Chapter 46

“What?”

Jang-mi—not ‘Gangster’—shouted in confusion at Kang Hyuk’s sudden order.

Of course, she wasn’t the main assisting nurse for this surgery.

That meant she wasn’t wearing a sterile surgical gown, only standard scrubs.

In a high-emergency operation like this, her role was to fetch instruments as the surgery progressed, rather than setting them up in advance.

“Go, Jang-mi! Move it! Look, he’s coming now.”

Kang Hyuk lightly pushed her near the shoulder blade.

Thanks to both his strength and precise technique, Jang-mi was forcibly shoved out of the OR—

Right into Han Yoo-rim’s path.

“Uh…”

“You—who the hell are you?! Didn’t you hear me?! They’re about to cut open my daughter just like that!”

Han Yoo-rim roared at her in fury.

Up close, she could tell that Kang Hyuk was right—he wasn’t in his right mind.

Was he legally incapacitated enough to justify overriding consent?

‘Well… my job is just to stop him, right?’

Jang-mi sighed and looked up at Han Yoo-rim.

Even though they had worked at the same hospital for five years, she had never seen him before.

It wasn’t surprising, considering how massive Hanguk University Hospital was.

‘No matter who he is… he can’t beat Professor Baek.’

At least when it came to medicine, no one could stand against Baek Kang Hyuk.

His skills surpassed every rule and standard she had learned.

Which meant the surgery had to happen.

With firm resolve, Jang-mi spread her arms wide, blocking his path.

“You can’t go in!”

For Han Yoo-rim, this was utterly ridiculous.

A mere nurse was blocking his way—

In a moment where his daughter’s life was on the line.

“Are you insane? Move!”

“I’m sorry! But I can’t let you through!”

“Why not?! Move! My daughter… My daughter is in there!”

“That’s exactly why you can’t go in. Are you planning to just walk into an active surgery?”

The skin wasn’t just important for appearance—it was the body’s strongest protective barrier.

If the skin was compromised, the body was completely exposed to outside infection.

That’s why sterile operating rooms had strict no-entry policies once surgery began.

“W-wait. You’re telling me they already cut?”

Han Yoo-rim was a surgery professor himself.

He knew these basic principles well.

That’s why he hesitated instead of shoving past her.

Jang-mi took the opportunity to glance into the OR.

Since Jaewon had already prepared everything beforehand, Kang Hyuk had wasted no time—

The incision along the sternum was already made.

“Yes. They’ve started.”

Jang-mi turned back with a firm nod.

Han Yoo-rim’s face twisted in pure devastation.

“This lunatic! You cut without consent?!”

He looked so heartbroken that even Jang-mi felt a twinge of sympathy.

“Professor… I know you don’t want to hear this, but… just trust Professor Baek. He’s never wrong in situations like this.”

“Shut up! What the hell do you know—”

Just as Han Yoo-rim raised his voice, footsteps echoed down the hallway.

Soon, a husky voice—one very familiar to him—spoke.

“What’s with all the noise?”

Han Yoo-rim immediately recognized the cardiologist, Professor Jung Jae-min.

Hope sparked in his eyes as he waved him over.

“Ah, you’re here! Hurry up!”

“What’s going on?”

“Baek Kang Hyuk dragged my daughter into surgery… without consent!”

“What? You didn’t do an ultrasound first? You should’ve stopped him!”

“I tried! But he got past me!”

“This bastard… Move!”

Jung Jae-min stormed forward, Han Yoo-rim right behind him.

Seeing the two large men approaching, Jang-mi instinctively stepped back.

Her back pressed against the cold OR doors.

Whirrrr.

The drill sound from inside reached her ears.

By her estimate, about three to four minutes had passed.

For a normal surgeon, that would mean they were just cutting through the sternum now.

But for Kang Hyuk…

‘It’s already done, isn’t it?’

Turning around, she confirmed it.

Ji-young’s chest was fully open.

Even if those two forced their way in, there was nothing they could do now.

The chest was already open.

“Move!”

“You! What’s your name?! Don’t you know I’m Professor Han Yoo-rim!?”

As the two men charged at her, Jang-mi calmly sidestepped—

And slipped her toe into the bottom-left notch of the door.

“Go ahead. Go in.”

Clack.

The OR doors unlocked with a loud clatter.

Caught off balance, both men stumbled inside.

Han Yoo-rim, who was in more of a hurry, fell to one knee.

Crash!

An unexpected commotion erupted inside the OR.

Kang Hyuk’s sharp gaze immediately snapped toward them.

“What the hell?! Are you crazy?! Do you have any idea how much dust you just kicked up in a sterile room?!”

Han Yoo-rim, eyes wide and wild, snapped back at him.

