Golden Time

Chapter 43

It was as if time had stopped. Students and interns full of astonishment on their faces.

How did he dare behave and speak so rudely in front of the professors and the seniors?

With a deep frown, the professor did not take his eyes off Suhyuk.

Though everyone was surprised and felt discomfort, Suhyuk alone had a relaxed expression.

“Lee Suhyuk.”

The professor called him.

It was not such a big voice, but Suhyuk replied with surprise.

“Yeah?”

The professor turned to him and said, “Follow me.”

Suhyuk followed him for a long time. Those around him were agitated.

Suhyuk followed him with a staggering gait.

At that moment while he was feelin dizzy, his cla.s.smates and seniors were staring at him.

So did the professor. What kind of situation is this anyway?

“Huh …”

Suhyuk’s, with his wide back, who deeply sighed, seemed to be kind of shabby today.

“I just feel sorry for him…”

“I wonder if he will get a big scolding…”

“Of course he will…”

Everyone cast their eyes at his back disappearing into the distance.

He was usually a quiet and good guy. Then how could he have such sudden rude behavior?

It was unbelievable, but it had already happened.

Could it have an adverse effect on his practice score?

“Quiet!”

Everyone withdrew their attention from Suhyuk at Park’s voice.

***

Prof. Lee Mansuk’s office.

Lee stared at Suhyuk sitting on the opposite side with his sharp eyes.

On the contrary, Suhyuk was staring at the table without meeting his gaze.

“Lee Suhyuk.”

“Yes?”

Only then did Suhyuk lift his head.

“Have you ever studied about lumbar puncture before?”

“I read it in a book.”

“I see…” he said.

Lee brought his coffee cup to his lips.

Then he asked, “Did you study legal medicine?”

In front of him was the student who unveiled the cause of death of the cadaver. Doctors too can roughly detect the cause of death, but it’s very difficult to find out the exact cause like an autopsy doctor.

At his question, Suhyuk replied like before, “I studied it in a book.”

“In a book…” Lee nodded his head.

Of course, it’s possible to study about lumbar puncture in a book. Yeah, that’s possible.

“In a little while you would become an intern and then resident, right?”

What did he want to say to me with such a cold look?

“As you know, when you become an intern, you can’t even dream of personal time, let alone sleep.”

Actually Suhyuk knew that very well. He heard that from his seniors.

The faces of the interns and residents who visited the hospital seemed exhausted all the time.

If they closed their eyes for even just a moment, they will likely immediately fall asleep because of their exhaustive tiredness. That would be his destiny, too.

“But I think you can be guaranteed your personal time and leisure time even if you become an intern.”

“Why is that…?”

Lee laughed slightly, adding, “If you become my a.s.sistant…”

Suhyuk had no choice but to be surprised, while the professor recalled his arrogant att.i.tude a moment ago. ‘Isn’t the doctor who causes complications stupid?’ His way of speaking like that was very arrogant, but Lee liked it because he was right.

Actually when he heard something coming out of somebody’s mouth that he used to think about, he felt as if the vigor of his youth were waking up the cells in every corner of his body again. He even felt he wanted to get out of the office right away to get hold of a scalpel.

“What do you think about my offer?”

Lee Suhyuk, who had more medical knowledge than his peers or even the interns, he was admitted to Daehan MS after he had been on the news twice. Surely there must be some professor who wants to retain him as his a.s.sistant. At last Lee found a guy that he really liked. Naturally he had to take some action in advance, so that other professors cannot s.n.a.t.c.h him away first. Those residents who were far from meticulous, exhausted by tiredness, did not attract his attention. He could not find any enthusiasm in their eyes.

‘If you decided to become a doctor to save a person, you should have at least this much vigor and spirit.’

Suhyuk had no choice but to feel embarra.s.sed at Prof. Lee’s offer. For he expected a big scolding from him, but instead he offered an a.s.sistant role for him.

“Well.. let me…” muttered Suhyuk.

“Do you have another speciality in mind?” asked Lee.

With a regrettable expression, he nodded his head.

“Which speciality?”

“I want to ..”

At that moment Lee cut off his words.

“Choose neurosurgery. It is the flower of medical science. There is nothing particular in other specialities. And have you heard of my name?”

Suhyuk quickly searched for his name in his head.

There was nothing special he could recall, except he was a neurosurgeon professor.

When he was hesitant to speak, Lee opened his mouth bitterly.

“I just feel embarra.s.sed to say this by myself, but many lawmakers and rich men come to me when they get hurt. Why is that? Because I’m the best doctor in this speciality in Korea.”

When Suhyuk’s face was tinged with surprise, Lee made a satisfactory expression.

“How about it? Don’t you feel attracted to it? If you become my a.s.sistant, money and honor will come naturally.”

Suhyuk had no choice but to think it over.

Money? Of course he wanted to earn a lot so he could take good care of his parents.

But there was a priority in his work. He had to clean his sins.

“Sorry…”

“Wait a minute.”

The professor, who received a call that he had an emergency patient, looked at Suhyuk with a wistful look. Though he wanted to talk more, he had to move because only he alone could treat the patient. Of course, he could make some other time to see Suhyuk.

“Are you busy after today’s practice?”

“No.”

Actually he had nothing particular to do.

“Good. Come to see me after practice. I’ve got some more things to talk to you about.”

“Yes sir,” said Suhyuk, rising from the seat.

