Dr. Shin Seonhan: The Doctor Who Sees The Future [EN]: Chapter 237

#Extra Story 19. Snake and Wildcat (5)

After Orientation (MT).

Kim Snake quickly gained favor with the upperclassmen.

He was a good listener, knew how to match the mood, and was very courteous, which seemed to endear him to them.

Which meant…

The constant drinking sessions in the university district continued.

“Ugh, my head…”

“Are you okay?”

“Yesterday, I saw three of you, but now I only see one.”

“…You should drink in moderation.”

“It feels like someone tied a headband around my head and is tightening it really hard.”

With a pale face, Kim Snake ate the dried pollack soup that his cousin had prepared.

*Does the soup taste like alcohol too?*

This was serious, very serious.

*Is college life this tough?*

Still, he was grateful that his cousin, who lived in Seoul, took care of his hangovers every time.

The cousin sitting across from him chuckled and asked.

“Is college worth it? Are you having fun?”

“Fun? Don’t make me laugh.”

“Why?”

“It’s awful, I want to quit…”

“Haha, after all the effort you put into getting into Yeon-guk University [a fictional prestigious university]? Your aunt and uncle would be furious if they heard that, you rascal.”

“I’m just saying.”

Beom-soo’s parents were professors.

They knew better than anyone the weight a university degree carried in Korean society.

No matter how impressive their research, they couldn’t be appointed as professors at top-tier universities because of their alma mater’s limitations.

―Beom-soo, a university degree lasts a lifetime. You must get a degree from a prestigious university!

*Prestigious university, prestigious university.*

How many times had he heard that growing up…

His parents always emphasized the ‘optimal success course,’ and Kim Snake also considered it important.

On the other hand, his cousin seemed more interested in his younger cousin’s everyday stories.

“Have you made any friends?”

“Why do you keep asking that?”

“Hey, you know your brother always has a strong sense of curiosity. I can’t help but wonder if our little brother has made any friends, if he’s going to have any romance…”

“There are only weirdos.”

“Weirdos?”

“There’s one weirdo in particular… he’s really strange. I can’t understand him.”

After a while, Kim Snake’s cousin laughed heartily after hearing his story.

“What? There’s someone like that?”

“He’s crazy.”

“Wow, that friend sounds charming. Totally my type.”

“Yeah, you’d get along well with him.”

“Try to get along with him. Maybe you can become friends? Sometimes opposites attract.”

“That will never happen.”

Kim Snake said, cutting off the unpleasant thought. His cousin just smiled silently at his younger cousin as if he were cute.

* * *

Pre-med freshman year.

Their schedules are relatively free.

Except for Fridays, they can choose to take any elective courses they want.

Of course, it was much more relaxed than medical school…

*I can’t let my guard down.*

Kim Snake usually chose history subjects that he was confident in.

This was also a strategy.

Aiming for the best grades with the most efficient choice.

Because it was a field he knew well, it was easy to follow the lectures.

“The Peloponnesian War is—”

“The humanism of the Renaissance influenced the style of painting—”

After listening to and back-to-back, it was 1 p.m.

There were several student restaurants, but the building where Kim Snake was was always crowded.

Holding his tray, he looked around for a seat and made eye contact with Song Yoo-joo, who was eating alone.

“…”

“…”

[Wild Song Yoo-joo has appeared. What should I do?]

―1. Suggest eating together

―2. Run away

While hesitating.

Song Yoo-joo subtly pulled her tray closer to her body.

It seemed like she was telling him not to come closer.

Kim Snake said, feeling resentful.

“Hey, am I some kind of virus?”

“Get lost.”

“Ha…”

Kim Snake grumbled and sat across from her, then said.

“Who do you think *wants* to sit with you? There are no other seats.”

“Then eat quickly and leave.”

“I will.”

Chomp, chomp.

They sat facing each other and ate.

An awkward silence filled the air.

Even if water and oil met, it wouldn’t be this difficult to mix.

Kim Snake, who was stuffing braised tofu into his mouth, asked, as if throwing the words out.

