Dr. Taesoo Choi

Taesu, who had fallen asleep in the early afternoon, didn’t wake up until the next morning.
The first thing Taesu felt was the sunlight shining through the window.
“Rounds!”
Whoosh!
Taesu kicked the blanket off and quickly jumped out of bed, reaching for something with his hand.
It felt empty.
The spot for his gown had always been fixed, so whenever he reached out, he would grab it.
But when his hand didn’t find the gown, he fumbled around several times in vain.
Only then did he start to regain his senses.
It took a little while for him to remember that he wasn’t in the hospital. After that brief pause, Taesu fully realized where he was.
“Ah, I’m off today.”
The sudden change in environment still hadn’t become familiar.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, he shook his head and tried to relax his body, still feeling lazy. He had slept a lot, but he still wanted to lie back down in bed.
The exhausting life of an intern.
Anyone who hasn’t experienced it can never understand.
“Ha…”
Taesu closed his eyes again.
He also remembered arriving at his married sister’s house and collapsing into a deep sleep.
As soon as he woke up, he immediately started thinking about preparing for rounds. It was a long time since he’d had a day off, and the feeling that he was still in the hospital lingered.
For a moment, Taesu found it absurd.
“Anxiety disorder?”
It was a medical term referring to anxiety disorder. It was part of the knowledge he had picked up during his psychiatry rotation before he started his ENT rotation.
Thunk.
Taesu slumped back onto the edge of the bed and sat there blankly for a moment.
For an intern, simply being awake is like a battle. Even this brief moment of rest was precious.
It was the one minute of respite he had desperately needed in the hospital.
This small moment of relaxation felt incredibly precious to him.
Could human desires really become this simple?
Lost in this thought, Taesu couldn’t help but feel a little absurd, and the corner of his mouth curved into a smile.
However, the moment of peace didn’t last long.
A creeping sense of unease started to rise.
The exhaustion of the past days, running around with barely enough time to breathe, had already been etched into his brain.
The unease that followed the brief respite was proof of that. Once his mind was awake, it was impossible to fall back asleep.
Being in this state of calm felt like it was tightening the noose around him.
To shake off the discomfort, Taesu quickly got up, opened the door, and walked into the living room.

His sister, sitting on the sofa watching TV, noticed him and hurried over, showing concern.
“Are you okay? You’re not sick, are you?”
“How long did I sleep?”
“15 hours.”
“I guess I was pretty tired.”
Taesu chuckled, but his sister looked at him with a more serious expression.
“Are you really okay? Don’t you need to go to the doctor?”
“The doctor said there’s nothing to worry about.”
Taesu made a playful gesture at himself, and his sister smiled faintly.
“Are you still a quack?”
“Well, I’m still a doctor.”
“Right. If my little brother, who’s going to become a great doctor, says it, I guess I should trust it. But are you really okay?”
“I’m fine. I’m just really hungry after all that sleep.”
Taesu subtly changed the topic, and his sister responded with a warm smile.
“Wait a bit. I’ll make you something to eat.”
“Thanks.”
Taesu returned the warm smile to his sister.

After finishing his meal, Tae-su left his house, finally heading out for a hike. His sister had been constantly asking him if he needed anything whenever she had the chance.
“Good thing I did it last.”
He had decided to spend the last three months of his one-year internship in thoracic surgery. Now, two months had passed.
He had received a lot of scolding and criticism.
The recommended 8 hours of sleep for adults?
That was out of the question.
Thoracic surgery was a battlefield 24/7.
You never knew when something might happen, so you couldn’t afford to relax even for a moment.
Thanks to that, Tae-su’s weight had dropped nearly 9 kilograms during the 2 months he spent in thoracic surgery.
Having become thinner than his ideal weight, he knew he needed to build more stamina.
It was necessary to endure in thoracic surgery.
Others would sometimes ask him,
“Doesn’t running around like that improve your stamina?”
It was utter nonsense.
Instead, it only made him weaker.
That was the difference between exercise and labor.
There was also another benefit to hiking: it was the perfect exercise to calm his messed-up biological rhythm from irregular living.
As he walked, looking at the leisurely surroundings, he had already passed the Samcheonsa ticket office.
He was now officially heading up the mountain toward Bukhansan.
“The weather is perfect!”
Although Tae-su had chosen hiking for his rare day off, he stretched out his chest in satisfaction.
Friendship was important, but now was not the time for that. He could reconnect with his friends after finishing his residency.
He still kept in touch with them occasionally through phone calls, and his friends understood.
So, Tae-su boldly continued up the mountain.

