Chapter 43

Chapter 43

It was Pyo Jinwoo's final day at work.

He left home at six in the morning and looked up at the sky.

Already the last day.

He felt disappointed.

More than that, he felt reluctant to leave.

He took a shortcut through the alley.

Some kind of construction was underway nearby, but he paid it little attention.

They're doing construction, but the sterilization controls aren't very good.

Well, this isn't an active treatment area.

The clinic had not opened yet.

Lee Seyoung, Choi Yuri, and Jo Eunjae were gathered at the front desk speaking in low voices.

"I saw it yesterday. They already installed the window frames."

Choi Yuri spoke first.

"That quickly? How long has it even been since they signed the lease?"

Jo Eunjae frowned.

"They must've poured a huge amount of money into it. I heard they're even working at night."

Lee Seyoung lowered her voice further.

"Is that really the doctor from that famous-doctor documentary? Why did he have to come here of all places?"

"Exactly. They say he has a good reputation, but seeing him move in the moment this clinic starts doing well makes his intentions pretty obvious."

Footsteps came from the back entrance.

The three women fell silent at the same time as though they had planned it.

Choi Yuri hurriedly opened the appointment book.

"Good morning!"

Pyo Jinwoo entered and gave a short nod.

"Dr. Pyo, you're here."

Lee Seyoung greeted him brightly as if nothing had happened.

Pyo Jinwoo nodded without expression and headed toward the examination room.

"Today's your last day."

Lee Seyoung spoke to him.

"Mm."

Pyo Jinwoo had never been a talkative man.

When he entered the examination room, Jo Eunjae was silently wiping down the emergency cart.

Watching her disinfect it so thoroughly made him feel reassured.

"...!"

Pyo Jinwoo's feelings became complicated.

Because he wanted to continue working with Nurse Jo Eunjae.

He had worked as a locum at countless hospitals.

This was the first place like this.

When I spent a long time training overseas, I thought communication would be easier once I returned to Korea.

It had not been.

When I worked at a university hospital, I thought moving to a smaller hospital would mean sterilization principles would be followed more consistently.

That had not been true either.

If I went somewhere even smaller, with fewer staff members, surely it would be easier to coordinate.

Wrong again.

He had moved through dozens of hospitals like that.

None satisfied him.

At one point, he had seriously considered quitting clinical medicine altogether and starting a disinfection company built entirely around proper infection-control principles.

This locum job had been meant to be his final period of clinical work before making that decision.

But I like it here.

This hospital was the best.

There were plenty of patients.

More importantly, there was a nurse whose working rhythm matched his.

Jo Eunjae.

Nurse Jo seemed to read his mind.

Her movements were fast.

Even while treating dozens of patients a day, she washed her hands exactly according to textbook procedure every single time.

People said that was obvious.

In reality, very few did it properly.

Even those who believed they were doing it properly looked sloppy to Pyo Jinwoo.

Even infection-control specialists often failed to satisfy him.

But Jo Eunjae was different.

And so were the people she had trained at this clinic.

They clearly understood what mattered.

They did their best to maintain sterile technique properly.

There was no way it did not strain the budget.

And yet this small clinic still maintained infection control.

"What kind of person is Director Im?"

The question slipped out before he could stop it.

Only after speaking did Pyo Jinwoo realize his mistake.

Jo Eunjae had widened her eyes and was looking directly at him.

It could easily be misunderstood.

"She's an excellent doctor."

Jo Eunjae answered firmly.

Not even a hint of hesitation.

Pyo Jinwoo repeated the words internally.

An excellent doctor.

He had read all of Im Gain's charts from beginning to end for the handoff.

They were clean.

Her assessments were accurate.

Her transfer letters contained exactly the necessary information.

Her prescriptions were efficient, without unnecessary medication.

But plenty of doctors can do that much.

Pyo Jinwoo could too.

Across the hundreds of clinics and hospitals where he had worked, he had seen countless doctors who were competent.

Clean charts were not the same thing as outstanding medicine.

At least on paper, he had not found the reason why someone as capable as Jo Eunjae would call Im Gain an excellent doctor without hesitation.

I'd have to see her personally.

Then Pyo Jinwoo stopped.

See her personally?

Today was his final day.

"Is there anything else you'd like to ask?"

Jo Eunjae had already returned to the emergency cart.

The path of the alcohol swab gleamed evenly beneath the fluorescent lights.

From top to bottom.

From the cleaner area to the less clean area.

Even the wiping order followed the textbook perfectly.

Pyo Jinwoo had never seen anyone other than himself maintain that order.

When it comes to disinfection, I think I could teach her more.

No. Maybe Nurse Jo is better than I am.

Pyo Jinwoo stopped at that thought and questioned himself.

Teach her what?

Jo Eunjae's hand-washing technique was already complete.

There was nothing to correct.

And yet he wanted to give her something more.

He wanted to share the best things he knew.

This feeling was unfamiliar.

Strange.

Pyo Jinwoo examined himself.

He felt different from usual.

He organized the facts one by one.

First, he regretted that this was his final day.

Second, he wanted to remain at this hospital.

Third, he wanted to continue working with Jo Eunjae.

Fourth, he wanted to personally see Director Im, whom Jo Eunjae called an excellent doctor.

The first and second overlapped.

So did the third and fourth.

Was it the hospital he liked?

The person?

Professional curiosity toward a director he had not even properly worked with?

The symptoms were clear, but the cause could not be identified.

...Fatigue, probably.

Pyo Jinwoo withheld judgment.

