Golden Time (JungYong) Chapter 35-40

Chapter 35

A liberal arts lecture was in full swing. A back door opened quietly and a female student was sneaking into the classroom. Her walking gestures, while she was looking for an empty seat, conjured up an image of a cat. It was Choi Suryon. Looking around with shining eyes, she took a seat right next to Suhyuk. Taking out her book carefully, she whispered to him, “What happened yesterday?”

Suhyuk, his eyes fixed on the professor, replied briefly, “You’d better be ready.”

She sighed a long sigh. Little did she think things would escalate into such a big deal.

She pretended to sleep and then became a patient in an instant. Without that, however, she felt like she would pass out. And the drunk senior was casting his gaze at her body here and there. The method she thought of as the best became the worst.

“Huh …”

After breathing a sigh, she soon began to focus on the professor’s voice.

“Okay. Submit your report by the next lecture.”

As soon as the lecture ended, Suhyuk rose up.

Then, Choi’s voice filled the lecture room.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that … I am really sorry, seniors and fellow friends.”

Standing at the side of the podium, she, waving her long hair, repeatedly bowed.

Some girls approached her and comforted her, saying they understood her and that it could happen. Suhyuk went out with a smile.

—–

Day after day passed by. Suhyuk’s life was monotonous.*

After lectures, he visited Kim Hyunwoo’s house and met his mother.

That evening was no exception.

Returning home, Suhyuk was on the bus. At that moment, he heard his cell phone ringing. After confirming it was his, Suhyuk smiled. It was from Dongsu.

“Hello.”

(Hey, it’s your brother. How about a drink today?)

“I know you don’t drink much. You still want to?”

(It’s you who drinks like a madman.)

“Where do you want to see me?”

(I’ll meet you near your house. At the same place we ate, that grilled pork belly house.)

“Sure. actually I was still going home. It will take about 20 minutes.”

(Okay, it will take me as much time to get there.)

Suhyuk, who stopped the phone, looked at his cell phone and laughed.

It’s been almost a month since he met Dongsu.

He looked at the scenery passing through the window.

Time flew like an arrow.

Even if he were in high school uniform now, he would not feel that awkward.

Nonetheless, he had already become a college student. Looking out with a drowsy look, Suhyuk raised his head suddenly as there was shade hanging over him.

When did she get on? He saw an old woman standing before him with a bundle.

He stood up suddenly, saying, “Please sit here.”

“Oh, I’m good. A student like you should sit.”

Suhyuk got out of the seat, saying to her, “Please have a seat.”

“Oh, you don’t have to. Thanks anyway. You’re a good-hearted boy.”

The old woman sat down and gave him a candy.

“Thank you,” Suhyuk put it into his mouth without declining it, “It’s so delicious.”

She, with a mix of laugh and wrinkles on her face, pounded at her knees softly.

Suhyuk knitted his brows at that.

He showed reactions at any person even with a slight pain, which he himself did not realise.

“Are you feeling uncomfortable in your knees?” asked Suhyuk.

She laughed again.

“If you get old, your body gets broken.”

Suhyuk nodded his head with a sad expression before he knew it. When one gets old, one’s body becomes weaker and weaker. No one can stop it.

The best one could do is to delay it with physical exercise as much as possible.

“Are you working?” asked Suhyuk.

“Well, I’m just playing in my garden.”

“Don’t you usually walk too much or lift heavy stuff as a rule?”

She rubbed her knee that she had been patting.

She felt as if a doctor were questioning her.

“I can not do it now because I don’t have physical strength.”

“How about your condition in the past? Did you feel pain in your knees then?”

She shook her head in the negative.

“It’s okay, it’s okay.”

Suhyuk slowly nodded his head. As he guessed, osteoarthritis seemed to be the cause off the knee pain. Time has shrunk cartilage surrounding the grandmother’s knee joints. It’s the time of her life that only flew like an arrow that caused osteoarthritis. What if her condition remains untreated…

“May I touch your knees?”

“Huh?”

Suhyuk’s hand already reached her knees. After he touched her knees carefully, he smiled a little smile before he knew it. Fortunately he did not feel any convex. In other words, there was no inflammation between the joints and the lubrication sac wrapped with the lubricant. It has not progressed to bursitis.

“Next stop is … And the next stop is … ” came out an announcement on the destination.

Suhyuk took a big breath at the announcement. Surgery was the best way to cure it.

“Madame, please listen to me.”

“Huh?”

Suhyuk said at once, “Do not squat as usual, do not lift heavy stuff. Please eat a lot of minced seaweed, kelp, and vegetables that are rich in minerals such as magnesium, calcium, and zinc. It’s important to eat various kinds of food. And stop by a hospital for a check-up by all means. You’ll get better with medication or physical therapy alone.”

“Huh?”

She opened her eyes wider, wondering what he was talking about.

The bus door opened, and Suyhuk looked at her briefly. Then he turned his head quickly and squatted near her. He smiled at her, who now looking up at him.

“Well, I mean … ” The bus departed when he spoke.

***

The pork belly was grilling over a large pot lid with a delicious smell.

At that moment the door opened and a handsome young man came in.

Dongsu opened his mouth roughly,

“Hey, what time is it now man? Did you see an emergency patient?”

Suhyuk sat at the table with a smile and said,

“Sorry, sorry.”

Grilled pork belly and soju.

They traded soju cups several times and the atmosphere was heightening.

They emptied 4 bottles of soju already. Dongsu offered a cup of soju to him,

“Drink it!”

Hitting the glass against Dongsu’s, he shook his head.

Dongsu really studied hard, but his effort was overshadowed by other students at Jaemyung HS. After he put down the cup, Suhyuk said as a joke,

“I still cannot believe that you were admitted at a law school.”

“Hey, as for me, there is nothing I can’t do, if I try. Right?”

Suhyuk laughed at his words, and drank soju. He knew he would make it because he really worked very hard.

“How is your school life?”

Dongsu shook his head loudly and said,

“Oh, boy. it’s a bunch of nerds. And they drink a lot. Of course they don’t drink as much as you.”

In his eyes, Suhyuk was a monster. An alcohol monster.

When he had a drink with Suhyuk, he passed out before he knew it, and woke up back home after his mother hit him on the back.

‘Suhyuk carried you here on his back,’ said his mom.

According to her, he always carried him home on his back.

‘But today is different. No, it would be different, because I had milk and some liquor for fast sobering.’ Dongsu thought to himself.

***

“Drink!”

The two, clainking their cups, made a pleasant smile. One word came to their minds while they were giggling with each other, namely friend. One hour passed quickly like that.

When Dongsu, whose face became reddish with intoxication, was shaking his head, Suhyuk said,

“Work hard. Now is the beginning.”

Dongsu nodded his head. Suhyuk was right. Everyone was studying hard whenever they could find time.

“Let’s get up!” said Suhyuk.

Dongsu showed a puzzled look at his words, asking,

“Already? It’s not yet 12am?”

“Well, I have some work to do tomorrow. I should not smell of alcohol.”

Dongsu drank up the cup at once. He did not want to bother Suhyuk anymore.

When he was standing up, Dongsu stumbled.

“Did you get drunk again?”

At Suhyuk’s words, Dongsu opened his eyes sternly and stood upright.

“I’m not drunk. Let’s go!”

As soon as the store door opened, Dongsu swayed his body as if he were falling down. Fortunately, Suhyuk held him.

“Hey. I’m drunk.”

“So drink moderately, moderately!”

Dongsu laughed loud, helped by Suhyuk, and said,

“I feel so good today. Here comes a law school student. Ha ha ha!”

—–

Suhyuk had to be still like a stone statue.

A man who looks the same as himself before his eyes.

It was as if he was no different from him reflected in the mirror. In his hand, the mess that showed his skill turned round and round.

“What is so funny about playing doctor like this…”

Suddenly, his gaze, which was playing with a scalpel, stuck to Suhyuk. And he made a gentle smile. Suhyuk stepped backward, and that made his smile even colder.

“You are not funny these days.”

What does he mean? Suhyuk had no time to think because he, grabbing the scalpel, was approaching him.

“Come back again, as you were before.”

Suhyuk, who could not move back because of the wall, opened his eyes sternly. The sharp scalpel he was holding was falling to his neck.

At that moment, Suhyuk raised his upper body suddenly.

Looking around quickly, he soon sighed.

