Two years ago, Seyoung Seoul Hospital Emergency Room.
Taeho met Jang Yoona for the first time when she was brought into the emergency room.
Cerebral hemorrhage.
There was no time.
The girl in her school uniform was in critical condition.
He urgently contacted Associate Professor Kim Hasung, but he was in surgery with a VVIP patient. Jang Yoona’s condition rapidly deteriorated, and if left as is, she would certainly die.
After agonizing, Taeho eventually entered the operating room.
A craniotomy that a third-year resident could not perform.
It was a difficult surgical technique requiring him to open the skull, but he had rushed in over his limits because he couldn’t turn a blind eye to a patient dying right before his eyes.
Fortunately, the surgery was a success.
The patient lived.
But it was only temporary. On the third day after surgery, unexpected cerebral edema occurred. Yoona was once again in critical condition, and Associate Professor Kim Hasung, who had always been prickly, changed completely. He pushed all responsibility onto Taeho.
“A third-year resident performed brain surgery on his own authority? By what right?”
The hospital turned its back on Taeho, and ultimately, it fell on Taeho to take responsibility for the 2 billion won lawsuit for damages filed by the guardian. They even hid the medical records so Taeho couldn’t access them.
The hospital cast him out.
He had even thought of death.
‘But after all this time, you contact me now?!’
Taeho bit his lip without realizing it. If he didn’t clench his teeth, he felt he wouldn’t be able to control the trembling racking through him on its own.
He had thought he’d forgotten it all.
Hadn’t he even paid off the debt?
But.
“Are you doing well? I heard you settled down in the countryside. Congratulations.”
“…….”
Congratulations?
Now of all times?
Taeho didn’t answer.
He fixed his gaze out the window as if glaring at him silently, phone in hand.
“……”
An awkward and suffocating silence.
It was Kim Hasung who broke it.
“It’s just that… one of our hospital’s patients requested a joint consultation. I contacted you because I thought it could be an opportunity for you. Come up for a bit. It’s been a while since we saw each other…”
‘Is he crazy?!’
A hollow laugh had nearly burst from Taeho’s lips.
Saying it could be an opportunity?
“I’m busy, so I don’t have time to come up. I’m sure you’re busy too, so I’ll hang up now.”
Just as Taeho was about to hang up, Kim Hasung’s urgent voice came through.
“The patient specifically asked to consult with you. That’s why I’m giving you a chanc—”
Click—
Taeho hung up without a moment’s hesitation.
Ding ding!
Ding ding ding!
Calls rang in succession.
Because it was consultation hours, he had set the ringer to vibrate.
He scoffed and was about to stand up when text messages started flooding in.
What?
Kim Hasung wouldn’t show this kind of attitude under normal circumstances. If a patient had made Kim Hasung assume such a lowly posture, they were definitely someone with considerable influence.
‘…I’m begging you, Taeho. I need you.’
The phone rang again.
He had just typed:
“Busy, so a joint consultation is impossible. Seyoung Hospital and I have no relationship whatsoever. No further contact—”
The moment Taeho briefly wrote out the message, more texts flew in again.
“The patient is Lee Donghyeon. The third son of Taeyang Group. He’s been suffering from a skin rash for several months, and we can’t figure out the cause. His symptoms are only getting worse… Somehow, the patient specifically requested you. He’s direct lineage of Taeyang Group. We absolutely must treat him. I’ll accommodate anything you want, so please, I’m begging you. Taeho.”
Lee Donghyeon?
If it was Taeyang Group, it was a name even a three-year-old Korean would know.
Moreover, it was a major corporation that held considerable shares in the Seyoung Medical Foundation.
He could see why Kim Hasung was acting like that.
But just because of that, he should run to Kim Hasung?
Why should I?
Bullshit.
Ding ding!
Ding ding! Ding ding ding!!
His phone vibrated violently in succession.
Messages continued to flood the screen.
“Taeho! I’m sorry! I’m really sorry!!”
Vibrations and messages alternated nonstop.
Click.
Taeho blocked Kim Hasung without hesitation.
Now, of all times.
But.
Ding……
Not long after, a call came from an unknown number. He had an ominous feeling.
Kim Hasung might be calling from someone else’s phone.
After hesitating briefly, Taeho answered,
“Is this Mr. Kang Taeho?”
“Yes, but…”
“This is Kim Jeongmin from the Taeyang Group Compliance Team Secretariat.”
Someone completely unexpected.
“Our Director is in quite a hurry… He absolutely must see you. What can we do?”
“……”
It was difficult to refuse even when the patient’s side made contact.
After hesitating briefly, Taeho answered slowly.
“You can come here.”
“There?”
“Yes. Geumsan Clinic.”
“Our Director is in very bad condition right now, so going all the way there…”
“Please come whenever you have time, at your convenience. I must hang up now due to consultations. Goodbye.”
Taeho hung up.
He had seen many VVIPs throwing their weight around at hospitals. There was no reason for the current Taeho to go out of his way to accommodate such people.
***
In front of Geumsan Clinic, 2 PM.
Two luxury sedans slid into the Geumsan Clinic parking lot.
The door of the first vehicle opened, and a secretary in a suit quickly approached and opened the rear door. The man who stepped out was in his mid-thirties, wrapped in designer brands from head to toe.
It was Lee Donghyeon, the third son of Taeyang Group.
The moment he got out of the car, Lee Donghyeon frowned and slowly swept his gaze over the shabby exterior of Geumsan Clinic.
“Is this some movie set?”
