A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 265

Chapter 50: Crossing the Line (5)

‘Ah… no!’

Gyu-sik couldn’t hide his astonishment at Jun-hoo’s massage.

What could a massage be other than just rubbing the shoulders? It would only be temporarily refreshing, right?

The common sense he had believed in shattered into pieces.

Jun-hoo’s massage was more professional than he had imagined.

The massage covered his shoulders, neck, and head, and the spots where Jun-hoo rubbed and massaged with his fingers melted away.

Tight muscles loosened.

The warmth made him feel as if even blocked blood vessels were opening up.

Doubt turned into certainty, and certainty turned into pleasure.

Gyu-sik was smiling before he knew it.

It wasn’t that he particularly wanted to smile.

It wasn’t even a situation where he should be smiling, but he couldn’t help the smile spreading across his face.

Ecstasy.

The most accurate word to describe his current feeling was ecstasy.

“Professor, you look incredibly happy?”

“Oh, do I?”

Only after Hye-sun pointed it out did Gyu-sik barely manage to maintain his composure.

He reined in his grinning expression.

“How do you feel, Professor? Do you feel any better?”

“Jun-hoo, your massage skills are amazing. I didn’t expect this level of skill.”

“I happened to learn from an expert a while ago.”

Jun-hoo smiled awkwardly.

“Actually, I would have liked to do it in the operating room, but I couldn’t because of contamination and infection issues.”

“Good thinking. There are things you can do and things you shouldn’t do in the operating room.”

“Hye-sun, would you like a massage too, if you want?”

“Absolutely!”

Hye-sun agreed.

Jun-hoo moved from behind Gyu-sik to behind Hye-sun.

If he could just receive Jun-hoo’s massage for another 10 minutes, he would have no regrets…

Gyu-sik barely suppressed the sudden surge of regret.

Hye-sun’s reaction was no different from Gyu-sik’s. She had an expression that said the massage was so good she could die.

Jun-hoo’s gala show (?) that unfolded after the surgery ended successfully.

The server brought the food.

Jajangmyeon [black bean noodles], Jjamppong [spicy seafood noodle soup], and Tangsuyuk [sweet and sour pork] were placed on the table. The stimulating smell of the dishes was the first to trigger his salivary glands.

He gulped, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

Gyu-sik ate ravenously. He emptied the bowl and drank a cup of tea.

Bzzzz.

Just then, his cell phone vibrated.

Gyu-sik took out his phone from his gown and checked the message. Then, he accessed the PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) app saved on his phone.

The MRI image of the Filipino patient appeared on his phone screen.

These days, you could check the results of a patient’s radiological examination on your phone.

“Professor, do you have something else to take care of?”

Jun-hoo said with a worried tone.

“Don’t worry. It’s not an emergency surgery schedule. Rather, there’s good news.”

“Good news, you say…”

“I’m checking the MRI results of the Filipino patient who had the finger replantation surgery.”

“I see. I hope there are no complications.”

Jun-hoo looked uneasy.

Jun-hoo had put the finishing touches on the surgery with vein anastomosis [surgically connecting veins].

He seemed worried that his anastomosis might have been incomplete, leading to complications after the surgery.

“The surgery… ended very beautifully. The bone, ligaments, tendons, arteries, and nerves are stuck together like glue.”

“…”

“It’s all thanks to you, Jun-hoo.”

“No, Professor did all the hard work.”

“You’re being humble even with that skill. It seems like you could easily surpass most fellows [doctors who have completed residency and are receiving advanced training in a subspecialty].”

Gyu-sik sincerely praised Jun-hoo.

Jun-hoo’s skill was definitely not something you would expect from a second-year resident.

Even though he was majoring in neurosurgery.

He knew the entire process of finger replantation surgery and assisted flawlessly.

What was most astonishing…

Was his hand, which shone brighter than a jewel.

Jun-hoo’s hand didn’t tremble like a machine.

Also, both hands were ambidextrous.

They were like two birds flying freely in the sky.

The biggest evidence was the high-level locking sutures used to anastomose the veins.

What if Jun-hoo hadn’t assisted?

What if another resident had assisted?

The patient’s prognosis could not have been guaranteed.

