“Here’s the IV anesthetic for now.”
Clack.
Taesu accepted it, inserted the needle into the IV, and spoke to Park Hee-nam.
“Now, your arm will start to feel sore and cool, and the pain will gradually disappear.”
“Huh? Uh… I think I’m slowly losing feeling.”
“Now the sleeping agent is going in. Your eyes will gradually close… and you’ll slowly fall asleep.”
Ssssh.
Speaking in a languid voice, Taesu added the sleeping agent to the IV.
Just as Taesu had said, Park Hee-nam’s eyes slowly unfocused and began to close.
Seeing that, Taesu held out his hand with a taut expression.
“Muscle relaxant.”
“Here.”
“I’ll inject about thirty. Hyuk-kwon, check the anesthesia time.”
“Will do.”
Snick. Snick.
His body moved first, and his answer came a beat late.
And a short while later—
Press.
Taesu lightly pressed the thigh, which had been liberally coated with antiseptic.
His finger sank quite deeply.
It was a reaction indicating that the muscle relaxant had spread.
The moment he confirmed it, Taesu announced in a low, heavy voice,
“We’ll begin the operation. I’m counting on everyone.”
“We’re counting on you.”
They all bowed their heads together.
And then—
“Scalpel.”
Snap.
Taesu gripped the scalpel that fit perfectly into his hand and drew a long incision across the thigh.
But the bleeding…
There was hardly any.
For a thigh wound, there should normally have been considerable bleeding.
The atmosphere was unusual from the very beginning.
Jeong Min-su’s hands, in particular, were busy.
Clack, crack.
Using the Farabeuf retractors, he spread the split thigh wide open in both directions.
The affected area within was now exposed.
The eyes of the three men narrowed and trembled for an instant as they saw what lay inside.
“The inflammation…”
“At this extent…”
“Even I can tell this isn’t good.”
Kim Hyuk-kwon shouted angrily.
That was how bad the situation inside was.
The worst-case scenario they had desperately hoped to avoid was unfolding before them.
Surgery?
The odds looked low.
He thought amputation might actually be the procedure that would best serve Park Hee-nam.
But no one could bring themselves to say it.
“Damn it!”
“Son of a bitch.”
“What are we supposed to do now?”
The three men’s grave deliberation over the affected area weighed heavily on the operating room.
A chill settled over the room.
It was far too serious.
The inflammation had not only spread widely but had also burrowed inward.
The skin damage went without saying.
Even the quadriceps, the most prominent muscle in the thigh, had already suffered considerable damage.
The surrounding area contained numerous blood vessels and nerves, including the femoral artery and femoral vein, as well as bone.
They had no way of knowing how badly the inflammation had damaged them or how deeply it had taken root.
They could not even formulate a countermeasure based solely on the visible muscle inflammation.
There was no clear direction for the surgery.
Amid Taesu’s tangled thoughts, Jeong Min-su’s subdued voice reached him.
“I’m… sorry.”
“……”
“It’s my fault.”
Swish.
Jeong Min-su’s head hung halfway down, his shoulders drawn inward.
Beside him, Kim Hyuk-kwon opened his mouth.
“Why is that… Hoo.”
He stopped himself and covered his mouth.
When it came to medicine, he restrained his opinions as much as possible.
Taesu continued the words Kim Hyuk-kwon had left unsaid.
“Do we have time to blame anyone right now?”
“No.”
“We’ve already started the surgery.”
“Yes.”
He answered, but there was no strength in his voice.
Perhaps seeing that, the normally restrained Kim Hyuk-kwon finally spoke.
“Doctor Jeong. You remember the patient who had his leg amputated in Makut.”
“I-I remember.”
“Then let me ask you one thing. Is Doctor Jeong now the same as Doctor Jeong back then?”
Kim Hyuk-kwon asked heavily.
The question was packed with sharp, keen blades.
They flew mercilessly at Jeong Min-su.
“……”
At that moment, Jeong Min-su’s trembling shoulders stopped as if by magic.
Slowly, Jeong Min-su raised his head.
He was different from before.
His eyes were filled with strength.
A firm answer, as resolute as his determined gaze, rang out.
“I’m definitely different from back then.”
“Anyone can say that.”
“I’ll show you.”
It was the instant he spat out those words of resolve.
Whip.
Jeong Min-su’s gaze turned toward Taesu.
“Let’s get started.”
“What?”
“No. I’ll start first… straight forceps, curette.”
Jeong Min-su issued the order sharply.
Taesu was so dumbfounded that he felt like punching him.
‘That bastard, seriously.’
Fortunately, Kim Hyuk-kwon did not seem to feel the same way.
Whip.
He found the requested surgical instruments from the tray and immediately handed them over.
“Here. From now on, just point to what you need.”
“Understood. And turn the Bovie all the way up, and keep the suction ready.”
“I’ll make sure that’s done to the letter.”
Swish.
Kim Hyuk-kwon quickly sidestepped away from the operating table.
In the meantime, both of Jeong Min-su’s hands moved toward the affected area first.
The corners of his eyes were drawn sharply upward, making him look like a goblin.
It was the first time Taesu had ever seen such an expression on him.
‘He’s terrifying.’
Even Taesu felt slightly tense in the atmosphere.
That impression could not last long.
Before he knew it, the surgical instrument in Jeong Min-su’s hand had begun the operation.
Scrape.
As he ruptured the inflammation with the curette, Jeong Min-su called for Taesu.
