Chapter 225

Episode 225 Finishing the 3rd Year (2)

As I sat in the seat by the window, my long padded coat pressed against the cushion, making a soft, heavy rustling sound. Unzipping the coat halfway, which had been zipped all the way up to my neck, I let out a wide yawn.

Baek Eunseo (Female), sitting across from me, looked at me while holding a warm mug with both hands and asked casually, "Dr. Han, did you order?"

"Yeah. I got a grapefruit ade."

At my answer, a puff of air escaped Baek Eunseo (Female)’s mouth. "Yikes."

"Why?" What was the big deal about ordering a grapefruit ade?

Baek Eunseo (Female) pouted her lips and averted her eyes. "No. It's just… a bit unexpected."

It was understandable that she found it unexpected. My staple food inside the Emergency Room had always been dry caffeine and energy drinks. It was my daily routine to endure on-duty shifts by pouring three shots into an Americano or gulping down high-caffeine energy drinks like water.

"What did you get?"

When I asked back, she raised her mug slightly and replied, "I got a latte."

"I see…."

A latte. 'I don't know anything about it other than that it's coffee mixed with milk….'

I turned my eyes and looked out the window. The bare branches of the street trees were shaking precariously in the biting cold wind, and people dressed in thick padded coats were walking down the street in a hurry.

I looked forward again. In the Emergency Room, Baek Eunseo (Female) always ran around with her disheveled hair tied up tightly, wearing a dull scrub outfit that didn't show much even if blood splattered on it.

However, for some reason today, her hair was let down long, and she was wearing a neat, soft-colored coat that looked quite well thought out. Instead of a crumbly face without makeup, her lively cheeks felt awkward yet not bad.

A moment later, the buzzer rang, and the grapefruit ade I ordered arrived. Along with the sound of rattling ice, a short silence flowed. Baek Eunseo (Female) broke the silence first with a little bit of latte foam on her lips.

"Senior, you're becoming a 4th-year this year, aren't you?"

"Huh? That's right. Since you're becoming a 3rd-year now, too. You're a senior resident now."

The year had changed. When the 3rd year ends, I will now become the most senior resident in the Department of Emergency Medicine and a Chief, a 4th-year resident who needs to prepare for the board exam.

"Yes. That's right."

She looked quite good smiling brightly. The pride of having safely passed through the tunnel of those grueling 1st and 2nd years, where she was cursed at every day and night and ran around with a pale face whenever a patient's vitals shook, was showing on her face.

As if she felt good, she leaned her upper body slightly over the table and her eyes twinkled. "So, I am quite curious about your career path after graduation, Senior…!"

"What are you going to do by knowing that now?" I replied casually, resting my chin on my hand.

"Ah, uh, I mean, I could just be curious." Baek Eunseo (Female) rolled her eyes as if her words were blocked for a moment.

Once you get the title of an Emergency Medicine Specialist, the options diverge. Whether to stay at this dreadful university hospital as a fellow and follow the path of a staff member, or go out to earn money as an Emergency Room Section Chief at a secondary hospital in another region.

The real intention she wanted to ask was obvious. She was curious whether I would remain at this hospital next year and the year after that, and continue to work face-to-face with her.

Furthermore, I was already designated as the dedicated specialist for the medical center director's secret project and was in a situation where I was just waiting for the building to go up. 'Of course, it's not the stage to blab about that fact to other residents in the hospital yet.'

Chewing on the straw, I raised the corners of my mouth slightly toward Baek Eunseo (Female), who was avoiding my eyes here and there. "Are you that curious about where I'm going?"

Instantly, Baek Eunseo (Female)’s movement stopped completely. "Uh… no… it's not like that… uh…"

Only a short, explosive sound of unknown meaning came out of her mouth. The appearance of her smiling brightly and showing leisure about becoming a 3rd-year just a moment ago disappeared without a trace, and in an instant, her face turned bright red as if it would burst down to her neck.

'Oh boy.' I swallowed a chuckle inwardly while resting my chin on my hand. 'That one is broken.'

Baek Eunseo (Female), whose face turned red like a tomato, could not meet my eyes at all and lowered her head deeply. Her long, flowing straight hair fell down like a curtain, covering her flushed cheeks. It was quite fun to see her just clumsily fiddling with the mug filled with latte.

Stirring the ice of the grapefruit ade with a straw, I quietly looked at Baek Eunseo (Female), who had her head lowered with her hair long. "I'm going to become a professor."

"Uh… uh, yes?"

In that short instant, Baek Eunseo (Female) snapped her head up and looked at me. It seemed she had guessed beforehand that my move after getting the specialist title would be to leave for somewhere far away, not this hospital.

"Then by any chance, what about the hospital? Seoul Asan? Ohsung Seoul? Seoul National University? Hankuk University? Where are you going? Are you going straight up to Seoul to do a fellowship by any chance?"

The top-tier training hospitals that any doctor dreams of at least once. She seemed to firmly believe that if it were the crazy performance I had shown in the Emergency Room so far, it would have been enough to catch the eyes of the professors over there.

I replied indifferently, resting my chin on my hand. "But since I've definitely been trained here continuously, Busan is comfortable…"

"Ah, then are you going to Busan National University Hospital…? Or Yangsan Pusan National University Hospital…? No, even so…"

"What kind of sound is this?" I frowned at Baek Eunseo (Female)’s wrong guess, which kept moving my affiliation here and there.

