Sharp morning sunlight streamed into the hospital room. Minsu sat half-reclined in bed, watching his mother and aunts bustle about noisily from early in the morning.
Nursing assistant Park Eunji smiled brightly.
“Unni, Minsu’s really gotten so much better.”
Park Geumja smiled as she tidied up beside the bed.
“I know. If it hadn’t been for our director… I don’t even know how I should repay him. You girls worked so hard taking turns on the night shift all this time too…”
Even as she spoke, the anxious days she had endured came back to her, and her emotions welled up again. Park Geumja stroked Minsu’s face with both hands and said,
“You’re being discharged tomorrow, so you can go to school starting the day after. Your friends must be waiting for you.”
“…Yeah.”
Nursing assistant Park Yeonu clenched her fist as well and shouted encouragement.
“Our Minsu, it’s a fresh start from now on. Study hard, and get along well with your friends.”
Minsu awkwardly clenched his fist and responded in kind.
After his noisy mother and aunts had all left, Minsu let out a deep sigh.
Just then, the door opened and Taeho came in. Checking the chart, Taeho asked lightly,
“Minsu, how are you feeling? Nothing hurts anywhere?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
Minsu answered, glancing away.
Taeho put the stethoscope in his ears and listened to Minsu’s heart sounds.
“Your heart rate is good, and your blood pressure is good. You really are a growing sprout, recovering so quickly.”
“Thank you, doctor.”
Minsu said in a small voice.
Taeho paused, then sat down on the chair beside Minsu. His sharp intuition had sensed that something was off. Taeho quietly looked at the boy.
“Minsu, is there something worrying you?”
Minsu looked at Taeho in surprise.
“N-no. I’m not worried about anything.”
“Is that so?”
Taeho smiled gently.
“But you don’t look very cheerful. It seems like something’s on your mind.”
“…”
Minsu hesitated for a moment, then lowered his head.
Taeho waited without urging him.
After a long while, Minsu let out a deep sigh and opened his mouth.
“Um…”
“It’s all right. Take your time.”
“…Doctor, is the qualification exam really hard?”
Taeho’s expression turned serious.
“Well, with your level, Minsu, I don’t think it would be that difficult. Your mom said you were good at studying. But why do you suddenly want to take the qualification exam?”
“I can’t go back to school.”
“Why? Did something happen?”
“When I got sick, I did a lot of strange things at school.”
Minsu’s voice trembled.
“I’d suddenly shout during class, or act weird…”
Taeho quietly nodded. It wasn’t hard to imagine what Minsu must have been like.
“The rumors spread completely among the kids. Some of them call me a psycho…”
Minsu’s voice shook. He had no confidence he could return to school and endure those children’s stares.
“…I see.”
“And that’s not all. I didn’t have any friends to begin with.”
Once he began talking, Minsu told him many things. Partly because, aside from his mother, there had been no adult around him he could open his heart to, and partly because Taeho listened well, with an understanding expression.
“Other kids, even if their parents get divorced, their dads still come see them. My parents divorced when I was six, but I don’t really remember my dad’s face. I happened to overhear my aunts talking, and they said Dad hit Mom a lot. Mom endured it and lived with him, but when he started hitting me too, she divorced him… When I think about things like that, I just feel like I’m shrinking. So I haven’t been able to get along well with friends at school.”
Taeho nodded. He could tell that both Minsu and Nurse Park Geumja had lived carrying many wounds.
“And then, in that situation, I even got that illness… Now I really can’t go to school. When I think about how the kids will look at me, I can’t even sleep at night.”
Minsu pressed his lips together tightly, trying to hold back tears.
Taeho asked carefully,
“Does your mom know how you feel?”
Minsu shook his head.
“Mom is happy because I’m healthy again. But if I tell her I want to drop out, she’ll be shocked.”
A good child.
Taeho lightly patted Minsu on the shoulder.
“It must have been hard for you, Minsu, all by yourself.”
“I really can’t go back to school.”
Minsu seemed about to sob, and then tears streamed down his face.
“Then what do you plan to do?”
