Golden Time

“It looks like Yejin is suffering from munchausen syndrome.”

Her father felt as if his heart was sinking. He never heard of or saw such a illness.

How did she have such a mental illness...

Suhyuk opened his mouth again at the father who was making a confused expression,

“You can think of it as sort of her overzealous behavior that caused Yejin tp behave like that when her brother was born.”

“Do you mean she was jealous of her brother?”

Suhyuk nodded his head slowly.

“As I told you, it is an illness that wants to bring out the interest and compa.s.sion of others. Think about why Yejin has continued to behave like that.”

The father covered his face with both hands. He could see her face in the darkness, hidden within his palms.

—–

He drank so much that he could not figure out whether the world was trembling or if he was shaking when he got back home. “Dad!” With bright smiles Yejin was opening her two arms to welcome him. He made a frown. It was almost 12 am.

Staggering into the porch, he looked around while squeezing at the last bits of strength left in the muscles in his legs.

“Honey, how come Yejin has not gone to sleep at this late hour?”

“Mom is sleeping with Kahyon.”

He let out a sigh before he knew it.

“Go to sleep quickly.”

He grabbed her hands to take her to her room.

He laid her on bed and stood up.

“I am not sleepy yet,” said Yejin.

“Still, you have to sleep.”

He felt so sluggish, and he felt his eyelids would close at once. He missed his bed so much. He was sick and tired of everything.

Did his daughter realize that he was working his fingers to the bone day and night to feed the family? She could not understand.

He turned off the light in her room and came out. She, who lay in bed in the dark room, was looking at him through the gap of the door.

That day he brought his unfinished work home. It was an important work for him to finish by dawn and report it to his boss early in the morning.

“Dad, is the computer interesting?”

“Dad is working, so go to Mom.”

“Mom is feeding Kahyon now.”

He felt some sort of annoyance coming over him.

“Then, go and watch TV. ”

“What is this?”

She looked at the doc.u.ment folder with a curious look.

At that moment, the doc.u.ments he had sorted out fluttered and shuffled because she touched them, which then scattered here and there.

His pent-up stress burst into the open at that moment.

“I told you go to your Mom!”

She was close to tears at his shouting.

“Hey, honey! Just take her away!”

“I told you Kahyon seems to have a fever!”

“Don’t you see I’m working now?”

—–

Why did he not notice it back then?

Yejin clung to his arms and would not go away when he was so happy that Kahyon was born, and when he was soothing Kahyon crying and whining. Her silent shouting to him to look at her hair with a cute pin. Why did he not notice it then?

Even when he was back home very late after work, Yejin was always waiting for him.

It was only an excuse that he could not find any time to play because he was tired.

His wife paid all her attention to her brother, and he repeatedly lied down, heavily drunk, like a man who fell in a faint.

“Huuuuuhh...”

A sigh came out between his fingers covering his face.

He wished he had listened more carefully to her words and offered more praises to her...

He once again recalled her hugging him, returning home, appealing to him despite having bruises on her knees.

Though she must have felt sore on her knees, she was obviously laughing.

Wiping down his face, he said, “Can you treat her?”

That was his only concern.

Suhyuk smiled slightly.

“Munchausen syndrome is an illness that not only the doctor can treat,” he said.

His eyes were getting bigger ... What was he talking about?

Suhyuk opened his mouth again.

“A parents’ attention can make Yejin better.”

When he realized the meaning of his words, Suhyuk said, “Still she needs medication. Her impulse control disorders came to her due to complicated reasons, so do not forget to tell the doctor exactly what her exact illness is. Don’t forget that sometimes your family can become the better doctor.”

Suhyuk walked back. Yejin’s father looked at his back.

Suhyuk’s words continued to ring in his head.

Tears were coming down his red eyes before he knew it.

He moved his feet. Now he was running.

‘Yejin, I’m coming to you now.’

Suhyuk looked at him pa.s.sing by quickly and smiled.

‘That’s it. Please go and fix her illness. ”

—–

Two weeks pa.s.sed.

After she was discharged, Yejin came to Suhyuk with a half cast. Of course she was with her parents. Suhyuk bent his knees and faced her in the eyes.

“Does your arm hurt a lot?”

“It doesn’t hurt now.”

The girl holding her father’s hand tightly shook her head from side to side.

Suhyuk smiled happily and stood up, and he told her parents,

“To celebrate her discharge, just treat her to some delicious food.”

Her dad nodded, and with all his sincerity, he said shortly, “Thank you.”

The doctor before him looked different from other doctors. Yes, he was definitely different.

Aside from pinpointing the exact cause of his daughter’s disease, Suhyuk reminded him quickly about what he had usually forgotten.

“I just took family leave for my daughter.”

Suhyuk smiled, saying, “Good job!”

Waving at them, Suhyuk walked back.