Only quacks gave a diagnosis when the cause was uncertain.

"We'll begin consultations at nine."

His voice was the same as always.

The workday passed quickly.

Patients kept coming without pause.

There were so many that it was hard to believe this was a private clinic.

They need another doctor here.

And wouldn't it be better if that doctor were him?

By the time the final patient left and half the waiting-room lights had been turned off, Pyo Jinwoo began preparing to leave.

He felt reluctant.

Then came a knock.

"I'm coming in."

"Director Im Gain?"

"Yes."

Gain had returned a day earlier than expected.

Pyo Jinwoo nodded.

"Come in."

Gain had learned a great deal over the past several days.

In the other world, couples who wanted children prayed to the Goddess and begged her to grant them a baby.

Those with money would travel on foot and by carriage for more than a month to reach the temple in the capital.

There, they would kneel directly before the statue of the Goddess and pray desperately.

Sometimes the Goddess granted them a child.

In modern Korea, science had taken over that role.

Gain planned to use the techniques she had just learned to offer intrauterine insemination in the newly renovated procedure room.

She would establish an infertility clinic.

I'm worried my existing patients will get pushed back.

Saetbyeol joining the clinic would certainly help.

On the train ride home, Gain checked the spring inside her.

She had not used even one drop for ten days.

Instead, it had grown.

Including what had reached her through phone calls, the divine power now filled more than a small soy-sauce dish.

Starting tomorrow, all she had to do was see patients again.

With those thoughts, Gain headed toward the examination room.

The lights were still on.

The locum doctor, Pyo Jinwoo, had not left yet.

"Dr. Pyo."

Gain looked at him.

Pyo Jinwoo was packing his belongings into a paper box on the desk.

There was not much.

Only his personal hand sanitizer and an infection-control manual.

"Thank you for everything."

Gain bowed.

She meant it sincerely.

The clinic had been chaotic from construction.

Then the interview article came out and patients flooded in like a storm.

Yet Pyo Jinwoo had treated them consistently.

When waiting times became too long, he willingly continued into the evening.

His emergency judgment was fast.

He did not overprescribe antibiotics.

While all the other doctors at the conference had worried that a locum would destroy their clinic in their absence, Gain had felt reassured.

He was not very good at comforting patients.

But his skill was unquestionable.

Almost too good for locum work.

"I only did my job."

Pyo Jinwoo continued arranging the box.

His expression did not change.

His slightly blunt personality was a weakness, but Gain could understand that much.

She took out the white envelope she had prepared.

"Please accept this too. It's not much."

Pyo Jinwoo looked at it.

"Construction overlapped with the article, so our patient volume doubled. You handled everything alone."

If she had not met him today, she had planned to simply transfer the money.

She was glad she could hand it to him directly.

Pyo Jinwoo raised his eyebrows and stared at the envelope for a moment.

He seemed genuinely confused, as if this had never happened to him before.

Eventually, he accepted it with both hands and placed it neatly beside the box.

"Thank you."

It was a short answer.

Yet for just that moment, Pyo Jinwoo's expression softened slightly.

Gain was considering what to say next when Pyo Jinwoo stopped packing.

He turned around and clasped his hands behind his back.

His posture became perfectly straight.

It was the kind of stance one expected from a hospital director during rounds.

"Director Im."

"Yes?"

"You're planning to hire more doctors, aren't you?"

Gain blinked.

"With this many patients and another examination room opening, you're obviously increasing the number of physicians."

It was not really a question.

Pyo Jinwoo spoke firmly.

"I'll take Examination Room Two."

Gain raised her eyebrows and tried to speak, but Pyo Jinwoo continued quickly.

"First. I'm a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist, and I have more than ten years of experience in a university-hospital delivery unit."

He looked directly at her.

"You opened your clinic immediately after becoming a specialist. I can support you properly."

Pyo Jinwoo did not stop.

"I've successfully performed hundreds of emergency cesarean sections."

"Yes..."

"I'm also available for delivery duty. However..."

For the first time, Pyo Jinwoo paused to state a condition.

"The on-call room refrigerator must always remain at four degrees Celsius or below."

He continued seriously.

"More hospitals fail to maintain that standard than you would expect."

"If you can guarantee that in advance, I'll gladly work here."

At that moment, Gain felt cool divine power rise deeply inside her chest.

Far more strongly than the day Pyo Jinwoo had reviewed her handoff screen.

This man had decided to place his career in this small clinic.

He had fully acknowledged Gain.

Gain was not sure what to call the situation.

His résumé was flawless.

His skill had no obvious weakness.

Yet the applicant was the one stating employment conditions.

And the condition itself was absurdly minor.

Maintaining a refrigerator below four degrees Celsius was easy.

"Yes, that's..."

A strange sense of familiarity hit her.

Jo Eunjae had done something very similar when Gain hired her.

The first thing Eunjae had asked was how Gain planned to handle sterilization and disinfection standards.

People considered strange everywhere else somehow arrived at this clinic door and immediately began presenting conditions.

Wait.

Our positions are completely reversed.

Pyo Jinwoo was still standing with his hands behind his back.

He looked like the director briefing an employee on hospital policy.

He seemed entirely unaware of his own posture.

Gain smiled faintly.

"Dr. Pyo."

"Yes."

"Just to confirm, you're asking me for a job interview, correct?"

She tilted her head.

"You're not offering to hire me as the director of your hospital?"

At that, Pyo Jinwoo slowly released his hands from behind his back.

"Ahem..."