Dr. Choi Kang-guk sends a heart patient to Seoul for heart surgery and resigns
himself to his experiments with animals where he perfects heart transplants
techniques by using live pigs. The new hospital director Park Jae-hyun tries to
dissuade Hye-seok from joining the chest surgery department but Hye-seok is
determined to become a heart surgeon. While fishing at a pier, Dr. Choi gets into a
fistfight with some rowdy, drunken men and suffers a gash on his forehead. He is
taken to an emergency room where Eun-seong treats him.

When Dr. Choi sees the X-Ray results of one patient, he immediately recognizes that
the patient is in serious danger and he swipes Eun-seong’s stethoscope to listen to
the patient’s heartbeat. After administering a life-saving procedure on the patient, Dr.
Choi reluctantly tells Eun-seong that the patient should be taken to Seoul for major
surgery. Eun-seong finds out that Dr. Choi is one of the top heart surgeons in
Korea. Eun-seong is surprised to hear that Dr. Choi’s emergency procedure saved
the patient’s life. Eun-seong’s resolve to become a heart surgeon is reinforced
through the chance meeting with Dr. Choi. Hospital director Park meets with Dr. Choi
and offers him the head position of the chest surgery department.

Episode 2

After interviewing Eun-seong and Hye-seok, Dr. Choi decides not to choose either
one of them to join the chest surgery department. Eun-seong, Hye-seok and all the
other doctors are surprised when they hear Dr. Choi’s decision. Hye-seok hounds
Dr. Choi, asking him to explain why he rejected her. Dr. Choi tells her that she lacks
compassion towards patients and that that is her greatest weakness as a doctor.
Hye-seok feels dejected and cries. Eun-seong, who was following Hye-seok,
closes the door to the stairways where Hye-seok is crying to give her a private
moment.

Dr. Bae Dae-ro gets furious when he hears from Dr. Lee Seung-jae that Dr. Choi
decided not to hire any interns so he tells everyone that he has had enough and will
quit. He takes two other interns with him. Dr. Choi finds something wrong with a
patient named Kim Pil-joo. The hospital director barges into the operating room
where Dr. Choi is operating on a patient and sternly warns him to fix things after the
interns abruptly left their stations to show their displeasure over Dr. Choi’s decision
to reject two qualified intern candidates. Eun-seong demonstrates alone in front of
the hospital to protest Dr. Choi’s decision while Hye-seok and her elite medical
school classmates demonstrate as a group.

Episode 3

After waiting for Hye-seok to make up her mind, Dr. Choi decides to leave with Eun-
seong. Facing Dr. Kim Jung-gil, Hye-seok has a troubled expression on her face.
Hye-seok is overcome with mixed emotions when she hears from Dr. Kim Jung-gil
that it was the hospital director’s idea to have her join the John Hobkins Hospital
medical staff for two years. Then she remembers what Eun-seong told her and gets
up to leave. Hye-seok goes to see Dr. Choi and asks him to give her another
chance. She promises to him that she’ll do her best as an intern at the chest
surgery department and Dr. Choi accepts her.

A curtain is newly installed in the sleeping quarters at the hospital for Hye-seok’s
sake. Seung-jae gives Eun-seong and Hye-seok used gowns to wear. Wearing
doctor gowns, Eun-seong and Hye-seok begin their career as 3rd-year interns.
Eun-seong tells Kim Pil-joo that he is glad that he survived to become his first
patient but Mr. Kim is not very happy....

Episode 4

Dr. Kim Tae-joon tells Dr. Choi that Eun-seong is not capable of handling his duties
as an intern and requests that Eun-seong undergo a second review. When Kim
Young-hee takes a look at a CT scan of a gang member, she diagnoses the patient
as having arteriovenous fistula, which surprises Hye-seok. Eun-seong enters an
operating room to watch an ongoing operation but Dr. Kim Tae-joon curtly orders him
to leave because he’s not qualified as a doctor. Hye-seok is troubled that she
overlooked the patient’s condition when she was the first person who detected it.

