Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 324

325. My Name is Seung-woo

“You’re saying my enteritis isn’t severe? Are you even a doctor? Or just a quack? I’m so upset, I might as well go to another hospital.”

“Please do.”

Tae-kyung responded firmly to the still-shouting man.

“You wouldn’t want to be treated by a quack doctor, so feel free to go to another hospital. And we also have difficulty treating people who cause such a ruckus in the hospital. If you want treatment, please wait quietly like everyone else.”

“What is this! Can a director like you treat patients like this?”

The man, slightly flustered, noticed people’s attention on him and raised his voice even louder.

“You look younger than me, acting like a director and treating patients carelessly. A doctor shouldn’t act like that.”

“Goodness, it’s like the pot calling the kettle black [a hypocritical accusation]. Hey, mister?”

A middle-aged woman sitting in the waiting room clicked her tongue and scolded the man for his absurd claims.

“You’ve been making a scene since earlier. Why are you bothering the perfectly fine director?”

“Who says he isn’t? You must be new to our hospital. There’s no doctor like our director anywhere. Why are you trying to bring him down?”

“The way he’s acting, it seems like he’s faking his illness.”

One by one, people in the waiting room threw comments at the man.

“What! Are you talking to me? Damn it! Doctors and patients are all weird. What kind of hospital is this? And I’ve been waiting for treatment since earlier, how much longer do I have to wait?”

“Have you checked in, sir? What’s your name?”

“Forget it! I’m not getting treatment. I’m leaving. Ugh! I’m leaving.”

When Tae-kyung asked for his name with a stern face, the man suddenly waved his hand and shouted that he wouldn’t get treatment.

“If that’s what you want, then please don’t cause any more trouble. This is a hospital, a place where sick people come for treatment. As that child said earlier, you shouldn’t be making noise like this in a hospital.”

“No, but this doctor, the more I see…….”

“Agent Jang.”

Just as the man, who was all talk, was about to raise his voice again, Tae-kyung called Jang Deuk-chil, who was bringing an emergency bed from the emergency room.

“Yes, Director.”

“Please escort this gentleman out.”

“Understood. Please follow me.”

“……!”

The man, seeing Jang Deuk-chil’s unusual face, large build, and the scar on his face, seemed to lose his anger instantly and couldn’t say a word.

“I said, follow me. Do you have something to say?”

“Ah, no. I don’t.”

In the end, the man followed Jang Deuk-chil out of the hospital. The waiting room, which had been so noisy, became quiet, and Tae-kyung focused on treatment again.

“Mr. Lim, please tell the next patient to come in.”

“Yes, understood.”

The small commotion was resolved, and our hospital staff, including Tae-kyung, devoted themselves to treatment again.

“Here’s your prescription. If you go out the main gate of the hospital and go down a bit, you’ll find a pharmacy.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“I feel much better after getting the IV. Thank you for your hard work, doctors.”

“Yes, goodbye.”

Everyone was busy with treatment without even having time for dinner, and it was only when it was completely dark that they had some time to spare.

“Is it because I worked so much? Dinner tastes especially good today.”

“On days like today when we work so hard, we’re bound to be hungry. But Mr. Lee, isn’t that your second bowl already?”

A nurse sitting at the same table as Lee Chan-hee, who was having a late dinner in the staff cafeteria, asked.

“This spicy beef soup is amazing.”

“Wasn’t today really hectic?”

“It was truly the worst. But I’m glad it ended with enteritis and not an accident.”

“That’s right. Honestly, if it had been a multiple collision traffic accident or another accident, it would have been chaos.”

“Who says it wouldn’t? We should be grateful it was only this much. I’ll get up first. Take your time eating.”

Lee Chan-hee, who got up from his seat first, was about to clear his tray and leave the cafeteria when he suddenly brightened up.

‘Oh! Mona?’

It was his girlfriend, Choi Mona, coming into the cafeteria to eat.

Lee Chan-hee raised the corners of his mouth like a puppy greeting its owner who had been working all day and approached Choi Mona.

“Mona, Mona, Dog Mona?”

“You were just complaining about being hungry, and now that you’ve eaten, you’re all excited.”

“No, I’m excited because I saw Dog Mona.”

“What are you saying? Give me some warning before you sneak up on me like that?”

“They say love is never planned.”

“Why are you acting like this? Did you get a rush of energy after eating well?”

“Get used to it. The spicy beef soup is really good today. It’s good for you, so have two bowls.”

“One bowl is enough.”

“Isn’t it lonely to eat alone? Should I eat with you?”

“Then I’ll excuse myself.”

Nurse Lim Jeong-sook, who was following behind, said to Lee Chan-hee, who was cutely poking Choi Mona’s shoulder.

“Ms. Choi? Do you want to eat with Mr. Lee?”

“……!”

Lee Chan-hee, who didn’t know that Nurse Lim Jeong-sook was following behind, was startled and shut his mouth.

“I can eat at another table…….”

“Ms. Soo, no. Mr. Lee is done with dinner. Isn’t that right, Mr. Lee?”

“Yes, I ate two bowls. I was just asking Ms. Choi about the patient results earlier……. Haha! I’ll go now. You two enjoy your meal. Have a good meal.”

“Mr. Lee, stay a little longer.”

Nurse Lim Jeong-sook teased Lee Chan-hee as he hurriedly left the cafeteria, and Choi Mona shook her head.

“Phew, what a surprise. Ms. Soo usually has a good sense……. Could she have found out?”

“Found out about what?”

