At Kim Cheol-soo’s tense question, Professor Lee spoke with eyes filled with a strange sadness and solemnity.
“The Medical School Student Representative Assembly..! Not long ago, at the Security Headquarters Interrogation Room in Galwol-dong, Yongsan-gu, Park Jong-chil, a student from S University’s Department of Korean Language, was subjected to horrific torture… and was brutally murdered by the security police. You know about that case, don’t you?”
“…Yes. I do know about it.”
Of course, Kim Cheol-soo knew all too well. Even what would happen as a result… If he got involved in this the wrong way, it could mean the end for him.
After all, their opponents were soldiers committing terrifying atrocities.
Right now, the world was one where the military ruled all. Resist, and you might not even have your bones left to collect.
Yet, as a doctor, was it right to act cowardly in the face of a person’s death? He hadn’t found an answer to that yet.
Professor Lee let out a sigh as she looked at Kim Cheol-soo, who stayed silent without saying another word, as if she understood everything.
She didn’t feel good about pushing her student into danger, but she had no one else to ask.
This was not something just anyone could do. Only those with both intelligence and courage could take part in the Medical School Student Representative Assembly.
Professor Lee Yoon-ah saw something hidden deep inside Kim Cheol-soo.
Something that could be called courage…
“Cheol-soo. It’s time for S University’s Medical School to decide its stance on that incident. That’s why the assembly is being held. It’s a place to decide whether to hide in cowardice, or to stand up bravely and fight. Each medical department professor can recommend one student representative to send to the assembly… I want to recommend you. During class today, I felt something special about you. But you could end up losing your life by getting involved. So I won’t force you… If you don’t want to go, I won’t say another word.”
“I’ll think about it.”
With a heavy heart, Kim Cheol-soo left the lecture hall.
But when he saw Yong Si-yeon waiting for him at the door, his eyes widened.
“……”
Could she have heard everything? Well, it didn’t matter. It’s not as if she’d ever act as a spy for her father, the NIS director…
She was smart, but he knew well that she wasn’t that underhanded.
-jeobeok..
-jeobeok…
He tried to just pass by her, but Yong Si-yeon grabbed his arm.
“Are you going?”
“Where?”
“Are you pretending not to know? The Medical School Student Representative Assembly. Now you can go too, since you got the professor’s recommendation, and only those recommended or on the med school council can attend.”
“Are you jealous? If you want, you can go instead. I’ll step aside.”
“…What?”
Yong Si-yeon looked quite offended. The reason she’d stuck around to overhear the conversation between the two made sense.
She wanted to keep an eye on whether Professor Lee Yoon-ah, who seemed to like Kim Cheol-soo, was going to give him any advantages.
And just as she’d suspected, the professor handed him a big opportunity.
[Medical School Student Representative Assembly]
No matter how good your grades, unless you joined the med school council or got a professor’s recommendation, you couldn’t attend this assembly.
Just being a second-year medical student and being able to attend was a great honor.
And this wasn’t just anywhere, but S University’s medical school.
Within the medical school that produced Korea’s best doctors, most decisions were made in this assembly.
Of course, the [Faculty Meeting] of professors held considerable power and kept the assembly in check…
But because of the unique nature of medical schools, the students held a lot of influence.
There were many of them, and many came from powerful families, so they practically monopolized the power.
They often leaned toward pursuing their own interests through political statements, strikes, and boycotting classes. Some even colluded with the government to secure their future careers after graduation.
In the first place, they sometimes acted as little more than lackeys of the military regime. They weren’t really students concerned with human life…
Anyway, since there was no real force in the school to keep them in check, the assembly’s actions often turned sneaky and wrongheaded.
Yong Si-yeon frowned. Even though she was pretty, Kim Cheol-soo replied with an expressionless face.
“Hoo…”
He had no intention of forming ties in this past anyway… And honestly, what could he do with the NIS director’s daughter? It’d only cause him headaches.
Besides, this regime was bound to collapse. Even if that was a long way off…
“I got the professor’s recommendation, but I haven’t decided whether I’ll go or not. As you heard, the topic of the assembly is to decide S University Medical School’s stance on the incident where Park Jong-chil, our student, was tortured and killed by the police. To be honest… I’m scared. Getting involved in things like this… It terrifies me.”
South Korea in 2001 was much more democratic than now. There was still corruption and abuses in the military, but at least the government had been installed through democratic procedure.
But… back in this era, the military regime was truly run by madmen with fists.
On top of that, Kim Cheol-soo wasn’t a lieutenant colonel yet—he was just a powerless medical student. To be honest, he was afraid.
Yong Si-yeon scoffed at his answer.
“Hoohoot- That’s not the side of you I just saw arguing with the professor! So you’re pretty scared too? How can a man be such a coward?”
“Sorry, but I don’t have the kind of backing you do. Anyway, I’ll have to think over the assembly problem. If you want to go instead, just let me know. I’m heading off.”
