A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 193

The person who interrupted the conversation was Woon-jae.

He was Jun-hoo’s classmate from medical school and a first-year resident in the emergency medicine department.

“Woon-jae, aren’t you being too harsh? Keep it within limits.”

Jun-hoo said, as if soothing a child.

Woon-jae’s way of speaking was too aggressive. It was a way of completely ignoring and belittling Hyung-don and the schizophrenic patient.

“Your colleague almost died. How can you say that?”

“I’m not happy either that my colleague was taken hostage. But you shouldn’t generalize all schizophrenic patients based on that one patient.”

“You’re good at your job, but you’re too soft.”

Woon-jae clicked his tongue.

“You know what I find even more unpleasant? That patient who took the hostage earlier. He’ll probably be released due to diminished responsibility anyway.”

“…….”

“That diminished responsibility is like some kind of invincible shield.”

“He couldn’t help it.”

Hyung-don, who had been silent, joined the conversation. Hyung-don seemed to have a lot to say.

“What can he do when he hears auditory hallucinations and sees visual hallucinations all day long?”

“Then he should at least take his medication properly.”

“Treating schizophrenia isn’t as simple as you think, Doctor. If it could be solved just by taking medication, why would social problems arise?”

“…….”

“That kind of logic is the same as telling someone from a poor family to work hard to earn money because they are too lazy.”

“I knew you’d say that.”

Woon-jae smiled and started to argue.

The conversation between the two was becoming increasingly heated.

For a moment, Jun-hoo stepped back from the conversation. He was thinking about dementia along with schizophrenia.

Not that any disease is any better, but.

Dementia and schizophrenia were diseases that killed not only the patients but also their families, relatives, and those around them.

They look fine on the outside, but there’s a big problem inside.

You never know when they might cause an accident, and they need constant and careful attention from those around them, and so on.

If his parents were suffering from dementia or schizophrenia, Jun-hoo felt that he might not be able to fully concentrate on his life as a doctor.

“Do you know why I’m being so harsh? Because a schizophrenic patient lives below my house.”

Woon-jae continued, grinding his teeth.

“But they come up every single day and complain about the noise between floors. They even come in the middle of the night and harass my parents.”

“…….”

“So, do you think I’d look kindly on schizophrenic patients?”

“I don’t see those people in my eyes.”

“Because they are getting good treatment.”

“Ugh. Forget it. It’s just a waste of breath to keep talking. What do you think, Jun-hoo?”

Woon-jae looked at Jun-hoo and asked for his opinion.

“Are you still on the patient’s side no matter what?”

Jun-hoo couldn’t answer Woon-jae’s question easily.

Normally, he would have sided with Hyung-don.

But after hearing about what happened to Kyung-soo today and hearing Woon-jae’s inner thoughts, he felt a surge of anger.

Let’s say the perpetrator had unavoidable circumstances.

But what about the victim then?

Who will take responsibility for the victim’s pain?

While struggling with the question.

Jun-hoo thought about the justice and evil that had been going on since the Murim [martial arts world].

What is right.

What is evil.

Jun-hoo was suddenly reminded of his conversation with Chun Tae-ryong, the leader of the Murim Alliance.

-Instructor Seo. Strictly speaking, there is no distinction between justice and evil.

-Alliance Leader, isn’t that too dangerous of a statement as a pillar of the righteous faction?

-That’s why we’re having this conversation in such a secret place. You said you wanted to reach the realm of Hyeon-gyeong, didn’t you?

-If you are a martial artist, who wouldn’t want that noble realm?

-Then abandon justice and abandon evil. Then a new realization will come to that place.

The Alliance Leader’s teachings were unconventional.

That’s why it was even harder to understand.

Perhaps by organizing his way of thinking triggered by schizophrenia, he might get a clue to reach a new realm.

Jun-hoo thought so in his mind.

“I don’t know yet. I’ll answer you when I come to a conclusion.”

* * *

“You were here without saying anything?”

Jun-hoo, who had returned to the neurosurgery on-call room, stroked his startled chest.

Fortunately, Kyung-soo, who had disappeared earlier, was quietly in the on-call room.

Kyung-soo was sitting at his desk, staring blankly at the monitor.

Well, he must have been shocked to be taken hostage by a patient.

“I just didn’t want to be in the emergency room.”

“You thought well. Have some water.”

Jun-hoo handed Kyung-soo a bottle of water he had taken from the refrigerator. And when he made eye contact with Kyung-soo, he used Jeong-an [a technique to calm and reassure someone with internal energy].

*Were you very surprised?*

*But it’s okay. There will never be such a thing again. Even if it happens, I will definitely protect you.*

*No one can hurt you.*

*So, rest assured.*

The internal energy drawn from the dantian [energy center in the body] stayed in his eyes.

The internal energy contained in his eyes was emitted towards Kyung-soo along with righteous thoughts.

For a moment, Kyung-soo’s eyes also turned a deep blue color like Jun-hoo’s eyes.

“Thank you. I don’t know why, but I suddenly feel comfortable.”

Kyung-soo took the water bottle Jun-hoo handed him and drank the water.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Just in time, there was a knock.

When he told them to come in, several nurses from the station came into the on-call room.

“Doctor. Are you okay? We came because we were worried.”

“Oh my, you hurt your chin. Does it hurt a lot?”

The nurses were worried about Kyung-soo.

They seemed to have come to comfort him after hearing the news from the emergency room.

Kyung-soo answered the nurses’ affectionate questions well.

