A competent doctor can cure everything

I was walking ahead, holding onto Mika’s arm. When Lim Kyung-soo was out of sight, I stopped.

“Mika, you did well today. Get home safely.”

“What? You didn’t even watch the performance, and you’re saying ‘well done’? Where are you going!”

“A patient is waiting in their room.”

“You’re leaving me behind again?”

I could hear Mika’s sarcastic voice from behind me.

“You really love your patients, don’t you? Should I get admitted again just to get some attention?”

It seems Mika was really upset because I missed her performance again today.

I felt a bit sorry, but there was nothing I could do as something urgent had come up.

My steps felt heavy as I went to deliver the bad news.

The walk to Ms. Kang Eun-jung’s hospital room felt incredibly long.

I composed myself and knocked on the door.

“Ms. Kang Eun-jung.”

Ms. Eun-jung, who had been looking at me with eyes full of anticipation, slowly withdrew her smile as she saw my somber expression.

I hadn’t said anything yet, but it seemed she could sense the situation from the atmosphere.

“Oh dear, our intern doctor. You’ve worked so hard for me. Thank you for all your efforts.”

The caregiver patted my shoulder, trying to comfort me on behalf of the silent Ms. Kang Eun-jung.

However, I could feel the patient’s disappointment, and I couldn’t bring myself to lift my head.

She forced a smile, lifting the corners of her mouth as if to show she understood.

“Doctor, thank you so much. For delivering the difficult news on my behalf.”

“Ms. Kang Eun-jung…”

At that moment, there was a knock on the door, and everyone turned their heads.

Peeking inside was a ward nurse.

“Dr. Seon Joon? There’s a man looking for you.”

“Who is it?”

“He’s dressed very flamboyantly with his hair tied up.”

“…!”

For a moment, Ms. Eun-jung and I exchanged glances.

“I’ll go and see.”

Ms. Eun-jung clasped her hands tightly together and nodded silently.

When I got there, Lim Kyung-soo was pacing nervously in front of the ward station.

“…I came because I have something to ask that woman. Could I see her?”

“Yes, meet her directly, and feel free to get angry, question her, and even curse if you want.”

I replied calmly to the hesitant Lim Kyung-soo.

When I brought him back to the room, Ms. Kang Eun-jung quickly sat up in bed.

He seemed quite shocked by Ms. Eun-jung’s frail and sickly appearance.

‘Even though she’s put on some weight recently, she’s still so thin.’

No one could bring themselves to speak, and the room was filled with a heavy silence.

“…….”

The one who broke the silence first was Ms. Kang Eun-jung.

Tears were streaming down her face.

“I’m sorry… Kyung-soo, I’m so sorry. Your biological father suddenly disappeared, and I was just a high school girl, terrified and not knowing what to do.”

She started sobbing loudly.

It was hard to understand where such strength came from in her frail, small body.

“I thought it would be better for you to be adopted into a good family than to grow up under an unwed mother. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…”

As she cried out like that, she didn’t seem like a woman in her 40s but rather a young teenage girl.

“Uh…”

Lim Kyung-soo stood there in a daze, unable to say a word.

The fierce anger he had shown earlier was nowhere to be seen.

The caregiver and I exchanged glances and quietly left the room, leaving the two of them alone.

‘I’ve been away for too long.’

After leaving the patient’s room, I headed back to the small auditorium.

“Hyung! Where did you go? You’re just getting back now?”

As soon as he saw me, Wonil jumped up.

But the scene unfolding in the auditorium was something I never could have imagined.

The volunteer club members and interns were sitting in a circle on the stage, laughing loudly as they shared snacks and drinks.

It looked like the atmosphere of a casual retreat.

What was even more surprising was the woman singing and dancing in the middle of the circle.

‘Mika?!’

Has she lost her mind? My jaw dropped.

A top-tier idol was here, acting as if she were at a casual drinking party—was this really okay?

Instinctively, I glanced around to find her manager, but he was shaking his head as if he had given up on everything.

In the end, I stepped into the circle and stopped Mika.

“Mika? Shouldn’t you be leaving?”

“I was just about to. I had so much fun today.”

“Mika, make sure to contact us when you have time next. We’ll lock up the shop and wait for you,” Haet-nim said affectionately to Mika, which nearly made my eyes pop out.

What on earth had happened while I was gone?

Seeing my expression, Mika laughed and explained.

“I heard Haet-nim and Dal-nim run a snack shop? I mentioned that my wish is to eat tteokbokki at a snack shop with friends, and they said they’d invite me.”

“Hehe. On that day, we’ll close the shop and eat all the tteokbokki we want, Mika.”

“Oh, really? Is that okay? I’d feel so bad if you couldn’t do business for a day because of me.”

“Then just give us an autograph. If we hang it on the wall, Purple Angel fans will cover the lost sales for sure.”

Even Dal-nim chimed in, backing up Haet-nim, while bringing up the idea of getting Mika’s autograph.

Amid the cheerful atmosphere, I felt a bit dizzy.

Meanwhile, some medical interns, whom I barely knew, started talking to me.

“We heard Mika came here because you took good care of her when she was hospitalized, right?”

“Thank you so much! Thanks to you, we hit the jackpot!”

Well, I guess… If everyone’s happy, that’s all that matters.

I sighed.

‘Anyway, it looks like everything has wrapped up well enough.’

However, there was something I had momentarily forgotten in the aftermath of the concert.

* * *

I received the message a few days after the concert ended.

I was relaxing in my room after getting off work.

[zerojin: Dr. Seon Joon? Did you see the YouTube video I posted yesterday?]

“Ah.”

