A competent doctor can cure everything

Following my surprised gaze, Min-hwa’s voice also grew louder.

“Uh…? Haet-nim…?”

The intern supervisor noticed us standing still, gave a slight nod, and exhaled a long puff of cigarette smoke.

‘??’

What’s this now?

Has she become so jaded by hospital life that she’s turned into this?

No, can someone’s vibe really change so drastically?

Her expression and demeanor are almost like a split personality.

As everyone fell silent, Min-hwa spoke first.

“Uh… Haet-nim…! You have GERD, and smoking like that…”

“Oh, that?”

The intern supervisor tilted her head slightly and took another satisfying drag of her cigarette.

“Just living like this, I’ll go first.”

“Uh…?!”

While Min-hwa was at a loss for words, someone else approached her side.

Another face that looked exactly the same appeared.

“Dal-nim, I bought everything I needed… Oh? Oppa Joon and Oppa Min-hwa?”

“Hmm? Haet-nim is a twin?”

The intern supervisor quickly assessed the situation after seeing Min-hwa’s surprised reaction.

“Oh, Dal-nim! Did you play a trick pretending to be me again? I’m sorry, Oppas.”

“So this one is your younger sibling?”

I recalled that the intern supervisor’s younger sibling was named Dal-nim from the company dinner.

“Yes, that’s right. My twin sibling. They’re interning in the Western medicine department at our hospital.”

“Ah…”

It’s astonishing how they can be so different in personality despite looking exactly alike.

One of them is always smiling brightly, while the other seems jaded as if they’ve lived their whole life.

Their clothing also reflects their personalities: Haet-nim wears colorful pastel tones, while Dal-nim is dressed entirely in black.

“Dal-nim is a bit of a trickster… You were surprised, right?”

The intern supervisor laughed while giving her sibling a teasing glance.

I watched the scene with fascination.

‘Can such a cute term like “trickster” even describe them?’

Only then did Min-hwa start laughing along with the intern supervisor.

“Wow, so that’s how it is… I was really surprised!”

“It looks like you guys live around here too. We meet like this.”

Since we’ve met like this, I might as well ask something.

“Haet-nim, about the patient, Kang Eun-jeong. Do you know anything about her necklace?”

“Oh~, that?”

It seems the intern supervisor has seen it too, as she immediately understands without needing further explanation.

“I asked a little about it, but she absolutely wouldn’t tell me.”

The intern supervisor shook her head with a small sigh.

“I’m usually pretty good at building rapport with patients, but she never shared any personal stories.”

“Could it be a family photo?”

“I don’t think so. Eun-jeong doesn’t have any family.”

“Really? She’s never been married?”

“Yes, she’s single. As far as I remember, no one ever visited her, and she was always with the caregiver.”

Well, I don’t have much family either, except for my grandmother.

‘So, what’s up with that pendant?’

Rather than resolving my curiosity, the intern supervisor’s words only made it worse.

It seems like it might be related to her reason for rejecting hospice care and continuing treatment.

After parting ways with the twins, Min-hwa, who had been picking out beers, cautiously asked.

“Hyung… are you worried because of that patient?”

“Oh, sorry. It’s just frustrating that there’s no improvement with the patient.”

Min-hwa gave an unexpected response to my comment.

“Hyung, I think you’re really amazing.”

“Hmm?”

“Other interns don’t even have time to think about such things…”

Min-hwa gave a wry smile, saying that handling the tasks given by residents is already overwhelming.

“And… other residents are also grateful to you.”

“Why?”

“Well, the cardiology fellow who didn’t like Oriental medicine… now looks favorably on collaborative treatments with oriental medicine, so it’s much more comfortable…”

“……”

I see.

“I think you’ll do well again this time…!”

How to do well, indeed.

Nothing had been resolved, but my mood lightened strangely.

“Thanks.”

I smiled faintly, opened the convenience store refrigerator, and picked out a can of beer.

* * *

“Did you have any meals today, patient?”

A few days later, I was able to find a small clue on how to “do well.”

“Yes, I ate well.”

“Really ate well! You only had a few spoonfuls of porridge today too.”

I was disinfecting Eun-jeong’s arm wound as usual.

‘If the amount of food increases, her strength might improve and the effects of the chemotherapy could also increase.’

I hid my concern and spoke casually.

“Is there something you’d like to eat when your condition improves?”

The patient thought for a moment and answered shyly.

“Hmm… ‘Choco Strawberry Fondant’…?”

A steady seller and representative cake from a certain franchise bakery.

I was a bit surprised by the specific menu.

“That sounds really delicious… Do you like cakes too?”

“I can’t eat cakes.”

I put on a serious expression.

“What? Do you have an allergy or something?”

“I can’t eat them because I don’t.”

The patient’s eyes widened as she asked, and I responded in a serious tone.

Then, the patient hesitated for a moment and soon began to laugh.

“Ahahaha…!”

Her laughter grew louder, and she ended up laughing so hard she was nearly in tears, holding her stomach.

Her laughter was so intense that I was at a loss.

Even the caretaker remarked with wonder.

“I’ve been taking care of Eunjeong for over a month now, but this is the first time I’ve seen her laugh so much.”

Eunjeong finally stopped laughing, wiped her eyes with her thin, bony hand, and then looked at me with a gentle smile.

