Signs of Breaking Down (2)

The automatic doors of the emergency medical center opened, and I crept inside.

'Please, just let Park Gwang-seok not be here. Please.'

Glancing around the center interior, I saw unfamiliar nurses and only first-year resident Yoon Tae-hyun sitting at the station.

Thank goodness.

The center chief, the so-called resident killer, was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, Professor Park Se-young, dressed in casual clothes, was waiting for me while sipping an energy drink.

The zombie-like state she’d been in when she’d just come out of the chamber yesterday was gone; after a good sleep, she looked completely neat.

'Come to think of it, even when I first saw her in Geoje, her expression was pretty relaxed.'

If you can get a whole day older in a single day, that’s a skill too, I guess.

"Hyeonjae. You’re here?"

She spotted me and waved.

Why is her smile so bright?

She called someone out on their day off and greets them that happily.

Is she a psycho?

"Yes, yes, Professor. Loyalty, loyalty."

I smiled and walked over.

"I’m off today, so what was the urgent reason you called me...?"

I trailed off and glanced at Professor Park.

Was the grim reaper hiding behind me—the center chief—about to suddenly pop out?

I hate jump scares.

"Ah, nothing special. I’m off today too, but I had a few things to pass on to you. I was going to do it over text, but I figured it’d be better to tell you face to face and make sure you got it, so I asked you to step out for a moment."

"Yes. Please tell me."

Nothing special?

Really?

Then why did you call me out?

Even if it’s better to say things face to face, today is a holiday.

Park Se-young took a memo pad out of her pocket.

"That schedule, you said you’d be putting it together."

"Yes. I’m drafting it now."

"The guidelines changed a bit. It’s a directive from the main hospital and above."

"Ah, yes, yes."

What is this.

Is there a staffing problem?

"You know the main hospital has been running on 12-hour shifts starting this month, right?"

"Yes, yes. I know."

"For now, the branch schedules are a mix of 12-hour and 24-hour shifts, but the default rule is that people work 12-hour shifts. They want to avoid 24 consecutive hours."

"Well, that’s something the main hospital recommends too."

Before this month, too, 24-hour duty assignments had only ever existed very occasionally in practice.

"But especially."

Park Se-young lowered her voice.

"Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Those three days are the ones where it runs with just one resident, right? Because of the staffing shortage."

"Right. In the end, the total resident staff is only four."

"Yeah. So Tuesday through Thursday can never be run on a 24-hour system. You have to cut it into 12-hour shifts and rotate. They were stressing that if a resident is stuck holding down the emergency room alone for 24 hours and burns out, an accident will happen."

"...Yes, yes."

She wasn’t wrong.

"Understood. Tuesday through Thursday: 12 hours. I’ll keep that in mind."

"Make sure you follow that. If I see 24 hours on the roster later, I won’t approve it."

"Yes. Understood."

Park Se-young folded up the memo pad and put it away.

"That’s what I called you for. That’s all."

"...Huh?"

That’s it?

That’s why she called me?

"You called me for this?"

"Yeah. It’s important. We need to redo the schedule."

"No, this could’ve been done over text...."

"You were at the hospital anyway. I contacted you because I knew that. It’s definitely not because it was too much trouble to do it over text."

So she was just lazy after all.

Why the hell is typing so annoying to her?

"Haa...."

Still, what a relief.

As the tension melted away, a sigh of relief slipped out.

I had thought maybe I was being sued for violating medical regulations because of yesterday’s chamber incident, or that Director Park Gwang-seok had dug up my personal information and called me in.

So it was just an administrative notice.

'I really was being too paranoid.'

I saved the patient, and the professor didn’t say anything.

At this point, this was a perfect crime—no, a successful cleanup.

How satisfying.

Feeling lighter, I offered my farewell.

"Then I’ll head back in. Please rest, Professor."

Just as I was about to turn and leave, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.

After all, we’d spent five hours together dealing with life and death; wasn’t it only polite to ask about that patient’s prognosis?

