Chapter 179

Episode 179 Ready to Return (2)

It was a rainy afternoon.

Tip, tap.

The streaks of rain hitting the window showed no sign of stopping.

The Medical Center Director's office was located on the highest floor of the main branch. Occupying the seat was the 18th President of Cheongjin University Hospital and the inaugural Director of the newly launched Cheongjin University Medical Center: Thoracic Surgery specialist Lee Jae-yun.

Lee Jae-yun was buried deep in his leather chair, watching the blurry scenery outside the window.

"Vice Director," Lee Jae-yun said, his gaze still fixed outside.

"Yes, Director."

Sitting in a neat posture opposite Lee Jae-yun was Yoon Tae-ryong, the Vice Director of Medical Affairs.

"Gwang-seok, or whatever his name is... what happened to him?"

There wasn't a shred of emotion in Lee Jae-yun's voice. That indifference was proof of how insignificant a being like Park Gwang-seok was to him.

Yoon Tae-ryong took a document out of his pocket and placed it on the desk.

"As of today, he submitted his resignation to the Faculty Personnel Team. It seems he judged it better to take off his coat voluntarily before being referred to the Disciplinary Committee."

"Hm..."

Lee Jae-yun tapped the paper.

"He should have run amok a bit more. Filing a lawsuit claiming it's unfair, playing the media a little." He clicked his tongue. "How boring. A guy with no guts, only greed."

That way, it finished for Park Gwang-seok. His short play for power at the Geoje Island branch came to a futile end with a single personnel appointment document bearing the Hospital Director's signature. To Lee Jae-yun, Park Gwang-seok was an example to establish the hospital's discipline—strictly nothing more, nothing less.

"So, what did you call me for? You wouldn't have called me simply to receive a report on accepting that fellow's resignation."

Only then did the Director turn his chair to face Yoon Tae-ryong directly.

"No, well, the position of Emergency Medical Center Chief at Geoje Hospital is now vacant, so we have to fill it."

The Director tapped a thin file on the desk with the tip of his ballpoint pen.

"To clean up the mess Park Gwang-seok left behind and settle the chaotic atmosphere."

[Cheongjin University College of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine / Associate Professor Cheon Eun-jeong]

"Professor Cheon..." Yoon Tae-ryong stroked his jaw and continued. "It seems like an appropriate appointment. Her reputation within the hospital is good, too. It will be like medicine for a place like the current branch. Her research publication record is also steady."

"Yes. Agree on the terms with her and send her down somehow. Guarantee her a sabbatical year or something."

"Understood. I will persuade her well."

Lee Jae-yun scribbled his signature on the approval document. One agenda item had been processed. He put down the pen and interlocked his fingers.

"The board's opinion is like that, and the professors' public opinion is like that too. Once my term ends, the next Hospital Director will probably be you, Vice Director Yoon."

It was a sudden shift in topic. However, Yoon Tae-ryong was not flustered. It was a story already circulating under the surface and an expected step.

"Yes. For now, that is the case, but it hasn't been finalized yet, has it?"

"Don't be humble. Who else is there besides you?"

Lee Jae-yun paused for a moment and opened a drawer. Then, he pulled out a well-worn personnel record document. It was another document that had been tucked under Professor Cheon Eun-jeong's file.

[Personnel Record]

Department of Emergency Medicine / Name: Han Hyeonjae (Male)

Rank: Resident

Awards: Outstanding Emergency Medicine Resident (2nd Year)...

Lee Jae-yun stared blankly down at the profile picture.

"...Hm." Lee Jae-yun let out a strange groan. "What do you think?"

At the abrupt question, Yoon Tae-ryong asked back, "Pardon? What do you mean? Are you talking about Teacher Han Hyeonjae?"

"Yes, this fellow."

Lee Jae-yun recalled his memories in the operating room of Geoje Hospital. The hand movement of that resident who acted as his hands and feet in the midst of a shambles where blood splattered and alarms rang. The audacity of a guy who wasn't even a Thoracic Surgery resident to open the heart and clamp the aorta.

"You were the one who first took note of this fellow and recommended him, Vice Director Yoon."

