A competent doctor can cure everything

The unexpected call came during morning rounds the next day.

Only Kang Eun-jung’s rounds remained, which was the final order.

Bzzzz—

My phone in my pocket vibrated strongly, and I had an uneasy feeling.

‘During rounds, unless it’s an urgent matter, the nurses usually avoid making calls…’

Kim Pyeong-hwa, who was next to me, noticed the situation and took the medical tray I was holding.

I nodded in thanks and took out my phone.

“Yes, this is intern Seon Joon.”

The call was from the hematology ward.

– This is the hematology ward. Are you the traditional medicine doctor seeing Kang Eun-jung?

“Yes, that’s correct.”

– The issue is that Kang Eun-Jung has strongly complained that her stomach is burning and she can’t digest the medicine after taking it. She has refused the morning dose of traditional medicine. What should we do?

What? The patient was just thanking me for feeling better after taking the medicine until yesterday?

I was stunned for a moment by the unexpected news, even though I thought the treatment direction was correct.

Noticing my unusual reaction, the professor looked at me.

“Hmm? What’s going on?”

“Professor, it seems the patient in the hematology consult has something to say about the traditional medicine.”

It seemed Kim Pyeong-hwa had caught a bit of the conversation.

She quickly informed Professor Ko of the situation.

“Hmm, then go see the patient now.”

“But, the rounds…”

As I hesitated, Kim Pyeong-hwa whispered to me.

“Doctor, since the professor has given permission, you can go. The rounds are almost finished anyway.”

“…Thank you. I’ll go now.”

I bowed and hurriedly ran to the hematology ward.

‘Burning sensation and digestive issues?’

As I quickened my pace, I thought about the composition of the Gui Pi Decoction.

‘There aren’t any ingredients in Gui Pi Decoction that would cause burning or digestive issues.’

In fact, it contains herbs like Bai Zhu and Fu Ling that are good for digestion.

Arriving at the patient’s room with a troubled mind, I found Na Ye-jin sitting at a small table next to her bed. Upon seeing me, she crossed her arms and turned her head away.

‘Sigh…’

Thinking that communication might be difficult, I approached her.

“Miss? I heard you decided not to take this morning’s traditional medicine?”

“No! After taking that medicine, my stomach is burning! Did you give me this medicine to make me feel like this?”

Although I spoke calmly, the patient glared at me and raised her voice.

The attention of other patients in the room focused on me.

‘Don’t respond emotionally; stay calm.’

“When did you start feeling this burning sensation?”

“It started burning yesterday, and this morning it got worse, so I can’t digest anything and can’t eat. It’s terrible.”

“Hmm, you mentioned that digestion was good when you had acupuncture with me yesterday afternoon. So, it seems you didn’t have a burning sensation until then?”

As I gently reminded her of the situation, the patient hesitated for a moment, then irritably shot back.

“…Was it? I guess it started burning after that. Anyway, just know that it has been very uncomfortable since last night.”

She then threw the packet of traditional medicine that the nurse had brought onto the small table.

“I can’t take this medicine; take it away. Tsk, I shouldn’t have tried taking traditional medicine in the first place.”

I looked at the packet of traditional medicine thrown in front of me.

“……”

I wasn’t angry. Instead, I felt a sense of calm settling over my previously troubled mind, as if it was submerged in water.

Professor Ko’s words came to mind.

‘This patient won’t be easy to care for. With low trust in the treatment, they might easily refuse care midway. But handling such situations well is a virtue of a good primary doctor.’

To become a good intern, I needed to handle situations like this well.

Gathering my thoughts, I spoke smoothly.

“Hmm, miss? This traditional medicine doesn’t contain any ingredients that would cause a burning sensation; instead, it has ingredients that aid digestion. In fact, you were satisfied with its effects until yesterday afternoon, weren’t you?”

“Couldn’t the side effects just be showing up now? It might be that the side effects are starting to appear.”

“Did you sleep well last night?”

“Sleep… Now that I think about it, I did sleep well without waking up yesterday.”

“This traditional medicine doesn’t seem to be causing the burning sensation as a side effect. It’s actually intended to improve your sleep and overall condition.”

I was considering asking her to try it a little longer and observe the effects, but the patient abruptly interrupted me.

“Oh! Forget it! I’m not taking this medicine anymore! Take it away, and don’t give me any more traditional medicine.”

The patient firmly waved her hand.

After some thought, I proposed a second option.

“Miss, how about this: don’t take the traditional medicine this morning, and I’ll look into the cause of the burning sensation. If I find that the traditional medicine is the issue, I’ll prescribe a new one. How does that sound?”

The patient hesitated for a moment, then, with a click of her tongue, she relaxed her crossed arms.

“Tsk. Fine, let’s see how that goes. If the new medicine doesn’t work, I won’t pay for any of this. I told you I know a lot of people here, right?”

That “knowing people”…

‘How can you live feeling sorry for yourself if you have no friends?’

Struggling to maintain a neutral expression, I picked up the traditional medicine pack the patient had thrown and turned around.

As soon as I stepped out of the patient’s room, a long sigh I had been holding in escaped.

* * *

Even after returning to the traditional medicine ward, I was still troubled by thoughts of the consultation.

I had hoped that Professor Ko might provide a clear answer, so I reported the situation.

– Hmm, this is a test, so let’s see.

Professor Ko didn’t seem inclined to get involved.

I only confirmed that the professor’s intention was for me to solve the issue myself.

‘That traditional medicine shouldn’t cause a burning sensation.’

