Dr. Shin Seonhan: The Doctor Who Sees The Future [EN]: Chapter 33

#33 Gangnam Station (12)

“Jinwoo-ya!”

“Visiting hours!”

Five or six students came for a visit, surprised to find me.

“Oh, it’s that *hyung* [older brother/male friend] from back then!”

“Teacher!”

“Wow!”

The students run up to me.

The kids who were crying and fussing at Gangnam Station now have innocent smiles on their faces.

Bright energy fills the ward in an instant.

“Are you here to visit a friend?”

“Yes!”

“What grade are you all in?”

“Middle school 3rd grade!”

They answer in unison, like little chicks, as always.

Cute kids.

“Teacher, how old are you?”

“What kind of doctor are you?”

“Teacher, you’re so cool!”

They say, looking up at me with sparkling eyes.

I feel an overwhelming amount of vibrant energy.

It suddenly reminds me of my school days.

Just then, someone peeks into the ward.

“Hey kids, can I take a picture? I work at this hospital. Let’s take a commemorative photo.”

I turn to see who it is; it’s the PR team leader with a camera.

How did he know to come like a ghost?

He’s like a paparazzi.

“Yes, sure!”

“Hey, move! I’m going to stand next to the doctor!”

“Me too!”

The students quickly gather around me.

I stood next to Jinwoo.

The PR team leader’s eyes are sparkling, as if he thought he could get a good picture.

“Okay, taking it now!”

Click, click!

The shutter flashes.

This photo will probably be displayed on the hospital’s website or in the company newsletter.

And it will probably be a memorable photo for me, one I’ll never forget.

Then, the PR team leader starts burning with artistic spirit again.

“Kids, don’t you have any more creative poses? Something dynamic with fresh emotion…”

Stop it, you old man!

This time, I put my hands together and took a simple pose.

Of course, the students were busy making strange poses, and for a while, the ward was filled with the boisterous energy they were emitting.

* * *

After a while.

I escaped from the chaotic ward.

The students were grabbing me, saying they were going to post *ingjeung* [proof/validation] shots and take selfies.

Is this how student teachers feel during their teaching practicum?

My doctor’s gown was almost torn.

“Hoo.”

As I was walking towards the elevator, taking a breather, the PR team leader approached me.

“Our intern doctor is very popular, isn’t he? You must feel like you’ve become a star overnight.”

He speaks to me in a friendly tone.

“By the way, are you free tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?”

I’m a little busy tomorrow.

It’s my last day as an emergency medicine intern.

Since there will be a rotation, I will be busy handing over to the next interns.

“I’ll talk to your department, so make some time.”

“Yes. But what for?”

“SBC News has scheduled an interview.”

Huh…

An interview?

Moreover, on public broadcast?

This is absurd.

How far will this unrealistic, dreamlike situation continue?

“Why are you so surprised?”

“I didn’t expect to receive this much attention.”

“Of course. Did you think the broadcasting station would just sit still when it became such a national issue?”

Ugh.

Of course, this sometimes happens.

Citizens who appear on the news for good deeds and receive attention.

People who saved a drunk who fell on the subway tracks, people who helped others with money they had saved all their lives, etc…

But I don’t want to be in the spotlight anymore.

“Do I have to do the interview?”

“Huh?”

“I feel a little burdened.”

I scratched my cheek.

Then the PR team leader looked at me as if he was dumbfounded.

He had a look on his face that said, ‘Why are you refusing something that others are dying to do?’

“It’s good to get your name out there, isn’t it?”

“I’m still an intern, so it’s a bit much to be on TV…”

I’m starting to feel burdened.

In fact, there are even people on the internet calling me ‘Dr. God.’

Anyone with even a little medical knowledge would laugh at that.

To put it in terms of a game character, I’m still a beginner character at level 7 out of 99.

I’m just an inexperienced chick.

But the PR team leader persuaded me with a desperate expression.

“Don’t do that, just help me out. Okay?”

“Will it help the hospital if I do the interview?”

“Actually, there haven’t been many opportunities to promote the hospital this year.”

Ah-ha.

No wonder he’s been so friendly to me since earlier.

From the PR team leader’s point of view, he wouldn’t want to miss this opportunity.

“Wear the Yonsei University Hospital mark on your chest and create a picture! What are you saving your face for?”

“Then I’ll do just one interview.”

“Okay, okay.”

The PR team leader nodded and began to complain.

“Sigh. As you know, hospitals are just breaking even if they do well, and if a few bad things happen, their reputation is ruined in an instant. The reputation was maintained when Professor Baek Euishin was here, but he retired…”

I remember too.

About 3 years ago.

Professor Baek Euishin’s sudden retirement.

