A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 310

Jun-hoo checked his appearance in the bathroom mirror and gave an awkward smile.

It was his day off, so he was dressed casually.

Black cotton pants and a warm, fluffy beige knit sweater.

He couldn’t get used to seeing himself in everyday clothes.

He felt empty without his doctor’s gown.

He felt empty without a stethoscope around his neck.

Jun-hoo left the bathroom and exited the ward.

He took the escalator to the first-floor lobby.

He had two main things on his agenda for today.

One was to meet an assistant to defeat the villain Professor Hong, and the other was a personal schedule.

Both were important.

[Sunbae, you have too many secrets. You can tell me everything. Do you want to see me sulk?]

His phone vibrated in his pocket, so he checked it.

It was Dae-hwi sending a text.

Scanning the message, Jun-hoo traveled back in time to a little earlier.

-I’m not doing what that bastard tells me to do.

-Of course, you wouldn’t want to. Who would want a thesis bomb thrown by a professor? But there are things you have to do, even if they’re dirty and annoying. If you ignore the thesis, you’ll go straight to hell.

-…….

-You’re giving Professor Hong a reason to harass you.

-You said it well. That’s exactly my goal. To be relentlessly harassed by Professor Hong.

Dae-hwi frowned at Jun-hoo’s answer, which was beyond common sense.

He seemed confused whether Jun-hoo was joking or serious.

-Dae-hwi, you remember when I taught third-year Hyuk-jae a lesson, right?

-How could I forget? It was the day of slave liberation.

-The method will be a little different from then, but in the end, Professor Hong will be the one getting a lesson. Just wait and see.

Jun-hoo kindly persuaded Dae-hwi, and the conversation ended.

Jun-hoo fully understood why Dae-hwi was frustrated, but he couldn’t explain the plan in detail.

The plan included martial arts.

And martial arts were in a realm that could not be expressed in words.

As he exited the hospital building, he was able to escape from the 잡념 [japnyum – idle thoughts] in his head.

Jun-hoo enjoyed the warm morning sunlight.

Employees heading to work and patients and guardians coming for treatment flocked to the main building.

The main building seemed to be devouring people.

“Good morning.”

A-yeong waved her hand and approached from the opposite side. Her face was smiling, but her steps lacked energy. Like Jun-hoo, A-yeong had been on duty yesterday and had today off.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. If you keep this up, pandas will want to be your friend.”

Jun-hoo’s gaze lingered on A-yeong’s dark circles.

“Pandas and I can’t be friends.”

“Why?”

“I’m too busy to play with pandas.”

A-yeong smiled at Jun-hoo’s joke.

Jun-hoo stared at A-yeong silently for a while.

Although A-yeong had chosen the path of a cardiothoracic surgeon herself, Jun-hoo couldn’t feel comfortable watching her difficult journey.

Because loved ones share not only happiness but also pain.

“Why are you looking at me with such pitiful eyes? I’m happy right now.”

“I just wish you could be happy without suffering so much.”

“Then I shouldn’t have majored in cardiothoracic surgery. But even if I could turn back time, I think I would still choose cardiothoracic surgery.”

A-yeong’s answer was firm.

The necklace A-yeong was wearing reflected the sunlight and emitted a bright light.

Inside that necklace was a picture of A-yeong’s younger brother, who had died of a heart condition when he was young.

Just as Jun-hoo had buried a cross in his heart, A-yeong had buried her younger brother in her heart.

Jun-hoo and A-yeong seemed different but had quite a few things in common.

“Should I teach you 운기조식 [Ungi Joseok – breathing techniques to gather vital energy]? It’ll make you less tired.”

“I can’t even meditate, so I can’t even dream of 운기조식. I have too many thoughts, so I think I’ll suffer from 주화입마 [Joohwa 입ma – a state of mental imbalance from incorrect cultivation of internal energy].”

“Wow. Our A-yeong even knows 주화입마 now?”

