Dr. Shin Seonhan: The Doctor Who Sees The Future [EN]: Chapter 103

#103 Serendipity by the Summer Sea (6)

The dorm of Gokdam First Hospital.

This is where we’ll be living for a month.

I initially thought the emergency room was a bit shabby, but this place really takes the cake.

“Wow, this is awesome.”

“This place looks at least thirty years old, right?”

“I feel like I’m time-traveling! Like I’m in a time machine…?”

Yeonseo has been excited for a while now.

Soon, we split into pairs and headed to our assigned rooms.

Of course, Geunuk and I got the same room.

Click—

The fluorescent light flickered on when I flipped the switch.

Immediately, old and worn-out furniture came into view.

Then, Geunuk looked up at the old-fashioned fluorescent light and said, sounding dumbfounded.

“The room is super old, too?”

“Still, it’s not bad. At least it’s well-maintained.”

I said that and smiled.

Just a year ago.

I remember spending my medical school days in a space that was practically a ruin.

Compared to that environment, this is a blessing.

And the doctor’s uniform and gown that the staff gave us were clean enough.

“I’m a little worried. What if the bed collapses while I’m sleeping?”

As Geunuk said that and pressed on the bunk bed, an uneasy creaking sound came from the frame.

“Gasp, look! It’s creaking.”

“……Geunuk, even a perfectly fine bed would creak if you press on it that hard.”

“No, Seonhan, you go up to the second floor! I don’t want to accidentally crush my friend to death with my butt while sleeping.”

Geunuk seemed uneasy and sent me upstairs.

I quickly unpacked my luggage and looked around the room.

How many interns dispatched from Yeon Guk University have lived here over the years?

There were many traces of interns who had already come and gone in every corner of the room.

A pile of duty uniforms that seemed to have been secretly brought from Yeon Guk University Hospital was stacked on one side.

‘I heard that the clothes given out at this hospital are uncomfortable, so everyone brought their duty uniforms from Yeon Guk University.’

As I thought that and looked around the dorm room, I suddenly found something.

“Geunuk. There’s something written all over here?”

“Where?”

“In front of the door.”

We looked at one spot.

There were papers with something written on them plastered all over the door.

A hospital map that looked like a dungeon map from a game.

The locations of each item in the emergency room.

The names and numbers of Gokdam City’s best restaurants.

A list of nearby food delivery places.

Precautions for hospital life.

Etc.

The tips left by the interns over the years were written in several layers.

And among them, there were particularly impressive phrases.

The last sentence is like a dying message.

“Seonhan. Doesn’t this feel like that? An escape room game.”

“Escape room?”

“The people who were trapped here before left clues to survive.”

“That makes sense?”

While Geunuk and I were exchanging silly jokes like that, the door burst open and Yeonseo’s face appeared.

“If you’ve unpacked, let’s go out!”

What a surprise.

Yeonseo has the excited expression of a dog right before going for a walk.

Sodam peeked out from behind her.

“This is a wooden building, so all the sounds are audible. Your voices could be heard all the way to our room across the hall.”

Since it’s a small hospital, the dorm is compact.

It was a different environment from Yeon Guk University Hospital, where the men’s and women’s dorms are completely separated.

“It’s our first day, so we should eat out! Let’s go see Gokdam City.”

“Yeah, if we work 24 hours a day starting tomorrow, we might just sleep all day on our days off.”

“Where should we eat?”

“Trust me. I told you I know all the good restaurants, right? Let’s go!”

Yeonseo stepped forward with an excited expression.

* * *

We took a taxi to Gokdam City.

Fortunately, this driver was gentlemanly and kind.

However, the driving habits that resembled a roller coaster were the same.

After getting out of the taxi, Sodam grabbed my sleeve with a dizzy expression and said.

“I’m really never taking a taxi in this neighborhood again.”

“I heard the buses are even more violent?”

“Is that possible?”

“They apparently start as soon as the passenger gets on, before the door even closes. If you don’t grab the handle right away, you’ll fly directly to the back seat.”

Sodam’s face turned even paler at my words.

If we’re going to live in Gokdam, we’ll have to get used to this speed.

“Thanks to that, we arrived quickly. I heard there’s a *milmyeon* [wheat noodle dish in cold broth] place that was on TV near here!”

While Yeonseo was excitedly leading the way, we looked around.

The downtown area of Gokdam had a unique atmosphere.

Old store signs like hardware stores, supermarkets, and photo studios.

And stylish cafes that pop up randomly between those stores.

Night market stalls.

Graffiti murals.

Structures made by the local government.

Etc.

It was like a *bibimbap* [mixed rice with meat and vegetables] street where various ingredients were put into a large bowl and mixed together.

And a large banner was hanging between the streetlights.

[Gokdam Beach Festival]

Time: August 15th ~ 17th

“Wow, a festival!”

“That sounds fun!”

“They’re having fireworks on the last day.”

“We can go, right? We can all take a day off together in the middle.”

“Yeah, let’s all go see the fireworks together!”

Geunuk chimed in with an excited face.

“But that graffiti, isn’t it the same as the one we saw at the station earlier?”

“Oh, it’s true!”

“Let’s take a picture!”

It feels like we’re on a trip.

It was fun to explore Gokdam City.

Yeonseo took out her vlog camera and filmed here and there, and soon we arrived at the restaurant.