“How long are you going to stay on the outside?”

“None of your business.”

“Medical school is six years. Are you going to be an outsider the whole time? I’m not trying to start a fight, I’m genuinely curious.”

“It’s better than pretending to be an insider with a mask like you.”

“Ha…”

Kim Snake was dumbfounded.

A social misfit!

At this time, the word hadn’t yet become common, but Kim Snake was working harder than anyone else to fit in at school.

“Hey, I’m doing a hundred times better at school than you are…!”

*Weeing—*

The phone vibrated.

Kim Snake frowned after checking the text message.

“Ah, damn it, there’s another gathering tonight. Did someone fail to greet the seniors again?”

“Wow. I’m. So. Jeal. Ous.”

“…”

“It must be nice to be good at school? I’m a social misfit, so I’m so jeal. Ous. of being scolded by the seniors.”

Song Yoo-joo picked up her tray and left.

Kim Snake glared at her back, trembling.

*Why am I so angry?*

*I get anxious whenever I see her.*

*It’s like we can’t acknowledge each other’s existence…*

*It feels like we’re running on parallel lines, pointing fingers and saying, *

*Opposites attract? Bullshit! I’ll never get along with her.*

Kim Snake, who was completely immersed in medical school life.

And Song Yoo-joo, who lived her own way.

The two drifted further apart in opposite directions and failed to understand each other.

* * *

Friday.

It was the day when pre-med freshmen took their major classes.

There were two subjects in total.

[Patient and Doctor] and [Society and Doctor].

It was a subject to teach the freshmen, who hadn’t yet shed their high school image, the culture and mindset they should have in order to live as doctors in this society.

“Oh, Beom-soo! Come here!”

“Kim Snake, long time no see!”

“…”

The bulky brothers gestured.

And next to them, as always, sat Song Yoo-joo.

Unofficial Song Yoo-joo Fan Club No. 1 and No. 2.

Whenever they met Song Yoo-joo, who was an outsider, they deliberately took care of her.

So when they took major classes, the three-person group was always formed like that…

He didn’t know why, but they always left the fourth seat empty for Kim Snake.

“Hey, haven’t you two made up yet? How long has it been since the MT?”

“…”

“…”

“Anyway, whenever the two of you meet, there’s a cold air flowing. Ugh, it’s cold.”

The bulky brothers tried to mix water and oil, but they failed every time.

Ma Dong-seop clicked his tongue and looked around.

The lecture hall was so crowded today that it was about to burst, and there were even people sitting in the aisle, as if they had come to audit the class.

“There are a lot of people today?”

“Of course, you idiot. Today’s professor is a legend.”

“I see.”

The major lectures had different professors every week.

There were professors who did basic research in the laboratory, and there were professors who did clinical work in the hospital.

Sometimes, professors from the College of Pharmacy, the College of Nursing, and the Department of Forensic Medicine came to teach…

On some days, even external lecturers who had nothing to do with medicine came.

“Hello, I’m Lee Do-wan, the anchor of SBC 8 o’clock News—”

“Hello, I’m Yoo Ji-won, the CEO of Healthier Pharmaceutical Company—”

Each time, the popularity of the class varied depending on who the lecturer was.

And today.

The first lecturer of the second semester in September was Baek Eui-sin, a thoracic surgeon who was the most famous doctor at Yeon-guk University Medical School.

―Thud!

1 p.m.

The door opened sharply on time.

Baek Eui-sin, wearing a beige suit and a white shirt, entered the lecture hall.

*It’s Baek Eui-sin!*

*Wow, it’s really Baek Eui-sin!*

*Jackpot!*

Step, step, step—

His unique fast pace.

Slightly graying hair, stubborn face.

The Yeon-guk University pre-med freshmen in the 120-seat tiered lecture hall could not take their eyes off him.

A famous person they had only seen on TV was right in front of them!

Baek Eui-sin, who appeared like that, drank the water on the podium and said the first words to the students—

It was rather unconventional.

“Your lives are ruined.”

…Suddenly?