“Jun-hoo, I studied martial arts novels because of you. I even know the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families.”

A-yeong answered, puffing out her chest proudly. Even her boastful appearance was lovely.

“Talking about 주화입마 makes me a little scared. But I can’t watch over you 24 hours a day. Um, let’s set aside some time later.”

“Okay. But where are we going today?”

“There’s a mural village, let’s go get some fresh air there.”

“How about stopping by Seongsimdang first?”

A-yeong asked with sparkling eyes, and Jun-hoo frowned.

“We went a few days ago and bought a lot of bread. Are we going again?”

“There are still so many breads I haven’t tried. I think I’ll have to go at least 10 more times?”

“Uh-huh. You’ll get acid reflux again.”

“Isn’t it better to deal with 도질라 [Dojilla – a play on words, combining ‘dojida’ (to worsen) and Godzilla] than Godzilla?”

Jun-hoo surrendered to A-yeong’s 아재 개그 [ahjae gaegeu – dad joke].

Perhaps 빵심 [Bbangsim – bread-heart, a play on words with ‘loyalty’] was the driving force that allows A-yeong to overcome her arduous cardiothoracic surgery life.

The two took a taxi to Daejeon Station.

As soon as they arrived at Seongsimdang, the savory smell of bread stimulated their 침샘 [chimsaem – salivary glands].

The bakery was crowded with customers even in the morning. They had to navigate through the already narrow aisles.

“Hehe~eueung~.”

A-yeong hummed and explored the bread aisles, and Jun-hoo acted as her 수행 비서 [sooheng biseo – personal secretary/assistant], following her with a bread tray.

A-yeong, who had seemed listless, was quickly regaining her energy at the bakery.

‘I hope it works.’

Jun-hoo muttered inwardly, looking at A-yeong’s profile.

Tonight’s schedule was prepared solely for A-yeong.

The goal was to properly nourish A-yeong.

But Jun-hoo had never used ‘that 무공 [mugong – martial art]’ even in the 무림 [murim – martial arts world].

So he was a little worried.

To be honest, he was also very embarrassed.

While Jun-hoo was thinking this and that,

A-yeong’s bread shopping was over.

A three-story bread tower had already formed on the tray.

“It looks like you’re going to share it with your coworkers.”

The cashier asked, looking at the piled-up tray.

“No. I’m going to eat it all myself?”

“All of this?”

“Yes. All of this.”

A-yeong answered as if to confirm. The employee tilted her head and asked again.

“Do you happen to do NewTube [Korean equivalent of YouTube]?”

“No. I just like bread.”

A-yeong’s 빵밍아웃 [Bbangmingout – bread coming out, a play on words with ‘coming out’] ended with the calculation and packaging.

The two found a nearby cafe.

A cozy cafe with four tables for two and two tables for four, where you could freely eat bread bought from other stores.

A full-fledged tasting began at a window seat overlooking the station area.

A-yeong’s mind was entirely focused on the bread.

She bit into the bread, smiled happily, drank coffee, and repeated eating bread several times.

Jun-hoo was almost jealous of the bread.

“Don’t you need to take a picture?”

“I don’t need pictures. I remember bread with my whole body.”

A-yeong’s answer was profound and philosophical at the same time.

Jun-hoo chuckled.

It was then, while they were having a peaceful time.

Jun-hoo’s gaze turned to a mother and child sitting at the end of the window.

The woman, who appeared to be the mother, was fiddling with her phone.

The boy, who looked to be about 5 years old, was standing up.

He was wandering around the table to catch something like a 날벌레 [nalbeolle – small flying insect].

But the boy’s steps were somehow 불안정 [boohranjong – unstable].

He seemed to have trouble balancing his body. His face was frowning, and there was a faint blush on his cheeks.

“A-yeong-ah. I’ll be right back, I’m just going to the table across from us.”

“Okay.”

A-yeong answered insincerely.

She would have asked why under normal circumstances, but A-yeong was currently captivated by the bread.

