Chapter 49

“Release!”

“Press!”

“Hey!”

“You idiot!”

“Slave!”

Kang-hyuk had moved beyond simply saying “release” and “press”, now barking out orders with a mix of insults.

Fortunately, Jaewon somehow understood exactly what he meant.

No, actually—he understood better when Kang-hyuk cursed than when he gave clear-cut instructions.

“You idiot! Oh… Hmm. Not bad.”

Occasionally, Kang-hyuk even finished his sentences with praise instead of just insults.

Of course, that was rare.

Either way, thanks to their relentless effort, they had managed to cut away all the sutures that had been holding the ruptured heart together.

All that remained was removing the glove.

“Keep pressing.”

“Ah, yes.”

Jaewon had already been pressing firmly even before Kang-hyuk told him to.

Yet, blood was still seeping out in small amounts.

Jaewon’s eyes instinctively drifted toward the leakage.

“Don’t worry about the slight leakage. Once we remove the glove, we’ll secure it completely.”

Kang-hyuk absentmindedly tapped the muscle covering the rupture as he spoke.

How exactly he planned to secure it was still a mystery.

But Jaewon had learned one thing by now—if Kang-hyuk said he would do it, he would do it.

“Yes, Professor.”

“So just keep pressing. I’m taking the glove out.”

“Yes, but…”

“But what?”

Jaewon hesitated, unable to meet Kang-hyuk’s piercing stare.

There were some people in the world who were scary just by standing near you.

And Kang-hyuk was one of those people.

Now that kind of guy was glaring at him?

Jaewon lowered his gaze, staring at his feet as he struggled to speak.

It was something he had to ask—there was no other choice.

“The, um… The gap is barely wide enough for the endoscope lens… How do you plan to take the glove out?”

“Ah.”

At Jaewon’s words, Jang-mi, Jung Jae-min, and Han Yoo-rim all simultaneously let out a groan.

Now that he mentioned it… how was Kang-hyuk planning to remove the glove?

‘If he removes the muscle covering just to take it out…’

Jae-min imagined the ruptured heart bursting open and spraying blood all the way to the ceiling.

‘Damn… I even went to her first birthday party…’

Jae-min had been so obsessed with [coronary angiography] that he was still single.
(T/N: [Coronary angiography] is a procedure that uses contrast dye and X-rays to visualize blockages or narrowing in the heart’s arteries.)

To him, Han Ji-young, the daughter of Professor Han Yoo-rim, was practically a niece.

Just the thought of losing her made his knees go weak.

Thud.

And then, someone actually collapsed.

Han Yoo-rim.

Jae-min rushed over to support him.

“Hey, hey! You okay?”

“How… the hell… could I be okay….”

His daughter’s heart was barely holding on with a rubber glove.

And now, they had to remove it.

Through a tiny opening.

Was there any situation more impossible than this?

And yet, the lead surgeon—Kang-hyuk—was completely unfazed by the panic around him.

Instead, he simply chuckled at Jaewon’s question.

“You idiot. How else would I take it out? Just pull it out.”

“Huh? But the glove is this big… And the gap is this small…?”

“You think gloves are made of steel?”

“N-no… It’s rubber.”

“Then just cut it into smaller pieces. Problem solved. Now keep pressing.”

“C-cut it…?”

“Press.”

“Ah, yes.”

Jaewon forcefully pushed down his doubts and continued pressing on the ruptured heart.

Even though the thinly sliced muscle was already covering the area.

His heart still pounded in his chest.

Because he knew all too well what was underneath his hand.

Meanwhile, Kang-hyuk grabbed small forceps and began tugging on the glove, preparing to cut.

Not just any cutting—microscopically precise cutting through a tiny opening.

All while relying solely on the endoscope for visibility.

Snip. Snip.

Kang-hyuk, however, showed zero hesitation as he snipped away.

Bit by bit, the large glove was being cut into one long, thin strip.

Even Han Yoo-rim, who prided himself on his surgical skills, found this unbelievable.

No, it wasn’t just unbelievable—it felt completely surreal.

Because it shouldn’t be possible.

“Holy….”

Jae-min, standing next to him, had the same expression.

Even though he wasn’t a surgeon, cardiology was a field that often performed high-risk interventions.

Coronary angiography had some overlapping techniques with endoscopic procedures.

Which meant Jae-min knew better than anyone how difficult it was to work with disjointed visual feedback.

Even after twenty years of working with hearts, he still couldn’t claim he was 100% confident in such techniques.

But Kang-hyuk was performing it flawlessly.

As if he had spent his entire life doing nothing but this.

Snip. Snip.

And yet, the man at the center of it all—Kang-hyuk—looked completely unimpressed.

The only emotion on his face was mild irritation at their astonishment.

Within minutes, the glove had been cut down into a long, stretched-out strip.

Shhhht.

Using forceps, Kang-hyuk pulled the rubber strip out through the tiny opening.

It was stained red with blood from the heart.

He casually handed it over to a nurse.

“Send this to pathology. Give me the suturing kit. 3-0 Vicryl.”

