Forced Breakthrough (5)
That afternoon.
Ki-Seok Choi and Katarina Charles were walking on the streets of Myeong-dong.
The symposium will be held in two days, but until then it was completely free time. This is thanks to Yasada extending the departure period for the staff who worked hard.
“Are there a lot of foreign people here?”
Katarina said a word while scanning the street.
“Myeong-dong is originally famous as a tourist destination for foreigners. It is mainly visited by Asian people. You can understand just by looking at what is there.”
Choi Ki-seok pointed to the signs with his index finger.
The sign was written in Chinese and Japanese.
“Anyway, where are you going now?”
“Namsan Tower.”
“Tsk. I’d rather go to Sauron Tower than Namsan Tower.”
Ki-Seok Choi barely suppressed laughter as he watched Charles swallowing his regret.
After exploring the streets of Myeong-dong, the group soon took a cable car and climbed Namsan Mountain.
The foot of the mountain dyed pink.
Choi Ki-seok smiled brightly as he felt spring in his home country.
“But it’s really amazing. How can there be a mountain in the middle of the city?”
“All foreign people think it’s amazing. Korean people are not impressed because it’s everyday life.”
“I’m jealous. There’s a mountain in a dreary city.”
Katarina couldn’t take her eyes off the scenery unfolding below the cable car.
Perhaps because it was a weekday afternoon, there were not many people at Namsan Tower.
Most of them were young people who enjoyed dating.
“Wow! It’s killing me?”
Charles opened his mouth as he scanned the scenery.
“You can see Seoul at a glance. The scenery is fantastic.”
“The wind is moderately cool and the cherry blossoms are nice to see. I think it was a good idea to come.”
“I’m proud because these two people like it.”
“Mr. Choi. Seoul is a blessed city. No matter how stressed I am, I feel like I’ll be relieved when I come here.”
“Well, I guess that’s not necessarily true?”
Choi Ki-seok shook his head at Katarina’s words.
“why?”
“Professor, that’s because you only see the good things about Seoul. Seoul’s population density is the 6th highest in the world. The traffic jams are incredible in the morning. You wouldn’t be able to say that if you took the hell train during rush hour, right?”
“Hell season?”
“People made this up because the subway was so crowded. Anyway, I went out too much. We came here to have fun, so let’s enjoy ourselves.”
Choi Ki-seok looked around Namsan Tower with his colleagues. Along the way, I tried hanging a lock with my wish written on the iron bars.
When we finished the Namsan tour and returned to Myeongdong, it was 2 PM.
Gurgling.
“Is it because you keep walking? Are you hungry?”
Charles rubbed his stomach with a bright red face.
“Of course. Professor, are you hungry too?”
“huh.”
“It’s a little late, but let’s at least have lunch.”
Choi Ki-seok walked around the streets and looked at restaurants. There were plenty of foods I wanted to eat, including soy sauce crab and cheonggukjang, but today I was accompanied by Americans Katarina and Charles.
There is a need to consider their tastes as well.
‘found!’
Choi Ki-seok’s eyes were fixed on a restaurant.
I had heard it somewhere. The story goes that this food never fails when served to foreigners.
“Let’s go over there.”
Choi Ki-seok confidently took the lead.
After finishing ordering, the waiter set up the side dishes, and Katarina and Charles looked at the side dishes with surprised rabbit eyes.
“Did we order something like this?”
“In Korea, when you order food, they serve side dishes like this. Come to think of it, this is the first time you both came to Korea, right?”
“that’s right.”
“As for Asia, I’ve only been to Japan once. To be honest, I was a little reluctant to go to Korea because there was also talk about North Korea.”
Katarina finished speaking and took a sip of water.
Come to think of it, I heard that foreigners have a bad image of North Korea.
I thought it was because it was the only divided country in the world and always had an atmosphere of war.
“By the way, Mr. Choi, what should we eat? I think I’m going to faint from hunger… I’m worried that I might end up with food that doesn’t suit my taste.”
“Don’t worry. There’s no one who doesn’t like this food.”
“Can you believe it? In fact, my tongue is at a Michelin three-star level. If it doesn’t taste good, you’re out.”
“I bet it’s not an out, it’s a strike, right?”