“It’s where actual people live, sir.”
The old three-story building and the rural grandmothers stealing glances at him got on his nerves.
“People actually live in a place like this? You’re kidding, right?”
Irritation coated Lee Donghyeon’s voice. He couldn’t believe the situation—that he himself had come all the way out to this rural backwater for treatment.
“Director, for now, it would be best if we went inside…”
The secretary cautiously suggested, but Lee Donghyeon cut him off even more sharply.
“You said Kang Taeho, right? I’ll have to see for myself how great this country bumpkin doctor is.”
Lee Donghyeon scratched his chest roughly.
This damn itch was driving him completely crazy. If it weren’t for this, he never would have come all the way here…
Secretary Kim pushed the door open. Lee Donghyeon, entering the clinic, grew even more bewildered.
Old people chatting while sitting on plastic chairs, faded health posters, even a faint medicinal smell—it was incomparable to the splendid medical facilities in Seoul.
“Secretary Kim, is this really the right place?”
Just then, the consultation room door slowly opened, and Kang Taeho revealed himself.
He was completely different from the doctors who had treated Lee Donghyeon until now.
Instead of tension, an excessively comfortable expression.
“You’re Lee Donghyeon, yes?”
At his nonchalant attitude, Lee Donghyeon’s face instantly reddened.
“What? What did you just say to me?”
Lee Donghyeon scratched his neck and muttered.
Taeho turned his head calmly and looked at Lee Donghyeon’s neck.
“Your skin condition is quite serious. If you want treatment, follow me.”
Lee Donghyeon felt anger on one hand and bewilderment on the other. He narrowed his eyes and stared at Taeho.
“You don’t know who I am?”
“You’re Lee Donghyeon.”
“Then what’s with that attitude?”
Every doctor he had met until now had recognized his status and treated him with the utmost deference. But this backwater doctor was dealing with him in a completely different manner.
“Hey, who do you think I am?”
“Lee Donghyeon, thirty-two years old. Male. I’ve heard you’ve been suffering from a skin rash for several months. That is sufficient for a patient-doctor relationship.”
Taeho added, pointing to the consultation room.
“Will you come in and receive treatment, or will you go back to Seoul? The choice is yours, Mr. Lee Donghyeon.”
In that moment, Lee Donghyeon had a thousand thoughts.
Should he flip everything over?
Should he buy up this whole neighborhood and bulldoze it?
But even as he imagined such things, he felt a pruritus as if insects were crawling all over his body. The kind of itchiness that drove people mad enough to stop breathing. The kind of itchiness that made him want to flay all the skin off his body.
Lee Donghyeon let out a deep sigh and followed Kang Taeho into the consultation room.
“How long have you had the symptoms?”
“Who knows, has it been a few months? If you added up all the money spent at Seyoung Hospital during that time, it could’ve built a whole floor of a building. But damn, it’s making me waste my money.”
“Let’s look at the affected area first.”
Taeho deliberately began examining Lee Donghyeon’s body roughly.
“That hurts! Hey!”
Lee Donghyeon shouted.
“You have to endure it if I’m going to examine you. If you don’t like it, go to another doctor.”
“Ah, shit… Be gentler… Please, I’m begging you.”
Lee Donghyeon was furious but couldn’t protest further. He couldn’t sleep due to the itching and couldn’t do anything. Even the doctors at Seyoung Hospital, called the best in the country, couldn’t clearly resolve it.
After first hearing about that doctor named Kang Taeho, he had Secretary Kim investigate. He knew about the past incident as well. But he was intrigued by the rumors that Taeho had recently cured atopy and skin diseases. They called him the “Miracle Countryside Doctor.”
Miracle or bullshit, he felt he would do anything if only this itching would be cured.
After checking Lee Donghyeon’s body, Taeho thought deeply.
Professor Kim Hasung had initially diagnosed it as atopy. But there was no response to treatment, so he suspected lupus. However, other than ANA positive, other specific antibodies were negative, and interferon therapy had also failed.
Taeho looked once more at Lee Donghyeon’s annoyed face.
It wasn’t an autoimmune disease. Not lupus either.
He felt like he was grasping at something, but it was still hazy. If only his intuition were a little sharper…
Taeho adjusted his glasses.
As if it had been waiting, Lema displayed the scan results.
“The pattern differs from a general allergy.”
“Probability of heavy metal poisoning: 41%”
“The exact causative substance cannot be specified.”
Taeho asked.
“Did you get tested for heavy metals at Seyoung Hospital?”
“Lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium… They all came back normal.”
Lee Donghyeon’s secretary, who had been standing politely to the side, answered on his behalf.
“Mr. Lee Donghyeon, were you taking any health supplements or herbal medicine?”
The secretary answered on his behalf again.
“Yes. He started taking expensive health supplements a few months ago. I heard they were specially ordered…”
“Did you bring them?”
“No, we did not.”
“Then, Secretary, go home and bring them now.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said bring them. Mr. Lee Donghyeon can answer for himself.”
The secretary looked at Lee Donghyeon with a bewildered expression, and Lee Donghyeon quickly jerked his chin, telling him to go.
“Yes. Understood.”
“I’ll start by testing the ingredients of that, then we’ll continue. First, get admitted. I’ll decide on the treatment then.”
As Taeho was about to leave the room, Lee Donghyeon shouted urgently.
“Hey! How is this going to be treated…?”
Desperation was buried in Lee Donghyeon’s voice. Taeho stopped and looked at him indifferently.
“If we find the cause, there is a cure. Just endure a little longer.”