Chapter 155

               

“Yep, only a lunatic can handle other lunatics…”

Still known better by her nickname ‘Newbie,’ Ji-min muttered under her breath.

Kang-hyuk was still flipping off the reporters, head turned completely toward them, so he didn’t catch it.

But the others did.

“A-Are you out of your mind?”

The original ‘Gangster’, Jang-mi, scolded her first.

Ji-min, finally realizing what she had said, hurriedly waved her hands in panic.

“I-I didn’t mean it like that!”

“What do you mean you didn’t? This is your home country, isn’t it? Why do you talk like that?”

“I-I was just flustered…”

“You knew you’d be flustered. Why say something like that?”

“If you’d gone through what I did… you’d say it too…”

Ji-min murmured as she looked quietly toward the hospital.

‘Swear to God, I’ve been grilled like a hundred times…’

It all started after Kang-hyuk had stormed out of the hospital like a thunderbolt.

Director Choi Jo-eun and Chief Secretary Hong Jae-hoon had come looking for her almost daily.

‘‘Look, I get the calls, but I can’t do anything from here!’’

Even when she said that, they made a massive fuss, saying she was being unreasonable.

They only gave up when they called and heard, ‘“This number is not accepting calls.”’

But that didn’t reduce the frequency or intensity of their harassment.

It just changed the method.

“Ugh…”

She let out a sigh just thinking about it.

But truthfully, even that was nothing compared to what came next.

‘‘And this was supposed to be top secret—fuck you, Foreign Ministry.’’

She found herself cursing under her breath every time she took a shower.

Reporters hounded her relentlessly.

If Kang-hyuk had arrived just a day or two later, she was sure Captain Lee wouldn’t have been the only one to die.

She and a few reporters would’ve gone down together.

“You sound like the Earth’s about to crack. Been practicing your sighs while we were gone?”

Kang-hyuk finally turned around after thoroughly cursing out the last batch of reporters.

And, as expected, went after the rookie.

Ji-min didn’t feel particularly unfair about it.

Kang-hyuk cursed at everyone in sight. That’s just who he was.

“N-No…”

She only answered because he asked.

“So what’s with you?”

“You’ll see when we get there. What we’ve seen so far is child’s play.”

“Child’s play?”

Kang-hyuk tilted his head, not getting what she meant.

The one who figured it out first wasn’t him, but the paramedic at the wheel.

“Oh, dear…”

Though he hadn’t once neglected watching the road, he let out a wheezing sigh.

Since it came from the driver, everyone instinctively looked forward.

And then they all let out similar reactions.

“Holy…”

“Insane…”

“They really ‘are’ lunatics.”

The one to actually curse out loud was Ji-min.

‘Thought she was the quiet type—but turns out she’s a sailor…’

Kang-hyuk wondered why all the new hires seemed to be a little off lately.

Not realizing he was the strangest one of all.

Anyway, he leaned forward, resting on the back of the front seat, and spoke.

A rather intimidating pose.

“Drive.”

“Excuse me? If I step on it here, we’re gonna run someone over.”

The paramedic had instinctively begun slowing down.

They were nearly at the ER, and it was packed with reporters.

If the hospital was normally this chaotic, they would’ve set up photo lines and crowd control, but—

Hospitals are ‘not’ hot spots.

Even the few security guards around were barely helping.

“It’s a hospital. If someone gets hit, they’ll get treated right away.”

“…What?”

He said it so confidently, the driver nearly floored the pedal.

But he still had morals and a conscience.

So catastrophe was averted.

“Tch. Fine. Then at least hit this.”

Kang-hyuk, clearly skeptical the driver would press forward, laid on the horn himself.

That startled one of the approaching reporters so much, they collapsed to the ground.

When a massive ambulance is staring you down and blaring its horn? Yeah, that happens.

“Serves you right.”

Kang-hyuk chuckled like that was the highlight of his day as the ambulance rolled past the fallen reporter.

Then, as they neared the unloading zone, he turned around with a deadly serious face.

“Gyeongwon, keep bagging.”

“Yes, Professor.”

“Slave, pull with everything you’ve got. Dr. Lee Dong-joo, help out. Dr. Yoon, please assist.”

“Got it.”

Kang-hyuk looked like he was drawing up an American football play.

That got Jang-mi raising her hand in confusion.

“Speak.”

“You left me out.”

Her face looked a little disappointed.

And rightfully so.

She was one of the team that flew all the way to the Middle East to save Captain Lee.

Kang-hyuk looked at her with a face that said ‘don’t worry about it.’

“You? You’re the most important.”

“…Really?”

What could possibly be more important than treating the patient?

Jang-mi looked like she wanted to ask that.

Kang-hyuk looked her dead in the eye, face full of gravity.

“You. Are. Coming with me. To break through.”

