At this time, Kyung-min called him over to the hospital, because the entire surgical team from that day had cooperated with the investigation, with one exception. The anesthesiologist had refused.
Dong-gu asked Kyung-min to look into this man's background. It turned out he was a quiet, withdrawn sort of person who didn't even flinch in emergency situations. Kyung-min could not understand why Dong-gu had ever hired such a random stranger in the first place.
Dong-gu explained that two months ago the man had simply shown up at his door, and he had figured the guy must have his own struggles, so he hired him on a whim. This carelessness got him heavily scolded by Kyung-min.
Right at that moment, Ha-neul walked past, looking every inch the powerful doctor. Dong-gu chased after her to tease her a little.
Ha-neul was curious about his relationship with Kyung-min, and found out that Kyung-min had been his tutor in his final year of high school. Then, after only a few exchanges, the two of them started bickering fiercely about their high school grades all over again. Ha-neul brought up the subject of him moving out again, but this time Dong-gu hit back immediately.
"Don't act all high and mighty. Even though you have a house and a job right now, you could lose everything at any moment, just like me."
At the hospital, during a surgery for a VIP patient, the old professor's poor skills left the patient's arm full of bruised wounds. Unable to just stand there and watch anymore, Ha-neul offered to do it herself, and she succeeded right away.
This made the old professor feel like he had lost face. Before she could even rest, she was tortured by him again, as he forced her to prepare a whole stack of teaching materials.
Physically exhausted and mentally drained, Ha-neul felt a tight pain in her chest. She suspected this was a symptom of her depression. The doctor confirmed that depression could indeed cause physical symptoms, and that the best thing for Ha-neul right now was to get some rest.
Meanwhile, because the old professor had been scolded for messing up the chairwoman's daughter's arm, he shamelessly called Ha-neul over and dumped all the blame on her. Back in the office, he wasn't sorry at all, and he even forced Ha-neul to kneel and apologize to the patient in order to take the fall for him. He ruthlessly trampled on her pride.
Reaching her breaking point, Ha-neul exploded. She exposed every one of the old professor's awful behaviors right there on the spot. She announced that she was quitting, took off her white coat, and walked away, leaving her co-workers totally stunned and full of admiration.
The news of Ha-neul quitting spread all over the hospital. Her best friend Hong-ran heard about it and immediately ran to find her, accidentally bumping into Dae-young on the way, which sparked the beginning of a new romance.
At home, Ha-neul's mother and uncle were running a very busy noodle shop. Her mother was always so proud of her doctor daughter. However, she accidentally overheard Hong-ran complaining about Ha-neul quitting her job. She ran back home in a fury, refused to listen to any explanations, and scolded her harshly.
This scene accidentally caught Dong-gu's eye as he was walking past.
Frustrated, Ha-neul poured out all the hardships she had faced at work, but her mother just replied casually, "Is there anyone in this world who goes to work without getting scolded?"
Heartbroken, Ha-neul confessed that she had depression. Her mother could not accept this truth. She thought that anyone in the world could get depression except her brilliant daughter.
Ha-neul broke down and walked away.
Seeing that Ha-neul had been gone for a long time and wasn't answering her phone, her younger brother casually brought out a bag of medicine he had found in her room when he was digging around trying to borrow some pocket money.
Right at that moment, on the street corner, Dong-gu ran into Ha-neul. He hesitated, then walked up and invited her out for a drink.
At first Ha-neul refused, but after seeing a call come in from her mother, she agreed.
The two of them went to a barbecue joint, not expecting that it was the exact spot where a class reunion was taking place. Dong-gu planned to leave immediately, but he was pulled back by his friends. Seeing the two enemies out together, all of the old classmates were shocked.
A drunk friend started being sarcastic about Dong-gu's situation, even doubting him and suggesting that he was actually the one who had caused the medical accident. Dong-gu coldly cut him off and walked away. Two other friends chased after him, but Dong-gu had already seen right through their true colors. He knew that all this time they had just been using his fame and his social media for their own gain.
He announced that he was cutting ties.
"Turns out I was the only one who saw you guys as friends. From now on, take care of yourselves."
Ha-neul stood quietly watching. Now she finally understood that Dong-gu was going through far too much injustice himself. She quietly followed behind him, and the two connected souls went into a street stall together to drown their sorrows in alcohol.
Even though they were both miserable, neither of them forgot to bicker, exactly the way they used to in high school. After a few shots of liquor, they started comparing all kinds of childish things.
When Dong-gu asked why she was suddenly being nice to him, Ha-neul said it was because she had seen someone who had been framed, someone even more pitiful than she was.
That statement of trust made Dong-gu so emotional he almost cried.
Ha-neul shared that she had always wanted to save the best things for last, so she had worked her life away, putting off all her fun, only for her lifelong effort to end up getting her depression in return. She felt like all her hard work, all this time, had just been a joke.
Meanwhile, at home, Ha-neul's mother sat in her daughter's room, completely heartbroken, sobbing loudly with regret.
On the other side of the city, the two drunk people started doing the things they had really wanted to do back in high school. They agreed to flick each other on the forehead, really hard, to get back at each other for all the old grudges.
Just as they were about to make a move, a text from Ha-neul's mother came in.
Compared to an outstanding daughter, Mom prefers a healthy daughter.
After reading it, Ha-neul immediately broke down and sobbed uncontrollably. Dong-gu was going to step closer to comfort her, but seeing her cry so miserably, he couldn't hold himself back either, and he started crying right along with her.