Chapter 127

Vrrr, vrrr.

Kang-hyuk glanced down at the vibrating phone in his hand.

The guardian knew very well just how important Kang-hyuk’s work was.

Especially since the call was from the emergency room, it was highly likely it concerned someone’s life.

‘My husband must’ve gotten a call like this too…’

Unfortunately, he hadn’t survived.

But it went without saying how quickly and desperately Kang-hyuk must’ve responded, and how much effort he had put in.

“Go ahead and take the call.”

So the guardian held back her grief and pointed to the phone with a steady expression.

“Ah, yes. Then, excuse me for a moment.”

Kang-hyuk bowed his head in gratitude and answered the call.

“This is Baek Kang-hyuk.”

“Yes, professor! A request just came in from the Gyeonggi Fire and Rescue team. There’s been an accident at a factory—someone was hit by a forklift.”

“A forklift?”

At the mention of a forklift, Kang-hyuk raised his voice, momentarily forgetting he was in a funeral hall.

Because of their structure, forklift accidents often led to severe trauma.

And the next words were enough to leave him stunned.

“And the patient is a young child.”

“A kid? What the hell is a child doing at a factory?”

What kind of nonsense was that?

A child in a factory where forklifts roamed?

Thud thud thud.

Hearing Kang-hyuk’s reaction, Jaewon, Gyeongwon, and Jang-mi all rushed back to his side.

The guardian simply gave a gentle wave, signaling she was okay.

In the past, hearing that someone was hurt wouldn’t have stirred much in her.

But things were different now.

They had to be.

“I… I don’t know the details either.”

The caller was a fourth-year resident from the ER.

He hadn’t taken the call himself—he was simply relaying a request from the Gyeonggi Fire and Rescue team.

So it was understandable that he didn’t know everything.

“You bastard, aren’t you a doctor? Or are you a civilian? Don’t you know that in forklift accidents, the patient’s posture at the time is crucial for prognosis?”

Kang-hyuk was already walking out of the funeral hall, having completely forgotten to say goodbye to the guardian.

Jang-mi thought to remind him to at least offer a farewell, but she swallowed her words.

From the side, Kang-hyuk’s face looked monstrous—like a wrathful spirit.

Just standing near him was enough to make her knees tremble.

The poor resident on the other end must have been suffering terribly.

“I-I’m sorry. I forgot to ask…”

The fourth-year resident bowed his head deeply, forgetting that he was even on the phone.

His exaggerated bowing caught the attention of nearby nurses and patients.

But the resident remained oblivious.

“You forgot? God… Aren’t you a fourth-year?”

People who had only dealt with Kang-hyuk superficially might think:

‘Man, this guy really doesn’t care about others.’

But just like how he didn’t call Jaewon “Slave” because he didn’t know his name…

He actually knew quite a bit about others too.

He just didn’t show it.

The fourth-year, having been called out so precisely, looked even more dismayed than before.

“Yes, yes… I just became a fourth-year.”

“Then you’re practically a specialist now. You should be looking at papers, not textbooks. And yet you… god.”

“I’m sorry…”

He sheepishly pushed aside his lecture notes on the desk, feeling oddly ashamed.

‘I’ve never even seen a forklift accident before…’

That embarrassing thought crossed his mind.

It was one of the blind spots of training at a massive hospital.

There were already more than enough emergencies from the regular patient load.

After all, all the country’s cancer and critically ill patients came to Hanguk University Hospital.

Because of that, trauma cases and other types of emergencies rarely made it in.

The hospital was in Gangnam, far from industrial zones where such accidents happened.

“You, study until I get back. And the rest of you… well, whatever.”

Kang-hyuk glanced back at Jaewon, Jang-mi, and Gyeongwon.

All three looked utterly confused by the sudden glare.

“You’ve never seen a forklift accident, have you?”

“Uh…”

They quickly fell silent.

Because, just as Kang-hyuk said, none of them had ever seen one.

“This won’t do. Starting next week, we’ll hold a conference every Monday at 6 a.m. Our department needs to start studying like a proper one.”

“Uh… that’s 6 p.m., right?”

The fourth-year asked hopefully.

Even though he knew it couldn’t be.

6 p.m. was the peak hour for ER chaos.

Outpatient clinics would be closed, people would be getting into accidents after work.

No sane person held conferences at that hour.

“Are you nuts? Of course it’s 6 a.m.”

“Ha…”

“Was that a sigh?”

“N-no, sir. Thank… you.”

It was something to be thankful for.

People in the ER had been wanting this.

They wanted to learn systematically from Baek Kang-hyuk.

They kept pointing to Yang Jaewon as proof.

Look how much he’d improved in such a short time.

At first, they had doubted if someone like Kang-hyuk was really suited for trauma surgery.

But now, everyone looked up to him.

‘Still… 6 a.m. conferences?’

Knowing Kang-hyuk’s personality, he’d probably force even the ER department to join in.

He was the type to lose all reason when it came to saving lives.

