Dr. Shin Seonhan: The Doctor Who Sees The Future [EN]: Chapter 129

#129 The Heart Beats (13)

In Doctor Baek’s studio, papers were scattered everywhere.

Hundreds of them at a glance.

All were sketches done in pencil.

“Why did you draw so many pictures?”

“You’ll understand when you retire.”

“Understand what?”

“What it’s like to be bored to death.”

Swish, swish—

Doctor Baek’s hand doesn’t rest on the canvas.

Once he focuses on something, he rarely looks around.

“I’m still far from retirement, you know?”

“Getting old happens in an instant, Jacqueline.”

“You’re cursing me.”

The woman called Jacqueline grumbled and lifted a plastic bag.

“I bought some fruit from the food market on the way here. Would you like some?”

“Just leave it there.”

“People who don’t gain weight always have a reason.”

Crunch.

Jacqueline took a bite of an apple and sat in a chair.

The drawings on the desk were as precise as photographs.

However, the contents of the drawings were all things that could be seen in the operating room.

Heart.

Lungs.

The bare faces of various organs inside the chest.

‘As expected of a doctor who dedicated his life to surgery, his inner self is so desolate.’

Jacqueline smiled wryly, thinking that.

“Why don’t you draw a cute puppy?”

“Why a puppy?”

“If you keep drawing people’s organs all day, your inner self will become desolate, you know?”

“It’s just that those are the only things an old man remembers.”

Drawn from memory?

Jacqueline looked at the drawings again and marveled.

A human heart is one, but inside it, there are dozens of parts, each with its own name.

And in Doctor Baek’s drawings, each and every part was alive and moving.

The detailed branches of the muscles, and even the surface texture of each tissue, were vividly 펼쳐진다 [unfold] before her eyes without error.

“It’s too photographic to be drawn from memory, isn’t it? It’s like an anatomy textbook….”

Saying that, she suddenly smiled playfully.

“Doctor Baek, don’t you want to stand in front of the operating table again?”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

“It seems like there are many people waiting for you to return to the hospital. Doctor Pung too.”

Pause.

His hand stopped.

Doctor Baek turned around for the first time.

“Who?”

“Doctor Baek’s disciple.”

“Why is that guy suddenly…”

“I received an email from him today. He asked me to tell you if I get in touch with you, so I’ll forward it to you.”

“No need.”

“I already sent it.”

Ding!

Jacqueline smiled and shook her smartphone.

Doctor Baek sighed lightly, put down his pencil, and headed out to the terrace.

Swish—

The wind blowing from the sea washed away the stale air.

After being buried in a black and white world for a while, he felt as if the world had suddenly brightened.

Ding—

Soon, an email arrived in his pocket.

Doctor Baek sat in a chair, turned on his smartphone, and checked the email.

Receiving a letter from an old acquaintance felt like riding in a time machine.

Doctor, it’s Pung.

Are you doing well?

I think I haven’t been able to contact you since your mother’s funeral.

I heard that you retired and cut off ties with the world, but I have no way to say hello, so I’m contacting you here in case… …

The email contained greetings from Doctor Pung, one of his few disciples.

… …I’m sorry for turning away from you at my mother’s funeral.

Actually, at that time, I resented you.

If I hadn’t been a member of Doctor Baek’s team, wouldn’t I have been able to pay more attention to my mother?

At least, wouldn’t I have been able to discover it before it progressed to stage 4… ….

That’s how much everyone on Doctor Baek’s team lived thinking only about patients and surgery.

But I think it was all useless thinking. It wasn’t a matter of blaming anyone, but only after this much time has passed am I able to think normally.

I’m sorry for turning my anger at myself to you in vain.

Doctor Baek’s expression was calm.

.

It was one of the many words that referred to him.

It was the same then, and he wasn’t someone who would feel emotional turmoil now.

… …I’m recovering while working in the Gokdam Emergency Room.

Doctor Baek.

If, by any chance, you change your mind about retiring and think about returning to the hospital, please call me.

I’m also slowly trying to 정리하다 [organize/settle] my life in Gokdam. Actually, after doing heart suture surgery for the first time in a long time, my hands are itching.

I also remember the excitement of that day when you assisted me and I sewed the Aorta for the first time.

“Surgery?”

That too, heart suture?

In the attachment that Doctor Pung sent, an article from a local newspaper was saved as a PDF.

The photo showed Doctor Pung giving a thumbs up with both hands and smiling brightly.

“What a mess?”

Doctor Baek frowned.

It was quite a shocking appearance.

He had long hair and a beard that he hadn’t seen before.

If he had been under him, he would have shaved his head with clippers.

Doctor Baek tilted his head as he continued to scroll through the article.

‘Shin Seon-han, huh.’

He definitely saw that name before.

It was a strange thing.

He’s just one of the many interns, but he, on the other side of the world, gets to hear that name?

Twice, too.

For a moment, Doctor Baek’s dry eyes became interested.

But that was only for a moment, and he focused on the article again.

‘Without transferring to another hospital, EDT [Emergency Department Thoracotomy] right there. It was a good decision.’

