Chapter 154

‘Vrrrrrrrrrm.’

The air ambulance roared to life and soared into the sky.

Jaewon, who had ridden doctor helicopters plenty of times, couldn’t help but let out a gasp this time.

“It’s not shaking at all…”

The noise was deafening.

But the bed was perfectly still.

It wasn’t just firmly secured to the floor—shock absorbers were fully installed.

So while the floor might be vibrating a little…

Captain Lee Hyun-jong, lying on the bed, wouldn’t feel even a hint of it.

Though to be fair, he likely wouldn’t have felt anything even if it had been shaking violently.

“Impressed?”

Kang-hyuk looked at Jaewon with a gaze that said he was being silly.

Maybe it was supposed to be affectionate.

But to others, it didn’t come across that way.

Not even to Jaewon.

“Y-Yes, Prof… I mean, sir.”

“I don’t mind. You can still call me Master.”

“Uh… that’s not really the issue here.”

“Then what is?”

“I just…”

Jaewon wanted to say, ‘‘I’m not a slave.’’

But when he looked back objectively at how he’d been acting and thinking lately… it was hard to deny it.

So he decided to just change the subject entirely.

Thankfully, now was a perfect time for that.

There were more pressing matters.

“By the way, once we land, what surgery are you going to do first?”

The one small relief was that Captain Lee Hyun-jong’s condition was relatively stable.

Thanks largely to the efforts of Internist Yoon Jae-ho and Gyeongwon.

And, of course, this air ambulance, which rivaled any hospital in terms of equipment.

Kang-hyuk followed Jaewon’s gaze to the monitor showing the patient’s vitals.

It was remarkably stable.

Thanks to that, Kang-hyuk could focus on what came next.

“Start with the abdomen.”

“His abdomen… What do you think happened with the bullets?”

Jaewon looked down at Captain Lee’s stomach with a worried expression.

His arms and legs had shown tremendous improvement thanks to Kang-hyuk’s initial treatment.

But his abdomen hadn’t.

It was worse than before.

Not as bad as they’d feared, but still…

“Probably rotted. The surrounding tissue, at least.”

Kang-hyuk replied, catching a whiff of an odor that even strong disinfectants couldn’t mask.

The others likely hadn’t noticed it.

But he had.

‘Expected resection length… about one meter of the small intestine.’

Since he was young, Kang-hyuk was vaguely optimistic he could pull through.

‘With luck, he might still live a healthy life.’

But if they had to cut more than that, serious digestive problems could arise.

The human body was so well-designed it was almost inconvenient.

There were practically no unnecessary parts.

“Will he survive a major surgery like that?”

Jaewon had no idea what kind of worries were on Kang-hyuk’s mind as he asked that.

And this time, it wasn’t to make up for almost calling him Master earlier.

It was just a genuine question from a surgical assistant.

Kang-hyuk understood that, and decided to answer sincerely.

“He has to. Why do you think we’ve gone through all this chaos until now?”

His tone rose a bit by the end.

“You mean… the disinfecting?”

“Yes. And the cultures. Preliminary tests came back. Luckily, no resistant strains. Just… a bunch of others.”

“W-What?”

“Don’t ask me to remember them all.”

Kang-hyuk pulled a crumpled sheet of paper from his coat.

Looked like it had been hastily printed.

Jaewon glanced over the test results and sighed.

There were more pathogens than he’d expected.

“Six… Is this even possible?”

“Well, the wounds are in multiple areas. External injuries. Gunshots. Need I say more?”

“Fair enough…”

It wasn’t like terrorists sterilized their bullets before firing them.

If they didn’t just pick them up off the dirt, that was a win.

“Still, the antibiotics were appropriate.”

As he spoke, Kang-hyuk looked over at Yoon Jae-ho.

He was the textbook image of an internal medicine doctor.

Quiet, resolute, competent, and deeply knowledgeable.

“That’s probably what’s kept him alive this long, right?”

“Yeah. That’s right.”

Kang-hyuk gently tapped Captain Lee’s foot.

The first time he saw it, the lack of color had made him wonder if it needed to be amputated.

But now, blood was circulating.

Thanks to timely drainage.

Still not ideal—but definitely improved.

“Let’s just… hope we get there soon.”

Even though Jaewon knew all that was waiting for him were surgeries and post-op care, he said it anyway.

The patient in front of him had made everything else fade from view.

Not because he was noble.

That’s just what happened when a life was in your hands.

* * *

“Well… looks like we’re almost there.”

Kang-hyuk peered out the window.

As he said, the scenery was starting to look familiar.

A forest of apartment buildings.

A sight you’d rarely see outside South Korea.

“We’ll be landing at Seoul Airport. Hold on to something, everyone.”

The captain’s voice came through as if to confirm it.

Then the altitude began to drop.

Thanks to the pressurization, they were fine.

Otherwise, half of them would’ve been clutching their ears in pain.

‘Vrrrrrrrrrm.’

Soon, the plane touched down safely at Seoul Airport.

Though called an airport, it was a military base—there weren’t any other aircraft taking off or landing.

It felt like the entire day had been reserved for this one flight.