Because Jun-hoo was there.

Gyu-sik was finally able to unleash his abilities to their full potential.

“I’ve never seen a kid like you in my life. But is that skill in the realm of talent? Or is it in the realm of effort?”

“I think it’s both talent and effort.”

“There’s nothing scarier than a talented person who puts in effort. Yes, indeed.”

Gyu-sik’s gaze shifted to Hye-sun.

“Hye-sun, you worked hard too. Your first assist at the end was excellent.”

“I didn’t do much…”

Hye-sun lowered her head, feeling embarrassed.

“Anyway, Jun-hoo.”

“Yes, Professor.”

“I just remembered something. We had a connection before, didn’t we?”

“I had a connection with you, Professor?”

Jun-hoo tilted his head, looking puzzled.

On the other hand, Gyu-sik clearly remembered the episode with Jun-hoo.

So he stepped up to explain.

His younger sibling had a health checkup at Seoul Shinwon University Hospital.

During the checkup, they had a cardiac arrest and received CPR.

The person who resuscitated his younger sibling and discovered that his younger sibling had propofol anaphylaxis [severe allergic reaction to the anesthetic propofol] was Jun-hoo.

“Ah. I remember now too.”

“As I kept saying your name, Jun-hoo, that memory suddenly came back to me.”

Gyu-sik took a sip of tea.

“You saved my sibling in the past, and you saved me today. Our connection is deeper than I thought.”

“It seems so.”

“I owe you twice, so I want to repay you somehow… What would be good?”

“I appreciate the thought, but I don’t want anything from you, Professor. Then or now, I’m just doing what I can in my position.”

Jun-hoo’s answer was without hesitation.

Usually, when asked if you want anything, it’s natural to hesitate for a moment…

It seemed that Jun-hoo was the type who was good at giving but awkward at receiving.

That kind of attitude seemed ingrained in him.

The more you knew him, the more genuine he seemed.

“You may be okay, but I’m not okay. I have to repay your kindness no matter what.”

Gyu-sik said in a calm voice.

“Then how about we do this?”

* * *

Thud. Thud.

Jun-hoo was returning to the neurosurgery ward alone.

A day had passed in the blink of an eye.

It felt like just a moment ago that he was walking down the hallway bathed in the dazzling morning sunlight, but the day had already darkened.

The sunlight had become moonlight.

The sun had gone home, but Jun-hoo hadn’t.

There was no difference between day and night for Jun-hoo.

Thanks to stopping by the lounge after dinner to take nutritional supplements and practice Qigong [traditional Chinese meditative exercise] breathing exercises, Jun-hoo’s stamina was excellent.

It was a 100 percent fully charged battery.

And Qigong breathing exercises and nutritional supplements were, so to speak, super-fast chargers.

That others didn’t have.

Only Jun-hoo possessed it fraudulently.

As he crossed the hallway leading to the ward, Jun-hoo reflected on the past day.

For half a day.

Was it just because he had only done finger replantation surgery?

Most of Jun-hoo’s thoughts remained in the realm of finger replantation surgery.

Today’s surgery was meaningful to Jun-hoo in many ways.

Firstly, it was meaningful in that it was an opportunity to showcase the skills he had honed.

Secondly, it was meaningful in that it created a strong bond with Gyu-sik.

Gyu-sik was a surgeon with a great reputation and fame in hand surgery.

He found out by searching on the way.

He was even the vice president of the Korean Society for Surgery of the Hand.

But Gyu-sik had taken notice of Jun-hoo.

He had been pleading to repay his kindness in any way possible.

-Then how about we do this?

-What do you mean?

-When we talked on the phone before, I heard that you were interested in the hand surgery field. Am I right?

-Yes, you are.

Jun-hoo nodded vigorously.

If it was a field related to neurosurgery, he would master everything from A to Z.

He would become the strongest neurosurgeon that no one could approach.

That was one of Jun-hoo’s desires.

-Later, if you say you want to study hand surgery, I will roll up my sleeves and help you.

-…

-Let me tell you in advance, it’s better to train in hand surgery ‘domestically’ than ‘overseas.’ Even American doctors come to Korea to observe surgeries.

-Is hand surgery that great in Korea? I had no idea.

