A competent doctor can cure everything

“Dr. Lee Joon!”

I turned around at the sound of Wonil’s voice.

He was out of breath, likely because he had run after me all the way from the intern training room.

“Dr. Lee Joon, um, so…”

Seeing him hesitate and struggle to speak, I could sense that his misunderstanding had been cleared up.

“I’m really sorry…!”

“Dr. Wonil, did you have breakfast?”

I interrupted Wonil’s apology and suddenly pulled an apple out of my coat pocket.

“They were selling them in pairs at the hospital convenience store.”

“I should be the one giving you an apple…”

Ignoring his words and avoiding eye contact, I lightly patted his shoulder.

“I need to get ready for rounds now.”

“Oh, Dr. Lee Joon, you’re starting in the Gastroenterology department today, right? You know, the one that’s as calm as the sea.”

The ‘sea’ reference was something the intern chief mentioned during our team dinner.

– “It’s funny, but there’s definitely a certain atmosphere unique to each department.”

The professors and residents in Gastroenterology are said to be like a deep ocean.

On the surface, they seem calm, but when they get angry, they’re terrifying.

– “They don’t yell when they’re angry; they just stay quiet and watch, then strike with precision, which is even scarier.”

They’re known as the type who are usually quiet but terrifying when they get mad.

I let out a small sigh and replied, “Yeah, I’ll have to do my best not to drown in that sea.”

After preparing for rounds, I waited at the ward station.

First, the resident appeared, followed by the professor.

Ward rounds usually operate with a system where one professor is assisted by a resident and an intern.

The resident paired with me in this department was Kim Pyeong-hwa, a second-year internal medicine resident.

Her meticulous nature was evident from her neatly exposed forehead and her tightly tied high ponytail, with not a single strand of hair out of place.

The ‘calm’ professor, who wore a solemn expression, was a very taciturn person, just like his name suggested.

As he walked through the rounds with his hands clasped behind his back, he only responded with a brief “Hmm” to the resident’s briefings.

– “Professor Ko is excellent with traditional medicine. It’s amazing how he can make just a tiny adjustment to a prescription, change one or two grams of herbs, and achieve dramatically different results. It’s like he’s reached a true master level.”

The words of the intern chief suddenly came to mind.

The essence of traditional Oriental medicine lies in its herbal remedies.

And Professor Ko was renowned as a master of herbal medicine.

I was excited at the thought of closely observing his prescriptions over the next month.

As we continued our rounds, we finally arrived at the last patient’s private room.

For the first time, a hint of concern appeared in the second-year resident’s voice as she calmly briefed us.

“Lastly, this is Kang Eun-jung. Her main issue is indigestion. She reports feeling a tightness in her upper abdomen, nausea, and vomiting after meals. She also suffers from severe constipation and a significant drop in energy due to inadequate food intake.”

“Hmm. This is serious.”

For the first time, Professor Ko uttered something other than his usual “Hmm.”

“Let’s go in.”

As the intern, I took the lead, knocked on the door, and opened it.

The June sunlight streamed into the private room.

A caregiver, who had been sitting on a folding chair, quickly stood up upon seeing the professor.

On the bed was a frail woman staring out the window. Her hospital gown hung loosely on her as if a child were wearing adult clothes.

An IV was attached to her thin, branch-like arm.

“Kang Eun-jung, 42 years old. 153 cm, 38 kg…”

I recalled the numbers I had seen on the chart earlier.

It was a weight that hardly seemed possible for an adult woman.

“Ms. Kang Eun-jung, how are you?”

“Yes, Professor. Hello.”

The woman turned her head with a faint smile.

She wore a headscarf, and her skin was as pale as dough, devoid of any color.

Despite her condition, her expression was surprisingly not bad.

Aside from her evident illness, her face seemed rather calm.

“You haven’t been able to eat properly. How are you managing?”

“Well, since I was admitted here, I’ve been eating a little better. I even had a few spoonfuls of rice porridge this morning.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, Professor. Please continue to take good care of me.”