"Professor. Wait a moment."

"Hm? What is it?"

Park Se-young, who had been about to drink her energy drink, paused.

"So then, was yesterday’s hyperbaric oxygen therapy issue resolved properly? After the patient was admitted to neurology, were there no other problems?"

"Huh?"

For a moment, Park Se-young’s pupils wavered slightly.

The hand holding the can froze.

Her eyes shifted in a very unnatural way.

"Uh...."

"It was resolved properly, right?"

Why is she reacting like that?

Did the patient die overnight?

Or did the paralysis come back?

"Right! It... was resolved! Very well!"

Park Se-young answered, nodding frantically.

Was it just my imagination, or was her voice an octave higher than usual?

"The patient got much better! Neurology found it fascinating too! Hahaha! Hahaha!"

Tsk.

"Your expression looks really suspicious. There is, isn’t there? Something you’re hiding?"

"Ah, no! There isn’t! Really! I’m just tired!"

Park Se-young waved her hands and scurried off.

"I’m leaving! You go rest too! See you tomorrow!"

…

"...What?"

Left alone, I stared blankly at the office door.

It didn’t seem like anything had gone wrong with the patient.

If something had happened to the patient, she wouldn’t have run away like that; she would have grabbed me and discussed it seriously.

Then what on earth was it?

That was when it happened.

Bzzzt—

The emergency medical center’s automatic doors opened.

A middle-aged man walked in, hands clasped behind his back, from the very spot where Professor Park Se-young had fled.

Gray hair flecked his head.

Deep wrinkles carved between his brows.

And a strangely contemptuous look in his eyes.

'This, according to my big-data analysis...!'

I knew it instinctively.

The very man Park Chang-hoon used to badmouth over drinks, and the final boss who would turn my Geoje life into hell.

Honestly, even without instinct, he looked enough like his profile picture that he was easy to identify.

Anyway.

'That old man is Park Gwang-seok.'

I swallowed hard.

If you can’t avoid it, enjoy it?

'No, if you can’t avoid it, you’ve got to butter him up.'

There was only one way to survive around a fossil like this.

Pride? Feed it to the dogs.

In technical terms, that’s what you call suck-up mode.

'Besides, I’m not even sure I have a line at the main hospital to begin with.'

For now, lie low.

I folded myself into a perfect ninety-degree bow and fired off a folder bow.

"Oh, sir! Hello!"

Park Gwang-seok paused.

"What is it? Who are you?"

Casual speech.

It’s natural for a superior to speak casually to a subordinate, but the tone itself was just plain unpleasant.

Was I only feeling that because of my prejudice?

For now, let’s keep buttering him up.

"I’m Han Hyeonjae, a third-year emergency medicine resident dispatched from the main hospital this time! Please take good care of me!"

I put on my most dutiful resident smile.

"Oh, really? I’m the department chief."

Park Gwang-seok nodded as if it were no big deal.

Then he took his eyes off me and walked into the station.

"Yes, sir!"

…

I stood there awkwardly.

Usually, wouldn’t he at least say something like, ‘I see. Nice to meet you. Let’s do our best together’?

But Park Gwang-seok said nothing and sat down at his seat, turning on the computer.

I hovered around, unsure whether I should leave or not.

Then Park Gwang-seok stopped looking at the monitor and spun his chair around.

'Why is he looking at me? And with that kind of look, too.'

Was he trying to start a staring contest?

"What’s this. Why? You got something to say?"

He asked, lifting his chin.

"No, sir! Nothing at all! I was waiting to greet you!"

"You already greeted me. Just go and get to work."

"Yes! I’ll head in!"

Let’s get out of here first.

At that moment.

"Hmm... tsk. Hey, you. Hold on a sec."

Park Gwang-seok crooked one finger.

I stopped.

"Yes, what is it?"

I trotted back over and stood in front of him.

What now?

Is he finally going to return my greeting?

