Dr. Shin Seonhan: The Doctor Who Sees The Future [EN]: Chapter 112

#112 Surfers (2)

“A bet?”

“Yes. A round of staring contest!”

Why a staring contest all of a sudden?

We’re not middle schoolers.

I responded listlessly to Yeonseo’s words.

“No thanks. Why a childish staring contest all of a sudden…”

“Staaart!”

Yeonseo said that and then stared intently into my eyes.

I met Yeonseo’s gaze.

Before I knew it, I had accepted the duel.

“Oh my, youth is youth.”

“Hohohoho.”

“I wonder if this will ignite something between the young doctors.”

The nurses laughed as they passed us.

Youth?

It’s not something sweet like that.

If I had to say, it’s a situation where the competitive spirit is ignited.

Yeonseo also has a stubborn personality, so she never wants to lose to me.

Of course, the same goes for me.

“Wow…”

“They’re really trying to win with all their might.”

“Anyway, both of them have a crazy amount of pride.”

“If we lined up our colleagues in order of who hates to lose, those two and Ryu Myung-in would be at the very front, right?”

Geunwook and Sodam clicked their tongues next to us.

Our staring contest continued for over 3 minutes.

After a while, Yeonseo seemed to be reaching her limit, biting her lower lip tightly.

“Why don’t you give up first?”

“I can do this all day.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Even like this?”

Step.

Yeonseo takes a step towards me.

Her tiny face gets closer.

Oh my.

I was honestly surprised.

It was a situation where any man’s heart would jump out of his throat.

But I faced Yeonseo as calmly as possible.

Weeing—

Then suddenly, someone intervened between our faces and brought a portable mini fan to my eyes.

“What are you doing? Who’s making goo-goo eyes in the sacred emergency room?”

Ugh!

It’s a crowd intrusion.

I blinked my eyes from the surprise attack.

It was Professor Poong.

He laughed and grabbed Yeonseo’s arm, lifting her up high.

“Idol wins!”

“Yes!”

Yeonseo clenched her fist.

Then, with reddened eyes, she teased me.

“The loser has to grant the winner one wish, no matter what, right?”

What, when did we say that?

Before I could say anything, Yeonseo ran excitedly and disappeared beyond the station.

Sodam followed behind her, and our handover and playful staring contest ended.

I looked at Professor Poong resentfully, and he said.

“Hey, you should subtly lose in these kinds of things. These days, kids’ lives are so tough that they have no romance!”

Professor Poong said that and then held out his hand.

“More than that, did you do the assignment I gave you?”

“Yes.”

I held out the tangerine I had placed in the corner of the station.

I was confident this time.

Then, Professor Poong looked at the sutured tangerine and said in surprise.

“Ooh… your skills have definitely improved compared to last time!”

“Then are you going to teach me properly now?”

“Yes. You’re qualified to move on to the next step!”

“The next step?”

“Just a moment.”

Then, he peeled another tangerine and threw it at me, saying.

“Okay, next is 5-0 nylon! Fighting!”

Damn it!

It got harder.

I barely managed to complete it to my satisfaction with 3-0 suture, but now he wants me to do it with 5-0, which is an even thinner thread.

Professor Poong, who gave me another assignment, chuckled and disappeared into the on-call room.

‘Will my skills really improve with this method?’

Oh well.

Now that I’ve decided to learn, let’s faithfully follow Professor Poong’s instructions!

I’m confident in my persistence.

* * *

6:30 PM the next day.

As soon as I woke up, I grabbed a tangerine.

Then Geunwook got up with messy hair and came to my side, saying.

“Hey, are you sewing that again?”

“Yeah.”

“Why do you keep doing the same thing over and over again?”

“It’s different this time. It’s 5-0 nylon.”

Having become somewhat familiar with 3-0 nylon, I started practicing tangerine sutures with 5-0 nylon, which is thinner and has a smaller needle.

The size of the needle became smaller, making it harder to control.

And as the thread became thinner, it required more concentration.

“Ugh, I feel like I’m going crazy just watching you. Take a break, man.”

Heck!

Geunwook snatched the tangerine from my hand and said.

“Let’s go on a date today.”

“A date?”

What kind of disgusting date is it between guys?

When my reaction was lukewarm, Geunwook said.

“Let’s eat in the city and walk along the beach. I’m tired of ordering in! Don’t just fiddle with tangerines in your room!”

“Hmm…”

Come to think of it, I haven’t been out far because I’ve been solving all my meals nearby for the past few days.

And if you keep being cooped up in a room and focusing on one thing, it can be counterproductive.

In this case, a refresh is needed.

“Okay, let’s go!”

Anyway, I have to eat.

It’s been a while since Geunwook and I went out for some fresh air.

We changed our clothes and caught a taxi to Gokdam downtown.

* * *

7 PM.

Gokdam downtown, where the sun was setting, was crowded.

Even though it was still early evening, a night market was unfolding on the streets.

Artists gathered in the square, where the heat of the summer day had not yet subsided, and started busking [performing music in a public place for donations].

The surrounding area is packed with people.

“We are barbarians~ We plunder your heart~”

“Wow!”

They start singing an acoustic version of Carbonated Boys’ hit song that swept this year.

People raise their hands and cheer at the familiar melody.

Men and women of all ages are swaying their bodies.