Her words, though gentle, conveyed a strong will to avoid being transferred to a hospice ward.

A year ago, she had already been diagnosed with stage 3 stomach cancer.

Despite multiple surgeries and rounds of chemotherapy, the cancer had metastasized to surrounding areas.

Eventually, Western medicine doctors gave her a prognosis of only three months to live and recommended hospice care.

However, instead of going to hospice, the patient was admitted here two months ago.

“They mentioned severe cachexia…”

Seeing the situation with my own eyes left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Cachexia refers to a state of severe malnutrition where even with calorie supplementation, body weight continues to decrease.

“And malnutrition is deadly for terminal patients like her.”

It leads to a decline in strength, reduced effectiveness of chemotherapy, and increased side effects.

Ultimately, this results in a shorter survival period.

“Dr. Kim, what is the current prescription?”

“Yes, to improve the patient’s severely impaired digestive function, we’ve included ‘Bihwa-eum’. The composition is…”

The second-year resident clearly recited the composition of Bihwa-eum, a medication effective for poor digestion and nausea.

It was a prescription that made me nod in agreement.

“Remove 1 gram of “Pogostemon cablin” from the prescription.”

“Yes, understood.”

As we left the room, Professor Go asked a question.

“Does that patient know about her life expectancy?”

“Yes, she requested to be informed, and the Western doctors have already told her.”

“I see… So she must know that she only has about a month left…”

The atmosphere grew heavy.

This must be why the usually cheerful intern manager was so stressed out and ended up with gastroesophageal reflux disease.

As I was thinking this, I felt the professor’s gaze on me.

“Hmm, so it’s you.”

I bowed my head slightly.

“We’re expecting great things from you in our department as well.”

The professor slowly said this and then walked away with his hands clasped behind his back.

‘Did he really hear about me from Professor Kim in the Acupuncture Department?’

I wasn’t sure about “great things,” but I knew I had to find an opportunity to check on that patient’s future.

And that opportunity came quickly.

The second-year resident assigned me to dress Kang Eun-jung’s wounds (the act of cleaning and covering her wounds).

After the rounds ended, second-year resident Kim Pyung-hwa gave clear instructions.

“Intern, Ms. Kang Eun-jung’s immune system is extremely weak. Please be particularly careful when disinfecting her wounds.”

Since she couldn’t eat, she had been receiving continuous nutritional IVs, which caused the needle marks on one of her arms to become infected and turn into wounds.

“Ms. Kang, I’m here to disinfect your wounds.”

I prepared the dressing kit, knocked on the door, and entered the room.

The caregiver had stepped out for a moment, leaving the patient alone.

“!”

She was looking at the pendant on her necklace when she suddenly flinched and hid it inside her clothes.

It was only for a brief moment, but I clearly saw it—a locket pendant that held a photo inside when opened.

‘…?’

I found it curious, but since she seemed to want to hide it, I pretended not to have noticed.

“Oh, so the new intern has started today. The last doctor had a lovely smile, but the new doctor looked reliable and handsome. I look forward to your care.”

Her voice lacked strength, but she still smiled and willingly rolled up her sleeve.

I removed the gauze from the arm she extended.

‘This is severe.’

I nearly frowned at the sight.

On her already thin arm, there was not only an inflamed wound but also a large, dark bruise.

“Did you feel any bloating or nausea after breakfast this morning?”

As I held her arm to disinfect it, I naturally began to ask some questions.

“No, fortunately not… I made sure to sit up afterward to help with digestion.”

The patient smiled faintly.

And then, when all the conditions were met, as expected, the next week’s future was input into my mind.

By now, I was pretty good at pretending to be unaffected by the weight of this information.

‘…’

For the next week, thankfully, no major incidents would occur.

‘But there won’t be any significant improvement either.’

Is the patient destined to slowly die like this?

The thought that this person might not be in the world a month from now made my chest feel heavy with helplessness.

Whether she knew how I was feeling or not, the patient clapped her hands in gratitude once the dressing was finished.