Moreover, the patient hadn’t received new chemotherapy recently, nor had the dosage of Western medicine changed.

What was even more frustrating was that suddenly, the traditional medicine-related information had disappeared from the patient’s future chart.

‘It seems like I haven’t decided on the traditional medicine yet.’

The prognosis had been quite good immediately after administering the Gui Pi Decoction.

Did the future suddenly change overnight? Why?

While preparing disposable cupping tools and a bloodletting device from the procedure room shelf with a troubled expression,

“Mr. Seon Joon!”

A lively voice calling me from behind caught my attention.

With his curly hair and pronounced double eyelids, it was Ye Wonil.

“You know there’s a charity concert in ten days, right? They’re recruiting volunteers, and I was wondering if you’d like to join us?”

“Volunteering?”

“Yes! Haet-nim is recruiting volunteers, but the attendance rate is low. Are you interested?”

Ah… I could roughly guess what was going on.

Since the intern from the hematology department, Lee Dal-nim, would certainly be participating, it was natural that Haet-nim would be involved too.

And with Haet-nim’s request, it was obvious that Ye Wonil wouldn’t miss it.

‘Mika said to make sure to come.’

Since I was going anyway, it seemed reasonable to participate as well.

“Sure, I’ll do it.”

Ye Wonil clenched his fist and cheered, “Yes!”

Then suddenly, something occurred to me.

“Can Min-hwa join too?”

“Rilla? Of course, that would be great! But shouldn’t you ask him first?”

“Well, if I mention it, he’ll probably say he’ll do it 200%.”

I was planning to casually mention Mika’s appearance to Min-hwa.

That way, he would definitely join as well.

‘If I don’t mention this, I might get scolded later…’

“Oh, really? Then I’ll let Haet-nim know.”

Ye Wonil agreed lightly and added,

“Oh, by the way! Haet-nim is treating the volunteers to tteokbokki. So, don’t go to the cafeteria for lunch today; come to the intern training room instead.”

So, at lunchtime, Ye Wonil, Haet-nim, Min-hwa, and I gathered around the desks in the intern training room.

Haet-nim greeted us with a bright smile.

“Thank you all for participating in the volunteer work.”

“Oh, no…! I’m the one who’s really grateful for being invited…!”

Min-hwa’s face lit up with excitement, making the intern coordinator smile a bit awkwardly.

Recalling Min-hwa’s almost fainting reaction to Mika’s news, I chuckled and asked,

“Is this all the interns from the Oriental medicine department?”

“Yes! Since they also selected from the medical department, four of us is enough.”

“Wow, that’s a relief. Sun-nim, have you ordered the tteokbokki?”

“Yeah, someone else is bringing it over right now.”

“Oh? But you just said there are only four attendees?”

“Oh, that person isn’t from the Oriental medicine department…”

As Ye Wonil was puzzled and the intern coordinator was explaining kindly, the door to the intern training room opened.

Seeing the delivery person holding tteokbokki, Ye Wonil sprang from their seat.

“Uh… uh…?!”

Ye Wonil then alternated between looking at the intern coming in and Haet-nim sitting next to them, his mouth hanging open.

“Ehh…? But Haet-nim is here…?”

Confused, Ye Wonil looked even more bewildered as everyone else struggled to hold back their laughter, except for Min-hwa.

Min-hwa, despite the situation, did not laugh and calmly started opening the tteokbokki bags.

“I see. So they’re twins.”

After a while, while eating the tteokbokki, Ye Wonil mumbled as if in a daze.

Still, true to their friendly nature, Ye Wonil soon engaged in conversation with Min-hwa.

“Wow, but isn’t this tteokbokki really spicy? What do you think?”

“This is made by my mom.”

Min-hwa’s dry reply caused Ye Wonil’s eyes to widen uncontrollably.

“Hmm? Wasn’t this ordered from a restaurant?”

“It’s made at our house.”

“……!! Oh, I mean, what I meant to say is that I really love how spicy it is! Tteokbokki should be this spicy!”

‘Oh dear.’

As I watched the scene of the conversation failure with a bit of sympathy, Wonil paused with the tteokbokki near his mouth and looked at my expression.

“Hyung, are you, um… worried about something?”

“Hmm? Oh… I am, but how did you know?”

“Just, you’re quieter than usual and your expression seems dark…”

“Wasn’t he always like that?”

Wonil’s comment was met with a disinterested remark from Min-hwa.

‘Min-hwa, is that really your place to say?’

I grumbled internally for a moment and then opened up about my concerns regarding Na Ye-jin.

“Hmm? Herbs like Rehmannia glutinosa (a type of medicinal herb) can cause bloating and indigestion.”

“But, isn’t Rehmannia glutinosa not included in Rehmannia glutinosa?”

“I’ve never heard of someone having stomach pain from taking Rehmannia glutinosa.”

Dal-nim, who had been quietly eating tteokbokki, chimed in.

“I told you, that person is no joke. Even a slight pain causes a big fuss.”

Seemingly frustrated, she shook her head, showing rare annoyance.

“Yesterday, she kept calling because of knee pain. What am I supposed to do if she calls again 10 minutes after taking the medicine? There needs to be time for the medicine to work.”

“Oh dear. Still, you shouldn’t say that to the patient, Dal-nim.”

“Oh, right. There are still things to be grateful for. It’s reaffirmed that the theory of innate evil is correct.”

‘!’

Hearing the conversation between the twin sisters suddenly sparked something in my mind.

“Hyung?”

When I abruptly stood up, everyone looked at me.

Ignoring them, I walked over to the computer in the intern training room.