Chapter 187

               

“Uh…….”

While Kang-hyuk went to scrub, Jae-won tried to offer Jun-hyuk some advice.

But when he actually tried to say something helpful, nothing came to mind.

‘If I knew the answer, I wouldn’t be getting yelled at every damn day…….’

It was true.

He himself was still learning while being chewed out on a daily basis.

So he closed his mouth—only to feel Jun-hyuk staring at him.

It wasn’t a simple “why aren’t you saying anything” sort of look. It was far more complicated.

Of course it was.

‘Come to think of it, we dragged him out of his house…….’

In other words, they had convinced someone who ran away because he didn’t want to do surgery—and now they were forcing him to work.

“Uh…… I, um…….”

If Kang-hyuk remembered that part, maybe he wouldn’t be too harsh.

But expecting Kang-hyuk to recognize such a delicate social dynamic?

Jae-won found that doubtful.

Anyone else, maybe.

But Kang-hyuk? Absolutely not.

“Hang in there…….”

So he offered something that was barely even advice, then started placing the disposable drapes on the patient’s body.

“Uh…… yeah.”

Jun-hyuk couldn’t understand what Jae-won was trying to convey, so he simply nodded.

Then he helped him place the drapes.

Well—“helped” was generous. It was more like Jae-won did everything while he just followed along.

“No, lower it a bit more.”

“Uh…… but this is the chest area?”

“The professor likes to secure a wide surgical field. You never know what will happen.”

“Ah…… yes.”

Jun-hyuk had never assisted in one of Kang-hyuk’s surgeries.

And as a first-year resident, he wasn’t yet familiar with surgical textbooks or papers.

If you wanted to study on top of brutal workload, that was only possible around your third year.

Before that, you just tried not to collapse and fell asleep whenever you could.

“Trauma surgery is different. Very different from scheduled operations…….”

Jae-won was explaining things to the confused Jun-hyuk, when he suddenly froze.

He had just realized that the words coming out of his mouth were eerily similar to what Kang-hyuk once told him.

‘Ugh. Creepy.’

He wasn’t sure whether to be happy or horrified.

But the goosebumps running down his arm were real.

“What are you doing?”

At that moment, Kang-hyuk returned, water dripping from his forearms onto the floor.

“Ah, n-no. Yes.”

“What do you mean ‘yes.’ Hurry up and open the skull. I’m finishing the chest and coming up.”

“Yes.”

If anyone else had said it, they would’ve been snorted at.

How were they supposed to handle [Atelectasis] ‘in a flash,’ exactly?

(T/N: [Atelectasis] refers to collapse of part or all of a lung due to loss of air.)

But this was Kang-hyuk—he always did exactly that.

Without hesitation, Jae-won moved to the head.

“Hey, you haven’t…… done a chest surgery before, right?”

Without looking at Jae-won, Kang-hyuk turned to Jun-hyuk as he donned the gown handed by Jang-mi.

The series of movements looked so natural it was almost like watching a hero transformation scene in a movie.

“Sir? Ah, no, professor.”

No first-year general surgery resident had ever done thoracic surgery.

Maybe breast cancer surgery—but anything involving the inside of the rib cage belonged to thoracic surgery.

Jun-hyuk only realized this when Kang-hyuk shook his head and picked up a scalpel.

‘Wait a second.’

Jae-won was placing a scalpel on the patient’s head.

That was neurosurgery territory.

‘These…… are these people insane?’

But he didn’t get to finish that thought.

Because Kang-hyuk motioned at him.

“What are you doing? Sightseeing?”

“N-no, sir.”

“Then get over here and assist. Didn’t you hear me earlier? We’re finishing this fast and heading up.”

“Uh…… yes.”

Panicking, Jun-hyuk desperately tried to recall the chest anatomy he learned as a student.

It didn’t help much.

He had studied it more than four years ago and had never needed to recall it since.

“Hey.”

Kang-hyuk grabbed Jun-hyuk’s hands and placed them firmly on the patient’s chest.

“Hold this exactly like this.”

Then he even told him the precise angle he needed to maintain.

Any intern who couldn’t do at least this wouldn’t survive a rotation.

And Jun-hyuk wasn’t just any intern—he had gotten an A rotation.

So it wasn’t that hard.

“Yes.”

“Good. Just like that. Don’t let go.”

Kang-hyuk slid his scalpel between Jun-hyuk’s hands.

The usual easy method would’ve been to cut vertically near the center of the armpit.

But Kang-hyuk was already thinking about how he would treat the head.

He clearly had no plans to cut ribs and open the chest the classic way.

‘As long as the incision is precise…… the rest is easy.’

Contrary to what people thought, the actual manipulation of the surgical area took relatively little time.

Most of the effort was spent simply getting there.

If they followed textbook methods, it would take forever.

But someone at Kang-hyuk’s level didn’t need to follow the textbook.

“Hey. Your name is…… never mind. I’ll call you Chuno.”