“…What?”

“Follow me!”

“Wait, are you cra—”

She didn’t even get to finish.

Kang-hyuk grabbed her hand and jumped out of the ambulance.

“Professor Baek! How is the patient?!”

“Are you the one who flew with him?!”

“Please, just one statement!”

Like piranhas toward a chunk of meat in the Amazon, the reporters swarmed.

‘So ‘this’ is what he meant!’

Jang-mi locked eyes with Kang-hyuk as the horde descended.

He gave her a knowing nod—then clenched his fist.

“…Huh?”

Just as she was about to say, ‘‘Why are you clenching your fist?’’—

The chaos began.

“Argh!”

The first reporter went flying, not even sure what hit him.

Then three more behind him followed, flung like bowling pins.

“Gangster! Don’t fall behind!”

“Y-Yes!”

Jang-mi joined in with gusto, earning her nickname all over again.

The crowd of reporters had no choice but to part before them.

“GO!”

Kang-hyuk didn’t waste the opening. He signaled Jaewon.

Jaewon, waiting with a determined face, ran with everything he had.

He might not have been athletic, but when he set his mind to something, he got it done.

This time, the stakes were too high to fall short.

“Move! MOVE!”

Kang-hyuk bulldozed the crowd ahead, feeling the gurney right behind him.

Some reporters shouted obscenities.

Some whined like they’d just been personally wronged.

“You’re infringing on the public’s right to know!”

“Piss off! Wait for a formal press conference!”

“How do we know when that’ll be?!”

“You trying to watch a man die in real time? Then get lost!”

Kang-hyuk shoved every reporter out of his way, regardless of what they said.

He looked like a one-man wrecking crew.

“Close the doors!”

The moment they burst into the hospital lobby, Kang-hyuk yelled at the stunned security guards.

They snapped to attention and slammed the doors shut.

Finally, the team could breathe.

Well… not ‘really’. They still had a long, long way to go.

But they had made it to the hospital.

Yet no one welcomed them.

“You actually came…”

Only glaring eyes greeted them—like they were meat on a butcher’s table.

Chief Secretary Hong Jae-hoon led the pack. (T/N: Fiuck you, you piece of sht)

“What do you mean ‘actually came’? We’re here. That’s what matters. Good job.”

Fortunately—or unfortunately—Department Head Han Yoo-rim welcomed them with a smile.

He looked thinner. Maybe he’d been suffering alongside Ji-min while Kang-hyuk was away.

“Been a while. We’ll head to the OR now.”

Kang-hyuk gave Han a rare smile before turning to Captain Lee.

Thanks to the care given during the flight, his vitals were still stable.

It felt more like he’d just been moved between departments, not flown across continents.

‘A relief… but not enough.’

To truly be relieved, surgery had to start ‘now’.

And Kang-hyuk wasn’t the only one who knew that.

Naturally, the gurney began rolling toward the OR.

‘Drdrdr…’

But just as they began to move—

“Wait!”

It was Hong Jae-hoon, of course.

“…What.”

Kang-hyuk didn’t even look back. He kept pushing the bed.

Hong glared at Kang-hyuk’s back and continued.

He wasn’t expecting a real answer anyway.

His rage had already reached maximum. There was nowhere else to go emotionally.

‘If I think about the chewing-out I got at the board meeting because of this guy…’

The board had grilled him for not anticipating the Ministry of Health or Foreign Affairs reaching out to Kang-hyuk.

In hindsight, maybe they should’ve expected the Health Ministry to step in.

Kang-hyuk was, after all, handpicked by Minister Choi Pil-du.

‘Still, how could he just accept? Without checking with anyone?!’

A chief secretary of Hanguk University Hospital usually had at least ‘some’ connections in the ministry.

Yet according to reports, Kang-hyuk had accepted immediately.

So fast that the caller had been the one caught off guard.

‘Does he not realize how much risk this hospital is taking?’

Corporate-run hospitals like Chilseong were rapidly gaining ground.

Hanguk University Hospital had barely maintained its lead thanks to history and alumni loyalty.

If Captain Lee died…

Whether he lived or not, it was a lose-lose situation for the hospital.

“If this fails… don’t expect the hospital to cover your ass. Not in the media. Not anywhere. You’re on your own.”

It was practically a curse.

Most people would’ve had their knees give out at such a threat.

Losing institutional protection right before a major surgery was catastrophic.

But Kang-hyuk looked unfazed.

“I’ll handle it.”

It wasn’t like anyone had ever helped him before.

No matter where he went, he was the only one who truly prioritized the patient.

‘At least here, I’ve got a team.’

He glanced at his people and added—

“Just like we always do.”

(T/N: Let’s fking go! and Fk you Chief Secretary Hong Jae-hoon and your cronies)