When the second daughter, Sorin, who had come to Seoul from Jeju Island, followed me to the front of the apartment entrance and said goodbye, Eom climbed into the elevator, showing his unique gentle smile.

It’s only for a short visit, but as I moved by taxi and looked at downtown Seoul, it was not strange to feel somewhat strange, as if walking the streets of the past again.

Someone I must meet someday.

Somehow, Professor Eom, who knew that, contacted him, and Eom, who made an appointment, found a high-class Chinese restaurant in Cheongdam-dong.

Although the high ceiling of the hall was amazing, the private room here exuded luxury that was hard to feel even in a deluxe hotel.

“Oh, come on! Welcome, Professor Eom!”

As Professor Eom entered the large room, Yang Chansoo, who used to be a surgeon in the same department long ago, got up from his seat and greeted him warmly.

Now, whether it was because he followed in his father’s footsteps or became the director of that university hospital, compared to the past when he was always struggling in front of the surgical ward, his words and attitude were much more dignified.

“It’s still daytime, but don’t we need a drink?”

Pouring a drink into the glass he had prepared in advance, Yang Chansoo said.

“You left Korea as if you wouldn’t come back. But how glad I was to hear that you suddenly came into Korea. Anyway, how many years has it been?”

“That’s right, I guess so.”
Eunhyuk’s tone, known for its gentle disposition, was quite firm compared to the past. Yang Chansoo, who couldn’t help but be taken aback, awkwardly forced a smile and raised his glass.

“We have a lot to talk about, but let’s have a drink first.”

“Well, I don’t think it’s alcohol.”

However, Eunhyuk pushed the glass to the end of the table. At the same time, he inquired with a strong gaze.

“I didn’t come out here to drink. You should know better than anyone, right?”

“!”

Yang Chansoo’s gaze, which had hastily shifted, creaked without focus.

It happened ten years ago. A middle-aged man involved in a traffic accident was brought to the emergency room as a dead body. It turned out he was a promising businessman, and the hospital doctors, as if they had made a promise, treated the man, who was already treated as a dead person, as if he were dead.

Unable to understand their strange behavior, Eunhyuk, who saved the businessman’s life through surgery, eventually brought him back to life. If you’re a doctor, even if there’s only a 1% chance, you have to take it.

However, during the surgery, Eunhyuk noticed a strange situation.

An intestinal rupture due to severe beating, not a traffic accident.

When Eunhyuk, who couldn’t cover up the truth, made it an issue and came out, one day Professor Eom’s clinic was closed, and even the already scheduled surgery was delegated to another doctor without any explanation.

In other words, despite outstanding surgical skills, Eunhyuk was expelled from the university hospital.

The sudden incident was not the only thing. The businessman Eunhyuk barely saved disappeared without a trace from the intensive care unit, and there was no way to know whether he was alive or dead.

If Professor Eom still has the medical records from that time, and if he brings up that matter again, not only the hospital director but also everyone involved in that absurd incident will be in serious trouble.

Feeling uncomfortable about that point, Yang Chansoo hastily called Professor Eom. Confirming that his guess was not wrong in this place, he stumbled more in anxiety.

“Well, you still about that incident…”

“That’s right. As someone with a hospital director as a father, you should know well. It’s been quite a while now, so how about telling me about the situation at that time?”

“This guy, he’s quite persistent. When the hell did that happen…”

Yang Chansoo emptied his glass alone and poured more into the empty glass. It was a moment to give himself time to erase the confusion.

With the intricate relationship between the business and medical worlds, withdrawing one’s foot was not such a simple matter. Moreover, the pressure from the blood relation, the person who took away a colleague doctor’s honor and exchanged it for money, was his own father. The pressure caused by that blood relationship somewhat made Yang Chansoo’s speech more guarded.

“So, do you want to know the details of the unfair treatment you received at that time?”

“I need to know even the life and death of that patient.”

“Sigh…”

Covering the beginning of his words with a long sigh, his response was exactly as Eunhyuk had expected.
“How would I know that? I must have touched on something very wrong. What can’t I do for you? But it’s such an old story that even the hospital has no records. If, by any chance, you have those records, it might be possible, but it’s impossible to dig them up again.”

Yang Chansoo, who sold even a bit of his conscience, gradually became more gloomy. While spitting on that expression might have been appropriate, Eunhyuk instead lightly laughed, steering the conversation in a different direction.