Dr. Schmidt, who had been watching with him, shook his head.
“They’re speaking Korean, so I don’t really know either.”
“That is a bit of a shame.”
“More importantly, they’re operating on a patient similar to the case we operated on……”
As Dr. Schmidt mulled it over, Dr. Oliver subtly denied it.
“I heard the patient is in far better condition.”
“Even so, if the skill of the surgical team doesn’t support it, wouldn’t it ultimately be about the same level?”
“That is…… a fair comparison.”
Dr. Oliver admitted it cleanly.
A faint smile appeared on Dr. Schmidt’s face.
“Then it seems they’re on the same level as us.”
“If we compare them simply, that may be so, but it isn’t a particularly pleasant thing to hear.”
“Hoho. This isn’t the time to feel relieved.”
Dr. Schmidt smiled gently.
But it wasn’t something that could be taken lightly and brushed aside.
Dr. Oliver, too, did not simply reject those words.
“Their growth rate is fast. Very fast.”
“The desperation to overcome a crisis makes people grow.”
“That desperation likely has nothing to do with skill or experience.”
Dr. Schmidt agreed with Dr. Oliver’s words.
“Yes. A passion that does not cool with time isn’t something anyone can do anything about.”
“I still have passion as well.”
“Hoo. It seems I still have some passion left too. Seeing as my fingers are starting to itch again, I think it’s time to return.”
Slide, click.
With the two men’s quiet conversation at an end, the window closed again.
How much time had passed?
The operating room was filled everywhere with traces of a fierce struggle.
Even the surgical gowns of the medical staff bore the marks of those dizzying moments.
Everyone’s gaze was directed toward the operating table. Taesu alone had his back turned, looking at the ECG.
Jo Uncheol had already gone beyond exhaustion and was in a state of complete collapse.
“Hoooo. Hoooo.”
He had endured until the very end, but his stamina had run dry, and he sat slumped on the floor.
But something was strange.
Beep, beep.
The sound of the ECG continued, fast and sharp.
Had the surgery not been properly finished?
The atmosphere was so far from good that such a thought came first.
Then Taesu, who had seemed as if he would not move at all, slowly turned around.
Shhk, shhk.
Taesu slowly peeled off his blood-soaked surgical gloves, and his hand soon moved toward Shanmeheum’s cheek. Then, lightly stroking that cheek, Taesu asked in a low voice,
“It was hard, wasn’t it?”
“……”
Shanmeheum, under anesthesia, could not give any answer. Taesu knew that as well, so he continued without minding it.
“Rest a little more and wake up feeling refreshed.”
“……”
Shanmeheum’s answer still could not be heard.
As if speaking on Shanmeheum’s behalf, Kim Hyeokgwon asked Taesu,
“So what does that mean?”
“……”
“You said the surgery is all over. Then what exactly are we waiting for and watching?”
Kim Hyeokgwon pressed for an answer again.
It seemed he could not understand the situation, when he had wanted a clean ending but had not gotten one.
He lacked the basics of medicine, so it was understandable.
So Taesu explained calmly.
“You did it with us yourself. The surgery was finished well enough.”
“But?”
“There was too much bleeding in too short a time.”
“Mm.”
When Kim Hyeokgwon let out a sound as if he understood, Taesu added,
“That’s why it’s still unstable. To the point where we can’t say Shanmeheum has completely overcome it yet.”
“Even after we made such a fuss operating……”
“Surgery isn’t omnipotent. It merely serves to help the patient overcome their own pain.”
Taesu’s voice was heavy.
But those words were close to the truth.
Not every disease and symptom could be solved through surgery.
Its role as help—lessening pain and easing symptoms—was stronger.
Whether the patient could receive that help and overcome it themselves, or fail to overcome it, lay entirely in the patient’s domain.
Especially in a case like this, where the patient had been operated on after a long journey, the patient’s will was even more important.
