Chapter 98: Proving the process with results(1)

《Reference for the Press Release by the Ministry of  Health and Welfare》

□ Ministers from all over the world gather to discuss achieving universal health care!

□ Minister of Health and Welfare Kim Jin-hoo announced that he will attend the G20 joint meeting to be held in Shanghai, China on February 15th.

*With the launch of the G20 Summit to overcome the global financial crisis in 2008 and the growing importance of the health agenda, China, the chairman country, will form the largest joint meeting for cooperation between health and financial authorities this year.

□ The meeting will actively discuss ways to overcome the problem of resistance to antibiotics and the new Agenda in the global disease sector covered at the WHO General Assembly.

(Omitted)

※The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it is considering adding professional medical attendants to the delegation's members due to concerns over Minister Kim Jin-hoo's chronic disease.

In addition to one from internal medicine, one from Neurosurgery…….

* * *

First day of the Lunar New Year’s.

Dowook woke up after a night of deep sleep and looked at the clock. It was still 7 AM. He’d only slept one hour more than usual. He thought that habits really were scary, then he turned around and fell asleep again.

“Uugghh~”

Feeling like he’d slept enough, he stretched and opened his eyes to look at the time.

7:30 AM.

“Damn.”

People who usually had vacations were the only ones who knew how to enjoy it..

He was supposed to meet Lim So Yool around lunch so there was still plenty of time.

When he opened the door and came out, the sharehouse looked empty. Either they were at the hospital working or had gone home for the holidays. So no one else was off-duty in the house where 10 doctors lived.

‘Is Chang Soo still on duty?’

He banged on the door next to his but there was no reaction.

Dowook went down to the kitchen on the first floor, poured some cereal into a bowl and sat at the table. He poured some milk into his bowl and looked through his phone while scooping some cereal into his mouth.

He saw a new text.

[Son. This father of yours isn’t feeling quite good this morning. Since you have three days of break, shouldn’t you be the one to come home?]

It was a message from his father, Park Mu Jin. Dowook typed a reply with one hand.

[I have too many ICU patients so I can’t leave Seoul. Once you come, I’ll give you an allowance that’s  ₩200,000 more than what I gave during Chuseok without letting Mom know.]

As he took one more scoop of cereal, a reply arrived right away.

[Thanks!! See you tomorrow. Love you!]

Financial therapy complete.

As he scooped out a third  spoon of cereal, his phone suddenly rang. It was Seong Chang Soo who was on duty at the emergency center for two days in a row, now in preparation for a holiday.

“Yeah, why?”

-It was too much of a hell last night. People should really stop dragging their healthy parents to the hospital to show their filial piety during the holidays.

“If you’re just going to complain, I’m hanging up.”

-Let’s have breakfast together before I go down to Gwangju. A hot bowl of gukbap. [T/N: gukbap is bone soup with rice usually with different toppings like meat.]

Dowook turned to the cereal he was eating habitually and placed down his spoon.

“You pay.”

-Who are you trying to fleece? I paid a lot to get rid of my debts for the new year.

“Did you? When are you getting off?”

-There’s a lot of patients so it will probably take one more hour.

“Let’s meet at the entrance then.”

Dowook stood up right away. It was too wasteful to do the same things as usual when it was a holiday. He should at least do things like this.

Changing into casual clothes and putting on a jacket, Dowook went out of the house. He looked at the empty roads and took out his phone on a sudden thought.

The statistics Lim So Yool sent last night.

[Passion: 13.2%]

[Romance: 9.4%]

[Spontaneity: 7.5%]

…

She said she wanted to try one of the dating types chosen by a sample group of 1,004 lovers surveyed by a magazine.

For her, who only knew the literal meaning of the words but was insensitive to how they actually made her feel, perhaps this was a way of creating a new formula.

Dowook had expected that things would be unpredictable so while he looked forward to it, he was also worried. Because the answer at the end of this calculation was not necessarily one that ended in a permanent formula.

He decided to just treat everything with his honest feelings so he looked through the keywords with a calm mind.

‘A passionate date, huh? This would be hard for me too. I’ve never done it before. Romantic, spontaneous, fresh, dedicated, silly? What kind of date is silly?’

Dowook stood at the crossing and paused when he saw a person running swiftly on the opposite side of the road.

A white scarf and an expensive-looking coat. It was a very familiar back.

‘Director Lim?’

