Chapter 183

               

Bang!

Kang-hyuk finished speaking and walked out of the meeting room.

He was being openly rude, but no one could say a word.

After all, who would dare to step in when all the key members of the board had just been humiliated?

Some even developed a liking for Kang-hyuk because of this incident.

Namely, the heads of the Transplant Surgery and Hematology-Oncology departments.

‘So our departments get a pass, huh?’

The reason might have been a little strange, but it still felt good.

Anyone could see he was a doctor with top-tier skills and a strong sense of duty.

On the other hand, his reputation and personality within the hospital were rock bottom.

Still, getting acknowledged by someone like that wasn’t a bad feeling at all.

“Pr-Professor Baek. Wait up. I can’t stay in there, it’s too tense.”

Professor Han Yoo-rim rushed out of the meeting room, almost fleeing.

He was drenched in nervous sweat, but oddly, he looked pleased.

“If it’s so tense, why are you smiling?”

Kang-hyuk asked as he pressed the elevator button.

Han Yoo-rim scratched the back of his head awkwardly with a grin.

“The Transplant Surgery department. I don’t usually get along with them, but I think we connected over this.”

“Oh, then…”

“I might not get fired as department head after all.”

“When’s the department meeting again?”

“Next month. They haven’t even decided yet whether to fire the runaway resident.”

“Oh… three months, right?”

“Yeah. They have to be absent longer than that to be officially dismissed. The fact they tried to pin this on me… those guys are really something.”

Han Yoo-rim gave a hollow laugh in disbelief.

What kind of world held the department head responsible because one person ran away from a department that loses people every year?

It’d be a different story if Han Yoo-rim had physically beaten the resident.

But at the very least, he wasn’t someone who used physical violence.

“So, are you trying to persuade them?”

Kang-hyuk asked as he stepped into the arriving elevator.

Han Yoo-rim didn’t have a reason to go down, but he followed anyway.

It was rare for someone to even pretend to listen to him these days.

“Yeah, I am. But they won’t even meet me.”

“They won’t meet you…? Do you know where they are?”

“At home. Where else would they be?”

“And they still won’t listen?”

“I told you, they won’t. Even senior residents can’t get through to them. Think about it. Why would they talk to the very people who made their life miserable?”

“Right. No way you haven’t tried already.”

Runaway first-year residents were nothing new in surgery.

Interns were all equally miserable, so there was no comparison.

But once you became a resident, the quality of life depended drastically on which department you joined.

And surgery was far worse than most.

So runaways—so-called “chuno cases”—were quite common.

“Of course I tried. We’re trying to organize a persuasion team now… but they won’t even open the door.”

“Did they get hit or something? If so, then there’s nothing we can do.”

Kang-hyuk exited the elevator and headed toward the Severe Trauma Center.

Han Yoo-rim technically had no more reason to follow him, but he found himself walking along.

It was the instinct of someone trained by years of university hospital life.

That sticking close to Kang-hyuk might lead to something good.

“No, no. Come on, who hits people in this day and age? If the media caught wind of a Korea University Hospital assault, it’d blow up.”

“So it’s just because it’s hard?”

Dropping the path you chose just because it’s tough.

One could easily consider it pathetic.

But what if the hardship was so intense that you genuinely feared for your life?

Every first-year surgical resident suffered at that level.

That’s why Kang-hyuk wasn’t particularly accusatory.

“Yeah… something like that. But it’s a bit more complicated.”

“Complicated?”

“Apparently, they had a talk with a close friend, wondering what’s the point of becoming a surgeon.”

“Oh. Maybe things weren’t what they expected.”

“More like… you know, first-year depression.”

“The one that only academia refuses to acknowledge.”

It hadn’t yet been officially recognized by the Department of Psychiatry.

But everyone working in university hospitals acknowledged it as a real condition.

Every resident experiences depression at some point—just different timing.

It was called ‘first-year depression’ because it usually hit in the first year.

“So I can’t get through to them.”

“Hmm… wasn’t this year’s recruitment already short?”

“Yeah. We needed eight, only got six.”

“And now one ran away… this could cause a domino effect.”

Kang-hyuk recalled his own nightmare.

He didn’t train at one of those so-called major hospitals like Korea University Hospital.

The quota was four, but in his batch, only one other person joined.

Which meant just two people had to do the work of four.

‘That guy ran away.’

And before long, Kang-hyuk had to handle everything alone.

He wondered if there was a word more fitting than “hell” to describe those days.

“That’s the biggest worry. If we can’t solve this… I really might get fired as department head.”

“But didn’t you say earlier that with Transplant Surgery’s support, you’d be fine?”

“I thought so in the elevator, but now I’m not so sure.”

“What the…”

Kang-hyuk bit back the curse that was about to come out.

Han Yoo-rim, after all, was one of the few allies Kang-hyuk had.

He was fairly cooperative too.

Kang-hyuk wasn’t the kind of person to curse at someone like that.

‘Wait… what if I bring them back and make a deal?’

He swallowed the insult and suddenly had a brilliant idea.

“Professor.”

“Mm? What is it? That was sudden—you scared me.”

“What if I convince that kid to come back?”

