Chapter 37

“Professor, are you sure this is okay?”

Jaewon was walking out of the internal medicine ICU in the main building alongside Kang-hyuk.

They had just finished checking on Lee Hye-young, a patient who had undergone a kidney transplant due to a complex femur fracture, extensive [muscle necrosis], and the resulting acute [renal failure].
(T/N: Muscle necrosis refers to the death of muscle tissue, while acute renal failure is a sudden loss of kidney function.)

For Kang-hyuk, it was only natural to assume Jaewon was talking about the patient.

Even now, she was undergoing dialysis, her body severely swollen.

“We just have to hope she’ll be okay. What else can we do?”

Kang-hyuk muttered, glancing back at the now-closed ICU door.

To Jaewon, his attitude was filled with nothing but concern.

“I don’t think this is something you should talk about so carelessly.”

“Oh? Anus, do you have some kind of brilliant plan?”

“We have to try something….”

“Good attitude. Now you’re starting to sound like a real trauma surgeon.”

“Huh?”

Jaewon finally realized that he and Kang-hyuk were talking about completely different things.

Kang-hyuk looked down at Jaewon, who was clearly confused, and continued.

“That mindset of wanting to do something for the patient. That’s fundamental. Looks like I’ve been teaching you well.”

He then gave a rather satisfied smile.

Unfortunately, Jaewon had to erase that smile immediately.

In his mind, the trauma surgery department was on the verge of collapse, and Kang-hyuk seemed completely unaware of that fact.

“Professor… that’s not what I meant. I was talking about what Chief Director Hong Jae-hoon and Professor Han Yoo-rim said earlier.”

“Who?”

Unlike Jaewon, who was visibly tense, Kang-hyuk didn’t even seem to remember.

He looked completely clueless.

That left Jaewon with no choice but to describe the two men with exaggerated gestures.

“The two who came to the emergency ICU earlier!”

“Oh, them. What about them?”

“They said ‘the’ department is over three billion won in debt… And we only worked about two weeks last month.”

“It’s not ‘the’ department. It’s ‘our’ department. Didn’t you learn Korean?”

As always, Kang-hyuk had a way of making even the most normal statements sound incredibly aggravating.

So when he actually intended to be aggravating, it was almost too effective.

Jaewon swallowed his irritation—after all, he was just a subordinate, a student.

Though his cheeks did twitch slightly.

“Th-that’s not the point, is it…?”

“And you didn’t listen to what I said properly, did you?”

“W-what do you mean?”

“See? This punk ignores his mentor and only listens to outsiders.”

“I… I’m not sure what you mean….”

No matter how rude Kang-hyuk was, what could Jaewon do when his mentor was standing right in front of him?

All he could do was lower his head and nod in submission.

Kang-hyuk addressed him again in his usual confident, unwavering tone.

“Hey, have we ever violated principles when treating patients?”

The principles he was talking about weren’t the legal regulations.

Sometimes, they followed the guidelines from the U.S. Army Hospital Manual, and sometimes they followed the British Severe Trauma Guidelines.

These were patient-first principles—completely disregarding financial considerations.

“Uh, no. We haven’t.”

“Exactly. Every treatment we performed had a clear basis, and because of it, our patients survived. Just today, two of the patients we treated on your first day walked into my outpatient clinic—completely fine.”

“Well… yeah, that’s true.”

No matter what argument was made, the fact remained the same.

Kang-hyuk and Jaewon had saved lives.

Lives that other doctors would have certainly given up on.

That was undeniably praiseworthy, not something to be criticized.

Especially not by colleagues in the same medical field.

“So don’t bother with that kind of bullshit. If anyone thinks there’s a problem with my treatments, then either they or the system is the problem—not me.”

“I….”

Hearing him say it like that made it seem like Kang-hyuk was right again.

Jaewon had no counterargument.

After all, how could he refute someone questioning why saving a life was considered a mistake?

‘But… running at a deficit is a serious issue….’

If the deficit was just one or two billion won a year, it might have been something they could ignore.

There wasn’t a single department focused on saving lives that hadn’t incurred at least some losses.

But tens of billions of won in debt?

That was bound to draw the attention of the board of directors.

‘Of course, we do receive government subsidies for trauma care, but….’

How often did hospitals actually use those funds for their intended purpose?

More often than not, the money was spent on necessary equipment that the hospital had been reluctant to purchase with its own budget.

Most of the time, the actual needs of the field were completely ignored.

And it wasn’t something they could outright condemn either—after all, equipment purchases were semi-permanent investments.

But if every saved patient added to their financial deficit, then the moment those subsidies stopped, it would be an absolute disaster.

As Jaewon’s thoughts spiraled in that direction, his expression naturally darkened.

“Hey, stop just standing there. Want to go out for dinner tonight?”

Meanwhile, Kang-hyuk was still as carefree as ever.

Just thinking about Chief Director Hong Jae-hoon and Professor Han Yoo-rim made Jaewon’s stomach churn.

And yet, he found it difficult to refuse Kang-hyuk’s suggestion.

This was the first time since he joined trauma surgery that Kang-hyuk had invited him for a meal.

Thinking about it again, it really was the first time.

‘Wow… Come to think of it… Every single place he’s ever invited me to was either an operating room or a hospital ward.’

Considering he’d been in the trauma department for over two weeks, that was absolutely absurd.

“Are you going to answer or not?”

