There's No Reason to Be Nervous Just Because They Pay Your Salary
In the lobby of Ilhyeon Hospital, people in white coats outnumbered the patients.
Most were senior physicians—department heads and other pillars of the hospital—and among them the hospital director himself stood with a tense face, waiting alongside the rest.
Interns, residents, young doctors, and nurses alike couldn't tear their eyes away as they circled the lobby, staring at a scene none of them had ever witnessed before.
"What's going on? Is the president coming or something?"
"The president? Someone bigger than the president is coming."
Nurse Choi, still new to the hospital, gazed at the lobby and asked Nurse Yoo.
"Bigger than the president? Is there even such a person?"
"There is. Here at Ilhyeon Hospital, there are people bigger than the president."
"Who?"
Nurse Yoo held up a thumb and answered.
"The Ilhyeon family. In this place, those people are bigger than the president."
"The Ilhyeon family?"
Nurse Choi nodded at Nurse Yoo's words.
Ilhyeon Hospital belonged under the Ilhyeon Group. Its character might differ from the other subsidiaries, but without the group's financial support it simply could not function. For that reason the hospital had no choice but to keep the Ilhyeon Group in mind—and no choice but to stay in the good graces of the Ilhyeon family who controlled it.
Nurse Choi looked at the doctors waiting tensely in the lobby and asked,
"So is the chairman coming, then?"
"The chairman?"
Nurse Yoo burst out laughing at the question. She leaned in close and spoke in a low voice.
"If the chairman were coming, they wouldn't be standing around like that."
"What? What do you mean?"
"Do you really think the hospital director would tell everyone if he got a call that the chairman was coming?"
"Ah!"
"Exactly. So he'd arrive quietly. Not with all this fuss."
Nurse Yoo nodded once Nurse Choi understood. Riding the escalator upward, she glanced back at the doctors receding in the lobby and asked,
"Then who is it today? The chairman's eldest son? The second? The third?"
"Not quite the chairman, but the person who currently holds the most power in the group. The youngest son-in-law, apparently."
"The youngest... son-in-law?"
Nurse Choi couldn't grasp how a son-in-law—and the youngest one at that—could be described as holding the greatest power rather than a son or daughter.
Nurse Yoo smiled at her bewildered colleague.
"The youngest son-in-law is the Head of the Restructuring Headquarters for the entire Ilhyeon Group. He walks around with a knife, carving up affiliates however he likes. A hospital like ours? He could peel us faster than an apple in his palm. That's why the director and every department head are sweating like that."
"So he's the one who decides how much support funding we get?"
"Pretty much."
Nurse Yoo smiled at the now-understanding Nurse Choi and stepped off the escalator. She handed over the chart she was carrying.
"Anyway, it doesn't matter to us. We just take care of the patients. Leave the rest to those people down there. Hurry and deliver the chart—they'll be waiting."
"Yes, got it."
Nurse Choi knew perfectly well that no amount of interest on her part would change anything. She took one last look at the doctors in the lobby, then turned and headed toward the waiting patients.
By the time Nurse Choi reached the consultation rooms, Kim Seong-ho had appeared in the lobby where the hospital director and the other doctors had been waiting.
"Welcome."
"Head of Headquarters, welcome."
"Head of Headquarters, a pleasure to meet you."
Kim Seong-ho returned the greetings of the white-coated doctors one by one, then lifted his head and surveyed the surroundings. His secretary guided him toward a doctor whose remaining hair was white and who wore glasses.
"Head of Headquarters, this is Hospital Director Do Gi-cheol."
At the introduction the director bowed.
"Welcome. I am Do Gi-cheol, director of Seoul Ilhyeon Hospital."
"A pleasure. I'm Kim Seong-ho, Head of the Restructuring Headquarters."
Kim Seong-ho exchanged a light handshake with Director Do, then greeted each of the surrounding doctors in turn. Smiling, he turned back to Do Gi-cheol.
"Then would you mind showing me to the room first?"
"I'll escort you myself."
