Dream Tree Nursery (1)
“Hmm.”
Choi Ki-seok groaned and opened his eyes.
I slept well and felt refreshed.
As I leaned back against the back of the bed, my consciousness gradually became clearer.
The sight of Jeong Seol-hwa cooking caught my eye late.
“What are you doing?”
“Woke up?”
Jeong Seol-hwa turned around and stared at Choi Ki-seok.
“Bean sprout soup. I thought cool soup would be good for breakfast.”
Choi Ki-seok spread the table and Jeong Seol-hwa placed various foods on the table.
In addition to bean sprout soup, side dishes such as kimchi, seasoned vegetables, and stewed lotus root were served as side dishes, creating a table worthy of a Baekban restaurant.
“I’ll eat well.”
Choi Ki-seok ate the bean sprout soup first.
It’s refreshing and spicy to suit your taste buds.
“This is awesome.”
“really?”
“of course.”
When Choi Ki-seok raised his thumb, Jeong Seol-hwa smiled brightly.
Breakfast ended in a warm atmosphere.
Ki-Seok Choi volunteered to wash the dishes today in return for having breakfast.
“Seolhwa. Did you have trouble sleeping?”
“why?”
“You just look tired.”
On Jeong Seol-hwa’s face, dark circles that were not there yesterday were visible, and minor blemishes also appeared.
I exaggerated a bit and it felt like it disappeared in one day.
“Puh… I slept well? Wow. It’s refreshing.”
Jeong Seol-hwa smiled unnaturally and stretched.
“Then I’m glad.”
Choi Ki-seok was absorbed in washing dishes again.
Jiyiing.
The cell phone rang and Jeong Seol-hwa started talking.
“Yes, Dad. Nothing special. I’m fine.”
[······.]
“Dad, I heard you’re going to court today?”
[······.]
“Okay. See you in the evening.”
Seolhwa Jeong briefly hung up the phone.
“Court? Is your father…?”
After finishing washing the dishes, Choi Ki-seok looked at Jeong Seol-hwa.
“I’m a lawyer.”
Jeong Seol-hwa was the explanation.
Jeong Seol-hwa’s father, Jeong Jin-myeong, worked at Yang Tae-cheol Law Firm, one of the top three law firms in Korea. It is said that they are also active in fields related to medical accidents.
“Take this.”
Jeong Seol-hwa took out Jeong Jin-myeong’s business card from a drawer and handed it to him.
“You never know when you might need help, right? If you tell your dad about me, he’ll definitely help you.”
“thank you.”
Choi Ki-seok put his business card in his wallet.
After the dishes were finished, the two people drank coffee and talked about various things.
Which hospital will you go to as an intern?
It was about the recruitment period for each hospital.
“Thanks to you, I had a good time.”
“I had fun too.”
Choi Ki-seok cried out first as he went out to the front door.
“I’m just saying this. I hope you don’t take offense.”
“Yes. Tell me.”
“Sulwha. You’re pretty enough now. I think you’ll be even prettier if you decorate it a little more.”
Choi Ki-seok said indifferently and left.
* * *
The next day.
Choi Ki-seok boarded the subway.
The view of the Han River seen along the way was unfamiliar.
In fact, he should have died long ago due to a car accident and organ donation.
But now, I was able to see the surrounding scenery while riding the subway.
All these sensations still felt like a dream.
“The station you’re getting off at this time is…”
An announcement was made and the door opened.
Ki-Seok Choi got off the subway and boarded a bus at a nearby stop.
The place we briefly arrived at was Dreamland Orphanage.
This is a place where Choi Ki-seok’s childhood memories are still intact.
Perhaps this place could be seen as Choi Ki-seok’s real home.
After looking at the orphanage for a while, I went inside.
Jing!
The bell rang and Na-rae, a life guidance counselor, appeared.
“What brings you here?”
“I called you yesterday. My name is Ki-Seok Choi and I want to volunteer.”
“Ah. If it’s Mr. Choi Ki-seok, maybe…”
“Yes, that’s right. I received a heart transplant from a certain teacher.”
“······.”
“I would like to meet the director before volunteer work, is that okay?”
“Please wait.”
Narae went into the director’s office and came out. He then pointed to the director’s office, indicating that it was okay to enter.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Choi Ki-seok knocked and entered the director’s office.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Yanghee Son.”
“Hello, this is Choi Ki-seok.”
