Good Doctor Episode 9

Gyu Hyun is teetering on the edge of the roof as the doctors and his mother try to call him down. He warns them not to get any closer and admits that he knows that if he has the surgery he won’t be able to sing again. His mother and Yoon Seo try to tell him that isn’t true, but he won’t listen.



Shi On alone is the only one brave enough to approach Gyu Hyun. The latter insists he isn’t afraid of death, but Shi On admits that he’s afraid of dying and being alone. After hurting other people’s feelings so much, Shi On isn’t sure if he’ll end up in heaven with his brother and his rabbit. Shi On tells Gyu Hyun that if he dies, those people who like him will feel very sad. Shi On reminds Gyu Hyun that he still has his parents, whereas Shi On himself has no one.



Shi On is able to get Gyu Hyun away from the edge of the roof and moments after he’s in his mother’s embrace. So Han instructs the other doctors to quickly get Gyu Hyun into the operating room and at that moment he receives a call from Dr. Choi.


Dr. Choi is in a meeting about Dr. Go’s illegal use of Heta Vizen, which a bleeding problem in a patient several episodes ago. Dr. Go remembers being told by his brother-in-law to deny he used the medicine or say Dr. Choi let him get away with it—anything to keep himself out of trouble. 


In front of the FDA officers, Dr. Choi, and Do Han, Dr. Go denies using Heta Vizen. The officers then ask Do Han whether he used that medicine. He answers (honestly) that he never used it. They proceed to ask Dr. Choi whether or not he knows about the administration of Heta Vizen. Dr. Choi begins to answer but suddenly Hyun Tae comes into the room. Hyun Tae tells the FDA officers to come back when they actually have sufficient evidence to suspect something. 

Meanwhile Yoon Seo reassures Gyu Hyun that she isn’t performing surgery but rather is just doing a simple procedure to remove the pus from his abcess. Shi On reveals to Gyu Hyun’s mother that Gyu Hyun actually doesn’t use his mp3 player to listen to music, but rather to block out the noises of the outside world (Dream High 1, anyone?). Shi On admits that, as a child, he too would cover his ears so as to not hear other make fun of him. Despite it all, the mother still insists on not doing the surgery. 

After the meeting with the FDA officers Do Han and Dr. Choi, Do Han tells Dr. Choi to persevere through this dilemma, but it’s clear Dr. Choi feels guilty over covering up Dr. Go’s use of Heta Vizen, so he feels like it’s only a matter of time before he gets into trouble. His only request is that Do Han doesn’t follow down the same morally ambiguous path he has.

Yoon Seo complains Gyu Hyun’s mother to Nurse Jung Mi and Nurse Joo Yeon. As they discuss how she’s mistreating her son by not doing the surgery, Nurse Jung Mi mentions, “The Blind Sim who sold his daughter for merely 300 seoks of rice offered to Buddha.”

If you’d like to know more about this story: continue on, if not, skip to the next paragraph. This is a reference to the Shimcheongga, a pansori (it’s a tradition form of oral storytelling in which a performance consists of a singer and a drummer). In this story in particular, Cheong has been raised solely by her father, The Blind Shim. The Blind Shim is told by a monk that if he donates 300 seoks of rice to the monastery, his eyesight will return. Cheong sells herself to a group of sailors who want a human sacrifice for the sea god, in order for her father to get the rice he needs. She’s thrown into the sea, but the sea god takes pity on her and marries her (has anyone read the manhwa The Bride of the Water God? xD Similar plot). She’s eventually reunited with her father and he regains his sight. All in all, the story is evidence that people are rewarded for having filial piety.

Shi On walks in and says it’s wasn’t “merely” 300 seoks of rice, by today’s standards that much rice would cost roughly 86,400,000 Won (about $80,000USD) 

Do Han calls Yoon Seo into his office and she already knows what he wants to talk about—Shi On’s transfer to the Pathology department. She tries to convince Do Han to keep Shi On: the fact that he didn’t rush Gyu Hyun into the operating room but instead called for backup shows that Shi On is learning. Do Han thinks that isn’t enough evidence of improvement and insists on sending him to a different department.

