Chapter 74

To be honest, Professor Hong Jae-hoon thought Han Yoo-rim had completely lost it.

How could he defend someone who the entire country was furious with, and whom one of the major media outlets was determined to bury?

He felt that calling him a “crazy bastard” a moment ago wasn’t even an exaggeration.

Even in the livestream chat, hardly anyone criticized Professor Hong for swearing.

Everyone was only talking about Han Yoo-rim defending Kang-hyuk.

<Is he nuts? Didn’t he see the surgery on the ship earlier?>
<I’m not even sure the place was properly sterilized.>
<Doctors always protect their own. I worked in a university hospital for 10 years, I know.>

Yet Han Yoo-rim didn’t particularly regret it.

Once he said it out loud, he felt even more certain.

Kang-hyuk must have had a reason.

Someone that absurdly skilled wouldn’t make a mistake over something like that.

“Crazy bastard? Isn’t that a bit harsh?”

“You! Weren’t you dying to get rid of him before?”

“That was because I didn’t know better. Think about it. Today, he flew all the way to Baengnyeong Island, didn’t he? What doctor in Korea rides a helicopter for a patient?”

“That’s just wasting resources.”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions before hearing what he has to say.”

“Listen to you! You’re the surgery department head and you’re defending that bastard?”

“I’m not defending. I’m saying we should hear him out first.”

Professor Hong Jae-hoon got so riled up that he forgot the cameras were rolling and started yelling at the top of his lungs.

Meanwhile, Han Yoo-rim, perhaps foreseeing a day when he would need to protect Kang-hyuk, stayed calm and composed.

“Then where is Professor Baek right now?”

Reporter Park Sang-eun sensed that prolonging this argument wouldn’t look good.

For some reason, Hong Jae-hoon was losing ground in the exchange.

So she changed the subject — and it worked.

“He must be in the OR. Wait, wait. Did he call in any other department?”

Professor Hong answered offhandedly, thinking it was an obvious question, then tilted his head.

He hadn’t gotten much out of the slippery conversation with Yang Jaewon earlier.

But he did hear that the second patient, Private Kim, had a fractured arm.

Which meant orthopedic treatment should have been essential.

Yet no matter where he looked, there wasn’t a single orthopedic surgeon around.

“Uh… I don’t know.”

Han Yoo-rim shrugged.

Since he’d been glued to Hong Jae-hoon’s side the whole time, of course he didn’t know either.

It was only natural, but to Hong Jae-hoon, it looked like incompetence.

“You’re the surgery department head! How can you know nothing about what’s going on?”

“And you? You’re the Chief Director, aren’t you?”

“What? What?!”

“No, nothing. Sorry.”

“You little…!”

“Hey, the camera’s rolling. The camera.”

“Tch.”

Professor Hong almost grabbed Han Yoo-rim by the collar but restrained himself and turned away.

He pointed toward the emergency OR where Kang-hyuk had disappeared.

“Let’s go check. Why the hell is a trauma surgeon handling a fractured arm alone? How many orthopedic professors do we have? Has he lost it chasing surgery stats?”

“Come on. You know the trauma case fee is ridiculously low.”

“Then why didn’t he call ortho?”

“That’s…”

Han Yoo-rim started to make up an excuse but stopped.

He couldn’t find a good reason.

Why would Kang-hyuk act like that?

‘I really have no idea.’

A man impossible to understand.

A man without answers.

“What are you doing? Hurry up!”

When Han Yoo-rim hesitated, Hong Jae-hoon urged him forward.

Finally, Yoo-rim nodded and followed.

Reporter Park and her cameraman naturally followed too.

“Uh, you can’t come this far.”

Hong tried to block them.

“The ICU treatment room? We’ll only go to the OR entrance. That’s legally allowed.”

Park Sang-eun seemed to know medical law even better than the professors, and they couldn’t stop her.

“Fine. But don’t interfere with treatment. That’s non-negotiable.”

“Of course. This isn’t a prerecorded shoot. If we screw up, we’re the ones in trouble.”

“Hmph.”

Honestly, the fact that it was live made Hong even more nervous.

Still, it was hard to keep them back anymore.

More than that, Hong was now worried not about the reporter — but about Baek Kang-hyuk causing a real incident.

Thud thud thud.

Hong Jae-hoon sprinted down the hallway.

When the senior runs, the juniors can’t just walk.

Thud thud thud.

Han Yoo-rim ran after him, and so did Park Sang-eun and her cameraman.

The vibrations from their running were strong enough that they could be felt inside the OR.

Especially for someone like Kang-hyuk, whose senses were abnormally sharp, it was noticeable.

“What the hell is that?”

“Huh?”

Jaewon, who had come in as an assistant, widened his eyes.

He had just been briefing Kang-hyuk about Sergeant Lee, who had been transferred to the ICU.

It made him tense — was something wrong with his earlier treatment?

“Can’t you feel it?”

“Feel what…?”

“Eh, never mind. It’s not like it’s an earthquake.”

“Huh?”

“Forget it. Focus.”

“Yes.”

Kang-hyuk shook his head and looked down at Private Kim’s broken humerus.

