A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 364

The Martial Surgeon – Chapter 364

Chapter 70: Tragedy (4)

The next day, morning, cafeteria on the first floor of the dormitory.

Jun-hoo was having breakfast with Oliver and Maxwell, who had been acting as the Three Musketeers since yesterday.

“Are you feeling unwell? Why are you just picking at your food like that?”

Oliver asked, tilting his head.

“The food doesn’t suit my taste.”

“I remember you eating well yesterday?”

“You must be mistaken. I’ve never enjoyed eating anything.”

Jun-hoo listlessly put down his fork.

It had only been three days since he entered the dormitory, but it had already been 30 days since he came to America.

He had stayed near Harlem until the test.

The homesickness for his hometown and people was something he could manage.

Times had improved, hadn’t they?

After making a regular or video call, the longing would recede like the tide.

The problem was the food.

He just couldn’t adapt to the taste.

At least, in Jun-hoo’s opinion, American food was too heavy, salty, and greasy.

He needed to set a date to buy a bunch of Korean food from the market.

Or even find a Korean restaurant with crazy prices where *budae jjigae* [Korean army stew] costs nearly 20,000 won [about $15 USD] per person.

“Looks like I’m the only one eating properly here?”

Oliver grumbled, turned his gaze to Maxwell, and then sighed deeply.

Maxwell was even worse than Jun-hoo.

Following Jun-hoo’s teachings, he was using chopsticks for his meal.

Maxwell was struggling with the chopsticks, which he was using for the first time.

He couldn’t even pick up salad vegetables properly.

Maxwell’s gestures with the chopsticks looked clumsy, like children playing house.

It would have been nice if it had ended there…….

With his remaining left hand, Maxwell was practicing the *Suaejigong* [a hand exercise].

That is, the practice of attaching and detaching the remaining fingers to the thumb.

Just in time, several people who had finished their meals and were leaving the cafeteria glanced at Maxwell’s bizarre behavior and shook their heads as if something was wrong.

“Is the finger training going well?”

Jun-hoo asked Maxwell.

Maxwell only nodded. He was still fighting his own war with chopsticks.

“I’m worried that you might have ruined a perfectly normal person.”

“It may not look good, but the effect is certain. If you do just that consistently, your hand skills will improve quickly.”

“I’m too tired to argue anymore. Let’s just say so.”

Oliver surrendered first.

It wasn’t that Jun-hoo didn’t understand Oliver’s feelings.

However, a surgeon’s training isn’t necessarily only done in the operating room.

Jun-hoo, for one, had been training his hand skills by moving his hands and wrists in various ways through the Howol Twelve Movements martial art rather than surgery.

“By the way, you caused quite an accident yesterday, didn’t you?”

“I saw the news yesterday too. There was a shootout in our library. I heard that Jun-hoo, you subdued the criminal and even treated the victims?”

Maxwell also joined the conversation for the first time in a while.

“I saw the CCTV footage. Wow…… you charged at a person with a gun with your bare hands. What kind of guts is that?”

He couldn’t say, ‘Because I was confident I wouldn’t get hit.’

So Jun-hoo made an excuse.

“I must have been out of my mind for a moment. I had to subdue that person quickly and save the injured people.”

“It’s a relief that the result was good. Don’t ever do that again. Your body is the most important thing.”

“Why? I thought it was just cool.”

“It’s good to be cool, but don’t risk your life for it.”

Jun-hoo nodded to show that he understood.

Oliver’s concern was a warm concern. The warmth he felt in a foreign country was precious.

After finishing their meal, the three went straight to the pediatric neurosurgery ward.

While chatting in the conference room, several fellow trainees approached Jun-hoo and spoke to him.

They said they were impressed by his selfless attitude after seeing his performance yesterday.

Jun-hoo appropriately matched their tone.

The news was like that too.

So were his colleagues.

Jun-hoo’s evaluation of yesterday’s incident seemed generally favorable.

“Quiet!”

Professor Bruce, the head professor, entered the conference room and shouted as he stood on the platform.

He scanned the trainees and announced today’s schedule.

Most of the trainees had surgery schedules in the morning, but Jun-hoo didn’t.

The back of his head felt chilly, and he had a bad feeling.

“Professor. I’m the only one without a schedule.”

“You’re excluded from surgery today. I’ll contact you separately if there’s an emergency surgery after work.”

“What’s the reason?”

“I think you know the reason better than anyone else?”

Bruce had a sly smile on his face.

It was an ambiguous smile that could be interpreted in a good way or a bad way depending on the situation.

“After the conference, go to Professor Austin’s office. He’s looking for you.”

“Yes. I understand.”

“And finally, the scope of next week’s pop quiz has been decided.”

Bruce said happily.

The trainees listened with gloomy expressions.

“The test covers pages 1 to 200. A total of 50 questions will be asked, mixing short answer and multiple choice.”

“…….”

“You haven’t forgotten the warning I gave you last time, have you? If you fail the pop quiz, you’ll be dropped from the boost-up program itself. Study hard if you don’t want to be publicly humiliated from the start.”

Bruce finished speaking, stepped down from the platform, and left the conference room.

The trainees immediately began to complain.

“Isn’t 200 pages too much? The content is terribly difficult too.”

“It’s said to be 200 pages, but it’s actually 400 pages. How small is the font?”

“I won’t be able to do anything during work hours now.”