“I just want to earn money quickly. Mom suffered so much because of me, so I want to earn money quickly and give it to her.”
“Hmm…”
Taeho crossed his arms and spoke seriously.
“Of course, you can quit school and take the qualification exam. If you decide to take it, I can help you study too. But what is it that you really want? Do you really want to quit school? Don’t you want to spend time with your friends?”
“…What would you do, doctor?”
“Mm, if it were me, I’d try going to school first. After going, if I felt this wasn’t right, I could quit anytime. I’d face it first, and then make my choice.”
“…”
“Have you decided?”
“Yes. I’ll try doing as you said.”
“Good. That’s a brave choice. And from now on, call me Uncle.”
Taeho smiled and ruffled Minsu’s hair.
***
Minsu stood in front of the mirror wearing his school uniform. It had only been two months, but the sight of himself in uniform felt unfamiliar.
When he looked at the clock, it was 8:10. If he didn’t leave now, he would be late.
Should I run away?
For an instant, that thought flashed through his mind like lightning. He could go to an internet café or up into the mountains and kill time all day.
But I promised Doctor Kang Taeho…
As Minsu’s reason, telling him he had to go to school, fought with his feelings, telling him he didn’t want to go, he slowly headed to school.
By the time he arrived in front of the classroom for Class 3, first year, at Geumsan Middle School, it was almost 9 o’clock. Getting this far had been so difficult that his legs were trembling.
“Huh? Isn’t that Lee Minsu?”
At the voice from behind, his entire body froze. When he slowly turned around, boys from another class were walking down the hallway. They looked Minsu over with eyes mixed with curiosity and wariness.
“But is it true? That he was in a psychiatric hospital all this time?”
“Hey, that’s harsh.”
“What’s harsh about it… Didn’t you see him last time? The way that bastard’s eyes rolled back?”
Minsu lowered his head and hurried his steps.
The moment he opened the classroom door and stepped inside, the children who had been talking all shut their mouths at once. Twenty-six gazes turned to Minsu.
Minsu’s face turned bright red as he found his seat. They didn’t say it openly, but he could hear them whispering.
“I’m scared of him. What if he does something crazy again?”
“How did a psycho come to school?”
“No way. The lunatic really came.”
“I heard he was possessed by a ghost… Shouldn’t they do an exorcism or something?”
“My mom told me not to go near him.”
Minsu suppressed the urge to run out and sat down. His seatmate made a “Hiiik” sound and pulled his desk half a step away.
Choi Geonwoo, who usually bullied Minsu, said loudly,
“Hey, look, it’s the hidden psycho loser. A loser who hid his mental illness!”
The whole class burst into laughter.
Minsu felt as if all the blood in his body had rushed to his face.
Just then, the classroom door opened and their homeroom teacher, Lee Soyeong, came in.
The children hurried back to their seats.
When Lee Soyeong saw Minsu sitting at his desk, she smiled.
“Today is Minsu’s first day back after being discharged from the hospital. Everyone can help Minsu, right?”
“…”
“Yes!”
In the silence, Choi Geonwoo answered loudly on his own and grinned. Several kids giggled again.
Lee Soyeong continued.
“Today, a very special guest has come. You all know Geumsan Clinic, the only hospital in our Geumsan-ri, right? The director of that Geumsan Clinic will be giving our class a special lesson for one hour today.”
The children began to murmur.
Taeho, who had been waiting outside the classroom, came in.
“Wow!”
“It really is the director of Geumsan Clinic!”
“This is awesome!”
“My mom said that doctor is super famous.”
“Wow! Is he the one from YouTube?”
“My grandma goes there too…”
The children’s excited voices filled the classroom. Even the children who were usually indifferent opened their eyes wide and stared at Taeho.
Taeho stood at the lectern and greeted them with a bright smile.
“Hello, everyone. I’m Kang Taeho, director of Geumsan Clinic.”
“Hello!”
The children greeted him loudly in unison.
Their voices were far louder than usual, their eyes sparkling.
Taeho slowly looked around the classroom and said,
“I’m truly glad to meet you all. And today is especially meaningful.”
