A competent doctor can cure everything

“Excuse me? Me?”

The chairman, with a puzzled smile, pointed to himself with his finger.

I nodded silently.

Noticing something was off, the chairman’s smile slowly faded.

“It seems like it’s an important conversation. Go ahead and talk.”

“That’s right. There are plenty of hands here.”

Around us, people subtly pushed the chairman along.

I took the chairman to a bench near the auditorium where I had been sitting with Kang Eun-jeong earlier.

“What does the intern want to discuss with me?”

“You’re looking for someone named Kang Eun-jeong, right?”

I cut straight to the point.

Upon hearing that name, the chairman’s face, usually relaxed, became rigid.

“… How do you know that name?”

“Would you like to meet them?”

“Answer my question first. How do you know that person?”

The chairman’s voice grew louder as he spoke.

Surprised by the reaction, I raised an eyebrow for a moment.

“They are a patient currently admitted to our department.”

At my answer, the chairman sighed, wiping his face with his hand, and then gave a sharp, sarcastic smile.

“Did that woman tell you everything? What did she say? Is she trying to pull on your heartstrings? Does she think it’s okay to casually talk about such things with complete strangers?”

“That woman,” you say?

The emotions expressed by the chairman through his gaze and tone were not nostalgia or happiness, but anger.

As things began to deviate from my expectations, I was the one who ended up flustered.

“Calm down. The problem was that Ms. Kang Eun-jung didn’t say anything.”

“…….”

“Ms. Eun-jung once called out Mr. Kyung-soo’s name in her sleep. The rest I figured out through deduction.”

“So what? What does that woman say? Should we meet and have a warm, tearful reunion?”

The chairman’s voice was edged with sharpness.

I spoke in a soothing tone.

“Wasn’t Mr. Kyung-soo also looking for Ms. Eun-jung?”

“Yes, I was. I wanted to confirm if she was alive or dead. I wanted to see with my own eyes how well she was living after leaving me.”

I sighed inwardly.

It seemed that a warm reunion between mother and son would not be easy.

“Do you know how awful my mood is on birthdays? Every birthday morning, I think to myself, ‘Ah, tomorrow will be the day that the person who gave birth to me abandoned me.’”

“…….”

“Don’t expect a beautiful reunion or anything. I just want to see the end of that woman. I overheard my parents talking by chance last year. That woman is hospitalized with cancer.”

“Ms. Eun-jung wants to see Mr. Kyung-soo. Don’t you want to meet her?”

Instead of answering, the chairman gave a sardonic smile.

“She’s still alive, but when will she pass away?”

“The initial expected lifespan was actually until this month. Her condition was really poor.”

At those words, the chairman flinched for a moment and then scoffed.

“Well, if it’s today or tomorrow, that’s fine.”

“Are you really not going to meet her?”

“Why should I? She refused when I asked to see her.”

During the argument, a sharp female voice suddenly pierced through the air.

“Good grief! I keep hearing about it, and it’s true! Don’t do something you’ll regret and hurry up to see your mother!”

Both the chairman and I turned in surprise.

A silhouette with a furious expression and hands on her hips was visible.

The flustered chairman stuttered.

“Mi, Mika?”

* * *

The president of the volunteer club, Kyung-soo, was waiting behind the stage for his turn while listening to the choir performance from Part 1.

‘How many hospitals has it been now…’

He couldn’t even remember anymore.

He had visited almost every cancer ward in the metropolitan area.

It had been almost a year since he started this insane pursuit.

Even when he called the hospital to inquire if a patient named “Kang Eun-Jung” was admitted, he only received the response that patient information could not be disclosed.

He couldn’t ask his parents directly.

Since finding out about the adoption by chance in high school, it had been a forbidden topic in the family after he ran away.

‘So I started this pursuit… but what if I really find her?’

In truth, he didn’t even know why he was doing this.

It wasn’t a matter of longing or love.

It was more like the feeling of having a story abruptly cut off in the middle.

Without knowing the end, it seemed there would be no way to resolve this lingering unease.

‘In reality, the chances of finding her this way are much slimmer.’

Still… if he could find even a trace of her, if he could learn whether she was alive or dead.

That alone would bring some satisfaction, as it would mean discovering the conclusion to this frustrating story.

Sometimes, he imagined.

If he really did meet her, what kind of expression would she have?

She might say she doesn’t remember well because it was so long ago.

She might deny the existence of her son in confusion.

‘Then I should ask her this.’

Why did she do that to a helpless child?

And why did she come looking for him, even giving him a necklace and celebrating his birthday?

And… after learning that she was that person.

He should be angry and say that because the cake she brought that day was chocolate-flavored, he could no longer eat chocolate cake.

But he was secretly resigned.

Now, he was just habitually roaming cancer wards.

So when an intern called him today, it felt like the long-awaited moment had finally arrived, or perhaps like he was dreaming.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mika waited for her turn in the 3rd part behind the stage, gazing at the audience.

In the farthest corner, hospital staff and interns were gathered.

