Chapter 133

“Huh?”

Jaewon thought Kang-hyuk was joking and waited for a moment.

But Kang-hyuk had actually dozed off in the chair.

It was the first time Jaewon had seen him so completely zoned out in sleep.

Even after all this time working together.

“He’s really… asleep? Is this okay?”

At this point, it was beyond bewildering—it was starting to feel scary.

Kang-hyuk had been acting odd all day.

He’d even donated blood on the helicopter.

And kept zoning out afterward.

“Should we at least run an ECG?”

Jaewon turned around to find Gyeongwon already approaching.

He, too, looked visibly concerned.

A guy who’d seemed perfectly fine a moment ago had suddenly slumped back and fallen asleep—who wouldn’t be alarmed?

If they weren’t doctors, it might’ve been less worrying.

They could’ve just assumed he passed out from exhaustion.

But they were doctors.

They’d seen too many patients who suddenly went out like that—permanently.

“C-call an intern!”

“On it!”

Gyeongwon, being from anesthesiology and having freer hands, quickly called the Emergency Medicine station.

The Severe Trauma Center—trauma surgery, that is—hadn’t been assigned any interns yet.

There was a policy stating that departments with only one professor couldn’t receive interns.

But everyone in the know was well aware.

It was all because of the director and chief secretary’s scheming.

‘Should I call someone from general surgery?’

Gyeongwon hesitated as he punched in the number.

Han Yoo-rim, at least, had a somewhat favorable view of Kang-hyuk, whether voluntarily or not.

Maybe he could spare one intern.

‘No… they probably don’t even have any.’

But Yoo-rim was the department head of general surgery.

And his hands were full.

They were already struggling to recruit residents, and one had even quit earlier that year.

They had to stretch the interns they did have.

‘Right… I’m close with Emergency Medicine.’

Just as he settled on that thought, the call connected.

The voice on the other end was, as always, in a rush—and a bit irritated.

“Yes, hello?”

Working in emergency medicine meant all your phone calls were bad news.

People dying, must-respond-now emergencies—that was all anyone ever called for.

Setting aside his guilt for a moment, Gyeongwon spoke up.

“Hi, this is Park Gyeongwon, trauma center anesthesiology fellow.”

“Oh, hyung? What’s going on?”

The voice of the fourth-year resident immediately softened.

Gyeongwon wasn’t just a senior from the same university—he’d been in the same club.

At Hanguk University Hospital, where most were from other schools, seniority among Hanguk alums was absolute.

Now that he recognized the voice, Gyeongwon’s tone relaxed too.

“Ah, it’s you. Hey, do you think you can send an intern to our OR?”

“An intern?”

The resident instantly looked troubled and glanced around.

“Who the hell didn’t run the ABGA after getting a medicine consult?!”

“Uh, doctor! The patient’s acting out!”

“Sir! Where are you hurt? This isn’t good… consciousness is dropping! Call neurology!”

Trauma patients passed to the trauma center were typically the most serious injuries.

But not every ER patient was a trauma case.

Sometimes non-trauma patients were in worse shape.

Heart attacks, brain bleeds, acute ketoacidosis—you name it.

Like the cases right in front of him.

“So right now is kind of…”

He was about to explain the situation—

But stopped once he heard who the patient was.

“It’s Professor Baek Kang-hyuk.”

“What? Professor?”

“Yeah. I’m not sure how serious it is, but…”

Gyeongwon glanced over at Kang-hyuk still slumped in the chair.

Jaewon, flustered, was going back and forth while finishing the last sutures Kang-hyuk had instructed.

Even as he worked, he kept checking on Kang-hyuk, but there was no change.

“Just send someone over. And bring an ECG, too.”

“A-alright. I’ll send someone. I mean… it’s *him* after all…”

To other departments, Kang-hyuk might’ve been known as a total jerk.

But to those who had seen his skills firsthand, it was different.

Especially those in Emergency Medicine, who had witnessed his surgeries up close—he was practically a god.

And now he’d collapsed?

Unthinkable.

“Hey! I’ll do the [ABGA]. You, go to the OR!”
(T/N: [ABGA] stands for Arterial Blood Gas Analysis, a test that measures the levels of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and blood pH from an artery to assess lung function and acid-base balance.)

One intern, who had just been getting chewed out by an internal medicine resident, turned around.

Syringe coated in heparin still in hand.

“S-sorry!”

It was March, after all.

He’d only been a student last month.

Still green and flustered, he’d failed to run a crucial test and had gotten someone from internal medicine to come—triggering a firestorm.

Now, with a fourth-year telling him to forget the test and go to the OR, he was stunned.

“What? Oh, the test? I said I’ll do it! You just get moving!”

“S-sorry!”

“Stop apologizing and go! Take the ECG! This is a code red!”

“Ah—yes!”

Only then did the intern realize this wasn’t a punishment—it was a real, urgent command.

So he dashed out, dragging the ECG machine toward the emergency OR.

The fourth-year, watching him vanish down the hall, spoke to Gyeongwon.

“He’s on the way now.”

“Thanks.”

“Keep me updated, okay? He’s not just anyone.”

