Chapter 45: Even Harder? (1)

"Phew."

Director Lee Hyun-jong, as soon as it was Monday morning, was looking at the pads collected by his new attending physician, Soo-hyuk, who had become the attending physician this month, and tilted his head in confusion.

Contrary to his expectation that everyone would have failed, one person had survived.

Looking at the name, it was Woo Ha-yoon.

"Did his dad help him?"

Otherwise, there was no way he could have survived.

After all, it wasn't meant to be solved.

'I never thought Ha-yoon would be the only one to solve it.'

[It was a tough problem. There was no way a student could solve it.]

'Isn't this just making things awkward?'

[Maybe.]

While Soo-hyuk and Baruda were chatting, Lee Hyun-jong called Professor Woo Chang-yoon.

Since it was so early, Professor Woo didn't seem to be in the outpatient clinic.

"Yes, Director Lee Hyun-jong."

He answered the call immediately.

True to his reputation as someone who is treated like a strange person, Lee Hyun-jong cut straight to the chase.

"Hey, did you solve Woo Ha-yoon's homework?"

"Huh?"

Naturally, Professor Woo Chang-yoon showed a confused reaction.

But Lee Hyun-jong, who had already made up his mind, didn't hesitate.

"Hey, you helped him, right? Anyway, Woo Ha-yoon is almost certain to graduate first. Why did you do this?"

"Huh? No... What are you talking about...?"

"This month's PBL problem. Didn't you solve it for him?"

"What... Oh, that... The dress?"

"Right! That one."

"No, I didn't. What help would that be to him?"

"Really?"

Lee Hyun-jong thought this guy might be lying, but then he realized that Woo Chang-yoon wasn't that meticulous.

He was rather careless.

If he were lying, he would have been caught already.

No, he probably never even thought about helping with his daughter's homework.

"But how did he solve it?"

"Solved it? Wow, Ha-yoon is amazing. Did she study really hard?"

"This isn't something you can solve by studying."

Director Lee Hyun-jong was supposed to be getting ready for the morning class.

Today's lecture was about "You can't save patients by just studying at your desk."

He planned to explain in detail why they couldn't save the patient.

But solving it was a different story.

It was a dilemma.

"Oh, right."

After frowning for a while, Professor Woo Chang-yoon spoke as if he had just remembered something.

"What? Did you tell her?"

"No, no."

"Then what? Did you play golf?"

"No, no. I'm not Hyun-tae."

"Then what?"

"Um... Ha-yoon met Soo-hyuk this weekend... I didn't want to say this. Never mind."

When someone cuts off a conversation like that, it usually drives the listener crazy.

Especially someone like Lee Hyun-jong, who can't stand being curious.

"Hey! Don't hang up! You'll die if you do!"

"No... Never mind."

"Is this guy for real?"

"Then... Don't get angry. If you promise, I'll tell you."

"What... What did you do?"

"Promise, and I'll tell you."

Professor Lee Hyun-jong looked at the phone with a puzzled expression, wondering what this guy had done.

'Does this really require me to get angry?'

But he was too curious to let it go.

He felt like he would be in agony if he didn't know.

"Fine. I won't get angry. I promise."

So, Director Lee Hyun-jong nodded with his eyes tightly closed.

Professor Woo Chang-yoon, still not quite believing him, asked again.

"Really?"

"I said I will. Hang up and you'll die, really."

"Yes. Ha-yoon met Soo-hyuk this weekend. Lee Soo-hyuk."

But the moment he heard Soo-hyuk's name, Lee Hyun-jong exploded.

Soo-hyuk was the one he had been focusing on the most recently.

"Hey, you bastard!"

"Hey, you said you wouldn't get angry."

"Can I not get angry? What the hell! Why did she meet someone else's promising student?"

"Hey... It's not like that. Ha-yoon sees him a lot."

"Then what?"

"Um..."

Woo Chang-yoon had thought about meeting Soo-hyuk directly to talk about the hospital's welfare and professor salaries.

But from the atmosphere, it seemed like he would come over immediately if he said that.

"I just hope Ha-yoon becomes an excellent internist like Soo-hyuk. That's all."

"Hmm... Suspicious..."

"No, really. I'm not lying."

"But what does meeting Soo-hyuk on the weekend have to do with anything?"

"Um... Ha-yoon showed the pad to Soo-hyuk. Although it's only been a year, I don't know what he did... But it's Soo-hyuk, so who knows?"

"Huh?"

Lee Hyun-jong looked ahead with a stunned expression.

Instead of empty space, Soo-hyuk was standing in front of his desk.

In other words, he was facing Soo-hyuk.

"Did you solve this?"

"Huh? You're here? How are you doing?"