…Why?

Instead of giving blessings to the fresh freshmen, he suddenly cursed them…?

Baek Eui-sin picked up a black marker and reached out to the whiteboard.

“Shall we roughly express your life in points, lines, and planes?”

*Thwack—*

Baek Eui-sin made a dot.

And said with a dry expression.

“This is the entrance exam you went through until you were twenty years old. It’s a needle hole.”

At that moment, an undisguised sense of pride flashed across the faces of the medical students.

They were the victors of the entrance exam war.

But then, Baek Eui-sin drew a long horizontal line and said.

“This is roughly your life until you’re thirty years old.”

“…?”

“Study. Exam. Study. Exam. Study, exam, study, exam.”

*Thud, thud, thud.*

Repeatedly and rhythmically writing and .

A timeline roughly summarizing a person’s life was created.

“You’ll be over thirty years old just studying and taking exams.”

“…”

“And this is the scope of your life that will unfold after that.”

*Trickle—*

This time it was a circle.

Baek Eui-sin drew a small circle on the board and said.

“You’ll probably live in a fixed pool, associating with each other. Doctors in the same department, doctors, doctors… doctors in other departments, doctors, doctors…”

*Thud, thud, thud.*

This time, he emphasizes the word and fills in the check marks inside the circle.

Compared to the vast whiteboard, the world inside the circle looked very narrow.

Baek Eui-sin shook his hand and said.

“What percentage of you who will live like this will become adults with a sane mind?”

Everyone had a bewildered expression.

Even if it were someone else, it didn’t sound light because it was Baek Eui-sin who was saying it.

After that, the stories he told were somewhat shocking.

It was literally .

He told stories for about 10 minutes, picking out only the worst cases of people who became the worst humans after choosing the job of a doctor.

*Why is he telling these stories to budding freshmen?*

“What was the name of today’s subject? Yes, … What I want to tell you is this.”

Baek Eui-sin wrote a sentence in bold strokes.

…?

The students all had puzzled expressions.

It was like a Zen riddle.

“Which means.”

*Beep beep!*

Suddenly, an alarm-like phone rang.

Baek Eui-sin took the phone out of his pocket without hesitation and shouted.

“What? Another aortic dissection [a tear in the inner layer of the aorta]? Is it a different patient from before? Since when has there been pain?”

The other person’s urgent and loud voice could be heard beyond the phone.

“Did you see the echo (echocardiogram) [an ultrasound of the heart]? How is the aortic valve? You son of a… tell me straight!”

*Thwack—*

Baek Eui-sin picks up the bag he brought again.

And turns to leave the lecture hall he had entered just 15 minutes ago.

Then, as if he suddenly remembered something, he returned to the podium, grabbed the microphone, and said.

“Ah, that’s it for today’s class.”

“…?!”

“Any questions?”

*Swish—*

A dozen students raised their hands at once with questioning expressions.

Baek Eui-sin nodded and said.

“Yes, that’s a good attitude. Always live your life with a questioning attitude.”

“??”

And leaves the lecture hall.

*Whoosh—*

After he disappeared, only silence filled the remaining seats.

It was questionable why he asked if there were any questions if he was going to do that.

“What… is he really gone?”

“Is the lecture over?”

“I heard he has a really strange personality, and it seems like it was true…”

Everyone whispers with bewildered expressions.

It couldn’t be helped.

He stopped giving the lecture.

Only one sentence written by Baek Eui-sin remained on the whiteboard.

Yeo Bong-cheol and Ma Dong-seop scratched their chins.

“What does that mean?”

“Didn’t he used to say something like hawk eyes and lion’s heart… does he like animals?”

“Is that so?”

“I roughly understand, but I don’t know the context.”

Meanwhile.

Song Yoo-joo stared blankly at the whiteboard without moving.

Kim Snake also the same.

For once, the two were thinking the same thing.

…What was Professor Baek Eui-sin trying to say?

The feeling of knowing but not knowing, tickling, tormented the two—

In the near future, the day will come when the two will chew on this sentence.