In Korea (5)
“Is there something wrong with the medicine?”
“Yes. There is a very serious problem.”
“That’s strange. That can’t be possible.”
“Do you have any other medicine bags prescribed at this clinic?”
“My brother received medical treatment a few days ago. Just a moment.”
Yang Tae-man walked around the house and handed the bag of medicine he found to Choi Ki-seok.
His brows narrowed as he looked at the medicine bag.
“This makes it clear. You’d better not go in front of that congressman.”
“Huh? What is the reason?”
“Let me explain briefly.”
Even with Choi Ki-seok’s explanation, Yang Tae-man looked confused.
“I’m a country boy and I’m ignorant. I still don’t know what it means.”
“Let me sum it up in one word. They are prescribing drugs in excess and in the wrong way. I will stop by and warn you before I leave, so don’t worry too much.”
“Oh my god… So you’re saying that the brave teacher is a bad guy?”
“yes.”
Choi Ki-seok answered without a moment of hesitation.
“Master. Quickly! Come to the room.”
Choi Mi-soon’s eldest son’s wife hurriedly gestured.
Accordingly, Yang Tae-man and Choi Ki-seok entered Choi Mi-sun’s room.
Choi Mi-soon, who had been lying down as if dead, opened her eyes. She is holding her eldest son’s hand and talking to him.
“Strange tongue. Truly strange tongue. Until this morning, my whole body and tongue were so sore that I thought I was going to die. I can’t bear it like that now. Is it because it’s almost time to die?”
“Mom, don’t say that.”
“I know it’s time for me to die. Don’t talk nonsense…”
Choi Mi-soon stopped talking.
He recognized Choi Ki-seok, who came in late.
“Shibang. What’s going on? Am I seeing a ghost right now?”
“You’re an illusion. I’m here. I’m Dr. Ki-Seok Choi.”
As I sat down next to Choi Mi-soon and held her hand, she shed big tears.
Choi Ki-seok barely suppressed his own desire to cry.
It felt like if we cried together, this precious moment would turn into a sea of tears.
Now is not the time to cry.
The joy of reunion and the pain of separation.
You must bury these two things to the bottom of your heart.
“He cried like a baby. It’s so embarrassing.”
Choi Mi-soon wiped away her tears and continued speaking.
I heard… you’re overseas? “How did you get here?”
“I came here because I wanted to see the old man.”
“Anyway, I’m not good at speaking. “You guys heard everything about me, right?”
“…Yes.”
“I’m sorry. Because I couldn’t keep my promise. I decided to stay healthy until I see my second grandchild. “Graze?”
“It’s okay. Because that’s not important right now.”
“Atta, why isn’t it important? I broke my promise by saying nothing.”
A sigh burst from Choi Mi-sun’s mouth.
Her emotions were complex. I was
happy to see Choi Ki-seok again, but the fact that I couldn’t keep my promise was uncomfortable.
“Cough. Cough.”
Choi Mi-soon covered her mouth and coughed.
When she put her hand away, drops of blood appeared on her palm.
“My eyes are closing like hell again. “I can’t dance.”
“Mom. Keep your eyes open! You have to come to your senses until the end.”
“Ah, it has to be the way I want.”
Choi Mi-soon’s eyelids slowly drooped.
Although she didn’t say it, everyone in the room felt it.
The time to break up with Choi Mi-soon was approaching.
“Our first child is Da-young. We raised him well and our second child is a child. Rotten bastard. If only you had gotten married quickly and had children, you would have kept your promise to Mr. Choi.”
“….”
“But you should get married quickly and have grandchildren. Even if I don’t live to see it, I will definitely see it when I go to heaven. and. “Mr. Choi.”
Choi Mi-soon gently brushed Choi Ki-seok away.
“You got a lot of criticism because of me. “Thank you and I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry. “Don’t say things like that.”
“Did you say that our teacher Choi’s goal was to become the best doctor in the world?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“Mr. Choi can do it. I believe it. “I wish you could treat sick and sad people just like you did me.”
“Yes. I will definitely do that. I promise.”
“Yes. That’s right.”
Choi Mi-sun’s hand stroking Choi Ki-seok’s hand slowed down.
The eyelids that had been faintly fluttering were now completely closed.
“Now is really the time to go… I guess it’s time. I think I can see the old man over there…”
Choi Mi-soon was unable to continue speaking.
Her breathing stopped and her body trembled lightly.
“Oh my. “Mom!”
“Mother! Mother!”
The room instantly overflowed with a sea of wailing and crying.
Hot tears also flowed from Choi Ki-seok’s eyes.
Even though he was given a new life and special abilities, he could not save her.
One side of his chest felt heavy and painful, as if a stone had been placed on it.
He carefully left the room for his family.
Spring rain was pouring from the sky.
* * *
The next morning,
Choi
Ki-seok was walking near Choi Mi-soon’s village.
A little more of the place where she had lived for decades. I wanted to keep it in my eyes.
The ground was moist from the rain that fell overnight.
The flowers lined up on the side of the road were soaked with water, and blue clouds reflected in the puddles. The
bad rain that fell all night yesterday seemed like a long time ago.
Choi Ki-seok checked the status window and felt a bittersweet feeling. He smiled.
When Choi Mi-soon passed away, the rapport he had built with her completely disappeared.
She was no longer in this world.
The mean-spirited Sang Tae-chang kept reminding him of the reality that he did not want to admit.
Tumbling. Tumbling.
Choi Ki-seok kept walking.
Choi Mi-soon Although she left, her will still remained in her heart.
The dream of becoming the world’s best thoracic surgeon.
Choi Mi-soon was still alive and breathing in it. So now that dream is not just hers.
Choi Ki-seok walks around the village. After walking for a while, he returned home.