He was in his late 50s, which was early for retirement, and his whereabouts have been unknown since then.

No one knows the exact reason, but there were only rumors.

‘He fought with the hospital director.’

‘He was ostracized by the doctors and kicked out.’

‘He was too tired from doing so many surgeries.’

‘He met a lover at a late age and left to find love.’

etc…

Of course, no one knows the truth.

In any case, after Baek Euishin’s retirement, Yonsei University Hospital’s reputation declined.

Of course, it is still the best hospital in Korea’s medical community.

But it is true that it is still not free from the influence of the big name ‘Baek Euishin’.

“Then I’ll give you a list of questions, so prepare well for the interview with that friend Geunwook.”

“Yes.”

I nodded.

When I think about it, how many times will I have this kind of experience in my life?

If I do a news interview, it will probably be a hot topic for a few days.

And soon it will be buried in other news and forgotten.

But…

‘Wait. If I’m on public broadcast, maybe Professor Baek Euishin will see it?’

My heart pounds at the thought.

If he hears it.

There’s something I want to say too.

Something I wanted to tell him if I ever met him.

* * *

Swaaa―

A coastal town in California.

The sunlight is finely shattered on the horizon that meets the sky.

On the terrace of a building overlooking the sea, a man was sitting, facing the sea breeze.

Was he in his late 50s?

His hair is streaked with white.

His face is gaunt from years of accumulated fatigue, but his sharp eyes are still alive.

Squeak, squeak―

He is quietly sharpening a pencil.

A canvas has been placed in front of him since earlier, but the paper is empty.

He doesn’t seem to be sitting there to draw a picture, but rather to meditate.

“Teacher.”

Someone appears behind him with a coat.

A slender, mixed-race beauty with a nicely tanned face.

“What are you doing? It’s still cold.”

“…….”

“Don’t you think you should think about your age now?”

The woman says playfully, putting the coat over him.

Squeak, squeak―

The man silently continues to sharpen the pencil without stopping.

She glances at the canvas and says.

“Wow, is the title of the work ‘Blank Paper’? You haven’t drawn anything yet.”

“I’ll draw it.”

“When?”

“When I think of something to draw.”

The man answers bluntly.

“Hmm~ You were absorbed in fishing until last month, why are you suddenly painting this time?”

“I’m trying to change careers.”

“Now?”

“It’s not easy to hold something else with the hand that used to hold a scalpel.”

“I guess you can’t be satisfied unless you hold something because your scalpel-holding hand is empty.”

The man didn’t bother to answer the woman’s playful words.

Squeak, squeak―

He continues to sharpen the pencil.

In front of him, there are only a dozen pencils that have been meticulously carved like wood crafts.

Anyone who sees it would think it was carved by a machine.

That’s how precise his touch was.

His antique leather bag placed under the canvas is embroidered with gold thread initials.

E.S.BAEK.

Baek Euishin.

The master on the operating table.

He was now returning to being an ordinary natural person, away from the medical field.

“Your scalpel-holding posture is still alive. Don’t you miss the operating table?”

“Not at all.”

Baek Euishin drew a line.

He had no intention of returning to the medical field.

As if a tool that has served its purpose is gradually rusting…

Or, as if white dust is piling up in a house where no one lives anymore…

He seemed to be gradually erasing himself from the world.

Saaa―

A cool breeze mixed with the salty smell from the sea blows.

The woman, who had been stretching, suddenly said as if she had thought of something.

“By the way, your name is hot again in Korea these days.”

“……?”

“They say there’s a Baek Euishin wannabe these days… Do you want to see it?”

The woman said, holding out her smartphone screen.

Baek Euishin shook his head.

“I’m not interested in Korean news…”

Then suddenly, an interesting sound came to his ears.

Baek Euishin’s gaze was fixed on the screen.

In the news screen, the anchor on the left is speaking.

Then, one of the two residents on the right answers.

The young man on the screen looks to be in his late 20s.

His eyes are clear and his face is youthful.

Should I say he’s like a chick that has just broken out of its shell and is exposed to the warm spring sunshine?

He has an innocent impression that is still untainted.

Of course, what stands out more than that is his unique name.

Shin Seonhan (Resident, 27).

The caption below the screen was telling his age and status.

At Shin Seonhan’s explanation, Baek Euishin unknowingly pricked up his ears.

“Pericardiocentesis [surgical puncture of the pericardial sac],”

Before Shin Seonhan could finish speaking, Baek Euishin reflexively muttered.

In his head, the situation at the scene was already being drawn in detail from beginning to end.

If it were him, he would probably…

‘I would have taken action on the spot.’

Of course, not just anyone can do it.

You need accurate judgment, hand skills, and above all, courage to make that decision.

As he was thinking that, the resident on the screen said.