Are You Eavesdropping, You Book-Bug?!
Song Jiheon, the two-term governor of Goesan County, what kind of man is he?
Always dressed in a crisp suit with a gentle, beaming smile. He appeals to older female voters with his "nice gray" image, but... honestly, can someone with a purely soft temperament really hold onto a two-term governorship?
Peel back a layer, and you find a seasoned politician. When the situation calls for it, he knows how to take action, and he certainly has a slippery, cunning side.
That was why his storming into the Goesan County Public Health Center and bellowing at the top of his lungs was half-performance.
"Director! Did you order this?!"
"O-oh, no, Governor!"
The director of the public health center is a position appointed directly by the governor. In principle, the director should hold a medical license, but in a county-level district, where are you going to find someone like that easily? He was a Grade 5 civil servant from the public health track, a position where the governor could cut his head off at any moment.
Naturally, at the governor’s roar, his waist bent at a ninety-degree angle like a mechanical doll.
"I couldn't ignore it after a violation was reported... The person in charge originally wanted to suspend the license, but I personally adjusted it to a corrective order and a fine."
"It’s a good thing I personally check the health-related approval documents as part of my core policy, or what would have happened if I hadn't known?!"
'What does he mean "what would have happened"? Why is the Governor so concerned about an administrative action against a single clinic?'
The health center director didn't understand, but he bowed his head anyway.
"This Kim Deokhee, the one who went out for the inspection, right? Bring him in here right now!"
And when Kim Deokhee was summoned, he heard words from the governor that felt like a bolt from the blue.
"Who do you think you are to conduct a surprise inspection on my regular clinic!"
"...Excuse me?"
"What if they stop accepting my reservations from now on? Are you going to take responsibility for that?"
A chill ran down Kim Deokhee’s spine.
'No wonder he was so stiff—he had the Governor backing him?!'
People say the rural population is shrinking or that county governors these days aren't even as powerful as Seoul district heads, but within the county, the governor is still an absolute, unchecked power! If you get on his bad side, you could end up buried in some warehouse-like office during the next personnel reshuffle.
"I-I’m sorry! I didn't recognize that it was a place you frequented, Governor!"
How could it be a subordinate's fault for not knowing which clinic the governor visited? But Song Jiheon let out a displeased "Hmph!" as if it were a matter of course. After all, the very act of storming in and shouting was meant to make them walk on eggshells.
'Something is suspicious.'
No matter how he looked at it, it was strange. Having approved all health-related documents throughout his governorship, he could tell.
'This isn't a normal inspection.'
The timing is off, and so is the content of the violation. Unless a formal complaint has been filed, they wouldn't go out of their way to target such trivial items at a local clinic. If he had known the actual content was "the director didn't wash the herbal medicine extractor himself," he would have been even more furious, but Kim Deokhee’s report had omitted the context, simply stating:
[Violation detected: Delegated the herbal decoction process to staff]
'For now, I'll make him feel the pressure and fix it himself.'
He planned to cover it up first and investigate the underlying intentions later. But then...
Knock, knock.
"Governor. It’s Gwanwoo."
Things were resolved faster than expected. It was thanks to the collaboration between a competent secretary with a knack for deduction and an MZ-generation Grade 9 civil servant.
One hour ago.
"Governor, this definitely smells fishy."
"You think so too, Secretary Yoon?"
"Yes. Besides, Officer Kim Deokhee is someone we’ve been keeping an eye on anyway."
Governor Song had received an indirect hint at a local medical practitioners' meeting that "the integrity of the subordinates isn't as good as the Governor's." While looking into the practices of the health center, he had focused on Officer Kim Deokhee, who frequently came into contact with local clinics through medical inspections. However, he hadn't found any concrete evidence yet...
"For now, I’ll go over there and flip the table, so when the person in charge leaves their seat, take a look around."
"Understood!"
While Kim Deokhee was being summoned, Yoon Gwanwoo visited the Pharmaceutical and Health Team.
'Hmm?'
He noticed a lighter sitting on one side of Kim Deokhee’s desk.
[OO Karaoke Bar]
It was a new lighter, full of fuel, with the engraved business name not even slightly worn off.
'Could it be...'
As he slipped it into his pocket, the owner of the desk next to it, who had gone to the restroom, returned. It was Jeong Seunghyeon, a Grade 9 civil servant. Kim Deokhee called him a "troublemaker." He had the MZ-generation talent of spitting out what he felt and thought without any filter.
