Dr. Taesoo Choi

After frantically taking care of patients, dinner time finally came around.
It was almost closing time for the hospital cafeteria, so it was unusually quiet inside. After filling their trays with food, the interns sat down together.
There were only three interns in the thoracic surgery department: Tae-su, Jung Min-su, and the sharp-looking Lee Ki-jun.
“Ugh. I’m dying.”
A long sigh escaped Jung Min-su.
He had been running around like crazy just moments ago. It wasn’t surprising that he couldn’t pick up his utensils immediately when it was time to eat.
But that was a minor complaint.
The thoracic surgery department was a place where anything could happen at any time.
You eat when you can.
That motto applied not only to residents but also to interns.
Once Jung Min-su’s breath settled, all three of them grabbed their utensils at once.
The meal was devoured like a battle.
Before long, their trays were clean.
Though the meal was finished, no one moved immediately. They all just wanted a moment to relax.
At that moment, Jung Min-su looked around and spoke with a tone of disbelief.
“Wow. How come we’re always stuck in a men’s locker room?”
“Do you think a woman could survive in thoracic surgery?”
“Still, it’s too much. I hear that other departments have female interns, and there’s good news coming from them.”
Just as Jung Min-su said that, Lee Ki-jun stood up, holding his tray, and spoke.
“If you came to learn, focus on learning.”
“What?”
“And don’t go spouting nonsense like that elsewhere. All you’ll get is a bunch of complaints from above, and it’ll just make you lose focus.”
“Damn!”
After saying his piece, Lee Ki-jun walked off without another word.
In an instant, Jung Min-su stood up in anger.
“That bastard!”
Crash.
A hand grabbed Jung Min-su’s sleeve, and he looked down to see Tae-su holding it tightly.
He slowly loosened his sleeve and softly spoke.
“He’s not wrong.”
“Hey, you too?”
“Still, the way he said it was wrong.”
Since Tae-su had supported him, Jung Min-su’s anger softened a little, but he still shot back.
“Why the hell does he act like that?”
“Forget it. It’s not worth getting upset over. Just relax.”
After saying that lightly, Tae-su picked up his tray and stood up.
After cleaning up his tray, Tae-su headed straight out of the cafeteria.

Tae-su then entered the duty room, a space designated only for interns.
It was a place where they could rest without worrying about others watching.
It was also a place where they could interact with interns from other departments.
The duty room had four bunk beds, so eight people could rest at the same time.
Tae-su’s spot was the top bunk in the right corner.
Tae-su immediately climbed up to the top bunk and lay down on his back.
“Ugh.”
A groan escaped him.
The time had flown by so quickly after Chief Park Seong-min dragged him around that afternoon, and now he felt the exhaustion catching up.
Lying down here, he finally felt a little relaxation. The interns from other departments, who had been chatting outside, didn’t come in.
The quiet atmosphere was actually preferable. He didn’t know when he might be called out again, so he wanted to rest his eyes a little.
Pressing his forehead with his arm, Tae-su slowly closed his eyes.
“That’s a lot of relaxation.”
The voice made Tae-su jump, and he turned his gaze toward the source.
On the opposite bunk, Lee Ki-jun was reading a book with a desk lamp on.
It seemed like his exhaustion had hidden the fact that Lee Ki-jun was still awake.
But that wasn’t the point, so Tae-su looked at him with a puzzled expression and asked,
“What do you mean by that?”
“It’s not easy to be so relaxed when there’s less than half a month left of internship.”
“Thanks for the concern, but I’d appreciate it if you’d change the way you talk.”
Tae-su calmly advised, but Lee Ki-jun didn’t even glance at him as he replied,
“Concern? Well, if you’ve got time to complain, you should spend it studying instead.”
“True, but it really annoys me when you say it like that.”
“Anyway, unlike some people, I don’t threaten residents.”
Lee Ki-jun’s words made Tae-su smile faintly.
“Really, you’ve got no secrets.”
“The hospital is small. Don’t cause trouble and bring me into it, just control your temper or leave. It’s up to you.”
“Such an arrogant, rude tone.”
“You’ll see. One day, I’ll be kind.”
Even as he answered, Lee Ki-jun’s eyes never left the book.
Tae-su didn’t want to continue the conversation.
It had been the same when they worked together in the same department before. Back then, they didn’t talk much, so he didn’t mind.
But now, with the blatant disrespect, it didn’t sit well with him.
His mood soured, and he lost the will to study.
Thunk.

