Chapter 45: Raising the Difficulty Level, I

“Huh.”

On Monday morning, Lee Hyunjong, the director of the hospital, received a notepad from his primary physician, Suhyuk Shin, who had been appointed this month. As he read it, he raised an eyebrow in surprise. Contrary to his expectation that all students would have died, one student survived. Her name was Woo Hayoon.

“Did her father see this?”

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have solved it. Initially, the problem wasn’t intended to be solved by any student.

‘I didn’t expect only Hayoon to solve it.’

[I also struggled with this question. It is impossible for a student to solve it.]

‘Won’t it cause unnecessary complications?’

[Perhaps.]

While Suhyuk and Baruda were discussing various matters, Lee Hyunjong called Professor Woo Changyun.

It seemed Professor Woo wasn’t at the outpatient clinic yet due to the early hour.

“Yes, Dr. Lee Hyunjong.”

He promptly answered the phone call. As someone considered a genius, Lee Hyunjong didn’t mince his words.

“Hey, did you help Woo Hayoon with her homework?”

“Huh?” Naturally, Professor Woo Changyun was puzzled by this question.

However, Lee Hyunjong had already made up his mind, so he continued without hesitation.

“Dude, you helped her out. It’s almost certain that Woo Hayoon will graduate top of her class anyway. Why bother denying it?”

“What? No… What do you mean…?”

“The current PBL problem. Didn’t you solve it for her?”

“What… Ah, the…dress?”

“Yes! That!”

“Nope. Why would I help him with that?”

“Really?”

Lee Hyunjong wondered if this bastard was lying. However, he didn’t think Woo Changyun was meticulous enough to fabricate such a story. Rather, Changyun seemed rather careless. If Changyun was lying, Lee Hyunjong probably would’ve caught him by now. No, Changyun likely never intended to check his daughter’s homework in the first place.

“But how did she get it right?”

“She got it right? Wow, Hayoon is amazing. Did you study really hard for this?”

“It isn’t something you can solve through studying.”

Director Lee Hyunjong should have been preparing for his morning lecture at this moment.

Today’s lecture topic was ‘Patients can’t be saved by just studying at your desk’. The plan was to explain why they couldn’t save this patient. Yet he got it right. I felt troubled.

“Ah, correct.” After frowning for a while, Professor Woo Changyun spoke with a tone that indicated he remembered something. “What? Did you tell him?”

“No, no.”

“Then what? Want to play golf? You always cheat when we play together.”

“No, no. No sir. Is it about Hyuntae?”

“What is it?”

“Well… Hayoon this weekend… Ah, I didn’t want to talk about this. Never mind. It’s okay.”

Normally, cutting off the conversation like this would drive the listener crazy with curiosity.

People like Lee Hyunjong, who couldn’t stand being curious, were driven crazy by this tactic.

“Hey! Don’t hang up! If you do, I’ll kill you!”

“No… No, it’s fine. Forget about it.”

“What the hell?”

“Well…promise not to get angry. Then, I will tell you.”

“W-What did she do that makes you say such things?”

“I will only tell you if you promise.”

Professor Lee Hyunjong stared at his phone as if wondering whether Woo Changyun had gone insane. He couldn’t even begin to guess what Hayoon might have done.

Isn’t this something that would make anyone furious?

However, he was too intrigued to end the call now. It felt like he’d be plagued with curiosity otherwise.

“Fine. I won’t get mad. Promise.”

Director Lee Hyunjong closed his eyes tightly and nodded. Woo Changyun found it hard to believe and sought confirmation again.

“Really?”

“I told you already. I’ll die if we hang up now.”

“Yes, sir. Actually, Hayoon met with Suhyuk over the weekend. You know, Lee Suhyuk.”

At the mention of Suhyuk’s name, Lee Hyunjong exploded. Recently, he had been investing considerable effort into courting Lee Suhyuk.

“Hey, you son of a bitch!”

“Huh, didn’t you say you wouldn’t get angry?”

“Do you think I’m not upset? Is this some honey trap or what?! Why would you meet another hospital’s promising talent?!”

“Oh… Not a honey trap at all. It’s just that Hayoon sees him often.”

“Then what is it?!”

“Well…” Once they became closer, Woo Changyun planned to personally approach Suhyuk himself.

Lee Hyunjong wanted to discuss various details such as hospital welfare, professor’s salary etc with Suhyuk. However, based on the current atmosphere, it seemed like Lee Suhyuk would immediately visit if he mentioned these topics.

“I just wish Hayuni could become an excellent internal medicine doctor like Lee Suhyuk. There is nothing more than that.”

“Hmm… It still sounds suspicious…”

“No, no. Really, there is nothing else.”

“But what does this have to do with seeing him over the weekend?”

“Well…Hayuni showed her research pad to Suhyuk. Although she has only been working for one year, considering it was Suhyuk, I thought something might have happened.”

“What?” Lee Hyunjong looked ahead with a stunned expression. Instead of empty space, Lee Suhyuk appeared in front of his desk.

In other words, he had to face Lee Suhyuk now.

“Did…did you solve this?”

