Chapter 67 – Judgment Day (1)

7 AM on the way to work.

Dowook looked at the cloudy sky and turned to the year-end decorations scattered on the streets. A typical advertisement called “If it snows on Christmas, hot chocolate is free!” caught his eye.

“It’s already that day.”

As he was busy with his schedule of spending 4-5 days at the hospital and 1 day at the accommodation, he finally realized that today was Christmas. Somehow, the faces of the Sharehouse family who were preparing breakfast seemed all uneasy.

“Snow, please don’t come.”

It was sad to go to work on a day like this, but if the atmosphere was good, nothing was as bitter as that.

Today was just the 25th day of December, as Dowook comforted himself that way, his phone rang so he looked at the screen. Still, today’s first call was from his beloved woman.

“Yes, mother.”

-Son. Are you at the hospital?

“I’m on my way.”

-What are you going to do about the Lunar New Year? Are you coming down?

Cha Soo-jung, his mother, who immediately brought up business without saying hello, was a person who was known as an action leader in the neighborhood because of her cool personality.

“I don’t know about that day, but I’ll take my time off that week and go.”

-You don’t have to overdo it. If you can’t come, we can go up. It’s a holiday for families to meet, not a holiday where they force you to come home.

“Huh. Do you read a collection of quotes these days?”

-Anyway, your father agreed, so call me if you’re going to be busy during the Lunar New Year.

–Honey, is that Dowook? Son! Are you seeing your girlfriend on Christmas?

-He said he’s at the hospital.

–I want to see my daughter-in-law this Lunar New Year! I’m hungry for grandchildren!

-Come on! Why are you saying that? I’m hanging up.

Beep.

Dowook lowered his cell phone with a smile.

When he said he wanted to be a doctor, his father was just happy and told him to do whatever he wanted, but his mother asked if he could handle the difficulties.

‘She was wise.’

Dowook, who was walking on the road with his collar closed due to the cold, encountered two people walking out of the hospital entrance.

“Oh, it’s you! Dr. Dowook!”

That high school girl waving with a cheerful voice was Song Minji. She was one of the students who was carried in due to the academy bus accident about two months ago.

She was pushing a wheelchair, and Jeong Taejun, who was recently diagnosed with partial vision recovery, was seated on it. Wearing sunglasses.

“What are you guys doing? Are you going out?”

“Yes, We’re going to an amusement park.”

“This early?”

“It’s our first time going out in months. Hee~!”

Christmas. Just the two of them.

He looked at Jeong Taejun with a calm expression thinking that envy meant losing.

“How much can you see now?”

“Nearly everything. Dr., you look very tired.”

“Well, since it’s early in the morning. Be back by 8 p.m., and keep reporting your physical condition to your parents in the middle, and Taejun will sit there and take a good look at the rides.”

“It sounds like you’re enjoying the fact that I’m the only one who can’t ride anything.”

“It’s just you. Take good care of him, Minji.”

“Yes, doctor.”

After sending out a couple who were scheduled to have a happy day, he passed the lobby and moved to the elevator.

“How many surgeries did I have today?”

One in the morning and one in the afternoon. That was the schedule he had in his head yesterday after getting off work for the first time in a long time.

Since he came early, he headed to the medical office to organize his schedule.

“Good morning.”

As he opened the door and greeted them, he saw three juniors drooping.

Nam Hana, who raised her head with a face full of dark circles, bowed.

“Welcome, senior. You came to work.”

“Why do you look so dead?”

“These three are the only guys who have to keep going on a day like this.”

“What’s wrong with our Seongtae?”

Kim Seongtae, a second-year resident who was lying on the table, jumped up.

“What? What did you say?”

“No, sleep more. Wipe your saliva.”

Nam Hana, who pointed to Kim Seongtae, who collapsed again, asked back.

“That kind of guy?”

“I’m sorry. But our Siheon. Siheon is okay.”

Lee Si-heon, a first-year student who was clicking on the chart, lifted his head out.

“I have a girlfriend, chief.”

“I didn’t ask!”

“Woah, Hana. Calm down.”

The intern, who was sleeping on the sofa, raised his head and intervened in the conversation.

“A man? He’s coming to the ward today.”

“Who?”

“Tom Brand.”

Dowook asked back at the sudden appearance of a foreigner’s name.

“Who?”

“Mr. Park, don’t you know Jet America?”

“I know. It’s a movie. I saw the trailer.”

“The main character there will visit Korea for a surprise visit to the ward. I think he’s going over to the pediatrics department, but because of that, the interns went crazy saying they would go over instead of working in the ward.”

It was now common for the main character of a Hollywood movie to visit Korea for promotion. In the meantime, it was rare to visit a hospital.

“The main character’s name was Tom Brand. He’s totally handsome.”

“Insanely. His muscles are amazing, too.”

“Did you hear that, Hana? Today is the ward. I’m following all the professors’ rounds. Since we’re doing it, let’s focus on Professor Choi’s.”

“Senior.”

“Sorry.”

