'Hospital Playlist' Episode 3: Ik-jun struggles with his wife's affair while having to let a patient go
In its third episode, 'Hospital Playlist' shows how Lee Ik-jun (Cho Jung-seok) struggles to balance the conflicts of his personal life with those of his professional life. In the episode, we see how his friends let him be after he refuses to confide his problems in them. After having lived away from his wife for almost a year and a half because she wanted to pursue her career, Ik-jun meets her on Children's Day when she is in the country to meet their son. While he assumed that she was here because she missed him as well, it turned out she was in the city to ask him for a divorce.
He is shocked and even wonders why she wants a divorce so suddenly. He doesn't voice his suspicions of her having found someone else, but later, when he gets a call about his son having an allergic reaction to peanuts while he had lunch with his mother, Ik-jun got further suspicious. He called the hotel to get information about what his son had for lunch and learns that his wife had brought with her another man to meet her son.
While he is dealing with all of this, Ik-jun also learns that his patient, who had just left the hospital the day before after being cured is now back in the hospital and is brain dead. He learns that the patient suffered a car accident, and now, the guardian of the patient has decided to donate his organs. The patient who died has a 5-year-old child and this seemingly hits too close to home.
Ik-jun tries to keep the child's father whole until the day ends so that the child doesn't have to lose his father on Children's day when they had originally planned to have jjajangmyeon at a Chinese restaurant.
While all of this transpires, the other doctors, close friends of Ik-jun also go on with life.
Jun-wan (Jung Kyoung-ho) as a cardiothoracic surgeon treats a baby who has some pulmonary conditions and sees that the child's parents, who are only 20-year-old are treated as if they are not mature enough to deal with the onslaught of information and pain that this surgery would cause. While as a doctor he cannot get involved in a patient's personal life or their family's, he clearly shows that the parents are more than capable of being present for their child.
An Jeong-won (Yoo Yeon-Seok), on the other hand, might be at the edge of falling in love. One of Ik-jun's fellow general surgeons Jang Gyeo-Wol (Shin Hyun-Bin) is interested in him and she tries to use Ik-jun as a wingman at the beginning of the episode. It is quite hilarious because his friends begin to think that Ik-jun is having an affair with Gyeo-Wol. Instead, she is pumping him for all the information about Jeong-won.
The show continues to throw a spotlight on the personal lives of doctors who save patients' lives every day. It is about their friendships, interests, and hobbies and their struggles. It tries to show that doctors also have a life beyond their patients and hospitals and despite all their personal struggles, the best of them are present for their patients one hundred percent.