Tae-su, lying back down on his bed, closed his eyes again.
Lee Ki-jun didn’t pay any more attention to him.
The silence lasted only for a moment.
Squeak.
The duty room door opened, and three interns entered.
“Hahaha.”
“So, what happened…”
The interns from other departments were chatting away.
Tae-su, who had just closed his eyes, felt a slight irritation on his face.
That was when Lee Ki-jun’s voice broke the silence.
“Why don’t you go outside and talk?”
“What?”
“It’s disturbing my studying.”
Tae-su smirked internally at Lee Ki-jun’s bitter tone.
‘Well done.’
The rude words were oddly refreshing in this situation. However, the ones being spoken to didn’t seem too pleased, and their voices rose.
“Why don’t you go to the library, then?”
“There’s no space there. More people are studying here than playing around like someone I know.”
“That bastard.”
As the atmosphere grew tense, a voice intervened to mediate.
“Hey! Why are you guys fighting when it’s so obvious we’re all struggling? I’ll keep quiet, so study. Kang-sensei, we’re just being loud.”
The voice was so familiar that Tae-su’s eyes snapped open, and he looked at the interns standing by the door.
The one who had intervened was none other than Seo Gang-jae, someone he was very close to among the interns.
“Hey.”
When Tae-su called, Seo Gang-jae flinched and immediately looked up, surprised.
“Oh? Choi-sensei, what are you doing lying in bed at this hour?”
“Ah, really.”
Hearing the strong irritation in Lee Ki-jun’s voice, Seo Gang-jae quickly covered his mouth.
In the meantime, Tae-su got out of bed and pulled Seo Gang-jae aside.
“Let’s go.”
“Oh, sure.”
Tae-su and Seo Gang-jae left the duty room together.
As they walked toward the entrance, Seo Gang-jae muttered under his breath.
“Seriously, the more I see Lee Ki-jun, the more I can’t stand him.”
“He’s studying, though.”
“He’s from a prestigious university, and I heard he graduated top of his class in medical school. He’s nothing but a study freak.”
“Enough.”
Tae-su shook his head slightly.
He didn’t really want to talk about it.
Apparently, Seo Gang-jae agreed, as he didn’t say anything more.

The two of them left the entrance and each grabbed a vending machine coffee.
Sitting down on a bench, Tae-su and Seo Gang-jae both looked up at the sky.
“Ugh, my back feels so stiff, but this is nice.”
“Right.”
Tae-su stretched his stiff back, and the discomfort eased a little.
That’s when Seo Gang-jae asked Tae-su.
“When did you leave the SICU?”
“This afternoon.”
“Wow, thoracic surgery is something. How did you manage to stay in the SICU for 15 days just because you were late for your shift?”
“Circumstances were like that.”
Tae-su smirked.
He had learned a lot from his time in the SICU, but it was too tiring to talk about.
But Seo Gang-jae seemed curious and kept asking.
“So, you’re only drinking coffee this leisurely because it’s been 15 days, right?”
“Probably?”
“Intern life is brutal. We don’t even have time to drink coffee with our peers.”
“By the way, how’s ENT going?”
At Tae-su’s question, Seo Gang-jae’s expression immediately stiffened.
“Why do they have so many issues with their noses, ears, and throats? Honestly, I can’t stand it, it’s not my type.”
“I told you it wouldn’t be easy.”
“Why didn’t you stop me when I was applying for it?”
Seo Gang-jae complained, but Tae-su didn’t respond.
“You have to experience it to understand.”
“I’ve experienced enough, my head’s pounding. I don’t even want to go back.”
“Man, what about that blind date?”
At Tae-su’s follow-up question, Seo Gang-jae immediately shook his head.
“It’s over.”
“Wasn’t it okay though?”
“Come on, we never even had time to meet, so she asked what kind of relationship we were even having. Damn. That’s when I lost it.”
“So?”
“So, I told her to live well and never contact me again if she gets sick later.”
Seo Gang-jae’s words had a touch of bitterness, and Tae-su smiled faintly.
“Love can wait until we’re Fellows. You can start dating after we’re done with that stage.”
“Fellow? Dude, by then we’ll be in our mid-thirties.”
“Didn’t you already commit to that when you put on the white coat?”
Tae-su’s question made Seo Gang-jae look at him with a bored expression.
“You’re something else.”
“Well, I’ve already chosen this path.”
“Yeah, me too. Anyway, the specialty is what matters. But we have to make money, so are you thinking of going into plastic surgery or internal medicine?”
“After 15 days without sleep, what do you think I was thinking about?”
“Right.”
Seo Gang-jae smiled wryly, and this time, Tae-su asked.
“What about you?”

