Dr. Shin Seonhan: The Doctor Who Sees The Future [EN]: Chapter 229

#Extra Story 11. A Report on the Correlation Between Heart and Love (3)

The movie was fun.

It was a blockbuster, a two-hour spectacle of non-stop fireworks that let everyone escape their hospital duties and get completely lost in the show.

…Except for Ahn Kyung-shik.

He just couldn’t focus.

Because Kim Su-jeong, the intern, was sitting right next to him.

Every time he stole a glance, her eyes were sparkling, totally absorbed in the screen…

By the time the movie ended, it was late. Ma Dong-seop started wrapping things up.

“Interns, heading back to the hospital?”

“Yes, back to the dorm!”

“Good. Don’t forget to apply for cardiothoracic surgery at the end of the year. Remember what you’re betting your careers on, right?”

“Hahaha….”

“Think it’s a joke?”

“…….”

“Think carefully.”

Ma Dong-seop was still trying to strong-arm them into cardiothoracic surgery right up to the last minute.

After the thoroughly intimidated interns disappeared in a taxi, he clapped a thick arm around Ahn Kyung-shik’s shoulder.

“Hey, Ahn Kyung-shik. Time for a little heart-to-heart, don’t you think?”

“Yes?”

“Everyone’s caught on, you know.”

“W-what are you talking about?”

“Hey, Shin Seon-han. What do you think?”

Shin Seon-han, who was munching on the last of the popcorn, nodded at Ma Dong-seop’s mischievous question.

“Oh, I noticed it too. From Doctor Ahn Kyung-shik’s, shall we say, *physical* reactions earlier.”

“……Are you going to start with the hormone lecture again?”

“Yes.”

“There was an experiment in Spain.

What kind of physical reactions occur when men are in the same space as beautiful, unfamiliar women?

They experience tremendous stress.

If that state continues, it can be so hard on the heart.

Cortisol is a hormone that responds to stress, and its levels rise sharply.

The research team explained that they experience a level of stress similar to ‘jumping out of a flying airplane.'”

“Hey, don’t exaggerate! Stress on the heart, my foot… I’m not *that* nervous around Ms. Su-jeong!”

“So, you *do* like Ms. Su-jeong.”

“…….”

Ahn Kyung-shik’s face flushed red.

He’d been caught in a simple trap.

If Ma Dong-seop was a rough-and-tumble detective, Shin Seon-han was the cool, calculating investigator.

Seon-han smiled gently.

“I’m not really interested in other people’s relationships, but if you’re going to suffer in silence, just tell us.”

“Haa.”

Ahn Kyung-shik gave up.

No point denying it now.

Soon, the three of them were sitting on a bench in front of the convenience store, each with a can of beer.

It was the same trio who’d shared drinks during the ‘Ahn Kyung-shik Escape Incident’ last winter.

“Aaaaish! All right! I like her! I’m a sucker for love, okay?!”

Ahn Kyung-shik confessed as soon as he’d downed some beer. Ma Dong-seop chuckled and pointed a finger at him.

“See? I told you you’d fall for another woman soon. What was all that ‘protect the heart’ nonsense?”

“I’m embarrassed.”

“Aigoo, this is too good. Hehehe!”

“Ah, stop teasing me! You shouldn’t play with people’s feelings….”

“So, what are you going to do about it?”

“……I don’t know.”

Ahn Kyung-shik mumbled, sounding unsure.

Usually, when guys drink and talk, the conversation steers towards or .

But Ma Dong-seop offered a more cautious perspective.

“Think carefully. You had a campus romance back in medical school, right? And you dated someone at the hospital last year too? You’re not in a position to act on just a little crush anymore.”

Ahn Kyung-shik perked up at Ma Dong-seop’s advice.

He was right.

The hospital community is small.

Even though he was a relatively new attending, he was at an age where he had to be mindful of his reputation.

Only then did Ahn Kyung-shik realize.

Ma Dong-seop wasn’t just being nosy; he was giving him advice as a senior colleague.

“I’m not saying you should suppress your feelings… I’m saying you need to be careful. You’re someone’s now, so you have to consider the other person’s feelings.”

Ahn Kyung-shik nodded.

Ma Dong-seop was right.

Interns and residents are basically in a ‘top-down’ relationship.

Of course, Kim Su-jeong didn’t seem to dislike him… but what if it was just wishful thinking?

Even if an intern smiles brightly and treats you kindly, it’s hard for most guys to tell whether it’s ‘professional courtesy’ or ‘genuine interest’.

That’s why Ma Dong-seop was advising him to tread carefully.

“If you’re sure about each other’s feelings, I think it’s better to be true to your emotions rather than worrying about what others think.”

At Shin Seon-han’s words, Ahn Kyung-shik picked up his can of beer with a wry smile.

Certainty?

He didn’t have that kind of confidence.

Ahn Kyung-shik had never been particularly confident.

Average looks, below-average height.

His family wasn’t particularly wealthy, either.

Becoming a doctor at Yeon-guk University Hospital had given him a boost of pride, but after joining cardiothoracic surgery, his shoulders had slumped again.

Some people think that having the title of means you have it all, but that’s not true.

When you get chewed out by the professor every day, you sometimes feel like garbage on bad days.

That’s why.

Maybe that’s why his interactions with Kim Su-jeong felt so special.

—She even took care of my dressings herself and answered my questions right away….

In cardiothoracic surgery, where he was constantly being criticized, someone acknowledged him.

—Thank you for always teaching me and helping me.

Because she said thank you….

That’s why he was excited.