While shooting a scene for a TV drama, actor Dong-gwon collapses on the set and
is taken to the hospital. He is happy to see Hye-seok when he opens his eyes. Dr.
Choi and his fellow colleagues explain the procedure they will use to treat Dong-
gwon and Dong-gwon blurts out that Hye-seok is his girlfriend to the surprise of
everyone in the room. Dr. Choi Kang-guk decides to have Min Young-gyu and Kim
Jung-gil perform the operation while he will observe it.

Episode 5

Hye-seok is in a daze when she sees Dong-gwon surrounded by young fans. Eun-
seong offers coffee with milk to Hye-seok, telling her that it’s a perfect drink to have
when you’re feeling depressed. As Min Young-gyu is about to begin the operation,
he is told that the patient’s liver is showing problems and he is ordered to call off the
surgery. Dr. Choi tells Min Young-gyu that the patient’s life depends on his decision
and then asks him if he can save the patient. Observing the heated exchange, Eun-
seong and Hye-seok are touched by Dr. Choi’s passion to save a patient’s life.

Eun-seong asks Hye-seok to give a teddy bear wearing a basketball uniform to Kim
Pil-joo on the day he will be discharged from the hospital. A friendly basketball
game between the interns of Gwanghee General Hospital and celebrities takes
place and Hye-seok finds it odd that Eun-seong is all smiles even though their side
is losing. After finishing a photo shoot with actress Han Soo-jin at Hye-seok’s
mother’s hanbok shop, Dong-gwon decides to go to the intern admissions ceremony
where Eun-seong and Hye-seok will officially become interns.

Episode 6

Han Soo-jin slips out of the hospital to shoot a commercial but she collapse on the
set. Dong-gwon, who was at the set with her, takes Han Soo-jin to the hospital.
After secretly mastering a new robot-assisted surgical procedure, Kim Tae-joon
asks Seol Lae-hyeon and Cho Min-ah over dinner for their support to become the
best medical team in the country. When Dr. Choi and the other doctors of the chest
surgery department gather around to see a recent group photo of themselves in the
alumni newsletter of Gwanghee University Medical School, Eun-seong feels left out
and leaves the room. He comforts himself by shooting hoops in the empty gymnasium.

Eun-seong warmly hugs Soo-min on the day she will be discharged from the
hospital and gives her words of encouragement, which leaves a strong impression
on Hye-seok when she sees Eun-seong’s compassion. Hearing that Dr. Min Young-
gyu refused to operate on actress Han Soo-jin because her diseased area is very
large, Eun-seong suggests that Kim Tae-joon can perform the surgery by using the
Da Vinci robot. Dr. Choi approves of using Da Vinci. After eating the mugwort soup
that Eun-seong prepared for her, actress Han Soo-jin is touched and she decides
to proceed with the innovative surgery. Kim Tae-joon uses Da Vinci to successfully
cure Han Soo-jin.

Episode 7

When Dr. Choi leaves the room to tend to an emergency patient who needs surgery,
Song Ho-jae gets furious and grabs Eun-seong’s collar and begins to hit him when
he is told to calm down. Dr. Kim Jung-gil visits Song Ho-jae and suggests that
instead of getting heart surgery, he could have a simple surgery at his internal
surgery department. Song Ho-jae promptly calls the hospital director. Song Ho-jae’s
personal aide gives Eun-seong an envelope full of money and when Hye-seok sees
this, she tries to return it. But Eun-seong accepts the money and donates it to an
orphanage.

Dong-gwon sends a bouquet of flowers to Hye-seok but she decides to throws it
out. Dr. Bae Dae-ro asks if he can have the bouquet, which he gives to one of the
young interns called Mimi. Hye-seok heads to the OBY/GYN department when she
is told that a pregnant woman is hemorrhaging. Dr. Choi is also there and he says
they need to revive the woman’s heart first. While Dr. Choi is operating on the
patient, Eun-seong tells him that Song Ho-jae’s blood vessel collapsed. Dr. Choi
operates on Song Ho-jae after having him moved to the chest surgery department.