"That's right. I remember." Yoon Tae-ryong broke into a faint smile. "Whether it was during the laparotomy or with the doctor helicopter, he seemed to cause trouble, but in the end, he saved the patient."

"His hands were good, too," Lee Jae-yun murmured, as if lost in reminiscence. "He opened up the surgical field spectacularly. Better than most fellows. At one point, I even thought his hands might be better than mine."

It was a tremendous compliment, one hard to come by from the mouth of a hospital director. Yet, Yoon Tae-ryong was not surprised.

"Hand techniques can be learned with training, and knowledge can be accumulated by reading books, but..." Lee Jae-yun slowly raised his head to look at Yoon Tae-ryong. "What I felt while watching Teacher Han is something more fundamental than that. Above all, his guts and..."

A word burst out from the two men's mouths at the same time.

"Attitude."

"Mindset."

At the words that burst out simultaneously, the two old doctors looked at each other and burst into a hearty laugh.

"Hahaha! Yes, that's it! Mindset!" Lee Jae-yun slapped the desk. "The guts to yell at the Hospital Director to put on scrubs to save a patient. Who at all would have that? Besides, he's pleasant and polite. And yet, his skills are good."

Yoon Tae-ryong also nodded his head. "That's right. It's a relief that sending him to the Geoje branch seems to have served as training."

"Training? Training..."

Lee Jae-yun's gaze became serious again. He soon closed Han Hyeonjae's personnel record card and brought over a thick file folder that had been sitting in a corner of the desk.

"Yes, he must be trained well."

"Indeed, Director."

"Even after my term as Director ends and Vice Director Yoon becomes the Hospital Director, please take good care of him."

"Yes, of course, Director. If it is your will, I will carry it out to the end."

At Yoon Tae-ryong's answer, Lee Jae-yun nodded with satisfaction. Then, without hesitation, he turned the cover of that file folder. His finger tapped the thick paper.

[Proposal for Department and Center Reorganization, Including the Creation of the Acute Care Department (Tentative Name)]

"...Is someone talking about me?"

For no reason, my left ear was incredibly itchy. Someone must be talking trash about me or praising me very intensely. Of course, based on the big data of my life, the probability was high that it was the former.

"Hyunjae, there's no ENT duty today, so stop digging into your ear," Professor Kim Su-rim, who was looking at a chart next to me, scolded.

"Ah, yes!"

I quickly lowered my hand. But it's itchy.

'Anyway...'

I had roughly figured out the real-world identity of the Mes of the God (Male), the long-time resident of the Dead Medic Gallery who frequented my body like it was his own house.

Protesting in front of the Minister of Health and Welfare's office in 2012.

A Trauma Surgery professor at a university hospital in the Chungcheong region.

With these keywords, pinning him down was a piece of cake. As a result of cross-checking his profile with news photos from back then, there was one person I could be 99.9% sure of.

However.

'Can I expose this on the Gallery?'

My mouth was itching, but I decided to hold it in. It was because I felt somewhat afraid.

'What if the reason Mes-God is hiding it so desperately is because of a special reason?'

'According to the Gallery rules, do you get blocked if you expose real-life information? Or do you achieve Nirvana and disappear?'

If I acted like I knew him by asking, "You're Professor OOO, right?" and ended up getting a 30-day ban, it would be quite a disaster. That gentleman was a cheat key I had to use in times of crisis.

'Let's be a bit careful. I'll ask him during the next possession or at a good moment.'

I decided to bury the secret in my chest. Just then, the wall clock struck the hour.

"Ah, thank you for your hard work, everyone! I'll be going first!" I jumped up from my seat and shouted.

Finally, freedom.

"Yeah, good job. See you next time."

"Yes! If so, I will head out!"

"Go quickly."

Professor Kim Su-rim waved her hand coolly.

During the remaining month, quite a lot of things happened.

The Geoje Hospital Emergency Room was still peaceful compared to its number of beds, but whether rumors had spread, the number of patients gradually began to increase. Some said rumors flew around local cafes and online communities that there was a gifted doctor, while others said rumors spread around the shipyard that any severe patient would be treated properly. Thanks to that, even though I was the boss among the residents, I had to toil quite a bit.