It was a dream. He wiped off his forehead soaked in sweat. He had cold sweat on his whole body. Nightmare. It seemed like he had a similar dream for a week.

Ticking.

The wall clock pointed to 6 o’clock in the morning.

Suhyuk, who rose from his seat, took a shower and went out.

Suhyuk’s face, who was climbing up the steep stairs, was dirty as if he played with black charcoal. It was because he was carrying on his back an A-frame packed with a lot of briquettes. He was helping as a volunteer. If he put his name on the list of volunteers, he could add a credit on his liberal arts class.

“Whoo …”

Suhyuk stopped for a moment and sighed.

“Now cheer up. We’ve got only 10 more houses.”

After wiping his sweat, he moved again.

“Thank you very much sir. I have nothing else to offer than this. Please have this.”

An elderly woman with a bent back gave yogurt to the volunteers.

Suhyuk got one and drank it.

“Let’s move to another place!”

Suhyuk moved out of the door at the voice of the volunteer director.

At that moment, he turned his head again and fixed his gaze on the elderly woman touching the briquettes. She wore slippers without socks. And her feet were quite swollen.

“Were you hurt?”

She smiled at his question.

“It’s okay, do not bother because it’s okay.”

“I think you should go to a hospital”

At a glance, it is full of irritation.

“I’ll be alright. Why should I go to a hospital to spend money?”

She was wearing a warm smile, but Suhyuk gave a sigh before he knew it.

She did not get any treatment because she had no money. Not only here but in other areas, there were many elderly people who suffered from their painful bodies. Instead of going to the hospital, they relied on home remedies to treat their sickness. Worse, he saw one elderly man applying soybean paste to his wound.

“What are you doing Mr Lee?”

“Oh, yes, I’m coming now,” Suhyuk said, looking at her.

“Thanks for the yogurt.”

After that, his delivery of briquettes lasted three more hours.

As the sun was setting gradually and the sky was turning red, the volunteers were able to finish their work with a proud smile.

“Thank you for all of your hard work. Good job. We’re going to have dinner at the hangover soup house nearby. So don’t miss it, everybody!”

Suhyuk ignored it lightly and headed home. He washed and ate dinner, and then closed his eyes to sleep. Was it because he delivered briquettes without resting all day?

Fatigue made his body exhausted. He felt like going to sleep immediately, but could not sleep easily. He tossed and turned for two hours.

Those living in poor hillside villages were laughing brightly even though they were sick.

Their images continued to haunt him when he ate or washed his hair.

—–

Suhyuk, who woke up in the morning, went out of school after finishing all the lectures.

Though Choi Suryon followed him to have lunch together, he declined it giving an excuse, and he went straight to the pharmacy.

When he got inside, a pharmacist wearing a white gown welcomed him.

“Welcome, what would you like to order?”

“Do you have anti-inflammatory drugs? Such as anti-inflammatory drugs, hydrogen peroxide, medilox-f and cottonseed, multivitamins, and glucose amino acids…”

“Could you tell me again?” asked the pharmacist listening to him aghast.

Suhyuk scratched his head. As he was impatient, he spoke fast.

Suhyuk slowly spoke again. All the medicines he mentioned could be bought without a prescription.

“It is 240,000 won in total,” said the pharmacist.

Both the talker and the hearer were surprised.

The pharmacist was amazed at the customer who spent over 200,000 won, and Suhyuk was surprised at the amount. He just bought exactly what he needed, but that’s about the amount.

But he paid for them without any regret, thinking about those old people massaging their sick bodies even now.

“Take care!” said Suhyuk, getting out the store.

“Be careful and come again,” said the pharmacist.

Suhyuk, who went out of the pharmacy, bought other necessary items at other places.

Suhyuk arrived at the hillside village at 5pm.

Before he climbed the steep path like a mountain, he was in a pensive mood, looking at the houses likely to be tilted anytime. How can they live like that? If needed, he could help them with surgery. Of course, he would do so as long as they wanted.

Suhyuk thought briefly on that, and moved again.

‘If you decide on your plan, that will bring about a result for you.’

Something in his mind pushed him forward, and without any hesitation.

Suhyuk, who was moving his body, paused for a moment, knitting his brows.

“Oh my god.”

He felt a sharp pain in his muscles because he carried some briquettes yesterday.

All his body ached as if it were covered with sore muscles.

After patting his waist several times, he started to step up the stairs again.

The first house he arrived at was in front of a blue gate, whose wall was full of graffiti.

An old man in his 70s with two 7-year-old children lived there. Did he say he was doing manual labor? Suhyuk opened his mouth in front of the door and asked,

“Is anybody inside?”

An answer came right away.

“Who is it?”

The door opened, and the old man appeared.

“Huh? Didn’t you bring us briquettes?” he asked.

“How have you been sir?” Suhyuk said with a smile.

Chapter 36

Suhyuk went in, and he spread the medicine and other stuff he bought.

“What is all this?”

“Sir, you should not apply soybean paste on the wound.”

He read somewhere that the alkaline ammonia that soybean paste contains helps the wound healing by causing the neutralization reaction, but it is not clear, because it was not his specialty. However, one thing he can be sure of is that secondary infection can be caused by soybean paste.

“Sir, can I take a look at the wound?”

The old man nodded, with his eyes opened wide.

Did he steal all this stuff from a pharmacy? There were unknown drugs scattered about.

“Are you a doctor?” asked the old man. He’s never seen such a young doctor.

Suhyuk was laughing silently.

“Let me wipe away the soybean paste,” Suhyuk said, and carefully removed it from his forearm.

He saw a scar there. However, he could not confirm it because it was covered with soybean paste.

“You will feel a bit sore.”

Suhyuk picked up the saline solution. Saline solution is used to remove germs and bacteria, but this was the only thing that he prepared. But even this was a nice preparation.

Suhyuk, who thoroughly cleansed the wound, opened his mouth,

“How did you get hurt?”

“I fell down while working.”

“Where was it?”

“I fell from the stairs.”

Suhyuk’s face was a little relieved.

It means that he was not hurt by rusty steel. Still, damaged skin. How much was it damaged?

The skin consists of the epidermis, followed by the dermis and subcutaneous fat. The epidermis is fake skin. The outermost, non-nucleated dead cells are layers that make up the epidermis. When one goes to a public bathhouse, the dirt one cleans from his or her body is this.

And the dermis. This can be said to be real skin. It excretes wastes, and it includes thing like the immune cells, marine-algae, sebaceous gland, lymphatic etc, and plays a leading role including in skin nutrition and perception function. The last is subcutaneous fat. It is a layer where fat cells accumulate. It maintains body temperature, protects against physical shocks and damage, and accumulates the energy that the body consumes. Obesity comes naturally when the subcutaneous fat is thickened.

But the old man before his eyes was far from being obese. He had skinny arms like twigs.

After completely removing the impurities on his arms Suhyuk thoroughly examined the wound, and he smiled a little smile. The dermis was damaged, but fortunately the wound was not so deep, so did not have to be sewn. The wound was disinfected once again and the ointment was applied, and band and bandage were applied.

“Grandpa, you should not use soybean paste next time. Otherwise, you’d be in big trouble.”

Inflammation came secondary to infection, and if infection is neglected, it causes complications.

If so, the situation can change from light to worst.

“I’m done.”

The old man looked at his arms here and there. His arms wrapped with bandages.

Has he ever been treated like this?

“Are you from a public health center?”

Sometimes they would come for volunteer service from the health center.

But the prescription was different. Unlike those who put a stethoscope to him a few times and dropped off medicine, this young man made the old man feel he was like a doctor, or something more than that.

“I’ve come here for volunteer work, Grandpa, I’ll be back.”

When Suhyuk turned back, he said,

“Eat this once, it’s big and very sweet.”

It was a few steamed sweet potatoes that he offered.

Exposing his white teeth, Suhyuk took and bit it without peeling it.

“It’s delicious.”

“Isn’t it? I bought them from the market…”

At that moment, the two children living with him came in from the next room.

They were watching the sweet potatoes that he was holding in his hands.

“Now here you go,” Suhyuk said, handing them the sweet potatoes.

“Hey, that’s for the doctor,” said the old man.

“I ate a lot of rice before coming here. I’m full.”

When did Suhyuk eat rice? After school he rushed to this place.

Cough!

At the sound of coughing, Suhyuk bent one knee and adjusted his eye level with his.

“You have a cold?”

Then he felt the child’s forehead. No fever, no dry cough, which meant he had a light cold. Suhyuk offered medicine.