Taeho’s gaze rested on Minsu.
Minsu kept his head lowered, unable to look at Taeho.
“Because…”
Taeho paused for a moment before continuing.
“My nephew is in this classroom.”
“Wow!”
“Your nephew?”
“Who is it?”
“He’s sitting over there. You all know him, don’t you? Lee Minsu!”
In an instant, the classroom went quiet.
Every child’s gaze turned to Minsu at once.
Flustered, Minsu looked at Taeho, then lowered his head again.
The children whispered to one another.
Just then, Choi Geonwoo shot his hand up.
“Sir! Is it true that Minsu had a mental illness?”
The classroom stirred again.
Minsu’s face turned deathly pale.
Taeho narrowed his eyes and looked at Choi Geonwoo.
“What’s your name?”
“Choi Geonwoo.”
“Geonwoo, Minsu did not have a mental illness.”
“Then what was it?”
“The illness Minsu suffered from is called anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis.”
Taeho wrote the words on the blackboard as he explained.
“It’s an extremely rare disease, with only a few cases worldwide each year.”
A girl asked with a curious expression,
“What is that?”
“It’s a disease where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks the brain. It’s like allies attacking their own allies. That’s why patients hear hallucinations and end up acting strangely.”
Another boy raised his hand.
“Then Minsu acted weird during class because of that?”
“That’s right. It was all because of the illness. They were symptoms that appeared completely regardless of Minsu’s own will.”
At that moment, Choi Geonwoo spoke mockingly from the back.
“They say people with mental illness don’t do crazy stuff because they want to either, though?”
“Of course mental health conditions don’t arise because the person wants them to. In Minsu’s case, however, there was a clear physical cause: inflammation of the brain. Most mental health conditions also have biological causes, such as imbalances in the brain’s neurotransmitters or structural changes. No matter what illness it is, it isn’t something you should blame the person for. Just like you cough when you catch a cold, or get diarrhea when you have an upset stomach.”
Taeho looked at Yujin, the class president, who was listening with shining eyes from the very front, and asked,
“Imagine I got sick and, without realizing it, said nonsense or did things I couldn’t control. If other friends saw that and then teased me after I’d recovered, how do you think I would feel?”
“If it were me, I think I’d be really sad and hurt. I’d probably cry nonstop for days.”
Yujin answered with an upset expression.
“Right. You would. What do the rest of you think?”
“I’d have a total mental breakdown.”
“It’d feel like my heart was being torn apart.”
“I’d be seriously pissed!”
“If anyone teased me, I wouldn’t let them get away with it.”
Taeho grinned and said,
“When we’re sick, it’s perfectly normal for our bodies to react strangely. What matters isn’t the disease itself, but how we understand and help the person suffering from it. But to tease someone because they showed those symptoms? At times like that, we call the person saying those things an ‘ignorant person’ who doesn’t understand illness.”
“Wahahaha!”
The children burst into laughter, drumming on their desks.
“If someone teases a friend who was sick like Minsu because of his symptoms, what do we call that person?”
“An ignorant person!”
“An ignorant jerk!”
The children answered loudly.
Choi Geonwoo’s face flushed bright red.
Taeho explained anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, then went on to give examples of various illnesses and the symptoms that appeared with them.
The children listened to Taeho’s story with fascinated eyes, as if they were watching a famous star.
Finally, Taeho said,
“Everyone, Minsu fought and overcame a disease called anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, a disease that’s rare even worldwide! He was truly brave, and he overcame it courageously!”
When Taeho finished speaking, the children applauded.
“Whoa, awesome, Lee Minsu!”
“That was seriously amazing!”
“I’m actually moved.”
“Wow, that’s incredible.”
Minsu lifted his head and looked at Taeho. Tears were brimming in his eyes.
His classmates’ gazes were no longer cold. Rather, their eyes held apology, curiosity, and warmth.
With a satisfied expression, Taeho said,
“Then that will be all for today’s lecture.”
“Thank you!”
The children greeted him in unison.
Just as Taeho was about to leave the classroom, the children began flocking around Minsu.