Chapter 30: Now, Another Place (2)

[Ding ding ding ding.]

‘Ah.’

Suhyeok jumped out of bed early on his first weekend morning in the endocrinology department.

It wasn’t because he had slept so well or had extra energy.

It was just because of the alarm ringing in his head.

[You’re awake, Suhyeok. Good morning.]

‘You crazy bastard! You woke me up and now you’re saying good morning? How can you say that?’

[Is there any correlation between me waking you up and the proposition that ‘it’s a good morning’?]

‘What? Of course there is… uh… um…’

Suhyeok was about to argue but then lost his words.

Upon reflection, no matter who woke him up, this morning wouldn’t change.

[Since you’re up, why don’t you review the materials you were studying yesterday? I’m curious.]

‘I’m so tired I could die from being scolded.’

[You’re tired, Suhyeok? It’s already 6 AM.]

‘I went to bed at 2 AM yesterday!’

Suhyeok grumbled to himself and looked towards the on-call room door.

Of course, he couldn’t see the culprit who kept him up all night.

But he could recall the events of yesterday.

- Hey, drink. It’s not like we’re on call. Do you want to die? Want to see hell this month?

- Yeah. When else would we enjoy a drink? Refusing the chief’s offer is impolite, right?

The ones who said this while offering beer were none other than Kim Jin-yong, a third-year resident, and Hwang Seon-woo, a second-year resident, who were currently in charge of Professor Seo Hyo-seok in the endocrinology department.

‘What kind of hospital serves alcohol…’

[It’s not illegal since we’re not on call.]

‘Does that make it right? If you want to drink so badly, go outside and have it.’

[I agree with that.]

The on-call room, of course, was not a place where patients could see.

Still, wandering around in surgical scrubs while drunk wasn’t a good idea.

Especially since a resident at another hospital recently caused a scandal by providing care while intoxicated.

What if patients misunderstand?

‘And if they’re going to drink, why drag a first-year along? I’m on call today.’

[Don’t be weak. I told you to firmly refuse, but you kept caving in.]

‘You bastard… I’m a first-year, remember? The bottom of the internal medicine department!’

[To speak so proudly about that is somewhat suspicious.]

‘That’s not what I meant!’

Baruda, seeing Suhyeok, who looked like he was going crazy to others, continued.

[And based on my analysis, the other residents’ attitude towards Suhyeok is a bit unusual.]

‘Your analysis isn’t very reliable.’

Suhyeok recalled the time he got into trouble for snitching on Ha Yoon.

He thought it might be the last time he’d ever have a nightmare.

[Baruda is a self-learning AI that evolves through learning. I can confidently say that my analytical skills have improved.]

‘Fine… go on then.’

With all his sleep gone, Suhyeok slowly put on his Crocs and left the room.

Since he was up early, he decided to have a hearty breakfast.

Indeed, the breakfast at Taehwa Medical Center was hotel-style and the best of the three meals.

[The residents consider Suhyeok as a senior.]

‘Does that make sense? For a first-year?’

[It may not make sense, but that’s my analysis.]

‘Then you must be wrong.’

[Is that your logic?]

‘Yes.’

[Hmm.]

Even Baruda thought there was a lack of objective evidence to support the idea that other residents saw Suhyeok as a senior.

He wondered if there was something wrong with his logic circuits.

Finally, taking advantage of the quiet moment, Suhyeok looked at his phone.

<See you at the cafe we met before next week!>

More accurately, he looked at the text message from Ha Yoon.

If it had been written on paper, it would have been worn out from being handled so much.

[Hey, calm down. According to my analysis, Woo Ha-yoon has no feelings for Lee Suhyeok.]

‘You were the one who suggested holding hands, remember?’

[I admit that was a clear mistake. I apologize.]

‘I’ve never felt so bad about receiving an apology…’

Suhyeok shook his head and took the egg offered by the cafeteria lady.

One of the prides of Taehwa Medical Center, it was actually a fried egg, not just boiled.

‘Sprinkling ketchup on this would make it even better.’

[I agree. It’s the best hospital food.]

With this, Suhyeok and Baruda finally agreed on something after a long time, and they found a spot in the corner of the cafeteria to sit down.

Since it was so early and a weekend, there were almost no people around.

“Hey, Suhyeok.”

But someone recognized him.

“Wow, having breakfast so early. You take good care of yourself, huh?”

And there were two of them.

“Hey, Director, Chief. Good morning.”

It was Director Lee Hyun-jong and Chief Shin Hyun-tae.

As usual, they were on their way to play golf after a quick weekend rounds.

The breakfast at Taehwa Medical Center was indeed quite good, so they decided to have breakfast before leaving.

Seeing Suhyeok genuinely happy, they chuckled and sat down next to him naturally.

“On call?”

The one who spoke first was Lee Hyun-jong.

Despite initially calling him crazy and avoiding him, he was now incredibly affectionate.

“Yes, Director. I’m on call.”

“Which department?”

