Chapter 92

Chapter 4, Episode 92: A Satisfying Blow (2)

"Thank you, Chief."

I took the can of coffee that Choi Hosub offered and sat down on the sofa.

After Choi Hosub grabbed Kim Seulgi like a mouse, I followed him to the break room.

Click.

The coffee tasted particularly sweet today.

It seemed to be because I had witnessed Kim Seulgi being scolded by Choi Hosub.

After always receiving praise from senior colleagues, how bitter it must be for her to receive a harsh reprimand.

Kim Seulgi's misfortune was my happiness.

"Did you perform CPR after receiving the Code Blue earlier?"

"Yes, Chief."

I also remembered that Choi Hosub was in the phlebotomy room.

Since many of the interns who arrived earlier were already there, Choi Hosub did not perform the procedure himself.

He only observed whether my fellow interns and I were handling the situation well.

"You did a good job with the CPR. It was also impressive how you assigned roles to your friends. I heard from a third-year that you were exceptional even in medical school?"

I was quite taken aback by Choi Hosub's words.

First, I didn't expect him to call me aside to praise me.

It was also surprising that he already knew about my achievements in medical school from a third-year.

Does he have an interest in me?

"I've experienced many incidents and accidents since I was young. Perhaps that's why I tend to be more composed than others."

"..."

"I made sure to review the surgical techniques during the intern orientation."

"Is that so?"

Choi Hosub briefly replied and took a sip of his coffee.

"I had a friend in my year who was similar to you. He was good at his job and had great social skills."

Choi Hosub continued talking about a classmate who was similar to me for about two to three minutes.

Although he seemed to be praising his classmate, Choi Hosub's expression looked rather bitter and lonely.

It seemed something had happened to his classmate.

"But that friend fled from the hospital during his first year as a neurosurgery resident."

"Why did he do that?"

"One of the patients he was in charge of died. Even though it wasn't his fault, he couldn't shake off the guilt."

"..."

"Seeing you reminded me of him."

Now I understood why Choi Hosub was worried about me.

He was concerned that I might follow the same path as his classmate.

I appreciated his concern, but I wasn't the same type of person as his classmate.

If I had to describe it, his classmate was a perfectionist.

A type who couldn't bear to be anything but perfect.

A type who couldn't tolerate any flaw in their skills or reputation.

But I wasn't a perfectionist.

I was the type who overcame my shortcomings through effort and time.

In my previous life, I was already familiar with being hurt and blaming myself. Although I might stumble for a moment, I never stopped moving forward.

Except when I was betrayed by Kang Tae-sub.

"Thank you for your concern, Chief. I'll try not to hurt myself."

"You speak so clearly despite your clumsy words."

Choi Hosub's lips curled into a smile for the first time.

"You spoke clearly, so I understood clearly."

"Were you trying to get me to scold Seulgi earlier by tattling on her?"

Choi Hosub changed the topic to the incident where I was massaging Kim Seulgi's shoulder.

The department head seemed to see through my psychology, as if he wasn't just a department head by chance.

Kim Seulgi still thought I was clueless, but Choi Hosub was different.

"I didn't expect you to know."

"Well, if I hadn't seen you perform CPR, I might have thought you were a troublemaker. But no one could think that after seeing you in action, right?"

"Indeed, Chief."

With Choi Hosub showing me favor now.

This might be the perfect opportunity to expose Kim Seulgi's misdeeds.

Originally, I planned to use the evidence I had gathered after 'that incident' to strike all at once...

But now, with this unexpected connection with Choi Hosub, do I need to prolong the process?

Yes.

The sooner the punishment, the better.

Complaining to a mediocre third-year would be less effective than complaining to the Chief.

"Chief, I actually have something important to tell you about Kim Seulgi."

* * *

"..."

Choi Hosub listened quietly to Lee Min's revelations.

The content was so shocking that he initially doubted his ears.

Choi Hosub drinks during night shifts.

He gives retaliatory orders to nurses.

He sexually harasses and assaults new nurses.

Each of these actions alone could cause a scandal in the department, and he had done all three.

'Is this kid taking me for granted?'

So Choi Hosub also began to doubt Lee Min.

He praised him for doing a good job and then he starts badmouthing a senior resident?

But his doubts about Lee Min soon vanished.

The video on the phone Lee Min handed over was playing.

In the video, Kim Seulgi was walking down the ward corridor with a nurse pushing a dressing cart.

The problem was that Kim Seulgi had casually placed her hand on the nurse's shoulder and touched her arm and wrist.

Choi Hosub's anger boiled at this outrageous behavior.

Is this guy out of his mind?

How dare he assault a nurse when he's supposed to be busy managing patients?

Is his brain just for decoration?

"Lee Min."

"Yes, Chief."

"How did you find out all this in just four days of work?"

Choi Hosub was amazed that Lee Min knew information he himself didn't.

"I heard about the bullying of nurses directly from the nurses. I became close to them quickly because I helped them with an incident yesterday."

"..."

"In the case of drinking, I found out about the soju in a soda bottle while cleaning the refrigerator."