The hospital director volunteered to guide Kim Seong-ho to his inpatient room personally. Seong-ho did not refuse the courtesy and followed him toward the elevators that would take them upstairs.
While they waited, Director Do began introducing Ilhyeon Hospital.
"As you know, Head of Headquarters, Ilhyeon Hospital maintains facilities in each of the nation's five major metropolitan cities. Seoul, of course, as well as Busan, Daegu, Gwangju, and Gangneung—each equipped with the finest facilities and medical staff in the Republic of Korea. Among them, Seoul Ilhyeon Hospital is the largest and best in the country, with three thousand beds..."
Listening to the director's explanation, Kim Seong-ho stepped into the waiting elevator. As he did, the department heads bowed deeply. Apparently deciding that accompanying him all the way to the room would be excessive, they offered their greetings at the elevator doors.
"Ah—is the head of neurosurgery here?"
Receiving the department heads' bows, Kim Seong-ho looked at the doctors and asked. One of the white-coated physicians cautiously raised his head.
"I am the head of neurosurgery... may I ask why you're looking for me?"
"Come along with us."
Kim Seong-ho stepped aside and gestured for him to enter the elevator. The neurosurgery head glanced briefly at the other department heads standing beside him.
"Chief Kim, come on in."
Director Do called out to the still-bewildered neurosurgery head who had not yet boarded.
"Yes? Ah—yes."
Neurosurgery Head Kim Chang-mu hurriedly stepped into the elevator. Kim Seong-ho regarded him for a moment, then turned to the department heads still blinking outside and offered a farewell.
"I'll see you all again next time, then..."
When Seong-ho glanced at his secretary, the secretary closed the elevator doors. Inside, Kim Chang-mu still wore a thoroughly puzzled expression, clearly unsure why he had been invited aboard, while Director Do continued his hospital introduction without missing a beat.
"Our checkup center, which opened last year after an investment of thirty billion won, is the finest not only in Korea but in all of Asia—we take pride in that. Everything is state-of-the-art, and it is the only center in the country where examination, treatment, and recovery can proceed simultaneously. At the center we screen for over fifty diseases..."
Inside the elevator Kim Seong-ho let the director's monologue go in one ear and out the other, mapping out the coming situation in his mind.
"This is Yun No-nam, director of the checkup center."
Director Do introduced Yun No-nam, who had arrived early and was already waiting in the room where Kim Seong-ho would stay. Seong-ho exchanged a brief greeting with Center Director Yun, who immediately launched into a briefing.
"Head of Headquarters, it is an honor to have you with us. Allow me to briefly outline the checkup schedule prepared for you."
Removing his outer coat, Kim Seong-ho listened.
"Today we will complete only the admission procedures. Full examinations begin tomorrow. Since you have been fasting since nine this morning, tomorrow at seven we start with blood work..."
With the secretary's help Seong-ho changed into hospital clothes and sat on the edge of the bed, hearing the briefing through to the end. When Yun finished, he asked carefully,
"Is there anything you'd like to ask, Head of Headquarters?"
Kim Seong-ho pointed to the empty space beside the hospital bed.
"Could you place one more bed here?"
"A bed?"
Center Director Yun, who had expected questions about precautions, sequence, or what would happen if results came back poorly, found himself momentarily speechless. Director Do jabbed him in the side and answered instead.
"Of course. We'll take care of it right away."
"And Chief Kim."
Neurosurgery Head Kim Chang-mu, who had been standing off to the side like a borrowed sack of barley ever since boarding the elevator, snapped to attention at the call.
"Yes, Head of Headquarters."
"If it's not too much trouble, would you be willing to guide me through tomorrow's examinations?"
"Me? But... the nurses usually..."
He had been about to ask why he, rather than a nurse, should do the guiding. Director Do jabbed him again and cut him off.
"No problem at all. Tomorrow Chief Kim will take full charge of guiding the Head of Headquarters through the examinations. And the day after, and the day after that as well—he will stay close and accompany you throughout."