Jun-hoo just smiled as he listened to the trainees’ lamentations.

The amount Jun-hoo studied in the library yesterday was exactly 200 pages.

* * *

Knock. Knock. Knock.

A voice told him to come in when he knocked.

Jun-hoo entered the office.

The best pediatric neurosurgeon in the United States.

Austin, the head of the pediatric neurosurgery department of the boost-up program, was sitting on the sofa.

He looked up at Jun-hoo while reading a newspaper spread out on the table in front of the sofa.

“Finally, the troublemaker has arrived. Sit there.”

“Yes. Professor.”

Jun-hoo sat on the sofa opposite Austin and made eye contact with Austin.

Austin’s eyes and expression were calm.

Even the experienced Jun-hoo found it difficult to read his emotions and thoughts.

“You have a talent for surprising people several times.”

Austin crossed his legs and continued to speak.

“I heard from Hector that you insisted on performing the pilocytic astrocytoma surgery. And to top it off, you were involved in a shooting incident yesterday.”

“Is that why you called me a troublemaker?”

Jun-hoo asked back, feeling a sharp thorn in Austin’s words.

“The word troublemaker is not only used for people who cause problems. It’s also used for people who bring problems with them.”

Austin put his elbows on his knees and made a triangle by stacking his hands.

He put his chin on the vertex of the triangle.

It was a pose like the boss of a mafia organization.

“Why? Don’t you agree with my definition?”

“Not really. More than that, I want to know why you called me.”

“You’re in a hurry. Would I not explain?”

“…….”

“I went to the disciplinary committee this morning.”

Jun-hoo straightened his back at the word discipline.

Was the problem the tracheostomy that seemed reckless after all?

Was he going to be kicked out of Mayou like this?

But Jun-hoo didn’t regret it.

Even if he turned back time.

He would have made the same choice.

“The vice president’s line was harshly criticizing your actions. Charging at a person with a gun with your bare hands, and performing a tracheostomy in the library.”

“I just did what I believed was the best.”

“Unfortunately, the higher-ups don’t seem to think so.”

Austin frowned and continued to speak.

“Our clinic values the process surprisingly. Even if the result is good, if the process was bad, there’s an atmosphere that it should be corrected.”

“They weren’t at the scene. I don’t know what they saw at their desks.”

Jun-hoo retorted in a cynical voice.

If Jun-hoo hadn’t subdued the criminal.

Another library user with a gun would have engaged in a shootout with the criminal, causing even greater casualties.

The tracheostomy was the same.

Some might say this.

He should have waited for the ambulance team to arrive instead of rashly intervening.

But that was just a comedic sound.

Considering the patient’s transfer time.

And the treatment time, the patient’s brain would have suffered irreversible damage due to respiratory distress.

Of course, Jun-hoo knew it too.

That his actions might seem reckless beyond being brave.

But he didn’t think it was enough to be disciplined.

A reprimand would be one thing.

“So, am I being kicked out of the clinic?”

“No. You can just continue your training as usual.”

“Yes? Then why did you create this atmosphere until now?”

Jun-hoo, surprised by the unexpected decision, blinked and asked back.

Is he really going to get away with this without anything happening?

“I don’t know how you managed to win over Professor Coby from the emergency department, but that friend is very enthusiastically supporting you.”

Austin chuckled.

“He was fighting a war alone with the vice president’s line.”

“Actually, didn’t the professor also help me?”

“Me? You? Why do you think so?”

“First of all, I don’t think Professor Coby could have protected me with his power alone. And the second reason is…….”

Jun-hoo calmly began to explain.

-There will definitely be people who think your tracheostomy was dangerous. In the worst case, it could be referred to a disciplinary committee.

-You could have been a general instead of a doctor. Just know that. Me and ‘that person’ will support you strongly.

Returning to the dormitory yesterday.

As he pondered Coby’s words, the only person who would take Jun-hoo’s side was Austin.

Because Austin was Jun-hoo’s only connection.

“That guy is saying unnecessary things…… his mouth is still reckless.”

“Thank you, Professor. You saved me.”

“No need to thank me. I didn’t particularly intend to protect you.”

Austin said, leaning comfortably on the sofa.

“Then why did you help me?”

“It’s simple. I thought about what it would be like if I were in your position. I might not have charged at a criminal with a gun, but I would have done a tracheostomy.”

Jun-hoo felt it in Austin’s words.

That Austin was a type very similar to himself.

A passionate person who would burn everything he had without hesitation for the sake of the patient.

To think he would meet a fellow in a foreign country.

Is this what they call fate?

“Anyway, you need to know that this kind of thing happened. And from now on, the higher-ups will be watching you more closely. Try to avoid anything that could be criticized as much as possible.”

“…….”

“Because even I won’t be able to stop you then.”

“Yes. Professor.”

Austin added a few words.

The reason why Jun-hoo didn’t have a surgery schedule today was because he had several interviews with the media.

There were no separate questionnaires, so it would be good to think about what to say before the interview.

“Oh, right. There’s one more thing I want to ask you before you leave.”

“Yes. Anything.”

“If, just if.”

Austin hesitated and continued to speak.

“What would you do if something like yesterday happened again in the future? I can’t help you then, like I said earlier?”

A faint smile appeared on Jun-hoo’s lips as he stood up.

“I will definitely follow the same actions that the professor would have taken.”