Choi Hosub was speechless at Lee Min's straightforward answers.

Having seen the CCTV footage of the sexual assault with his own eyes, he couldn't help but believe Lee Min.

From the moment he started to favor Lee Min for his good work during the fix turn...

Did it all lead to this?

The betrayal of Kim Seulgi, who had deceived the residents so thoroughly.

The self-reproach for not suspecting her at all.

These emotions mixed together, making Choi Hosub feel as if he had fallen into a pit.

And the end result was anger.

How dare a fresh first-year resident play with the department?

"Lee Min, now that I think about it, you're not just good at your job, are you? If it weren't for you, I might have thought Kim Seulgi was a decent person."

"It's understandable to be deceived. She was very respectful to senior residents. The problem is that she wasn't like that to junior staff."

"Indeed, there are things you can only see from below."

Choi Hosub nodded and stood up.

I listened to Lee Min's revelations carefully.

The only thing left to do was to thoroughly investigate the facts and then discipline Kim Seulgi.

If it were up to him, he would have slapped Kim Seulgi's face right away, but...

Choi Hosub wasn't that emotional.

He was a coldly angry person.

"Let's go back to the on-call room. You keep Kim Seulgi distracted for a moment. I'll check the soda bottle with soju first."

"Yes, Chief."

Choi Hosub returned to the on-call room with Lee Min.

When he reappeared, Kim Seulgi looked surprised.

Choi Hosub usually preferred to study in the conference room rather than the on-call room.

While Lee Min cleverly distracted Kim Seulgi.

Choi Hosub opened the refrigerator and found a soda PET bottle hidden at the back of the fresh compartment.

When he opened the cap, the sharp smell of alcohol hit his nose.

This confirmed that Lee Min's words were true.

Kim Seulgi had been drinking in the hospital, which was absurd.

How did a first-year resident learn to do such bad things?

It was infuriating.

Snap!

Choi Hosub closed the refrigerator and glared at Kim Seulgi.

Sensing his menacing gaze, Kim Seulgi looked back at him.

"Chief, is something wrong? You seem to be in a bad mood today."

Words that would have sounded pleasant in the past now sounded extremely annoying.

"You're not just in a bad mood. Seulgi."

"Yes, Chief."

"Try to do your best. Being a doctor is much harder than you think."

Choi Hosub patted Kim Seulgi's shoulder and left the on-call room.

* * *

"Why is the Chief acting like that? Did he eat something wrong for dinner?"

Looking at Kim Seulgi, who was tilting her head in confusion, I laughed inwardly.

From the moment I exposed Kim Seulgi's misdeeds to the Chief.

It was as if a time bomb had been planted inside her.

Seeing Kim Seulgi, who was unaware of the misfortune and disaster that awaited her, I couldn't help but laugh.

"By the way, what did you talk about with the Chief?"

"He asked if the intern life was manageable. I said it was fine."

"Did you say anything bad about me again?"

Kim Seulgi narrowed her eyes and looked at me.

She was naturally a suspicious person.

But her suspicion wasn't enough to overcome the current situation.

"No way. If I did, the Chief wouldn't have just left the on-call room. He would have scolded Seulgi."

"Well, that's true. Just keep your mouth shut and do your work from now on."

"..."

"Do you know how scared I was when you said you called me because of the shoulder massage? I thought I was going to have a heart attack."

"..."

"What are you doing? Why aren't you answering?"

"Senior, you told me to keep my mouth shut and do my work."

"Idiot, you have to choose the right time and place. I've never met someone who works so well but has no sense."

Kim Seulgi shook her head in disgust.

'This is also a kind of fun.'

Since entering medical school, I had been acting like a genius.

I stood out and even learned the fellowship program.

But meeting Kim Seulgi slightly changed my position.

I became a competent troublemaker.

If I were a completely incompetent troublemaker, I would be labeled as trash and mistreated.

It felt exhilarating to pretend to be slightly incompetent while exposing the bad guy.

In my previous life, of course.

From the time I regressed to 1 year old until now, I had never experienced this kind of fun.

I might get addicted to the role of a troublemaker.

"Go down to the emergency room and check on a patient named Son Myung-hwan. Do an ECG and check his condition."

"Yes."

Checking on emergency room patients was originally the job of a first-year resident, but Kim Seulgi easily passed it to me.

Knowing the disaster that would soon befall Kim Seulgi.

I willingly went down to the emergency room.

I first checked Son Myung-hwan's electronic medical records at the emergency room station.

-C.C. (Chief Complaint): Chest pain, palpitations.

-Blood pressure: 80mmHg/40mmHg.

-Pre-existing condition: Diabetes.

-ECG: Acute myocardial infarction with rapidly growing ST segment.

Despite the patient's critical condition, the treatment was relatively weak.

Oral nitroglycerin.

Aspirin for thrombus prevention.

Intravenous urokinase for thrombolysis, etc.

After carefully reviewing the patient's test records, I frowned.

No matter how I thought about it, this patient seemed to be that patient.

It seemed like a major incident in the cardiology department was about to happen today.