Just then, Jeong Minsu pulled his hand back and shook it lightly.
Pat, pat.
“I can do it. I can pull this off.”
“Minsu.”
“Quiet. I’m Jeong Minsu.”
Perhaps it was pride asserted out of nowhere; either way, the trembling in his fingertips lessened considerably.
He definitely changed proactively once surgery began.
Taesu trusted that side of him now, too.
But this wasn’t the time to worry about Jeong Minsu.
It wasn’t as if Taesu was overflowing with confidence, either.
At best, he was somewhat familiar with the procedure since he had participated in it once before.
Even so, the reason he remained calm was largely thanks to Gang Yeonghun.
The image of him rejoicing, saying the surgery was already a success, lingered in Taesu’s mind.
He had not the slightest thought of turning that smile into resentment.
Pressure?
When had it ever not been there?
With every surgery, with every emergency treatment, he shouldered the pressure.
It was an emotion he never grew accustomed to.
The more he hesitated, the greater his fear of proceeding with the surgery would become.
At times like this?
Facing it head-on was the answer.
So Taesu moved first.
Swish.
The Mixter in Taesu’s grasp touched the end of the neurofibroma.
That position was also an ultra-close spot mere millimeters away from the lacrimal gland.
Jeong Minsu flinched greatly at the sight.
“Hey, that’s too aggressive.”
“Time isn’t on our side.”
“Hmm.”
“Let’s hurry.”
Taesu maneuvered the baby Metzenbaum around the Mixter.
The baby Metzenbaum was a small, scissor-like surgical instrument with sharp tips.
It was sharp enough to dig into muscle.
Using that sharpness, he began to separate the muscle and the neurofibroma little by little, slowly.
Snip, snip.
The distance he could advance in one motion was extremely short.
It was only enough to incise a few millimeters wider.
His concentration had risen to the point where he was taking in the affected area clearly.
And with a clear field of vision, he operated, finding the exact boundaries.
After that, Taesu and Jeong Minsu’s words decreased drastically.
Their nerves were that much on edge.
To avoid breaking this flow, they didn’t provoke each other.
Their exchanges were short and limited to the essentials.
“Minsu, a little lower.”
“Here. I think slightly to the side would be better for you.”
“Yeah. This looks good. Hm? Be careful of that vessel there.”
“Ah, thanks. Then I’ll rotate it slightly like this.”
They coordinated their positions bit by bit, creating minute changes.
Relatively speaking, the inside of the operating room was quiet.
The precision surgery proceeded in a manner far removed from emergency surgery.
It held an intensity altogether different from emergency surgery.
The current intensity wasn’t something visible on the surface.
The affected area was the face.
Moreover, it was the face of a young child.
Eyes, nose, mouth.
Enumerating the importance of those organs one by one would be a pain in the mouth.
That was why they were more serious than with any other surgery.
They exercised extreme caution with even a single movement of the hand.
But that silence was short-lived.
The area around the eyelids was a minefield.
Numerous blood vessels and nerves were distributed there, and various muscles that created facial expressions were intricately interwoven.
And for both of them, this was their first time as lead surgeon and their first surgery.
It couldn’t go smoothly.
Suddenly, Jeong Minsu let out a short cry.
“Ack.”
“You bastard.”
“Sorry. Really sorry.”
“Argh, shit.”
It looked like lasers would pour out of Taesu’s eyes.
But there was no time to blame Jeong Minsu.
A blood vessel surrounding the eye had ruptured.
Trickle.
Bright red bleeding immediately began to soak the surrounding area.
Just as Taesu was about to open his mouth.
“Gasp……”
“Here.”
Snap.
Gim Hyeokgwon’s reaction was a beat faster.
A white piece of gauze had plopped down right in front of him. To that extent, Gim Hyeokgwon understood the overall surgery now.
Taesu had no time to be surprised or impressed.
He had to stop the bleeding from pushing toward the eyeball first.
He grabbed the gauze with the Mixter and moved it to the bleeding site at the same time.
Press.
He pressed firmly with gauze soaked in liquid hemostatic agent.
Fortunately, it was only slightly torn, and hemostasis was achieved quickly.
“Phew.”
“Sorry.”
“A bit more carefully.”
“Yeah.”
Click. Click.
The surgery resumed.
But not much time had passed.
This time, Taesu flinched.
“Ack, there.”
“You idiot.”
“Hurry and block it.”
“You doctors. Come on.”
Thud.
Gim Hyeokgwon shouted sharply and assisted nimbly.
Shortly after.
The second mistake was also fortunately resolved without issue.
But the real problem was from now on.
They couldn’t repeat the same mistakes after this.
But their field of vision was limited, and they were unable to finely control the surgical instruments.
It had been possible at first, but as their stamina declined, the problems were becoming pronounced.
Continuing the surgery like this wasn’t right.
They needed some kind of solution.
Taesu immediately thought of a medical tool that could further expand his field of vision.
He asked Gim Hyeokgwon right away.
“Hyeokgwon. Do you happen to have a loupe?”
“Loupe? A magnifier?”
“That’s right. The ones that look like glasses.”
When Taesu described its appearance, Gim Hyeokgwon’s eyes went wide.
“Just a moment. Hmm……”
He seemed to be trying to recall if there was something buried in his memory. In other words, it meant he had memorized all the shipped supplies.
By now, Gim Hyeokgwon’s displays of competence were no longer surprising.