***

So, they broke up. Suhyuk, who was going down the stairs, had a blank face.

‘Lee asking me to be his a.s.sistant…’ It was a golden opportunity for him to learn a lot under the direct guidance of Prof. Lee.

“I have to tell him clearly though…”

Unfortunately he had to decline Lee’s offer politely. For he had to choose another department. Suhyuk was surrounded by members of the same group.

“What did the professor say?”

“Suhyuk, why did you do that?”

Suhyuk laughed bitterly while he was listening to what his friends said about his behavior.

Only then did he faintly recall the rude words that he had said in front of the professor.

‘Do I suffer from excess stress symptoms?’

When stress builds up and acc.u.mulates, this behavior disorder may come about.

‘I have to rouse myself more tightly.’

When Suhyuk saw a patient, he felt impatient to treat him.

In such a situation, he just felt a headache and felt a pressure in his chest because he could not do anything as a trainee. The feeling of powerlessness he feels when he cannot do anything with a sick patient before his eyes. Maybe that came as a big stress to him. It’s about time he needed to learn to control his mind.

‘The hospital has many more excellent medical staff than I, and it is not too late for me to be qualified and learn enough first before seeing the patients.’ Suhyuk resolved himself like that as if he were hypnotizing himself.

“Lee Suhyuk.”

Resident Park came to him quickly.

“I told you to stay silent so that you do not disturb the round. How dare you show such an arrogant behavior before the professor? Were you crazy?”

At his icy tone, Suhyuk recalled his mistakes once more in his head and said,

“Sorry.”

“I have never seen a guy who lost favor in the professor’s eyes get a high score.”

“I’m sorry”

“What did the professor say?”

“Well …”

“What did he say?”

“He asked me to be his a.s.sistant…”

“What?”

Park suspected his earring was wrong. He asked again, “You said he asked you to be his a.s.sistant?”

“Yes …”

His eyes became wide.

‘Professor Lee, who seemed to have no interest in the residents, asked this yellow chick-like student to be his a.s.sistant’

Park, looking at Suhyuk quietly, was in pensive mood.

‘He likes this kind of style… Why didn’t I notice it up to now? Even if I appear arrogant, the professor likes the kind of vigor and spirit that I could speak out with what I have in mind, and that is the thing. If I become his a.s.sistant, I would have a bright future before me.’

“Where is the professor now?”

“He said he would go and do the surgery.”

Park, who nodded his head as if he made some resolution, began to lead the trainees again. The evening was approaching. Park went to see Prof. Lee.

“What’s going on?”

Park spoke, turning over the chart.

“As for patient Choi Jinhee, you prescribed medications to her, but I think the other way is the right prescription.”

The professor stared at him quietly. The inside of the professor’s room was still. Only the dirt that glowed in the sky was floating freely.

When Park was intensely anxious, Lee’s mouth opened, “Are you crazy?”

—–

After finis.h.i.+ng clinical practice, Suhyuk did not go to the house but sat in the hospital lobby.

It was because Professor Lee requested him to wait.

At that moment, a woman giving off a scent of fragrance came sitting next to him.

She was Choi Suryon.

“Are you not going to go home?”

“No. Because the professor says he has something to talk to me about…”

She was watching TV in the lobby, but there was nothing that attracted her eyes.

“You are welcomed everywhere you go.”

He responded to her whispering words, “What did you say?”

Her hardened expression grew bright quickly, “Nothing, nothing at all.”

She was wearing black stockings in a semi-formal suit.

She lifted her slender legs and ma.s.saged them. Fully exposed, her thigh looked breathtaking.

“I was just regretting that I wore high-heeled shoes today. I accidently made a run in my stocking.”

When Suhyuk nodded his head, turning his gaze elsewhere, she said in a coy tone,

“Hey, your friend is sick right now. Would it kill you to take care of me?”

“You’ll get better when you foment.”

At that moment resident Park appeared.

“What are you guys doing here…”

He could not take his eyes off Choi’s legs.

She quickly lowered her legs.

“What are you doing here while not going home?”

“Oh, I’m going home now,” she said.

She knitted her brows while standing up. Of course, no one was aware of it because her face was buried by her long hair.

“See you tomorrow, sir. See you tomorrow, Suhyuk.”

With that goodbye, she started moving.

“I want to go out for some fresh air, so let me take you to the front.”

Park got close to her side. Choi did not refuse and laughed.

“Oh, thank you.”

Then she looked at Suhyuk for a moment.

He was waving his hand toward himself.

‘Yes, you should always act innocent as if you do not know anything. You…’

She turned around and walked out of the hospital with Park.

The crowded lobby was silent and many people started to go home one by one and others went into the hospital rooms.

“Suhyuk.”

Professor Kim Jinwook, who came out to leave for home, found him.

“What are you doing not going home?”

Suhyuk rose from his seat and welcomed him, “The professor told me to see him.”

“Professor, what professor?”

“Professor Lee Mansuk.”

Kim Jinwook knitted his brows.

Was it because he felt too complacent?

Prof. Lee was already h.e.l.l bent on getting him as his a.s.sistant.

“Really? Actually I had something to tell him. Good timing.”

He had known Suhyuk from when he was an intern, so he did not have the slightest intention of just kicking his heels and losing him like that.

“Lee Suhyuk.”

Suhyuk turned his head to another voice calling him

“Uh?”