Kingmaker (4)
Thoracic surgery lounge.
Choi Ki-seok and Song Myeong-jin sat on the sofa and faced each other.
“As expected, the professor is great. Thanks to you, I learned good techniques today as well.”
“Mr. Choi, I just didn’t think about it because it was my first time with a case like this. Actually, it’s not that difficult.”
Song Myeong-jin continued speaking with a smile.
“Honestly, you probably have more to learn from Manager Yasada in the lung esophagus department than from me.”
“If it’s Manager Yasada…”
Choi Ki-seok muttered a familiar name.
Yasada was a surgeon who performed simultaneous heart-lung transplantation when he first came to Meijo. Even looking back now, Yasada’s skills at the time were amazing.
“He’s a genius surgeon from Japan. For your information, Yasada is a stricter and more idealistic person than me.”
“….”
“We had a conversation today, and he showed interest in Mr. Choi.”
“Why am I such a great person….”
“I am a great person.”
Song Myeong-jin nodded.
“In the whole world, Dr. Choi is probably the only person who successfully performed CABG (coronary artery bypass grafting) in the first year of residency. But I am always on guard about this.”
“yes.”
“One is caring for the patient, and the second is realizing one’s own shortcomings.”
Song Myeong-jin has maintained these two things until now.
A doctor who looks down on patients is no longer a doctor, and a doctor who is intoxicated with his or her own skills will no longer progress.
“I will always keep that in mind.”
Choi Ki-seok answered confidently and changed the topic.
“I was already feeling a lot of inadequacy after entering the neurosurgery department.”
“Oh. Really?”
“There is a resident named Leon in the neurosurgery department. He is a year older than me, and he was already performing brain aneurysm surgery. I was assisting at the time, and it seemed like his surgical skills were better than mine.”
“That’s right. Leon is already a celebrity at the clinic.”
Song Myeong-jin took a sip of coffee.
“If this year’s rookie was Mr. Choi, last year’s rookie was Leon. Leon is one of the few soldiers with character and skills.”
“Yes. So, while I’m at the neurosurgery department, I want to learn a lot from Leon.”
“Good. That’s why I called Mr. Choi Meijo.”
After a moment of silence, Choi Ki-seok opened his mouth.
“Professor. I have one question.”
“Tell me.”
“I understand that the Head Chief of Neurosurgery is currently absent. I wonder who will be the next Head Chief.”
Choi Ki-seok asked cautiously.
It has been quite some time since I trained in neurosurgery.
However, I couldn’t find any missions related to the Hier system even after searching.
Accordingly, he made an assumption.
I was wondering if a head chief would need to be elected to have duties related to the higher system.
“Hmm… At first, there was talk of recruiting an outside person, but that was canceled. I think it would be either Director Lucas of the Cerebrovascular Surgery Department or Director Matthew of the Brain Tumor Surgery Department…” “Which of the two is more likely
. Is there one?”
“You could say it’s 50/50, but if I had to ask, Matthew would be a little more likely.”
“Yes? Why?”
“Teacher Choi. Why are you so excited all of a sudden?”
“I… I’m sorry, Professor.”
Choi Ki-seok blushed and continued speaking.
“I think I reacted too sensitively because it was related to early promotion.”
“That may be so. It would be too harsh for Dr. Choi to undergo a full five years of surgical rotation.”
A 5-year surgical rotation is required before majoring in thoracic surgery.
Song Myeong-jin thought this was absolutely necessary.
Except for Choi Ki-seok.
For Choi Ki-seok, who already has experience performing CABG surgery and is proving his skills, the surgical rotation period in the United States is too long.
“Hmm. Anyway, the reason Matthew has an advantage in promotion is because he is close to other department managers and head chiefs.”
“Are you considering friendship with Jiyeon in America too?”
“To a certain extent. Both Lucas and Matthew are skilled surgeons. Assuming that their skills are similar, their friendship is bound to come into play.”
“How long will it take to elect a head chief?”
“Maybe about a month. We’ll have to open the lid and see. Just know that Matthew has a better chance of being elected.”
Song Myeong-jin answered calmly.
But at that very moment, a notification crossed my mind.
Tiring!
[Special mission Kingmaker has been created. You must choose one of two neurosurgery chiefs and help them get elected Head Chief. Upon completing the mission, you will receive early promotion as a reward.]
‘Should I like this?’
Choi Ki-seok checked the notification and smiled bitterly.
I was glad that there was a mission related to the Hier system, but I didn’t really like the mission’s content.
Considering the nature of the mission, it seemed necessary to exercise political power.
“But we still don’t know, right? We don’t know what will happen in a month…” “
That’s right, the outcome will change depending on which side wins points through what. And that’s what makes it different from Korea.”
Song Myeong-jin’s forehead was wrinkled.
Choi Ki-seok guessed that he might have been thinking of Jo Ji-hwan.
“Oh. And there’s one more thing I want to tell you.”
“Yes, Professor.”
“I won’t be away for a while. I decided to take a quick look at the thoracic surgery department in the branch. If it’s as short as a week? If it’s as long as two weeks, I don’t know.”
Grumble.
As soon as I finished speaking, I heard the sound of hungry stomach.
This is the sound coming from Song Myeong-jin’s stomach.
“Hehe. I had bread for lunch…”
“And now that I think about it, the time has already passed.”
Choi Ki-seok glanced at his watch and continued speaking.
“If it’s okay, would you like me to make kimchi fried rice for you? It’s the menu I’m most confident in.”
“That’s good. Let’s see if Mr. Choi’s skills apply to cooking as well.”
Two people left the lounge with hungry stomachs.