When he turned to look again, he noticed that it was really Lim So Yool. She was running quickly as if something was chasing after her.

When she had gone quite far from the hospital, two men in suits were seen chasing after her with their eyes fixed in the direction Lim So Yool had disappeared into.

“Huh?”

It looked like she was being chased. As soon as the lights changed, Dowook ran after them.

“Haa. Haa.”

Lim So Yool panted heavily as she leaned against a wall in an alley. She peeked out to the main road to see if anyone was following and hid once more.

She didn’t think that woman would come looking for her at the hospital.

She didn’t have time to respond since she deliberately gave Secretary Ok a day off since she was going on a date with Dowook. She had no choice but to run out.

Since that woman was always busy, as long as she could remain hidden for an hour, she would leave, but Lim So Yool didn’t let her guard down as she took out her phone.

She was going to contact her sister but her phone rang first. Seeing that the caller was Park Dowook, Lim So Yool answered with a surprised expression.

“Dr. Park?”

-I just saw you at the pedestrian lane a moment ago. Where are you going? You run faster than I thought you would. I can’t see you anywhere.

With wide eyes, Lim So Yool asked in a soft voice.

“You saw me?”

-The two men who seem to be looking for you are also near me. Are they people you shouldn’t be meeting by any chance?

“They’re that woman’s personal secretaries.”

She didn’t tell Dowook who that woman was, but she’d once revealed that she hated her very much. That was probably why she heard him say.

-The alleys around the hospital are more complicated than it seems since this is a pretty old neighborhood. If you see a big Internet cafe nearby, there’s a laundromat close to it. The alley right next to it is one that even people who live here don’t know very well…

Dowook gave her directions and informed her where they could meet up. Lim So Yool listened carefully as she walked.

A moment later.

Lim So Yool stood in front of a closed supermarket and smiled brightly when she saw Dowook come up from the other side of the road. Dowook ran over while breathing heavily as he said with a happy expression.

“I made sure the two men were headed the opposite direction before coming here.

“Thank you.”

“You managed to escape pretty well even without me though.”

Looking at Dowook with a bright expression, Lim So Yool suddenly looked sad.

“I’m sorry it started like this.”

“Start what?”

“Our first date.”

“Oh.”

Dowook recalled one of the several keywords from a while ago.

“From the list yesterday, I thought that looked interesting.”

“Which one?”

“Silly. Right now we both seem that way, don’t we?”

It was chosen by a mere 2.7% but he thought it would be nice on a day like this for some reason.

“Shall we go somewhere else? We have to go up this hill if we want to go to the downtown area.”

Dowook, who led the way, spoke in a light tone as he looked at Lim So Yool’s appearance.

“You were still able to wear appropriate clothes. If I knew we’d meet this early, I would have dressed up.”

“You said this coat looked good on me so I tried it on.”

Her usual unpretentious words sounded different now that they had agreed to date.

Dowook quietly walked beside her wondering whether she knew how flustered her words sometimes made him and also whether that was her real intention.

“You look very beautiful. Like that time.”

Lim So Yool smiled beautifully and looked at Dowook’s arm. Then, she wrapped her arms around it.

Surprised by the sudden warmth around his arm, Dowook looked at Lim So Yool. Looking up at him from a very close distance, she said.

“The magazine said that doing this would make you feel good..”

“So what do you think?”

“I’m not sure. If I feel good because of this or because I like you.”

A sweet scent floated up from her. It seemed like she drank that tea when she woke up.

Once again, her words made his heart beat faster. Dowook had trouble meeting her frank gaze. How was she so good at making his heart skip a beat?

Maybe the one who was new to dating was him and not her.

A path, they walked in whatever direction they felt like going.

Dowook looked at Lim So Yool with serious eyes and asked something that he intentionally tried to not ask about before.

“About that woman the director doesn’t like.”

He felt a tremor from her hand which was wrapped around his left arm.

“Is she someone who will continue to make things difficult for the director?”

“As long as I’m in Korea, probably.”

Seeing as how Lim So Yool always drew a sharp line in her interactions with other hospital personnel, there was a large possibility that it was a very close acquaintance. For example, her mother.

There was no wound deeper than one created by the family.

Dowook didn’t ask any more and said.

“Just in case, I’ll tell you some good places to hide in the hospital. There are a few places I hid in when I was an intern.”

“That place is nice, and just staying beside the doctor like this is also nice.”

Dowook asked her as his heart skipped a beat.

