Chapter 184

               

“Uh, Professor. Professor.”

Just moments ago, Jaewon had been completely crazed, but now he was urgently trying to stop Kang-hyuk.

“What, you bastard.”

“This… this isn’t a solo apartment…”

“Hm?”

Kang-hyuk blinked in confusion, clearly not understanding.

After all, he’d been forced to be on his own long before he became an adult.

The idea of someone over twenty living with their parents wasn’t something he fully grasped.

“He lives with his parents.”

Jaewon added with a face that wondered if he really needed to explain something like this.

Only then did Kang-hyuk realize what he had just done.

“Ah-ha.”

“‘Ah-ha’?! I mean—this kid ran away because he was already having a hard time, and now this?”

“What about it?”

“You think he’s gonna—wait, it’s opening.”

While bickering with Kang-hyuk, Jaewon stumbled backward as the doorknob suddenly popped and nudged his side.

The door opened to reveal a middle-aged woman with dark circles under her eyes.

Or perhaps it wasn’t fatigue—maybe it was a kind of sorrow.

As Jaewon had all these thoughts flash through his mind, Kang-hyuk gripped the now-open door tightly and spoke.

“Uh… are you the mother of Im Jun-hyuk, I mean, the resident?”

The woman stared blankly at Kang-hyuk, whose demeanor seemed far too rude for someone coming from the hospital.

Not a single person among the dozens who had come before had ever pounded on the door like they were trying to break it.

She was still deciding whether to get angry or call the police.

But in any case, this man seemed to have some connection to her son’s future.

So she opened her mouth.

“Yes, I am.”

“Is that ba— I mean, is Im Jun-hyuk inside?”

“He’s in his room.”

“May I speak with him for a moment?”

“He said he wouldn’t meet with anyone from the hospital.”

She glanced at her son’s door as she answered.

From the moment he got into med school, her son had always brimmed with confidence.

But now, he was holed up like a dog who’d just lost a fight.

“Is that so? Hmm.”

Kang-hyuk closed his eyes for a moment, still gripping the metal door.

Jaewon, watching, felt a little relieved.

At least this guy wasn’t barging in past the mother.

But that sense of relief didn’t last.

“I’ve never met him before. Maybe that’ll change his mind.”

Kang-hyuk, without even taking off his shoes, pushed the door open.

“W-Wait!”

The mother shrieked in shock.

The door had definitely been locked, but the knob made an ominous sound and the door swung wide open.

Jaewon didn’t know much about hardware, but he was pretty sure that door would never lock again.

“What… what’s going on?”

Lying dazed on the bed, Jun-hyuk looked up in alarm.

Kang-hyuk smiled down at him.

“You’re Im Jun-hyuk, right? This year’s first-year resident.”

“Ah… Professor Baek. Why are you here? We’ve never even met.”

Kang-hyuk wasn’t just famous within the hospital.

After the recent chain of incidents, he had gained national recognition.

So it wasn’t strange for Im Jun-hyuk to recognize him.

“Sure, we’ve never met. But you’re in surgery.”

“I’m not doing surgery anymore.”

Jun-hyuk, though saying this, felt he couldn’t just lie down in front of a professor and sat up on the bed.

He wasn’t in pajamas, just sweats.

‘If he looks like that, dragging him out wouldn’t look too bad.’

Kang-hyuk did some mental calculations and bent down a little to meet Jun-hyuk’s eyes.

If anyone else had done that, it might’ve seemed moving.

But to Jaewon, it just looked like Kang-hyuk was about to glare at him from up close.

Jun-hyuk tensed up even more.

“W-What is it?”

“I heard you graduated from our university.”

“W-What of it?”

“And your grades aren’t bad. A-tier intern. But you chose surgery.”

It might sound odd, but that was rare.

A Korea University med school grad, did internship at Korea University Hospital, with mid-range school grades.

On top of that, an A in intern evaluations—a kind of reputation score.

That meant he could’ve joined just about any department.

“You really don’t want to do surgery?”

That implied he had genuinely wanted surgery.

And yet he ran away in under two months?

It didn’t make sense.

“Well…”

Even he found it ridiculous, so Jun-hyuk turned his head.

It was partly shame, but mostly fear of meeting Kang-hyuk’s eyes.

Jaewon figured fear was the bigger reason and gave his shoulder a pat.

They were alumni, but the gap was so wide they’d barely ever met.

Still, they weren’t total strangers.

“I remember your face now. You greeted me at the initiation ceremony, didn’t you?”

“Ah, yes…”

“You had such a bright expression then. What happened?”

“Well…”

Jun-hyuk opened his mouth but quickly shut it again.

He had something to say, but couldn’t bring himself to say it.

Which happened to be Kang-hyuk’s least favorite kind of situation.

“Do you need to get hit before you talk, you brat?”

He subconsciously rolled up his sleeve.

