Dr. Shin Seonhan: The Doctor Who Sees The Future [EN]: Chapter 227

#Extra Story 9: A Report on the Correlation Between the Heart and Love (1)

One night, out of the blue.

An Gyeong-sik (Cardiothoracic Surgery, R2 [second-year resident]) felt like he’d lost touch with his emotions.

Nothing brought him joy.

Could it be lingering effects from breaking up with his girlfriend three months prior?

In the quiet passage of time, An Gyeong-sik felt an unbearable emptiness.

So, he posted on Insta-X [social media platform, similar to Twitter/X].

And the next day.

Ma Dong-seop (Cardiothoracic Surgery, R4 [fourth-year resident]) commented on his post with a single, dismissive word.

“What a load of crap.”

“Don’t you dare denigrate someone else’s emotions like that…!”

“This is what they call a dark history [embarrassing past post].”

Cardiothoracic surgery on-call room.

Ma Dong-seop watched his smartphone screen, clutching his stomach and laughing.

Teasing his junior, An Gyeong-sik, was a constant source of amusement.

It was genius to quickly screenshot the post that was uploaded in the middle of the night before it was deleted that morning.

“It’s so funny no matter how many times I look at it. What’s wrong with his heart? Hehehe!”

“I just mean it feels that empty. That’s all I’m saying…”

“Hey, Fresh! What do you think?”

Sin-seonhan (Cardiothoracic Surgery, R1 [first-year resident]), who was writing a routine prescription next to him, smiled and replied.

“The heart isn’t an organ that feels love.”

“That’s right.”

“I understand that love is an action that takes place in the brain due to the hormonal effects of dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin.”

“Excellent.”

“Thank you.”

Sin-seonhan focused on typing again, writing prescriptions for the next day.

‘These guys…’

How could people be so devoid of emotion!

An Gyeong-sik sighed deeply.

He was the only one in the cardiothoracic surgery department with so-called ‘liberal arts sensibilities [inclination towards humanities and arts].’

Of course, the nature of the medical profession itself might be somewhat rigid, but this cardiothoracic surgery department was particularly severe.

There was no one to be found who could sympathize with his tender emotions…

“An, move it.”

Senior Song Yu-ju?

What more needed to be said?

That person was the ‘ultimate science person [someone extremely logical and analytical].’

She trudged over in her blood-stained surgical gown and plopped down on the sofa.

She was someone he always respected, but he couldn’t detect any human emotions in her.

Ma Dong-seop took out a lollipop from his pocket and handed it to Song Yu-ju, asking.

“Did the surgery go well?”

“Yeah. It was tough.”

“Why?”

“While pump weaning [gradually reducing the patient’s reliance on the heart-lung machine after surgery], there was a lot of air in the heart, so it was hard to remove it.”

It’s important to remove air from the heart during this process. If air travels to the head, it can cause a cerebral embolism [blockage of a blood vessel in the brain].

“But it looks like it ended well?”

“Yeah, thankfully.”

“What should I do? There’s an even tougher patient here. There’s an emergency patient whose heart is empty?”

Song Yu-ju (Cardiothoracic Surgery, R4), who was unwrapping a lollipop and putting it in her mouth, frowned.

“What are you talking about? Is there air in the heart? Who?”

‘Never mind.’

‘I need to escape from here.’

An Gyeong-sik, who was only being teased for writing emotional posts while drunk on the night air, left the on-call room to avoid the giggling Ma Dong-seop.

Spring was coming outside the window.

* * *

May, when the spring season is in full swing.

An awkward atmosphere hung in the cardiothoracic surgery station.

A man and a woman in white gowns and a woman in a light green jacket.

Three people gathered and greeted each other.

“Hello, I’m Kim Su-jeong, the lung rotation intern for this month!”

The female doctor introduced herself in a bright voice.

A pristine doctor’s gown.

Character ballpoint pens stuck in the gown pocket.

Her whole appearance shouted, ‘I’m an intern!’

“Yes, I’m An Gyeong-sik, a second-year resident. Let’s work well together this month.”

An Gyeong-sik adjusted his glasses and greeted her back.

A crumpled doctor’s gown that barely resembled the same type of clothing.

Surgical sutures attached to the buttons, remnants of tie [surgical knot-tying] practice.

Unshaven dark stubble, a sign of working on call or rushing to work.

You could glean the life of a second-year resident in cardiothoracic surgery from his entire being.

‘…Did I come off too disheveled at the start of the month?’

It was embarrassing again.