“Taesu, suction. Quickly.”
“Don’t rush me.”
“Hurry. We don’t have time to spare.”
Scrape, scrape.
Jeong Min-su’s curette scraped at the affected area, widening it and expanding the scope of the operation.
He was not simply displaying passion without a plan.
He was remarkably cool-headed.
In the current situation, they first had to determine the inflammation’s extent and depth.
To do that, it was right to thoroughly probe the entire quadriceps muscle.
Jeong Min-su understood that precisely and was acting accordingly.
He was not merely prioritizing speed.
His sharp eyes stared directly at the affected area, and his solemn expression did not change in the slightest.
Taesu was honestly surprised.
It was so different from Jeong Min-su’s usual style.
He even thought that Min-su’s tension had risen too high.
That was how hurried his hands were.
Should he stop him?
Just as the thought crossed his mind, Kim Hyuk-kwon approached with the Bovie and said,
“Sometimes, it’s good to let yourself be led.”
“……”
“How long are you going to carry a bear on your shoulders all by yourself?”
Kim Hyuk-kwon’s gaze as he looked at him was deep.
Taesu even felt as if that gaze could see straight through his heart.
It could not have been mere intuition.
Having spent so much time close by, Kim Hyuk-kwon was sure to understand Taesu well.
So Taesu did not object. He simply accepted it with a heavy sigh.
“I can trust that guy a little more, right?”
“If you don’t trust him, take it away from him. That’ll solve it.”
“That’s the right answer.”
Their brief conversation was coming to an end.
Jeong Min-su, his eyes blazing, urged them coldly.
“Are you still not ready?”
“You’ve barely scraped that much and you’re already making a fuss.”
“The speed will pick up if the assistant keeps up.”
“Then live up to those words. Hyuk-kwon, give me the suction.”
As he issued the order, Taesu placed his left hand on the tray and picked up the Mixter forceps.
And in his right hand?
Snap.
The suction tube settled into place.
“Here.”
“If I suction with this…”
“Rinse it with saline and place gauze treated with antibiotics over it.”
“Good. I’m joining in.”
The moment he finished speaking, both of Taesu’s hands began to move.
It was the area Jeong Min-su had just torn through with the curette.
Taesu quickly suctioned out the inflammation.
Gurgle, gurgle.
He also used the Mixter forceps to press and squeeze out the ruptured inflammation once more.
Taesu’s hands moved swiftly.
He made full use of the nimbleness he had honed in the field.
But he did not stop there.
He urged Jeong Min-su’s hands, which had chased right up to him.
“Too slow, too slow.”
“You bastard.”
Scrape, scrape, scrape.
Jeong Min-su’s hands sped up even more.
His movements grew rough, focused heavily on speed.
Taesu stayed close behind him, applying even more pressure.
The two men’s hands repeatedly widened and narrowed the distance between them, like they were playing tag.
They looked as though they had become overheated.
But that was not the case at all.
They were conducting the surgery while maintaining perfect control.
Kim Hyuk-kwon proceeded with the irrigation at a slightly more relaxed pace and muttered quietly,
“They look exactly the same to me.”
He was referring to their concern for the patient and their passion for surgery.
If Taesu and Jeong Min-su had heard him, they might have glared fiercely and demanded an explanation.
But they were already too focused on the operation to hear him.
Kim Hyuk-kwon had known that when he said it, and calmly followed behind the doctors.
Before long, more than thirty minutes had passed.
Their hands continued removing the inflammation without end.
It was then.
Taesu’s gaze occasionally shifted elsewhere.
As the assistant, he was able to do that.
His field of vision was definitely different from when he was leading the operation.
From that vantage point, he surveyed the overall flow of the surgery.
Taesu’s eyes hardened at once.
The removal of the inflammation was proceeding smoothly.
But that was all.
He could not see what came next.
Without delaying any further, Taesu asked Jeong Min-su,
“What comes after removing the inflammation?”
“Huh?”
“How long are you going to keep removing it? We have to solve the fundamental problem.”
Taesu’s question pinpointed the facts.
At that, Jeong Min-su’s eyes wavered slightly.
“It’s… that…”
“Are you blind? Is removing the inflammation all you can do?”
“No, wait.”
Jeong Min-su quickly looked over the entire affected area.
It seemed he had not thought that far ahead.
Taesu had no intention of blaming him.
There was no time to waste arguing.
Taesu quickly drew a sharp outline of the surgery’s course in his mind.
Had a minute passed?
Taesu made his decision.
“Min-su, stop.”
“Tell me.”
Clack.
Jeong Min-su stopped his hands and looked at him.
Taesu said exactly what he had just thought of.
“We haven’t exposed the entire affected area.”
“That’s right.”
“The inflammation and abscesses are only part of it.”
At that, Jeong Min-su caught on as well.
“Then we should open up the entire affected area first?”
“We can’t assess it without seeing all of it.”
“Understood.”
Once Jeong Min-su acknowledged that, Taesu gave their positions.
“I’ll go down toward the peroneal area.”
“Hmm?”
“The inflammation is becoming less severe as we go upward. That means it must have spread downward, doesn’t it?”
Jeong Min-su nodded emphatically at Taesu’s words.
“It must have.”
“You focus only on the thigh. Go over every inch of it.”
“Yes. I’ll thoroughly examine the muscles, blood vessels, nerves, and bone.”
“Good, then… Hyuk-kwon. Change positions.”
Taesu moved away and issued the order.