A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 374

Chapter 72: Faith (4)

Jun-ho, Oliver, and Maxwell were in a car speeding down the road.

Jun-ho was in the passenger seat, enjoying the scenery.

The four-lane road was wide open and refreshing.

The wind rushed in through the half-open car window, and the scenery on both sides stretched out, the horizon in full view.

Korea has many mountains and buildings.

It’s not easy to see the horizon.

“But Maxwell, where are we going?” Oliver, sitting in the back seat, asked.

“It’s no fun if I tell you in advance. I want you to be surprised when we get there.”

“What if I’m so surprised I have a heart attack? Will you take responsibility?”

“We have two surgeons with us, so don’t worry.”

The two exchanged jokes.

“Oh, right, Jun-ho, what happened? I heard you ran into my father the day before yesterday?”

“I did. I guess the department head told you.”

“Isn’t it against the rules for you to say what’s on my mind?” Oliver asked, grumbling.

From Oliver’s perspective, it was understandable that he would be upset.

Because Jun-ho, not Oliver, had told Austin how upset Oliver was about not being recognized by Austin.

But Jun-ho had no choice.

Don’t you ever feel like this when you’re watching a movie?

For example, if the genre is a thriller, you want to yell at the main character, ‘He’s the culprit! Hurry up and catch him!’

Jun-ho felt that way about Oliver and Austin.

It was painful to watch the two of them grow apart because of such trivial misunderstandings and misinterpretations.

So he ended up meddling.

“I think I would have been upset if I were you. I apologize.”

“I know what you meant, but you should have gotten my permission before you told my story.”

“What are you guys talking about without me?” Maxwell chimed in.

Now Maxwell was also a member of the Three Musketeers.

Oliver candidly told him about his relationship with Austin and the recent episode involving Jun-ho.

“Wow! That’s amazing. The department head is your father?”

“Yeah. I was hiding it because I thought you’d react like that. It’s troublesome for both me and my father.”

“You don’t have to worry, I can keep a secret. By the way, Jun-ho did a good job intervening the other day.”

Surprisingly, Maxwell took Jun-ho’s side. Oliver crossed his arms and glared at the driver’s seat.

The air between them grew cold.

“Isn’t it too easy for you to say that since it’s not your problem?”

“…….”

“I’m grateful to Jun-ho, too. I made up with my father thanks to him. But I’m still a little upset that he didn’t get my permission.”

“Would you have given him permission if Jun-ho had asked?”

“Of course.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re not the type to do that. You would have said you’d tell him yourself and dragged it out.”

Maxwell continued in a sarcastic voice.

“If it was a misunderstanding that could be resolved by you telling him yourself, would you have been agonizing over it for over 10 years?”

“Hey, that’s too harsh, isn’t it?”

“Both of you, stop it. We didn’t come here to fight.”

Jun-ho stepped in to put out the fire because it seemed like the two were about to explode.

But perhaps the fire was stronger than he thought.

The argument didn’t subside easily.

“You’re a surgeon, but you only try to do easy surgeries. How are you going to improve your skills like that?”

Eventually, Oliver lashed out at Maxwell.

Just yesterday, Maxwell led a team surgery and performed a relatively low-difficulty surgery called ‘Pediatric Craniosynostosis’ [surgical repair of skull malformations in infants].

“What’s wrong with that? Everyone learns from easy surgeries at first.”

“Why don’t you just be honest? You’re just scared. You’re afraid of messing up the surgery and hurting the patient with your own hands.”

“Don’t run your mouth if you don’t want to get hit.”

“Bullshit, who started it first?”

“Stop it!” Jun-ho shouted with the energy of a lion’s roar.

The two were overwhelmed by his spirit and shut their mouths.

“You’ve both crossed the line. The closer you are to your friends, the more you have to respect each other. Apologize to each other and pretend this conversation never happened.”

Jun-ho came out strong, and the two exchanged apologies with disgruntled expressions.

He knew it was only a temporary fix.

But sometimes a temporary fix was necessary.

In fact, Jun-ho didn’t necessarily see conflict or arguments between friends as a bad thing.

Because there were things that could only be seen after a fight.

But just like eating raw food can cause a stomachache, revealing raw emotions could hurt friends.

That’s why Jun-ho had suffered so much in the Murim world [a fictional world of martial arts and cultivation, often found in Asian fantasy novels].

‘There’s definitely something going on. I should have a drink with him today and find out.’

Jun-ho’s gaze turned to the driver’s seat.

There was something dark hidden inside Maxwell.

If he didn’t get rid of it, there was a risk of problems arising not only for Maxwell himself but also for the team.

The argument ended somehow.

But the awkward and heavy atmosphere in the car didn’t leave.

Meanwhile, the car left the outer ring road and entered the city.

After passing through the main road for about 10 minutes, a dome-shaped stadium appeared in the distance.

“Welcome to the NBA,” Maxwell said bluntly.

* * *

“Wow, these seats are amazing!” Jun-ho muttered as he sat in the stands.

The seats the three of them had were right behind the bench.

So the players were right in front of them, and they could even eavesdrop on the players’ conversations. It was a gold mine of a seat.

“It’s a VVIP seat. The ticket price is about 10 million won [approximately $7,500 USD]. You might not be able to get it even if you have money.”