“Dr. Seo, he seems to be okay than I thought? I thought he would be very tired.”

One of the nurses who was leaving the on-call room after the conversation asked Jun-hoo in a whisper.

Jun-hoo was next to the nurses to see them off.

“Kyung-soo is surprisingly strong-minded. Don’t worry too much.”

“Still, something really big must have happened. If it were me, I would have gone straight home from work.”

“It’ll be okay if I take good care of him.”

“Then I’ll trust you, Doctor. Fighting.”

After the nurses left, Jun-hoo sat facing Kyung-soo again.

The power of Jeong-an, which he had recently learned, was powerful.

It was enough to make Kyung-soo maintain his composure even after experiencing a hostage situation.

Perhaps he will have to rely on Jeong-an a lot in the future.

“I didn’t formally say thank you for saving me. Thank you. Thanks to you, I got out of that hell.”

“Well, I was lucky. The patient suddenly dropped the scissors.”

“I’m grateful, but it was too dangerous. What if you had gotten hurt?”

Was it because his mind was managed by Jeong-an?

Kyung-soo’s tone changed to his usual cynical tone.

“I become reckless when it comes to your worries.”

“Please be more careful from now on. You have to take care of your body even when helping others.”

“Are you now ungratefully cornering the savior of your life?”

“I have to say what I have to say no matter what.”

“You’re so great. Really.”

“Of course. I’m pretty great too, even if not as much as you.”

Kyung-soo paused and changed the subject. In a direction that Jun-hoo didn’t expect at all.

“Honestly, I didn’t like you very much.”

“I know. You made it obvious all the time.”

“It wasn’t like jealousy or envy. From the beginning, I wasn’t confident in catching up with you when it came to skills. That’s the same for the other seniors.”

“…….”

“Rather, I thought you were a hypocrite.”

“A hypocrite?”

Jun-hoo tilted his head at the unexpected word.

That’s because he had firmly believed that Kyung-soo disliked him because of his inferiority complex.

But that wasn’t it?

“Yes. A hypocrite. I don’t believe in helping people with pure intentions. What should I say, I think good deeds are also a kind of business.”

“…….”

“So, I felt nauseous every time I saw you. You always say that you’re thinking about the patient?”

“That’s right. That’s how I actually feel.”

Jun-hoo nodded and answered.

Like Kyung-soo said, there are definitely people who do good deeds like a business.

But Jun-hoo was definitely not one of them.

The reason Jun-hoo became a surgeon was because he felt a deep sense of helplessness while watching his colleagues get hurt and die in Murim.

He wanted to get rid of that helplessness in modern times.

But if Kyung-soo, who doesn’t know Jun-hoo’s past, might have such a misunderstanding.

From a third person’s point of view.

Jun-hoo’s love for patients and guardians could be excessive and exaggerated enough.

“Do you still think that way?”

“I haven’t changed. It’s just that there’s an exception. An exception called Seo Jun-hoo.”

“You’re going to give me special treatment? I’m honored.”

“You’re special. If I were you, I wouldn’t have gotten involved in the hostage situation. I wouldn’t have been at the scene in the first place.”

“…….”

“But you threw your body to save me. For me, who had only been snappish to you. Looking back, I was honestly a little touched.”

Kyung-soo avoided Jun-hoo’s gaze and answered.

He seemed embarrassed to reveal his true feelings.

Thanks to this, Jun-hoo realized that Kyung-soo was opening his heart to him.

The dangerous hostage situation turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Jun-hoo was uncomfortable because he didn’t have a good relationship with his only colleague, but things worked out well.

Even if Jun-hoo had martial arts and internal energy.

Emergency diseases.

High-level surgery.

He couldn’t manage patients alone.

That’s why the existence of a reliable and skilled colleague was essential, and Kyung-soo finally came closer to being a colleague.

It couldn’t be a happier thing.

Kyung-soo was one of the top five residents in their first year that Jun-hoo knew and experienced.

In particular, Kyung-soo’s unique cynical personality could complement Jun-hoo’s weakness of being too warm to patients.

Good.

Now that it’s come to this, should I take it one step further?

Jun-hoo decided not to miss this opportunity.

“I have something I’m curious about.”

“Ask me. I’ll tell you everything except what I can’t say.”

“Are you putting up an iron wall in advance?”

“Maybe?”

“It could be a little deep. Why can’t you trust other people so much?”

“…….”

“Actually, you’re not just cold to me. You’re like that to seniors and juniors too. Is there a reason?”

Jun-hoo wanted to know.

The reason why Kyung-soo treated the people around him coldly and kept trying to distance himself.

In other words, he wanted to know the root of Kyung-soo.

“Well, now that the game is all set, can’t be helped? Actually, I’m…….”

Just before Kyung-soo confessed his true feelings.

Ring ring ring.

The emergency room phone rang without any sense.

Why at this important moment…….

Jun-hoo frowned and answered the phone.

“Yes. This is the neurosurgery on-call room.”

-Is that you, Jun-hoo?

It was Min-kyung’s voice.

“Yes, senior. Where are you now?”

-Emergency room. You must have been replaced when you went up. How’s Kyung-soo doing?

“He’s more fine than I thought. You don’t have to worry.”

-I heard he hurt his chin?

“I sutured it well, so there’s no problem with that either.”

-Phew. That’s good to hear. But another thing happened. Today’s luck is really bad.

Min-kyung continued in a nervous voice.

-Schedule an emergency surgery. Right now.