But those lyrics are really unfounded no matter how many times I listen to them.

“How is it? Isn’t it nice to come out?”

“It is.”

“If you come to the beach, you have to get some fresh air like this! It’s a waste to come all the way here and be stuck in the hospital all day even on holidays.”

Come to think of it, it’s almost the festival.

I could feel the festival day approaching.

Compared to the first day, the number of people seems to have tripled.

The streets are filled with the joyful noise of people, and the delicious smells from the lined-up food trucks stimulate the nose.

“Honey, I want to eat that!”

“Ooh, where?”

I hear lisping voices from somewhere.

Looking around, there are many couples who came to hang out with their arms crossed.

Couples here too.

Couples over there too.

Wherever I look, there are couples.

I can’t find two men walking around like us, even if I wash my eyes and look again.

Suddenly, Geunwook smacked his lips as if he was disappointed.

“Keu, the atmosphere is amazing. If possible, at times like this…”

“Are you going to talk about girls again?”

“How did you know?”

“It’s obvious.”

Ignoring my nagging, Geunwook continued to lament.

“It’s so sad to spend this time with guys. How nice would it be if a fateful girl appeared at a time like this…”

At that time, someone approached Geunwook and said.

“Excuse me. Can you take a picture of us?”

Huh?

Could it be that Geunwook’s wish came true?

We looked at the people who spoke to us.

Two women.

Are they around their mid-20s?

One has long black hair in a ponytail and healthy tanned skin.

And the other one has unique short green hair.

Both of them are in an excited mood.

They are wearing short clothes, as befits summer vacation attire, so they are attracting attention at a glance.

‘Did they come on a trip with friends?’

Thinking that, I glanced to the side, and as expected…

Geunwook is grinning and can’t come to his senses.

He really doesn’t deviate from expectations.

If he keeps grinning like that, saliva will drip from his mouth.

“P-Picture?”

“Yes.”

“Just a moment.”

Geunwook took the women’s smartphones and asked in a slightly awkward tone.

“Did you come to hang out with friends?”

“Yes. We came to surf.”

“Wow, surfing?”

“Yes, surfing.”

“Oh…”

Of course, Geunwook didn’t have the ability to continue the conversation more skillfully than that.

“Okay, I’ll take it. One, two, three.”

Click, click.

Geunwook started taking pictures with the graffiti-covered wall as the background.

And he tilted his head as if he didn’t like the result and said.

“Um, I’ll take another picture from below. Because your legs have to look longer.”

Then the women hit each other’s arms.

“Hey, he said your legs are short.”

“What, it’s not me, it’s you!”

Then Geunwook scratched his head and said.

“Um… both of you are short, but you’re still beautiful.”

Then the women looked at each other awkwardly and burst out laughing.

It’s Geunwook’s unique talent.

He’s just saying anything according to the flow of consciousness, but surprisingly, it sometimes gains the favor of women.

“No, it’s not that they’re short, it’s just that the words came out wrong…”

When Geunwook tried to make an embarrassed excuse, the women said.

“Oh, it’s okay! You’re saying both of us have short legs, right?”

“What are you talking about? Only you are short, I’m not short?”

“Hey, you and I are the same height!”

The two people laughed and giggled, then said to Geunwook.

“Anyway, please take a good picture so that we look tall!”

“Yes!”

The atmosphere is not bad.

Geunwook smiled awkwardly and started taking pictures again.

Meanwhile, I looked at the accessories displayed in the night market booth on the side.

‘Come to think of it, my little sister told me to buy her a gift when she comes back.’

Accessories, huh.

No matter how I look at it, it’s not my little sister’s taste.

Yeah, it’s better to buy something to eat.

I should buy a box of Gwamegi [dried half-beak fish, a local specialty] on the day my internship ends.

Thinking that, I put down the accessories.

In the meantime, Geunwook was still taking pictures of strange women.

“Okay, I’ll take one last picture. One, two, three~!”

At that time, suddenly.

Flash—

It went dark before my eyes.

Like a photo that is out of focus, the night market scene in front of me became blurry and quickly faded away.

And a scene from the future began to appear.

* * *

Shaaa—

I narrowed my eyes.

Until a moment ago, it was a dark evening, but now it’s bright daylight.

‘Where is this?’

I barely adjusted my eyes and looked around.

Shaaa—

The sound of the waves is refreshing.

There is a sandy beach where the sun is shining brightly, and familiar shops are spread out.

‘It’s Gokdam Beach, isn’t it?’

I was momentarily captivated by the scenery.

Although it’s a dream, the atmosphere felt at the beach in the middle of the day was quite beautiful.

But… wait.

Why are you suddenly showing me the beach?

Is there a big accident happening here?

Thinking that, the peaceful feeling suddenly disappeared and I became nervous.

‘Is a man-eating shark going to appear? Or is a tsunami going to hit suddenly…’

All sorts of absurd imaginations spread their wings in my head.

Surely such a movie-like thing won’t happen, right?

Of course, the most common sense thing to imagine is a drowning accident.

Because it is the most common accident that happens while playing in the water at the beach during the vacation season.

If not that…

It could be a completely unexpected accident.

‘I can’t miss an important scene while standing still. Let’s watch carefully what kind of accident happens.’

Squeak, squeak.

I moved my steps.

Soon, I was able to find familiar faces on the beach.