“……”
“……”
Everyone nodded in silence.
Kim Hyeokgwon was among them.
Having seen it with his own eyes while operating with Taesu until now, he could no longer object.
That was why the atmosphere in the operating room was heavy.
The surgery had ended well, but the fact that they could not smile in that moment left everyone bitter.
As that subdued atmosphere continued, Brad Kim was the first to ask Taesu,
“Still, shouldn’t we tell the guardian?”
“We should. They’ve been waiting a long time.”
“It’s not just a long time. It’s already night.”
At Brad Kim’s words, Taesu’s gaze went to the clock.
Tick, tick.
It was a clock with a second hand, and a faint sound flowed from it.
Until now, it had been drowned out by the high, repetitive sound of the ECG.
Only now that the surgery was over could it be heard faintly.
In other words, it meant Shanmeheum’s vitals had improved enough for them to hear that sound now.
He was not yet in the safe zone.
Even so, it was an undeniable fact that he had improved to a degree incomparable to the beginning.
Listening to that ticking, Taesu checked the time. It was pointing to ten o’clock.
They had entered right after lunch, so it had been a major surgery lasting a full nine hours.
It was no exaggeration to say they had sprinted at full strength for nine hours.
Everyone’s faces, including Taesu’s, had grown gaunt, making it impossible to estimate just how much sweat they had shed.
After confirming the time, Taesu said to Brad Kim,
“Brad, please go out and tell them the situation.”
“Not you, Doctor Choi?”
“I want to spend some cozy time with Shanmeheum.”
Taesu smiled lightly and joked.
Cozy time was a nice way of putting it.
It meant he would stand by in case any unforeseen surgical side effects or complications appeared, so he could respond immediately.
There was no one who did not understand that meaning.
Perhaps because of that, Brad Kim shook his head.
“I’ll stay.”
“No. It’ll seem more trustworthy coming from Brad Kim than from someone as young and green as me.”
“That…… wasn’t an insult, was it?”
Brad Kim glanced at him sideways, but Taesu shrugged.
“Not at all.”
“Well, let’s say that’s the case.”
“Anyway, there’s no need for everyone to stand here like they’re being punished, so go out, eat something, and rest.”
Swoosh.
Taesu even gestured lightly with his hand.
But just then, Kim Hyeokgwon spoke in a sullen voice.
“He talks like that, but when something happens, I’m the first one he looks for.”
“You’re saying you’ll stay?”
“Someone has to assist, don’t they?”
Scrape.
Answering curtly, Kim Hyeokgwon brought over a metal chair from one side of the operating room and sat down as if settling in for good.
Since it had originally been a classroom, desks and chairs were piled up there.
Taesu did not say it twice to him.
Since Kim Hyeokgwon had been the most shaken from the moment Shanmeheum appeared, Taesu knew he would not listen even if he tried to push him out.
But then it happened.
Scrape, thud.
Another chair was placed beside Kim Hyeokgwon, and Jeong Minsu took a seat.
Having unfolded two chairs, he lightly tapped the empty one and said,
“There’s a seat for you here too.”
“Thank you.”
“You should be grateful, of course. Sigh, you little brat.”
It seemed Jeong Minsu’s pity for Shanmeheum had not easily subsided either.
But Jeong Minsu was not the only one feeling that way.
Yun Juseong quietly tried to slip in as well.
“Then I’ll……”
“Ahem. I’ll……”
Nurse Chu Gangik also pretended otherwise while looking around for a place to sit.
Nurse Lee Chorong and Nurse Hwang Jisu were the same.
Seeing that, Taesu calmly blocked them.
“It’s too inefficient for everyone to stay together.”
“Doctor Choi, do you think we’d feel at ease if only we left?”
“We operated for nine hours.”
At Taesu’s rebuttal, Nurse Lee Chorong quickly pushed back.
“We’re all the same.”
“But you all drove through the night and arrived here this morning.”