Private Kim had turned his head away and squeezed his eyes shut.

Even though the sensory nerves in that area had already been anesthetized, staying conscious during surgery was still frightening.

“Pass me the drill. No way this will stick just by fitting it together. What was the propeller made of?”

“Uh… I’m not sure about the material…”

“Not you. I was asking the guy standing behind you.”

“Ah.”

Relieved, Jaewon turned to look behind him.

Standing there was Captain Lee Kang-haeng, wearing a surgical gown over his military uniform.

“I… I don’t know either.”

It was only natural.

Expecting a military doctor to know the material of a military boat’s propeller was absurd.

If there was someone who knew that, you could practically accuse them of being a spy.

“Nobody knows anything, huh? Then go ask.”

“Ah… yes.”

Captain Lee Kang-haeng left the operating room, wondering if Captain Kim Young-jae or Lieutenant Colonel Kim Nak-chul would even know.

Outside, four more people had gathered.

“Ah, you’re from the military? Haha. Uh… well, our Professor Baek didn’t offend you or anything, right?”

Professor Hong Jae-hoon had already switched to administrator mode.

Looking at his benevolent smile, Captain Kim Young-jae and Lieutenant Colonel Kim Nak-chul briefly reflected.

‘Offended by Baek Kang-hyuk, huh.’

What could possibly offend them about someone coming to rescue the wounded?

Actually, there were a few things.

Kang-hyuk was the kind of person who could rattle people no matter the situation.

But those weren’t the important memories.

Far more memorable were the other things.

“No. He helped us a lot.”

“Helped…?”

“Yes. If it weren’t for Professor Baek, Sergeant Lee at least would’ve died.”

It was Lieutenant Colonel Kim Nak-chul who spoke confidently.

After saying that, he bowed deeply to Professor Hong Jae-hoon.

“Professor Hong, correct? I’m Kim Nak-chul. I trained here as an internal medicine resident.”

“Ah… now that you mention it…”

Professor Hong pretended to remember, though he had no recollection at all.

Fortunately, his acting skills were good enough that it didn’t seem awkward.

Instead, a different suspicion started creeping up.

If what they said was true, then Kim Nak-chul was an internal medicine specialist — trained at Hanguk University Hospital.

Such a person wouldn’t say lightly that “the patient would have died without Baek.”

“Is it really true? That without Professor Baek, the patient would’ve died?”

“Yes, of course. Just seeing them treat a [basilar skull fracture] at the military infirmary… Honestly, even after seeing it with my own eyes, it’s hard to believe. Where on earth did you find someone like that? When I left three years ago, the Trauma Surgery Department didn’t even exist.”

“Hmm. What about on the ship? He didn’t operate there too, right?”

Professor Hong, hearing that Kang-hyuk had properly treated patients, was relieved.

If he was a proper doctor, surely he wouldn’t attempt surgery on a rocking boat.

‘Better to let a patient die than to kill them yourself in a risky surgery…’

It was a thought no doctor wanted to voice but one that a chief director could understand.

Sometimes, preserving a hospital that saves thousands was more important than saving one patient in front of you.

“No, he operated. It was incredible.”

“He… he operated? On the ship?”

“Yes.”

“What… what kind of surgery?”

“First, he sutured torn blood vessels… After that, I don’t know.”

Since Captain Kim and Lieutenant Colonel Kim were keeping their distance during the chaos, they hadn’t seen everything.

Only Captain Lee Kang-haeng knew in full.

“I know. The [median nerve] was severed. He reconnected it.”
(T/N: The median nerve controls movement and feeling in parts of the hand.)

“He… reconnected a nerve? Did you confirm muscle tone preservation?”

Professor Hong asked about maintaining muscle tone — the maximum realistic expectation after nerve repair.

Captain Lee snorted at how ordinary his thinking was.

“Motor function was fully restored.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Restored movement? Once a nerve is cut, it doesn’t recover like that.”

“I saw it with my own eyes. Movement was restored.”

“W-What the…”

Professor Hong turned to Han Yoo-rim with a look of disbelief.

Clearly asking, ‘Please laugh at this deluded army doctor with me.’

But Han Yoo-rim felt strangely like the military doctor was telling the truth.

After all, Kang-hyuk had once sewn up a torn heart on the spot.

If anyone could make the impossible happen, it was him.

“Why are you standing there silent? Seriously, you believe that? On a ship? Was he drunk?”

The mention of alcohol made Captain Lee bristle.

“I’m a military doctor. Drinking on duty is forbidden.”

“He’s one of my most trusted officers. Please don’t insult him, Professor.”

Lieutenant Colonel Kim Nak-chul stepped in to defend him.

Even Captain Kim Young-jae backed him up.

“Do you think they let just anyone board a Marine Corps vessel?”

“Why are you all getting so worked up… I was just saying it’s unbelievable…”

Just as Professor Hong was awkwardly waving his hands trying to recover from his gaffe—

The OR doors burst open.

There stood Kang-hyuk, face full of irritation, and Jaewon trying to calm him.

“Ah, for f*ck’s sake, what the hell are you idiots doing yelling outside the OR!”