“Eat sweet potatoes and have this pill before you go to bed, okay?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Do you wash your hands every day?”

Even washing hands everyday can prevent one from catching a cold well enough.

Suhyuk, with a slight smile, turned back to visit the next house.

“Hey! What’s your name?”

He heard the grandpa’s voice when he was going out, but did not stop and moved to the next destination.

Suhyuk, who visited the old woman’s house in the hillside village, was looking at her swollen feet. He thought it was inflammation, but it was pus. It would be better if the drug treatment was done at the same time, but it was certain that she would not go to the hospital to save money. Suhyuk laughed, while looking up at her,

“You will feel pain a little. Please be patient as you’re an adult,” said Suhyuk.

He moved a scalpel, which then reached her feet.

Did blood come out? No. A yellow liquid flowed out instead of blood.

Suhyuk began to touch her feet and squeeze the pus again and again until blood ran out.

It did not last long. With her eyes closed and subtle wrinkles on her face, she opened her eyelids.

Suhyuk disinfected as before and took a bandage in his hand.

The more he put the bandage around her feet, the more uncomfortable he felt.

“This medicine is…”

Suhyuk rephrased his words. His complicated explanation only made her head complicated.

“Please take this medicine three times a day, and your feet will get better soon. If you feel pain or feel uncomfortable, you have to go to the hospital, okay?”

Of course she would not have to go there as a must, because he would come back again.

“You just keep giving me so much… Wait a minute.”

Entering the kitchen, she showed up again with corn and some milk.

“This is very delicious. Try it!”

“Thanks for the food!”

Then Suhyuk visited a few more households.

He was able to finish his work and return from the hillside village around 10pm.

He was holding a lot of foods in his hands.

“Oh, they’re heavy!”

Corn, plastic bottles of sweet rice drink, boiled sweet potatoes, etc.

Suhyuk’s visit lasted for two weeks. And when he did not go there anymore, a rumor was spreading in the hillside village: he was an unnamed white angel, who then flew to heaven with reattached wings.

—–

“Why did you come again? I told you not to!”

With a cold gaze and a rough tone, she asked Suhyuk. He just laughed.

Hana leered at his gesturing like that.

He came to her father’s restaurant every weekend to wait tables and do dishes.

Despite her request for him not to come, he still showed a smiling face like he did everyday.

“Go back. Even if you’re coming here, there’s nothing you can change about it.”

She was talking about her dad’s legs. He has to forever lead a life with a limp.

“I’ll fix it,” said Suhyuk.

Hana knitted her brows slightly. That same promise of his again.

“How can you fix it when they said they can’t in the hospital…?”

She looked back at him very much embarrassed. For he entered the kitchen through a slight opening even though she was blocking him at the kitchen door.

“I’m here, sir!”

At his voice Hana’s father turned his head.

“Why did you come again? I told you not to…”

When he said that, he put his head down because Suhyuk, kneeling on one knee, grabbed his ankle gently.

“How do you feel?”

“I’m okay. I’m not sick and I’m just normal.”

Suhyuk nodded his head as he watched his feet carefully.

Suhyuk could not tell him he should take a rest: if he does not move because of his limp, the muscles supporting the legs will become weakened and deteriorate rapidly.

“Do not overwork yourself,” Suhyuk, emerging from his seat, once again said to hims.

‘I’ll find out how to fix it. Please wait a little while until then.’

“Are you medical students not busy? I hear they’re burning the midnight oil. How about you?”

This time again he could not finish his words because Suhyuk hurriedly got out of the kitchen at the sight of some customers coming in.

“Welcome, how many?”

“Two of us.”

Suhyuk smiled gently at them.

“Sit on the table here.”

Hana was trying to take out water from the refrigerator, but Suhyuk acted faster.

Putting down a water bottle on the table, he asked, “What would you like to order?”

“Soju with two bowls of rice and soup.”

“Okay. Your order will be ready quickly. Please wait a moment.”

“Two bowls of rice and soup!” Suhyuk raised his voice toward the kitchen, and started setting the table. And he approached Hana at the refrigerator staring at him uncomfortably.

“Looks like they came to see you. I see more college students coming,” said Suhyuk.

That’s true. In the past, those in their 40s and 50s were the main customers. Over time, however, younger people as well as college students started to come more often. It was because of Kim Hana.

Customers eating rice and soup pretended to watch TV, but took glances at her.

Of course, the taste of the rice and soup was also excellent.

“Go now. I can do this myself without your help,” Hana’s tone was cold.

However, Suhyuk just laughed.

Just asking for forgiveness with words alone would not be enough. Action had to be given priority. Until he fixes Hana’s father’s legs, he will come again, and again and again.

And that was how Suhyuk intended to apologize to him.

“Goodbye and come again.”

When the customers left, Suhyuk began to clean the table.

Obvious they ate very deliciously because the pots of rice and soup were as clean as if they were washed clean. He felt proud and satisfied.

The moment Suhyuk moved toward the kitchen after putting empty pots on the tray, he heard something dropping.

Cling!

One glass slipped and fell on the floor.

“Oh ..” Suhyuk started picking up the pieces of glass.

“Hey, if you touch it carelessly, you’re going to get hurt!”

While he was hesitating at her sharp voice, she approached and said,

“Because you broke it, buy the same glass or make up for it. Step aside!”

She began to collect the pieces and wrapped them in a newspaper.

Her cleaning like that created a smile on his face.

—–

Those taking preparatory medical courses played out as much as they could. Just having fun and games day and night. Alcohol, travel and romance. They took the essential courses that they could not skip, and enjoyed campus romance as much as they could. And there was advice from the seniors taking regulars courses: Just go to play as if there were no tomorrow. Suhyuk was no exception, and he played out like his fellow students.

However, he also waited quietly. He just hoped time could pass quickly so he could move on to the regular courses by as soon as possible.

***

His wish like that took neither a long nor short time.

Some took the heartless passage of time as cold-hearted, while others felt it joyful. The last vacation came for those about to start regular medical courses. At the same time, a stunning news was delivered like a bolt out of the blue to those preparing for regular courses.

It was none other than about osteology.

A senior standing in front of them formed a smile on his face.

Though it was a caring smile, it turned into a totally different look to the juniors watching him.

A smile of the devil.

“Did you play well for two years without regret?” he asked.

They whispered to each other, nodding their heads.

“Aren’t we locked in an auditorium?”

“I hear we’re going to be locked in motels until we memorize all the stuff.”

They are supposed to gather at one place to study human bones for one week.

They learn how the bones are stored in the human body in a certain form, and memorize the structure, direction, and even the muscles, nervous system, and blood vessels that are located around the bones. One week’s time. During this time it was not an exaggeration to say that they have to memorize all the names of the human body.

The senior opened his mouth at the juniors’ uneasy clamoring,

“You do not have to learn osteology right now, but I believe that you have to get the fundamentals if you don’t want to get lost during the regular courses.”

Osteology is the basics of basics for medical students.

They have to know the terms so that they can understand the professor’s lectures.

It also holds true for clinical practice.

“I will not force you to do this. Those who want to learn can stay, and those who want to study separately can go home now.”

It was not reflected in the credits, nor could it be enforced. It was just a school tradition. It’s the seniors’ drive to guide them in the hope that the one-week course can do them good. There were none of the students packing their bags to leave.

Instead, one student raised his hand, “Where will we study osteology?”

The senior who received the question laughed, “Right here.”

The juniors became disturbed.

‘This is the classroom? Where will we sleep or eat?’

They had a dark shadow covering their faces, however, Suhyuk’s eyes were shining.

Was there anything he did not know? The excitement and expectation of learning something new, something that he did not know, pounded his heart.

Suhyuk raised his hand.

“I have a question.”

Chapter 37

At Suhyuk’s voice, the senior smiled and opened his mouth.

“I will no more take any questions.”

Then he turned on the beam projector. The white screen was full of the skull and its corresponding denominations.

“What’s all that?”

The faces of the students began to stain with despair.

At a glance, the number of the medical terms were over a hundred.

They look like alien and Arabic words. Even more shocking was the senior’s instruction: “I’ll give you two minutes, and you’ll take the test in two minutes, and today it’s about the skull. If you cannot memorize them, you won’t have any sleep tonight.”

“Oh, the study time is too short! Please give us more, please?”

At their urging, the senior added, “Okay, let me give you two and a half minutes.”

