Seeing his true face, he had a twisted, deeply warped personality.
That was troublesome.
‘It doesn’t seem like conversation is going to work…….’
Taesu felt a touch of fatigue at Dr. Kuramoto’s manner of speaking, as if he had raised an impregnable wall around himself.
It seemed Taesu’s expression had distorted slightly.
Dr. Kuramoto seized on that as an excuse to pick a fight.
“How dare you frown while the operating surgeon is speaking?”
“I did not.”
“I don’t know what discipline is like in Korean thoracic surgery, but in Japan, that is something one would not even dare imagine.”
“I’m sorry.”
Taesu lowered his posture and watched for an opportunity.
But Dr. Kuramoto, apparently intent on fully venting his petty resentment, gave him no opening.
“Dr. Choi, I very much enjoy reforming the minds of insolent residents like you.”
“……”
“Go over there, hold the saline, and stand by. Until I call for you.”
Dr. Kuramoto even wore a fishy smile.
He was openly showing his intention to torment him under the pretext of the operating surgeon’s authority.
For a moment, Taesu was conflicted.
Should he hold out here like this?
Then the chances of being thrown out of the operating room would rise.
The surgery would proceed.
‘That can’t happen.’
The next thing he considered was standing there as punishment.
But his pride would not allow that either.
‘What did I do wrong?’
He had not even brought up the matter yet.
Time would only keep passing.
Taesu decided not to delay any longer and to inform him of that issue first.
“Dr. Kuramoto.”
“Who told you to open your mouth? Go over there.”
“……Please listen to me.”
“Do my words as the operating surgeon not sound like words to you?”
Dr. Kuramoto cut him off at every turn.
He was going to overturn things anyway.
Taesu no longer held himself back and simply spat it out.
“If someone has something to say, listen for once, you bastard.”
“……”
For an instant, silence flowed through the operating room.
Beep, beep.
Even the sound of the ECG seemed to be gauging the silence.
After a few seconds of stillness, Dr. Kuramoto flew into a rage like fire.
“What did you say? You .%.@$#……”
He was so worked up that Japanese burst out of him.
That irritated Taesu even more.
“Curse at me in English, at least.”
“That bastard, does he know who I am?”
“We can deal with that later. You can’t perform the Batista procedure. She’s a cardiac tumor patient.”
Taesu shouted the warning quickly.
At that moment, the Japanese medical staff, who had been glaring as if they might charge at him any second, flinched.
Swish.
Their gazes turned toward Dr. Kuramoto.
If Taesu’s words were true, they seemed to instinctively realize that the surgery was dangerous.
However, those words did not reach Dr. Kuramoto’s ears, fully inflamed as he was.
“What nonsense is this?”
“I’m not just saying it. The symptoms……”
“Who told you to run your mouth? Drag that bastard out. Get him out of the operating room right now.”
Dr. Kuramoto shouted hysterically.
But he did not actually approach Taesu.
Since he was scrubbed in, if he became contaminated, he would have to go through the troublesome process of scrubbing in again.
That was also the reason why even when conflict broke out in an operating room, physical fights did not occur between medical personnel.
But aside from Dr. Kuramoto, no one else seemed inclined to observe that rule.
Step.
Everyone turned toward Taesu.
Then, wary, they began closing the distance.
The most senior, Dr. Takeshi, warned him in a cold tone.
“Let’s not waste each other’s strength and end this quietly here.”
“I’m from a loud, chaotic place, you see. Why don’t you refined people give way a little?”
“You can’t be reasoned with. Drag him out.”
Dr. Takeshi called out icily.
Rustle.
Starting with him, the second assistant and even the nurses approached Taesu.
It seemed they truly intended to settle this with brute force.
Taesu had no intention of yielding to brute force, and even less intention of leaving.
It was then.
“Oh my.”
Crash.
A chaotic noise and a cry rang out, tangled together.
When he looked over, Nurse Casey was sitting on the floor.
“Casey.”
“I fell. Ahh…… Hiss. It hurts.”
Nurse Casey looked herself over, wincing from the sting.
Seeing that, Taesu’s expression turned strange.
Somehow, the direction in which Nurse Casey had fallen and the way she had done so did not look natural.
Moreover, the assistant’s medical cart had fallen over with her, precisely.
Probabilistically, it was an unlikely occurrence.
‘She aimed for it?’
There was no other conclusion.
Any medical instrument that touched the floor could not be reused until it had been disinfected multiple times.
It could not be used in any surgery, and must not be used.
On a battlefield, perhaps it would be possible.
But in a proper operating room, that sense of hygiene was even stricter.
Then Nurse Casey’s action meant?
‘That’s it.’
In that instant, Taesu’s eyes opened brightly.
There was no need to shout until his throat hurt or talk until his mouth hurt.
The method to stop the surgery was far too simple.
Sweep, sweep.
He quickly searched for prey.
Perhaps sensing something unusual in Taesu’s gaze, Dr. Kuramoto shrieked.
“What are you doing? Grab him already!”
“Yahh!”
Everyone abruptly closed the distance with Taesu.
And Taesu?
At the same time his eyes flashed, Taesu swiftly put his plan into action.
“Hup.”
Whoosh.
He leapt up onto the operating table.
Stepping on the operating table with both feet. That act itself shattered common sense for medical personnel.
It was the same for Taesu.
Breaking the mold.
