Dr. Shin Seonhan: The Doctor Who Sees the Future

Chapter 1
Prologue

The day I became a doctor, a banner was hung at Garak Market.

“Dad, I told you not to hang things like this.”

“Hold on. When else can I brag about my child like this?”

My father brushed off my protests and insisted on unfolding the printed cloth.

Flutter.

The unfolded banner had large letters written in a tacky, colorful font.

<[Congratulations] Shin’s Raw Fish Restaurant’s Third Son, Shin Seonhan, Becomes a Yeonguk University Doctor [Celebration]>

“Who on earth designed this?”

“Your sisters, of course.”

“Honestly, their sense…”

“What’s wrong with their sense? It’s made so you can see it from 100 meters away.”

“That’s exactly the problem.”

I sighed.

In the center of the banner, even my face was plastered in a large size.

It seemed like my family was determined to mortify me today.

My face flushed at the sound of the market ladies giggling as they passed by.

“As the saying goes, if there’s a joyous occasion, you have to let the whole neighborhood know. Who would have imagined that a Yeonguk University Hospital doctor would come from our family?”

My father laughed and wiped his nose as if he was overcome with emotion.

Our family has been a family of merchants for three generations, and my father has been running a raw fish restaurant in Garak Market for 30 years.

Having a profession with the esteemed ‘sa’ in it, like a doctor or lawyer, is a very exceptional event in our family.

So I understand my family’s fuss… but still, I can’t help but feel embarrassed.

We’re probably the only family that hangs a banner just for passing the internship.

“Seonhye-ya, Seondo-ya! Come here and help me hang this up!”

My father calls out to my sisters in a loud voice.

Perhaps because he’s a man who dedicated his life to raw fish, he also gave his children amazing names.

My first older sister’s name is Shin Seonhye.

My second older sister’s name is Shin Seondo.

And my name, the youngest son, is Shin Seonhan.[mfn] In Korean, the character for “fresh” (鮮) is pronounced “seon.” The MC’s father, who owns a raw fish restaurant, named his children with variations of this character to emphasize the freshness of his products. Shin Seonhye (신선혜): Seonhye can mean “freshness and grace” or “fresh benefits.” Shin Seondo (신선도): Seondo literally means “freshness.” Shin Seonhan (신선한): Seonhan directly translates to “fresh.”[/mfn]

It seems like a joke[mfn]Imagine being named “Fresh,” “Fresher,” and “Freshest”![/mfn] to anyone, but he says he gave us those names in all seriousness.

Indeed, my father has been running an honest business for 30 years with the principle of never selling fish that isn’t fresh.

But there was no need to name his children like this, but he’s such a stubborn man that no one could stop him.

It’s pointless to even mention how much we were teased for our names when we were young.

I should give my children pretty names when I have them.

“Little brother. How’s the banner?”

“Tacky.”

“Hey, I stayed up all night to make this for you. Are you always going to be like this, no matter what we do?”

“If you were going to do it, you should have made it cool. This looks like a flyer for some tourist nightclub.”

“I made it that way on purpose. To embarrass you.”

My second older sister gave a devilish smile.

As expected of the person who knows how to torment me best in the world.

Since childhood, 90 percent of my fantasies about women were shattered because of my second sister.

On the other hand, the reason I was able to maintain the remaining 10 percent was probably thanks to my eldest sister.

“Congratulations, little brother!”

My angelic eldest sister massaged my shoulders.

“I remember when you were little. You were singing about being a doctor since middle school, and this day has finally come.”

“I’m still just an intern.”

“Still, the first step is half the battle. Now you only have days of success ahead of you!”

“Thank you, Noona.”

“Suddenly, I miss Mom. It would have been even better if our mom were here on a day like this…”

My eldest sister said so, her eyes welling up.

My kind-hearted eldest sister sometimes gets emotional like this.

Before the atmosphere could become more gloomy, my father shouted, taking out a black marker.

“Ah, what the heck! 50 percent off on all items in our store today!”

“No, Dad! Our family will go bankrupt!”

“Leave me be! I’m in a good mood today!”