“Mother, four *milmyeons* and two plates of dumplings, please!”

As Yeonseo ordered, Geunuk added to the order.

“Two extra servings of noodles!”

“Two extra servings of noodles by yourself? You pig!”

“No, Seonhan will need extra noodles too, right?”

Against the background of Sodam and Geunuk bickering, the *milmyeon* was quickly placed on our table.

“Looks delicious!”

As Geunuk picked up his chopsticks, Yeonseo quickly stopped him.

“Uh-uh. Take a picture before you eat!”

While Yeonseo was taking pictures, I said.

“We’re working tomorrow, right, Geunuk?”

Gokdam First Hospital dispatch.

From tomorrow morning, we will be divided into 2 people / 2 people and work in the emergency room in 24-hour shifts.

Even-numbered day work: Seonhan + Geunuk

Odd-numbered day work: Sodam + Yeonseo

And two days off (days off) will be given to all 4 interns in the middle and at the end of the month.

The interns will be rotated on the days off at the end of the month, and the interns can freely spend time together on the days off in the middle.

Geunuk and I decided to start working first from tomorrow.

“Are you going to be okay working 24 hours starting tomorrow? You must be tired.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll just go to bed a little earlier tonight.”

“But what happened to that taxi driver patient from earlier?”

“I asked before we came out, and he said he was okay. All the test results, including the brain CT, were fine.”

“That’s a relief.”

“I know. Ma’am, please give me another serving of noodles~”

Geunuk, who had already finished a bowl with an extra serving of noodles, ordered another serving.

At that time, Yeonseo looked around at us and said.

“But when I think about it, we arrived at the hospital on the first day while transporting a patient.”

“That’s right.”

“Isn’t it the most legendary event to throw a patient at the emergency room director as our first greeting? Whose *skill* is this?”

Yeonseo pointed at us with a gesture as if searching for the culprit.

*Inner skill* (*內功*) [A term from martial arts novels referring to one’s internal energy or power; here, it’s used humorously to describe someone who attracts difficult situations].

A word that would appear in martial arts novels.

However, it is also a playful expression commonly used by doctors across the country.

If patients flock to every place you go, or if you are in charge of particularly difficult patients, it is expressed as ‘*inner skill* is not good’.

Then Geunuk took a sip of the soup and pointed at me.

“Of course it’s Seonhan. Don’t you know that patients strangely flock to him wherever he goes?”

“Really?”

“Yeah. He’s a complete patient magnet.”

Geunuk lowered his voice eerily and continued.

“Be prepared. We’re now like detective characters from a *shonen* [young boy] manga who have come to a villa.”

In detective manga, murder cases happen wherever the main character goes.

Geunuk is talking as if I’m such a character.

“Well, considering his past track record, it’s understandable.”

“I know. The culprit was Seonhan.”

At Geunuk’s words, the others nodded as if they made sense.

I smiled and retorted.

“Don’t you guys know the law of conservation of *inner skill*? If my *inner skill* explodes in advance like me, it’ll be easier as we go back.”

“Can we believe you?”

“Just watch, this month will be a very comfortable month.”

I said that, but I thought differently in my heart.

Comfortable intern life?

I didn’t want it in the first place.

Rather, I want to gain as much experience as possible during my year as an intern.

‘Will there be a future-seeing event this month too?’

I’m already curious.

The first evening in Gokdam was coming to an end.

* * *

7:30 PM.

Geunuk and I returned to the hospital for the 24-hour shift starting tomorrow.

Yeonseo and Sodam decided to move separately to look around the city a little more.

So we moved in groups of two.

When we arrived, the parking lot of the hospital was bathed in the setting sun.

“Wow~ look at the color of the sky. Look at how pink and orange are subtly mixed. And why are the clouds so pretty today!”

Geunuk suddenly spits out sentimental comments.

I also raised my head and looked at the sunset in the distance.

It was a sunset that felt different from the sky seen in Seoul.

At that time.

Cheok—

Geunuk suddenly put his arm around my shoulder and said.

“Seonhan. Do you know the expression ‘*Hwamusibilhong*’ [花無十日紅]?”

Why a Chinese idiom all of a sudden?

He did that when he saw the cherry blossoms in the spring last time…….

Geunuk sometimes exudes an old man’s sensibility.

“Doesn’t it mean that even the reddest flower can’t last for ten days?”

“That’s right.”

Geunuk suddenly said in a sweet tone.

“Isn’t our youth like that too? Something fleeting that never comes back once it’s gone…… I am very happy to be spending my youth with you in Gokdam as a team of two, which will never come back.”

What is it.

Why is the atmosphere like this?

Suddenly he’s so verbose.

I think he has some ulterior motive…….

I pushed away Geunuk’s thick arm that was sticking to me excessively and said.

“What do you want.”

“What do I want? I just wanted to express my friendship with my precious friend…….”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

“Let’s go to the beach for *hunting* [seeking romantic encounters] once during our days off.”

As expected.

He still hasn’t given up.

I pushed Geunuk’s face away.

“Go alone.”

“Seonhan *hyung* [older brother/male friend], please!”

“I’m not going.”

“Sigh. You’re not even a stone Buddha; it’s a waste of a perfectly good face.”

While Geunuk was grumbling like that, a voice calling us was heard from the direction of the hospital.

“Hey, chicks. Are you coming back from eating?”