Dr. Go sits on a bench outside of the hospital and his phone rings. He sees who it’s from and chooses not to answer it. Shi On sits down next to him and offers him ice cream. Dr. Go is taken aback by his offer and says he doesn’t want any ice cream. ShiOn insists on sharing since it’s an ice cream that divides into two. He cutely splits it in half (sort of) and gives Dr. Go the smaller one.


Dr. Go scolds Shi On for not listening to his elder and goes to hit him, but stops. Shi On looks at Dr. Go’s scarred and calloused hand, and admits that he’s envious of them because it means Dr. Go has done a lot of surgeries, even more than Do Han and Yoon Seo. Shi On says it’s his dream to quickly become a surgeon and have calloused hands just like that.

Dr. Go tells Shi On to leave and raises his hand against Shi On again, but Shi On slips the ice cream into his hand and hurries off.


Hyun Tae is on the phone with the baseball-loving Chairman and says that all of the injection records have been erased from that time, and the person behind that must be Yeo Won.

The other residents feel guilty that Shi On thinks they don’t like him. Only Il Gyu doesn’t care, even when everyone else insists Shi On isn’t a bad person.

Hyun Tae tries to convince Dr. Choi not to step down from his position. If he thinks about all of the students who look up to him and Shi On who sees him as a father-figure, he can’t easily leave them all behind. Dr. Choi disagrees, and thinks that leaving his position will be just another lesson for his students.
 

Yoon Seo paces outside of Do Han’s office as he tells Shi Onto move to the Pathology department after their work with Gyu Hyun is over. He tries to give Shi On a letter of recommendation, but Shi On refuses to accept it. Shi On tells Do Han that being a surgeon is his dream, and that he knows Do Han doesn’t like him. Despite that, he asks Do Han to please allow him to stay in the Pediatrics department. Yoon Seo comes in just as Do Han begins to raise his voice. 

She asks Do Han to continue his conversation with Shi On later, and escorts Shi On out of the room. She tries to tell him that Do Han isn’t doing this because he hates Shi On, but the latter doesn’t believe her.

Shi On stops to listen to the music playing through the hospital’s loudspeaker system, he notices an elderly couple and a father dancing with his daughter. As he continues walking on he sees a pregnant woman sitting alone crying.


Dr. Choi holds his resignation letter in his hands when Shi On knocks on the office door. Dr. Choi asks Shi On if he will be okay working at the hospital even if Dr. Choi isn’t there. Shi On asks if Dr. Choi is going somewhere but the latter tries to assuage his fears. Shi On admits that without Dr. Choi he would feel very sad but Dr. Choi tells him that he’s now old enough to take care of himself. Shi On still considers himself to be young, but Dr. Choi says that the fact that he can care so much about his patients proves that he is an adult. Dr. Choi’s parting wish is that Shi On becomes a friend to all sick children.



Shi On asks Gyu Hyun if he’s sad about not being able to sing anymore. Gyu Hyun says that even though he isn’t sad, he still wants to die. Singing is all he knows, he never went to school or made friends. If he can’t sing, he’s nothing. Shi On understands the feeling, since there are a lot of people who don’t want him to become a doctor. Gyu Hyun tells Shi On that there’s still hope, even if other people don’t want him to become a doctor, he can still try. Gyu Hyun won’t even be able to try to sing after the surgery.


Do Han and Yoon Seo meet with Gyu Hyun’s mother. They try to explain to her that Gyu Hyun’s condition is serious, but she insists on having him treated in Germany. Moreover, since Gyu Hyun is determined to commit suicide, Do Han is worried about Gyu Hyun hurting himself.
 

Gyu Hyun’s mother leaves the room and Yoon Seo chases after her. She accuses Gyu Hyun’s mother of not caring for her son and says that even if they go to Germany the mother won’t have the surgery done. The mother insists that every family has a different way of showing their love.


Yoon Seo receives an emergency call and rushes to the operating room. As she operates she remembers her former patient that died on the operating table. Do Han notices as she loses her focus and her hands shake.
 

Meanwhile the children sing and play together but Gyu Hyun sits alone in the hall. Shi On sits next to him and asks why he isn’t with everyone else. Gyu Hyun tells Shi On that his mom doesn’t know what his dream is. His dream isn’t to be in a famous choir, but to use his singing to help people feel better.



