Chapter 1 – 1952, Going to the UN Field Hospital (1)

Professor Han Seung-won’s office at Korea University Hospital.

“Professor, it’s Kim Ji-hyuk.”

“Come in. Congratulations on placing first in surgery.”

“It is nothing. I was just lucky.”

“Nothing? Others struggle to get even one, but is a triple board the name of some neighborhood dog? Too much humility is pride.”

“Heh, yes. Even I think it’s quite impressive.”

“You rascal! Anyway, there are people who look at you with jealous eyes since you are already doing so well, so always watch your words and actions.”

“Yes. I will keep that in mind.”

“Well, you don’t really have to keep it in mind, just pretend to. Those people are all just petty and jealous out of their inferiority complex toward you. Wait a moment. I was just brewing some coffee, so let’s have a cup together and talk.”

Professor Han Seung-won rolled his eyes and headed toward the table with the coffee machine.

Fellow Kim Ji-hyuk of Korea University Hospital.

A genius who entered medical school three years earlier than others.

According to the board exam results released recently, he placed first nationwide in the field of general surgery.

It was his third board certification, following internal medicine and thoracic surgery.

“Yes. Thank you.”

A moment later,

“It is far too humble for treating the national top scorer in surgery. But since you probably received plenty of treatment when you placed first in internal medicine and thoracic surgery, it should be fine.”

Professor Han Seung-won brought out cookies and fruit along with steaming coffee.

“No, sir! Compared to a vending machine coffee and a Cheonhajangsa sausage, this is a feast. Besides, isn’t there a widespread rumor that your coffee is an elixir of eternal youth?”

Kim Ji-hyuk joked around.

“Think carefully. If you drink that, the operating room will become your master bedroom.”

“There is no cooler place in the summer than the operating room. That is the prime spot.”

“You rascal, what a talker. Anyway, I have already laid claim to you, so you are definitely mine.”

Although he rolled his eyes at Kim Ji-hyuk, his warm gaze did not seem so bad.

“Yes.”

“Hahaha. Good! By the way, how happy would your grandfather have been if he were alive on a day like today?”

“………”

Losing his parents in an accident when he was three years old, Ji-hyuk had been raised by his grandfather ever since.

Dr. Kim Yun-seok, who was called the father of Korean surgery.

He was Kim Ji-hyuk’s grandfather.

He was Kim Ji-hyuk’s only living relative.

Dr. Kim Yun-seok passed away at the age of ninety-three, ten days before Kim Ji-hyuk took his board exams.

Since he was someone who had been actively working for future generations despite his advanced age, his death was all the more regrettable.

The elders of the medical community who visited his wake lamented and grieved, saying that a great star of Korean medicine had fallen.

“Your grandfather, Dr. Kim Yun-seok, was a great star of our surgical community. The reason our surgery department can bloom so brilliantly now is all thanks to your grandfather, Dr. Kim Yun-seok, serving as the foundation.”

“Was Grandfather really that great?”

“Of course. He worked at the UN Field Hospital in Busan during the Korean War, and back then, even though that hospital was filled with famous medical staff from their home countries, your grandfather was absolutely flying. Ah, I can still clearly picture Dr. Kim Yun-seok running while carrying soldiers with severed arms and legs on his back in the battlefield where bullets rained down! Did they have decent surgical tools back then? Did they have medicine? Your grandfather’s medical skills were almost at the level of a god!”

Professor Han Seung-won boasted as if he had seen it himself.

“Did you see it yourself, Professor?”

“Huh? How could I? I wasn’t even born back then, so how could I see it myself? It’s just a figure of speech. Oh”

“! Come to think of it, there was one more person who was called a genius back then!”

Professor Han Seung-won scratched the back of his head, looking embarrassed.

“Who?”

“A Professor Kim Ji-hyuk… He was the best of best friends and a fierce rival of your grandfather, Dr. Kim Yun-seok. If only he hadn’t tragically passed away in an accident…”

“An accident?”

“I don’t know the details either. He was such a mysterious person. Anyway, there was someone like that. I heard he was truly amazing too…”

“Ah, I see.”