Standing in front of a neat intern, he was self-conscious about his appearance.

Why was it so embarrassing today, even though he’d been doing this for a while?

Suddenly, Ma Dong-seop’s playful words came to mind.

-Hey, how long are you going to cosplay as a man suffering from a breakup? Shave neatly. That way, you can put new love in your empty heart, right? Hehehe!

Why did that word suddenly come to mind?

An Gyeong-sik cleared his throat and quickly introduced the woman next to him.

“Ahem… This is PA [Physician Assistant] Ju Se-yeong from Professor Han Sang-gi’s department.”

“Hello. Nice to meet you, intern. Please take care of me for a month! Hohoho.”

Ju Se-yeong, a mother of two with a warm demeanor, laughed cheerfully and greeted her.

The light green jacket she was wearing was the uniform of a dedicated nurse (PA, Physician Assistant) at Yeon-guk University Hospital.

PA is in charge of taking care of Professor Han Sang-gi’s patients in various areas from outpatient to inpatient wards.

-Professor Han Sang-gi

-Resident 2nd year An Gyeong-sik

-Dedicated Nurse (PA) Ju Se-yeong

-Intern Kim Su-jeong

The four of them would be responsible for Professor Han Sang-gi’s patients this month.

“I look forward to working with you!”

An Gyeong-sik thought as he watched the intern greet him again.

‘She looks nervous.’

Well, it was still May.

Everything was new from the intern’s point of view.

Cardiothoracic surgery was a challenging field, so she must be even more nervous.

‘I have to teach her well.’

In that way, a new month began with a slightly awkward first meeting in front of the station.

* * *

Friday, the first week of May.

“Professor, you worked hard!”

“Okay, everyone, good job.”

Morning rounds were over.

Professor Han Sang-gi returned to the laboratory.

After the rounds, the residents, interns, and PAs had time to organize the information from the rounds.

It was time to review the professor’s orders and address the tasks that needed to be done that day.

Due to the nature of cardiothoracic surgery, where interns eventually become attending physicians, it was essential to organize in this way and reiterate the tasks that interns needed to do.

“Patient Kim Jong-cheon should be NPO [nothing by mouth, fasting] and prescribed a CT [computed tomography, a type of imaging scan], and push [expedite] the order. The intern must issue an emergency prescription as soon as possible…”

An Gyeong-sik explained the patient’s case.

He spoke as calmly as possible, just in case the intern couldn’t understand.

In the fast-paced cardiothoracic surgery department, where everything had to flow ‘quickly, quickly,’ he was a somewhat exceptional resident.

“Yes, I understand. Yes, yes.”

Typing—

Intern Kim Su-jeong immediately typed and issued a prescription.

She’s an intern, so she’s bound to be confused, but she’s keeping up pretty well.

Like a young professional, she was listening to An Gyeong-sik’s words, repeating .

“I’ll push the CT room order!”

PA Ju Se-yeong picked up the phone.

Helping interns who lack experience as attending physicians was also a major task of the PA.

The three of them communicated quite smoothly and carried out their work.

“It seems like everything is organized, and there’s nothing urgent right now, right? The patients seem stable today, so there’s plenty of time…”

An Gyeong-sik checked the time.

Every Friday, Professor Han Sang-gi had no surgery or outpatient visits, so they could spend a relatively leisurely day.

“Shall we go to the cafe in the basement together for a while?”

“Okay! Intern, you’re coming with us too, right?”

“Yes!”

Intern Kim Su-jeong, who was holding the patient list, also nodded.

She was an intern who was not yet familiar with her work and did not have much free time, but she couldn’t miss out on enjoying her morning coffee.

“Let’s go.”

Sliding—

An Gyeong-sik pushed his chair back and got up.

Was it because of the leisure that came on the last day of a difficult week?

An Gyeong-sik’s expression was bright.

Intern Kim Su-jeong and PA Ju Se-yeong also followed with a refreshing feeling.

Soon they headed to the coffee shop in the basement with light steps.

The cherry blossom season had already passed, but the cafe interior was still full of light pink petals.

“I’ll have an iced Americano.”

“Intern, what about you?”

“I don’t want coffee… um… what should I get?”

“If you’re having trouble deciding, should I pick one for you?”

“Ah, yes!”

“One iced Americano and two strawberry banana juices, please.”

When An Gyeong-sik ordered and handed the card to the clerk, the PA joked.

“Wow~ A man who decides on the menu and hands over the card. How cool?”

“Haha…”

“But Mr. An Gyeong-sik always orders juice? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you order coffee.”

