A six-person room in a private hospital.
Hong Jin-oh, a former military medic, was watching TV while eating dinner. The KBC 6 o’clock entertainment broadcast [Starry Starry] was on, and suddenly, his eyes widened in shock as he stared at the screen.
“Wow…! Major Kim Cheolsu is on TV…!! No way.”
“Do you know him?”
“Who, who?”
Other patients nearby asked, but Hong Jin-oh was too stunned to answer. He never imagined that Doctor Kim Cheolsu would appear on a nationwide broadcast.
His mouth hung open as he said,
“My goodness, what’s going on? The Major is on a live broadcast? Looks like it’s from Hampyeong Hospital… How did the reporters even get all the way there?”
*****
“Hello! We are from KBC’s entertainment broadcast [Starry Starry]!! Is it true that the top female idol from S.E.A, Ha Saebyeok, is currently hospitalized at Hampyeong National Military Hospital? We have received reports that she survived after undergoing surgery performed by a military hospital doctor following a traffic accident! Do you know who the surgeon was?”
Dodging the reporters’ microphones that swarmed at him like a pack, Kim Cheolsu took a step back.
He was trying to make sense of the situation.
But the reporters kept firing sharp questions at him relentlessly.
“It seems you’re a high-ranking military officer, a Major. You must know the internal details well, right? Please cooperate for the sake of the public’s right to know. If it’s difficult to answer the earlier questions, then at least tell us about your current position! This is a live broadcast. We need your prompt response. The public is waiting!”
To be honest, this wasn’t Kim Cheolsu’s first time dealing with reporters.
He wasn’t called ‘S University’s Mad Dog’ for nothing. It was the reporters who had given him that nickname.
Most surgeries he performed before re-enlisting at S University had been either very difficult cases or involved high-profile patients. Naturally, reporters always swarmed around him, and he found them very annoying.
And today was no different.
At a time when he should have been conserving energy to tend to patients tomorrow, he was caught up in this nuisance.
Kim Cheolsu had absolutely no interest in the fact that this was live on TV. He was simply irritated that his personal time to relax with the villagers had been taken away.
He regarded the reporters as unwelcome pests chasing after trivial gossip.
“Whether it’s an S.E.A idol or anyone else, from a doctor’s perspective, they’re all just patients. This is an important facility for treating military patients. This is not a place where reporters from Seoul can come and make a fuss. Please leave Hampyeong immediately.”
“W-What?! Who do you think you are? How dare you ignore reporters and the broadcast station? Don’t you know this is live on air?!”
“Yeah, yeah! Who do you think you are to be so arrogant? Are you a hospital doctor here or something? Stop pretending you care about patients.”
Kim Cheolsu, well aware of the journalists’ predatory nature — always poking around like hyenas until they score an exclusive — disliked them immensely.
“What’s your position? What do you do? If you’re not connected to Ha Saebyeok from S.E.A, then just get lost.”
“Get lost! Ugh!”
Their tone was far below professional reporter standards.
They were abusing their position despite the live broadcast.
Kim Cheolsu’s irritation only grew as he remembered the trashy reporters he had dealt with back when he was a doctor at S University.
“Fine. I’ll leave as you wish. Move aside!”
He roughly pushed through the shorter reporters with his hand and cleared a path.
The reporters, clearly not expecting such a reaction on live broadcast, looked stunned.
“W-Wait… we’re live on air right now! Are you really going to be this rude and just leave? At least say something about S.E.A before you go. You must know something, right?”
One reporter, braving Kim Cheolsu’s cold gaze, made a request.
But Kim Cheolsu responded with a frosty look.
“I cannot say a single word about military secrets. And if she is indeed hospitalized here, that means she’s a patient of this hospital. Don’t you know doctors can’t disclose patient privacy? Instead of bothering so many people here, everyone should just go home and rest.”
“You… that’s too harsh. We’re here for the public’s right to know…”
“Right to know? I don’t understand why the public’s right to know only applies to celebrities. Hey, this is a military hospital! Do you know how many soldiers with complicated conditions are here? Why don’t you show some concern for their human rights and treatment? Stop just following behind famous people.”
“…”
The reporters were left speechless after the harsh rebuke. Now that they thought about it, this was a military hospital, filled with soldiers in difficult situations.
Although they had come following Ha Saebyeok, they realized they had been in the wrong.
“Yeah, you’re right. Exclusives are good and all, but let’s keep it quiet today. Next time, maybe we should cover patients at military hospitals.”
“I never thought about the patients inside the hospital. Silly to have turned on live broadcast… Let’s just end the broadcast for now.”
Seeing the situation calm down somewhat, Kim Cheolsu turned his back coldly and headed toward the village.
It seemed complicated, but he wasn’t curious.
-Whirr… whirr…
He calmed his mood again and took in the warm summer countryside atmosphere.
Though sweat dripped as he walked, summer in the countryside was special.
If you listened carefully, you could hear cicadas and green frogs crying,
and all around, the vitality of living creatures was palpable.