“You? You’re going?”

Han Yoo-rim tried to picture Kang-hyuk persuading someone.

‘Nope… no way.’

No matter how he imagined it, all he could see was Kang-hyuk grabbing the resident by the collar and dragging them back.

That’s not persuasion. That’s kidnapping.

If Kang-hyuk got involved, odds were high it would play out just like that.

While Han Yoo-rim continued his internal logic based on experience, Kang-hyuk pressed on.

“If I bring them back, I want an intern assigned to our department.”

“An intern…?”

“Yeah. A first-year and an intern. That’s a good deal, isn’t it?”

“Well… yeah, technically…”

Nowhere else did skill so closely match years of experience like in residency and internship.

Of course, monsters like Kang-hyuk were rare exceptions.

Usually, even the most competent intern was worse than the least competent first-year.

“How about it? Deal?”

“Wait… but…”

“No backing out now.”

“I haven’t even…”

“Then I’m going. What’s the address, you bastard?”

“Please! Just don’t make the news!”

Han Yoo-rim chased after Kang-hyuk, who had already started walking faster.

But Kang-hyuk strode ahead like he was using teleportation.

By the time Han Yoo-rim caught up, Kang-hyuk had already made unapproved promises to his team.

“Seriously? An intern? Full-time?”

Naturally, Jaewon was ecstatic.

Getting an intern assigned was the same as getting a slave.

‘That means… I can finally stop doing slave work myself.’

Fellows in the Severe Trauma Surgery department were in hell not just because the work was hard.

It was also the kind of work they had to do.

Things other departments would dump on interns were expected of fellows here.

The list included inserting urinary catheters, digital rectal exams, inserting NG tubes, taking ECGs, and drawing arterial blood.

All things any doctor could do—but nobody wanted to.

“Where is that bastard?”

Jaewon’s eyes gleamed as he turned to Kang-hyuk.

Then Han Yoo-rim, who had rushed in behind him, smacked him on the back of the head.

“You’ve gone nuts hanging out with that lunatic, huh?”

“Ow! Why’d you hit me?!”

“Look at this attitude. You want another smack?”

“You’re not really going to hit me, are you?”

Han Yoo-rim stared at Jaewon in disbelief for a moment before speaking again.

“Calling him ‘that bastard’… he’s still a person. Once they leave the hospital, they’re not your subordinate anymore.”

A very department-head-like thing to say.

Gyeongwon and Jang-mi nodded, impressed by his maturity.

But Kang-hyuk was different—he didn’t react normally.

“That bastard’s at home right now.”

He and Jaewon were just vibing together.

That revived Jaewon, who had just started to lose steam from the earlier smack.

“At home? His name’s Jun-hyuk, right? Im Jun-hyuk.”

“I didn’t know his name… but is that right?”

“Yeah…”

Han Yoo-rim nodded in resignation, since hitting Kang-hyuk too was off the table.

Jaewon proved why he was the top of the surgery department with his sharp memory.

“If it’s Im Jun-hyuk… I saw him on the contact list.”

“You remember that?”

“His house is right in front of the hospital. The address stood out.”

“Really? That’s great. You’re definitely my No. 1 pupil.”

“Uh, thanks…”

Jaewon briefly felt conflicted about receiving the biggest praise of his life not in the OR, but during a chuno mission.

But it passed quickly.

‘His pupil, huh.’

He looked over at Gyeongwon with smug eyes.

Gyeongwon only stared back in pity, but Jaewon didn’t see that.

‘Jealous bastard.’

Then he looked at Jang-mi.

Trying to show off what a catch he was.

It didn’t work.

‘What’s wrong with him…’

Only pity awaited him.

“So, do you know the house?”

But he didn’t have time to reflect.

Kang-hyuk, now fixated on getting an intern, urged him.

And riding high on his pupil status, Jaewon didn’t disappoint.

“Here.”

He’d already pulled up Naver Maps and marked Im Jun-hyuk’s place.

“That’s real close.”

“Five minutes if you run.”

“Well then…”

“Shall we go?”

“Let’s.”

The two dashed out of the room like a perfect comedy duo.

Han Yoo-rim watched them go and muttered to himself.

“These two are the future of our Severe Trauma Surgery department…”

A sigh escaped him along with the words.

Kang-hyuk and Jaewon ran full speed toward Im Jun-hyuk’s house.

“He must’ve moved here as a student, right?”

“A lot of them do. Once med school starts, most can’t go home. Students from Seoul usually move nearby.”

“The pride and hope of their parents, huh?”

“Yeah… something like that.”

It made sense—they weren’t just med students, but Korea University med students.

Kang-hyuk shook off the thought that he never had parents who could’ve done that for him.

Im Jun-hyuk’s house really was close, and soon they were at the door.

“How should we… wait, Professor? Hey!”

Jaewon tried to catch his breath and plan their approach, but Kang-hyuk ignored him and stomped up to the door.

He banged on it furiously.

If a neighbor heard, they’d probably think it was a debt collector.

And they wouldn’t be wrong.

Kang-hyuk had exactly that kind of energy.

“Hey! Im Jun-hyuk! I know you’re in there! Get out here!”