“Oh, yeah, yeah. Let’s go.”

“Good. Then let’s call the gangster too.”

“Gangster? Oh, you mean Cheon Jang-mi, the nurse?”

“Yeah. She’s the head of our nursing team, isn’t she?”

“That’s true.”

Jaewon absentmindedly nodded.

A nurse with only five years of experience being the most senior in the team?

That was almost comical.

This situation perfectly illustrated how Hanguk University Hospital viewed the Severe Trauma Team.

‘Well, Professor Baek is a new professor… but still, he’s our team leader.’

Though, what did it even mean to be a team leader in a department that only had two doctors?

They hadn’t even received a resident rotation yet, which meant proper training wasn’t even taking place.

As Jaewon worried about the future of their department, Kang-hyuk, the department head, was busy making a call to Jang-mi.

His expression remained as carefree as ever.

“Hey, Gangster.”

“What do you mean, gangster?!”

Jang-mi’s shrill voice was so loud that even Jaewon, standing far away from the phone, could hear it clearly.

She really was something.

Who else would shout back at Professor Baek Kang-hyuk like that?

Come to think of it, maybe Hanguk University Hospital had actually assigned the perfect nurse for the Severe Trauma Team.

“She’s coming. She’s off-duty, but her house is right in front of the hospital anyway.”

At some point, Kang-hyuk had already ended the call and was now looking at Jaewon.

“Oh… Then I should probably get changed first.”

Looking at his reflection in the nearby window, he realized he didn’t just need a change of clothes—he needed to shave and wash his hair too.

Taking an afternoon nap during his rare free time had left him looking like a mess.

By comparison, Kang-hyuk looked so put-together that he might as well have been heading to a blind date.

“Professor, how do you always look so clean?”

“Me? I’m not particularly clean—you’re just filthy. Look at yourself. You a bandit or something?”

“I mean… I barely have time to eat and sleep….”

“You have to manage yourself in between. Anyway, I’ll give you 15 minutes. Meet me in the lobby.”

“Fifteen minutes…? Got it.”

Fifteen minutes.

That was barely enough time to shower, shave, and get dressed.

And since Hanguk University Hospital’s main building was huge, just getting around took a fair amount of time.

Which meant Jaewon had to run.

Like a dog chasing its tail.

Watching Jaewon’s retreating figure, Kang-hyuk clicked his tongue.

“Why doesn’t he run like that when checking on patients? The thought of eating gets him all fired up.”

Shaking his head, Kang-hyuk turned toward the far end of the long hallway.

The lobby—which had an open view up to the third floor, giving it a refreshing sense of space—came into sight.

It wasn’t even 6 PM yet, but the sky outside was already dark.

Kang-hyuk liked that.

‘Too many colors during the day.’

It was helpful in surgery and medical examinations, sure.

But outside of work, excessive color clarity was just annoying.

As he slowly made his way forward, he saw someone step through the lobby doors.

It was Jang-mi.

“Oh, Gangster. That was fast.”

“It’s not like I had anything to do. I just walked right over—it’s only a five-minute walk.”

Instead of her usual nurse uniform, she was wearing a comfortable tracksuit.

She must have come straight from home just like she said.

“You dress real comfy. Is it because you’re the type to throw punches first?”

“W-what kind of nonsense is that?! We’re just going out for dinner! Of course I dressed casually.”

“Fair enough.”

“And Professor, are you seriously planning to go out like that?”

Jang-mi gestured at his crisp white coat.

“Of course not. I’d freeze to death.”

With that, Kang-hyuk casually walked over to the information desk.

“Ah, Professor. Here you go.”

The staff at the desk handed him his coat without hesitation—as if this was a regular thing.

“Appreciate it.”

Taking his coat, Kang-hyuk handed over his white coat in return.

Then, as naturally as breathing, he slipped into his own coat.

Jang-mi watched in pure disbelief.

“Wh-what the hell?! Why do you store your coat here?”

“I still haven’t been assigned a research office.”

“You could at least leave it in the on-call room in the ER….”

I mean, seriously.

That on-call room had four whole lockers.

Sure, they were old and rusty, left behind by other departments that had thrown them away, but they were still usable.

They could at least store clothes.

But Kang-hyuk clearly had other ideas.

He shook his head.

“Listen, Gangster.”

“Yes?”

“Right now, only Anus uses that room, but eventually, residents will have to use it too, right?”

“Well… yeah.”

It was true.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare was desperately trying to promote trauma surgery.

Or rather, they were desperately trying to make it look like they were.

That was why they had issued a set of new guidelines to hospitals.

One of them required all residents to rotate through trauma surgery for a certain period.

Because of that, starting in March, Hanguk University Hospital would at least have residents rotating in for about half the year.

“But if I take up space there, won’t it just make things inconvenient for them?”

“Ah….”

“Besides, isn’t it better when higher-ups keep their distance?”

“Well….”

Jang-mi had no argument against that.

She simply nodded in reluctant agreement.

“Professor! Sorry I’m late!”

Right around then, Jaewon came running over, completely out of breath.

It had been a while since they’d seen him looking this presentable.

Kang-hyuk glanced at him and smirked.

“Oh, you actually look human now.”

“Yeah, wow. Shaving really does make you look like a different person.”

“Anyway, let’s get going. You never know when we’ll get a call, so we need to eat fast.”

“Yes, Professor.”