Episode 8

Eun-seong carefully wraps bandages around Hye-seok’s blistered hands. Hye-
seok is thankful that Eun-seong did that for her. As they ride on a scooter back to
Seoul, Hye-seok hugs Eun-seong tightly and leans her face on his back. Dr. Choi
bows deeply to Song Ho-jae and apologizes for putting his life at risk. Eun-seong is
surprised that Dr. Choi would apologize to a patient over such a matter.

Knowing that Eun-seong came to give her a ride to work even though it is his day
off, Hye-seok tries to thank him but can’t get the words out of her mouth. Suddenly a
street sweeper collapses in the street right in front of them. Eun-seong and Hye-
seok drink a cup of coffee inside a tent they erected next to the Han River. Hye-seok
tells Eun-seong that she wanted to say thank you to him before the end of the day.
Dr. Choi operates on a patient whom Kim Tae-joon rejected but then the patient’s
condition gets worse after the operation. When the hospital director hears about this
he sternly warns Dr. Choi not to proceed with dangerous operations.

Episode 10
After kissing Hye-seok on the lips, Eun-seong turns around and sees Dong-gwon looking at him. Dong-gwon leaves after witnessing their kiss. Hye-seok tells Eun-seong not to be bothered about Dong-gwon and holds him back but Eun-seong catches up with Dong-gwon and tells him that what he saw wasn’t what he thinks it is and then reveals that Hye-seok might have contracted AIDS. During an internal conference, Kim Young-hee asks how Dr. Choi was able to successfully operate on the janitor when Dr. Choi Chung-won failed. Dr. Choi answers that he was able to pull it off thanks to the anesthesiologist.
The son of the janitor creates a big commotion at the hospital and demands that Dr. Choi make his father speak again and compensate his dad’s lost wages. Dr. Choi diagnoses an old lady who is brought to the hospital on a stretcher and then tells Nurse Cho Bok-gil and the physicians to look after her. The old lady begins to gasp for air and her blood pressure starts to fall. But Bok-gil quickly spots the problem and brings her pulse back to normal. After seeing Hye-seok’s haggard face, Dr. Choi tells her to go home and get some rest. He also tells Eun-seong to take Hye-seok home. Hye-seok asks Eun-seong to take her on a drive.

Episode 11
When Dr. Choi is notified that the son of the janitor is suing him for malpractice, he calmly dismisses the notice and makes his rounds around the patient rooms. Dr. Bae Dae-ro tells Dr. Lee Seung-jae and Nurse Cho Bok-gil about the malpractice suit. Dr. Choi enters the operating room where Kim Tae-joon is performing surgery and this flusters Kim. When Dr. Choi offers to help him with the surgery, Kim Tae-joon gets upset. While ice-skating with Dong-gwon, Hye-seok falls down and the PDA in her back pocket gets broken. At the repair shop, Hye-seok asks the service repairmen to fix her PDA at any costs because it contains important stuff.
When Eun-seong tells Hye-seok that the rapist who spurted blood several days ago does not have AIDS, she feels much better and cries tears of joy. At the hospital, Hye-seok searches for Eun-seong everywhere in a rush. She says high to Eun-seong, who is having a drink with Dr. Bae Dae-ro, in a merry voice. After finishing a practice surgery, Min Young-gyu tells Eun-seong that he would make a good member on his team and tells him to join him in his next operation. When a rowdy patient gives Hye-seok a hard time, Eun-seong intervenes and gets punched in the face.

Episode 12
Dr. Choi enters the operating room with a tense expression and pushes away Min Young-gyu who tells him not to interrupt him. But the old lady on the operating table is already dead. Dr. Choi tells the son of the old lady that he should have done everything he could to save his mother’s life and says sorry before he starts to cry. Upon returning home, Dr. Choi receives a threatening phone call from the son of the janitor while his wife tells him she’s going to leave for America with the kids.
The hospital director tells Min Young-gyu to submit his resignation. Min Young-gyu goes to see Dr. Choi and asks him to vouch for him so that he can hold on to his job. Upon overhearing the conversation between the vice director and Dr. Choi, Hye-seok tells Dr. Choi that Eun-seong got hit while trying to protect her. Entering the patient’s room, Hye-seok feels uncomfortable when she sees Eun-seong look at Mimi with such tenderness. Kim Tae-joon’s paper is published in a prestigious medical journal and Hye-seok is fascinated that her name is included as one of the co-authors of the paper.

