Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 446

Fifth Vitality – Episode 447 (446/502)

447. Practicing Exercise

Before heading to work, Choi Mona and Lee Chan-hee, who exercised together, went to a salad restaurant for a quick meal.

“She must be here, right?”

“Who? The director?”

“Yeah.”

“She’s here.”

Choi Mona, who was looking at medical data on her tablet PC, checked the group chat on her phone and showed the screen to Lee Chan-hee without looking up.

“What’s this? Dried squid?”

“The director just posted it. She bought it as a gift for the staff.”

The day after visiting Yoo Hyuk-jin at the prison, Tae-kyung, as expected, came to work early as if it were natural.

“Looks like she went to the beach. Honestly, I didn’t believe it when the director said she was going on vacation.”

“The director is also a person; she needs to rest like this.”

“That’s true.”

“Mona?”

“Yeah.”

“Look at me.”

At those words, Choi Mona, who was looking at the tablet, raised her head and asked.

“Why?”

“Don’t you think I’ve gained some muscle?”

This is a question Lee Chan-hee asks at least twice these days.

Every time they go to exercise, he asks once at the gym and once after coming out.

At first, he didn’t want to exercise, but now he seems quite satisfied with how his body is changing.

Choi Mona chuckled instead of answering.

“What? What’s with that laugh? Is it not good?”

“No. It’s because you look cool.”

“What……!”

Lee Chan-hee was momentarily unsure if he had heard correctly at the unexpected reaction.

That’s because she had never said he looked cool since he started exercising.

To be exact, Choi Mona is not the type to express affection well, so such a remark was bound to be surprising.

“I said you look cool.”

“Who are you? Where did the real Mona go? Bring my girlfriend back right now.”

“I said you look cool because you’ve been working out and your body has gotten better.”

“Really? Do I really look cool?”

“Yeah. You look cool. Happy now?”

“Seriously! You have no sense of romance. No sense.”

Clatter-

“Why? Going to the bathroom?”

Lee Chan-hee asked, watching Choi Mona suddenly get up from her seat.

“No, the vibration bell rang [indicating their order was ready].”

“Sit down. I’ll go get it.”

Shortly after, Lee Chan-hee returned to the table with a tray containing a delicious-looking poke bowl.

“Salmon poke again today?”

“Yeah. You know I only eat one thing for a while once I get into it.”

Lee Chan-hee naturally wiped the food off Choi Mona’s lips and said.

“Is patient Jung Kwon-ja in room 307 being discharged this afternoon?”

“I think it’s this afternoon. I know her son is coming in the afternoon. But you know what? When we talk, we always end up talking about patients.”

“That’s because you’re both doctors.”

As a doctor couple working in the same hospital, Tae-kyung and Eui-jin, like them, inevitably end up talking about patients.

“It’s going to be boring for a while after patient Jung Kwon-ja is discharged.”

The patient in room 307 was a grandmother who had been hospitalized for a month after ankle surgery.

Even though she was a bit talkative, she was cheerful and had a good sense of humor, so she got along well with the staff.

“It’s always like that when patients who have been hospitalized for a long time are discharged; you get attached to them.”

“That’s true. Lee Chan-hee? I have a question.”

Choi Mona, who was about to put food in her mouth, put down her fork and looked at Lee Chan-hee.

“What is it? Tell me.”

“Can injuries happen often?”

“What are you talking about? Add a subject [be more specific].”

“I was wondering if people who exercise often get injured.”

“They do. I had a friend who exercised, and he always had injuries on his body. It seems like there are often minor and major injuries from exercising.”

“I see.”

“Why?”

“No. I was just curious.”

“What a letdown.”

After hearing Lee Chan-hee’s answer, Choi Mona pondered something, tilted her head, and then focused on her food again.

After eating, the two went to a cafe like an ordinary couple, had coffee, and then went to work.

“Hello?”

“Hello.”

“Hello, Dr. Lee, Dr. Choi. Did you have a good vacation, Director?”

Lee Chan-hee, exchanging greetings with the staff, greeted Tae-kyung, who was coming out of the emergency room.