As Mika’s gaze was fixed on one of them, her manager, who was with her, grumbled.

“Mika, I know you’re stubborn and came here, but why are you at this kind of event? You’re already so busy and barely have time to sleep.”

“Hey, it’s for a good cause. I just wanted to do something I’m interested in.”

“Is that really the only reason? It seems suspicious… Are you interested in that intern?”

“Come on, why are you being so cliché? Why does it always have to be about mixing men and women?”

“It’s just that you’re doing something you normally wouldn’t.”

Mika pretended not to hear her manager’s complaints.

Then, suddenly, a tall, pale man wearing glasses stood up and disappeared behind the auditorium.

“Oh, where is he going now?”

Mika muttered anxiously, even though she wasn’t aware of it herself.

“Hmm?”

“No, never mind.”

He was probably just going to the bathroom.

However, he didn’t return to his seat even as the 3rd part was about to begin.

“What the heck! This jerk, does he have severe constipation or is he avoiding me?”

He didn’t come even after I personally came to find him, despite giving him a VIP ticket?

Mika was frustrated but quickly composed herself and went up on stage like a professional.

However, the person she was looking for never appeared in the audience.

‘Damn it…! What a jerk!’

Mika ground her teeth in disappointment and anger.

He was one of the few people who had been honest and genuine with her, and she felt a bond with him.

‘I really thought he was a true friend!’

It was painful to realize that her feelings were one-sided.

So, as soon as the performance ended, she approached the group of interns and asked:

“Excuse me~. Where did Seon Joon go?”

The older twin sister among them kindly informed her.

“Oh, Mika! He went outside to talk to someone earlier.”

“Oh… I see.”

Mika tried to hide her displeasure, but her lips involuntarily twitched.

The younger twin sister watched her with interest and then said:

“There’s a bench outside the small auditorium. Why don’t you go there?”

“Thank you!”

So, Mika followed and ended up overhearing an unsettling conversation.

Listening to their talk, Mika clicked her tongue.

‘Why are people’s lives like this?’

Some people are struggling because their families can’t help them.

Some people are arguing about whether to see each other or not.

But the more she listened, the more it became clear that the club president was deceiving himself.

She had been in the fiercely competitive entertainment industry since she was young.

Without keen observation, she would have been long gone.

To Mika’s eyes, it was obvious.

‘He searched for his mother because he missed her, but now he’s denying it?’

Unable to bear it any longer, Mika stepped forward.

The two men looked extremely flustered at her sudden appearance.

“You traitor. Are you not going to watch my performance again? I’ll make you pay for that later, so be prepared.”

As Mika threatened menacingly, the intern fiddled nervously with his glasses and avoided eye contact.

“Is the president scared?”

“Pardon? Scared? What…”

“Isn’t it? You searched for them because you missed them, but now that you’ve actually found them, you can’t face them.”

Mika forgot to maintain her usual graceful demeanor and pressed the club president.

“Who do you think you are to talk like that?”

“I can tell just by looking. It’s just you who doesn’t know. At least the president has a mother who wants to see you. Some people see their daughter only as money and are in a lawsuit over it.”

The situation humorously escalated into an argument between the president and Mika.

The intern, who was awkwardly observing the scene, intervened.

“Mr. Kyung-soo? Excuse me, just a moment.”

“?”

The intern suddenly reached toward the back of the president’s neck.

‘Oh, are they going to grab him by the collar?’

Startled, Kyung-soo closed his eyes tightly, and Mika was about to stop the intern.

The intern’s hand, instead of gripping the president’s collar, was holding onto a glittering object.

Mika blinked.

“A necklace…?”

The president was adorned with flashy piercings, earrings, and other jewelry. The necklace wasn’t just a single layer, but the intern’s hand had selected one of them.

An oval-shaped pendant dangled from the end of the chain.

The intern explained in a calm voice.

“It’s the same as the necklace that Ms. Kang Eun-jeong is wearing. It’s indeed the same item.”

Then, the intern opened the pendant.

The president, looking flustered, was unable to stop it and stood frozen.

Inside was a photograph of a peacefully sleeping newborn swaddled in a blanket.

The president muttered in a daze.

“Does that woman also wear this necklace?”

“She looks at it with great care whenever she gets the chance. I told you, she even calls your name in her dreams.”

“……”

“Mr. Kyung-soo, seeing you wear this necklace too, it seems like you also want to meet Ms. Kang Eun-jeong.”

The intern closed the pendant again with a click.

“Think it over and get back to me. It doesn’t have to be today.”

“……”

“However, no one knows how much time is left. The condition of a terminal cancer patient can worsen at any moment.”

Leaving the president standing there in a daze, the intern whispered as she pulled Mika’s arm.

“Let’s go. I think it’s time to make a quick exit.”

“Good grief. This teacher always meddles in every patient’s story. It’s almost habitual.”

Mika, pretending to be unable to resist, followed the intern, who had grabbed her arm. By now, her anger had subtly dissipated.