Tae-kyung, who was walking from the opposite side, said to Lee Chan-hee, who was scratching his head and talking to himself after leaving the cafeteria.

“Ah! You scared me.”

“Did you commit a crime? Why are you so surprised?”

“What crime would I have committed? By the way, aren’t you having dinner, Director?”

“I have to eat. It must have been hectic today with all the patients. You worked hard.”

“I really don’t know how time went by today. You worked hard too, Director.”

“Okay.”

“But why have you been making that face since earlier?”

“Why? What’s my expression like?”

“You look very pleased and you keep smiling subtly. Ms. Jung isn’t here…….”

Lee Chan-hee turned his head slightly, looking for Ui-jin.

“You’re being cheeky. You’re being cheeky again. I was watching the kids.”

Tae-kyung stopped Lee Chan-hee, who was still turning his head from side to side, and pointed to the children sitting on the waiting room chairs.

Several children were sitting together, waiting for their parents who had come for treatment.

“It’s their first time meeting, but seeing them become friends and play so quickly, kids are just kids. Chan-hee, aren’t they cute?”

“Director, aren’t they elementary schoolers [primary school students]?”

“Looks like it. But what, aren’t elementary school students allowed to be cute?”

“Ugh! Don’t even mention it. My nephew is an elementary schooler, and he’s a complete rascal. By the way, they say you think kids are cute when it’s time to get married, so maybe…….”

“Maybe what?”

“Maybe you’re planning to marry Ms. Jung?”

“Who knows? But why do I feel like you’ll go before me?”

“Huh? Who?”

“You.”

“M-me!?”

“Yeah. You.”

“What are you talking about? Marriage isn’t something you do alone.”

“What do you mean alone? Why don’t you just confess at this point?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about?”

“You’re dating Choi Mona, aren’t you?”

“Y-yes!!”

Lee Chan-hee, surprised by Tae-kyung’s quiet words, reacted loudly and flatly denied it.

He wanted to tell the truth, but he decided to be careful around the hospital staff for the time being, so he pretended not to know.

“Director, you’ve got the wrong person. Knowing about my relationship with Dog Mona, how could I date Ms. Choi?”

“Really?”

“Of course. Ms. Choi isn’t my type, and we don’t match at all……!”

Lee Chan-hee, who was saying that they were nothing, couldn’t continue his words when he made eye contact with Choi Mona, who was coming out of the cafeteria.

“Director, I’ll go into the emergency room now.”

And he quickly followed Choi Mona, who turned her head and entered the emergency room.

“At this point, aren’t they just showing everyone that they’re dating?”

“Who says they aren’t? It’s so funny how only the two of them are pretending not to know.”

Nurse Lim Jeong-sook said with a pleased smile as she watched the two of them.

“Let’s see how long they can keep this up. I’ll go have dinner.”

“Yes, Director.”

A little later, Tae-kyung, who came out after having dinner, checked the situation in the emergency room and was talking to Team Leader Choi near the reception desk.

“You’ve been charged. Would you like your prescription and receipt here?”

“No, it’s okay.”

“You look better than when you came to check in earlier.”

The receptionist was talking to the patient while calculating the bill.

“Right? I just came back from the bathroom, and I finally look like a person. Enteritis has gotten to a lot of people.”

“Enteritis is not something to be taken lightly.”

“Who says it is? I’ve never suffered from enteritis this badly before, so I was really caught off guard this time.”

“You’ve had a hard time.”

“It felt like my soul was leaving my body.”

“But the siblings have a really good relationship. Are they elementary schoolers? My nephews fight a lot.”

“They are elementary schoolers……. But siblings, you say?”

The female patient, who was paying the bill, asked back, seemingly embarrassed by the receptionist’s words.

“Those two over there.”

The receptionist pointed to the chairs in the waiting room with an embarrassed expression, and the woman’s head turned in that direction.

There, a girl and a boy who looked like elementary school students were sitting side by side, reading a book and occasionally talking to each other.

“Those two?”

“Yes, aren’t they siblings?”

Just at a glance, they looked like siblings with a good relationship, so the receptionist said that without any particular meaning.

“Oh, no.”

“Really? I thought they were siblings because they were playing so well together.”

“Sun-young?”

When the woman called out the name of the children who were reading a book, the girl got up from her seat and approached her.

“Mom, are you done?”

“Yes, I’m done. See? She’s my only daughter. I only have one daughter.”

“Ah! I see. Oh! I’m sorry for being rude.”

“Why are you sorry? Then I’ll go now. Thank you for your hard work.”

“Yes, goodbye.”

“Were you reading a book?”

“Yes. But Mom, the boy I was reading with is really smart.”

“Really? He must be good at studying. I wish our daughter was a little smarter too.”

“Tch. You always say, ‘Just grow up healthy.'”

“It’s even better if you’re healthy and smart.”

The receptionist’s gaze, who was watching the mother and daughter leaving the hospital while having a pleasant conversation, naturally turned to the boy who was left alone.

“Then, where is his guardian?”

“They must still be getting treatment.”

Another employee replied while working as if it were nothing.

“Sometimes, when parents come to the emergency room sick, the children come to the waiting room to play.”

It wasn’t wrong.

Today alone, there were quite a few children who had come with their parents because of enteritis and were waiting in the waiting room.

Furthermore, there were children’s books and sticker books in one corner of the waiting room, so it was good for the children to pass the time.

“Is that so?”

“If you’re really curious, ask the kid if he’s waiting for his parents.”

“That sounds like a good idea.”

The receptionist approached the child who was left alone on the waiting room chair with a curious expression.

“Hello!”