The villagers who heard the news of Choi Mi-sun’s death were offering condolences.
He also paid his respects this morning in the clothes he had brought in advance.
After a short conversation with Sang-ju and Yang Tae-man, he left the village
. I stopped by a doctor called Yong, located near the hospital.
The moment I saw the sign for the doctor’s office, a laugh came out of my mouth. My
family and village people whom Choi Mi-soon cherishes.
I can’t let them get checked out in a place like this anymore.
“How did you get here?”
Desk The nurse there spoke to me.
“I’m here to get treatment.”
“I don’t think you’re from this neighborhood… This is your first time here, right? Please write this down.”
Choi Ki-seok wrote down his name, resident registration number and address on a piece of paper and then entered the treatment room.
The nameplate reading Specialist Park Ki-chun on the desk made Choi Ki-seok dumbfounded again.
“Where did you come in because of pain?”
Park Ki-chun touched his glasses. He asked.
His plump forehead was shining, reflecting the light from the ceiling.
“It hurts here.”
“Chest? Did you hit somewhere?”
“No.”
“Does the young man smoke often?”
“Not even that.”
Park Ki-chun frowned at Choi Ki-seok’s answer.
“Shouldn’t you tell me exactly where and how it hurts? Are you kidding me in front of the doctor?”
“I’m really heartbroken. It’s because of you.”
Choi Ki-seok shot an evil look in his eyes, and Park Ki-chun blinked in fear.
“There’s more than one problem here.”
“….”
“Shall we go over the sign first?”
Choi Ki-seok With this index finger, he pointed to the signboard outside the window.
[Rep. Park. Internal Medicine. Orthopedics. Pediatrics. Dermatology. Urology. Otolaryngology. Ophthalmology.]
“What is wrong with the signboard?”
“There is no problem, but the intentions are very impure. Aren’t you trying to appear like an all-powerful doctor to naive rural people? Just by looking at the sign, it looks like someone who is well-versed in all subjects.”
“….”
“You don’t have a specialist’s license, right?”
Park Ki-chun had no answer to Choi Ki-seok’s question.
When a specialist opens a clinic, he must put the subject in front of the sign. .
For example, a signboard would say ‘Ki-chun Park, Otolaryngology Clinic.’
Another way would be ‘Ki-chun Park, Department of Otolaryngology – Pediatrics and Internal Medicine.’
On the other hand, non-specialists cannot put a subject in front of the clinic.
‘Ki-chun Park .’ The clinic’s specialty is ‘ENT – Otolaryngology and Pediatrics.’
In other words, just by looking at the sign, you can tell whether the treating doctor is a specialist (completed the residency program) or a general practitioner (not completed the residency program). “In addition,
our doctor, Dr. Park Ki-chun, has a specialist license . You don’t have a doctor’s degree, but you’re wearing a specialist name plate.”
“You… who are you?”
Park Ki-chun’s voice began to tremble.
“I’m a doctor who was passing by. Same thing as Rep. Park Ki-chun.
half.
of.
“Joe.”
“What kind of misbehavior can a young bastard have? Stop talking nonsense and get the hell out of here. If you don’t want to see the dirty stuff.”
“I guess you’ll see the dirty stuff there, not me?”
Choi Ki-seok shook out a few medicine bags with ingredient names written on them from his bag.
“That… what about that?”
“I was surprised that the prescription was so fantastic. Yes. Almost all prescriptions contained steroid drugs. “Everything from the simplest cold to a headache.”
Overdosing on steroid drugs can cause osteoporosis, diabetes, kidney failure, etc. In severe cases, kidney failure may require dialysis. However,
Park Ki-chun abused steroids to the villagers.
In a short period of time , To reduce inflammation and reduce pain.
“Of course, you didn’t give the necessary explanation when prescribing steroids, right?”
“So what? Huh?”
Park Ki-chun actually got angry.
“Do it according to the law. “If you don’t want to see our congressman, why don’t you report it to the Ministry of Health and Welfare?”
“You’re the worst. If you’re a doctor, you shouldn’t prescribe something like this.”
Choi Ki-seok paused before continuing.
“Sooner or later, everyone in the village will know. What kind of medicine did you prescribe and why did you say it was good?”
“….”
“Business is over in this town. go.
make. jeon.
door.
of. ”
Bang!
Choi Ki-seok left the clinic, paid the medical fee, and got into the car.
He was still angry.
There are no laws on steroid misuse.
That means there is no basis for punishing Park Ki-chun.
As of now , there is no law on steroid misuse. The only weapon is to get the villagers to boycott the congressman.
“There are too many crooks in this world.”
Choi Ki-seok sighed and drove off.
* * *
That afternoon,
Choi Ki-seok drove to a coffee shop in Gangnam. I found it.
I looked at my phone and saw that there were about 10 minutes left until the appointment time.
“Father. It’s me.”
When I called, my father answered right away.
[Uh. So, what’s going on?]
My father’s voice was very quiet.
“You didn’t come home yesterday. I called because I was worried.”
[It’s company business, so you don’t have to worry about it.]
“Honestly, from my perspective, I can’t not care. Both my mother and younger brother are worried.”
[Thank you for your heart, but this is not an area where you can help.]
“It’s not me, but if it’s an acquaintance of mine, the story may be different.”
[Acquaintance?]
“Yes. I’ll go to my father’s office in about 30 minutes. One of my acquaintances is a biomedical engineer.”
[Hehe. What a useless thing….]
“You can tell the long and short of it. Then, can I go to the company and have a look?”
[Yes.]
Choi Ki-seok hung up the phone and stared at the cafe entrance. With the ringing of a
bell
, Yoo Byung-se and a strange man were entering the cafe.
