Kim Hyeokgwon seemed to understand as well, and brought up the next thing on his own.
“Anyway, since I could speak the language, guiding was how I ended up making a living. I lived like that for a few years, and then I met Dr. Choi.”
“I see.”
“Heh. I’ve been talking to myself, haven’t I? Anyway, that’s just how I’ve lived.”
With those words, Kim Hyeokgwon closed his mouth.
Then he simply gazed endlessly at Shanmeheum, hoping he would recover soon.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu looked at each other again, but no words came easily.
Kim Hyeokgwon’s past.
They had thought there must be something, but it had been far too turbulent.
They now understood why he didn’t trust people, and why he was so obsessed with money.
No life was without a story.
At this moment, that saying pressed down on their hearts with a weight almost unbearable.
After hearing Kim Hyeokgwon’s past, only silence filled the operating room.
It felt as if they were sitting on pins and needles.
The stillness continued like that.
Slide.
The sound of the classroom door opening was heard.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu reflexively looked that way, then were startled by the people entering and rose from their seats.
“Dr. Schmidt.”
“Dr. Oliver, Dr. Quentin, and even Dr. Banger……”
They were specialists in surgery, neurosurgery, and orthopedic surgery.
They were not merely specialists; it would not be an exaggeration to call them the core of the medical volunteer team.
If this were a hospital, it was as if the hospital director and the department heads had come down. That was why Taesu and Jeong Minsu’s reaction was not excessive.
They entered with gentle smiles.
Among them, Dr. Schmidt approached and lightly pressed down on Taesu and Jeong Minsu’s shoulders.
“Sit.”
“No, sir. We’re fine.”
“You don’t even have the strength to stand, and you’re saying that?”
As Dr. Schmidt asked, he subtly lowered his gaze.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu also looked down in the same way, then put on awkward expressions.
It was because both their legs were trembling.
Dr. Oliver came up beside Dr. Schmidt and, true to his usual nature, spoke coolly.
“It’s only natural you’d be exhausted.”
“Still……”
“You should know Dr. Schmidt isn’t someone who likes that kind of empty formality.”
Dr. Oliver let the words trail off lightly.
Then Dr. Schmidt put a little more strength into the hand on their shoulders and said once more,
“It’s really fine, so sit.”
“Thank you.”
Taesu and Jeong Minsu did not hold out any longer and sat down.
Looking down at the two of them, Dr. Schmidt added one more thing.
“First, you must be curious about the patient we operated on.”
“Ah, yes.”
Taesu and Jeong Minsu’s eyes sparkled.
Dr. Schmidt naturally passed it to Dr. Oliver.
“Tell them.”
“Yes.”
After he answered, Dr. Schmidt returned to the matter at hand.
“Meanwhile, I’d like to check on the progress of the patient you operated on here. Would that be all right?”
“Of course. No, please do.”
“I told you, there’s no need to be so stiff. Then excuse me for a moment.”
Pat, pat.
Only after lightly patting their shoulders did Dr. Schmidt head toward the operating table. Dr. Quentin and Dr. Banger followed behind him.
In the meantime, Dr. Oliver came forward.
“You seem very curious.”
Taesu and Jeong Minsu stared at him and nodded.
“Of course.”
“I don’t know if he’s similar to that patient. So……”
Dr. Oliver gave them concise yet precise information.
Since the symptoms had been similar, some parts of the surgical process had also been alike.
If they were to sum up the result?
The surgery had been successful, and the patient was currently asleep in the ward.
He briefly told them what would happen next as well.
“……He must have been extremely exhausted. I think he’ll wake up around morning.”
“I see. Thank you.”
When Taesu thanked him a little hurriedly, Dr. Oliver’s expression turned puzzled.
“I thought you’d have a lot more you wanted to ask.”
“It’s time for our homework to be checked.”
Slide.
Taesu’s gaze turned toward the operating table.
The renowned doctors were examining Shanmeheum meticulously.
Jeong Minsu also watched with him, his gaze tense.
That was how unbelievable this still felt to the two of them.
Dr. Oliver watched them with a strange look.
“Even so, the patient you operated on comes first……”
Perhaps having heard that, Taesu responded.
“I think that’s only natural.”
“That must be why you went through so much to operate on him.”
“Pardon? How did you…… Did you perhaps stop by?”
“Around the time you were operating on the lung and liver.”
When Dr. Oliver answered readily, Taesu and Jeong Minsu’s faces flushed bright red.
“At that time……”
“This is kind of embarrassing.”
At their muttering in Korean, Dr. Oliver pointed out with a sullen face,
“If you speak in Korean, I can’t tell whether you’re cursing me or praising me.”
“Cursing? Of course not. We were just muttering that it was embarrassing.”
“Embarrassing? Right now, the lodging is filled with nothing but talk about this emergency surgery.”
“What?”
“If you’re curious, go outside and listen for yourselves. I’ll excuse myself for a moment too. Rest.”
Contrary to his cold expression, Dr. Oliver asked for their understanding gently and headed toward the operating table.
Unlike him, Taesu and Jeong Minsu merely blinked.
“Talk about us?”
“What kind of talk?”
They were bewildered, not knowing what the contents might be.
At that moment, Kim Hyeokgwon, who had moved away, approached while looking at the operating table.
“The big shots have all come in a group.”
“I know.”
“If they were that worried, they should’ve come in earlier.”
To Kim Hyeokgwon’s eyes, it seemed to look a bit crooked.
But Taesu did not think so.