Choi Ki-seok calmed Charles’ concerns with a half-joking, half-serious tone.
After a while, the grill heated up and the waiter put the food on it and started grilling it.
It was like that.
A special menu prepared by Choi Ki-seok for two people.
That is pork belly.
Cheeeeeeeek.
As the meat cooked, white smoke spread like a cloud and a delicious smell wafted from the tip of my nose. I could clearly see Charles and Katarina drooling.
“Isn’t it amazing? To grill meat on an open fire like this?”
“Of course. When you think of grilled meat, you usually think of steak or grilling outdoors on a barbecue.”
“First of all, the smell passes!”
Katharina and Charles each said a word.
“I think it’s all cooked now, but let’s eat the meat first.”
At Choi Ki-seok’s words, the two people started clumsily playing with chopsticks. Even Katarina, who was good at cutting, was extremely sloppy in using chopsticks.
“It keeps slipping out of my hand.”
“It’s strange. I’m obviously doing what I learned.”
After much hardship, the two people put a piece of meat into their mouths, and Choi Ki-seok swallowed his saliva while watching their expressions.
Will the magic of pork belly really work?
“Wow! That’s killing me!”
“delicious!”
Smiles spread on the lips of Charles and Katarina.
“The texture is just right and the meat is juicy and it’s so delicious.”
“I guess it’s better than steak?”
“This time, let’s eat it dipped in ssamjang. You can think of ssamjang as a kind of sauce.”
Two people who follow Choi Ki-seok’s suggestion.
This time too, the response was explosive.
Choi Ki-seok’s smile deepened as he saw the two people not knowing what to do because it was so delicious.
i love you. pork belly.
* * *
Choi Ki-seok returned to the hotel after having lunch with his colleagues.
“I’ll lie down first. Sawmac? That’s too strong.”
Charles made a tongue-curling sound and threw himself on the bed.
While having a pork belly party, we happened to drink alcohol together.
He is a thoracic surgeon who is always on emergency standby.
Since they had no opportunity to drink freely, Charles and Katharina drank themselves to death. Choi Ki-seok, who received a heart transplant, drank only about a glass of soju.
Choi Ki-seok left the hotel leaving a note saying he would go out.
The place we arrived by taxi was Uijin University.
There was a symposium, so I would go there anyway, but I couldn’t talk comfortably with my old colleagues in an official setting.
First of all, it was obvious that I would be behind schedule.
Creating a private space was also not polite to Katarina and Charles who accompanied them.
Choi Ki-seok was lost in old memories as he walked down the familiar thoracic surgery hallway.
It seems like only yesterday that I decided on Fixton, met Choi Mi-soon, stayed on duty for 100 days, and worked as a member of the Saber team, but countless hours have already passed since then.
As I looked back on the past moments, strange emotions bloomed in a cloud.
‘You said Youngho would be in the break room, right?’
As I had spoken on the phone beforehand, I was heading to the break room, but his steps stopped right in front of the break room.
“Hey! You’re crazy! How on earth do you manage patients?”
“sorry.”
“I told you to think twice when ordering medication. Is it okay to just prescribe whatever you want? Don’t you think about the patient?”
“I’ll be careful next time.”
“Today is the second time. Make the same mistake one more time. I will give you the wrong medicine.”
After the bloody conversation, the door suddenly opened.
“Huh? Senior?”
“Youngho. It’s been a while. Anyway, aren’t you holding on too tightly to your junior?”
“Compared to what he did, this kind of scolding is mild.”
Youngho Lee pounded his chest as if he was frustrated.
Lee Young-ho.
He chose to major in thoracic surgery at Choi Ki-seok’s suggestion, and he also had a chaplaincy relationship with him during his time on the Saber team.
Although he was training in the United States, Ki-Seok Choi sent Young-Ho Lee his thesis and checked his suturing skills.
Just like my teacher Song Myeong-jin did.
“I’m sorry for showing you a bad image as soon as I arrived. Anyway, I’m really glad to see you.”
“I agree.”
“Hehe. Would you like to go to the cafe on the first floor first?”
I visited the cafe at Lee Young-ho’s suggestion.
“I think he’s become a lot more dignified even though we haven’t seen him in a while.”