Shi On introduces Gyu Hyun to Eun Ok. She’s watching his performance when he walks in, and the shock registers on her face as she looks from her tablet to his face. Shi On explains that Eun Ok doesn’t have a mom and that she likes to listen to Gyu Hyun’s song. Eun Ok reaches out to hold Gyu Hyun’s hand, and smiles. Shi On tries to teach Eun Ok the word “Oppa” (a term a girl uses in reference to her older brother or male friends slightly older than herself). She manages to say it and Shi On is called out of the room by Nurse Jung Mi.

Nurse Jung Mi explains that Eun Ok’s aunt gave up her rights as a guardian. That means Eun Ok is now legally an orphan, and the hospital isn’t sure what’s going to happen to her next.
 

While washing up after the surgery, Do Han asks Yoon Seo if she’s okay. She tells him there’s nothing wrong but later he finds her sitting along outside. He tells her that there are three things he hates: mistakes, excuses, and lies. She denies lying to him, but he explains that by being out there she’s essentially lying to him. She asks him to just overlook it, but he isn’t willing to.


He asks her what she thinks he was like after his first patient died. She imagines he was cold and logical about the situation. He says she’s right, because he though death was also part of a doctor’s job. Despite that he couldn’t eat or drink anything aside from water for an entire week afterwards, even to this day he isn’t sure why. He reveals that Yoon Seo is the only one he’s ever told this story to.Since she’s still eating well, that means she’s doing a lot better than he did when he was going through the same thing. He’s understanding of her complicated feelings, and tells her it’s okay to wander around and then come back… but in reality he’s only giving her a week before she’ll be leading a surgery.
 

Shi On watches Eun Ok from outside of her room. When Yoon Seo arrives she tells Shi On that they’ll work out the custody situation somehow. Shi On worries that Eun Ok will not get along with the other children if she’s placed in an orphanage. He doesn’t want her to be disliked like he is. Now that he’s an adult he’s starting to understand what it feels like to be angry, and it makes him angry to be disliked by others. But a fool can’t get angry at others, he says.

Yoon Seo won’t hear any of this. She begins making a list of people who like Shi On: the Nurse Jung Mi, Nurse Joo Yeon, Jin Wook, In Hae, and herself. People don’t dislike him because he’s a fool… he’s a fool because he thinks people dislike him.

They eat lunch together and Yoon Seo promises to try to stop Shi On’s transfer. When he admits he’s starting to get tired of eating kimbap, she asks him why he continues to eat it. He tells her he likes the triangle shape, and when he eats on of the point he feels like he’s eating a mountaintop.

Do Han meets with Hyun Tae, who asks why he insists on keeping Shi On in the hospital. He lacks several qualities needed of a surgeon, and parents will constantly have a problem with him. Hyun Tae’s plan is to make him a renowned pathologist who specializes in pediatrics. Hyun Tae thinks the department move will help Shi On gain more support from patients and the press. Do Han isn’t keen on using Shi On to get good publicity for the hospital.


Later, Do Han stands alone at the Han River and thinks about all of the times Shi On has made critical observations of the patients

Yoon Seo admits to Shi On that she’s nervous about performing her first official surgery as a head surgeon. He thinks to himself that she will definitely do well, and that he believes in her. She thanks him and at first he’s confused—he didn’t actually say anything out loud to her. She tells him she knows exactly what he’s thinking.

She leans her head on his shoulder and asks him to be there during her surgery. He hiccups in response. She thinks something might be wrong with him, and suggests having a sonogram done. She asks him to lift his shirt so she can check his abdomen, but he refuses him. She tickles him and teases him for getting embarrassed.


The next day Yoon Seo sees Gyu Hyun singing at Eun Ok’s bedside. He admits to Yoon Seo that he thinks Eun Ok is pitiful, but it makes him feel good when he sees her smiling at him. His mother, on the other hand, only smiles when he gets award. He can’t even remember the last time he laughed. Yoon Seo tells him she likes hearing his singing voice but she would like to hear his laugh even more—and in order to laugh he needs to be healthy. 