“Ah, that’s right.”
“You saw patients in the morning, then had a nine-hour surgery. This isn’t fatigue you can overcome with willpower.”
“That……”
Nurse Lee Chorong, who had been arguing sharply, could not speak properly.
It was because Taesu had seen through them so clearly that she could not simply keep denying it.
Even so, it seemed their feet would not easily move.
He was a patient they had met in a country ten thousand li from home.
And since he was a patient who had barely overcome several crises, their desire to protect him seemed even stronger.
The other medical staff were the same.
Taesu felt it once again from their eyes, full of hesitation.
They were people with warm hearts.
But he had no intention of being led along by that warmth.
“We’ll stand by as the first shift.”
“First shift?”
“Go out, eat, get some sleep, and then come relieve us.”
As soon as Taesu finished speaking, Kim Hyeokgwon added quietly,
“Let’s sort out the traffic quickly so the kid can rest a bit.”
“Ahem.”
“And while you’re at it, take that person sprawled over there with you too.”
Kim Hyeokgwon subtly dragged Jo Uncheol into it.
As if he had heard that, Jo Uncheol waved his hand weakly and said,
“I’m perfectly…… fine.”
“What part of you is fine?”
“I’m sorry.”
Jo Uncheol’s timid resistance ended blandly.
At that moment, Taesu sent Brad Kim a signal with his eyes.
Seeing it, Brad Kim soon accepted it and encouraged everyone.
“All right. Let’s do as Doctor Choi says.”
“We’ll switch with you later.”
“We’ll bring you food before that.”
“Let’s take care of Doctor Jo first.”
“Come on, everyone, let’s go. Doctor Jo, let’s go.”
Brad Kim supported Jo Uncheol and moved first.
Nurse Hwang Jisu and Nurse Lee Chorong followed behind him and left.
Finally, just as Yun Juseong and Nurse Chu Gangik were about to leave,
Taesu quietly called the two of them.
“Doctor Yun, Nurse Chu.”
“Mm?”
Swoosh.
When the two turned their heads to look, Taesu immediately bowed his head.
“I’m sorry for speaking harshly and yelling earlier.”
“……”
No answer came.
It seemed his apology was not accepted at once.
Looking back coldly, it was true that Taesu had been too severe.
If it could not be resolved with one apology, it was only right to continue apologizing until they forgave him.
With that thought, Taesu raised his head.
Looking ahead with a bitter expression, Taesu suddenly started in surprise. Yun Juseong and Nurse Chu Gangik were both bowing their heads side by side.
“Uh.”
While Taesu was bewildered,
Yun Juseong and Nurse Chu Gangik raised their heads and spoke in turn.
“I’m the one who’s sorry.”
“No, for what?”
“I said otherwise, but I think I was only thinking of you and Doctor Jeong as residents.”
Following Yun Juseong, Nurse Chu Gangik also confessed his own mistake.
“Doctor Choi, you were right. I’m sorry for doubting you.”
At the two men’s apologies, Taesu blinked.
It was only for a moment.
Thinking this was not right, Taesu hurriedly offered another apology.
“Even so, I was the one who first……”
“I said it wasn’t like that. We were……”
Apologies saying it was their own fault repeated back and forth.
Then Kim Hyeokgwon’s voice abruptly cut in between them.
“What kind of apology keeps multiplying without end? What is this, an apology farm?”
“Ahem.”
“Let’s end it properly around here.”
At Kim Hyeokgwon’s grumbling, Taesu, Yun Juseong, and Nurse Chu Gangik all smiled bitterly in the same way.
“It seems we should stop here.”
“Yeah. Let’s stop for now, and later, let’s sit down calmly and talk about this and that.”
“It’d be perfect if there were a drink too.”
The moment Nurse Chu Gangik’s words ended,
“Sssip.”
At Kim Hyeokgwon’s warning-like intake of breath, everyone flinched.