"Director, then my surgeries—"
"Don't worry about the surgeries. You're not the only doctor in neurosurgery, are you? We'll clear your schedule through the day after tomorrow. Stay at the Head of Headquarters' side, explain the examinations thoroughly, and when the results come in, analyze them yourself and report directly to him."
"I..."
Kim Chang-mu tilted his head and looked at Center Director Yun, his eyes asking why he should be doing work that belonged to the checkup center. But Yun was in no position to refuse Kim Seong-ho's request either. The center might be finished, yet mountains of obstacles still lay ahead—and the money needed to climb them was astronomical. With the group's support desperately required, Yun's nerve was not large enough to oppose a proposal from the man who held the group's purse strings.
"That's an excellent idea."
Yun agreed to the request and turned to Kim Chang-mu.
"After all, Chief Kim will be able to review the results far more accurately and in finer detail than a nurse. That means the Head of Headquarters will receive a much clearer explanation. Chief Kim, I'll share the examination schedule with you shortly—please take good care of things starting tomorrow."
"But..."
Once even Yun insisted he stay at Seong-ho's side during the checkups, Kim Chang-mu abandoned any further questions about why he had to be there. All he could do was hope that Kim Seong-ho would not prove too difficult a patient.
"Then I'll rest now. Please go about your business—I've already taken enough of your time."
"Not at all. When the Head of Headquarters visits, this much time is nothing."
Center Director Yun smiled as if it were trivial, then asked,
"But Head of Headquarters, may I ask just one thing?"
"Go ahead."
Yun looked at the empty space beside the bed.
"Why did you ask for an extra bed?"
He raised a hand quickly, as if to forestall any misunderstanding.
"Oh—I'm not asking because I object. I simply need to know the reason so I can bring the right kind of bed. There are guardian beds, patient beds, regular ones, VIP ones..."
Kim Seong-ho nodded in understanding.
"I understand. It's just that my wife will need to stay with me tonight."
"Ah, of course. Then a guardian bed will—"
Yun's words trailed off. In his place, Hospital Director Do asked in a trembling voice,
"Then... President Lee Gyeong-eun will be... spending the night here?"
"Yes. That's the plan. She'll stay overnight and accompany me through the examinations tomorrow, so please take good care of her as well."
At Kim Seong-ho's words, both Director Do and Center Director Yun stood frozen, faces tight with tension, unable to utter another sound.
The checkup center plunged into a state of extreme alert.
Having already decided to accept no other patients and devote the entire three days exclusively to Head of Headquarters Kim Seong-ho, the center now entered a state of near-panic upon learning that Lee Gyeong-eun would be arriving as his guardian.
"I understand that Head of Headquarters Kim Seong-ho is an important man, but why are we going this far?"
Neurosurgery Head Kim Chang-mu walked toward Seong-ho's room wearing an expression of complete incomprehension. He directed the question at Center Director Yun, who was walking with him to meet Seong-ho. Yun carried the chart listing the schedule himself as he explained.
"You know Kim Seong-ho is Head of the Restructuring Headquarters, right?"
"Of course I know. Our budget is in his hands—that's why we're doing all this. But isn't this a bit excessive?"
"It is. Excessive. But the reason is that his wife is President Lee Gyeong-eun."
Even after the answer, Kim Chang-mu still looked puzzled.
"What about President Lee Gyeong-eun? Even if Kim Seong-ho holds the budget authority, Lee Gyeong-eun has nothing to do with us, does she?"
"Nothing to do with us? She's the chairman's youngest daughter."
"And being the youngest daughter... why does that matter?"
Still failing to understand, Kim Chang-mu waited. Yun stopped walking, turned to him, and spoke in a low voice.
"Given the chairman's age, it's time to start thinking about succession. And hospitals are usually given to a daughter... which means President Lee Gyeong-eun is very likely to become our next chairman of the board. Do you understand? She could become the person who pays our salaries."
At that, Kim Chang-mu finally understood. Yet understanding did not make him tense the way Yun was tense. A larger thought sat firmly in his mind: the person who pays your salary is not a god.
With that, the two men resumed walking and continued toward Kim Seong-ho's room.