“Is this really the first time you are dating?”

“What?”

“It’s nothing.”

Myeong Sae Hospital’s parking lot.

Sitting in a luxurious sedan, a woman wearing sunglasses lowered the document she was reading and put it to the side when her phone rang.

“Yes, Secretary Woo.”

-We did find your daughter but she is in a cafe with a man.

“A man?”

Ring.

A photo taken from afar. It was a bit blurry since it was taken with a phone but one could tell that the two in the photo were having a fun conversation.

Because it was an unexpected expression from Lim So Yool, who always put up a wall against others, she zoomed in on the man’s face. It was hard to check for sure with the photo.

-What should we do? Should I relay the director general’s wish to meet?

“No. I have to go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs soon. Let’s end things here today.”

-Understood. We’ll withdraw now.

A nametag with ‘Seo Jung-Hee, Director of the Asia-Pacific Bureau of Foreign Affairs’ inscribed on it was hanging from her neck.

“Mr. Yoon, start the car.”

At her command, the driver started the car.

After thinking for a moment, Seo Jung-Hee picked up her phone and called her eldest daughter. After a moment, it connected with an overseas network.

Click.

-Huh? A greeting in the New Year’s? This doesn’t seem like something you would do, Mom.

“I came to see So Yool.”

On the other end of the phone, Lim So-Hee remained silent.

“Are you still in America?”

-I told you to stop bothering her.

“I just came to see her face for a moment.”

-You know she would run the moment she sees you, Mom.

“She already ran.”

-It’s not like you’d suddenly want to act like a parent. If you’re trying to make use of So Yool’s abilities, the chairman of ZQ won’t remain still.

A dry emotionless smile appeared under the sunglasses.

“I need her expertise in other areas, not in the company. Something very much a matter of public interest. Would you ask her for me later?”

-No. It’s not like she listens to me.

“Then, does she listen to that guy she’s with?”

She asked in curiosity and a reaction came right away.

-When did you go over there? Please leave So Yool alone. You’re the one who threw her away back then.

“People will misunderstand if they hear you say that.”

-I’m hanging up. I’m at the airport.

“Just tell me one thing. That guy, what does he do for a living?”

-You couldn’t afford to point a finger at an underling to find out?

“Let’s just say it’s parental interest.”

She thought her daughter would simply hang up when she heard a sigh but a reply came from the other end.

-Dr. Park Dowook from Myeong Sae Hospital. He’s quite famous so you probably don’t need to investigate. It would probably not be easy to touch him from your position. He’s someone Semdeok fell for after all. Happy New Year and don’t contact me about So Yool again.

Click.

Putting the phone down, Seo Jung Hee tilted her head.

Park Dowook.

About to search the name on the Internet while wondering where she’d heard his name, her gaze fell on the documents she’d put aside a moment ago.

“Oh.”

Grabbing the documents and turning a few pages, she realized that her guess was correct.

[Minister Kim Jin-hoo’s personal doctor recommendation list]

Documents related to the G20 event from the department in charge of the diplomatic mission.

Park Dowook was someone who received a very high score in Neurosurgery among the recommended doctors.

He was removed from the list since the officials thought that the hospital was trying to help him gain some fame since he was so young.

But Lim So-Hee gave a very different analysis.

Her daughter’s perspective on people enabled her to create an excellent entertainment company that was the biggest in Asia.

Seo Jung-Hee picked up her phone and called the diplomatic mission officer and said.

“Officer, it’s me, Director Seo. about Minister Kim Jin-hoo’s doctor. Please include one of the doctors that was removed from the list. I think it was a mistake. Yes. The doctor’s name is…”

* * *

The morning he returned to work after a long holiday.

Maybe because spring was almost here but it felt a lot warmer when Dowook entered the hospital.

The three days of rest truly went by in an instant.

A date with Lim So Yool wherein they didn’t do much yet time flew by. The next day, he visited the city with his parents who came to Seoul after a long time. On the last day, his relatives who lived in Seoul and Incheon came to the sharehouse to see his parents so he’d had to run errands for them as they drank all night.

‘It seems like I’m more tired than relaxed.’

As usual, he got off the elevator and stood in the hall of the fifth floor. Then, he saw Chief Ha Sang Joong whose eyes lit up when he saw Dowook.

Ha Sang Joong pointed at Dowook, who instinctively paused and took a step back.

“Park Dowook!”