“Anyway, it’s a legend passed down through generations of seniors. I’m telling you to inherit your grandfather’s great will and become a ghost of our surgery department… That’s what I’m saying. Got it?”

“Hahaha, yes.”

“Anyway, good job on the exam, take a good rest for a few days, and come back with your batteries fully charged. Your mouth will be smelling sweet from exhaustion in the future.”

“Yes.”

“Anyway, I don’t know what those insidious folks in internal medicine might do. Those people are all talk and masters of sweet-talking. Be careful!”

“Understood.”

“Right. Then get some rest, and see you next week.”

“Yes.”

* * *

Dr. Kim Yun-seok’s house in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province.

Ji-hyuk, who received a sweet few days of vacation.

He visited his family home located in Yangpyeong.

In spring, this was a place where the sweet scent of peaches tickled the tip of the nose through delicate pink petals.

Before Kim Ji-hyuk moved to Seoul to enter medical school, this cozy two-story house preserved his childhood intact.

Kim Ji-hyuk cleaned every nook and cranny of the house, which had accumulated a thick layer of dust, and then made his way to the second floor where Dr. Kim Yun-seok’s study was located.

‘Oh man, I was a total pig. Kim Ji-hyuk, you really weren’t human back then.’

Heh heh heh, Kim Ji-hyuk chuckled as he flipped through a photo album containing pictures of his childhood.

‘What is this?’

Around the time he was sorting through the study while looking here and there, a yellowish wooden box on top of an old chest of drawers caught Kim Ji-hyuk’s eye.

Whoosh!

When he blew the dust away, a few old diaries and several letters caught Kim Ji-hyuk’s eye.

‘Heavens, is this Grandfather’s diary?’

His grandfather’s diary, which he had never seen when Dr. Kim Yun-seok was alive.

Out of curiosity, Kim Ji-hyuk opened the diary without hesitation.

[January 4, 1952.

Seongsan visited our hospital.]

‘If it is Seongsan… Dr. Jeong Ki-ryeo, the fool doctor??’

[Holding Ji-hyuk’s and my hands, he encouraged us, saying that the medical community of the Republic of Korea depends on our two hands.]

‘Kim Ji-hyuk? Is he the one Professor Han mentioned who was a genius doctor? The one who unfortunately died young… By the way, why did he die?’

Kim Ji-hyuk recalled the words his grandfather had repeated whenever he had a glass of soju during his lifetime.

—Ji-hyuk died unfairly because of me. If he hadn’t gone to that place instead of me… If he hadn’t, Ji-hyuk wouldn’t have died. May 16, 1961! I cannot forget that day when the rain poured down in torrents, Ji-hyuk!

‘What on earth happened between Grandfather and that person? If it is May 16, 1961, that is the day the May 16 military coup took place…’

After contemplating for a moment, Kim Ji-hyuk continued reading his grandfather’s diary.

[He urged us not to neglect our studies day and night for the sake of our poor thirty million compatriots.

He said that the war would surely end and its scars would be deep.

He said that countless patients would die because they had no money, and that we must ensure everyone could receive medical benefits.

To help him then.

He is a truly great person!

The words Seongsan spoke after finishing dinner on the last day!

I will engrave deep in my heart his words to become a doctor who stands constantly like a boulder on a back hill for those who die without ever seeing a doctor!]

Hmph, feeling touched, Kim Ji-hyuk let out a short sigh.

And the diary reading session continued.

Kim Ji-hyuk turned to the next page.

[February 13, 1952.

A gunshot patient visited today, and Senior Shin Jeong-eun took care of the patient.

I am truly ashamed. Despite being an anesthesiologist, her emergency treatment was far more proficient than mine, a surgeon.]

‘What? If it is Dr. Shin Jeong-eun… she is Korea’s first female anesthesiologist, isn’t she? Grandfather worked with her?’

[Even though she was an anesthesiologist, she even performed appendectomies and hernia surgeries. What on earth am I doing? Just holding a scalpel makes my hand cramp and my mind go blank.

I felt like crawling into a mouse hole. I am so envious of her, who enjoys Dr. Bower’s absolute trust, that I feel jealous. First, I must study English hard. I cannot understand what the professors are saying at all. It is difficult to maintain stability during surgery with just ethyl chloride, ether, or pentothal. Is there no better anesthetic?]

