On the way to work on a normal day without surgery or receiving attention from the medical association nor from patients being stalked by reporters.
"Ugh. I should wear a padded jacket now."
Dowook entered the hospital lobby with his shoulders hunched to shield himself from the chilly weather. Perhaps because the heater was on, the interior was warm.
Getting on the elevator, Dowook was about to get off on the 5th floor to the neurosurgery department but paused as the door opened.
Right in front, he met the gaze of a person holding a recorder and notebook. Just a glance could show that the person was a reporter so Dowook started to feel nervous.
"By any chance….."
"Park Dowook? It's Park Dowook!"
"Where? Where?"
There shouldn't be anything to cause this today, but why were the reporters like this? Unable to get off due to his bewilderment, the doors started to close slowly when a daredevil reporter stretched out their arm and grabbed the elevator door.
"Dr. Park Dowook! I'm Reporter Yoon Jinho from News Seoul! If you give us an exclusive interview, we will...!"
"Oho, Reporter Yoon! How could you cut in line like that!"
"Dr. Park! I'm Jeong Gilbok from Night Magazine! Just by looking at the number of subscriptions, the exclusive would be with us…..!
Thinking he might be turned into someone unrecognizable by these people on the elevator with him, Dowook got off first. Looking outside, it was even more spectacular. The hall from here to the neurosurgery department was crowded with reporters.
Dowook couldn't understand the situation no matter what he did so he asked Yoon Jinho, a reporter he was acquainted with from a previous press conference.
"Why are you waiting for me?"
"I guess you haven't heard the news?"
"I haven't. That's why I have such a blank face right now."
"The student you operated on, Jeong Taejun, received a perfect temporary score in his CSAT."
"What?"
He thought that since Taejun had a tube in his head and took the test in an uncomfortable operating room, he would score worse than usual, but to get a perfect score?
"If you give our News Seoul an exclusive interview about the surgery and the behind-the-scenes story related to Jeong Taejun, I will personally guarantee that I will make you and this hospital popular."
"Reporter Yoon, don't go over the line! They're already popular, how will you increase it!"
The reporters started to surround him. Then, he saw Nam Hana gesturing from the entrance of the neurosurgery department.
"I shall give an interview another time. I need to figure things out before I can answer any questions. Please let me through!"
In recent days, he had experienced the siege of reporters several times, so he quickly escaped through the gaps and arrived at the entrance of the neurosurgery department.
He reached the other side of the automatic doors and saw Nam Hana.
"Hey, wow. Did you hear about it too? Jeong Taejun got 100?"
"The phone line at the staff room is a mess because of that right now."
"The phone in the staff room? Why? Because of the reporters?"
"No. parents. Asking if their kid can take the test with a tube in their head next year as well. If there is a reservation. How much it is."
Dowook let out a scoff as he walked down the hall.
"What's the relation between the score and the surgery?"
"That's what we are telling them, but we don't have a way to stop those who are asking for a consultation with you. When can you have outpatients, Senior?"
"Outpatients…"
Although he was working as a temporary fellow under Prof. Choi, he could only begin consultations after he received a specialist certificate in January next year.
"After mid-January. Staff doctors do 3 a week so I guess I'll do the same. But just send the parents to the reception."
As they passed by the staff room, they saw a resident diligently responding on the phone.
-No. There are no surgeries that make holes in a healthy head, sir.
-Get Park Dowook on the phone? Dr. Park is not a part of the staff but is a fellow under a professor so we can't just make him come for calls li….why are you shouting?
Dowook put his hand on Nam Hana's shoulder.
"I leave the aftermath to you. Gather the staff who are not sleeping tonight. I'll buy everyone something delicious."
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"How many surgeries do you have?"
"3. Send an assistant from the staff for the second one. I'll be performing the surgery."
"Ok."
Looking in the staff room again, Dowook raised a finger.
"That intern's blood pressure's pretty high. Go console him quickly."
-Why is it our fault your child got the 7th rank in the mock test!?
Starting his morning rounds, Dowook first went to the most talked about ward. As he opened the door and entered, he saw Jeong Taejun surrounded by his family and friends.
"Good morning."
"Oh my, Dr."