“Huh? You’re with him? Then please ask how he is doing.”

“You shut up. No, hang up.”

“Hey, Suhyuk. It’s me Ha…”

Lee Hyunjong cut off Professor Woo Changyun before he could finish and looked back at Suhyuk again.

“Did you solve it?”

He tapped on Woo Hayoon’s tablet. For a moment, Suhyuk pondered how to respond. On the contrary, Baruda seemed unconcerned.

[What are you hesitating for? Lee Hyunjong will definitely praise you.]

‘But he seems quite troubled?’

[That doesn’t matter. Separately, there is the misconception that Suhyuk is exceptional.]

‘A misconception?’

[Ah, this time, you were truly excellent. I apologize for my earlier statement.]

‘Hmm…’

Suhyuk remained troubled, but he didn’t have any other choice. As a first-year intern, he couldn’t dare to lie to the director.

“Yes, I solved it. Apologies, as it was someone else’s assignment…”

“How? How did you solve it?”

“Pardon me?”

“This… It seems like a trap. Moreover, such inflammation progressing from a dress is genuinely rare. Did you guess correctly by chance?”

“Ah… No, not at all. What I did was…”

Suhyuk methodically explained why he suspected the dress and which tests and treatments he chose to investigate safely.

“Ah.”

“Hmm.”

“Oh.”

Director Lee Hyunjong responded with various expressions of admiration as Suhyuk spoke. When Suhyuk reached his conclusion, Lee Hyunjong applauded.

“Well done. Yes, that…is almost standard procedure. Hmm.” A hint of regret appeared on his face.

In truth, the case forming the basis for this question was one he had encountered at Taehwa Medical Center’s Internal Medicine Department.

‘It was from a mortality conference.’

A mortality conference is held when a patient dies due to a treatable condition. Director Lee Hyunjong created this question based on the case to prevent such occurrences in the future. And now, Suhyuk had correctly answered it.

For a first-year resident…

‘If Lee Suhyuk was present then, this patient might have survived.’

Naturally, there was regret, but more importantly, Dr. Choi felt immense pride towards Suhyuk.

“Hey, Suhyuk.”

“Yes?”

“You don’t have anything scheduled for this morning, right?”

“Oh…I was instructed to assist with consultations if I had free time.”

“With whom?”

“With Dr. Kim Insoo.”

Recently, among the residents rotating through various cooperation schedules, Lee Suhyuk was considered a blue-chip asset. His ability to quickly and accurately assess patients made him highly sought after. As a first-year resident, Suhyuk found it hard to refuse their requests, especially since many of these consultation cases were quite intriguing.

“Don’t go.”

However, everything changed with the director’s order.

“Yes, I will do as you say.” As Suhyuk replied, he sent a text message.

The Director has asked me to handle another matter instead of going to Cooperation this morning. Sorry.

Rumors were already swirling around Lee Suhyuk such as ‘He is the hidden son of the director’ or ‘No, he just received favor like dirt’. With the excuse of the director, who could question him? Kim Insoo was no exception.

<K, okay. Understood.>

Naturally, that was all the response Suhyuk received.

With his morning schedule now free, the director continued speaking to Suhyuk.

“Let’s attend class together.”

“Huh?”

“You ruined my class. Take responsibility.”

“Excuse me…? Responsibility… how…?” Suhyuk looked at Lee Hyunjong with confusion on his face.

Lee Hyunjong patted Suhyuk’s shoulder.

“No need to be so serious. Just create a case for Problem-Based Learning within ten minutes or so.”

“Eh…a case?”

Suhyuk inadvertently glanced at the clock behind him.

The director’s lecture was scheduled for third period, which meant it would start at half past ten. It was currently eight o’clock, leaving Suhyuk with a maximum of two hours, excluding travel time.

“Yes, a cardiology case. It can be quite simple. Regardless, even if you make it easy, those students will likely get it wrong anyway.”

If I thought about it, this task was absurd. Solving and creating problems were completely different dimensions. Moreover, he only had two hours to create them. It made me wonder if Baruda was crazy.

[Suhyuk. This is an opportunity. Accept it.]

‘What…what should I accept?’

[Why would I teach you, a resident?]

‘Because I messed up the lecture.’

[No, no. Isn’t lecturing something doctors do throughout their lives? Only professors give lectures.]

‘T-Then… Could it be…?’

[Exactly.]

Listening to Baruda’s words, it started making sense. The idea that giving a lecture could be another test emerged.

‘But is it possible?’

[Suhyuk. We have collected quite a lot of data until now. There are endless case reports.]

‘Ah… I see.’

For others, they would need to deliberate extensively even for blood test results, let alone ECGs. However, Suhyuk was different since Baruda had meticulously documented all the data. All he needed to do was print out the information and compile it.

“I understand. I will give it a try.”

Lee Hyunjong chuckled as Suhyuk appeared more confident than he anticipated.

“Don’t overdo it. I also have backup cases.”

“Yes, Dr. Choi. I won’t disappoint you!”

“No…I said don’t overdo it.”

“I’ll do my best!”