Still on the floor, unable to physically stand up to him—

Looking a little pathetic—

He yelled nonetheless.

“You have the nerve to lecture me?! You dragged my daughter into surgery without consent— …oh.”

His words died in his throat.

Because what he saw inside was nothing like he expected.

“You… You already opened her up? You crazy bastard….”

“Wait. Just… wait a second.”

Professor Jung Jae-min brushed past a dazed Han Yoo-rim and rushed toward Ji-young.

Her chest was wide open.

Which meant…

The heart was in full view.

The moment Jung Jae-min saw it, he realized—

There was no need for an ultrasound.

Ji-young’s heart was seconds away from rupturing.

“Shit… It really was about to burst. You idiot….”

Jung Jae-min staggered backward, his face just as stunned as Han Yoo-rim’s.

He couldn’t linger too close to an exposed heart surgery without wearing a mask.

Han Yoo-rim, still on his knees, looked up at him in disbelief.

“W-what did you say?”

“It’s real… Her heart really was about to rupture… Ah, Ji-young…”

“No. No way. That can’t be right. A car crash—just a car crash—how the hell does that rupture a heart?”

“L-let’s get you up. Just don’t… don’t go in.”

“No. No. No…”

Even as Jung Jae-min helped him up, Han Yoo-rim refused to stand.

He kept shaking his head, repeating the same denial.

A catastrophic accident had occurred.

A tragedy that should have never happened.

His reaction was expected.

Right now, he wasn’t a professor—he was just the father of a gravely injured child.

Even Jang-mi, who had never liked him, couldn’t help but soften.

“Professor… At least get off the floor. Please.”

“I… I can’t…”

“Get up, man. Just get up first.”

“Ah…”

While Jung Jae-min and Jang-mi struggled to lift him, Kang Hyuk coldly examined the heart.

The left ventricle wall, thinned to the brink from trauma, was unstable.

Even a non-surgeon could see it—

It was about to burst.

Jaewon, clutching a handful of [TachoComb], stared intently at the heart.
(T/N: TachoComb is a surgical hemostatic agent used to control bleeding by promoting clot formation in surgeries.)

He was ready to seal it the moment it tore.

Meanwhile, Kang Hyuk, holding a suturing instrument, was still just observing.

‘Impending rupture.’

A term referring to a tear that is moments away from complete failure.

If this were a blood vessel, they could simply suture the site—

Or, if necessary, ligate it entirely.

The tissue relying on that vessel would suffer, but…

It was better than letting it burst.

‘But you can’t do that to a heart.’

Cutting off blood flow to the heart meant instant death.

That was not an option.

‘We wasted too much time.’

Even Kang Hyuk wasn’t confident he could suture it in time.

If he had opened the chest just five minutes earlier, it might have been different.

‘Because of that bastard…’

He glared at Han Yoo-rim, still collapsed on the floor.

If time weren’t so critical, he’d punch him right now.

‘No choice. I need to buy more time.’

Instead of punching Han Yoo-rim, Kang Hyuk moved to his backup plan.

“Give me a fresh pair of gloves.”

“…Huh?”

The assisting nurse blinked in confusion.

Kang Hyuk snapped at her.

“Gloves! Don’t ask questions, just do it!”

“A-ah! Yes!”

Thinking his gloves had torn, the nurse hurriedly handed over a new pair, preparing to help him put them on.

Instead, Kang Hyuk snatched them and immediately cut into them with scissors.

Rip.

But before he could finish—

A tearing sound.

No one else noticed it.

But Kang Hyuk did.

Seconds left.

“Shit. Anus! Get the [TachoComb] ready!”

“Y-yes!”

Jaewon hurriedly prepared.

Meanwhile, Kang Hyuk—unable to finish cutting—pressed the glove directly onto the heart.

Then, he began suturing it in place.

Pop.

Pop.

It wasn’t his usual elegant suturing.

It was messy.

Crude.

It looked sloppy, even careless.

But Jaewon, watching closely, knew better.

‘He’s… securing the glove to the heart’s surface… Oh—’

Before he could finish his thought—

Rip!

This time, everyone heard it.

The rupture.

Jung Jae-min squeezed his eyes shut and turned away.

He even shielded Han Yoo-rim’s face.

Splat!

No need to see it—

Everyone expected blood to erupt like a fountain.

But…

It didn’t.

Instead—

The glove swelled slightly.

Filled with blood seeping out of the tear.

“Whew.”

Letting out a sigh of relief, Kang Hyuk turned to anesthesiology.

“Vitals?”

The anesthesiologist, looking more stressed than anyone in the room, nodded quickly.

“S-stable… for now…”

“Good. Now, let’s repair the heart.”