Jeong Taejun's mother ran over as soon as she saw Dowook and grabbed both his hands.
"Thank you. Thank you so much."
"I just did my job as a doctor. And the reason he got such a great score isn't because of the surgery. You know that, right?"
"I do, but even so, thank you."
Worried that more misunderstandings might occur even as people kept calling the hospital, he made sure to stop Jeong Taejun's parents from misspeaking.
As he approached Jeong Taejun, Song Minji, who was sitting on a wheelchair, smiled brightly at Dowook.
"Doctor, Taejun changed his first choice of university."
"Really? To where?"
"Myeong Sae Medical University."
"Really?"
Feeling happy, Dowook looked at Jeong Taejun.
Jeong Taejun, pretending it wasn't true with his head turned, muttered a little.
"It looked a bit cool."
"Brat. It is a bit cool."
Six years of war against sleep in medical school, one year of crying every day in internship, and four years of suffering from those above and below in residency. Only after enduring all that would you be listed as a green specialist.
'It's just that it takes a long time before you can be cool.'
As Dowook checked on Jeong Taejun, he imagined what it would be like if the kid appeared before him in 11 years as a doctor.
He was sure he'd be very proud. He at least had the confidence not to yell at him every day like Chief Ha did.
"If your headache gets worse, inform the nurse. They'll give you some painkillers."
"Yes, doctor."
Jeong Taejun hesitated as he added.
"Thank you for helping me find a way to take the test."
"I should be the thankful one. You agreed to be my junior. But since you're doing it, become a surgeon. Don't go into internal medicine."
"That, I don't know yet. And the tutoring from the pretty noona was a lot of help. It even helped me focus on the other test subjects."
"It did?"
"I also didn't know it would be this helpful."
The true reason was someone else.
He was about to leave after his round when Song Minji, who'd been standing by herself at the entrance, blocked the way.
"Doctor, when can we go out? We have to go to the amusement park."
"Amusement park?"
Dowook glanced at Jeong Taejun since she seemed to be asking secretly behind her friend's back.
"Just the two of you?"
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Song Minji gave a short nod.
"Aha. Everyone's situation is different. We have to check on Taejun's progress for at least half a month. But even so by the time your neck gets better in 7 weeks, you should be able to push Taejun's wheelchair."
"7 weeks? If it's 7 weeks….it's right around Christmas season. Great. Thanks, doctor~"
Song Minji's appearance as she pushed her wheelchair into the room while smiling broadly, was the very definition of youth.
Dowook smirked.
"Good at studying, has a cute girlfriend. Taejun, this guy pretty much has it all huh?"
Feeling envious at the fact as he realized it, Dowook continued on his rounds.
His last visit for the morning was Room 2007.
"Please come in, doctor."
As soon as Secretary Ok opened the door, Dowook swallowed a gasp as he looked inside the room.
From the parlor to the inner room, there were several post-it notes everywhere.
"What is all this….."
"She's in the middle of a number game with Gabby. Her mother said she had to go somewhere this morning and asked us to look after the child."
Seeing Dowook's confused expression, Secretary Ok quickly asked.
"They seem almost done. Should I call her over?"
"No. My previous round ended early so I still have some time. I'll organize my charts for a while."
"I'll prepare some tea."
While listening to the sound of water boiling and inputting information for the chart on the parlor computer, Dowook's attention was drawn to the sound of laughter from the inner room.
Lim So Yool was in the midst of drawing something for Gabby.
The girl named Gabriella with an English diplomat father and Korean mother was a long-term inpatient in the VIP ward.
-Now, let's add one more. How should we send it?
-Should it follow the road exactly or take a shortcut?
-I don't know, this is the space you made.
-Then….
All these many post-its were places that represented certain points. Matching a young girl's taste, places like doll shops, dress shops, and flower shops stretched out along the dots and lines on the post-its.
-I'm gonna have her ride the merry-go-round. Go!
From the starting point of the memo and following the line, Gabby walked out to the parlor where a memo with a drawing of a merry-go-round was stuck.
"Here! Huh?"
Dowook and Gabby met each other's eyes.
"Hello."
"It's the doctor. Hello."