Proof of how much attention this case had drawn.

“The car’s here, right?”

“Yes. Oh… it’s Newbie.”

Jang-mi pointed at a familiar face standing on the tarmac.

The one mostly called ‘Newbie’, though her real name was Hwang Ji-min.

Whether she’d driven herself or not, she was parked right beside the ambulance.

“Oh, yeah. But why does she look so exhausted?”

Though he didn’t show it, Kang-hyuk actually had an excellent memory for faces.

His hypersensitive eyes made that a given.

And he didn’t just remember faces—he remembered the details.

“Does she?”

“Yeah. Did something happen? The patient wasn’t doing well? No… that kid was already discharged.”

Kang-hyuk recalled the child he’d saved with his own blood transfusion.

He’d left quickly, but everything had been taken care of.

He’d even told Han Yoo-rim—

‘Treat her like she’s Han Ji-young.’

Han Ji-young was Han Yoo-rim’s most beloved daughter.

That statement was practically a life-or-death directive.

And from what he’d heard, the kid had recovered and been discharged.

“I don’t know. Let’s ask her.”

Jang-mi said, feeling the plane gradually come to a stop.

‘Whoooosh.’

The rear door opened, and Hans came running over.

“We’re here. Time to get off.”

Kang-hyuk bowed his head as he pulled the gurney out.

“Thanks.”

“…Wait. You said thanks? Where’s my camera!”

Kang-hyuk smirked as Hans acted all dramatic—just like Walter had before.

“You get one.”

“Damn it.”

“See you around. I’ll contact you.”

“You’re staying in Korea! When are we gonna meet again?”

“There’ll be a day. Not short like today.”

“…Really?”

Hans tilted his head at the odd tone in Kang-hyuk’s words.

By the time he thought to ask when that day might be, Kang-hyuk was already in the ambulance.

‘Bastard. You think flying nine hours straight is easy?’

Hans shook his head.

But instead of feeling annoyed, he already missed him.

Jaewon, Gyeongwon, and Jang-mi probably didn’t understand Hans just yet.

But once they parted ways just once—they would.

Then they’d get why Hans was feeling this way.

“Floor it.”

The moment Kang-hyuk got in the ambulance, he barked at the driver.

The paramedic had already heard all the warnings about Kang-hyuk from Ji-min, so he wasn’t too shocked.

He simply stepped on the gas.

“Yes, sir.”

“Ugh… should’ve let Gangster drive.”

Kang-hyuk muttered as he felt the sudden acceleration.

Jang-mi nodded, clearly agreeing—then glanced at Ji-min, who still looked exhausted.

“Hey, what happened? Why do you look worse than the people who just came back from overseas?”

“Well…”

Ji-min began with a sigh.

Most rookies would’ve said ‘‘Oh, it’s nothing.’’

But not her.

People who said that didn’t survive long in the hellscape that was the Severe Trauma Center.

“You’ll see when we get to the hospital. Those lunatics are actually here.”

“…What? The hell is that supposed to mean?”

Kang-hyuk grumbled as he followed her gaze.

It was, indeed, a sight that warranted cursing.

It looked like every single reporter in Korea had gathered here.

As soon as the vehicle moved out of the hangar, they swarmed.

“Which hospital are you taking the patient to?!”

“Is it Hanguk University Hospital?!”

“Rumors say the patient is already dead!”

“What are the chances of survival?!”

They shouted so loudly, their voices pierced through the closed windows.

They even blocked the path ahead, making it hard to drive.

“W-What do we do?”

The paramedic looked back, clearly flustered.

“What do you mean, what? Just fucking drive!”

Kang-hyuk’s furious face answered for him.

In that moment, the paramedic learned: ‘one man can be scarier than a whole crowd.’

“Y-Yes, sir!”

The paramedic, momentarily unhinged, slammed the gas pedal.

The reporters had created a wall of people and thought they were safe.

But the ambulance began pushing through.

“Are you crazy?!”

“Kang-hyuk’s in that van, right? I knew it. Why are you even trying to block that lunatic?”

Only one person, Park Sang-eun from TV Goryeo, had kept his distance—he’d already been burned once.

He knew rushing in would be pointless.

“Just give us one statement!”

“The public wants answers!”

But some idiots just had to ‘taste the shit to confirm it wasn’t miso’.

A few reporters chased after the speeding ambulance, shouting.

Some even pounded on the windows hard enough to crack them.

Jaewon, watching it all, briefly wondered—

‘Are we being brought in for prosecution or something?’

Even criminals weren’t treated this rudely.

Just then, an unexpected sound caught their ears.

‘Zzzzzzzt.’

A window rolled down.

“…Huh?”

It was Kang-hyuk’s side.

“Ah! Thank you! Please answer just one thing!”

“The people have the right to know!”

Like hyenas, the reporters lunged at the open window.

Kang-hyuk looked at their greed-dripping faces and shouted:

“Stop shouting ‘the people this, the people that’ when you don’t even deserve it.”

“…Huh?”

“Get lost.”

Then he flipped them off.

And the ambulance sped away, leaving the stunned reporters behind.