“Me? I’m still thinking about it, but I’m leaning toward ophthalmology.”
“Ophthalmology?”
“They say you can make good money with LASIK or LASEK. If you specialize and work for a few years, then open your own practice, you can live decently.”
Tae-su nodded at Seo Gang-jae’s words.
“That’s not a bad idea.”
“What about you?”
“Still undecided.”
“Come on, we only have two weeks left.”
“We still have two weeks.”
Tae-su tried to take it easy.
Perhaps because of his experience with Karrene, he didn’t view thoracic surgery negatively. His first patient under his care had also been in the SICU, so he wasn’t sure if that influenced his feelings.
For the future, it was better to think rationally rather than emotionally.
Tae-su hadn’t yet stabilized emotionally and rationally, so he didn’t want to make any hasty decisions.
‘Thoracic surgery,’
Every time he thought about that term, his heart raced.
He didn’t know why.
For now, he was just postponing the decision, feeling it was too early to choose.

The next morning at 5:30 AM.
The peaceful intern duty room was suddenly filled with the loud sound of alarms.
Ding-ding!
Along with the sound, seven interns lying in bed simultaneously jumped up.
“Ugh, I’m dying.”
Shiver.
They had gotten up reflexively, but all of them still looked groggy, their eyes heavy with sleep.
But no one went back to bed.
In an hour and a half, at 7 AM, the most important part of the day was scheduled: the rounds.
To prepare for the rounds, they needed to wake up sleeping patients, check their conditions, and finish updating their charts, so the time was tight.
Since everyone was in the same situation, they just grabbed their toiletries and headed to the bathroom.
To wake themselves up, they splashed their faces with cold water and shampooed their hair, slowly clearing the fog in their eyes.
After changing into their clothes, they all put on their gowns and greeted each other.
“Good work.”
“See you later.”
After exchanging a few words, the interns left the duty room, each heading in different directions to their departments.
Tae-su and Lee Ki-jun were headed in the same direction, but there was no conversation between them.
That’s when Tae-su noticed something odd.
Jeong Min-su wasn’t there.
He thought about asking Lee Ki-jun but decided against it.
He didn’t feel like starting a conversation and getting irritated this early in the morning.
In the silence between them, Jeong Min-su suddenly appeared.
“I’m dying.”
“……”
Lee Ki-jun just glanced at him without changing his expression, but Tae-su looked at him with a puzzled face and asked,
“Where were you yesterday?”
“I got caught by the chief and ran around for a bit, then when I had a chance to rest, the ER called, and I had to rush out with Senior Lee Pil-young…”
Then, Jeong Min-su began recounting the tumultuous events of the night.
The story dragged on so long that Tae-su gave him a little comfort.
“Sounds like you really went through a lot.”
“If it wasn’t for the rounds, I’d at least have had an hour to nap.”
“Take a break after the rounds.”
“Yeah. I’d rather skip meals. Skipping food and sleeping might actually be better for my mental health.”
Listening to Jeong Min-su’s grumbling, they arrived in front of the ward’s nursing station.