"Who are you? Standing in front of someone else’s desk."
"I am Yoon Gwanwoo, secretary to the Goesan County Governor."
"Oh, hello."
"By any chance, did you accompany Officer Kim Deokhee on the emergency inspection of Gyeongwoo Oriental Clinic yesterday?"
"Yeah."
Ten minutes later, Yoon Gwanwoo brought him up to the health center director’s office. Seeing Jeong Seunghyeon walk in, Kim Deokhee was shocked, covering his face and winking frantically.
'Don't let that troublemaker say anything useless!'
"Please tell the Governor directly."
"Well, that clinic was the most normal one I’ve been to on an inspection so far. But... they said it’s a violation of medical law if the director doesn't clean the extractor himself, is that true?"
'No!'
"What? But the director did the decoction himself, didn't he?"
"Yes. But they said cleaning is included in the decoction process. I’m not sure if that’s right or not...?"
Jeong Seunghyeon, tilting his head, dropped a bomb.
"Well, I don't know much yet, so I just thought it must be true if the officer said so. But the standards are so different from other inspections we’ve done before, it feels a bit strange."
Kim Deokhee’s face turned pale.
"One clinic we visited had the office manager decocting the medicine. The charts were sloppy and they violated several hygiene regulations, but back then, the officer said, 'Since the Governor ordered full support for local clinics for the sake of Goesan’s healthcare, let’s overlook the trivial things.'"
Conversely, Song Jiheon’s face turned beet red.
"But here, they say even cleaning the extractor must be done by the director, so I thought it lacked consistency... something like that?"
"Where is that other clinic?"
"It’s called Myeongho Oriental Clinic, over at the intersection. Oh, but I’m only answering because the Governor asked, so there won't be any disadvantages for me, right, Officer?"
Kim Deokhee wanted to strangle the troublemaker who was asking him that, but...
"Secretary Yoon, secure all documents and the computer at Officer Kim Deokhee’s desk exactly as they are, and call the audit team!"
"Understood, Governor!"
Before that, he felt like he was going to die at the hands of the Governor.
Director Go Myeongho was having a miserable time again today.
It was the third morning since he fired Jin Seyeong. One staff member sent this text and quit without notice. He had barely managed to keep the other staff member from leaving by promising double the daily wage until a replacement was found.
With so little help, he had no choice but to call his wife to help out... but her irritation was beyond words.
'Sigh... why aren't any resumes coming in!'
Even while running around like a headless chicken, he checked the job posting he’d uploaded to NurseJob, but there were no applicants. Because of the staff shortage, wait times grew long, and patients left in a huff.
'Why isn't Officer Kim contacting me either!'
While he was anxious because his revenue was plummeting, he was just waiting for the news that the Yongdeok-ri clinic had hit rock bottom.
Ding-dong.
The clinic door opened.
"Is anyone here?"
Where did his wife go, leaving the desk empty? Go Myeongho suppressed his boiling rage and went out himself.
'Huh? That friend is...?'
It was Officer Kim’s subordinate. But Kim Deokhee was nowhere to be seen, and why were there only two of them, including a civil servant who looked like a higher-up?
"You’re from the health center, right? Haha, what brings you..."
"We’re here for an emergency inspection."
"Excuse me...?"
Flustered, Go Myeongho stammered.
"It’s not even inspection season, and suddenly... and where did Officer Kim go?"
"That’s none of your concern. Let’s begin."
"Yeah!"
They pushed their way into the clinic and quickly picked out violations.
"Hygiene log, this isn't up to code either. Why are the charts missing for several weeks?"
"I write them all before the end-of-month billing..."
"You should write the treatment you saw that day on that day. Now, let’s go to the decoction room."
'W-what violations could they find in the decoction room...?'
Fortunately or unfortunately, because of the lack of staff, he was the one doing the decocting these days. Thinking he could at least get past this, he opened the door to the decoction room, only to see his wife wearing rubber gloves inside.
"Sigh, how do you manage your staff! Does the director’s wife have to do everything from removing needles to cleaning the decoction machine?"
His wife was shouting in anger, but she shut her mouth when she saw the strangers following him in. Then, Jeong Seunghyeon quickly interjected.