“Unni, grab Dad’s arm!”

My second sister, horrified, tried to stop my father from writing on the banner, and for a while, there was a commotion.

***

Why did I want to become a doctor?

It was probably because of a scene from a documentary I saw about 10 years ago, when I was in middle school.

.

The legendary genius surgeon.

Probably no one in Korea doesn’t know that name.

The revolutionary and martyr of the Korean medical community who devoted his body to treating patients.

He was even more popular because of his blunt speech and his characteristically indifferent and cynical expression.

There was even a saying that if he ran for president, he would be elected without a doubt.

Anyway, there were countless quotes he left behind before his retirement, but among them, there was one that shook my heart.

It was an interview scene I saw in a documentary.

―Then, Professor, I’ll ask you the last question. What does it take to be a good surgeon?

―I don’t know because I’m not a good surgeon yet.

―Haha, aren’t you being too modest? You’re Professor Baek Eushin, the ‘Hand of God,’ recognized even by the world’s best, the Mayo Clinic in the US.

―I still have a long way to go. However, in the English-speaking world, they have a saying. That there are three things necessary for a great surgeon.

―What are they?

―The eye of an eagle, the hand of a woman, and the heart of a lion.

“So cool…”

I muttered, entranced as I watched TV.

Baek Eushin beyond the blurry screen, as always, was thin and haggard, but his eyes were shining sharply like blades.

Thinking about it now, I think I was completely captivated by what Baek Eushin said at that time.

It felt like a ray of light shone on me during my childhood when I was wandering after my mother passed away.

As some novelist said:

A person who has once seen a brilliant light in the darkness will walk towards that light for the rest of their life.

Of course, reality wasn’t easy.

In my first mock exam after entering high school, I got a shocking level 7, and it was the moment I felt the first wall, too high to achieve my dream.

“Son, I’m sorry, but we don’t have the brains for studying in our family.”

My father said that on the day I brought home my report card.

That’s very comforting.

“How about giving up on studying early and using your talent to take over the family business? I don’t know if you remember, but you were able to perfectly dismantle a rockfish when you were 7 years old.”

My father began to tell the story of my exploits, which he had repeated many times throughout his life.

When I was 7 years old, while my parents were momentarily distracted, I was diligently slicing something with a kitchen knife.

My startled parents were horrified and pulled me away from the knife, and on the cutting board lay a perfectly prepared rockfish.

Believe it or not.

Anyway, not only was I good at preparing fish, but I was good at almost anything that involved using my hands since I was young.

Sewing, ironing, cutting, and so on….

When I cut fruit, the neighborhood ladies would exclaim about how perfectly round I cut them.

When I sewed, it was so seamless that it looked like new clothes, so from a young age, mending my sisters’ clothes was always my job.

I wanted to use this talent in the direction I desired.

Life is only once, and if I give up without even trying to run towards my dream, I thought I would regret it for the rest of my life.

“Father, I like catching fish with a knife, but I want to become a doctor who saves people with a knife.”

“A doctor?”

“Yes.”

“The doctor you see at the hospital?”

“That’s right.”

“It won’t be easy with the brains that come from our family…”

“If I don’t succeed at once, I’ll try many times and get into medical school no matter what. Don’t stop me.”

I insisted.

It seems that stubbornness isn’t only in my father. Genetics is a scary thing.

Anyway, since there are no parents in Korea who would stop their child from studying, I was able to barely pass the medical school with the lowest cutoff after three years of retaking the exam.

The university I worked hard to get into after passing is now bankrupt and gone, but it’s just frustrating to talk about it, so let’s talk about it later.

***

That evening, the whole family gathered at the raw fish restaurant.

My brother-in-law, who works for a large company, filled my soju glass and asked,

“Brother-in-law, so now you’re a doctor at Yeonguk University?”

“I’m still an intern.”

“If you’re an intern, isn’t that the same thing? At our company, after a 3-month internship, most interns get accepted as full-time employees.”

“An internship at a university hospital is literally a training process. There’s a high probability that I’ll be at a different hospital in a year.”