“Yeah. Really appreciate it.”

The fourth-year hung up and walked toward the internal medicine resident he’d just been yelling at.

The second-year visibly flinched—he was still a newbie, after all.

He glanced at the syringe in the fourth-year’s hand and asked, puzzled:

“Uh… why are you doing it, sir?”

“Oh, we’re short on interns. I’ll handle it. Problem?”

“N-no, not at all. I’ll take care of it.”

“You sure?”

The fourth-year grinned at the very different reaction from the second-year and handed over the syringe.

“It’s not urgent, right? No underlying conditions, just some mucus and bloody diarrhea. Probably an infectious enteritis.”

He added casually.

Emergency docs might only skim across every specialty—

But four years of doing that added up.

“Y-yes. I’ll take care of it.”

The second-year nodded eagerly.

Something that could’ve earned the intern a brutal scolding had been smoothed over without issue.

Meanwhile, the intern had reached the OR entrance, practically flying.

“Uhh…”

But since it was his first time there, he stood frozen at the door.

Seeing him from inside, Jang-mi quickly opened it.

“Just slide your foot under. It opens.”

She filled in his knowledge gap.

“Th-thank you, ma’am.”

True to the saying “internship is the most humbling time of a doctor’s life,” he bowed so deeply his head nearly hit his toes.

“Over there. Hook the ECG up with me.”

“No, ma’am, I’ll do it.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you. We’re just in a hurry.”

“O-okay.”

The intern rolled the ECG cart over to Kang-hyuk.

A new nurse also arrived, carrying a manual sphygmomanometer from another room.
(T/N: [Sphygmomanometer] is a device used to measure blood pressure, typically consisting of an inflatable cuff and a pressure gauge.)

“Let’s check his BP first. Ugh, Professor… seriously making people worry…”

It was awkward—he was a superior.

If it were anyone else, they’d have gotten slapped awake by now.

‘But what if he really is just sleeping… what would happen?’

He imagined a thousand awful outcomes.

A ridiculous phrase came to mind:

“Abandon all hope, ye who try to wake me.”

Shaking the thought off, Gyeongwon jerked his head violently to clear it.

“Uhh… BP is… 90 over 60.”

While he was distracted, the new nurse had taken the reading.

“What? Why’s it so low?”

“Huh?”

Both Gyeongwon and Jaewon whipped around to look at her in shock.

The nurse flinched under the pressure.

“I-I’ll take it again.”

“Yeah. Try again.”

Under different circumstances, Gyeongwon might’ve let it go.

But this wasn’t just any VIP—it was his mentor.

Nervous didn’t begin to cover it.

Seeing his reaction, the nurse’s hands trembled even more.

Even someone bold enough to volunteer for the trauma center couldn’t stay calm when Baek Kang-hyuk collapsed.

“I’ll do it. You assist. No instruments needed for closing anyway.”

Unable to watch any longer, Jang-mi stepped in.

Gyeongwon nodded so hard it was excessive.

“Would you?”

“Yes. I’ll get it right away.”

How many years had Jang-mi been doing this?

And nearly all of them were in chaotic places like the ER and ICU.

She got a reading in seconds.

“Ah… 90 over 60. It’s correct.”

“Goddammit. Get the ECG hooked up!”

“Yes!”

“And prep fluids! Draw blood for labs while setting the line!”

“Yes!”

“And—”

As Gyeongwon stuck ECG pads to Kang-hyuk’s chest, he hesitated at the lower half of his body.

Was it okay to go that far with a professor?

But this was an emergency.

‘If it were me collapsed here… Professor would’ve shoved it in without hesitation.’

No doubt about it.

Kang-hyuk never hesitated when it came to emergencies.

So Gyeongwon gritted his teeth and gave the order.

“Insert a [Foley catheter].”
(T/N: A Foley catheter is a tube inserted into the bladder to drain urine.)

“Wait, what? A Foley?”

“Are you insane? Do you want to die?!”

Everyone was stunned—

But Jaewon reacted the strongest.

“A catheter? That’s suicide.”

“I mean… how do we adjust fluids and monitor BP without checking urine output?”

But Gyeongwon was a stickler for principles.

Especially when it came to medicine, he never compromised.

Even with Kang-hyuk, he’d always questioned things he didn’t fully understand.

So Jaewon’s threat didn’t make him back down.

“Ugh…”

And to be fair, Jaewon couldn’t argue—it was the right call.

So he went quiet.

“Just focus on closing up the kid. He’s not out of the woods either.”

“Yeah… yeah, you’re right… I didn’t see anything…”

Jaewon turned his head, unable to watch.

Meanwhile, Gyeongwon and the intern shielded Kang-hyuk’s lower half and got to work.

“Jesus, this is crazy…”

“What? What’s wrong?”

“N-no. Ahem. Nothing.”

Gyeongwon, having pulled down Kang-hyuk’s pants, reflexively let out an exclamation and shook his head.

‘Yeah… men like him really *are* built different.’

A wave of respect washed over him.

(T/N: I should have been worried but the ending made me laugh. WTF. I think we all know what Gyeongwon is talking about lol. )