Dowook, who stepped down after receiving a glare for trying to pass the job secretly, sat at a public computer and checked his schedule first.

“Let’s see. Monday, three. Tuesday and Wednesday, four…….”

Dowook’s gaze, which was looking at the table and contrasting with the reservation time for the operating room, returned to the schedule for today.

Two surgeries suddenly turned into one. Then, 0. It was deleted in real-time, leaving the entire space on December 25th empty.

“What’s wrong with you?”

He thought it was a server error, so he logged in again and opened the schedule. Still, today’s surgery did not appear.

“Hana, do I have any surgery today?”

“You told me to come in at 2 o’clock for vascular decompression surgery yesterday.”

“Right?”

There was only one person in neurosurgery who could wield the power of compulsory adjustment in this way.

“Oh, my. This is ominous.”’

Around the time when doubts were piling up.

Vrrrr.

He got a text message.

[Park Dowook. Run to the chief’s office after your rounds. There’s a Christmas gift~]

Dowook knocked on the chief’s office.

“It’s Park Dowook.”

“Come on in.”

As soon as he opened the door, he tried to argue, but the timing was cut off thanks to another person sitting opposite Chief Ha.

As soon as he saw Dowook, a gentleman who looked about 40 stood up and gave out his business card.

“Hello, Dr. Park Dowook. I’m Shim Bo-hoon, the chief manager of KG Entertainment. Please call me Manager Shim.”

“What?”

Chief Ha smiled at Dowook, who sat down after receiving the business card in a hurry.

“I organized all of today’s schedule. Professor Yeom’s team will take charge of both your surgeries.”

“How can you do this without informing us?”

“The thing is. If you have complaints, you can be the department chief. The nerve, to have a temper when I reduce his work.”

“Now that you’ve reduced my work, can I get off work?”

Chief Ha raised his hand to calm him down.

“First, listen to Manager Shim’s explanation. Do you know how hard I worked to persuade Choi Hoo?”

“How are you going to persuade me?”

“Hey! You still have 5 patients you have to take no questions asked! I’m stressed out because I’m on duty every weekend!”

Chief Ha, who was raising his finger, quickly twisted the direction of pointing and changed it to a finger heart when he saw his guest’s surprised face.

“My beloved student. This is for the neurosurgery department and your future. Will you stop talking about it and accept it?”

“Why does your voice sound so affectionate?”

Chief Ha avoided Dowook’s gaze suspiciously and looked at Manager Shim.

“We have a common opinion just by looking at each other’s eyes. Let’s talk comfortably.”

Manager Shim, who had been watching because they looked like they were the type to argue whenever they met, briefly coughed and took the document out of his briefcase.

“We would like to ask Dr. Park Dowook to participate in the filming program organized by KG Entertainment, so I contacted you like this.”

Dowook received the document and read it.

[KG Entertainment’s celebrities volunteer activities and filming requests at Myeong Sae Hospital]

“Volunteer work? I heard a Hollywood actor is coming today. Is it related to that?”

“That’s right. Ryu Chul, an actor from KG Entertainment, appeared in Tom Brand’s movie.”

“What am I supposed to do here?”

“Tom Brand stays for 30 minutes and goes to another appointment right away. Actor Ryu plans to fully volunteer from morning to evening. Dr. Park Dowook can accompany Actor Ryu and take on the role of explaining the duties of the volunteers. Kind of a medical expert.”

Dowook, who was listening to the explanation, looked at Manager Shim with a strange face.

“Shouldn’t someone like the vice dean give advice, not me? High in experience and reliable position.”

Manager Shim smiled brightly.

“This should be done by the first person who comes to mind when talking about Myeong Sae Hospital. I was impressed by the article that you worked as a firefighter last week.”

“Oh…”

“You will also be paid a small fee.”

Chief Ha looked at Dowook with a lot of pressure on his shoulders.

“Did you hear that? You’re the representative of the hospital, so he came to neurosurgery, instead of any of thel other departments.”

“I’m getting paid, but why are you so excited?”

“Huh? Never mind. I don’t like it that much.”

“Your mouth is practically splitting your face in half..….”

Dowook watched Chief Ha with a gaze that seemed to see right through him. He immediately asked Chief Ha, who was ignoring him.

“Please remove me from duty in the week of the professional exam. Then I’ll cooperate.”

“What? This punk. You’re going to turn over the clock again? My daughter, she hasn’t even seen my face for two weeks.”

“Do a video call. Do I walk out or not?”

Chief Ha, who sighed deeply, nodded indecisively.

“Okay. But do it properly.”

There must be a huge benefit. As he seemed to have gotten as much as he could, Dowook turned to Manager Shim.

“Is it enough to guide volunteers to do things?”

“You can think of entertainment shows like ‘Medical 24’ that were once popular. While watching whether the participants are working hard or not, they sometimes talk to the camera. Actor Ryu will host the show on his own.”

“Aha.”

It didn’t seem to be much different from the duties of the chief resident, which was to divide and manage the work for interns and residents.