“Ah, is that so? It’s a bit different from a regular company internship.”

“It’s quite different.”

I answered and turned my head to swallow the alcohol.

Gulp…

The soju goes down particularly smoothly.

“Hmm… still, Yeonguk University Hospital is the best in Korea, isn’t it? It would be great if you could continue working there.”

My second brother-in-law says, sounding disappointed.

Of course, I want that too.

More than anything, Yeonguk University Hospital is where my role model, Professor Baek Eushin, was!

But life doesn’t always go the way you want.

The probability of me, a graduate from a local university, still working at Yeonguk University Hospital after a year is close to zero.

Of course, I plan to work hard.

My future as a doctor will be determined by how well I do in the next year.

“Hey, everyone, don’t pressure my son!”

“It’s just that we’re envious. Having a doctor from Yeonguk University Hospital as a brother-in-law would be so reassuring, haha.”

“Goodness, man. You should be thinking about living without going to the hospital, not about benefiting from a doctor.”

“Hmm… By the way, Father-in-law, what is that you’re carrying like a treasure?”

“Oh, this?”

My father grinned and carefully opened the Tupperware as if he were opening a treasure chest.

And inside, there was something no one expected.

“Father-in-law, isn’t that a tuna eyeball?”

“Oh, does this look like an ordinary tuna eyeball to you? Take a closer look.”

At my father’s words, everyone’s eyes focused on one spot.

Unlike a normal tuna eyeball, the color was iridescent.

The lone eyeball seemed to be glaring at me, giving me a strange feeling.

My brothers-in-law, who were interested in gourmet food, immediately showed interest.

“It’s golden.”

“Strange. How can it be this color?”

“It came into Bang’s store yesterday, and it was so amazing that I kept the head separately and froze it. I wanted to give it to my son on a good day, hahaha.”

Saying that, my father began to tell a story.

It was a story from the Joseon Dynasty era, about something that happened on Geomundo Island, or some other island village anyway.

An old fisherman had a son, and he lamented that the boy couldn’t see and was weak from a young age.

He wanted to feed him something nourishing, but because of their poverty, he couldn’t, and only worried and fretted.

Then one day, he saw a golden light by the sea, and when he cast his net, he caught a fish with eyes that shone auspiciously.

That evening, the fisherman boiled the fish’s eyeballs and fed them to his son.

After that, the son’s eyes opened clearly, he became intelligent, and eventually, he even taught himself to read and write, passed the state examination with the highest score, and returned home in glory.

Of course, as with all of my father’s stories, believe it or not.

“Where does Dad hear these strange stories…?”

“Golden or whatever, isn’t it just radioactive fish?”

My sisters were suspicious.

Of course, I didn’t really want to eat it either, but I couldn’t defy my father’s stubbornness.

“You can’t find fish eyeballs even if you want to. This is what they call eyeball liquor.”

“Ugh.”

I grimaced as I watched my father slice the frozen fish eyeballs and put them into my soju glass.

But I didn’t want to ignore my father’s heartfelt sincerity, so I decided to close my eyes and drink it.

“Now, to the future of our doctor!”

“Cheers!”

I clinked glasses with the adults and then tilted back my soju glass.

Gulp—

The strong scent of soju and the fishy smell of the fish rose at the same time, stinging my nose.

It was truly disgustingly awful.

“Actually, I also brought something for you, brother-in-law.”

“Brother-in-law, try this too. It’s precious…”

At that moment, my brothers-in-law, who were health food maniacs, started to pull something out of their bags.

My first brother-in-law took out a bottle of deer blood liquor, which he claimed was made with real deer blood.

My second brother-in-law brought out a wild ginseng root, supposedly grown in the foothills of Jirisan Mountain.

I guess searching for and consuming bizarre health foods is a characteristic trait of Korean middle-aged men.

Anyway, since it was offered by my elders, it felt rude to refuse, so I accepted and ate everything. The next day, I suffered from a stomachache.

Perhaps it started that day.

I ate so many strange things that day, I don’t know what the cause was…

However, one of those things must have been the problem.

Because after that day, I developed a that no one else has.