Ticking.

The moment the second hand of the clock pointed to 12 o’clock, the senior opened his mouth again, “Start!”

The students started to concentrate intensely.

Some of them were muttering, and others memorizing from their notes. The senior folded his arms, looking at the juniors’ studying for the test with a satisfactory expression. An old memory passed through his mind. He went through the same gruelling period when he had to memorize all that stuff.

At that moment Suhyuk raised his hand, asking the senior, “Sir”

“Did I give them too much time? There is no time to ask…”

With a slight smile, the senior said, “Okay, what is it?”

Suhyuk replied cautiously, “I already memorized them in high school…”

In fact, he had not memorized them, but known them for a long time.

The senior’s eyes became wider, but soon went back to normal.

At the end of the day, this was the kid who got the media limelight since his high school days and was admitted to this medical college with full scholarship.

The senior felt it was possible Suhyuk had known the names, because the test is just about skull.

As if he appreciated Suhyuk’s words, the senior came to him and presented a piece of A4 paper.

“You memorize this…”

Suhyuk confirmed what it was. A human body was drawn on it with countless names. Actually the number of bones in an adult man is 206. Moreover, the names of the neural system, muscles and blood vessels were also written down. How many names were on the paper in total? Well over one thousand.

When Suhyuk was looking over the A4 paper sheet, the senior student walked back.

“Sir.”

Suhyuk’s voice caught his footstep, and he turned to Suhyuk again.

“I know them already, too…”

He narrowed his eyes. With the paper upside down, he was scratching his head.

He knew everything on it. When his expectancy disappeared in a flash, Suhyuk found emptiness coming up in his heart. There was nothing new on the test.

“Really?”

The senior then gave Suhyuk a pen.

“Let me give you 5 minutes for this test.”

With a perplexed look, he said cautiously, because it was not something he could write down in five minutes.

“Sir, is it okay for me to answer verbally instead of writing down the names?”

With his arms folded, the senior nodded his head.

It was right to do an oral test for this kind of thing. Can he pour out many terms at once?

“Okay, let’s start from the skull to the toe…”

“Fibula, frontal bone, stellate orbital surface, orbital surface, bony, frontal projection, orbital orbital surface, temporal projection…”

Wearing a hollow face, he looked at Suhyuk reciting the names, and shook his head as if he were sick and tired of him. Names that he already forgot or did not think about were coming out of his lips. There were about 20 seconds left.

“Tarsals, Metatarsals, Phalanges…”

The classroom was quiet. Everyone’s eyes were focused on Suhyuk, their mouth wide open, and then the senior burst into a laughter, “Hahaha!”

His laughter quickly stopped.

“What are you doing? Just go home now before you can’t take the bus.”

“Only me?”

He gently smiled and nodded his head.

“Yeah, you know it all. You do not have to stay here.”

Suhyuk, rising from the seat, made an uneasy face because he had to leave alone.

When he was hesitating, the senior opened his mouth again,

“What are you doing? I can tell them know-how when even one student is done and goes home like you.”

That made sense.

When he tried to get out of the classroom, someone suddenly grabbed his hand.

It was Choi Suryon.

She pointed at herself with her fingers and kept muttering to him to save her.

“Choi Suryun,” she was surprised at the senior’s calling her.

“Yes, yes.”

“Did you memorize everything?”

“Well… Time is too short…”

“Two minutes and thirty seconds passed.”

The beam projector was turned off and the senior handed down pieces of A4 paper to the juniors.

“Test time is 3 minutes. I will give 10 minutes rest for those who get perfect scores. 2 minutes 30 seconds for the others. Start!”

Those looking at Suhyuk enviously quickly held pens to write down the names.

“Goodbye… to a warm place…” said Choi.

Parting with her, Suhyuk, went out of the classroom bitterly.

The senior whispered to himself, looking at his back, “He’s just great…”

He’s never seen a student who mastered osteology while taking preparatory courses. Not only he but also his professors.

The word ‘osteology’ was so infamous that it made the students rage with anger.

“What kind of doctor will he become?” he muttered.

There was nothing like jealousy in his murmuring as he looked at the door through which he left. He just had some sort of respect for him as a fellow traveller walking the same path.

Turning his head back to his juniors, he laughed gently, saying, “One minute left.”

—–

The season changed the clothes of the world a few times.

It was the same for Suhyuk.

He became a first-year student in regular courses, and was walking in the hallway.

Then, Choi Suryun, running from behind, ran toward him as if she wanted to take his arms.

“Hah, hah.”

Suhyuk shook his head at the sound of her wild panting.

“Oops, looks like you’re breathing your last. Walk slowly.”

“Oh, huh, you know that? We are supposed to practice on a cadaver a week later.”

When Suhyuk nodded indifferently, she made an expression as if to cry.

“What should I do? I can not … I can not!”

She was already familiar with the picture of cadaver practice because she heard about it from the seniors.

A cadaver without a leg, or with its neck twisted back. There was also a cadaver, with muscles and tendons revealed here and there after it was dissected. They were not different from us during their lifetime. Now comes the dissecting practice. Just a simple imagination of it made her tremble.

“I really cannot do that.”

Suhyuk answered briefly, “You have to.”

“Don’t you feel scared at all?”

Suhyuk walked with a smile at her words.

Of course he did not feel indifferent to it. He was a little nervous. In his dreams he did it countless times. But it is the first time he has to do it after he woke up.

It was a lie if he did not get nervous. Suhyuk blew away his tension with a short breath.

He determined though, that he would get everything he could learn during cadaver practice to meet the wishes of the deceased who made a difficult decision in life.

First-year students attending regular medical courses moved to the outskirts of the school.

The memorial place was located outside the practice building, with a monument. The monument was offered by the bereaved to honor the deceased who donated their bodies. The monument did not contain a single name. Instead, seven portraits were hung on it.

Suhyuk looked at the faces in the photo one by one. And he muttered in his heart.

‘Thank you, thank you.’

“Silence.”

The politely dressed students closed their eyes and bowed their heads at the teaching assistant’s word.

They could not be more quieter and holier. Some female students were seen shedding tears.

What kind of words were they conveying to the deceased? After that ceremony that did not last long, the students moved back to hear the lecture.

***

The students who turned pale barely moved to the practice place.

Among the crowd was Suhyuk wearing a white gown.

“What are you doing? Come in!”

The teaching assistant pressed them.

The students who lingered in front of the door started to go inside.

Seven wooden lids placed on the practice bench.

“This is unit 1, that is unit 2…”

According to the assistant’s instruction, the students who have formed their own units moved to their designated practice bench.

“It is the place where the deceased is located. Lay down the lid cautiously. Do it.”

The practice room was quiet. They got so anxious. The wooden lid was lowered. The cadaver was illuminated over vinyl covering it. Have they ever seen a body like this before?

There were yellow subcutaneous fats on the skin that popped all over the place.

“…”

The practitioners who closed their mouth trembled with panic and fear.

The girls had already started shedding tears, and the boys became hardened like stone statues.

“Wheck!”

It was not uncommon for them to retch. They stepped back before they knew it.

“Get close!”

At the cold voice of the assistant, the students, with closed eyes, approached the practice bench.

“Why are you crying in front of the noble resolve of the deceased?”

He again pressed them.

“The crying guys will get expelled from the room.”

The atmosphere of the room was heavy.

So much so that they could not hear even ants moving.

The fragrance of formaldehyde from the cadaver made them sick and it pierced their eyes.

“Cut the vinyl with the scissors next to it.”

Everyone hesitated. But before long, some courageous students began to cut the vinyl.

Then, the smell of formalin, which drifted silently, became clear.

Good luck? They finished the cutting of the vinyl of the cadaver. With everybody shivering, Suhyuk stepped up and removed the vinyl calmly.

It was a figure of an old man who seemed to be kind.

Without any clue how he died, his face was a little distorted.

By the time everyone was arranging the vinyl on one side, the professor came in.

Looking at the students, he opened his mouth,

“In front of the cadaver, doing your best is a courtesy and a sign of respect.”

Everyone nodded. They looked like they were pulling themselves.

“The practice that we are doing now is the basis of the basics, and the blood and flesh from this cadaver will be the blood and flesh for you to be a doctor.”

Suhyuk belonged to unit 7, and even though they firmly refreshed their determination, no one came up to grab the scalpel. The unit members all looked at Suhyuk. With a bitter laugh, Suhyuk took the scalpel and closed his eyes briefly.