That’s all.

Ahn Kyung-shik sighed deeply, fiddled with his beer can, and said.

“Thinking about it, I think I got a little carried away. I think it’s better to just let it go.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with that?”

“If it’s meant to be, we’ll reconnect somehow.”

Ahn Kyung-shik quenched his dry throat with a sip of beer.

Yeah, let’s just leave it alone.

This too shall pass.

Because spring, with its hormone-fueled madness, is fading away, and summer is slowly approaching.

* * *

First week of June.

8 PM, after sunset.

After a grueling 7-hour aortic arch replacement surgery, Ahn Kyung-shik pulls the patient’s bed out of the operating room.

Drrrrk—

Cardiothoracic surgeons and anesthesiologists who participated in the surgery flank the patient on either side.

As the door to the intensive care unit opens, Ahn Kyung-shik calls out loudly.

“Where should we take Mr. Son Byeong-gi from room 14?”

Usually, after surgery, the patient goes to the recovery room to stabilize before being moved to the intensive care unit.

However, high-risk surgeries like heart surgery go directly to the intensive care unit as soon as they’re finished.

This is because intensive care is immediately needed for the patient’s safety.

“Bring him here to space number 3.”

Ahn Kyung-shik pulled the bed to space number 3 and connected the tracheal tube in the patient’s neck to the ventilator that had been prepared in advance.

“Set PEEP [Positive End-Expiratory Pressure, a ventilator setting] to 10 and give Nikadipine 200mcg.”

He adjusted the ventilator settings and administered medication to prevent a spike in blood pressure.

Only then did Ahn Kyung-shik remove his mask and the surgical cap covering his head.

Gulp— Gulp—

He drank a glass of cold water at the nurses’ station.

The first water he’d had in 7 hours.

The cold sensation slid down his esophagus.

“Puhah.”

Tension released.

Isn’t this when people say ‘water is sweet’?

But no matter how much water he drank, a corner of his heart still felt constricted.

As if he were constantly suffering from an unquenchable thirst….

Then, something caught his eye.

‘Huh? That back…?’

Ahn Kyung-shik’s eyes widened.

A familiar figure finished adjusting the patient’s bedding and turned around.

The moment he recognized the person, Ahn Kyung-shik’s mouth opened almost involuntarily.

“Ms. Su-jeong?”

“Oh, hello, Doctor! How have you been?”

The face he’d been longing to see found him and smiled brightly.

“Oh… it’s been a while. What brings you here?”

“I’m covering shifts in both the surgical ICU and the cardiothoracic ICU! One of the interns quit last month, so that’s how it happened.”

“Huh? Why did they quit?”

It’s rare, but sometimes interns drop out during their training.

“They said they didn’t think they’d get good intern evaluations, so they quit mid-rotation. They said they’d repeat their internship somewhere else next year and left without looking back.”

“Ah.”

“They should have at least finished this month… isn’t that irresponsible?”

“Haha. Y-yeah, I guess so.”

Ahn Kyung-shik avoided eye contact.

His conscience twinged because he had also, in a way, run away from cardiothoracic surgery.

But at this moment, he was grateful to the runaway intern.

Because thanks to them, he was able to meet Kim Su-jeong like this.

“Anyway, Doctor, you worked hard on that long surgery. Are you tired?”

.

Her words seemed to wash away the fatigue that had built up over 7 hours.

Ahn Kyung-shik realized for the first time that someone’s words could have such power.

“……Cardiothoracic surgery is always like that. Today was actually a relatively quick one.”

“Cardiothoracic surgeons are really amazing!”

“No… anyway, I guess we’ll be seeing each other often in the future. Please take good care of the patients’ dressings. I know Ms. Su-jeong is very thorough.”

“Ah, yes, thank you!”

After that.

The two had several overlapping night shifts.

When they ran into each other in the intensive care unit, they often went downstairs to buy drinks.

Was there nothing to drink in the ICU?

Of course not.

There was coffee in the station’s lounge and vending machines in the hallway.

But the two knew why they needed to go downstairs.

Because there was a space in the hospital where they could talk quietly.

In the middle of the night.

The underground cafe was closed, so they headed to the convenience store.

They each held a drink and sat on chairs across from the convenience store to talk.

“How’s the intensive care unit treating you?”

“Yes, it’s a little less intense than cardiothoracic surgery.”

“Haha. Did they give you a hard time in cardiothoracic surgery?”

“No, that’s not what I meant!”

“I also did a rotation in the neurosurgical intensive care unit when I was an intern.”

“Oh really? My friend told me that the neurosurgical intensive care unit often has to accompany patients when they go for brain CT scans….”

It had only been a few days since they’d last seen each other.

But they had so much to talk about.

The two’s conversation didn’t stop until the pager went off.

“Oh, I have to go… take care, see you again.”

“Yes, Doctor. Good work!”

Ahn Kyung-shik, glancing at the clock on his cell phone as he walked back to the cardiothoracic intensive care unit with a slightly wistful expression, was surprised.

‘Ugh, I thought we were just talking for a few minutes… has it been 40 minutes already?’

His sense of time was warped.

He felt like he was floating on a cloud.

His steps, hurrying back to the intensive care unit, felt impossibly light.

If they happened to meet for two months in a row in this large hospital, he thought that maybe it was fate.

Because if you imbue coincidence with meaning, it becomes fate.

—Tsk, what? Pass, my foot! I knew you’d be back at it!

Ahn Kyung-shik pretended not to hear Ma Dong-seop’s chuckling voice already echoing in his ears.