“That’s crazy. You’re spending 10 million won to watch one game?” Jun-ho said in shock.

“To be exact, it’s 30 million won. The ticket price is 10 million won per person.”

Jun-ho knew that the NBA was popular all over the world.

He also knew that tickets were expensive, but he never imagined they would cost this much.

Maybe that’s why the feeling of the chair he was sitting on felt unreal.

I guess that’s why Maxwell promised to create an unforgettable memory.

“So you bought the tickets?” Oliver asked with a sulky expression, still feeling upset.

“I didn’t buy them, I got them. My cousin is a sixth man [a key reserve player] for the Cleveland team.”

“You have a good cousin. Thanks to him, I get to watch the NBA live.”

“Well, I guess so,” Maxwell said with a smile.

“Hey, Oliver, I’m sorry about earlier. I don’t know why, but I suddenly lost it.”

“We’re even. I could have just ignored it. I’m sorry for the personal attack.”

The two properly made up only after arriving at the stadium.

Both of them began to relax their stiff expressions.

Jun-ho thought there were still problems to be solved.

Maxwell briefly briefed Jun-ho, who didn’t know much about the NBA, on the game.

Today’s game is Cleveland Cavaliers vs Golden State Warriors.

Jun-ho was sitting on the Cleveland team’s side, which is based in Cleveland.

Today’s game was an important game with their playoff hopes on the line.

If they lose, their playoff elimination would be confirmed regardless of the remaining games.

Just as he finished explaining, the players began to warm up on the court.

“Who’s your cousin?”

“Over there. See the guy with the perm?” In response to Jun-ho’s question, Maxwell pointed to a player who had just shot a three-pointer.

Like an NBA player, he was burly and tall.

“His name is Andrew and his position is power forward [a position focusing on rebounding and inside scoring]. He’s better at defense than offense. That’s why he’s a sixth man, but he often comes out in clutch time [critical moments in a game].”

“I see.”

Jun-ho nodded in response.

Perhaps because he was a defensive specialist, his shooting motion definitely looked awkward. It felt like a screw was loose rather than smooth.

What would I be doing if I hadn’t become a surgeon?

Jun-ho suddenly asked himself.

Since his physical abilities using internal energy were the strongest in mankind, wouldn’t he have made a name for himself as a sports player?

But once the thought spread, it rushed in a completely unexpected direction.

It was later, but Jun-ho wanted to establish a foundation or hospital in his name.

The most important thing at that time would be money, of course…….

What if I made a lot of money as a sports player and then did what I wanted to do?

It was ridiculously late to start a sport.

But age didn’t matter to Jun-ho.

The club would be reluctant to accept Jun-ho, but their minds would change once they saw his skills.

‘Let’s leave it as a possibility for now,’ Jun-ho sorted out his thoughts.

Shortly after, the game began.

* * *

The stadium was hot.

The heat that the players emitted on the court heated up the spectators, and the spectators amplified the heat with cheers and applause.

It seemed to be even more so because it was an important game with their playoff hopes on the line.

Perhaps because of the home team’s advantage, Cleveland, which is classified as a somewhat weaker team, was playing a close game against the traditional powerhouse Golden State.

The score difference never exceeded 8 points.

The thrilling game continued until the second half of the fourth quarter.

Now there were 2 minutes left.

The score difference between the two teams was 100:102, with Golden State slightly ahead.

Maxwell’s cousin Andrew was also on the court.

As a defensive specialist, he blocked shots in difficult situations and rebounded relatively well.

The misfortune struck when the home team was defending.

“Aaaagh!” Andrew suddenly grabbed his shoulder with one hand and screamed in pain.

“…….”

“…….”

The players, coaches, spectators, and Jun-ho were all surprised and widened their eyes.

They stared at Andrew with a somewhat dumbfounded expression.

That’s because…… there was no reason for Andrew to suddenly be in pain.

Whether he fell while fighting with an opposing player in the air, or he tried to save the ball by throwing his body and hit something on the floor, etc.

There was not even a fingernail’s worth of extreme action in Andrew’s actions.

Andrew had simply reached out and jumped to rebound a missed shot by the opposing team.

Beeeeeep!

The game was temporarily stopped with the sound of the whistle.

The players and Andrew returned to the bench.

Andrew was still holding his injured shoulder with one hand.

Large beads of sweat dripped from his distorted face.

“Andrew, what’s wrong?”

“My shoulder hurts too much. I don’t know why all of a sudden.”

“Were you hiding an injury?” The coach narrowed his eyes and grilled Andrew.

“No. It’s not like that.”

“Look me in the eye and tell me. Did you hide an injury?”

“Absolutely not.”

Andrew made eye contact with the coach and flatly denied it.

Jun-ho quickly realized that Andrew was lying, even if the coach or coaching staff didn’t notice.

“Then can you keep playing?”

“Of course, I have to play. If I leave now, there will be a hole in the defense.”

“Still, I can’t send a patient to the court. Team doctor!” At the coach’s call, a man wearing a white doctor’s coat approached Andrew with a first aid kit.

How badly Andrew was hurt, whether he could continue playing the game, Jun-ho was also curious.

So he focused all his attention on the bench.