“I’m assigned to Professor Seo Hyo-seok in the endocrinology department.”

“Oh, Seo Hyo-seok.”

At the mention of Seo Hyo-seok, Director Lee Hyun-jong’s face darkened.

It was because Seo Hyo-seok had entered through back channels, not by merit.

Chief Shin Hyun-tae’s face wasn’t much better.

While he might have entered through back channels, his subsequent behavior was the worst.

Considering that only Professor Jo Tae-jin, known for his kindness, would even speak to Seo Hyo-seok, there was no need to go into detail about his conduct.

“Suhyeok.”

“Yes.”

“Hang in there. Oh, who’s your chief? Is he any good?”

“It’s Dr. Kim Jin-yong.”

“Yeah… really hang in there.”

Lee Hyun-jong patted Suhyeok’s back while sipping his drink.

“If he makes it too hard for you, let me know. I’ll take care of it.”

Shin Hyun-tae also chuckled and pointed to himself with his thumb.

At this, Lee Hyun-jong finally smiled and continued.

“Right. No matter how great Seo Hyo-seok is, he’s nothing compared to Chief Shin Hyun-tae here.”

“Hey, why are we talking about that? I’m the chief, so…”

“Being the chief is also a matter of connections.”

“Huh?”

Seeing Shin Hyun-tae’s reaction, Director Lee Hyun-jong rolled his eyes.

He looked so excited that it was hard to believe he was over sixty.

“Would you even be a chief if you weren’t related?”

“Hey… if we’re talking about connections, what about you, Director? Your father was the first dean of Taehwa Medical School, right?”

“I publish papers in NEJM whenever I feel like it. Our positions are different.”

“NEJM, NEJM. Those who can’t publish there must be so miserable.”

“They shouldn’t be. How can a professor at such a large hospital not publish there?”

“Hey… I don’t play golf.”

Chief Shin, seemingly really angry, put down his fork.

Only then did Director Lee Hyun-jong lean in.

“Hey, why not play golf? You should.”

“No, no. It’s dirty.”

“Come on. Let’s play. I’m sorry. I have nothing to do at home. I’ve been so busy writing NEJM papers that I haven’t even gotten married…”

“Oh… so not being able to write NEJM papers means I’m married and welcomed at home?”

“Ah… the conversation went that way. You… yeah, yeah. ‘The Lancet’! You published there, right?”

“You used to say The Lancet was trash.”

“Ah… there’s no such good trash. I was joking.”

After a long while of comforting, Director Lee Hyun-jong finally succeeded in persuading him, though at a considerable cost.

“Hey… even so, 5 strokes is a bit much, isn’t it?”

“Then go home.”

“Ah… I really… okay. Go. Oh, Suhyeok. If you’re having a hard time, really tell Chief Shin. He’s better than the director.”

“Ah, yes. Director, Chief. Thank you.”

The two left the cafeteria, leaving Suhyeok behind.

They continued chatting as they left, creating a scene that left Suhyeok with a rather complex feeling.

‘Impressive.’

[That?]

‘Can’t you feel the ease of successful people? I’m envious that they play golf every weekend.’

[It’s a bit strange for Suhyeok to envy exercise.]

‘What do you mean?’

[You didn’t really exercise much even when you had the time and a healthy body, right?]

‘Ah.’

Suhyeok clutched his chest at the sudden fact-check, then reached for his phone as it started ringing at exactly 7 AM.

3777.

It was undoubtedly the emergency room.

‘These guys are really like ghosts…’

Suhyeok muttered and answered the call.

A cheerful intern’s notification began.

“Hello, this is intern No Young-tae from the emergency room. I’m calling because I have a patient to notify.”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“A 35-year-old male, Yang Jae-won. He came in with seizures and convulsions that started two months ago.”

“Hmm?”

Seizures and convulsions.

These symptoms didn’t seem to directly connect to endocrinology.

Sensing Suhyeok’s confusion, intern No Young-tae quickly continued.

Impatient residents might have already started cursing at this point.

“Oh, it’s not primarily an endocrinology case but a neurology case. I’m calling for a consultation.”

“Oh… is it neurology or psychiatry?”

“He claims he needs divine intervention.”

“I see.”

If that was the case, it wasn’t entirely coincidental that the patient was being seen by the neurology department.

However, one thing still didn’t make sense.

Why was he being referred to endocrinology?

“The blood test shows hypoglycemia. The current level is 66.”

“66? That’s really low. Did he not eat?”

“He says he did.”

“Does he have any history of diabetes or similar treatments?”

“According to the patient, there’s no significant medical history.”

“Hmm… I understand. I’ll come down.”

Suhyeok hung up, cleared his tray, and headed towards the stairs.

‘Baruda, list all possible diseases that can cause hypoglycemia.’

[The data is limited because I haven’t studied much… but I’ll try.]

‘Don’t make excuses.’

[Yes, yes. In exchange for chicken at lunch.]

‘Deal…’

[Deal.]

Somehow, he was appeasing Baruda, who had become a foodie.