“Are you feeling okay? It must have just been surgery, but you’re doing volunteer work…”
“Don’t worry. It’s very healthy.”
Choi Ki-seok smiled and sat across from Son Yang-hee.
“Thank you. Thanks to the director, I was able to receive an organ donation and come back to life.”
“You should thank Hae-jin for that, not me.”
Son Yang-hee’s eyes wavered slightly.
“As soon as Haejin got his medical license, he signed an organ donation pledge. As a guardian, I simply followed his final wishes.”
“······.”
“When I think of Hae-jin, my heart still hurts.”
Son Yang-hee bit her lip.
“Especially when I think about how I cried after a fight with my friends in elementary school… wow…”
Son Yang-hee seemed so overcome with emotion that she could not speak.
But Choi Ki-seok knew the story hidden there.
Jeong Jeong got into a fight with friends who made fun of him for not having parents, and was later called in by his friends’ parents and received a one-sided scolding.
“From then on, Hae-jin became toxic. He realized too early that there was no one in the world he could rely on and that he had to stand up on his own.”
“I see.”
“It was difficult to watch a small child trying to solve everything on his own. In the end, Hae-jin achieved everything I wanted.”
Son Yang-hee wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
Before I knew it, my eyes turned red.
Choi Ki-seok, immersed in her emotions, could barely hold back tears.
Today was the first time I heard Son Yang-hee’s inner thoughts.
“He would have done much better if he had parents. He would have had a brighter personality and would have known what fun life is like.”
“Director. Teacher Hae-jin has parents.”
“Huh? What is that…”
Son Yang-hee blinked, surprised by Choi Ki-seok’s words.
“The people who gave birth are the parents, but the people who raised them are also the parents. Teacher Hae-jin must have thought of the director as his parents.”
“ah······.”
Son Yang-hee, unable to control her emotions, ended up turning back.
My shoulders started shaking like aspen trees.
“I’m sorry. I’m getting older….”
“no.”
Choi Ki-seok held out a handkerchief to Son Yang-hee, and Son Yang-hee wiped her eyes with the handkerchief.
“I think you’re getting more emotional for no reason because of me. I’ll just leave.”
“Yes. Please do so.”
Choi Ki-seok came outside the director’s office and stared at the door.
An indescribable emotion enveloped my entire body.
After putting everything together, I began volunteer work under the guidance of Narae Lee.
Is it because of his physical condition?
The volunteer work was limited to simply cleaning the inside of the orphanage.
As Choi Ki-seok cleaned his room, he was filled with old memories again.
Looking at the room he lived in.
As I ran into children who I had previously met face-to-face and provided food to.
“Where did this guy go?”
Choi Ki-seok stood in the room at the end of the hallway and muttered.
Now in front of him was Kim Jeong-hyuk’s room.
Kim Jeong-hyuk is in his first year of high school this year and was studying hard, saying he wanted to become a doctor like Choi Ki-seok.
Every time I come here, I enjoy the chicken I get so much.
thud! thud! thud!
While I was cleaning the window frame, I heard loud footsteps.
At the end of the hallway, Kim Jeong-hyuk and Na-rae were coming this way.
Choi Ki-seok approached Kim Jeong-hyuk with joy.
However, Kim Jeong-hyuk’s expression was lifeless. The eyes looked like the eyes of a doll that had completely opened up.
That’s not all.
The big, fleshy guy became as thin as a skeleton.
Is this kid really Kim Jeong-hyuk?
Physical strength: 5/10
Main symptoms: Depressive disorder / Post-traumatic irritability disorder / Poor movement
Areas affected: Mind / Abdomen
Current status: Non-emergency
Progress: Poor
[Passive level is low, so further details cannot be determined.]
Through the eyes of Hippocrates, Kim Jeong-hyeok I looked at
The condition was non-emergency, but the condition was unusual.
“Teacher. Is this friend sick?”
“Well… Actually, I was hospitalized with appendicitis and suffered major aftereffects. Since then, my physical condition has been very bad.”
“Appendicitis?”
Ki-Seok Choi was dumbfounded and asked back.
Appendicitis.
Appendicitis (appendicitis) is a disease that doctors call ape.
The funny thing is that the difficulty of the appendectomy required for treatment is very low. So, it was also the first surgery for a novice general surgeon to use a scalpel.
“I want to hear the story in detail.”
Choi Ki-seok’s eyes lit up.