Park Gwang-seok leaned back in his chair and looked up at me with a sideways stare.

"You, huh."

"Yes."

"I’ve been hearing all kinds of rumors."

"...Yes?"

"Apparently there have been all kinds of rumors, from the main hospital all the way here."

Is that a compliment?

"Well... it’s nothing much. Yes. I just worked hard and ended up with an undeserved nickname."

"Worked hard?"

Park Gwang-seok snorted.

"Back when you were still a resident, running around doing all that, huh? Image-building, shaping public opinion, putting on a show to get on professors’ good side. That’s extremely bad in the medical world. Do you know that or not?"

'Tch?'

I froze for a moment.

What kind of fresh nonsense was that?

It’s true I’d done all sorts of crazy things, but that was because I was struggling to save people; the nickname and halo I got were natural side effects, not politics.

'Did he put me in his sights? But this guy doesn’t seem like a political professor, more like just a cranky old fossil.'

Park Chang-hoon had been right.

This old man was a walking ball of inferiority complex.

He couldn’t stand seeing anyone else succeed.

'So let’s try to infer this bastard’s—no, this professor’s—thought process. The rumors going around me had spread all the way to the branch hospital, and he heard them and decided they were all political scheming I’d been deliberately spreading since my resident days to climb the ladder... right?'

I almost let out a dry laugh at how absurd it was.

Did he not even hear the details of the rumors properly?

"I’ll be careful. I must have caused a misunderstanding because I’m not good enough."

I answered while looking off into the distance, wearing a smile so obviously forced anyone could see through it.

In any case, he couldn’t see my expression.

This old guy had already turned back to the monitor.

"Be careful. That kind of thing won’t work on me, so just quietly see patients and stay faithful to your role."

"I’ll keep that in mind."

Park Gwang-seok went back to scrolling on the monitor.

Then he frowned hard.

"Honestly, this professor or whatever..."

He clicked his tongue.

"Using the hyperbaric oxygen chamber like that. It wasn’t even open yet. This is why people from universities without pedigree are no good. Doing things by the seat of their pants without even a manual..."

'...Huh?'

Look at this bastard?

'How dare he trash our Professor Park Se-young, who obediently went along with my confinement order(?)?'

He’s writing off five hours of desperate struggle as nothing but rootless nonsense?

Besides, Park Se-young is a proper main-hospital blueblood.

Calling our school rootless is basically the same as insulting the whole university.

But at the same time, I realized one thing.

'...And he issued the order under his own name.'

In yesterday’s DCS patient chart, the name listed under ordering physician was Park Se-young.

It might have been better if my name, as the operator, or Professor Kim Soo-rim’s name, as the on-call doctor, had been on it.

But Park Se-young had taken the hit for the makeshift procedure, even though liability was murky.

For some reason, I felt something like emotion swelling inside me.

GOAT.

"What the hell are you doing? Why aren’t you leaving?"

Park Gwang-seok glared at me as he turned his head.

I must have annoyed him, standing there dazed and basking in emotion.

"Got something to do? If not, you should probably head out."

"Yes! I’ll be going!"

I bowed again.

Park Gwang-seok’s muttering came clearly through all the way here.

"Seriously, these kids these days are all the same. Full of style and no substance. Coddled at home, so they don’t know their place..."

"...Tsk?"

I stopped walking.

Coddled?

At home?

He’s coming after my parents?

He’s putting my mom, Mrs. Jeong, and that sucker Mr. Han who trusted me because ‘a parent can’t beat their child,’ into his mouth? (He didn’t actually say that. This is Han Hyeonjae’s warped perspective.)

He’s crossing the line, huh?

The Republic of Korea is a Confucian country.

'One day, I’ll teach you the virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom.'

Charging him head-on right now would be amateur hour.

"Goodbye!"

I greeted him even louder and got out of the emergency room.

'These socially adept ghost bastards may not be able to do politics, but couldn’t they at least thoroughly screw over one person?'