As soon as the child, who talked happily with Lim So Yool, saw the doctor's coat, her expression suddenly calmed down.
He heard from the nurse in charge that Gabby always kept a certain distance from the medical staff because she had been in the hospital for a long time.
Lim So Yool, who'd followed Gabby out, bowed her head slightly to greet Dowook.
"I guess we should stop for a second. Gabby, do you want to expand the space here, first?"
"With the Dijkstra algorithm?"
"That's right."
Two cups of tea which smelled like tea were left on the table in the inner room.
Dowook pointed to Gabby who was playing in the parlor and asked Lim So Yool.
"What on earth are you teaching her?"
"It's an algorithm to find the shortest distance. It's perfect for space recognition with numbers."
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That wasn't the point of the question, however, it wasn't something he should be arguing about with that math genius who was sipping tea and getting drunk on the sweetness.
"When will you be able to check on Gabby's diagnosis?"
"I put in a request for consultation with the internal medicine department. When the professor agrees, then I can. This requires detailed diagnostic data from experts in the field, not just me and you."
"I'll leave it to you."
A patient like Jeong Woo-seok was also able to see positive results. Wouldn't something good come out of Gabby's incurable disease? Although they shouldn't have hasty expectations, it was worth a try.
"Then, let's start the diagnosis on this side."
After a thorough examination of the neck muscles and sutured wound, Dowook said.
"The operated area has almost fully healed. Even if you want to leave tomorrow, there is no probabilistic logic for me as your doctor to refuse. I think we can decide on when you will leave the hospital."
Lim So Yool, who was rearranging her hair after holding it up for the exam, laughed at the words 'probabilistic logic to refuse.'
"The vice-dean told me I can use the dean's office after I'm discharged, but I'm more comfortable here. Can we use this place as an office for the time being?"
Dowook put on an expression saying he couldn't understand.
"The dean's office must be larger and more comfortable. The usage fee is expensive here."
"But it's lower than the cost of staying at a hotel."
"Hotel? You won't stay at home?"
"My house is in Seville. I'm in Seoul for work."
From the appearance of Lim So Yool, who mentioned Seville, Spain as if it were a small city in some province, Dowook saw a glimpse of the dignity of someone who worked internationally.
"There shouldn't be any problems with using the VIP room. Since it's only used on a reservation basis."
"I just feel uncomfortable using up a hospital room when I'm not sick. It should be against hospital policies as well."
As she was someone with a clear-cut personality, he could feel her concern over something that wasn't so clear. Dowook thought for a moment and answered.
"That's…how about thinking about it like this? Although you are cured, the hospital is still very sick. Due to financial deterioration and accounting audit issues. After all that is treated, you will be discharged from the hospital."
"I guess that works as a psychological excuse."
"I'll inform the nurse team not to accept reservations for Room 2007."
Now that the discharge issue had been sorted out, this was the last time he would be coming here as the attending physician. Getting up from his seat, Dowook reached out to Lim So Yool.
"I've never met a patient as unique as you."
"I've never met a doctor as special as you."
After formally bidding good-bye to each other as patient and doctor, Lim So Yool was about to go out when she asked.
"Will you come to visit a friend sometimes?"
"To hang out?"
This was an unexpected question. It was true that they had become close recently, but it was within the boundary of keeping good faith as a doctor.
As long as she was declared completely cured, this point of contact disappeared and only her original status which could easily change the fate of a doctor remained.
A financial consultant feared by everyone in the hospital.
'Hmmm…..'
Lim So Yool's expectant gaze seemed obvious enough to overshadow these concerns.
Come to think of it, when she introduced herself to Jeong Woo-seok, she introduced herself as a mathematician.
Dowook thought this was enough.
"As long as you don't say 'you can understand this kind of thing in 5 minutes' when it's a complicated calculation no matter who sees it."
Lim So Yool raised her eyebrows. However, her expression brightened when he replied he would come over without any burden.
"Oh, by the way. Jeong Taejun, the student you advised yesterday, asked me to say thank you."
"Did he catch on to the concept of numbers?"
"Very. To the point of understanding some life concepts. If things go well, I might have a new junior."
After delivering the heart-warming news, Dowook left the room.