Taesu only hoped he would give the answer quickly.
But Jeong Minsu’s expression toward Taesu had changed to one of slight bewilderment.
“Right……. There was a loupe.”
Jeong Minsu had definitely learned about loupes.
But he had never used one until now.
There had never been time to look for and use one during emergency treatment.
Taesu, who had thought of it just now, definitely had a broad perspective.
Jeong Minsu had kept a close eye on Taesu’s resourcefulness.
And in doing so, he was developing his own resourcefulness as well.
Then Gim Hyeokgwon spoke with an expression of having remembered something.
“Could you mean those nerdy glasses?”
“Yes. Those.”
“They’re outside. In the third medical supply box, they should have been in the bottom layer.”
“Please bring them.”
“So that’s what they were for.”
Swish.
Gim Hyeokgwon let out a remark and went outside the operating room.
Taesu was reproaching himself for only just thinking of it when his bitter gaze met Jeong Minsu’s.
Sensing that the gaze was unusual, Taesu asked.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“What else is there?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m asking if you think there’s another surgical tool I learned about but shoved into a forgotten corner of my memory.”
It was an absurd question, but his expression was dead serious.
Taesu also asked in return with a serious face.
“Can I get inside your head?”
“No.”
“Then you have to find it yourself.”
“Hmm. Right.”
Jeong Minsu answered heavily.
Then Taesu added in a low voice.
“But it’s not a problem that only applies to you. It was only after hearing what you said that I thought of the loupe.”
“…….”
“We still have a long way to go, don’t we?”
“Why state the obvious?”
When Jeong Minsu answered sarcastically, Taesu smiled slightly and opened his mouth.
“We can just try using them all from now on.”
“I won’t be satisfied with just trying them.”
“Huh?”
Taesu’s expression turned puzzled.
Jeong Minsu continued with a bland expression.
“Who knows? Maybe the tools we use often have new applications, too.”
“That’s a fresh approach.”
“We’re the visiting team, right? The visiting team is supposed to have a unique, unorthodox flavor to begin with.”
Maturity could be felt in Jeong Minsu’s words.
He had grown a level before anyone knew it.
Not physical growth as a doctor, but mental growth.
By that much, the gap between them must have been narrowing as well.
Taesu muttered inwardly.
*I should be on my guard, shouldn’t I?*
It wasn’t a joke.
In their current state, Taesu’s medical skills were clearly superior. However, he felt that he couldn’t guarantee how long he would stay ahead.
That was how good Jeong Minsu’s learning ability and comprehension were.
Taesu cast aside his tinted glasses and acknowledged it properly.
That was a fresh stimulus for Taesu.
It was around the time that short conversation ended.
Flutter.
The partition was drawn aside, and Gim Hyeokgwon came back into the operating room.
In his hand were several eyeglass cases.
Clack.
Gim Hyeokgwon opened one and showed it, asking immediately.
“Is this it?”
It was shaped like glasses, but small cylindrical objects were attached to the left and right.
Taesu’s face brightened brilliantly at the sight.
“That’s it.”
“You just hang these on your ears, right?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s put them on.”
Swish.
Gim Hyeokgwon hung the loupes on Taesu and immediately turned to Jeong Minsu.
In the meantime, Taesu looked at the world through the thin cylinder floating before his eyes.
It was nothing more, nothing less than a magnifying glass.
He had to concentrate his gaze to see magnified objects through the cylinder. Conversely, if his gaze strayed even slightly, it returned to its original field of vision.
These were also old models, but the mere fact that they existed was important.
He didn’t know who had packed them, but his heart was full of nothing but gratitude.
His mood soared in an instant.
Jeong Minsu seemed to feel the same way.
“Wow. It’s definitely different. I tried them on in med school, and this is my first time since, so it’s a bit awkward.”
“Get used to it quickly.”
“I’m trying. Just wait a sec……. Like this, oh, like this……”
Jeong Minsu showed interest in the changing vision as he adjusted the focus, adapting to them.
It was then.
Swish, swish.
Along with the sound of changing surgical gloves, Gim Hyeokgwon’s suppressed laughter was heard.
“Pfft. Ahem.”
“What is it?”
“Hmph. Seeing you two wearing those……”
At that moment, Taesu intuited what he was going to say and quickly cut him off.
“That’s enough. I don’t think I need to hear any more.”
“Still, listen. Anyway, you two really……. look like nerds.”
“I said I know.”
“So hot-tempered even after I went and got them for you. Ahem.”
Gim Hyeokgwon struggled to suppress the corners of his mouth from rising.
While loupes were highly utilitarian in surgery, their appearance when worn was ripe for teasing.
Perhaps that was why they were only used in the operating room.
Such trivial banter was brief.
Gim Hyeokgwon donned new surgical gloves and approached.
“I’m ready.”
It was time to resume surgery.
Swish.
He focused his gaze through the loupe.
Tissues that had looked as small as beans were now as large as fingernails.
Combined with the bright lighting, they looked distinctly clear and detailed.
Satisfied, Taesu moved the surgical instrument in his hand and spoke first.
“At this level, we can pick up the pace.”
“Stay calm.”
“Right now, that thin vessel looks like a ridge beam in my eyes. ……What are you doing? Aren’t you holding that?”
“I’m holding it.”
Clack.
Jeong Minsu’s surgical instrument suddenly popped into view.