“I didn’t eat breakfast, and I can’t sleep at night if I have caffeine. My body doesn’t accept caffeine…”

“Oh, me too!”

The last word was from intern Kim Su-jeong.

An unexpected commonality was discovered.

An Gyeong-sik smiled awkwardly and exchanged a few more words with her.

Although they were awkward with each other at first, their conversation gradually became more natural after working together for a few days.

“By the way, intern, how is it? Isn’t it hard being an attending physician in cardiothoracic surgery? How was your week?”

An Gyeong-sik asked as he sat down.

For interns with not much experience, it would be difficult for anyone to play the role of attending physician in cardiothoracic surgery.

Then intern Kim Su-jeong smiled cautiously and replied.

“Actually, it’s still a bit difficult. But thanks to your help, it’s more manageable than I thought.”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

An Gyeong-sik blinked his eyes with a puzzled expression and asked again.

“Did I help you?”

“You took care of the dressing [wound care] yourself, and you answered right away when I asked something…”

“Oh, that patient Kim Byeong-seop last time? I had to see that patient’s wound, so I did the dressing…”

“Thank you for telling me and helping me every day.”

Kim Su-jeong expressed her gratitude with a bright smile.

An Gyeong-sik also smiled awkwardly.

A moment of silence flowed.

…

What is this atmosphere?

It became awkward again.

But it’s not an uncomfortable awkwardness… what should I say, it’s a slightly ticklish awkwardness.

When the conversation stopped, PA Ju Se-yeong, who was listening to the story next to her, intervened.

“That’s right, I’m so happy these days because the teacher responds right away in the group chat room! Mr. An Gyeong-sik is really sincere. Hohoho!”

An Gyeong-sik, who was unfamiliar with the praise, said, not knowing what to do.

“I just did what I had to do, but you’re praising me like this… Anyway, I’m glad it helped the intern, hahaha!”

Beep—

The vibration bell rang.

An Gyeong-sik and Kim Su-jeong stood up at the same time.

“I’ll bring it!”

“No, the intern is having a hard time, so please sit down.”

“No, I will!”

“Don’t fight, I’ll go get it~ Hohoho.”

As PA Ju Se-yeong smiled and got up, An Gyeong-sik and Kim Su-jeong sat down, feeling embarrassed.

And after that.

The three of them had a good time talking.

The story of the treatment process of the patients they had seen for a week, Professor Han Sang-gi’s habits, anecdotes about other professors in the cardiothoracic surgery department…

At that time, when they were immersed in chatter without realizing how much time had passed, intern Kim Su-jeong’s phone rang.

“Yes, this is the intern. I’ll put in the prescription now!”

“I have to prepare for the research meeting in the afternoon, so shall we get up now?”

As expected, leisurely time in cardiothoracic surgery does not last long.

After a short tea time, the three headed to the elevator to do their respective jobs.

An Gyeong-sik suddenly asked.

“But, do you like old songs?”

“Yes? How did you know?”

“I heard an old ballad as the ringtone earlier…”

“Ah… I like old songs, so I went to a coin karaoke alone and sang only old songs for an hour!”

Intern Kim Su-jeong replied with a smile.

Now that she’s a little more comfortable, she’s subtly adding her personal stories.

Then PA Ju Se-yeong chimed into the conversation.

“Intern, you didn’t know Mr. An Gyeong-sik is good at singing, did you?”

“Really?”

“Of course. There was a masked singer contest at last year’s cardiothoracic surgery year-end party, and Mr. An Gyeong-sik won first place. I thought a guest singer had come?”

“No… well… hahaha.”

While An Gyeong-sik was smiling shyly, the elevator arrived.

In accordance with the hospital’s etiquette, he kept quiet in the elevator.

Meanwhile, the melody of the song he heard as the ringtone continued to linger in An Gyeong-sik’s ears.

‘The intern has a lot in common with me…’

Not being able to drink coffee.

Liking old songs.

And also…

“…”

Is that all?

There are only two things, but why do I feel like there are so many things in common?

When An Gyeong-sik tilted his head, he suddenly heard Ma Dong-seop’s voice in his head.

-Hey, Seon-han! Watch. An Gyeong-sik is a quick lover, so he’ll quickly fall in love with a new love. Wanna bet? Hehehe!

‘No!’

An Gyeong-sik quickly shook his head to shake off his thoughts.

He was determined not to let Ma Dong-seop’s words come true…

But as always, people’s hearts don’t move as they please.