“Hey! Kim Cheol-soo! Hey!! Stop right there!”
Yong Si-yeon watched, frustrated, as he passed by her and walked down the hallway in the distance.
Her brown curly hair spilled over her shoulders and she was indeed very pretty, but her face was full of annoyance.
She didn’t even know why she was acting like this herself, but the reason was obvious.
She was upset that Professor Lee Yoon-ah had chosen Kim Cheol-soo and not her.
Thinking so, she muttered with a worried look.
“I wonder what decision will come out of the med school assembly. Father must be keeping a close eye on S University’s actions… I just hope this doesn’t turn into a bigger problem.”
*****
-Bbeong bbeong!!
-Kkiiiiiiik!!!!
“Whoa!! Wha… what’s happening?!”
“Sorry, sir! We’re almost in Gwangju, but a tanker truck suddenly started driving the wrong way and we almost had an accident. Are you okay?”
“…Yes. I’m fine. Hoo—back to reality again. Early autumn of 2001… What the hell is going on? Just a moment ago, I was walking down the university hall, then suddenly smoke filled the place and now I’m back here…”
Flustered, Kim Cheol-soo muttered in a flustered voice. Ha Sae-byeok placed her slender palm on his forehead.
“Do you feel a cold coming on? You don’t have a fever… Why do you keep saying weird things? Did you have a bad dream? You seemed to have been sleeping very deeply…”
“…Yes. Well… whatever it was, dream or not.”
Kim Cheol-soo, who had been quite startled, blushed at the sensation of her hand on his forehead.
Yong Si-yeon was certainly beautiful, but there was something uniquely captivating about a top star.
His heart thumped at the warmth of her palm touching his forehead, and he gently moved her hand away.
“I’m fine now. Are we almost there?”
“Of course. But it’s still early in the day, so there’s lots of time before the baseball game, right? What time does the game start?”
“It starts at 6. Right now it’s 3 PM. I’m feeling a bit hungry—should we eat something? How about you? Are you hungry, Sae-byeok?”
“Yes! I’m hungry too. Let’s go grab something to eat at Mudeung Market just ahead.”
“Sounds good. I love looking around markets.”
After parking in front of Mudeung Market a little while later, Kim Cheol-soo sighed.
Just in case, he bought a newspaper from a stall and read it.
September 2, 2001..! The date was spot-on.
It was definitely the present he’d been living in. Then what was that, just now—being back in that plastic surgery lecture in 1987?
Thanks to that, he’d had some deeper thoughts about the cleft lip surgery he’d be performing soon… But anyway, he still didn’t quite understand what was going on.
What on earth was that? Why had he gone back to the past again?
And this time, he’d stayed there quite a while. What if, one day, he couldn’t come back to the present?
That would be a disaster. If that happened, he’d lose everything he had now.
He’d once said, even if he lost what he had now, he’d go through with this surgery.
But now… Kim Cheol-soo didn’t know what he would do if faced with a situation like this.
What he had now felt too precious to let go.
“Welcome! Sir! Come on! We’ve got hotteok and fresh tteok! Wow—they all look so delicious! I’m so happy. This is really my first time visiting a place like this!!”
Already, Ha Sae-byeok had jumped into the market, hopping around and smiling, and… he’d made so many precious people like her.
He never could have come this far without the help of such people.
Just imagining losing all those wonderful people in a single moment gave him goosebumps.
“Pocket watch… What are you, really?”
Kim Cheol-soo pulled out the pocket watch with the broken minute hand.
When he first found the pocket watch under the jujube tree in front of his house, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
He’d learned orthopedic knowledge from the Kim Cheol-soo of the future and treated so many new patients—things were good.
But that was when all the problems began..!
The shooting incident aboard the Navy ship. Back then, in the shaking helicopter, the minute hand broke off the pocket watch and he was suddenly sent back in time.
And now, for a second time, he’d returned to the past..!! Kim Cheol-soo was becoming more and more afraid. He worried about how his changes to the past might affect reality.
If he made a mistake and changed the future for the worse, he’d never be able to bear it.
It would be a disaster for everyone.
Kim Cheol-soo spoke to Ha Sae-byeok.
“Take a look around the market first. I’ll just make a quick call and catch up.”
“Okay! Take your time! This tteokkochi is so good—the flavor of the sauce is amazing! Ma’am, what’s in this sauce?”
“Hmm? That? It’s simple… just gochujang and a little sugar…”
True to her image as a top star, Ha Sae-byeok easily befriended the market ajumma and was learning cooking recipes.
After his call, he wanted to eat something delicious with her. He was hungry, too… What should they eat?
There were so many delicious foods in the market that just thinking about it made him happy.
Watching her cheerful figure, Kim Cheol-soo smiled for a moment, then suddenly put on a serious expression and dialed a number.
There was something he had to check right now, no matter what.
-ddareureung…
-ddareureung…!
After a moment, someone elderly answered the call.
“Hello?”
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