix his hair in place."
Jeong Taejun flinched when Dowook wiped his left temple with some disinfection cotton held in a pair of tongs.
Dowook, who quietly received a drill from the nurse, looked at the 3D navigator after confirming that his hands still had Choi Hoo's sense which he'd accepted as soon as he got to work.
"Hana. Anesthesia."
He put the drill to the place under local anesthesia. Then he talked to Jeong Taejun.
"Tell me if you want to stop at any point."
"Will it hurt a lot?"
"I don't know. If it hurts a lot, do you want to stop?"
"No. I'm gonna hold on."
Whiiiirrrrr.
The thin drill punched a hole in Jeong Taejun's skin and skull in an instant. He made a hole with a diameter of 0.2mm without any error.
Stemming the bleeding with gauze, Dowook held a tube thinner than the cartridge of a pen in his hand.
Checking the tube's gradual entry through the navigator, Dowook twisted his hand slightly at the corrugated nerve tissue.
"Ugh…."
"You're holding on very well. Just keep hanging in there. The most painful part is over."
He could feel the patient's pulse rate go up. He could tell that it was because of nervousness just from the sound of the beat.
Slowly, slowly so that nerves and tissues were not damaged. It wasn't long before the tube arrived at its destination.
"Begin the drainage."
When the syringe on the other end of the tube was pumped, part of the liquid was sucked out.
An exact amount of cerebrospinal fluid must be extracted to completely return vision. If too much was drained, it would cause dizziness and if you drain less, the vision would not recover properly.
Stopping the syringe at the appropriate line, he looked at the patient.
"Can you open your eyes?"
When he opened his eyes slightly, Jeong Taejun was first surprised by the scenery of a room full of people wearing masks and hats.
Then he met the deep black eyes of the doctor who performed the procedure. He looked similar to the impression given by his voice.
"How is it? Can you see?"
"I can see very clearly."
"How many fingers am I holding up?"
"You're not even holding up your hand."
"Oh, you can see pretty well."
One could feel the broad smile Dowook had behind his mask.
"I'm going to leave the tube in your head until the end of the test. You've heard the explanation, but the recovery of your sight is temporary and you'll have a severe migraine tomorrow. Don't curse me. I tried my best."
"I won't."
He stuck a tape fixing the tube in place.
"Hana, check the vitals every 20 minutes. Call me right away if something happens. I have to go for a surgery right away."
"Yes, senior."
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When the clock in the operating room passed 8:30, a supervisor sat in the chair in front of Jeong Taejun.
Another supervisor completed the test identification slip and face check and the CSAT in the only operating room test site in Korea began.
It was almost 5 PM when Dowook came out after completing two surgeries.
"Thank you for the hard work, professor."
He bowed to Prof. Choi who was passing by him.
"Sure. Are you going on your rounds? Check on the last patient who had surgery yesterday and arrange the schedule for the second surgery."
"After I finish up Jeong Taejun's procedure."
"It was a shunt procedure drain, wasn't it?"
"Yes."
Prof. Choi removed his gloves and mask, then threw them in the waste bin as he looked at Dowook.
"If you want to gain more experience with additional surgeries, tell me whenever you want. I can rearrange my schedule as long as it's not fixed."
Even though he didn't take charge of this patient because of such passion, Dowook nodded silently.
After sending Prof. Choi off, Dowook quickly went to Room 3 where Jeong Taejun was located. The supervisor was putting the last answer sheet in an envelope and tidying up.
Dowook approached Jeong Taejun, who was sitting while he looked very exhausted.
"Taejun, are you ok?"
"I'm so tired."
"It would be tiring to stay like that the whole day. This would be the first time you had to eat and poop in the same place as well."
"Not that. I thought my head would explode because the math problems were so difficult. The level of the test this year is out of this world."
Dowook placed his hand on the tape, fixing the tube in place as he asked.
"I guess your scores will go down? Then come to Myeong Sae University instead of Seoul University."
"I didn't fail that much, ok?"
"What's wrong with Myeong Sae University? Our medical department is harder to get in than most departments in Seoul University."
He removed the tape while whining, and disinfected the area around the tube again.
"Once I remove this, you'll slowly lose your vision. You have to suffer for two months, is there something you want to see for the last time?"
"That…."
Jeong Taejun's eyes looked at Dowook's direction.
"My face? How embarrassing. Well, if you want I'll put my mask slightly do….."
"The noona from yesterday with the beautiful voice."
He swallowed the kimchi soup wrong. Dowook looked into Jeong Taejun's eyes which were sparkling with expectation and shook his head.
"She's not someone I can just call over whenever I want."
"It seemed like she would be really pretty. Is she really?"
"She is very beautiful. I'm sorry this face is the last thing you'll see. Close your eyes. You'll feel dizzy if you keep your eyes open and experience the changes in your vision."
He finished all the preparations to remove the tube.
"Are you two dating?"
"That kind of general standards are only for ordinary people. As you may have felt yesterday, she has a completely different thinking process."
"I did feel that wa….. Ah, it hurts, doctor."
Removing the tube in an instant, he placed an aseptic gauze to staunch the bleeding.
"Good job. You're pretty strong-willed. When you're this hurt."
"Thank you, doctor. I'll pay you back someday."
"That favor, can you apply for med school instead? Doesn't this job seem attractive?"
"That….only if I really fail the test."
"Ugh, this brat."
That night.
Song Mina, who was checking the answers Jeong Taejun had recorded on his test slip one by one, added the total score and opened her eyes wide in surprise.
"Tae, Taejun….."
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