-Tap tap… tap tap…
Suddenly, footsteps sounded nearby, and Kim Cheolsu turned his head.
A deer…! Astonishingly, it was a deer.
A small deer peeked out from the dense bushes, watching him.
Kim Cheolsu felt more tense than when facing the numerous reporters just moments ago.
He worried it might attack him.
But the deer tilted its head and stared at him intently.
Apparently, it was also curious about a face it had never seen in this neighborhood.
“Ha ha, looks like a gentle one.”
His tension eased a little, and Kim Cheolsu slowly approached the deer, stepping carefully through the grass.
The mystique of a wild animal he would never see in Seoul drew his heart.
When he got close enough, he stroked the soft fur on the deer’s back with the broad palm of his hand.
The texture was smoother than silk, warmer than a blanket, gliding over his fingertips.
-Tap tap tap-
“Ah, leaving already?”
Leaving a deep regret behind, the deer ran away. Or rather, from a human perspective, it ran away.
Perhaps it had simply lost interest in the new human and was going its own way.
“Hoo.”
Unable to forget the mysterious moment when their eyes met, Kim Cheolsu gazed at the patch of bushes where the deer had disappeared.
There truly was nothing missing from the mountains.
Just as the legendary old man had said in the potato field, to meet a deer like this was incredible…!!
Kim Cheolsu’s whole body trembled.
“But wasn’t there supposed to be a tiger in these mountains? I hope the deer don’t get hurt…”
It was natural for a tiger to prey on deer, but he couldn’t help worrying.
Hoping such misfortune wouldn’t occur, Kim Cheolsu started walking again.
-Step step-
-Step step-
-Step step…
Walking alone on the quiet country road, he thought about how many wonders Hampyeong truly held.
A pocket watch found in the haunted house.
Orthopedic knowledge that had entered his mind.
Kind villagers.
Beautiful crape myrtles and majestic mountain wildlife.
There were still so many things unknown, but he didn’t want to know them all at once.
He was confident that, as a doctor treating patients, he would gradually come to understand everything.
Slowly returning to the village, Kim Cheolsu had a delicious meal with everyone at the village chief’s house, then went back to the haunted house to sleep.
*****
Before waking in the morning, he had a dream.
It was the first dream in a long time.
This time, it was unusual — the protagonist wasn’t the older Kim Cheolsu.
Rather, it felt like he was possessed by a Kim Cheolsu who looked similar to his current self.
In the dream, he was in the haunted house — his own room.
What was going on…?
Startled, he looked at the calendar on the wall and saw the date: July 15, 2001.
“Doctor! Turn on the radio at once! Hurry!! There’s been an accident in Seoul! A huge accident!!”
He saw the village chief running and shouting urgently beyond the gate of his house.
Panicked, he turned on the radio, and dreadful news came through.
“Seoul Subway Line 7, Express Bus Terminal Station has been flooded due to heavy rain… There are many casualties. All emergency rooms in private hospitals in Seoul are full, and government authorities have urgently requested the National Military Capital Hospital to accept civilian emergency patients…”
-Snap!
At that moment, the vision abruptly cut out like the power went off, and he woke up.
Kim Cheolsu panted and murmured,
“Hah…! Hah…! What… what was that? Did I just see the future? But that’s impossible. How could such a thing happen?”
The situation was completely different from the dream he had of the older Kim Cheolsu.
This was an imminent future.
The same old calendar he had seen in the dream was hanging on his wall right now.
Kim Cheolsu rushed forward, breathing heavily, and circled a date with his pen.
“July 9th. Today is July 9th. But in the dream, the accident happened on July 15th. Only six days left. Not even a week. Could it really be that the Express Bus Terminal Station in Seoul will be flooded, causing many casualties? I can’t believe it.”
His trembling eyes took out the pocket watch.
7:20 a.m.
He woke up earlier than usual. The dream’s content had been too shocking.
A subway accident with countless casualties in Seoul — surely many would die.
If it were true, it had to be prevented. By any means…!
Seoul, the capital of South Korea, was now buzzing with excitement ahead of the World Cup.
New stadiums were being built all over, and the entire city was vibrant.
So it was understandable that disaster prevention had been neglected, leading to such an accident in the near future.
When people get overly excited, mistakes are bound to happen.
But still… he could hardly believe this dream would become reality.
“Am I going crazy? Is it because of the mysterious pocket watch from the haunted house?”
He had no one to tell.
If he said he saw the future in a dream, no one would believe him.
After a moment’s hesitation, he recalled what the singer Ha Saebyeok had said about Seoul not long ago.
She had asked him to treat an entertainer patient in Seoul. At the time, he had said he’d think about it, but now his mind had changed.
With a serious expression, Kim Cheolsu sighed deeply.
“Hoo…”
He looked down at the mysterious pocket watch made of gold and said,
“July 15th is a Sunday, a day off from hospital duties. Just in case… I’ll go to Seoul myself that day.”
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