“By the way, what kind of person is he? How old is he?”

When asked this question, Manager Shim’s eyes got bigger and Chief Ha’s jaw dropped.

“Hey, Park Dowook. You don’t know the famous actor Ryu Chul? Oh my god. I didn’t know you wouldn’t have seen that fun ‘Trip to Ulsan.’”

“Give me time to watch it and then pretend to be surprised.”

Dowook turned to the actor’s name on the document.

Volunteer work with celebrities. If he got autographs, his mother might like it. She was a person who enjoyed cultural life.

* * *

8:50am.

Dowook got off the elevator in the pediatric ward on the 10th floor.

This place also had a Christmas atmosphere.

He saw cute gift boxes piled up under a large tree at the entrance.

‘It rather turned out well. Watching celebrities is a hundred times better than spending a dull day like today alone.’

An old man in his 60s with gray hair and a white beard got off the elevator as he was waiting for people to come up while looking through the volunteer work schedule he had on his cell phone.

The old man, who seemed to look just as cozy as Santa Claus with a red hat on, passed by the side of Dowook with a gentle step and opened the door of the ward management office and disappeared.

‘Who was that? He’s too old to be a nurse.’

Ding dong.

Another elevator opened.

Manager Shim took the lead in walking, and five men of strong physique appeared behind.

“Dr. Park, please say hello first. They’re some of the volunteers today. Hyungmin, say hello as the representative.”

“Hello, I’m Ha Hyungmin of New Five!”

His powerful voice and appearance was also handsome, so he could feel the eyes of the nurses passing by.

“Welcome, Hyungmin.”

Dowook, who greeted him, asked Manager Shim quietly.

“Are they famous people, too?”

“It’s…”

Manager Shim whispered in a low voice.

“It’s the next generation of Hallyu idol groups with 1 million fans across Asia.”

“Oh!”

Ding dong.

The elevator door opened, and people with small cameras and four women with unusual beauty got off.

This time, Manager Shim introduced them right away without asking.

“They’re a rookie group, but they’re a well-known idol with 100,000 sales on their debut album. The average age of the members is 17, so be comfortable with them.”

“They’re in the 10th grade?”

The girls looked much more mature than Song Minji, who he encountered on his way to work. Celebrities certainly seemed extraordinary.

“Yena, say hello to the person in charge who will help you with volunteer work.”

A woman who was tall enough to be a model bowed her head to Dowook.

“I’m Yoo Yena from Blue High.”

“Welcome.”

The atmosphere at the entrance to the ward also changed significantly as nine celebrities who seemed to be shining from their faces stood in a row in the hallway. It felt as if the hospital had become a dream space full of medical staff for handsome men and women.

‘This is why celebrities appear in advertisements.’

He was waiting for the program’s main, famous actor Ryu Chul when the old man he saw earlier walked out of the ward management office.

Dowook, who was looking at the chart in his hand as he entered the pediatric ward, looked at the old man again whose sense was rushing in his fingertips.

It was a strange start.

Dowook couldn’t believe how he felt like he was getting endlessly generous and relaxed. It was the first time he had a special sense that stimulated the neural circuit like water flowing.

Feeling curious about what kind of sensation it would be, Dowook turned his eyes and flinched after seeing Manager Shim.

The bluish light that he witnessed when he first received Professor Choi’s sense sparkled at a certain point in Manager Shim’s chest and disappeared.

‘That’s the gallbladder.’

Manager Shim’s behavior of petting his stomach and burping showed he felt uncomfortable. Obstructive jaundice stuck in the whites of the eyes. Momentarily, medical reasoning related to this crossed his mind.

“Manager Shim, are you sick?”

“I had a drink until late yesterday. Even though I took digestive medicine, my stomach still hurts.”

“Really? So it’s not cholecystitis.”

The reasoning was simply wrong. So he muttered like this, and suddenly Manager Shim exclaimed in surprise.

“I recently received gallstone treatment for chronic cholecystitis. You recognized that right away. The doctor tells me to stop eating greasy food, but it’s not working well.”

“…….”

Dowook could not help but be surprised because of the light that gave the hint of diagnosis.

Ding dong.

In the meantime, the elevator opened and Ryu Chul, a 27-year-old man who looked smooth, appeared.

“Actor Ryu is here.”

Dowook turned at Manager Shim’s voice. And he saw it. The blue light gathered on the lower body and anus of the famous young actor and disappeared.

“He-hemorrhoids?”

“Huh? doctor, do you recognize that, too?”

Manager Shim, whose eyes widened as soon as he heard him, whispered to Dowook.

“Please keep it a secret in front of the camera.”

Dowook admired the action of the special sense directly acting on thinking ability.

The awkward gait of the lower body and the back of the hand that looked bloodless. Theoretically, this could be inferred from clinical evidence. However, it took almost Dr. Sherlock’s level of observation to grasp this as soon as he saw it.

Dowook wandered around looking for the owner of this sense, but the old man had already disappeared into the ward.