“Of course. I had a good time. I heard you two worked hard? Good job.”

Tae-kyung praised Lee Chan-hee and Choi Mona with a pleased expression as soon as he saw them.

As soon as he came to work, Tae-kyung looked around the hospital and immediately knew how hard the two had worked while he was on vacation.

Usually, when the director is away and comes back, some inpatients may have complaints about other medical staff and say something.

Of course, not everything they say is true, but because it’s the patient’s word, you have to listen.

But everyone said similar things to Tae-kyung, who had returned from vacation.

Starting with nurse Im Jung-sook, the ward patients all praised the two and only said good things.

“Wasn’t it hard?”

“No, it wasn’t that hard.”

“Dr. Choi is right. There weren’t any big emergencies. And we’re getting the hang of things now, so we can handle this much.”

“Oh! Dr. Lee is full of himself.”

Lee Chan-hee, who was shrugging his shoulders, continued as if he had remembered something.

“Ah! It seems like there aren’t many seriously ill patients when the director isn’t at the hospital.”

“Really? Are you saying I attract patients?”

‘Attract patients’ is a slang term that means a lot of patients come when a specific person is working.

“No. What are you saying? I didn’t mean it that way at all. But Director, did you have a good vacation? You didn’t see any patients while you were on vacation, did you?”

“Of course not. I didn’t.”

“The director had an emergency patient and had surgery.”

“Yes? Surgery?”

Lee Chan-hee and Choi Mona looked surprised when nurse Im Jung-sook said that.

“You mean you had surgery on vacation?”

“Yeah. A TA [traffic accident] patient had their head opened due to bleeding.”

“Head! You mean you opened the patient’s head?”

“Yeah. That’s what happened.”

“As expected, our director attracts patients. Have you ever had head surgery, Director?”

“No. Dr. Lee, you have surgery prepared for this afternoon, right?”

“Of course. More than that, please continue the story about your head surgery.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Why?”

“I have to see patients. Nurse Im, let’s start seeing outpatients.”

“Yes, Director.”

“Director?”

“Don’t follow me.”

“No. I’ll always be right behind you, Director.”

Lee Chan-hee followed Tae-kyung all the way to the examination room but was eventually kicked out.

Tae-kyung started seeing outpatients, and the medical staff also started seeing patients in their respective positions.

People gradually took their seats in the waiting room, and before they knew it, several hours had passed quickly.

“Seeing the patients’ waiting numbers increasing, it looks like it’s getting close to quitting time.”

“I know. Seeing people gathering little by little, it looks like it’s almost time for office workers to leave.”

The reception staff talked and looked at the window next to the main gate beyond the waiting room.

“The sun has already set. When you work without thinking inside, you lose your sense of time.”

“That’s right.”

“Young-yi, go eat dinner.”

“I’m not hungry yet. Go ahead and eat first.”

“I ate a few snacks while working today, so I’m not hungry yet either. I’ll go later.”

The two, who had no thoughts of dinner, focused on patient reception again.

Ding-dong-

With the guidance sound, a number appeared on the monitor in the reception area, and the corresponding person approached.

“Welcome. Would you like to register?”

“Yes, I didn’t make a reservation, but I want to see the director. Is it possible?”

“It’s possible, but the director is currently in surgery, so you’ll have to wait a bit to see him. Is that okay?”

“How long do I have to wait?”

“It looks like he’ll be out in about 30 minutes.”

“That’s fine. I’ll wait.”

The person who registered went back, and the number came up on the monitor with the next waiting sound.

Ding-dong-

“Is number 157 here?”

The receptionist looked at the people sitting in the waiting room and raised her voice when no one came.

“Number 157.”

“Here!”

When she raised her voice again, the person in question raised her hand above her head.

It was a high school girl in a school uniform with black hair down to her chest tied in a ponytail and wearing glasses.

She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn’t even know her number was being called.

“I’m number 157.”

The eyes behind the glasses were not the sharp eyes of a high school girl, but rather a sense of emptiness, as if they were worn out by something.