Chae Kyung is on the phone with a man she calls Mr. Chairman (quite possibly the same baseball-loving chairman that Hyun Tae is in contact with). Later in a meeting, she accuses the Executive Chairman (Dr. Go’s brother-in law) of leaking information about the Heta Vizen to the FDA. When he denies the accusation, she presents him with phone records that prove he had been in contact with the FDA. They agree to keep this quiet as long as he agrees to drop the business with the FDA.


The Executive Chairman calls Dr. Go and yells at him, and warns him that in the future he will need to deal with all of these things on his own. 

Gyu Hyun tells his mother he won’t leave the hospital until he gets better. Even if he can’t sing anymore, he wants to be happy and lead a normal life by making friends and going to school. His mother doesn’t want to hear it, and tries to get him to change into his clothes so than can leave the hospital. Shi On almost makes a promise that Gyu Hyun will be able to sing after the surgery, but he stops mid-sentence. He knows he shouldn’t make a promise that he isn’t sure of 100%.

Gyu Hyun’s mother has decided to discharge him AMA (against medical advice). Shi On tells the mother a story about a puppy he raised as a child and tells the mother that Gyu Hyun is similar to the puppy. Children can’t help but do things they’re forced to, even if they dislike it.


Gyu Hyun tells his mother that he doesn’t want to upset her by getting the surgery done, but rather that he wants to be able to smile again.


Shi On asks Yoon Seo to consider making Gyu Hyun her first surgery and promises to help her. Yoon Seo asks Do Han for permission. Do Han tells her that not only would it be his first time performing this type of surgery, but the first time this surgery is performed in their hospital. Yoon Seo thinks that’s all the more reason to allow her to do it, because no matter who does it, it’ll be their first time.
 

Do Han hesitates for a moment and asks her if she’s confident that she can do well. She smiles and responds with a yes.


As the surgeons look at Gyu Hyun’s scan results, Do Han tells them that while the surgery in itself isn’t life threatening, unexpected variable may come up while operating. Although he isn’t explicit, he also plants subtle a warning: their focus will be Gyu Hyun’s health and only that, therefore it’s not their job to worry about preserving Gyu Hyun’s vocal ability. Yoon Seo accepts his advice and requests having Shi On as her first assistant. He denies her request and leaves the meeting.

Yoon Seo goes to chase after Do Han, but she’s stopped by Shi On, who’d like to speak to Do Han himself. Shi On calls this operation his “last dream” since soon is will be forced to transfer, but Do Han doesn’t want him to do anything aside from observe. Do Han asks what he’ll do if he has another emotional attack during the surgery and Shi On says he’ll leave if that’s the case. Shi On accuses Do Han of hating him because he’s afraid Shi On will make mistakes. In the end Shi On is able to get Do Han’s approval.


The other residents ask Jin Wook if he’s upset that he wasn’t chosen as the first assistant. Jin Wook recognizes Shi On’s talent, and because of that he doesn’t feel bitter about not being chosen at the first assistant.

Shi On and Yoon Seo eat ramen together and discuss Gyu Hyun’s upcoming surgery. Yoon Seo asks if Shi On is thinking of a way to preserve Gyu Hyun’s singing voice and he admits he’s working on it. For fear of giving the patient false hope, he hasn’t told Gyu Hyun about this. Yoon Seo notices that this is an improvement since when Shi On first entered their hospital.

It’s the day of Gyu Hyun’s surgery, and Yoon Seo meets Do Han one last time. He congratulates her on her first surgery as an operating surgeon.


Shi On brings Eun Ok in to see Gyu Hyun once more before his surgery. Her message for him is “Himnae, Oppa” (Stay strong, big brother). She wants him to sing for her again and he comes up with a plan for one last performance.

In the hospital broadcasting station Gyu Hyun performs Ave Maria and everyone in the hospital hears it—including the nurses, Eun Ok, Do Han, Yoon Seo, and even his parents.

Yoon Seo enters the operating room with Shi On and Jin Wook. As they prepare to begin, Do Han suddenly enters. Yoon Seo is surprised to see him but he explains that he’s only there to observe.


They begin the surgery and Shi On is clearly struggling to remain composed. Yoon Seo places her hand over his shaking one and gives him a reassuring look. His hand stops shaking.


Yoon Seo removes the infected area and is ready to complete the surgery when Shi On suddenly interrupts. He’s thought of a way to keep Gyu Hyun’s singing voice.