“Grandpa. thank you for giving us the chance to learn.”

Opening his eyes, he moved the scalpel up to the forearms of the cadaver.

As soon as the scalpel was applied to the skin, it was opened up slightly. It passed through the dermis and cut off the subcutaneous fat. The yellow fat clenched the muscles messily.

Then he removed the delts calmly. Then he handed the scalpel to the other student next to him.

He was handed the scalpel with a trembling hand.

“You can do it, you have to.”

At Suhyuk’s encouragement, he nodded, swallowing dried saliva on his mouth.

Unexpectedly, the practice was going well.

Not only the boys who hesitated, but also the girls who were tearful regained their composure and cut the skin.

Suhyuk, watching his unit members, unconsciously examined the whole body of the cadaver.

Then one area attracted his attention. A string mark on the neck was clear. “Suicide?”

“Though he ended his life regrettably, his bereaved family donated his body according to his will,” said the assistant, passing by.

Suhyuk nodded his head.

“We’ll resume after 10 minutes’ break,” said the professor.

The students flocked to the bathroom as soon as he said that, and so did Suhyuk.

At that moment, he made a frown when he was getting out of the door.

He smelt alcohol from someone out there.

The guy who was freaking out that he could not practice in a sober condition finally had a drink.

He wondered how he got in here without being caught by the assistant.

The break time passed quickly. Originally, it took one or two weeks to dissect, but because of the internal situation of the school, they had to finish all the dissection practice in eight hours.

So they have to come back again in less than a month. Shaking their heads, they went back to the cadaver.

This time, Suhyuk was the first to take a scalpel. At his unhindered movement, his unit members were just astonished. Given the dissecting speed, it looked like they were able to see everything from the origin of muscles to the insertion. He clearly showed not only the blood vessels but also the tendons to the unit members, which he cut off clearly. The boys muttered with a blank expression,

“He’s different …”

He looked like he was born to be a doctor.

The girls listened to Suhyuk’s explanation while taking a glance at the cadaver.

The assistant walking around was astonished at him, who had been demonstrating on his own why he was famous.

“Damn it! You guys are chopping the muscles…” shouted the assistant, rushing toward the Unit 2 members.

The time was already approaching 6 PM.

Now the weary students looked at the cadavers with indifferent eyes.

What remained for them was to look into the organs.

The professor said, “The organs can be extracted but should be kept as original as possible.”

Suhyuk naturally raised his hand on cadaver’s belly, and when he stopped his hand, he moved the scalpel without hesitation.

A thin peritoneal membrane encircling the organs was revealed.

A very delicate technique.

Other boys would have split it with the skin, however, there was no way they could know about it.

“This is the peritoneum,” said Suhyuk.

Did they listen to him? They were anxious, swallowing dry saliva, looking at the organs behind it.

Suhyuk was forced to move the scalpel again. The internal organs were evident when the peritoneum was dissected.

“I think that swelling will happen …”

The thorax was swollen as a whole.

Then Suhyuk lifted the ribs. The organs seemed to stick together with a sticky mucus.

The unit members barely pulled themselves through, though they felt like passing out.

Unlike them, Suhyuk was casting his gaze at the cadaver here and there.

The organs looked different from normal ones.

“What the heck is this …”

The swollen lung covered almost all the chest as if it was full of water.

Besides, it covered even the stomach and duodenum.

Suhyuk lifted up his head. His gaze was fixed at the neck of the cadaver with a clear line mark.

Suhyuk’s eyes fell down coldly.

Chapter 38

“What’s the matter, Suhyuk?” asked members of Suhyuk’s unit. Yet, he just kept silent.

He just fixed his eyes on the neck of the cadaver. A string mark was clearly seen on the spot where the thyroid cartilage was located. For suicide by hanging, one has to tie his neck round something in an elevated place like the ceiling. And while one is hanging by the neck, the string goes up to the tip of the chin. It is because of the weight of a person.

‘Then, how come there was a string marked on the middle of the neck? How did he commit suicide?’

No matter how he thought about it, he could not figure out how the neck had a string mark.

He ruled out the ridiculous scenario where the deceased used his hand to tie his own neck. Suhyuk’s scalpel moved to the lungs.

“What are you doing?” the unit members asked, with wide eyes.

The assistant told them to take out the organs without any perforation.

Nonetheless, nobody could stop him. He already took the scalpel into the lungs.

The moment the sharp edge of the scalpel touched, liquid came out of the lungs.

Suhyuk’s eyes became colder. The lungs were full of water. As expected, one piece of the puzzle was put together.

His hand moved to the bronchus this time. He opened it up very carefully.

And what was seen in the bronchi was a bubble.

“Foam mass…”

It was this foam mass that is caused by a mixture of liquid and mucus derived from the mucous membrane inhaled during respiration.

Suhyuk scrutinized the entire body of the cadaver.

He could not find any red spots left on the body when a person was drowned.

If that’s the case, it was logical that only his face that could breathe was immersed in water.

His prediction turned into a conviction gradually.

Given that foam mass was formed on the organs, there was no need to check the airway.

“How can this make sense? How can a person who already died hang himself?”

It did not make sense at all.

If he had hanged himself, there should be spots of blood congestion on his body due to the stenosis of the vein, choking, and the increase in blood, but they were not found anywhere.

Just a simple check of the face was enough to confirm it: his eyeballs did not protrude.

The cadaver had been already been medically processed. A case of this kind was not common.

He wondered if the deceased wanted to inform others …

At that moment, the assistant approached Suhyuk, asking “What are you doing?”

Suhyuk made a puncture in the lungs and separated the bronchi.

The assistant narrowed his eyes suddenly.

“What did you do?…”

“I do not think it’s suicide.”

“What the heck? What nonsense are you talking about?” the assistant said in a threatening tone.

Suhyuk replied calmly, “The deceased can’t hang himself, can he?”

Obviously his drowning to death came first.

Then he pointed to the lungs and some other parts of the cadaver.

“So what?”

“I think he was drowned …”

The assistant seemed to make a big sigh and shouted, “Are you crazy? You’re out of your mind now. Crazy! I think I favored you too much now you’re acting like this…”

“What’s the matter?” someone said out of the blue. It was the professor.

As he frowned, the professor looked at the cadaver, some parts of which had already been touched where they were supposed not to have been, which offended him badly.

When the professor turned his gaze at him, Suhyuk said, “I think it is drowning or murder.”

He narrowed his eyes sharply.

“What a nonsense…”

However, the professor looking at the organs of the cadaver could not speak any more.

Because all the organs were pointing toward drowning.

“Even in this part too …”

At his words, the professor’s gaze moved toward the hands and feet of the cadaver.

That specific part had the same color as other body parts.

If a person dies by hanging his neck, the blood circulation stops and red blood cells are pulled down the body by gravitational forces. This is called blood sedimentation (gravity phenomenon). But in the hands and feet of the cadaver, such dead spots could not be found at all. Even if the cadaver has been treated medically, such spots stand out compared with other parts in detail.

The professor, wearing a hardened expression, looked toward the cadaver’s neck this time. And he mumbled, “Assistant!”

“Yes, sir.”

“Call the police.”

“What?”

“I think it’s a camouflaged strangulation.”

The assistant’s eyes opened loudly as if he could not believe it.

Moreover, each of the students could not speak, with their mouths shut.

The professor looked at Suhyuk silently. He was only a first-year student attending regular courses. He got into the school as a celebrity, and now presented his own opinion on the cause of the death as if he were a seasoned autopsy doctor.

“You… you came here to be a doctor,” said the professor.

Is it not true that a medical student goes to a medical school to become a doctor?

But the professor’s words had multiple meanings.

***

Walking on campus, Suhyuk was called somewhere.

The call dit not take long to go through.

“What’s the matter? How come you called me first? You wanted to listen to my voice, right?”

It was reporter Han Jihye.

“I’ve been absented for a while… I’m sorry.”

“If you feel sorry, let’s meet for dinner sometime!”

“Well, I’ve got one incident to tell you…”

“What is it?” She answered hurriedly.

“Well, I found some signs of homicide from a cadaver donated as suicide…”

“What? Why? Did you call the police? Did the reporters gather?”

“I’m not sure if the reporters would come or not. But the police are coming.”

“Are you still at the school?”

“No, I’m home now.”

“I’ll see you at the school then.” The phone hung up like that.

He smiled and shook his head.