Episode 13
When Hye-seok asks Eun-seong why she can’t be his girlfriend, Eun-seong tells her that it’s because she’s too special for him. Dr. Choi tells everyone that they need to find the best treatment for a particular patient and assigns Dr. Kim Jung-gil of the chest surgery department to handle the patient’s case. At a pig’s feet restaurant, Dr. Choi has a drink with Dr. Lee Seung-jae and Kim Young-hee and expresses his sorrow over losing the old lady on the operating table. When Dr. Choi meets Eun-seong in front of the hospital, he tells him to be a warmhearted doctor first and foremost and ignore people who call him an imbecile. Dr. Choi bumps into a cop and it leads to a shoving match. When the cops check his criminal record, they learn that Dr. Choi missed a court order summons and they keep him at the precinct to interrogate him.
After being released from the hospital, Dr. Choi tells Dr. Lee Seung-jae that he’s only guilty of saving a person’s life. When Hye-seok asks Dr. Choi when he’ll be ready for the next operation, the doctor tells her to have Min Young-gyu and Kim Tae-joon handle the next operation instead. This shocks Eun-seong. Eun-seong gets dismayed with Dr. Choi when he sees him drinking all day at the lab. When Eun-seong is harshly scolded by Kim Tae-joon over a matter that was caused by Mimi, Eun-seong decides to call it quits and starts packing his things.

Episode 14
Dr. Choi informs Dr. Lee Seung-jae and Kim Young-hee that he’s thinking about bringing Ha Tae-jin to head their department. But they object because Ha Tae-jin is not a graduate of Gwanghee University’s Medical School. Kim Tae-joon hears about Dr. Choi’s choice through the hospital director and brimming with confidence, he proposes that the department hold an open hiring process. Kim Young-hee tells Dr. Choi that the department is leaning towards Kim Tae-joon’s side and that Kim Tae-joon is cherry picking the easy operations.
In a tired, weary state, Hye-seok drags herself to the sleeping quarters and recollects the good times she had with Eun-seong. Jae-seob kicks Eun-seong out of his flat so Eun-seong decides to stay at a friend’s gold course for one night. While lying down on the grass, he looks at the stars in the skies and calls out Eun-seong’s name. The former British prime minister suddenly clutches his heart at the same golf course where Eun-seong is staying and collapses. Eun-seong delivers emergency treatment to the ex-prime minister and boards the helicopter that takes them to Gwanghee University Hospital.

Episode 15
The aide to the former British prime minister tells the hospital director that he’d like Dr. Choi and his team of heart surgeons to handle the operation. The hospital director promises that the ex-prime minister will be able to fully recuperate from the surgery within a week.. The hospital director and Kim Jung-gil plead with Dr. Choi to perform the operation but he tells them that he’s sick and tired of patients and recommends Ha Tae-jin. Worried about the health of the janitor, Dr. Choi heads to the house of his former patient where he happens to meet Eun-seong.
Hye-seok goes to the Hope Orphanage to find Eun-seong but doesn’t find him there. At the orphanage, Sister Song tells her why Eun-seong decided to become a doctor. After Hye-seok sincerely pleads with Eun-seong to come back, Eun-seong returns to the hospital where he gets down on his knees, asking the doctors to forgive him. When the ex-prime minister’s aide learns that Dr. Choi took a leave of absence, he decides to have the ex-prime minister operated in England but on their way to the airport, the ex-prime minister’s condition worsens and they have no choice but to turn back to the hospital. Dr. Bae Dae-ro, Eun-seong, Hye-seok, and Lee In-ho visit Dr. Choi and plead with him to return once more.