‘Ch…… Chuno……’

Jun-hyuk wanted desperately to object.

But he was completely focused on the surgical field.

It was ridiculous that the operating surgeon could chat while assisting was this intense—but that was the skill gap for you.

“When I was tapping around earlier, why do you think I did that?”

“Uh…….”

Jun-hyuk thought for a moment.

Kang-hyuk had tapped various parts of the chest before choosing the incision point.

“Percussion?”

“Yeah. So what do you think I found?”

Kang-hyuk had only the last fascia layer left.

He glanced at Kyung-won, who gave him an “all ready” signal.

Crack.

He tore open the fascia, exposing the thoracic cavity.

Inside was a completely collapsed lung.

“Uh…… th-this.”

Jun-hyuk answered while watching Kang-hyuk reposition his hands again.

It sounded stupid, but it was the correct answer.

“Yeah, that’s right. Hold it open like this. You don’t need to see anything. I just need to see.”

“Y-yes, professor.”

Not only did Kang-hyuk press two [Army] retractors into his hands, he adjusted the pulling direction himself, then grabbed forceps.

(T/N: [Army] refers to Army–Navy retractors, used to hold tissue back.)

And that was when he noticed how violently Jun-hyuk’s hands were shaking.

Normally, Kang-hyuk would have ignored it and continued.

But contrary to Jae-won’s expectation, he was perfectly aware that Jun-hyuk had been dragged here unwillingly.

‘Why’s this kid shaking? Does he have tremors? No…… it’s not that.’

To shake this much without emotional disturbance meant a neurological illness like Parkinson’s.

But Jun-hyuk was far too young and healthy.

Which meant it was emotional overload.

He lifted his head—and saw it wasn’t just his hands.

‘His teeth…….’

Jun-hyuk’s teeth were clattering violently.

That meant extreme autonomic overreaction.

Kang-hyuk reviewed their earlier conversation.

‘Did I snap at him?’

He had seen people tremble before—but only those he’d terrified through his personality.

Thinking back, he hadn’t threatened Jun-hyuk at all.

Which meant the cause was something else.

“Chuno, what’s wrong with you?”

“S-sir?”

“Why are you shaking? I mean, you *can* keep assisting, but…… you’re making me anxious.”

He pointed at the trembling instruments.

“Oh gosh. Are you cold?”

Even Jang-mi could tell this wasn’t normal trembling.

She checked the OR temperature.

It was 18 degrees.

Cold compared to outside—yes.

But standard for infection control.

And extremely familiar for any surgical resident.

“N-no, I’m fine.”

“Then why are you shaking? Slave, don’t get distracted. Keep opening the skull.”

“Ah, yes.”

Kang-hyuk scolded Jae-won when he paused.

Startled, Jae-won resumed cutting furiously.

“So why are you shaking? Huh? You’re shaking even more.”

After making sure Jae-won continued working, he questioned Jun-hyuk.

Jang-mi intervened.

“Professor…… anyone would shake more if you ask like that…….”

She pointed out a piece of basic common sense to him.

It actually helped.

“Really?”

“What do you mean ‘really.’ Of course.”

“I see. Then I’ll try again. Hmm.”

Kang-hyuk gathered the gentlest smile and softest tone he was capable of, then asked,

“Our resident Im Jun-hyuk, why are you shaking so much? Tell your professor.”

“Professor…… are you teasing him?”

“That’s not it?”

“No…….”

Jang-mi almost added something, but stopped.

How was she supposed to teach someone who had been like this for nearly 40 years?

“Well…….”

And surprisingly, Jun-hyuk actually opened his mouth—as if moved by this absurd attempt at kindness.

‘That worked?’

Jang-mi stared in disbelief.

And so did Ji-min at the instrument table, and even Kyung-won at the anesthesia monitor.

‘That works?’

But whether they were shocked or not, Jun-hyuk was speaking.

“I…… I made a big mistake.”

“Mistake? What kind?”

Kang-hyuk quickly recalled which department Jun-hyuk had been in.

‘Transplantation…… hmm.’

A single mistake there could cost a life.

But something didn’t add up.

‘If he messed up, Han Yoo-rim should know.’

The department head not knowing meant something was off.

Kang-hyuk tilted his head as he examined the patient.

“Speak quickly. We don’t have much time.”

So Jun-hyuk stuttered out his confession.

“During…… during a liver transplant…… I grabbed the grafted liver…… wrong and pulled it.”

“Hmm.”

That could happen.

Liver sizes varied.

Sometimes the transplanted liver was larger and got stuck.

“And it…… tore a little.”

“Oho. You’re strong.”

But tearing it was rare.

“And the patient…… died from graft failure…… The professor said the surgery had gone well…… but…… but…… they died. So…… it means…… it means it’s because of me. Right? Isn’t it?”

Jang-mi nodded calmly.

He actually had the makings of a good doctor.

People with strong responsibility often did.

But Kang-hyuk felt differently.

“This little bastard’s hilarious.”