"Shut up. No, hang up."

"Hey, Soo-hyuk. I'm Ha-yoon's..."

Before Professor Woo Chang-yoon could finish, Lee Hyun-jong hung up and looked at Soo-hyuk again.

"Did you solve it?"

While tapping on Woo Ha-yoon's pad.

Soo-hyuk was momentarily at a loss for how to respond.

In contrast, Baruda didn't seem worried.

[What are you hesitating about? Lee Hyun-jong will definitely praise you.]

'He looks really troubled?'

[That's one thing. The illusion that Soo-hyuk is excellent is another.]

'Illusion?'

[Oh, this time he was really excellent. I correct myself.]

'Hmm...'

Soo-hyuk was still hesitant, but he had no other choice.

He couldn't lie to the director, a rookie in his first year.

"Yes, I solved it. I'm sorry, it was someone else's homework..."

"How? How did you solve it?"

"Huh?"

"This... There's a trap. Moreover, it's really rare for an infection to progress like this in a dress. Did you guess it right?"

"Ah... No, I didn't. I... I suspected the dress because... I chose tests and treatments to check it as safely as possible."

"Wow."

"Wow."

"Wow."

Director Lee Hyun-jong responded to Soo-hyuk's explanation with a variety of exclamations.

When Soo-hyuk reached his final conclusion, he even clapped.

"Good job. That's... almost the textbook answer. Hmm."

Then he looked a bit disappointed.

The case this problem was based on was one he had seen in the internal medicine department of Taehwa Medical Center.

'It was a mortality conference case.'

A mortality conference is held when a patient dies and the disease that led to the death was treatable.

Director Lee Hyun-jong had created the problem based on this case to prevent such an incident from happening again.

But Soo-hyuk had solved it.

In his first year.

'If Soo-hyuk had been there, the patient would have survived.'

Of course, he felt regret.

But the greater emotion was pride.

"Hey, Soo-hyuk."

"Yes."

"Nothing this morning?"

"Um... I was instructed to assist in consultations if I have no schedule."

"By who?"

"Mr. Kim In-soo."

In fact, Soo-hyuk was almost a blue-chip among all the residents on the consultation schedule recently.

He grasped patients at an incredibly fast pace and was incredibly accurate.

For a first-year resident like Soo-hyuk, it was hard to refuse their requests.

Moreover, many of the consultation cases were quite interesting, so he usually went.

"Don't go."

But with the director's order, things were different.

"Yes, I will do as you say."

Soo-hyuk replied and sent a text message.

<The director said he would give me something else to do this morning instead of going to the consultation room. I'm sorry.>

Soo-hyuk, who was already the subject of rumors like "He's the director's hidden son" or "No, he's just a commoner who is favored," couldn't be stopped with the director's excuse.

Not even Kim In-soo was an exception.

<Oh, okay. I understand.>

He only sent this text message, as expected.

With his morning schedule now free, the director continued.

"Let's go to class together."

"Huh?"

"You messed up the class, so you should take responsibility."

"Huh...? Responsibility... How...?"

Soo-hyuk looked at Lee Hyun-jong with a very confused expression.

Lee Hyun-jong patted Soo-hyuk's shoulder.

"No need to be so serious. Just present a case for the PBL for about ten minutes."

"Huh... A case?"

Soo-hyuk involuntarily looked at the clock behind him.

The class the director was going to was the third period.

That is, 10:30 AM.

It was 8:00 AM now.

So, after accounting for travel time, Soo-hyuk had a maximum of two hours.

"Right. A cardiology case. It can be easy. After all, even if you make it easy, the students will all get it wrong."

It was an absurd request if you thought about it.

Solving a problem and creating one are entirely different levels.

Moreover, with only two hours.

To create one.

He thought this guy was crazy.

[Soo-hyuk. This is an opportunity. Accept it.]

'What... What to accept?'

[Why would he make you teach a class? To a resident.]

'Because I messed up the class.'

[No, no. Isn't it that only professors give lectures? Doctors don't have much to do except give lectures.]

'So... You mean...?'

[Exactly.]

After hearing Baruda, it made sense.

Thinking about it, it was another test.

'But can I do it?'

[Soo-hyuk. We've collected a lot of data. Case reports are endless.]

'Ah... That's true.'

For others, it would be a struggle to even create an ECG or a blood test result.

But Soo-hyuk was different.

Baruda had already datafied everything.

He just needed to print it out.

"Alright. I'll give it a try."

Lee Hyun-jong laughed at Soo-hyuk, who seemed more confident than he expected.

"Don't overdo it. I have a spare case."

"Yes, Director. I won't disappoint you!"

"No... Don't overdo it."

"I'll do my best!"