‘What? I thought his skills were at the level of a god. Hehehe, it was all a lie. You’re right, Grandfather! Ethyl chloride is highly flammable, so it’s not suitable for major surgeries!’

Kim Ji-hyuk turned the pages of Dr. Kim Yun-seok’s diary, oblivious to the passage of time.

Kim Ji-hyuk read the diary with an intrigued expression, as if he were reading a novel.

‘Let’s see, what kind of story will unfold this time?’

Kim Ji-hyuk wet his index finger with saliva and turned the page of the diary.

[November 30, 1952.

On the day a very important person visited our hospital, a young patient was rushed in.

The patient was Jang Cheol-woo, a student soldier.

I feel sorrowful and resentful.

Cheol-woo, who was at the flowering age of eighteen, died.]

‘What? Did a patient my grandfather was in charge of die?’

[Cheol-woo came to our hospital complaining of dyspnea.

Professor Bower prescribed histobulin (an allergy medication) and sent him away after hearing Cheol-woo say he usually suffered from asthma.

But in my eyes, it was definitely not simple asthma.

Even putting aside the breathing difficulty, his jugular vein was clearly distended, and his blood pressure was considerably low compared to his robust physique. And his pulse too…

However, Professor Bower ignored my words and discharged Cheol-woo.

Although there was a shortage of hospital rooms, everyone was so distracted by the preparations to receive the important guest that there was no room to care for the patient properly.

I should have held out until the end. I should have stopped it somehow.

But I did not have the strength to hold out.

It is frustrating and so frustrating!

The words of a trivial doctor from Korea, an underdeveloped country in the midst of chaos, were just an empty echo.

I will study hard and definitely pay them back!

Cheol-woo, who left with a bright smile, saying he had fully recovered thanks to me and would dedicate his body to the country.

I could only stroke Cheol-woo’s head.

Cheol-woo! Hyung is so sorry.

I will study hard so that this never happens again.

This land split in two.

This cursed land, Korea, which has become a ruin and reached a state where recovery is no longer possible.

But we will rise again.

Cheol-woo! I will do my best so that no one else dies unfairly like you!

Please rest in peace in heaven.]

Grandfather’s tear stains were scattered here and there.

‘Grandfather…….’

Dr. Kim Yun-seok, his grandfather, who was now called the father of Korean surgery and praised by all medical professionals for saving countless patients in the medical wasteland of Korea back then.

Even he had painful experiences during his residency.

‘Grandfather! Looking at the symptoms, maybe the child named Cheol-woo had a tamponade (cardiac tamponade). But since it was a poor environment back then without even cardiac ultrasound, it couldn’t be helped. Low blood pressure, jugular venous distention, pulsus paradoxus! Grandfather’s diagnosis was correct. That wasn’t your fault. It was a pain born of the era.’

Hmph, feeling regretful, Kim Ji-hyuk let out a long sigh.

Ji-hyuk, who was so absorbed in the diary that he lost track of time.

Before he knew it, the sun was setting.

‘I’m hungry.’

A moment later, Ji-hyuk stretched, went down to the first floor, and cooked ramen to eat.

‘A very important person? By the way, who came that made the hospital go into such a frenzy?’

Ji-hyuk imagined those times while lost in various thoughts.

However, yawning at the endless wave of sleepiness, he threw himself onto the sofa and fell into a deep sleep in the blink of an eye.

* * *

How long had he slept?

Clearly when he fell asleep, the sun was setting, but when he opened his eyes, the early winter sunlight was beating down harshly.

‘Damn, how long did I sleep?’

Kim Ji-hyuk raised his arm to block the pouring sunlight.

It was right then.

“Ji-hyuk! Wake up quickly!”

Someone woke Kim Ji-hyuk, who was lingering in bed.

‘There is no one who would come here, who is it?’

A man ran over hurriedly and shook Kim Ji-hyuk awake.

Although the voice was familiar, perhaps because he wasn’t fully awake yet, only a faint silhouette was visible, and he couldn’t tell who the person waking him up was.

“This is not the time to be doing this! They say Ike is coming to our hospital right now!”

‘What is he saying?’