“Where does it hurt?”

“I have some bruises on my arm, so I came to get treatment.”

“Okay, we’ll call you when it’s your turn.”

“I’m a little busy, so can I see a doctor quickly?”

“The fastest way to see a doctor is to go to the emergency room. Would you like to do that?”

“Yes, please do that.”

“Then I’ll register you, so over there…….”

“I know. I can go to the emergency room entrance and wait, right?”

As if she had been to the hospital more than once or twice, she knew where to go before the staff member finished speaking.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Thank you.”

The high school girl who finished registering went into the emergency room, stopped for a moment when she saw Choi Mona treating patients.

Then she went back the way she came and headed to the bathroom first. She didn’t come to use the bathroom, but to look in the mirror.

She put the bag she was carrying on her shoulder down on one side and carefully looked at herself in the mirror.

Like an appraiser picking out defective products, she turned her head all the way to the left and right, carefully checking for anything strange.

Feeling satisfied, the high school girl put her bag back on her shoulder and headed to the emergency room.

“Lee Seol-rae? Patient Lee Seol-rae?”

The high school girl got up from her chair when the emergency room nurse called her name.

“Yes.”

“Go to bed 11, and the doctor will be there.”

Lee Seol-rae went to bed 11, which the nurse had guided her to, and soon after, Choi Mona approached with the sound of the curtain opening.

“Hello……!”

Choi Mona paused while greeting.

Name, Lee Seol-rae. Age, 18 years old.

She is a student attending OO Girls’ High School, one of the many schools around our hospital.

Since there were quite a few schools around the hospital, she naturally came to know which school uniform it was while treating students who came to the hospital.

The reason why Choi Mona suddenly paused was because this student had been coming to the hospital so often for the past few days that it was almost like checking attendance.

“Hello.”

Choi Mona greeted her in a friendly tone.

“Yes, hello.”

Lee Seol-rae conveyed her greetings with her mouth without turning her head. The girl’s gaze was fixed on the vocabulary book she was holding in her hand.

“We meet again.”

“Yes.”

“You came because of a bruise?”

“Yes.”

“Can the doctor take a look?”

At Choi Mona’s words, Lee Seol-rae regretfully put down the vocabulary book she was holding and took off the school uniform top she was wearing.

Then, the injured area on one forearm was visible under the short sleeves. The injury was not deep and looked like a scratch or scrape.

“Here. Please disinfect it.”

Lee Seol-rae said in a dry tone with indifferent eyes, as if it were nothing.

“Okay. Just a moment.”

Choi Mona went out of the curtain and came back with medicine.

“It might sting a little. Tell me if it stings a lot.”

“Yes.”

She always answers well, but Lee Seol-rae never said it stung.

The wound is not deep, but it is quite large, so it would naturally sting when disinfected with disinfectant.

But whether it really didn’t hurt or she was enduring the pain, Lee Seol-rae didn’t even frown and stayed still.

‘It must be very painful. She endures it well.’

Looking at the girl, Choi Mona thought that Lee Seol-rae was enduring it.

“Student?”

“Yes?”

“Can I ask why you got hurt here?”

“I fell while practicing exercise.”

‘I fell while practicing exercise.’

When Lee Seol-rae answered the question Choi Mona asked, Choi Mona said the exact same answer at the same time in her mind.

It’s the same. This high school girl’s answer is always the same.

“What kind of exercise do you do?”

“Pardon?!”

Lee Seol-rae turned her gaze to Choi Mona with a puzzled expression and asked back.

Whenever she said she fell while exercising, there was no additional comment other than ‘Okay’.

She thought it was convenient to receive treatment because she was a doctor who didn’t talk much, but she wondered why she was suddenly asking questions.

She thought she could just ask questions formally and answer formally, but Lee Seol-rae was momentarily embarrassed by the unexpected question.

But that was only for a moment, and she immediately answered the question.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I have to tell you what kind of exercise I do.”

“……!”

Just like Lee Seol-rae was embarrassed earlier, so was Choi Mona. She was momentarily speechless at the girl’s unexpected answer.