"Oh, the director is supposed to clean the decoction machine himself, but did someone else do it?"
"...You want me to clean the decoction machine myself?"
"Yeah. Officer Kim taught us that things reflected in the medical fee must be done by the medical professional themselves."
"What kind of nonsense is that...!?"
"Oh, by the way, you said this person just removed needles, right? I assume they have a nursing assistant license?"
After the health center group left, having applied the same standards "consistently" as they did to Gyeongwoo Oriental Clinic, the tax office showed up next.
'Stooooooop....!!'
Go Myeongho screamed internally. But he didn't yet know that the investigation into his bribery of civil servants hadn't even begun.
"I’m sorry, Director! It’s my fault for not managing my subordinates... It’s my negligence!"
Governor Song Jiheon apologized to Gyeongwoo. He had heard that they had targeted the decoction machine cleaning because the clinic was too perfect to find anything else, and he had even learned that a competing clinic (?) and a corrupt civil servant were behind it... He was truly ashamed.
Gyeongwoo waved his hands.
"No, it’s not. How could that be all your fault, Governor?"
"Thank you for your generous understanding, haha."
"I thought it would have been nice to take a three-month break after getting my license suspended..."
"Gasp, please don't say such things!"
"That fell through, but I’m thinking of just getting rid of the decoction room. It’s almost time to decoct the Governor’s prescription, so I might have to order it from an external decoction service..."
"No, no!! There won't be any such incidents in the future!!"
Song Jiheon urgently called for Yoon Gwanwoo.
"Secretary Yoon, bring that here!"
"Yes, Governor."
Inside the box the governor hastily presented were several framed certificates.
[Commendation - Goesan County Gyeongwoo Oriental Clinic Director Hyun Kyungwoo]
You have dedicated yourself to the development of the local community with exceptional love for your hometown and a spirit of service, and have contributed greatly to the health promotion of local residents, thus we present this commendation.
Goesan County Governor Song Jiheon
Starting with the Governor’s Commendation, there were:
[Appointment Plaque for Cooperative Clinic for Rare and Intractable Disease Patients in Goesan County]
[Exemplary Medical Institution Commendation]
[Appreciation Plaque for Supporting Local Medically Vulnerable Groups]
"What is all this?"
"They are commendation plaques."
"Why these..."
"Well, because everything from the health promotion of the residents of Yongdeok-ri and Baejae-ri to the treatment of pediatric intractable diseases is all work you have done, Director."
"To hang these up for promotion... my reserved patients are already overflowing anyway..."
"I know. This isn't for that purpose, but... ahem."
Yoon Gwanwoo stepped forward and whispered instead.
"In the provinces, if you hang these up, the township office, health center, police station, and so on won't mess with you. Because it’s a place the Governor is watching."
"Ah..."
"They won't cover up truly illegal acts, but you aren't the type to do that anyway. It’s just a small convenience."
Gyeongwoo nodded and pushed the frames to the side.
"Um... Director. But, you see."
The governor subtly brought up the topic.
"I’m asking just in case, but have you thought about truly cooperating with the rare and intractable disease patient support project?"
"...?"
"Didn't you submit the progress report for Im Jia?"
That was true. Because she needed support for her medical expenses.
"Seeing that... my heart was truly glad and grateful. So, I thought, wouldn't it be possible for other intractable disease patients who benefit from this project to receive help as well?"
"......"
"Since it’s a county-level project, we naturally intend to provide full support for both treatment costs and consultation fees. I know you limit the number of patients you see due to health reasons, so you can refuse, but... I’m just asking."
Gyeongwoo remained silent. He wanted to be an oriental doctor who fulfilled his calling, but he didn't have a hero complex. There were countless patients and countless doctors in the world. He couldn't cure all the patients in the world, and he didn't think he was more outstanding than other doctors. He just did his best to care for the patients he was connected to, but...
Should he see this as fate as well?
'Even if they are intractable patients... looking at Jia alone, the degree of pain...'
Honestly, it was true that he was afraid and conflicted. While Gyeongwoo’s hesitation dragged on, a faint light, invisible to anyone else, leaked out from beside the bookshelf and then flickered out.
Gyeongwoo felt a chill run down his spine and whipped his head around to look at the Gamshin-tongmaek-rok.
[......]
'You book-bastard... are you eavesdropping on me right now?!'