Dara went to YG Medical Center early the next day. There was no scheduled surgery in the morning because of the weekly reporting done by the residents every Monday. According to Chaerin, Yang Hyun Suk would often grill the reporters in front and embarrass them to other consultants. The only resident under Yang Hyun Suk term that didn’t experience the embarrassment was Youngbae. The reporters assigned on that day were Seungri and Jiyong. It was apparent that Seungri was fidgety that morning. Jiyong, on the other side, was cramming his plates but unbothered by Seungri’s near mental-breakdown.

Everyone was chattering when Dr. Yang Hyun Suk entered the conference room. The noise died down when they realized he was already there. “Morning. Before we begin, I just would like to inform you that the other consultants will not be around because they already flew to the States. My flight is tomorrow. We are attending the Annual Meeting hosted by American Academy of Orthopedics that will start on Friday. Surgeries will be limited as only few consultants decided to stay here. But that doesn’t mean that you, guys, will slack off. May I also remind you that the team building is already next week so the best time to do the backlogs and paperworks is now while the consultants are away. Two residents will be left here during the team building to do perpetual duties. I decided that one of them is PSY since he should’ve graduated few months ago if he completed his requirements on time. And the other resident, I have not decided yet. We’ll see based on today’s performance. Is that clear?”

“Yes, boss,” TOP answered. “Seungri, you start now.”

Seungri started his report about Degloving Forearm Injury. It could be seen on his face his fear of Yang Hyun Suk. He has a tendency to speak fast and forget to breathe in between which made him out of breath as if he ran a few kilometers during his report. TOP, being worried for his juniors, kept on giving him a sign, reminding him to breathe and relax.

“What is it, TOP?” still looking in front, Yang Hyun Suk cut Seungri’s reporting and asked TOP.

“Nothing, sir. Sorry,” TOP apologized.

“Seungri, did you study?” Yang Hyun Suk asked.

“Y-yes, sir.” Seungri answered.

“So what is your plan for the patient? What is your management if the vehicular accident patient has no sensory and motor deficits, with intact Ulnar and Radial pulses and no signs of Acute Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, and yet experiencing numbness to the radial side of the thumb?” Yang Hyun Suk said hitting the bull’s eye.

Seungri’s face turned pale and couldn’t speak. . Mental block, TOP thought.

“Seungri, jump your presentation to the management part,” TOP was trying to save him.

“Who gave you the permission to speak, TOP?” Yang Hyun Suk raised his voice. “Seungri, what? What did you do to your patient?

Seungri opened his mouth but couldn’t produce any sound.

“That is your actual patient, Seungri. I am asking what did you do?” Yang Hyun Suk continued.

There was silence. Everyone’s so tensed now. They couldn’t look at Seungri.

“I will give you one more chance, Seungri. Okay. Go to the basics. What was the management?” Yang Hyun Suk, still with a raised voice, said.

He’s dead. He’s experiencing mental block. TOP, being the nearest to the laptop, clicked and fast forwarded the slides. He stopped when he reached the Management part however Seungri couldn’t recover from the shock and fear, and remained silent.

“You’re wasting my time. Are you a doctor?” Yang Hyun Suk impatiently asked Seungri. Seungri just lowered his gaze. “You don’t deserve to be called a doctor! You cannot answer simple questions. I was expecting you already knew since these cases are from the ward. They are your own patients! At least defend your management! You don’t deserve to be here. Next reporter!”

Jiyong stood up quietly. He saw Seungri sat down with tears already flowing on his cheeks. . Jiyong thought.

———————————————————

Jiyong’s POV

Hyun Suk calls the next reporter — which is me. I stand up feeling drained already. I see Seungri quietly crying