“Ah, yes, Professor.”

“Slave. Keep pressing. Blood’s still leaking.”

“A-ah… Yes, understood, Professor.”

“It won’t take long. Just keep pressing.”

“Yes.”

Jaewon took a deep breath, reassured by Kang-hyuk’s confidence, and continued pressing down.

Of course, he made sure not to apply too much pressure.

Too much physical force on the heart could cause severe damage.

Or worse.

It could trigger a lethal arrhythmia like ventricular fibrillation.

Jaewon kept pressing the heart with just the right amount of pressure.

Pop.

Meanwhile, Kang-hyuk began suturing with a force that felt almost too rough.

Despite his brusque manner, Kang-hyuk was surprisingly instructive when he wanted to be.

After all, Jaewon would eventually have to operate independently as a full-fledged trauma surgeon.

Only then would he become a true medical slave.

“I’m cutting deeply into the ruptured area and attaching it to the muscle layer I placed on top. That’s how you completely stop the bleeding.”

“Ah….”

“But if you get greedy and take too much, you’ll tear the surrounding tissue apart. Don’t overdo it.”

“But… how do you know how much you’re cutting underneath?”

“Sigh…. Are you seriously asking me that…?”

Kang-hyuk looked at Jaewon as if he had just committed an unforgivable crime.

His expression practically screamed disgust.

Jaewon had no idea why.

Why was this such a ridiculous question?

Apparently, Han Yoo-rim, Jung Jae-min, and Jang-mi were equally puzzled.

‘Does he have some special technique?’

Among them, Han Yoo-rim was particularly frustrated.

After all, he was a professor himself.

And yet, even he couldn’t understand how Kang-hyuk was gauging the structures beneath the surface.

“You didn’t see it earlier? Were your eyes closed?”

Kang-hyuk shot back while continuing to suture without pause.

It was as if his brain operated on two separate channels—one for surgery, the other for mocking Jaewon.

Jaewon looked up at him, utterly confused.

“Uh… See what?”

“The ruptured heart. You didn’t look?”

“Ah… I did.”

“Then you remember it, right?”

“Remember…?”

Jaewon’s expression froze.

‘Wait… is he saying he memorized it?’

And just as Jaewon was processing that absurd thought, Kang-hyuk confirmed it.

“You have to memorize everything. Didn’t you study anatomy? The structure is just a variation of what you learned. Don’t tell me you can’t remember what a patient’s insides look like after surgery?”

“Uh….”

Jaewon wanted to say, “Most people can’t do that, right?”

He glanced over at Han Yoo-rim and Jung Jae-min.

Both of them had similar expressions.

Which meant he wasn’t the only one who thought Kang-hyuk’s expectations were insane.

But Kang-hyuk clearly didn’t share that opinion.

And his opinion mattered more than the truth—because he was Jaewon’s professor, team leader, and mentor.

“Sigh…. You really lack focus. If you concentrate during surgery, you can’t forget this stuff.”

“It’s not about focus, it’s just—”

“Then why can’t you remember? Are you stupid?”

“No, I’m not stupid.”

He had graduated from Hanguk University Medical School, ranked first in the entire surgical department, and aced every exam.

And yet, here he was, being called an idiot.

It was unfair.

“Then memorize it.”

That was too much of a leap in logic.

“Ah….”

Jaewon found himself trapped between being an idiot and a genius.

Meanwhile, Kang-hyuk finished suturing.

“Alright, done. What’s the blood pressure?”

He tapped the fully sealed heart and asked the anesthesiologist.

The thin muscle layer had adhered perfectly, as if it had always been there.

Unsurprisingly, the blood pressure and other vitals were stable.

“Perfect. 120 over 80.”

“Good. Surgery’s done. Let’s close up.”

Kang-hyuk nodded in satisfaction.

Then, he signaled Jaewon to bring the separated sternum back together.

Snap.

With a crisp sound, the two halves of the sternum clicked back into place.

That meant Kang-hyuk had cut it perfectly from the start.

“Gangster, give me the drill.”

“Yes, Professor.”

You couldn’t suture bone.

Needles wouldn’t go through it.

Not even Kang-hyuk could change that.

So, the only option was to drill holes, thread surgical wire, and tie it off.

Of course, this technique varied depending on the surgeon.

Kang-hyuk was flawless.

Even Jung Jae-min, who had occasionally assisted in cardiothoracic surgeries, could see it immediately.

‘Wait… why is he better than actual thoracic surgeons?’

Even though trauma surgeons performed thoracic procedures, they didn’t do it as often as specialized cardiothoracic surgeons.

Yet, Kang-hyuk’s technique was beyond textbook perfection.

Jae-min turned around.

Even Han Yoo-rim was watching with his mouth slightly open.

For a moment, he seemed to forget that his daughter was the patient.

If he had been focused on her, his expression wouldn’t be awe—it would be concern.

In no time, Kang-hyuk had fully closed the chest.

He then turned to Han Yoo-rim.

“So, what do you think? The infamous trauma surgery department—the root cause of every hospital’s budget deficit?”