Wince—

Suddenly, Doctor Baek looked down at his hand.

A wrinkled hand that has lived as a doctor for decades.

The fine muscles of that hand were showing subtle contraction reactions in response to the word .

“Tsk.”

Doctor Baek clicked his tongue.

He had been holding a pencil and drawing like crazy for a while, but his desire was not satisfied.

He came into the studio.

“Would you like some fruit now?”

“I don’t feel like it anymore.”

“Why? It’s delicious.”

“The pears here are too dry and tasteless.”

Hearing that, a smile crept onto Jacqueline’s lips.

“That’s true. Korean pears are the best, right?”

Doctor Baek didn’t answer.

However, he was just lost in thought as he left the studio.

A retired surgeon.

He thought his heart had burned out.

Like a pile of firewood that has completely burned and only ashes remain.

But, it wasn’t.

Deep inside his heart, an unknown spark was slowly returning.

* * *

The next day.

I said goodbye to Doctor Pung and headed to the Gokdam Hospital dormitory.

I drank until morning, so my whole body feels like it’s been soaked in alcohol.

Sodam and Yeonseo, who had finished their shifts, were preparing to return to Seoul.

“Ugh, the smell of alcohol! Don’t tell me you were caught by Doctor Pung until morning?”

“Yeah.”

“Seon-han, what’s that in your hand?”

“It’s a gift for you guys.”

I handed out the small canvases I was holding one by one.

“What’s with the 그림 [painting]?”

“Doctor Pung is giving it to you.”

“Did he draw it himself?”

“Yeah. He said he could sell it for 100 million won [approx. $75,000 USD] later when he becomes as famous as Banksy?”

Of course, it’s a ridiculous story, but I conveyed Doctor Pung’s words as they were.

He was also working as a graffiti artist as a hobby.

“Oh? This is CPR!”

“The signature drawn on the Gokdam Station wall is the same?”

“Doctor Pung drew that as graffiti.”

“헐 [OMG].”

“대박 [Awesome].”

The two were 감탄했다 [exclaimed in admiration].

Of course, that doesn’t mean they liked the picture.

“Isn’t this just a sticker and spray painted randomly?”

“What do we use this for?”

Well, it’s hard to understand even if I look at it.

You can’t be good at surgery and good at drawing.

If such a person exists, it would be a scam.

“By the way, where’s Geun-uk?”

“I’m here.”

“Oh my god!”

Geun-uk appeared like a ghost with sunken eyes.

“Why do you look so depressed?”

“I broke up with my girlfriend.”

“What?”

Geun-uk said, sobbing.

“I went to see Ah-ryeong yesterday… She asked if we weren’t just in a cool relationship. I think I was the only one dating all this time.”

Tsk tsk.

I knew it.

It was a short and fleeting relationship of fifteen days.

I patted Geun-uk on the shoulder and 위로 아닌 위로를 했다 [gave a comforting but not really comforting remark].

“Cheer up. It was a doomed relationship anyway.”

“Is that 위로 [comfort]?”

“Find someone else. You like pretty people anyway.”

“Man, do you think it’s common to find a woman who can talk about exercise for two hours? I’m not going to give my heart to a woman 함부로 [carelessly] anymore.”

“Puhaha!”

Yeonseo burst out laughing, and Sodam shook her head.

After a while.

We boarded the train to Seoul.

Gokdam Station gradually moved away outside the window, and the quiet scenery flowed by quickly.

Everyone was tired and fell asleep.

‘It was a month with a lot of gains.’

The experience of handling patients that I had to take full responsibility for over the past month.

This was a valuable experience that I could only have as a resident at Yeonguk University Hospital.

Thinking deeply and deciding on a treatment plan in that experience, I definitely felt myself growing.

And, above all, Doctor Pung.

It was a strange relationship.

Thanks to meeting him, I learned suture and participated in open chest surgery.

The feeling I felt in my hand when the stopped heart started beating again… ….

I felt like I had taken a step on the path to becoming a surgeon.

With that one step, confidence welled up inside me.

I felt like I could handle any intern job when I returned to Seoul.

And, maybe… ….

If I walk the path of a surgeon, won’t I meet Doctor Pung again someday?

I vaguely thought so.

#Another Level (1)

September.

The heat has subsided.

It’s not quite autumn yet, but it still feels cool.

The sky is also particularly blue.

Step, step—

I took a refreshing step.

The passage connecting the cancer center to the main building is quite long.

It’s a path that can take more than 5 minutes at a slow pace.

Both sides are made of transparent windows, so you can see the trees, and the sunlight comes in as it is depending on the time.

It was a path that was too long for interns like me, so I always had to run.

It was a path that I repeated every day like that, but I could feel the passage of time in this place that I returned to after a month.

The paintings drawn on the walls have also changed, and the leaves of the trees visible through the windows have changed color in the meantime.

The hospital was running well even without me.

Let’s work hard this month too!

As I was thinking that and walking vigorously towards a new beginning, I heard a familiar voice.

“Hey, long time no see!”

Thud—

Someone came up and hit me on the back.