Destroying formality.
He was crushing the concepts that had been binding him with his own feet.
To Taesu, who was steadily growing into a heretic of the medical world, it brought a thrill.
“This isn’t bad.”
Then he looked to the opposite side.
When Dr. Kuramoto came into view, Taesu jumped toward him with all his might without delay.
“Hiya!”
“Huk, aaagh!”
Dr. Kuramoto thought Taesu was trying to attack him and screamed, squeezing his eyes shut.
But what Taesu had aimed for was not him.
It was the medical cart beside him.
Thud.
The tip of Taesu’s foot struck the medical cart precisely.
With that force, the medical cart lifted into the air and flew off to the side.
Crash!
The medical cart struck the wall, and the medical instruments burst out in every direction as if exploding.
He felt sorry for the surgical instruments, but honestly, it was exhilarating.
“Wow, good.”
With Taesu’s rampage, the situation changed completely.
Now there was no way to perform the surgery.
It would take at least two hours to reorganize.
Dr. Kuramoto was thrown into confusion by the tragedy unfolding before his eyes.
His ambition to show the NGO his skills had flown away.
In particular, the Batista procedure in which he was most confident had gone fluttering off.
Reality seemed to be sinking in bit by bit.
Tremble.
Dr. Kuramoto’s trembling cheeks stilled, and venom filled both his eyes.
“Chikushou, damn it.”
But for Taesu, this was the best he could do.
If the Batista procedure began immediately, there would be no way to resolve it.
And if a cardiac tumor was added to that?
One hundred percent chance of death.
Even if Caprene’s knowledge supported him, that number would not change.
It was a cold, hard fact.
“Sorry.”
Though he said it, he did not look particularly sorry.
This was a rampage he was carrying out to save Vanessa.
And the board had already been set.
Taesu openly continued his rampage.
“Oops. My foot slipped.”
Crash, bang.
“Dr. Takeshi, high five.”
“What?”
It was when Dr. Takeshi flinched.
Taesu brought his palm down directly on his shoulder.
Whack.
“Urgh.”
“Oh dear. If you had no intention of joining in, you should’ve dodged. I guess I got excited all by myself. Sorry.”
As Taesu apologized, a deeply satisfied smile filled his lips.
At last, he had landed a blow.
Taesu’s grudges never let revenge slip away.
But he could not keep playing around forever.
Halt.
Taesu stopped and slowly turned his head.
Glaring at the other Japanese medical staff with cold eyes, he asked.
“The surgery’s a wash now. Shall we keep going?”
“……”
The Japanese medical staff glanced at Dr. Kuramoto.
As Taesu had said, it had now become a situation where surgery could no longer be performed.
Feeling those gazes, Dr. Kuramoto was dumbfounded.
The situation had suddenly turned into something utterly impossible to salvage.
“Haaah.”
He even seemed to shrink, as if the body he had puffed up so grandly had deflated all at once.
Taesu was human too.
Seeing him like that, a slight sense of guilt spread through him.
Even if they were not on good terms, making a mess of the operating room made his conscience twinge a little.
Taesu slowly lowered the tension and said politely,
“This was the best option right now.”
“Khmm.”
“You may find it unpleasant, but you saved the patient.”
“Unpleasant? You bastard…… Let’s go.”
Whoosh.
Dr. Kuramoto bared his teeth and left the operating room.
Soon, the other Japanese medical staff also withdrew after him.
The shadow of resentment Dr. Kuramoto left behind remained.
Taesu quietly pushed it away.
“This state of things is still better, so let’s not hold grudges.”
Though he said that, he was well aware that the room was already full of grudges.
Now they had begun walking parallel lines that could never grow close.
Taesu did not particularly care.
Even without Dr. Kuramoto, no special change would occur in Taesu’s life.
Thinking so, he turned back toward the operating table.
Whoosh.
At that moment, someone came into view, and Taesu turned his head again to confirm who it was.
In the midst of this chaos, someone was standing in front of the general anesthesia machine.
It was the anesthesiologist, Dr. Yamaguchi.
Taesu looked at him, left alone, with a puzzled expression.
“Huh?”
“I-I’m in the middle of anesthesia.”
“You’re kind of to my liking.”
Taesu winked as he praised Dr. Yamaguchi.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t get cocky.”
“Pardon?”
“If you’re a doctor, that’s only natural.”
Even if bullets and blades were flying right before your eyes, it was only natural to hold your position.
Just then, Nurse Casey got up and looked around the operating room.
A great deal of surprise appeared on her face.
“How can only the operating table be intact while everything else is this much of a mess?”
“If you’re going to do it, do it properly. Heh.”
Taesu laughed flatly, feeling awkward.
The operating room rampage incident.
This was bound to become a massive issue among issues.
Perhaps it might be designated a dark chapter to be remembered for ages in the NGO’s history.
But something was strange.
No rumors spread.
Most people did not know about it at all.
Only distorted rumors could be heard.
“They say Dr. Kuramoto stopped right before the surgery?”
“I heard he sensed something wrong with the patient’s heart.”
“So he postponed the surgery at once and said they should examine everything again from square one?”
“He looks like a stubborn mule, but unexpectedly, he’s open-minded.”
It was a rumor that had gone in the wrong direction, but as always, it spread quickly.
As mouths gathered, a lie transformed into fact.
That was how frightening public opinion could be.