“Of course I should. I am also a fourth-year chief resident.”
“Time flies. When our Youngho was with me, he was a green intern.”
“That’s right. At the time, I never dreamed this day would come.”
Youngho Lee smiled and continued.
“You were flying around in the U.S. as well. There was a shooting incident, a death certificate incident, and live Siamese fighting operations all over the world.”
“….”
“I think the scale has grown since it moved to the United States.”
“Because the hospital is large and there are many patients, it naturally happened that way.”
“I don’t know. Is it really the hospital and the patient’s fault? Isn’t the problem your senior’s fantasy instinct?”
“Wow! Look at this guy!”
“Are you going to hit me? We already don’t have enough thoracic surgery staff, so you know what happens if you try to stab me with your hand, right?”
Choi Ki-seok burst out laughing at Lee Young-ho’s joke.
During a brief pause in conversation, he used the Eye of Hippocrates on Lee Young-ho.
Physical strength: 6/10
Diagnostic power: 3/10
Surgical treatment: 4/10
Medical treatment: 3/10
Reputation: 6
Political power: 3
Charisma: 3
Youngho Lee’s stats were decent.
First of all, the stats related to killing were much higher than those of his peers, and his political power and charisma also showed even growth. In addition, he possesses two skills related to suturing.
It was rewarding to watch the training during this time.
“How is Uijindae these days?”
“The atmosphere in the thoracic surgery department is not bad. Director Jang Hyuk-pil was recently promoted to deputy director, so a new director has arrived, and he is not bad either.”
“Has Manager Jang been promoted again?”
“Yes. We have successfully grown the thoracic surgery clinic. Now, Uijin University’s thoracic surgery department is one of the Big Five in thoracic surgery.”
“It’s okay.”
“Is that so? Still, if I had a senior, I would have been number one…”
“Well, I have no choice but to admit that.”
“And something else has changed…”
Lee Young-ho trailed off and put his hand in the pocket of his gown.
“why?”
[….]
“Sigh… I’ll be there soon. I’m sorry, sir, but there’s an emergency patient. We’ll have to talk later.”
“I have no choice. Let’s go together. I don’t mind taking a look.”
“That makes me feel confident.”
Two people rushed to the emergency room.
“Chief! This is the patient.”
The intern who had been scolded earlier pointed to the patient in an urgent voice.
“
This is a patient from a T.A (traffic accident), and his breathing and pulse are at the bottom. Based on the chest X-ray and CT scan, rib fracture, pericardial tamponade, and diaphragm rupture are suspected.”
“Diaphragm rupture? Watch the video.”
“yes!”
“Why… At this timing…”
Lee Young-ho checked the test results and frowned.
“Go to the operating room and see if there is a surgeon capable of performing the surgery. I will treat it.”
“Okay.”
The intern quickly left the room.
“Shall I help you?”
“I can handle this on my own.”
Youngho Lee intubated the trachea and administered oxygen. Then, he administered vasopressors. After injecting it into a vein, the blood compressing the heart was extracted through thoracentesis.
The treatment proceeded smoothly.
The intern who had been foolish in the past was nowhere to be found.
Lee Young-ho, who was now in front of Choi Ki-seok, was a reliable thoracic surgery resident. .
“Chief! First of all, I made a reservation for the operating room, but there is no surgeon available. Everyone is busy preparing for the symposium, so they aren’t there.”
An intern who had finished his work came up and looked like he was crying.
‘Fuck. What. This is such a bullshit case.’
Lee Young-ho’s face crumpled mercilessly.
Traumatic diaphragm rupture is an emergency symptom. If the ruptured diaphragm is not restored, a hernia and various aftereffects may occur. “Shall I
help you if it’s surgery?”
“I appreciate what you said, but that’s not the case. can. You wouldn’t know it when Manager Jang Hyuk-pil was there, but the new manager doesn’t know the senior. I will never allow my senior to perform surgery.”
“What should I do now? Chief.”
The intern stomped his feet and Lee Young-ho looked down at the patient with a miserable face. Choi
Ki-seok was the only one who was unaffected by his emotions.
“Young-ho. There is a simple solution.”
“What is that?”
“You do the house, too. .”
“Me?”
Lee Young-ho’s eyes became watery.