“It’s so funny to see our intern doctor, who doesn’t seem like the type to joke around, making jokes.”

The patient continued calmly.

“People think that someone who’s accepted their fate doesn’t know how to laugh. Since my terminal diagnosis, everyone has been so serious around me, so it’s been a long time since I’ve laughed like this.”

When she directly mentioned her own death, the caretaker flinched.

I was also quite surprised, but I saw this as an opportunity.

Her attitude was distinctly different from other terminal cancer patients who reject hospice care.

“In such cases, most people deny reality.”

But she seemed to be acknowledging her death.

“Miss, what is the first thing you want to do after being discharged?”

So, I boldly asked this question.

What could be the driving force for the patient to endure chemotherapy?

“…….”

The patient fell silent.

However, it was a silence of contemplation, not displeasure.

Finally, she slowly opened her mouth.

“I want to go out… without this IV drip, and if possible, without using a wheelchair.”

She did not mention the purpose of her outing, and I did not press further.

* * *

That evening, I was on duty.

I took Eunjeong’s chart and settled in the hospital’s first-floor café.

Tonight, I planned to review her chart and think about her medication prescription.

The current prescription being administered is Bihwa-eum (Traditional Oriental medicinal decoction).

There are two main points of this prescription:

1. It improves the motility of the weak digestive organs.
2. It aids in the secretion of digestive fluids.

‘In other words, it’s a tonic for the digestive system with added digestive aid.’

It is a mild medicine that can be taken by the elderly, pregnant women, and patients like Eunjeong who have undergone gastrectomy.

Considering it is used particularly when digestive issues such as nausea and vomiting occur after meals,

‘I would prescribe this too.’

In other words, I have no objections to the decision made by the second-year intern, Kim Pyeonghwa, and Professor Ko.

I tried to suppress a sigh and reviewed the chart from the beginning.

A month ago, Eunjeong couldn’t eat anything, so it is certainly a relief that she can at least consume porridge now.

However, looking at the future section of the chart visible through my glasses,

‘For the next week, digestive symptoms will remain the same and her energy will continue to decline.’

In short, the treatment seems to be stagnating.

Is there nothing I can do about this situation?

It’s not about curing her, but can’t I at least get her to a condition where she can comfortably go out?

As I was biting my lips and rubbing my temples,

there was a sudden sound of a chair being dragged out.

I reflexively covered the patient chart I was looking at.

“Ah, protecting patient privacy? Hey, you’re not even looking.”

The voice, laced with amusement, made me look up.

“It’s been a while, acupuncture intern.”

Lee Hyun-seung was grinning mischievously.

Sitting next to him was a female doctor. Her hair was disheveled as if she had just been through a bomb explosion, and she looked at me with a curious expression.

“Hello.”

“This is my friend! An obstetrics fellow.”

As I greeted her, Lee Hyun-seung draped her arm around her friend’s neck.

The obstetrics fellow clapped her hands dramatically.

“Oh my goodness~. So this is the acupuncture intern? Hyun-seung, just as you said, very….”

I didn’t catch the rest of the comment because Lee Hyun-seung jabbed her friend’s ribs with her elbow.

‘?’

What’s going on?

I looked at Lee Hyun-seung with a frown and said,

“I’m no longer in the acupuncture department.”

“Really? Oh, it’s been over a month. What’s your new rotation?”

“Gastroenterology.”

“Oh~ Gastroenterology? So, can you treat symptoms like these?”

The obstetrics fellow who had joined the conversation started to share her concerns.

“Well, you see~ Whenever I go into the operating room, my lower abdomen starts hurting terribly. It must be because the operating room is so cold.”

She complained about not being able to keep going to the bathroom during surgery, saying it was a real headache.

“Do you get stomachaches and diarrhea when you eat cold foods?”

“Oh my goodness~ How did you know?”

I pointed to her coffee cup.

“You were drinking hot coffee in June. That suggests it might be related to cold environments.”

“Yeah, that’s right~. Even with medication, it only helps for a while.”

“Then how about trying some powdered traditional medicine?”

I recalled a traditional medicine extract that matched her symptoms.

“Wow! That would be great~.”

“Please wait here for a moment.”

It seemed that I’d have to pause the chart analysis for today.

I got up from my seat.

* * *

While Seon Joon was away for a moment, the fellows sipped their coffee.

Then, the friend stretched out her voice and called to Lee Hyun-seung.

“Hyun-seung~?”

“What’s this about?”

“Like you said, that intern is cute.”

Lee Hyun-seung brightened up and responded.

“Right? Even though his expression is grumpy, it’s kind of cute how dedicated he is to his patients. He’s good with acupuncture too. After getting acupuncture from him, I definitely felt better.”

“To the point that you, of all people, are going for acupuncture, it must be really effective.”

The friend nodded and added with a suppressed laugh,

“Pfft, but what I meant was that his face is cute. You should try and get to know him better~.”

“……!”

Embarrassed, Lee Hyun-seung grabbed her friend by the collar and shook her.

“Are you crazy? I’m a Professor and he’s just an intern!”

“Oh, you’re really something, doctor~.”

Only when Seon Joon appeared in the distance did Lee Hyun-seung release her laughing friend.

“?”

Lee Hyun-seung then deliberately ignored the suspicious gaze from Seon Joon.