“I think they’ve only just found the time to come.”
“Who knows? Maybe they didn’t come in because they didn’t want to get saddled with the blame.”
“Look at the back of his neck.”
“Hmm? Hm……”
Kim Hyeokgwon, who had been consistently negative, flinched to a stop.
Just by looking at the back of Dr. Schmidt’s neck, they could easily see sweat beading there.
It was already the season when mornings and evenings were chilly enough to be called cold. Sweat like that could not have formed simply from walking over here.
It seemed they had been operating until this hour as well.
It was clear they had come as soon as their surgery ended.
That showed at a glance just how worried they had been about this side.
That was why Kim Hyeokgwon said nothing more.
On the other hand, Taesu and Jeong Minsu were slightly nervous.
‘There won’t be any problems, right?’
‘Did we miss anything?’
Each of them went back over things in his head, checking whether there had been anything lacking.
About ten minutes passed like that.
From the operating table, Dr. Schmidt called for Taesu.
“Dr. Choi.”
“Yes.”
Tap, tap.
Taesu answered reflexively and quickly approached. Beside him were Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon, who had not been called.
Dr. Schmidt looked at the three of them in turn and asked,
“Just how did you perform this surgery?”
Boom.
It was like a bolt from the blue.
They had definitely said people outside were praising them, but had that not been the case once they actually examined him?
Or had there been some problem they had not discovered during surgery?
All sorts of thoughts packed Taesu’s head.
This was not the time for that.
Swish.
Taesu immediately stepped closer and asked carefully,
“Is there some problem?”
“Problem? Plenty.”
“If you could tell us……”
At that moment, Dr. Schmidt opened his mouth again and asked,
“Are you really residents?”
“Pardon?”
“I’m asking how you managed to do this much in such a hastily prepared operating room.”
As Dr. Schmidt pressed him, the expressions on the three men’s faces turned awkward.
Among them, Taesu asked just in case,
“Th-there are no problems, right?”
“Problems? Hah, problems.”
Rather, Dr. Schmidt seemed dumbfounded.
In his place, Dr. Oliver slipped in a word.
“His pulse and blood pressure are both quite stable, considering.”
“The fractured arms and legs were set well too.”
Dr. Banger, with blond hair and blue eyes, lightly chimed in. Then Dr. Quentin also added from the perspective of his own specialty.
“His nerve responses are good. Both hands and both feet are responding to electrical stimulation.”
“Kkuti, really?”
“After coming all the way here and examining him this thoroughly, do you think I’d lie? Your samba isn’t just passion. It’s soul. I can truly feel the soul in it.”
Dr. Quentin went beyond praise and gave a glowing tribute.
It even contained the conviction that his own judgment in giving such an evaluation was certain.
At their praise, everyone’s hearts leapt with joy.
Taesu glanced sideways and lightly held out his hand. Seeing that hand, Jeong Minsu quickly slapped his palm against it.
Clap.
“Yes.”
“Nice.”
That joy lasted only a moment.
Under the gazes pouring in from all directions, Taesu and Jeong Minsu withdrew their hands with awkward faces.
Then Dr. Schmidt asked again,
“I understand you’re happy, but I’d like to hear an explanation.”
“Dr. Schmidt.”
At Jeong Minsu’s sudden raised voice, Dr. Schmidt looked at him in puzzlement.
“Dr. Jeong, what is it?”
“Dr. Choi will kindly explain that to you.”
“I see.”
Slide.
With a calm expression, Dr. Schmidt turned his body fully toward Taesu.
The other doctors did the same.
Thus becoming the center of attention, Taesu shot Jeong Minsu a sidelong glance.
“You, damn it.”
“Brad said so. If they don’t know who led this surgery, then there’s no point.”
“……”
“Explain it well, Your Excellency the surgeon.”
Wink.
Jeong Minsu even gave him a light wink, then subtly stepped back.
And Kim Hyeokgwon?
He had stepped back even faster than Jeong Minsu.
He was even making body language that said he was not part of the medical staff.
With this, Taesu had no escape route.
He did not particularly enjoy stepping forward, but since everyone’s eyes were already on him, there was nothing he could do.
He chose to brief them without dragging it out any longer.
“This patient, around lunchtime……”
Taesu began the briefing from his meeting with Shanmeheum.
Then he explained, in order, the emergency treatment and the improvisations made during the surgery.
Dr. Schmidt and the doctors listened with calm expressions.
“Mm. I see.”
“So that’s how……”
“Oh-ho……”
They occasionally let out sounds of admiration, but they did not interrupt Taesu’s briefing midway.
Within a not particularly long time, Taesu’s briefing ended.
“……That is how we concluded the surgery.”
“Then, a question. First……”
No sooner had Taesu’s explanation ended than Dr. Schmidt’s questions followed.
That was the beginning.
Starting with Dr. Oliver, the other doctors also pointed out the parts of the briefing they were curious about and asked in turn.
“Dr. Choi, that improvised artificial blood vessel earlier……”
“For that, we adapted the drainage tube……”
“Dr. Choi. Then the nerves in the fractured limbs……”
“For that part, following what I learned from Kkuti……”
Taesu was so busy answering the flood of questions that his mouth had no time to rest.
Meanwhile, Jeong Minsu, watching Taesu, subtly held out his hand to the side.
Slide, tap.
Kim Hyeokgwon’s hand immediately met it lightly.
Call it perfect understanding.
Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon secretly exulted as they watched Taesu’s predicament.
At times like this, anyone could see they were perfectly in sync.