* * *
Early morning the next day.
Larry left the dormitory very nervous.
‘no. ‘Nothing will happen.’
I shook my head vigorously to shake off the ominous thoughts.
Today is the day Choi Ki-seok and Claire work in the morning at the same time.
Of course, it’s not that the two people are not skilled enough to be afraid of work.
Even though Choi Ki-seok was promoted early, he adapted to neurosurgery in a short period of time.
Claire is the co-worker with the second most stores after Nikolai.
So then why are you afraid of working with these two people?
The reason is that both of them are colleagues who call a known patient to the neurosurgery department.
As long as the two people were on duty, patients flocked to them like bees.
It’s difficult even if only one of the two of us works overlaps, but today we have to work together with them.
From Larry’s perspective, he had no choice but to experience fear even before starting work.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
I knocked and entered the medical office.
“good morning.”
Janet, the doctor on duty, waved happily.
“Good morning. I’m in first place today, huh?”
“That’s right. Usually Mr. Choi comes first. By the way, will you be okay today?”
A mischievous smile appeared on Janet’s lips.
“I don’t know. I’m already so nervous that I’m dying. Why would my shifts overlap with Mr. Choi and Claire?”
“You better be prepared. You will experience more than you imagined.”
“Janet. Aren’t you too happy that it’s not your business?”
“I’m sorry. Still, I can’t help but be excited, right? Today is the first time you two work together.”
Drurr.
While the two were talking, Claire came into the medical office.
After exchanging greetings with the two people, she sat down.
“Let’s begin the handover.”
“Mr. Choi hasn’t arrived yet.”
“I won’t be able to come. Probably.”
“why?”
Janet and Larry asked simultaneously.
“Did you hear the Code Blue broadcast from the orthopedic clinic earlier?”
“I heard… are you doing CPR?”
“That’s right. I ran into him on the way, and he was rushing to the intensive care unit with a bed in tow. It’ll take some time, right?”
“As expected, Mr. Choi is amazing. Starting the morning with Code Blue… I’ve never given Code Blue first aid before.”
“me too.”
Larry nodded at Janet’s words.
“Then let’s proceed on our own…”
Janet couldn’t finish her sentence.
The phone next to the monitor suddenly rang loudly.
“I heard there’s a patient in the emergency room right now?”
Janet hung up the phone and looked blank.
“this time?”
“I can’t help it. I’ll go.”
With Claire gone, only Janet and Larry remain in the hospital.
“Ha… I’m going crazy. Really. I haven’t even started work yet. Aren’t we both doing too much? One of us is doing code blue and the other is going to the emergency room.”
“It’s not a joke, but I think they both have the power to attract patients. Otherwise, how could this happen?”
The two people looked at each other and clicked their tongues.
“This might be a harder day than you think. But cheer up.”
In response to Janet’s comfort, Larry sighed and stroked his hair.
Is there anyone here who can change jobs?
I’m afraid that if I work quietly, my clothes will explode.
Mr. Choi and Claire are both so scared.
I’m scared of being alone. I’m scared of emergencies.
* * *
That afternoon.
Choi Ki-seok was entering a patient’s prescription at the medical office.
A long-awaited free time.
A lot of strange things happened today.
Neurosurgery patients flocked to the emergency room as if Mayjo Clinic only had neurosurgery.
One of them had an emergency surgery case, so I had to do scrubs outside of my regular schedule.
So it wasn’t until 3pm that I barely had time to enter the prescription.
“Good.”
A smile appeared on Choi Ki-seok’s lips.
I was listening to Carter’s piano music while I was working.
I used to only listen to popular songs, but when I heard piano music, I felt warm and at ease.
While listening to music, I watched a video of Carter playing the piano on the Internet.
Carter, dressed in a suit, strummed the piano.
As his fingers danced, ecstatic music continued.
‘I need to go to a neurologist.’
Choi Ki-seok ended the video and nodded.
Even though Carter changed departments and became a neurology patient, I didn’t want to end the relationship.
He still needed help.
Drurr.
The door to the medical office opened and Larry came in.
“What about emergency room patients?”
“Fortunately, it is not a surgical case. There is no need to be hospitalized.”
Larry sat on the chair and stared at Ki-Seok Choi.
“Mr. Choi. Do you know how many times we went to the emergency room today?”
“Well, I think I went further than usual. I don’t know the exact number?”
“It’s like twenty times. Twenty times!”
There was anger in Larry’s voice.
“You and Claire. Honestly, it’s too much. When I work with Janet and Nikolai, I usually go down about six times, but it’s almost three times that. Plus, we had to have three emergency surgeries.”
“sorry. Because that’s not what I wanted.”
Choi Ki-seok scratched the back of his head with a sheepish expression.
He knew better than anyone else the shortcomings of Fanta’s title, but there was no way to solve it. It was impossible
to put up a sign that said, ‘Do not come to the emergency room.’ .
“As I watched, when you two meet, the patient multiplies, not adds. Do you know what that means?”
“No.”
“It means they should never work together. I will definitely talk to Leon and ask him to change his work schedule. The two of us stay at work all day long.”
Jiyiing.
Choi Ki-seok’s cell phone suddenly rings.
Larry clutches his head with a pained expression.
“Another patient?”
“Don’t worry. Because not this time.”
Choi Ki-seok smiled and ended the call.
Soon, a man wearing a turtle mask entered the medical office.
“It’s the Samurai Turtle Pizza Shop. Kuwabunga!”
Larry relaxed his stiff expression at the pizza delivery man’s antics.
If it had been a patient call this time, I had no idea whether bloodshed would have occurred.
