Chapter 65

Lieutenant General Kang’s voice was urgent—desperate, even.

Because he sensed it—his pristine military career might be coming to an end.

“Hey, you there! I’m talking to you! Why—why aren’t you going?!”

He jabbed his finger toward Kang-hyuk as he shouted.

It was the finger-pointing of a large, uniformed military man.

For a typical doctor, that would’ve been quite intimidating.

But Kang-hyuk merely scoffed.

“I don’t answer to pointless noise. Stop squawking and get out of the way, will you?”

“W-What? You little…!”

Lieutenant General Kang, both anxious and enraged, lunged at Kang-hyuk.

Of course, Kang-hyuk was a civilian, so the punch didn’t fly.

Still, the tension between the two was enough to make the air feel dangerous.

“General! Please, hold back!”

Lieutenant Colonel Kim Nak-chul hurried to restrain him.

Even though he had no intention of actually using force, Kang still shouted.

“Let go of me! That bastard…”

“Bastard?”

Kang-hyuk tilted his head for a moment, then casually stepped right up to the general.

Despite his lifelong service and imposing physique, the general looked almost small next to Kang-hyuk.

But General Kang didn’t back down an inch.

The stars on his shoulder kept his pride intact.

“Yeah, bastard. You punk with blood still wet on your head—”

“If the blood dries, you die. You don’t know something that basic at your age?”

“What did you just say, you… damn…”

General Kang grit his teeth and shook his head.

“You… You better know how lucky you are. If this were thirty years ago, someone like you would’ve disappeared without anyone knowing.”

“Who’s lucky here? When I leave, you should bow down to that lieutenant colonel holding you back. If he hadn’t stopped you, you’d be the one flying away in that helicopter.”

“This little punk—”

“Alright, that’s enough from the peanut gallery. Time to talk about the patient.”

“Wha—what?!”

Kang-hyuk wasn’t just a brilliant doctor—he had a special talent for getting under people’s skin.

With someone like that running his mouth on purpose, even a short-tempered man like General Kang was pushed to the edge.

Now he finally understood why generals in history would charge into traps they knew were obvious—just out of rage.

“Let go! I said let go!”

“You can’t, sir! He’s a civilian!”

“Civilian, my ass!”

“I said no!”

And so, chaos erupted.

But it was ultimately meaningless.

Because Kang-hyuk abruptly began acting like the general didn’t even exist.

Instead of shouting back, he turned toward the injured Private Kim and spoke.

“Hey.”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

Private Kim had just watched the towering commander get into a shouting match with Kang-hyuk.

That made one thing clear: Kang-hyuk had to be either a total madman or someone of equivalent rank to a commander.

If Jaewon were here, he’d have made it clear it was the former.

Tatata—

Unfortunately, Jaewon had already boarded the helicopter and left the island.

“You overheard earlier, right? We need to operate on your arm quickly. Not in a day or two—every minute counts.”

“U-Understood!”

“Good. But this is Baengnyeong Island. Even if the [surgery] goes well, we don’t have the [equipment] or [staff] here to care for you afterward. You absolutely have to be evacuated.”

“Yes!”

“The helicopter’s gone, so that leaves us with a boat. I’m going to perform the surgery on the boat. That okay with you?”

Kang-hyuk forced a smile as he said this.

It was the pinnacle of awkwardness.

He was used to operating on unconscious patients, not having conversations with alert ones.

Talking with a wide-eyed, fully aware patient felt unfamiliar to him.

“A boat…”

“It’s nothing major. Just need to [clamp a ruptured vessel] and [suture one nerve].”

“Um…”

At that, Captain Lee Kang-haeng and the orthopedics captain nearby both let out groans.

Performing [vascular and nerve anastomosis] on a boat?
(T/N: Anastomosis refers to surgically connecting blood vessels or nerves.)

That kind of [microsurgery] was difficult even under a microscope.

But on a boat rocking with the waves?

That wasn’t medicine. It was just insanity written out in long form.

And yet—the crazier part was that with this guy, it might actually be possible.

‘That basilar skull reconstruction earlier… No one else could’ve done that.’

Sure, they’d seen surgeries with the same name.

But nothing like that.

Those took way longer and were way messier than what Kang-hyuk pulled off.

“Anyway, so I’ll need a boat…”

As Kang-hyuk spoke, he turned to Lieutenant Colonel Kim Nak-chul.

He was still busy trying to hold General Kang back.

“Sir, please—!”

“Goddammit!”

Fortunately, the general was beginning to wear himself out and only huffed in frustration.

Kang-hyuk passed by him like he was nothing and stood in front of the lieutenant colonel.

“You’re a doctor too, right? So you get what’s going on here?”

“Well…”

Lieutenant Colonel Kim hesitated, unsure what to say.

Wasn’t this a bit much?

The man in front of him had just insulted his superior officer.

Nodding now would basically be acknowledging that.

“You don’t know? Your soldier’s about to be permanently disabled.”

It was the moment his career as a lieutenant colonel took a sudden nosedive.

But when Kang-hyuk dragged the patient in front of him, he had no other option.

“I do. I know it’s urgent.”

“Good. Then I’ll need one boat, surgical tools, Captain Lee Kang-haeng over there, and two [nursing officers].”

“What? But I can’t authorize that on my own—”

“What kind of lieutenant colonel can’t give that order? Why are you even in the military? You should’ve just stayed a civilian doctor.”

The man was unbelievably rude.

But if they wanted to operate on Private Kim and get him to the mainland, there was no other option right now.