Episode 16
After consulting with Ha Tae-jin on a case that Kim Tae-joon and Min Young-gyu wanted to toss to the brain surgery department, Ha Tae-jin tells Dr. Choi that he will lower the body temperature of the patient during the operation. Eun-seong and Hye-seok assist Ha Tae-jin during the surgery and they are amazed to see how he makes incisions without making the patient bleed. Dr. Choi gets tears in his eyes when his daughter in America tells him that she saw his face on the cover of an American news magazine.
The son of the janitor meets with the hospital director to inform him that he’ll drop the lawsuit against Dr. Choi. Then the hospital director asks Dr. Choi to sign a statement that he will never perform risky operations again. The five-member resident staff, Eun-seong, and Hye-seok prepare a special event for the patients on Lunar New Year’s Day. While attending the special event with Eun-seong, Hye-seok freezes when she passes by the hospital director who is with his family. She tells Eun-seong about her painful past.


Episode 9
When the hospital director tells Dr. Choi not to operate on the janitor, he disobeys him and heads to the operating room to save the man. So Dr. Lee Seung-jae follows Dr. Choi and tries to dissuade him but to no avail. During an operation, Min Young-gyu leaves the delicate valve procedure to Kim Tae-joon who has no choice but to follow orders. Dr. Choi asks Eun-seong to have the janitor sign papers of consent for open heart surgery and offers a special bonus if he gets it done. The janitor finds the will to live.
While operating on the man, Dr. Choi finds it difficult to proceed so he takes a break to use the bathroom. Eun-seong suggests that they take the man’s heart out, operate on it, and then put it back in. Dr. Bae Dae-ro laughs in a mocking tone. The hospital director directly calls the operating room, telling Dr. Choi to cease the operation, but Dr. Choi proceeds with the surgery. When Dr. Choi tells everyone that he’ll suture a vein from the patient’s leg onto to the heart, everyone looks at Eun-seong in surprise. Dr. Lee Seung-jae and Hye-sook operate on a rapist who suffered a knife wound and blood spurts on them. Eun-seong tells them that he thinks the rapist has AIDS and everyone starts to worry.

Episode 10
After kissing Hye-seok on the lips, Eun-seong turns around and sees Dong-gwon looking at him. Dong-gwon leaves after witnessing their kiss. Hye-seok tells Eun-seong not to be bothered about Dong-gwon and holds him back but Eun-seong catches up with Dong-gwon and tells him that what he saw wasn’t what he thinks it is and then reveals that Hye-seok might have contracted AIDS. During an internal conference, Kim Young-hee asks how Dr. Choi was able to successfully operate on the janitor when Dr. Choi Chung-won failed. Dr. Choi answers that he was able to pull it off thanks to the anesthesiologist.
The son of the janitor creates a big commotion at the hospital and demands that Dr. Choi make his father speak again and compensate his dad’s lost wages. Dr. Choi diagnoses an old lady who is brought to the hospital on a stretcher and then tells Nurse Cho Bok-gil and the physicians to look after her. The old lady begins to gasp for air and her blood pressure starts to fall. But Bok-gil quickly spots the problem and brings her pulse back to normal. After seeing Hye-seok’s haggard face, Dr. Choi tells her to go home and get some rest. He also tells Eun-seong to take Hye-seok home. Hye-seok asks Eun-seong to take her on a drive.

Episode 11
When Dr. Choi is notified that the son of the janitor is suing him for malpractice, he calmly dismisses the notice and makes his rounds around the patient rooms. Dr. Bae Dae-ro tells Dr. Lee Seung-jae and Nurse Cho Bok-gil about the malpractice suit. Dr. Choi enters the operating room where Kim Tae-joon is performing surgery and this flusters Kim. When Dr. Choi offers to help him with the surgery, Kim Tae-joon gets upset. While ice-skating with Dong-gwon, Hye-seok falls down and the PDA in her back pocket gets broken. At the repair shop, Hye-seok asks the service repairmen to fix her PDA at any costs because it contains important stuff.
When Eun-seong tells Hye-seok that the rapist who spurted blood several days ago does not have AIDS, she feels much better and cries tears of joy. At the hospital, Hye-seok searches for Eun-seong everywhere in a rush. She says high to Eun-seong, who is having a drink with Dr. Bae Dae-ro, in a merry voice. After finishing a practice surgery, Min Young-gyu tells Eun-seong that he would make a good member on his team and tells him to join him in his next operation. When a rowdy patient gives Hye-seok a hard time, Eun-seong intervenes and gets punched in the face.