In high school, when he was locked up in a detention center, she helped him out, and this was a chance for him to repay her for that.

Suhyuk immediately sent a message to her as if he forgot to say something.

The message to her was his request: never identify who found out the cause of the death.

He found it very uncomfortable to attract public attention.

In the meantime, the professor was talking with a reporter he knew.

Was it not a good opportunity to publicize the reputation of the school once again even though it’s already known as a prestigious university?

The first journalist who arrived at the medical school was Han Jihye.

—–

In an office of a high-rise building with large windows commanding a cool view, Kim Hyunwoo, in neat suit-dress, sat there.

At that moment, the office secretary’s voice came out from his key phone.

“Mr. President, team manager Mr. Lim says he’s done with the paperwork.”

“Please have him come in.”

A man in his early 50s, with a bald head, came in. He bowed his head and gave the paperwork to Kim Hyunwoo.

“Let me double check if you have made a mistake.”

Kim Hyunwoo, who laughed and joked at him, began to look through the papers.

Then he lifted his head and fixed his gaze at a big TV screen.

The anchor’s voice mentioning Daehan MS drew Kim’s attention because Suhyuk went there.

“You can leave now. I think I have to talk about the convention planning project tomorrow.”

Kim Hyunwoo, who sent the team leader home, listened to the news and rummaged through the internet articles because he felt the news had a strong connection with Suhyuk.

And he just clicked on one of the many related articles. He read it while mumbling.

“The stepson murdered his father, and drowned him to death, and then disguised it as strangulation.”

Kim Hyunwoo slightly frowned.

It was astonishing news that the stepson had committed the murder in a deliberate manner. The wife of the murdered, who remarried him, allegedly aided in her son’s murder actively. And the method involved was cunning. They committed the crime in the bathtub and hung his neck to disguise it as a suicide. Then they consulted with a doctor who issued a death certificate. Moreover he corroborated with a police officer who he knew well.

“What a crazy lunatic!” Kim said.

‘The man even dared to donate the body of his murdered father. That was suspicious. Wasn’t it better to cremate it to hide the murder? Otherwise the murderer would be a stupid guy.’ Kim thought to himself.

It was natural that Kim did not understand the incident. For a lawyer, who was close enough to contact the victim once a day, had been involved in the murder incident. Without informing his family, the deceased who turned into a cadaver, drew up a will and a deed of body donation with the lawyer with request that his body and half of his wealth be returned to the society, and the rest be bequeathed to his family. When the lawyer did not hear from the victim he had talked to over the phone at least once a day, he appeared at the funeral after searching him out. The new wife and the stepson made a big fuss about the donation of his body, protesting how a knife could be put on the body of the deceased. Later they tried to cajole him with money. But it did not work out for the lawyer. There were not necessarily bad men in this world. The lawyer kept his promise with firm determination enough to keep away temptation. As the deed of body donation had been submitted, the lawyer processed the execution of the will, his promise to the deceased, to the end. That’s how the deceased became a cadaver.

“The world is vast, and crazy men are swarming there.”

Kim started to look at the documents again as if he lost interest in the news.

He expected some news about Suhyuk to come out, but it did not. At that moment, the sound of the TV caught his ear.

Staring at the TV blankly, Kim Hyunwoo’s expression was gradually smiling.

“Ha ha ha! This guy gets into trouble wherever he goes around.”

Suhyuk’s request for anonymity was missed just like that.

—–

Outside the hospital a girl, about six years old, burst into tears.

Her appearance, with an anxious eye and a runny nose, was typical of a lost child.

“Boohoo… Mom!”

“Are you lost?”

A man fluttering a white gown approached the little girl.

He knelt on one knee and matched his eye level with the child’s.

“What is your name?”

“Boohoo…I’m Kim Narae. Please find my mom.”

Nodding his head, the man took the child’s hand gently.

“Let’s go find your mom together.”

When they were moving to a broadcasting room in the building, a woman rushed toward them.

“Mom!”

“I told you not go around!”

It was dreadful even to think what would have happened to her if she had left the hospital completely and went out …

She scolded her daughter and said to the man, “Thank you sir.”

The man laughed pleasantly at the mother and daughter.

“Well, I did not do anything, I’m just a student, not a professor.”

Time flew like an arrow, and Suhyuk became a third-year student attending regular courses.

And today was the first day of his hospital practice.

Chapter 39

The practice students were walking around the hospital in great excitement and tension.

It was the same for Suhyuk. No, he looked around and gave a silent sigh.

There were so many sick people out there who were in dire need of help.

At that moment a nurse came to him, pushing a stretcher car on which a patient was lying. Suhyuk moved to the side and unconsciously read the name attached to the label.

“Other peripheral vascular diseases… does the patient smoke or have any hypertension? Also suspected of having hyperlipidemia, and there is a family history of diabetes … what if the patient has ischemia…?”

Suhyuk continued to mutter, “Using heparin, incense coagulant and removing embolization…”

“Where are you going Suhyuk?”

At Choi Suryon’s voice, he got his head screwed on and stopped walking.

He was following the patient without realising it.

“What is the matter?”

“Nothing.”

Suhyuk was following his peers walking ahead, and once again he looked back. He look at the patient with pupils full of regret, but he turned back instantly.

After that he repeated the same action several times.

Suhyuk himself was not aware of it.

The students briefly listened to the PK practice to be held in the conference room.

2 weeks with the Emergency Department, 12 weeks with Internal Medicine, 7 weeks with Surgery… They should complete a total of 36 weeks of experience and practice to finish the third-year in regular courses. Plus, they should pass a school test and get practice credits. Far from easy.

If they get lazy, getting flunked is a sure thing.

‘I can make it. Definitely,’ Suhyuk promised to himself.

He vowed he would master what he did not understand, and refresh on what he already knew.

‘I’ll run toward my goal without hesitating.’

“Don’t be too scared,” said Park Ganghyun, a first-year resident, who was supposed to contact the interns most often. Park, with his slim jaw and tough beard, melted the frozen atmosphere among them.

“You do not prescribe to the patient directly, nor do you do the surgery. It is literally a practice. If you do it as instructed, and make no mistake, you will be able to complete PK practice well. Of course, you should be working hard.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Just feel relaxed as if you were looking around the hospital today, okay?”

“Yeah!”

Their voice, like that of new-born chicks, made a smile rise on Park’s face.

‘I had those days too.‘

Practice is no big deal. When they pass the state exam and enter the internship, that is the beginning of hell. No more personal time.

“Today, there is no making the rounds with the professor. Instead, you come with me to look around the patients building for a taste of the practice. Anybody have any complaints?”

The conference room was quiet. Park opened his mouth again, “Let’s go.”

They went out of the conference room. When Suhyuk was about to go out, Park stopped him to say, “You must be Lee Suhyuk.”

He scratched his head awkwardly.

“Yes, please give me a lot of guidance.”

“The professors have a lot of expectations for you.”

Park then moved to check the condition of the patients.

Suhyuk’s unit followed him.

The unit assigned to PK practice does not change throughout the year. Never, ever.

“I’m shaking,” said Choi Suryon quietly, but Suhyuk relieved her, saying,

“He told us we were just looking around, so we don’t have to worry about it.”

They arrived at a patient’s room.

A patient in his 40s.

Park asked about his condition, “How are you feeling?”

“I feel okay, but I’m not sure.”

“Let me see the surgery area.”

When Park lifted his clothes, the students behind him focused with glaring eyes.

“Thoracic empyema …”

Recognizing the patient’s illness, Suhyuk moved forward before he knew it.

Then one of the students grabbed Suhyuk’s gown and whispered.

“Hey, do not go too close. You stand in the way of him checking the patient.”

But it was already too late.

Park turned his head toward Suhyuk who was up close, and looked at him.

With a slight smile, he asked, “Early thoracotomy in empyema. Why?”

Then he fixed his gaze on the affected area again.

Suhyuk opened his mouth without hesitation, “I think the patient has undergone early thoracotomy because the fibrinolytic enzyme and pleuroscopy failed to induce drainage.”

Park, who was looking at the affected area, suddenly turned his head to Suhyuk again.

He showed an expression wondering how he could know as far as that.

But he soon laughed, thinking that’s why the professors were interested in a chick-like student, who was not an intern.

“Oh, it’s hard to understand. How about you?”

Park asked the other students playfully. There was no reply.

They were just silent like a mute that ate honey.

