Blinded By The Lights | Sungjoy

Act 4 - Chapter 85: A Good Doctor

It was almost like a walk down memory lane for Sungjae as he made his way towards the lecture halls to find Joy. Feelings of warm nostalgia swelled up within him as he remembered his time at the university from being a student to teaching as a professor, a fond look sneaking its way onto his face as he walked down the stone path. Around him, a few students saw him and bowed politely, causing Sungjae to return the gesture awkwardly before he looked at his attire. Was it so obvious that he wasn't a student that they felt compelled to bow to him just in case to avoid being rude?

Or was he more sensitive to the gap between himself and the students because of the chairman's offer?

Sungjae shook off the question as he entered the School of Medicine's main building and headed towards the lecture halls before he realized one flaw in his search for Joy. How was he supposed to find her amid all these lecture halls? Yeri hadn't given him the lecture hall number and he wasn't about to go and peek through the windows of the doors to find her.

Sungjae was about to make his way back towards the receptionist area near the entrance before he saw a student walking out of a lecture hall and a familiar voice trailing faintly after them. He inched closer to the lecture hall and opened the door as gingerly as he could before he slipped inside.

The lecture hall was filled with students sitting in curved, staggered rows looking down at Joy who was pacing on her raised stage in front of two massive screens. Heads had turned towards his direction at the sound of his entrance, a clear indication that the students were nearing the limits of their attention span. Feeling slightly conspicuous, Sungjae slid into an empty seat smoothly and began to listen to Joy.

--

Joy raised her pointer and clicked once, turning over to the next slide.

"So today is going to mark the end of our first unit," she announced in ringing tones to her audience. "By now, I expect you to have a basic understanding of what medical ethics is and its continued importance within the realm of medical practice. You will have a quiz next week, yes, an actual quiz," Joy stated with a small smirk on her face as the students tittered slightly, "on what we covered in these last few months. If you have any questions, you can look online on the course website or ask your teaching assistants during your tutorials."

She clicked once more to skip to her final slide.

"Any questions?"

Joy scanned the audience as her students mumbled their general dissent, watching it ripple through the lecture hall before she spotted one student that raised their hand.

"Yes?"

The student lowered her hand hesitantly and opened and closed her mouth several times before she finally found the courage to speak.

"I saw in the news that the former surgical department director was going to be convicted for crimes related to medical ethics," the student whispered. The grim silence had fallen over the lecture hall as every student was giving Joy and the student their full, undivided attention, all traces of their previous lethargy forgotten.

But to their surprise, Joy had a smile on her face, almost seemingly laughing at a joke that no one else had heard except for her.

"I was wondering if anyone was going to ask about that," Joy finally confessed, her voice echoing throughout the room. "It is true that the previous surgical department director was going to be convicted for those crimes. It is true that the public may not see Yeoreum in as positive a light as they did before. However, does anyone have any ideas on how we can regain the public's favour?"

Joy started to walk around her stage again as she watched her students attempt to answer her question. Several of them raised their hands, offering answers related to successful surgeries or more research, but it wasn't until the original student that asked the question raised her hand again that Joy found a suitable answer.