Episode 12
Dr. Choi enters the operating room with a tense expression and pushes away Min Young-gyu who tells him not to interrupt him. But the old lady on the operating table is already dead. Dr. Choi tells the son of the old lady that he should have done everything he could to save his mother’s life and says sorry before he starts to cry. Upon returning home, Dr. Choi receives a threatening phone call from the son of the janitor while his wife tells him she’s going to leave for America with the kids.
The hospital director tells Min Young-gyu to submit his resignation. Min Young-gyu goes to see Dr. Choi and asks him to vouch for him so that he can hold on to his job. Upon overhearing the conversation between the vice director and Dr. Choi, Hye-seok tells Dr. Choi that Eun-seong got hit while trying to protect her. Entering the patient’s room, Hye-seok feels uncomfortable when she sees Eun-seong look at Mimi with such tenderness. Kim Tae-joon’s paper is published in a prestigious medical journal and Hye-seok is fascinated that her name is included as one of the co-authors of the paper.

Episode 13
When Hye-seok asks Eun-seong why she can’t be his girlfriend, Eun-seong tells her that it’s because she’s too special for him. Dr. Choi tells everyone that they need to find the best treatment for a particular patient and assigns Dr. Kim Jung-gil of the chest surgery department to handle the patient’s case. At a pig’s feet restaurant, Dr. Choi has a drink with Dr. Lee Seung-jae and Kim Young-hee and expresses his sorrow over losing the old lady on the operating table. When Dr. Choi meets Eun-seong in front of the hospital, he tells him to be a warmhearted doctor first and foremost and ignore people who call him an imbecile. Dr. Choi bumps into a cop and it leads to a shoving match. When the cops check his criminal record, they learn that Dr. Choi missed a court order summons and they keep him at the precinct to interrogate him.
After being released from the hospital, Dr. Choi tells Dr. Lee Seung-jae that he’s only guilty of saving a person’s life. When Hye-seok asks Dr. Choi when he’ll be ready for the next operation, the doctor tells her to have Min Young-gyu and Kim Tae-joon handle the next operation instead. This shocks Eun-seong. Eun-seong gets dismayed with Dr. Choi when he sees him drinking all day at the lab. When Eun-seong is harshly scolded by Kim Tae-joon over a matter that was caused by Mimi, Eun-seong decides to call it quits and starts packing his things.

Episode 14
Dr. Choi informs Dr. Lee Seung-jae and Kim Young-hee that he’s thinking about bringing Ha Tae-jin to head their department. But they object because Ha Tae-jin is not a graduate of Gwanghee University’s Medical School. Kim Tae-joon hears about Dr. Choi’s choice through the hospital director and brimming with confidence, he proposes that the department hold an open hiring process. Kim Young-hee tells Dr. Choi that the department is leaning towards Kim Tae-joon’s side and that Kim Tae-joon is cherry picking the easy operations.
In a tired, weary state, Hye-seok drags herself to the sleeping quarters and recollects the good times she had with Eun-seong. Jae-seob kicks Eun-seong out of his flat so Eun-seong decides to stay at a friend’s gold course for one night. While lying down on the grass, he looks at the stars in the skies and calls out Eun-seong’s name. The former British prime minister suddenly clutches his heart at the same golf course where Eun-seong is staying and collapses. Eun-seong delivers emergency treatment to the ex-prime minister and boards the helicopter that takes them to Gwanghee University Hospital.

Episode 15
The aide to the former British prime minister tells the hospital director that he’d like Dr. Choi and his team of heart surgeons to handle the operation. The hospital director promises that the ex-prime minister will be able to fully recuperate from the surgery within a week.. The hospital director and Kim Jung-gil plead with Dr. Choi to perform the operation but he tells them that he’s sick and tired of patients and recommends Ha Tae-jin. Worried about the health of the janitor, Dr. Choi heads to the house of his former patient where he happens to meet Eun-seong.
Hye-seok goes to the Hope Orphanage to find Eun-seong but doesn’t find him there. At the orphanage, Sister Song tells her why Eun-seong decided to become a doctor. After Hye-seok sincerely pleads with Eun-seong to come back, Eun-seong returns to the hospital where he gets down on his knees, asking the doctors to forgive him. When the ex-prime minister’s aide learns that Dr. Choi took a leave of absence, he decides to have the ex-prime minister operated in England but on their way to the airport, the ex-prime minister’s condition worsens and they have no choice but to turn back to the hospital. Dr. Bae Dae-ro, Eun-seong, Hye-seok, and Lee In-ho visit Dr. Choi and plead with him to return once more.