“Right, you’re grateful, aren’t you? You’re leading next week’s conference. Topic: forklifts.”

“Y-yes?”

The fourth-year nodded without thinking and then recoiled in shock.

But Kang-hyuk didn’t care about his reaction.

He was already walking away from the funeral hall toward the tennis court.

It was almost time to reach the patient.

“They’re coming by helicopter, right? Gyeonggi Fire Department?”

He asked practically, and the fourth-year answered with no other choice.

He couldn’t exactly bring up anything else now.

Not after witnessing Kang-hyuk’s way.

“Yes, yes. They should be arriving soon…”

“Oh, there they are. I’m hanging up.”

Kang-hyuk spotted the helicopter roaring in from a distance and tucked his phone back into his pocket.

The area had no proper landing facility, so an enormous cloud of dust kicked up.

“Hey, gangster.”

Kang-hyuk naturally used his jacket to shield his face and looked back.

He saw Jang-mi doing the same with practiced ease.

“Yes.”

“Prep the OR with Gyeongwon. We don’t know how bad it is since it’s a kid. If you find out the blood type on site, call me. Get everything ready.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

“Yes, professor.”

Jang-mi and Gyeongwon headed back to the hospital.

To save the patient who would soon arrive after emergency treatment.

Meanwhile, the helicopter thundered as it touched down on the tennis court.

‘Tat tat tat!’

The noise was unmistakable.

“Ugh, not this crap again.”

Someone from a nearby residential area muttered a curse and slammed their window shut.

Kang-hyuk and the rescue team didn’t notice.

But if one paid attention, this wasn’t an isolated complaint.

“Why so dramatic every time?”

“Seriously.”

There had been grumblings before.

But they weren’t the majority.

People vaguely understood that these helicopters were saving lives.

But that had changed recently.

Because someone had visited the area.

‘There’ve been a lot of complaints about the noise and dust from the helicopters lately. What are your thoughts?’

A well-dressed man with a soft voice calmly explained how frequently the helicopters landed.

He didn’t forget to mention that most of them occurred in the early morning hours.

This made residents suddenly realize just how much discomfort they had endured.

“That damn bastard…”

Some even hurled curses at Kang-hyuk and Jaewon as they prepared to board the helicopter.

“Hurry up! Why are you so slow?”

“I gained weight recently.”

They had no idea they were being cursed at.

Kang-hyuk and Jaewon rushed onto the helicopter, which still had its rotors spinning to save time.

The AW139 was known for its heavy vibrations, so climbing aboard mid-spin was tough.

Especially for Jaewon, who had been slacking on exercise lately.

“You gained weight? Feeling comfy?”

Already on board and reaching out a hand, Kang-hyuk made Jaewon grit his teeth.

“Comfy? You think this is fun for me?”

“You said you gained weight.”

“It’s because I keep eating instant noodles!”

Jaewon thought of the cup ramen he had for breakfast that morning.

Cup noodles. For breakfast.

He almost cried just thinking about it.

“You’re seriously heavy. Help him up.”

Team leader Kim Kang-ryul stepped in.

“Yeah. Whoa.”

He, too, was surprised by Jaewon’s unexpected weight as he helped pull him up.

“He’s on. Let’s go, go!”

Kang-ryul shouted to the pilot, leaving Jaewon sprawled on the floor.

The pilot gave the OK and took off.

The wind blew even harder than before.

“Ugh. This is so annoying.”

“Why are they flying so much lately?”

Of course, the helicopter’s departure was met with a flood of complaints from the residents.

‘Tat tat tat.’

The grumbling continued until the helicopter disappeared into the sky.

“A kid’s hurt?”

Kang-hyuk shouted from inside the helicopter.

Not out of anger.

It was just the only way to be heard.

“Yes! He’s eight years old… The local fire station is responding too, but… you know how Suwon traffic is at this hour…”

“It’s hell.”

Not just bad—literal hell.

Even places you could see with your eyes took forever to reach by car.

“So we expect to arrive first!”

“Then we still don’t know the child’s exact condition?”

“No, professor! We only heard from the guardian at the scene!”

“Why was the kid even there?”

Kang-hyuk’s voice made Kang-ryul’s face sink.

The story was just too sad.

“It’s a single father household! Apparently, the kid goes to the factory after school!”

“Ah.”

Kang-hyuk’s face lost its usual icy edge and turned blank.

‘Single father… So the dad’s raising the kid alone.’

He had also lost his mother early and been raised by his father.

Suddenly, the child’s situation overlapped with his own past.

He felt slightly nauseated.

“You okay?”

Seeing the change in his expression, Kang-ryul asked.

Kang-hyuk waved him off.

“I’m fine. Anyway, we don’t know the child’s exact condition, right?”

“Right. The guardian was too panicked and just kept talking about the bleeding. I instructed them to cover the area with the cleanest cloth they could find. I think they’re still on the line with dispatch.”

“How long… will it take?”

Kang-hyuk wished he could teleport there.

The pilot turned back and shouted,

“About 10 minutes!”