The hike had now lasted for over two hours.
“Huff. Huff.”
His breath, rising from deep within, irritated his lungs. It was a phenomenon caused by the sponge-like structure of his lungs not functioning properly, making it hard to breathe.
An intern’s brain was a collection of random knowledge.
During the internship, he moved through various departments: internal medicine, surgery, psychiatry, and so on.
With each department, he gained new experiences, which added to the knowledge he had accumulated through books.
In theory, he should have a clear understanding of the human body from head to toe.
But after all, he was human.
As the saying goes, humans are forgetful creatures, and it was inevitable that he would forget things as soon as he turned away. The only things that remained were a few key points he delved deeper into, and the knowledge gained through experience.
Once he decided on a department and began his residency, he would focus only on that field, and the knowledge learned during the internship would soon disappear, like a useless scrap of paper.
As he continued his thoughts, Tae-su found a large rock and sat down.
Looking at the sign, he saw that it was about 1 kilometer away from Buwangsa temple. The area, even though it was on the Bukhansan trail, was less crowded with hikers.
Behind him, a 5-story apartment building served as a windbreak, and the space was large enough for about ten people to rest comfortably.
More importantly, there was hardly anyone around.
It was one of the least crowded routes on the way to Bukhansan Baegundae.
“It’s still so quiet here.”
Tae-su had chosen this hiking course based on his past experiences, as he didn’t want to see many people on his day off.
Looking around, he took off his backpack.
Inside were only a sports drink, some snacks, and a first aid kit, all bought at the entrance shop. His gaze lingered on the first aid kit with a red cross, and he smiled.
“When did I pack this again?”
Was this also a side effect of his profession?
It felt a bit ridiculous.
After setting the first aid kit aside, Tae-su took out the sports drink and a few snacks. After two hours of hiking, he needed to relieve his hunger and replenish his energy.
Drinking and eating.
He kept repeating this routine.
“Ugh…”
A faint groan could be heard from somewhere.
Tae-su froze as he was about to take a sip from his drink.
There shouldn’t be any sounds like that in the mountains.
Could it be the wind?
He tried to dismiss it but still listened carefully.
There was no sound.
It must have been a hallucination.
Relieved, he continued to relax.
With advancements like satellites being launched and nanometer-level medical devices being developed, there was no reason to get tense over a trivial thought.
Just as he was about to find more peace of mind,
“Ugh… Urgh.”
He heard the strange sound again.
No, this time it wasn’t a hallucination.
It was the kind of uncomfortable sound made when someone vomits blood.
The same sound he had heard just before rushing a patient into surgery before his day off.
With a start, he sprang to his feet.

Reacting instinctively, Tae-su quickly stood up and looked around.
He still couldn’t see anything.
The sense of confusion had long since disappeared, replaced by a rising tension.
Tae-su perked up his ears, trying once more to catch the groaning sound.
Had it been ten seconds?
“Ugh…”
Once again, the groan he had been waiting for echoed through the air.
Was it from the left?
Tracing the sound’s wave, Tae-su turned his gaze.
As expected, there was nothing. The only thing in sight was a five-story-high cliff about 30 meters behind him.
But Tae-su’s body was already running toward it.
Rustle rustle!
The sound of dry leaves being crushed under his heavy steps filled the air.
It was still early spring, so the lack of lush green sprouts made it easier to keep his line of sight clear.
As Tae-su ran further, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, startled.
The first thing he noticed was the bright yellow and green hiking gear. The person wearing it was lying on the ground.
Had they fallen from the cliff?
It seemed like the most likely explanation, but the lack of visible injuries made it hard to say for sure. A closer look would be needed to assess the situation.
Instinctively, Tae-su quickly ran toward the person.