Laughing gently, Park finished disinfecting the patient’s affected area, and then he looked at the practice students. They wore a blank expression as if they heard an alien language. This is normal. Looking at Suhyuk, he moved to the next patients’ room, shaking his head. It was the same with other students.

***

Lunch hour.

People in the hospital lobby were watching TV and clicking their tongues.

“Nowadays, police are busy sparing themselves even when they see brutal criminals. Tut, tut.”

“That guy must become a cop!”

When each and every one of them said that, with a frown, Suhyuk moved his eyes to the TV.

And he had to look blankly because someone he knew was reported on the news.

At that moment his phone was vibrating, but Suhyuk received the call with his eyes fixed on the TV.

“Hello.”

“It’s me brother.”

It was Dongsu.

“I see you on TV right now.”

“What? Am I on air already? I heard they would report about me on the 9 o’clock news.”

Suhyuk sighed deeply.

“Hey, why did you meddle like that? If something goes wrong, what are you going to do? You’re still a student. It’s not too late even if you catch criminals later.”

“Don’t you monopolize the TV, okay? It’s about time I were on the TV news at least once. Ha ha ha!”

Suhyuk shook his head.

Unlike the personality of someone who wants to be a lawyer, Dongsu throws a punch first without thinking deeply… What if he’s a prosecutor?

At that moment Suhyuk conjured up an image of him cracking his knuckles before a suspect.

‘I can’t believe he would do that in that kind of situation.’

“Where are you now?” asked Dongsu.

“I came to the hospital for practice.”

“You must be busy. Which hospital are you at?”

“Daehan Hospital, where are you?”

“Huh? I am now near that hospital”

“Why are you there?”

“I just got out after I wrote a report at the police station nearby. Shall we see each other? It’s lunch time.”

“Okay, let’s have lunch together.”

***

The two who met in front of the hospital went into a restaurant.

“Were you hurt?” asked Suhyuk.

Dongsu just chuckled.

“I’m your brother, nobody can touch me,” he said.

Shaking his head, Suhyuk ordered food.

Suddenly, he looked at the back of Dongsu’s hands.

A faintly visible blood stain, which he washed carelessly.

“What happened to your hand?”

“Oh, this?”

Dongsu looked at the back of his hands, “I had it lightly scratched.”

“Wasn’t it scratched while you were fighting with the suspect? Let me take a look,” said Suhyuk.

Dongsu waved his hands.

“It’s nothing. Just scratches.”

“Let me see then.”

Grabbing his hands, Suhyuk rolled up his sleeves. There was a wound drawn like a solid line on the forearm. With a frown, Suhyuk looked at his forearm carefully.

He could see the damage done where the epidermis was entering the dermis.

Though it was not serious enough to worry about, Suhyuk stared at him with a hardened face.

“Did you get scratched by a knife?”

Dongsu replied, scratching his head, “He challenged me with a knife, so I crushed him out of shape.”

Suhyuk shook his head, saying, “Get it disinfected. Also get a tetanus shot, just in case.”

“Your order is here.”

Freshly cooked ox bone soup was served, with steam rolling up from the pots in which chopped green onions had been sliced.

“Huh? Are you…?”

The waitress serving them recognized Dongsu.

He scratched his head with a smile.

“Yes, yes, I am that student.”

“Huh?” This time she was amazed at Suhyuk.

That medical student who found out the cause of that body.

She looked at Suhyuk and Dongsu in turn.

Not only she, but also all of the customers recognized both of them.

“Yes, yes I am that very student, hahaha.”

Dongsu’s laughter grew bigger, and Suhyuk only moved the spoon quietly.

So, they ate without knowing whether they were eating with their mouth or nose.

***

“It’s okay, really,” Dongsu said.

“Come on. Just follow me,” Suhyuk insisted.

After failing to break Suhyuk’s stubbornness, Dongsu was entering the hospital entrance.

Then they heard an ambassador siren. Suhyuk’s head turned to the side.

The ambulance stopped, and a patient on a stretcher was taken out.

White bubbles in his mouth. Suhyuk’s feet moved before he knew it.

“Well, the hospital is really big. If you become a doctor, you may work here…”

Dongsu was busy staring at the hospital.

“Hey, are there pretty girls in your class? Please introduce me to…”

Dongsu, turning his head to the side, shook his head with a silly expression.

Wondering why there was no answer from him, Dongsu saw Shyuk walking slowly toward the emergency room.

“Hey,” Dongsu grabbed his shoulder.

Then, Suhyuk turned back.

“Where are you going? You said you’re going to do the disinfection for me?”

“Oh, yes, let’s go to sterilize.”

Suhyuk, guiding Dongsu, looked back again.

But soon they disappeared into the building.

***

After Dongsu went back, Suhyuk’s group members moved along again with Park Ganghyun.

They had already seen several patients and become acquainted with the faces of the hospital employees. During that time, Suhyuk barely managed his dizzy spirit.

Whenever he look around, he saw many patients everywhere.

Different illnesses and treatments for them came to his mind in a messy way, which kept coming out of his control.

“Wuwheck.”

Choi Suryon was surprised at his retching.

“Are you okay?”

Suhyuk, wiping his lips, nodded his head.

Though he said that, he did not feel at ease at all.

His dizziness has made him feel like vomiting.

Suhyuk closed his eyes to clean up the clutter in his head as much as possible.

“Well, ten minutes break. If you want to go to the bathroom, do it quickly.”

The students were scattered as if they had waited for it.

Suhyuk sat on a chair in the hallway.

“Are you really okay?” Choi Suryon asked, sitting next to him.

“I felt a little dizzy,” said Suhyuk.

Her anxiety was reflected on her face.

“Don’t you think you have to take medicine? How, and where in your body are sick?”

Suhyuk looked at her grinning, “It’s okay now.”

“Hold on a little bit, it will be over soon. Can I bring some medicine? If I ask, probably they will give some…”

Shaking his head, he put his head on the wall and closed his eyes.

His uvula protruded convexly. She was looking at it quietly.

“…”

What was she thinking? She just fixed her gaze on it without saying anything.

Ten minutes passed.

As soon as Suhyuk rose from the seat, Park came up to him and said, “Lee Suhyuk, Prof. Kim Jinwook is looking for you.”

“Yes? Why me?”

“Well, I’m curious too,” said Park shrugging his shoulders.

Suhyuk pondered over it in his mind.

‘Professor Kim Jinwook…’

No familiar face came up.

He was left alone after Park and the students left for another place.

‘Why is he looking for me?’

Suhyuk went to the office Park gave him, with a doubtful mind.

With the knocking sound, he heard a man’s voice.

“Come on in.”

When he opened the door, the man, who had been looking into a book, lifted his head.

“Hi, Professor, I hear you want to see me.”

Suhyuk could not speak further. The professor in his early or mid-30s, familiar face, which he saw a few years prior.

The professor smiled and said, “It’s been a long time since we met, right? I see you bringing about storms.”

Chapter 40

“You’re the professor…?”

Kim chuckled.

He was the very intern who had been at the place when Suhyuk first woke up from the vegetative state. And it was also resident Kim Jinwook who checked the condition of Inbae who had been treated with Suhyuk’s first aid.

He’s become a professor now.

“I watched the news well. Did you identify the cause of the death of the cadaver?”

“I accidentally found it,” said Suhyuk.

Kim Jinwook shook his head.

“I think you have the ability to have figured it out well enough.”

His memories are still fresh in his mind. A 15-year-old middle school student who just woke up from a persistent vegetative state and diagnosed himself. He’s now grown up into an adult, getting a lot of media highlights.

“Have a seat!”

Kim gave a cup of coffee to him, which he brew himself.

“Thank you.”

The smell of coffee spread gently in the room, and it tasted good.

“Well, did you learn a lot at school? Or was there any stuff you could learn?”

“I’ve learned a lot,” said Suhyuk.

He narrowed his eyes, asking, “Really?”

Suhyuk just scratched his head.

“Those in the same class as you must envy you a lot. And have a lot of jealousy too. But you don’t have to hide your abilities or do average. Just keep marching as you would.”

So they exchanged conversations like that.

Then Kim Jinwook asked out of the blue, “Are you okay, because your face looks bad?”

“Yes, I’m okay. “

Though he still felt nauseous, he felt much better now.

“Did you decide on your speciality?”

Suhyuk was about to reply but did not. Actually he’s been struggling about that in his heart, though Kim did not sense it, because he was only quiet for a brief moment.