Episode 16
After consulting with Ha Tae-jin on a case that Kim Tae-joon and Min Young-gyu wanted to toss to the brain surgery department, Ha Tae-jin tells Dr. Choi that he will lower the body temperature of the patient during the operation. Eun-seong and Hye-seok assist Ha Tae-jin during the surgery and they are amazed to see how he makes incisions without making the patient bleed. Dr. Choi gets tears in his eyes when his daughter in America tells him that she saw his face on the cover of an American news magazine.
The son of the janitor meets with the hospital director to inform him that he’ll drop the lawsuit against Dr. Choi. Then the hospital director asks Dr. Choi to sign a statement that he will never perform risky operations again. The five-member resident staff, Eun-seong, and Hye-seok prepare a special event for the patients on Lunar New Year’s Day. While attending the special event with Eun-seong, Hye-seok freezes when she passes by the hospital director who is with his family. She tells Eun-seong about her painful past.

Episode 17
Dr. Choi announces that Dr. Kim Tae-joon will be promoted as a senior doctor, which greatly surprises Dr. Kim, who can hardly contain his joy. Hye-seok gets curious about the relationship between Eun-seong and Kim Soo-ryeon. Grieving over Kim Soo-ryeon’s condition, Eun-seong has a drink. He confides with Hye-seok that Kim Soo-ryeon was his high school sweetheart. Dr. Choi tells the hospital director that he will perform a simultaneous heart and lung transplant and the hospital director orders his staff to contact the media to cover this daring operation.
Kim Soo-ryeon gives birth to her baby through a C-section and the baby is put in an incubator. When Eun-seong learns that the baby’s father will not sign papers to proceed with the operation, he gets furious. Eun-seong calls Sister Maria and tells her that Kim Soo-ryeon is hospitalized and she should come to the hospital to see her. Soo-ryeon tells Eun-seong that she wanted to leave something behind that people would remember her by. Eun-seong cries together with Soo-ryeon.

Episode 18
As Soo-ryeon approaches her death, Eun-seong asks Hye-seok to help him bring Soo-ryeon’s baby to Soo-ryeon’s room. Soo-ryeon cries her last tear while holding her baby. Dr. Lee Seung-jae tries to find a way to save Yoon-ah’s life but the only option is to find an organ donor for her. While combing Yoon-ah’s hair, Eun-seong makes her laugh but then Yoon-ah abruptly collapses.
Dr. Choi sends orders to have a patient with a ruptured aorta to be operated on right away but the hospital director gets hysterical and tells Dr. Choi to perform his scheduled surgery as planned. Hye-seok learns that hospital director made Dr. Choi write a written promise. In the operation room, Eun-seong picks up the scalpel to operate on the dying patient when Dr. Choi does not show up. Hye-seok helps Eun-seong with the operation, which is successful. A notice is posted at the Heart Center’s bulletin board, announcing that Dr. Choi will become a senior advisor. Dr. Bae Dae-ro and the other young doctors are shocked and decide to bring up the unfair treatment towards Dr. Choi.

Episode 19
Taking orders from Hye-seok, the nurse uses the defibrillator on Yoon-ah and she barely survives her cardiac arrest. Lee In-ho discovers Woo In-tae lying on the floor and takes him to the intensive care unit. The hospital director hears a report about the incident that occurred the night before at the hospital and calls a committee meeting to discuss the appropriate punishment to the doctor who did not follow the standard procedure. The director is astonished to learn that Hye-seok, a third-year intern, ordered the nurse to use the defibrillator.
During the committee meeting, Dr. Choi tells the hospital director to accept his resignation instead of punishing Hye-seok. The heart surgeons are shocked to hear Dr. Choi’s words. Dr. Choi receives a call from Ha Tae-jin, suggesting that he practice his profession in America. Dr. Bae Dae-ro and the other young doctors plead with Dr. Choi to retract his resignation or else they will all quit, too. Eun-seong orders a patient in ER to receive a CT scan but the patient refuses to take the tests and leaves, whereupon he collapses and is brought back on a stretcher.