‘Oh no!’

Jun-hoo frowned as he got up from his seat.

The boy, who had been walking precariously, twisted one of his ankles. His center of gravity was completely broken, and the boy’s head tilted towards the table.

At this rate, he would definitely hit his head on the low table edge.

파바바밧 [Pabababat – whoosh].

Stepping on 청풍보 [Cheongpungbo – a lightness skill in martial arts], Jun-hoo crossed the cafe aisle.

It didn’t take even a second to approach the child.

Jun-hoo wrapped his hand around the boy’s head and supported his waist with the other hand.

“Oh my. What’s going on?”

The boy’s mother stared at Jun-hoo with wide eyes.

The 풍압 [pung-ap – wind pressure] created by Jun-hoo stepping on 청풍보 stirred the boy’s mother’s bangs.

Thanks to that, the boy’s mother quickly came to her senses.

“The child was about to fall, so I supported him.”

“Thank you. Our child falls often. I was on an important business call and couldn’t pay attention.”

“…….”

“Ho-seop-ah. I told you to sit still when Mom is outside, right?”

“Yes.”

Ho-seop sat back in his chair with a sullen expression.

“Does the child usually fall often? By the way, how old is your son?”

“He’s 6 years old. But why do you ask?”

The boy’s mother asked back, but Jun-hoo didn’t answer.

He stroked his chin and looked down at Ho-seop.

At 6 years old, there shouldn’t be any problems with walking and running.

Jun-hoo smelled something suspicious in Ho-seop’s gait disorder.

He couldn’t just ignore it since he had seen them.

Jun-hoo wanted to treat everyone he could, whether inside or outside the hospital.

“Let me briefly introduce myself. I’m Seo Jun-hoo, a neurosurgery resident at Daejeon Shinwon University Hospital.”

“Ah. You’re a doctor.”

“Hyung [older brother/male friend]. Are you a doctor? But why aren’t you wearing white clothes?”

“I don’t wear white clothes on my days off.”

Jun-hoo gently stroked Ho-seop’s head and lightly touched Ho-seop’s forehead.

His forehead was slightly warm.

The blush on his cheeks seemed to be due to the fever.

“You said your son falls often, have you been to the hospital?”

“I didn’t go because of the falling, I went for something else.”

“What’s the other reason?”

Jun-hoo asked again.

Then Ho-seop’s mother crossed her arms and stared at Jun-hoo with a wary look.

“Excuse me. Why are you asking so many questions? Do you think I’m abusing my son or something?”

“Don’t misunderstand. I didn’t mean it that way. I’m asking because there’s a possibility that Ho-seop has a brain-related illness.”

“That’s too harsh. How can you say a healthy child has a brain disease?”

“Mom. What’s a brain disease?”

Ho-seop asked with a curious look.

“You don’t need to know now. I’m really grateful that you caught Ho-seop when he was about to fall. But I hope you don’t interfere anymore.”

Ho-seop’s mother issued an eviction order.

It would be polite to back down in a normal situation, but Jun-hoo couldn’t.

A feeling that he couldn’t explain in words was sending a warning signal to Jun-hoo.

A red light turned on in Jun-hoo’s head.

Ho-seop was definitely sick somewhere.

If he parted ways with Ho-seop like this, the next place he might meet Ho-seop could be the emergency room.

And Jun-hoo never wanted that kind of reunion.

“I told you not to treat my child like a patient and leave.”

Ho-seop’s mother cornered Jun-hoo with an angry voice.

“Ma’am, I fully understand that you’re upset. I would have been the same if I were in your shoes.”

“Then why are you doing this?”

“Just give me 3 minutes. I won’t take any more time than that.”

Jun-hoo emphasized 3 minutes, holding up 3 fingers.

If it was Jun-hoo, who had mastered 내공 [naegong – internal energy] and 무공 [mugong – martial arts skill], he could examine the child within 3 minutes even outside the hospital.