And with that, a thick forearm and a rare sight among doctors—a tattoo—came into view.

“Ugh.”

Jun-hyuk instinctively raised his arms to shield his head.

Jaewon remembered the mother was watching and let out an awkward laugh.

“Haha, professor, your jokes! Anyone would think you’re really gonna hit him!”

He gestured wildly behind them with his eyes.

Thankfully, Kang-hyuk hadn’t completely lost it and got the hint.

“Haha! Was that too much? Hahaha!”

Then, with a theatrical laugh, he effortlessly scooped Jun-hyuk up in his arms.

Jun-hyuk was a fairly well-built adult male.

This was a first for both of them—being picked up or seeing a grown man picked up.

While both were stunned, Kang-hyuk just kept talking.

“Kid! If you were having a hard time, you should’ve said something. Come on, let’s go to the office and talk. Got it, got it.”

“Ah, ah…”

Jun-hyuk wanted to say “this isn’t what I meant,” but couldn’t speak.

He touched his throat and found Kang-hyuk’s brutish fingers pressing directly on his vocal cords.

Any more pressure, and he wouldn’t just lose his voice—he’d stop breathing.

“Ma’am! Let me have a word with him. He’s a talented young man—we’ve got high hopes!”

Kang-hyuk shouted cheerfully to the mother while still restraining her son.

Just moments ago, he didn’t even know the kid’s name or face.

But the mother didn’t object.

She knew physical restraint was happening, sure.

But deep down, she still wanted him to become a specialist as planned.

After all, it broke her heart to see him quit the thing he’d dreamed of for so long.

“Yes, but…”

She did have one concern.

“Are you really from the hospital?”

She needed to confirm these two were actually doctors.

Jaewon gave a nervous laugh.

“O-Of course! I’m his senior! Right?”

As if on cue, Kang-hyuk pressed down on Jun-hyuk’s neck muscles.

Jun-hyuk realized that neck muscles could move involuntarily, even against one’s will.

“See? Whoa there. Your head’s gonna fall off if you keep nodding like that.”

Jaewon awkwardly waved it off, trying to mask the bizarre scene.

To the mother, it seemed odd—but not so odd that she could outright stop them.

At the very least, they did seem like real Korea University Hospital doctors.

“Then… please talk it over well.”

With her blessing, Kang-hyuk and Jaewon managed to walk out with Jun-hyuk.

It wasn’t until much later that Jun-hyuk managed to make a sound.

“*Cough, cough!*”

And even then, it wasn’t speech.

His vocal cords had been forcibly pressed, after all.

He kept coughing for a while.

Jaewon waited until he calmed down and then handed him his shoes.

“Hey, put these on.”

“Ugh…”

Dragged out barefoot, Jun-hyuk reluctantly shoved his feet in.

“Ahem, ahem!”

Still uncomfortable, he cleared his throat a few more times before turning to Kang-hyuk.

“How do you even—mph.”

“This? You wanna know?”

“N-No, never mind.”

Then he backed off in regret.

‘So that’s why everyone calls him a psycho…’

Now he understood.

This guy just barged into someone’s house and dragged them out.

Compared to that, the other residents and professors who had visited seemed like harmless children.

“Now that you’re out, let’s go to the office. We get anxious if we’re not in the hospital.”

Kang-hyuk pointed at his heart as if it were a real thing.

Even Jaewon, who hadn’t felt much until now, felt his heart race at those words.

It wasn’t just them—anyone who worked at the Severe Trauma Center was like this.

They were on call 24/7, 365 days a year.

You never knew when an emergency would hit.

If you weren’t at the hospital then, it was practically dereliction of duty.

“Uh…”

Jun-hyuk, who hadn’t been outside in a while, looked disoriented.

Jaewon threw an arm around his shoulder.

“What are you gonna do at home? Let’s just visit the hospital. You won’t even run into the other residents.”

“Yeah, the Severe Trauma Center’s off in the boonies.”

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t remote.

People just avoided it.

Why wouldn’t they?

You never knew what kind of work you’d get dragged into there.

“Ah… okay, sure.”

Jun-hyuk lowered his head and followed along.

Kang-hyuk smiled as he looked at him.

Something had definitely happened.

But it was also clear that Jun-hyuk loved surgery.

‘That thing on the wall… it was definitely a scalpel.’

Each hospital had its own way of welcoming new residents.

It was the only way to survive the hellish first year.

At Korea University Hospital’s surgery department, they gifted a scalpel engraved with the resident’s name.

Jun-hyuk had run away from surgery, but still had his scalpel proudly displayed on the wall.

‘Whatever happened… this kid belongs in surgery.’

Surgery wasn’t a field you entered for money.

So the ones who truly wanted it should be the ones doing it.

Kang-hyuk gripped the back of Jun-hyuk’s neck, determined not to let him go.

Whatever his inner thoughts were, to outsiders, it looked like nothing more or less than slave acquisition.