***

The interns walking about briskly were busy. Among them was Suhyuk.

As he had completed one month of pediatric interns.h.i.+p, he was moving to another department.

One intern spoke heartily, “Finally we’re freed from the witch!”

Resident Oh Heejin, a pediatrician who supervised them and supervised them some more.

She earned such a nickname because she gave them such a hard time and sometimes shouting at them.

Of course, Suhyuk was an exception.

She occasionally played a prank on him, calling him the ‘Prince of blood collection.’

But there would be no such meeting again. It was because the pediatric department was not what he wanted to do later as a specialisation. This time he was supposed to go to the thoracic surgery department.

***

“h.e.l.lo, sir!”

The interns greeted him with a loud voice.

Resident Lim Kyungsoo looked up at their faces and opened his mouth.

“Okay, I’m Lim Kyungsoo. Let’s do a good job for a month. Don’t make any trouble, Okay?”

“Yeah!”

“As you are scheduled for making the rounds, the professor will be with you soon. Don’t make any mistakes.”

Lim, looking at the interns with a tired look, reviewed the patient’s medical records and identified the patients the professors were supposed to check.

Originally, the schedule was canceled today, but suddenly he was rescheduled for the rounds, so he was hectically busy. Within a minute, Lim had a prepared chart on one side, and he moved ahead of the interns.

“You’ve arrived, sir.”

At his words, Professor Han Myungjin of the thoracic surgery department nodded his head.

He had a slim figure with gla.s.ses, with a thin jawline.

“Are these the new interns?”

“Yes, sir.”

Han Myungjin looked at the interns one by one.

At that moment, an intern came into his eyes, making them become wider. It was none other than Lee Suhyuk. He was very much surprised at Suhyuk. He was the very professor that said he located a patient’s C line in the emergency situation.

“I wondered where you were gone to, but only now do I begin to see you.”

“h.e.l.lo, sir.”

Lim Kyungsoo carefully asked the professor, “Do you know this intern?”

Of course, he knew him. The intern who came out on TV because he caught a suspect. And he was rumored to be a G.o.dly collector of blood from patients at the pediatric department. That’s what the professor knew about him. He did not pretend to know him on purpose, even though the intern was only a trainee.

However, if he praises an intern, it could disturb discipline.

Han Myungjin, who fixed his eyes on Suhyuk, opened his mouth, “We boarded a helicopter together.”

‘And he was also a monster.’

Catching the central vein in the chest was a technique that only a surgeon with lots of experience could apply. The doctor had to pierce the needle without incision of the patient and reach the central vein precisely. It was also a dangerous procedure where one could touch the surrounding organs. Then, this PK student made it, and did that without any hesitation. He still could not believe it, but it actually happened.

As such, Suhyuk has appeared before him again as an intern.

“Let’s go.”

When the professor said shortly, Lim walked ahead, followed by the professor slowly. The nurse, the interns, and Suhyuk followed in a line.

Han, arriving at the clinic, showed a soft smile toward the patient.

“Do you feel anything uncomfortable?”

“I feel a little uncomfortable in my stomach. I’m otherwise okay.”

A 21-year-old male. He was diagnosed with a duodenal ulcer and received intermittent treatment at another hospital. Suddenly though, he felt abdominal pain and visited Daehan hospital.

The professor, looking at the patient smiling, opened his mouth again.

“You’ll be okay in a little while, Mr Im.”

“Yes, professor.”

“Show me the patient’s chart.”

The professor, who it was handed over to, examined the abdominal CT of the patient.

“Where is Lee Suhyuk?”

At his voice, Suhyuk, who was mixed among the nurses and interns, came forward.

“Yes, professor.”

He showed the chart to Suhyuk.

“Why did you give it to me...”

“What does this mean?”

At the professor’s question, Suhyuk looked at the photographs.

So did the nurses and interns who were standing behind. They peeked at the chart on and off.

It was a CT photo. All that was visible was only a mostly black photograph, with the rest of it made up of grays and whites.

“Don’t you know the answer?”

When the professor opened his mouth again, Suhyuk lifted his head,

“I see multiple spots of free air, and a wall thickening of the duodenum. I think there is a liquid surrounding it.”

Professor Han then asked the resident, “What did Mr Lim tell me about this CT scan?”

Lim, scratching his head, opened his mouth, “I said it was duodenal perforation.”

The professor looked at Suhyuk this time, “Is this a duodenal perforation?”

Suhyuk hesitated for a moment and opened his mouth, “Peritonitis perforation.”

With strange eyes, the professor asked the interns standing behind quietly,

“Who do you think is right?”

When they were asked, they felt a cold sweat flowing along their spines.

They could not answer the professors’ questions properly enough all this time.

However, there were two interns that answered in unison, “It seems to be a duodenal perforation.”