Suhyuk soon opened his mouth, “Well…”

“Wait a moment,” said Kim, answering a phone call.

“Yes, this is Kim Jinwook.”

“Professor, we have an emergency patient.”

“Have you checked the patient’s condition?”

“It seems to be a patient with an aortic dissection.”

Aortic dissection refers to the tearing of the intima of the aorta in the chest.

“Is it true or not? Did you check the CT?” Kim Jinwook pressed him, who was muttering.

“Yes, he is a patient with that symptom.”

“Are you sure?”

Some sort of unsure tiny voice was coming out of the cell phone, “In my mind…”

After breathing a short sigh, he opened his mouth again,

“Let me go down now and get ready.”

He was a resident that Kim prized, but he did not progress as much as Kim wanted, possibly because of his insufficient training.

After he hung up the phone, Kim looked at Suhyuk regrettably.

Though he wanted to talk a bit more, he had no choice but to treat the patient.

But there are plenty of opportunities. As Suhyuk has come to Daehan MS for practice, Kim could see him anytime.

“I’ll see you next time.”

The two stood up.

When Suhyuk tried to go out, Kim Jinwook turned around and asked,

“Would you like to come and observe?”

Trainees like him go into the operating room anyway and observe. It does not matter even if their observation comes earlier than usual. Who would oppose when the professor in charge of operation wants to bring one as an observer?

Suhyuk nodded his head with a smile of expectancy.

Arriving at the elevator, Kim Jinwook pushed on the buttons, regardless of whether it was the elevator for the medical staff or one for patients and their guardians, the situation could not be more urgent.

The door of the elevator opened, and the two went inside.

Kim asked with strange eyes, “A patient with aortic dissection. What kind of condition does he have now?”

“If it is aortic dissection, the patient seems to be in a dangerous condition. It seems to be an emergency…”

Kim Jinwook nodded as if he had expected that kind of reply from him.

‘If so, does he know the cause of it?’

“Any cause?” Kim asked.

Suhyuk opened his mouth, “The main reason is that 80% of the cause is known to be related to hypertension, so it happens mainly to senior people. It seems that there are other causes such as congenital. For example, genetic defects such as denaturation in the media itself, arteriosclerosis or aging… “

“That’s enough,” Kim waved his hands, asking him to stop.

He regretted asking him tactlessly because it was the obvious answer to the obvious question.

He wondered what kind of doctor he would really be.

Kim Jinwook, who went down to the emergency room, rushed to check on the patient’s condition. He identified the patient’s condition clearly after checking the CT. The aortic dissection that the resident said without confidence was right. Treatment is divided into two types. Type B can be treated with medication, while Type A requires surgery. The patient was rapidly progressing from B to A, and he required surgery.

“What about the guardian?”

“He was brought to the emergency room alone.”

Kim Jinwook, who immediately contacted the guardian, verbally signed the operation agreement. He could not afford to wait until the guardian came.

When the aortic dissection transitions up or down or swells up and the blood that the heart pumps out bursts then it is too late. The patient will die from excessive bleeding.

In the meantime, Suhyuk observed the CT very carefully. Aortic dissection with tearing of the inner membrane. It will be a dangerous surgery that needs stopping of the heart.

Then his cell phone vibrated. It was from Choi Suryon.

“Hello!”

“Suhyuk, where are you?”

He forgot that he was supposed to have an outing with the team members tomorrow, Saturday, when they have a day off.

“Ooops… I do not think I’ll be able to come…”

“Why? Any business to do with your professor?”

A voice suddenly popped out next to Suhyuk.

“Is it an emergency?” Kim Jinwook approached and looked at the CT.

Suhyuk, who was making a serious expression, nodded his head.

“Let’s go.”

Professor Kim Jinwook first walked back, and Suhyuk rushed to his cell phone.

“I’m sorry, Suryon. You guys have to play without me. Talk to you later then.”

***

“Come on, wash it thoroughly after me”

Kim Jinwook showed them how to disinfect.

They washed it as you wash hands, and then scrubbed it with a brush.

Suhyuk followed his demonstration.

It was an awkward move, but he cleaned it carefully because he knew how important it was. Sterilization work that he does not recall at all even from in his dream.

No, obviously he did not do it in his dream. For he just held a scalp and opened a patient’s stomach.

“Nurse Ms. Lee, please put on a surgical gown for this trainee,” said Kim.

Helped by the nurse, Suhyuk wore a surgical gown, and put on a hat, a mask, and gloves. Suhyuk looked down at his two hands, which reminded him of his old memories.

How long did he wear surgical gloves for? Actually it was the first time.

“Let’s go, it will be a good experience for you. So, focus when you watch it!”

Suhyuk nodded and went into the operating room.

There were a total of seven people in the operating room.

They were medical residents absolutely necessary for all surgeries.

Resident of anesthesiology, nurses specializing in thoracic surgery, extracorporeal perfusionist, resident of cardiothoracic surgery. All of them gathered to save a person’s life looked at Suhyuk with a curious look.

“Well, I’m a trainee observer.”

It is very rare for trainees to attend an emergency surgery. But in the operating room, the professor’s word is like law.

At Kim’s words, they quickly quenched their interest in him.

During the course of the anesthesia, they moved around in unison until the patient was fully asleep. Everyone doubled checked to carry out their duties steadily, and got ready.

The aorta is directly connected to the heart.

Since it is a dangerous operation, no error is tolerated.

Suhyuk slowly looked around. The patient’s condition was checked and various devices were attached to the patient’s body. Then. Snap! Snap! Snap! They began to knock on the IV cords as thick as knuckles relentlessly with the scissors handle and pen. Professor Kim did the same. They carefully checked whether the bubbles inside IV cords were removed fully.

Looking at them, Suhyuk muttered, “Extracorporeal circulation…”

It was a device that intentionally stopped the heart and lungs for surgery and artificially circulated blood and oxygen through the body. In addition, there was a lot of fluid to be injected into the patient’s body as well as several packs of blood. Hemorrhage was inevitable because of the incision of the aorta.

Suhyuk’s eyes turned to Kim this time.

When the anesthetized patient closed his eyes, Kim moved with his scalpel.

From now on, all the residents have to follow his words and movements.

“Start the aortic arch substitution.”

As Suhyuk came back behind Kim as if haunted by something, Kim said, “Watch closely.”

Kim, who incised the patient’s abdomen and surface, told the resident,

“Bovie!”

With the smell of burning flesh, the patient’s abdomen became completely open.

Suhyuk muttered without realising.

“Heparin, cardioplegia. Keep the body temperature from 27 to 28.”

Hearing Suhyuk’s murmuring behind him, Kim smirked and shook his head.

How did he know as far as this?

He gave an order, “Heparin.”

When heparin was injected into the IV, Kim’s hands moved.

As the surgical tools pushed the organs away, the heart was seen inside.

The heart was pounding as if it were alive.

“Cardioplegia, please stop the heart.”

The extracorporeal perfusionist immediately injected cardioplegia.

Kim continued to order, “Cooling down. Keep the temperature at 27, 28 degrees.”

Cooling down is intended to manipulate body temperature artificially to prevent damage to the aortic tissue during the operation time.

The movement of the heart became noticeably smaller.

Kim said loudly, “The heart is stopped. Is the cardiovascular circulation device working? Work it now.”

According to the order, the extracorporeal perfusionist waited for the right timing.

And when the heart was stopped, the artificial circulatory device worked.

The mingling blood began to circulate, making the ringers stranded.

Surgery cannot start without stopping the heart. As the heart keeps pumping blood all over the body, it needs to be put to sleep so that it can stop the blood flowing to the aorta for a while. If the heart is beating and blood is spewed out without treatment, the patient will die from excessive bleeding.

So all the preparations were over. The circulatory device, which suppresses the coagulation of the blood that meets the air and supplies blood and oxygen instead, started working. Also, the patient’s body temperature was dropped to minimize tissue damage.

Now, what’s left are the patient who wants to live, and the staff who are trying to save the patient.

“Let’s start.”

Kim’s hands moved.

It was exactly where the inner membrane was damaged.

The aorta was reminiscent of a thick, smooth earthworm.

Watching it closely, Suhyuk’s pupils were expanded.

Moreover, he mumbled like a person who lost focus, “Remove the damaged area and get the artificial blood vessels.”

Kim was a little surprised because he felt someone pushed him from behind.

It was Suhyuk.