Jun-hoo’s eyes widened.

-Everyone shows a similar reaction to you when I tell them this story.

Gyu-sik smiled bitterly.

-The success rate of replantation surgery by Korean surgeons is unmatched. There’s no end to the boasting I could do.

-…

-Anyway, if you ever feel like training, be sure to come and find me. Although I’m not the best hand surgeon in the world, I’m confident that I can make you the best hand surgeon in the world.”

Gyu-sik’s assurance was like a thousand troops and horses [idiom meaning a great source of confidence].

Was that why?

He began to think about challenging the hand surgery specialty as soon as he obtained his board certification.

Only after obtaining board certification in neurosurgery or orthopedic surgery.

Because he could choose a hand surgery specialty.

He was a surprisingly funny person.

That’s why they say you can know ten fathoms of water, but you can’t know an inch of a person’s heart [idiom meaning it’s hard to know what someone is really thinking].

Jun-hoo chuckled, recalling one of the jokes he had shared with Gyu-sik.

Why did you choose hand surgery as your specialty, Professor?

…Jun-hoo had asked Gyu-sik.

But Gyu-sik’s answer was extraordinary.

Gyu-sik had said this:

I thought I would look cooler if I did surgeries that others couldn’t do and had a hard time with…

It wasn’t that he had a great sense of purpose or calling.

It was just that his vanity was bursting.

Was that why?

Jun-hoo found it hard to hold back his laughter when he imagined Gyu-sik showing off.

Squeak.

Jun-hoo entered the neurosurgery on-call room.

As he closed the door, he also closed off his thoughts about hand surgery. Jun-hoo’s duty was, after all, in neurosurgery.

“Hey, it’s hard to even see your face today?”

Kyung-soo, who was working at his desk, glanced at Jun-hoo.

“Tell me about it. I was dragged into a finger replantation surgery out of nowhere and suffered like a dog.”

“I heard about it too. But you’re a pervert who likes that kind of thing. Why are you pretending to be struggling?”

Kyung-soo hit the nail on the head.

He pretended to be struggling, but in fact, Jun-hoo enjoyed finger replantation surgery.

After spending nearly a year together.

Kyung-soo could see through Jun-hoo’s inner thoughts as clearly as reading a palm.

“Everything’s fine, but can you leave out the word ‘pervert’? It sounds a bit off? And what’s wrong with a surgeon liking surgery?”

“You should like it in moderation. You’re addicted. Surgery addiction.”

Kyung-soo shook his head, looking disgusted.

He couldn’t understand Jun-hoo at all.

“Did the surgery go well?”

“Fortunately, it went well. The professor was satisfied after seeing the MRI taken after the surgery.”

“But you’re something else too. To even think about going into finger replantation surgery. I wouldn’t go in even if you killed me.”

“It’s not that you can’t go in, it’s that you won’t go in.”

“Me? I can never do it like you.”

“You can do it if you learn, even if you can’t do it now.”

Jun-hoo praised Kyung-soo.

When assessing the talents of neurosurgery residents based on Jun-hoo’s standards.

Si-ho was first, and Kyung-soo was second.

Excluding the psychopath Si-ho.

Kyung-soo had the talent to make a name for himself in the major he chose, depending on his efforts.

Jun-hoo, who was once an instructor at the Murim Alliance [fictional martial arts alliance], saw that talent.

While the master is reforming the medical system.

Wouldn’t it be nice if I could quickly build a reputation and fame and train future generations?

The more he delved into it, the more attractive the idea became.

Squeak.

The on-call room door opened just in time.

Min-kyung peeked her head through the half-open door.

“Jun-hoo. The head of the department is looking for you. Go to his office.”

“The head of the department? Isn’t it past his 퇴근 [quitting work] time?”

“I thought it was unusual too.”

“Do you know what it’s about?”

“If I knew, anyway, go quickly. You know the head of the department’s personality…”

“Yes. I’ll go right away.”

Jun-hoo left the on-call room and moved to the head of the department’s office, located at the end of the ward hallway.

His steps were uncomfortable and heavy.

There had never been a time when anything good had come from being involved with the head of the department…

Without a doubt, not even once so far.