And above all, the biggest incident was...

"About the newly arrived Center Chief..."

A new Center Chief from the main branch came down to the spot from which Park Gwang-seok had been kicked out. It was none other than Professor Cheon Eun-jeong, known as the resident killer of the main branch's Emergency Medicine department.

"Hyunjae, the number of patients is relatively small and you have plenty of time, so why don't you write a paper with me on reconsidering the efficiency of the emergency medical delivery system in island areas? The data is sweet."

Professor Cheon had held onto me from her very first day of taking office, offering an evil temptation. I had to run away desperately, crying out, "Oh, Professor! I don't have the peace of mind because I'm preparing to return to the main branch!"

'I wonder if I really aged rapidly in just two months.'

When I looked in the mirror, dark circles had come down to my jaw. It was a spectacular survival dispatch life that could not be fully described by the words 'eventful'. Sinking Park Gwang-seok, performing surgery with the Director, standing 24-hour duties...

But the end does come.

"Farewell, Geoje Hospital. Let's never see each other again."

I emptied my dormitory room and loaded my luggage into a taxi.

[Cheongjin University Hospital]

As we passed the corner, the giant hospital building revealed itself. At the entrance of the Emergency Medical Center, ambulances were pulling in and out without rest, and the sound of sirens constantly forced my mind to focus. It was a bustle and vitality of a completely different dimension from the sparseness of the branch. And the density of people.

"Haaa..." I took a breath.

'The scent of home!'

Of course, my hometown is Seoul. The hospital is an emotional... hometown. Though the scent of home wasn't exactly fragrant.

I passed through the automatic door of the Emergency Medical Center.

"I am here!" I shouted as soon as I passed the door to the medical staff's dedicated space.

The air of the regional emergency medical center that I hadn't stepped on in a long time. A few nurses and doctors who were sitting down looked at me and were startled.

"Oh? Dr. Han?"

"You're back! Han!"

And the door to the Section Chief's office at the innermost part opened, and a familiar face walked out. Park Woong. Our Emergency Medicine Section Chief, and my reliable backer.

The moment I saw him, I tried to run over in gladness to report my return. Splendidly, movingly.

"Section Chief! I, Han Hyunjae, have returned safely alive..."

Thwack!

"Ouch!"

A crisp hitting sound echoed through the Emergency Room hallway. Park Woong's giant fist had planted a noogie right onto the crown of my head. Tears welled up in my eyes. Ah, this impact. This is the main branch.

"You rascal. I heard you went there and made a real mess of things? What at all were you doing?" Park Woong laughed.

His words were harsh, but his eyes were full of welcome and pride.

"Things happened. Turns out all sorts of things happen in life." I rubbed my head and laughed sheepishly.

"The rumors have spread everywhere. That you sutured a heart. Crazy bastard. Did I teach you that way? Huh? Without fear."

"Yes! I have returned after realizing everything you taught me, Section Chief!"

Park Woong wore an expression of disbelief for a moment, but then laughed. "You're still the same. Look at how much weight you've lost. Good job." He slapped my back repeatedly.

'My lungs almost popped out of my mouth.'

It hurts like hell.

"I'll unpack my doctor's office luggage first. I already unpacked my dormitory luggage at home. So for today, I'll..."

I asked, naturally expecting a sweet vacation. You should give a consolation vacation to someone returning from a dispatch. Surely.

"Unpack your bags later. Go up to the Director's office right now."

The words that came out of Park Woong's mouth were like a bolt from the blue.

"Pardon? Right now? I just arrived?"

"Yeah. Now." Park Woong pointed to the ceiling with his thumb. "The Medical Center Director strictly requested that I send you up as soon as you arrive. So I am trying to send you up."

"..."

This is ominous. Very ominous. To think that the Director's words to see each other a month later meant seeing each other the moment I arrived.

Usually, a call from the Director means one of two things: giving a commendation, or giving a tremendous quest. And my intuition was pointing to the latter.

"Understood. I will just change my clothes and go."

"Go quickly. If you're late, you'll be broken."

"Yes!"