‘And honestly… he’s earned the right to say it.’

Lieutenant Colonel Kim nodded slowly, recalling the near-miraculous surgery he’d witnessed earlier.

Not even once during his residency at Hanguk University Hospital had he seen hands as skilled as Kang-hyuk’s.

After that, he’d only ever been stationed at military bases or military hospitals—so it was natural he’d never seen someone like Kang-hyuk.

In short, this was the first time he’d ever encountered a doctor of Kang-hyuk’s caliber.

“J-Just a moment. One moment, please.”

With great effort, Lieutenant Colonel Kim Nak-chul mustered his courage and turned to General Kang.

The general was still grumbling under his breath, but he looked noticeably more subdued than before.

Part of it was physical fatigue—but part of it was that he’d begun to understand what Kang-hyuk was saying.

‘He’s saying he’ll end up crippled?’

That couldn’t be allowed to happen.

“Go on. Say it.”

So, swallowing the rage that still simmered inside, General Kang told Lieutenant Colonel Kim to speak.

He already knew what the man would say—

But his pride wouldn’t let him just go ahead and say it himself.

“Yes, sir. Regarding the evacuation of Private Kim Jun-ha, I formally request deployment of one Chamsuri-class patrol boat, accompanying personnel, one military physician, two nursing officers, and the necessary surgical tools.”

“Chamsuri-class… Do we have one ready to depart now?”

At the general’s question, his aide quickly stepped forward.

To be selected as the commander’s aide, one had to be incredibly sharp—and this man was no exception.

He had already taken steps in anticipation of the request while listening to the earlier conversation.

“Yes, sir. It’s ready to depart immediately.”

“Hmm. But is it even possible to perform surgery on a patrol boat? Chamsuri-class vessels are very small.”

“Well…”

Lieutenant Colonel Kim tilted his head.

He was a marine doctor, but he’d spent his time as a first lieutenant and captain going through residency.

Majors typically didn’t board ships, so ironically, he knew even less about naval operations than short-term military physicians.

“It’s possible.”

The unexpected answer came from Kang-hyuk.

“You’ve… ridden on one before? Did you serve in the Navy?”

General Kang’s tone was half hopeful, half annoyed.

Kang-hyuk shook his head with a faint smile.

“No, I wasn’t Navy. But I’ve ridden on them many times. Even done surgery on one before.”

“Hmm…”

General Kang groaned.

He couldn’t tell whether this man was lying or not.

But at this point, there was no other choice but to believe him.

And hadn’t he said it himself—the more time passed, the less chance the patient would have of ever using that hand again?

So, with a face that looked like he was about to cry, General Kang nodded.

“Fine.”

And then, with a changed tone and a more composed expression, he turned to Lieutenant Colonel Kim and Captain Lee Kang-haeng.

“I authorize the departure of vessel 288. Your mission is the safe transport of Private Kim Jun-ha. Complete your duty well.”

“Victory!”

Lieutenant Colonel Kim snapped to attention and saluted with a booming voice—despite the fact that he wouldn’t even be boarding the vessel.

In contrast, Captain Lee, effectively conscripted by Kang-hyuk, wore a stiff expression.

Not only was he being forced to board a ship against his will—but now he’d be assisting with surgery on it?

It would’ve been weirder if he wasn’t nervous.

“You’ll be fine. Just hold things open. I’ll handle the rest.”

Kang-hyuk patted Captain Lee’s shoulder reassuringly, then approached Private Kim.

“Let’s go. I’ll operate on you as we travel.”

“Y-Yes, sir.”

“Try not to get too nervous. One way or another—you’re not going to die.”

“Y-Yes… understood.”

Private Kim—barely twenty-one, if that—nodded awkwardly.

Captain Lee and Lieutenant Colonel Kim couldn’t bear to look him in the eyes.

Wasn’t he far too young to be relieved at hearing, ‘You won’t die’?

And yet the man who had said it—Kang-hyuk—had the most shameless expression in the world.

“Alright, let’s move! Head to the boat, now! No dawdling!”

“Yes, sir!”

At those words, Lieutenant Colonel Kim and Captain Lee reflexively responded while gathering the surgical instruments.

The two nursing officers followed suit.

Clatter—

Private Kim’s hospital bed rolled noisily out of the emergency room.

Two medics who had been waiting outside rushed over and loaded him into the waiting ambulance.

Kang-hyuk sat beside him without hesitation, pressing firmly on his arm.

“Ugh…”

“Hang in there. I have to hold it like this to stop the bleeding.”

“Ugh…”

Private Kim groaned, but nodded.

It hurt like hell—but the pain was worth enduring.

‘He really is something…’

Unlike when the other doctors had pressed on it, not a single drop of blood was leaking from Private Kim’s arm.

It looked like Kang-hyuk was just holding it casually—

But clearly, that wasn’t the case.

Vroooom.

The ambulance carrying the team soon arrived at the harbor.

The patrol boat was already waiting.

The boarding ramp was down, so the team disembarked and boarded immediately.

Naturally, the first one up was Kang-hyuk.

Even on the constantly swaying deck, he stood without so much as a wobble.

“What are you doing?! Hurry up and get on board! We set sail the moment the patient’s aboard—and I’m operating on that arm right away!”

(T/N: Wow. Even if its a completeely different scenario than what we had from the drama, it is also equally thrilling and intense to read. But from the way things are going, I’d say this scenario has more appeal to be in the news rather than saving a bunch of civilians under a bridge.)