“Ah, that feels so refreshing. Thank you.”

“No problem. Please rest well, ma’am.”

I had no choice but to respond like that, hiding my emotions.

* * *

After work, I decided to go to Min-hwa’s place.

Carrying a small suitcase I had packed in advance, I waited for Min-hwa in front of the hospital.

“Hyung, you’re already here. I’m sorry I’m late…!”

“It’s fine. Your apartment is nearby, right?”

“Yes, yes. It’s about a 15-minute walk, but will that be okay…? Oh, you have a suitcase too—should we take a taxi…?”

“It’s fine. Let’s walk, it’ll give me a chance to get familiar with the area.”

I followed the path Min-hwa led me on.

Near Hanbit University Hospital, there was a “Medical Campus” where buildings of the university’s traditional medicine, medical, and pharmacy schools were clustered.

As a result, a residential area of villas naturally formed in front of it.

This created a small town where Hanbit University students and hospital staff lived.

However, Min-hwa continued walking past this villa area.

“Looks like this isn’t the place.”

“Oh, yes, yes. Hyung, is it difficult? Should I carry the suitcase…?”

“No, it’s fine.”

Sometimes, people choose a slightly farther place to get a cheaper room.

“Even so, a 15-minute walk is nothing.”

I kept quiet and walked silently before Min-hwa became even more anxious.

When we finally arrived at the location:

“? Is this the place?”

“Yes, hyung. This way…”

The place Min-hwa stopped in front of was a luxury apartment building.

…It looked incredibly expensive at a glance.

Entering through the apartment’s entrance code, we were greeted by a lobby that resembled a hotel.

And when we took the elevator up:

“!”

The place was equipped with all sorts of new appliances and fully furnished.

“Min-hwa?”

“Yes, Hyung?”

“You said it was a small two-room, right?”

“Yes, yes. Is it too small after all? I’m sorry…!”

“No, that’s not it.”

As Min-hwa looked distressed and apologized, I was left speechless for a different reason.

When someone describes a place as a small two-room, doesn’t it usually refer to a villa with just a bit over 10 pyeong (about 33 square meters)?

This was a new, small apartment with two rooms, a living room, a bathroom, a kitchen, a storage room, and even a veranda—over 20 pyeong (about 66 square meters).

“Hmm… This seems like it would be expensive. How much is the rent?”

I was thinking of splitting the rent. If it’s too expensive, it would be problematic.

“Oh, Hyung… My parents bought this for me…! Since the place is small, the maintenance fees aren’t much. Just don’t worry about it…!”

“……?? Doesn’t the maintenance fee come to around 200,000 to 300,000 won?”

“Yes! So, I think you don’t need to worry…”

This conversation is increasingly hard to follow.

But Min-hwa genuinely looks like he’s thinking, ‘Why bother with such trivial money?’

“I guess I’ll have to make sure to clean up well.”

Min-hwa’s response to my half-serious muttering was even more remarkable.

“Oh, we actually have a cleaning service come regularly… it’s fine…”

“What?? Does your house have some… never mind.”

I forcibly shut my agape mouth.

I really don’t understand why Min-hwa grew up with such a sensitive personality.

“Anyway, I’m looking forward to living together.”

“Yes, yes…! I’m looking forward to it too…!”

When I extended my hand for a handshake, Min-hwa hurriedly took my hand with both of his, showing proper respect.

To celebrate becoming roommates, we decided to have a simple beer.

We unpacked our things quickly and headed to the convenience store in front of the apartment.

However, a woman was smoking in front of it.

Even though it was June and starting to get warm in the evening, she was fully covered in black long sleeves and long pants, making her stand out. She even had a black baseball cap.

In short, she was dressed entirely in black.

‘Is she going for that detective noir look…?’

At that moment, the woman slightly lifted her head, revealing her face that had been hidden by the hat’s brim.

“……!”

I almost let out a gasp in surprise.

Her expression was dark and her eyes were gloomy, but that face was definitely—

‘Lee Haet-nim?’