"I'm going to stay at Cheongjin University."

"Yes?"

"I'm staying at Cheongjin University Hospital. I'm going to get my specialist title here and bury my bones here continuously."

"Ah, is that so? Phew…"

The expression of Baek Eunseo (Female), who had shown extreme anxiety about my whereabouts, softened as soon as the confirmation that I would stay dropped. A faint smile that could not be hidden even if she tried to hide it spread across her mouth.

'The problem is that her face is too transparent, really.' Gulping the ice of the grapefruit ade down with a straw, I clicked my tongue inwardly. It was almost at the level of walking around with what she was thinking in her mind displayed on an electric signboard.

Baek Eunseo (Female), who had ridden a roller coaster alone like that, only then started talking about the official purpose of calling me out to a cafe outside the hospital today.

"Now, look at this!" She confidently pushed her phone screen over the table.

[Notice] Cheongjin University Hospital / Cheongjin University Geoje Hospital Resident Recruitment Results Announcement

An annual event that makes the entire hospital nervous whenever winter comes with a cold wind blowing. It was the recruitment result table for the 1st-year residents for next year. I scrolled down indifferently and stopped my eyes at the row where the name of our department was written.

[Department of Emergency Medicine | TO 4]

Applicants: 4

Competition Rate: 1 to 1

"Oh, they don't show names starting from this year?" If it were like before, the list of successful applicants or applicants would have been posted plainly, but the name column was completely covered.

"Whether it's privacy protection or something… I heard that these days, they only notify the successful applicants individually and cover all the names. Anyway, we filled it all this year!"

Emotion was mixed in Baek Eunseo (Female)’s voice. 4 applicants for 4 TOs in the Department of Emergency Medicine. A competition rate of 1 to 1.

Looking from another department, it might just be a normal figure that avoided falling short, but even if it was the Department of Emergency Medicine, which was in a better situation among the avoided departments, an avoided department was an avoided department. In a local private university EM, this was a figure close to a miracle.

It was common for avoided departments to have a horrible situation where 1 or 2 people came in and they were grateful, or there were 0 applicants and a hole was made, causing the 1st and 2nd years to die out. Of course, this was more severe in Thoracic Surgery or Pediatrics, though.

Anyway, to think they filled up the quota of as many as 4 people.

"It's really been a long time. To think it's full. If so, our class will be a bit comfortable." If as many as four 1st-years who would take charge of the chores from below came in full, from my position where I had to become the highest-year resident next year, coordinate the entire Emergency Room, and devote myself to studying for the specialist exam, it was truly like gaining a thousand troops and ten thousand horses.

"Yes, it seems it will be that way anyway. If the 1st-year kids do all the miscellaneous things, I can also take a breath." Baek Eunseo (Female) also looked very pleased with the fact that she had as many as four juniors to order around next year.

But suddenly, a useless pride sprouted up in my mind. Those overwhelming performances I had shown by crossing over to other departments, turning the entire hospital upside down, and succeeding in miraculous resuscitations one after another in the Emergency Room this year. Could it be that the rumor spread like a hero story among the 4th-year medical students or interns, affecting the application rate?

"Did they apply because of me by any chance?" When I rested my chin on my hand and asked very seriously, "Hmm…."

The expression of Baek Eunseo (Female), who had been smiling brightly until just a moment ago, stiffened oddly. The spoon that was stirring the latte stopped.

"Why?"

At my brazen question, she let out a small sigh and opened her mouth. "Dr. Han. No. I'll just call you Senior in private settings. Is that okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah."

As I nodded my head blankly, the junior, Baek Eunseo (Female), drove the facts in very firmly and coldly. "That, I know very well that you are a genius, Senior, but that seems to have gone a bit too far…."

It was a bone-hitting advice to do self-objectification. It meant that no matter how outstanding a resident's skills were, there was no crazy bastard who would walk into the hell gate of the Department of Emergency Medicine, where they couldn't sleep, cleaned up patient feces and urine, and got cursed at, just by looking at one cool senior.

"Is that so? Sorry…." Feeling embarrassed, I quickly lowered my tail and apologized.

"Ah, no! It's not something to be sorry about." Baek Eunseo (Female) waved her hands hurriedly in panic.

The cute awkwardness of needing to lift me up but not being able to deny the facts hovered over the table.

To change the atmosphere, I put down the grapefruit ade glass that was becoming empty and asked, "Anyway, today you just wanted to meet, drink coffee, eat food, and just do that?"

"Ah, yes. That's right. While checking that this TO is filled, anyway. To celebrate, and also to commemorate that Senior has one year left as a specialist, let's eat something delicious in the evening…"

It was when she was stammering out the dinner plan with flushed cheeks. The air of that warm and peaceful winter cafe, where even the harsh biting cold wind sound outside felt romantic, was shattered into pieces by a horrible bursting sound from the road outside the window as tires scratched and tore the asphalt sharply.

Screeeeeeech—!

Crash-!!

A giant metallic sound hit the eardrum in succession. I looked out the window reflexively.

"Ha…" A hot sigh leaked out of my mouth naturally.

"Uh, Senior, that…" Baek Eunseo (Female), who was sitting in the front seat, also stood up from her seat with a pale face.

Roughly zipping up the long padded coat that was halfway open to the tip of my neck, I moved my steps toward the cafe door.

"I guess I really am a patient magnet. Let's go."