Golden Time

Insoo was calling somewhere.

“Hello, is this the police station?”

When the emergency crew were looking into Inbae’s condition inside the ambulance racing through the street, Suhyuk’s homeroom teacher was staring at him furiously.

“What did you do to him?”

“I could not help it. I had to do first aid treatment because more than five minutes already passed…”

“Stupid! Did you want to play doctor?”

Out of anger, the teacher frowned bitterly.

If Inbae’s parents had found out about this incident, he might have to be kicked out of the school. Inbae was a student with such a powerful ally. He might also get an irreversible discipline for his failure to manage and supervise the students properly. How could Suhyuk put Inbae stuck in a condition like this? Only after a stern discipline was taken against a daring Suhyuk could the principal’s anger die down to some extent. Discipline such as his expulsion from the school, withdrawal or even a jail term. Could Suhyuk know of his thoughts like these?

Looking at Inbae, Suhyuk gave a sigh of relief because his face was increasingly going back to its original color. Suhyuk’s attitude like that rubbed the teacher the wrong way. He opened his mouth coldly.

“We have never had this kind of thing happen before in Jaemyung HS. If you are thinking of fleeing anywhere, you had better give it up right away.”

At the teacher’s words, however, Suhyuk comforted himself, ‘Good job … Good job Lee Suhyuk.’

At that moment, one of the ambulance crew who had been checking Inbae’s condition turned to Suhyuk,

“Did you do this yourself?”

Suhyuk nodded, “I had to take action quickly because a lot of time passed…”

It was a perfect dressing around the ballpoint pen joints, which did not allow in even a little breeze.

“You acted recklessly.”

‘Where did he watch first aid treatment? On the internet? In a soap opera? Movie? It is a very dangerous act for an ordinary man to do. A little tweaking in surgery could lead to the patient’s death. Even then, here was a high school kid who carried out the surgery with a knife. One could find no other explanation than to say he was just lucky. Sheer luck.’

“Next time you shouldn’t do this. Instead, you have to report or ask for someone else,” said the ambulance crew member.

***

Immediately, the doctors and nurses gathered at the emergency room to check Inbae’s condition. A short mumbling came out from the doctor’s mouth, who was examining him briskly.

“The first aid treatment was done well…”

That’s not all. All the medical devices connected to the patient showed that he was normal.

Was there a doctor around at the time? It’s fantastic first aid treatment. Nothing to find any fault with.

“How about his condition?” Inbae’s homeroom teacher asked.

The doctor nodded his head lightly, “He was lucky. Well, the first aid treatment was excellent.”

At the doctor’s response, the teacher looked back in disbelief.

There was Suhyuk on the spot.

“Uh?”

The doctor opened his eyes wide with a surprise. He has seen this kid before. He knew him for sure. He was the very 16 year old kid who woke up from a persistent vegetative state. He clearly saw him waking up with wide open eyes in his presence in the hospital.

The doctor looked at the patient and Suhyuk alternately, and could guess in no time.

There was no doubt that this kid, Lee Suhyuk, took action to save Inbae. Waking from his vegetative state like a miracle, he diagnosed himself, and then narrated many medical terms.

The doctor’s expression brightened with gladness.

“How have you been?”

Unfortunately Suhyuk did not remember him. At the same time, some sort of anxiety came over him.

‘An unfamiliar person clearly knew my face. Obviously, he was somehow related to me in the past, though I lost past memories.’

Suhyuk found himself feeling very uneasy because he felt like he had committed a lot of sins in the past.

“I’m sorry, I cannot remember anything in the past or people because I have amnesia.”

The doctor could have been disappointed at Suhyuk, but he instead broke into a smile.

“I was there when you woke up from the hospital. Don’t you remember me?”

Suhyuk’s eyes became slightly bigger. He just figured out who he was. He could easily recall the doctor because he had talked a few times with him in the hospital room.

“Hey! You have become a resident now?”

The doctor, nodding his head, opened his mouth with a smile,

“Looking at your school uniform, I see you entered Jaemyung HS. I knew you would go there.”

‘Yea, he was a smart boy, who has a vast knowledge of medicine.’

The doctor opened his mouth again, “I think you opened his throat with a knife…”

Suhyuk nodded his head.

“The rice cake blocked his airway for more than five minutes.”

“Even up to the perforation of cricothyroid membrane?”

Actually the incision of that area was very burdensome even to him because it needed sophisticated clinical skill.

“Yeah.”

He was a great guy, after all. Yes, he was a genius to his eyes.

“It was excellent first aid treatment, and it’s like you saved a friend.”

Then the doctor patted him on the shoulder as if he had done a wonderful job.

“Now I’m going into the operating room. Will you wait until after?”

The doctor wanted to exchange a few more words with him out of delight.

As Suhyuk nodded his head, the doctor left with his patient Inbae.

Now the teacher and Suhyuk were left alone. Staring at Suhyuk, the teacher could not say anything. According to the doctor, Suhyuk gave great first aid treatment to Inbae, and without his daring action, he might have died.

“You…” When the teacher opened his mouth, some strange men came up, asking,

“Student Lee Suhyuk?”

“Yes, I am Lee Suhyuk…”

One of the three men presented his ID card.

“We’re from the police.”

He showed the screen of his cell phone to Suhyuk with the other hand. Inside the screen there was Suhyuk taking a knife to his throat, and red blood flowing from it. The video ended there.

“You should come with this uncle,” said he, adding, “Detective Choi, you stay here and check the patient’s condition.”

Suhyuk was forced to be led away by the rough detectives. Suhyuk was dragged out of the emergency room. An image of his family’s face laughing warmly went through his mind.

‘Mother… Father…’

Bang!

The car door which the detectives were aboard closed with a thump, and Suhyuk looked out of the car window at the emergency room door. Inbae’s homeroom teacher was looking at the police car outside. Somehow he seemed to be smiling.