A short exclamation slipped out as I saw the SNS message that arrived with a notification sound.

It was from Park Young-jin, who had been hospitalized for irritable bowel syndrome and had left after receiving chiropractic treatment for a straight neck.

‘When the patient asked for my contact information, we exchanged SNS account IDs.’

To be honest, I hadn’t checked out Park Young-jin’s YouTube video yet.

Since the concert, my focus has been entirely on Ms. Kang Eun-jung.

To sum it up, it seemed like the conversation between Ms. Kang Eun-jung and her son went well that day.

The next day, Lim Kyung-soo even brought me a handwritten letter.

[…Through many conversations with my family, we were able to clear up the misunderstandings. Adoption is not something to be ashamed of, but my parents were worried about me, so they tried to hide it. That actually left an emotional scar on me.]

And I think I unfairly blamed my biological mother for it. I regret not being more open and honest from the start, but I am sincerely grateful to Dr. Seon Joon for giving me this opportunity before it was too late.]

Since then, Lim Kyung-soo has been visiting Ms. Kang Eun-jung almost daily.

Thanks to this, Ms. Kang Eun-jung has been smiling every day as if it were Christmas.

‘And tomorrow, Ms. Kang Eun-jung is supposed to go out with her son.’

After hearing their story, Professor Ko gave permission for Ms. Kang Eun-jung to go out.

This was possible because her condition had improved so much.

“I can’t believe the day has come to write up a leave permit.”

“Doctor…! Thank you… Thank you so much. It’s all thanks to you.”

“It’s because you endured the difficult treatment so well.”

“No, it’s because of you, Dr. Seon Joon, that I’m still alive like this and was able to meet my son again. I just don’t know what to do since there’s nothing I can do to repay you….”

The day we filled out the leave permit form.

When Ms. Kang Eun-jung was crying and holding my hand, constantly thanking me, it almost made my nose tingle.

In any case, while I was pondering over how to reply, another message arrived.

[zerojin: The latest video went viral!!!!! (crying emoji)]

[zerojin: The speed at which views and comments are increasing is unprecedented. Thanks to that, the number of subscribers is also rising, and it looks like it might really hit a million!]

‘Viral?’

Curious, I accessed YouTube on my phone.

At the top of Park Young-jin’s channel was the latest video.

The title was ‘Vlog of Hospitalization for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (feat. Handsome Doctor’s Self-Treatment Method for Headaches)’.

‘Handsome…?’

The clickbait title was quite embarrassing.

I frowned and checked the comments first.

‘Hmm?’

As I scrolled down, I blinked in surprise at the unexpected reactions.

– Wow, thank you so much!! I had a headache for hours, like my head was going to explode, but after following this, it was gone in just 1 minute ;;ㅠㅠ I didn’t know where you were, so I made big bows in all four directions.

– This is amazing. I tried physical therapy, exercise, and everything else, but nothing worked. This is incredibly effective. I’m hitting subscribe.

– Handsome, good voice, and an Oriental medicine doctor? There must be some hair loss (teardrop emoji).

– This doctor is truly a genius, like Hua Tuo… Does anyone know which hospital this is?

– From the background in the video, it looks like it’s HBD Hospital.

– Thank you!!

– Not only did you show the method, but you also explained the causes of headaches. I love such informative videos~ ^^*

– Hearing the explanations from the Oriental medicine doctor, it seems Oriental medicine is quite scientific. I enjoyed the interesting video.

– So, Zerojin, are you cured of irritable bowel syndrome? This is amazing. I also have IBS, so I’m thinking of visiting a Korean medicine clinic.

– There are more mentions of the Oriental medicine doctor in the comments than of Zerojin lolllllllll. So, whose channel is this now?

I’m not sure about the view counts or number of comments.

For a video that hasn’t even been up for a day, it does seem to have a lot of views.

[zerojin: I’m embarrassed, but it seems like this video might become more popular than my previous ones haha]

[zerojin: Doctor? Have you thought about making another video? haha]

That’s enough. Let’s keep it to just one verse.

I wrote a brief reply congratulating them on the video and politely declining any requests for additional videos, and sent it off.

After that, I received several messages from acquaintances asking, “Isn’t this you?”

‘The power of YouTube is impressive.’

I thought to myself, marveling at it.

At that time, I had no idea that an unexpected person was also watching the video.

* * *

“Dad~! Isn’t this the hospital where you work?”

Professor Yeon Jae-wook of the Korean Rehabilitation Medicine Department at Hanbit University Hospital turned his gaze from the living room TV at the sound of his daughter’s voice.

His college-aged daughter was holding a smartphone and watching a video.

“Oh? It looks like it’s right. What is this?”

Professor Yeon took the smartphone from his daughter and saw the familiar background and face.

“Isn’t this one of your hospital’s interns? It looks like they made a video with a famous YouTuber, and the response is huge. Everyone’s going crazy asking where this hospital is.”

“Really? Is it that impressive?”

“Of course! These days, young people don’t watch TV; they watch YouTube. Especially with a major YouTuber like this, the impact is huge.”

At his daughter’s words, Professor Yeon Jae-wook narrowed his eyes.

He felt a subtle sense of rivalry with the acupuncture and moxibustion department.

The fields of “pain” overlapped, and since both were considered major departments in Oriental medicine hospitals, comparisons were inevitable.

Additionally, on a personal note, Professor Yeon had always lost golf bets to Professor Kim of the acupuncture department, and he had been brooding over it for years.

“Hm. This person was supposed to join the Rehabilitation Medicine department soon.”

If that’s the case, he might definitely surpass the Acupuncture and Moxibustion department.

Professor Yeon gave a satisfied smile.