Episode 20
Dr. Choi asks Eun-seong what he can do to a patient who is paralyzed on one side of his body instead of blaming himself for causing it. Hye-seok feels sorry for Eun-seon when he stays up all night massaging the patient’s paralyzed side. Eun-seong insists that she lean on his back. The 3rd-year and 4th-year interns at the chest surgery department submit their resignations to the hospital director in a show of defiance. Hye-seok doesn’t show much emotion when Eun-seong asks her whether she has any regrets about rebelling against the hospital director. But Eun-seong senses that Hye-seok is troubled and tries to cheer her up by taking her out for some fresh air.
A patient creates a commotion in the intensive care unit and throws a monitor at Hye-seok but Eun-seong lunges towards her to protect her. Eun-seong injures his right wrist when the monitor hit his hand and he is unable to move his hand. Hye-seok becomes worried about Eun-seong’s wrist injury. In a meeting, Dr. Choi tells his fellow doctors that Dr. Lee Seung-jae can perform an Off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery (OPCAB) and thus he should be promoted as a chief surgeon.

Episode 21
Dr. Choi tells the committee that he submitted his resignation on his own volition and they should not misconstrue his actions. He also reveals his opinion that he would not like to see hospital director pressured to quit. Dr. Lee Seung-jae is shocked when he realizes that Dr. Choi is quitting because he will be demoted to a hospital in the countryside and feels responsible for the group resignation of the 3rd year and 4th year interns. Dr. Choi returns the resignation letters that the interns submitted and tells them to be good doctors. He says he’s sorry that he could not overcome the poor circumstances in the field of heart surgery.
After finishing his last operation, Dr. Choi observes Hye-seok and Eun-seong, who are working hard, for a long time. At his farewell party, the interns get teary-eyed and sing along with Dr. Choi when he starts to sing. Dr. Choi advises Eun-seong to train his left hand to be as dexterous as his right hand and without missing a beat, Eun-seong hands a doll he made with his left hand to Dr. Choi. The hospital director gets furious when he is prevented from entering the hospital and then suddenly collapses.

Episode 22
The interns call the airline to track Dr. Choi but they have a hard time finding him. When news comes in that there is an organ donor, Eun-seong, Hye-seok and Dr. Lee Seung-jae take Dr. Choi’s ID with them to the airport. They luckily get in touch with the plane that Dr. Choi boarded and Eun-seong asks Dr. Choi to return to the hospital. When Dr. Choi refuses to go back, Hye-seok grabs the phone and pleads with him to save her dad’s life.
After Dr. Choi arrives in America, he thinks it over and decides to take the next flight back to Korea, leaving behind his wife. Seol Lae-hyun removes the healthy heart and takes it aboard a plane with Dr. Bae Dae-ro, Eun-seong, and Hye-seok. As Dr. Kim Tae-joon is about to perform the heart transplant, Dr. Choi appears and stuns everyone.

Episode 23
Dr. Choi tells his wife he’s sorry and loves her while crying. His wife also cries and apologizes. When Dr. Bae Dae-ro thinks that the hospital director’s body is rejecting the organ, Hye-seok holds her breath.
Dr. Kim Tae-joon heads to the ER when his wife Yoo Hee-jin is hospitalized due to appendicitis and he somehow rides the same ambulance with Eun-seong, who was told that Jo Min-ah was in critical condition. When Dr. Kim Tae-joon arrives at the operation room, his hands start shaking, and he is unable to proceed. Under the direction of Dr. Kim Tae-joon, Eun-seong takes the scalpel and performs the operation by calmly suturing the vein with his right hand. The hospital director is on the brink of death and writes down a message for Hye-seok which he asks Eun-seong to give to her. When Hye-seok reads the note, tears well up in her eyes.