Chapter 159
Lee Jae-yoon.
The head of Cheongjin University Medical Center and the 18th director of Cheongjin University Hospital.
In a conservative little society, Director Lee’s inauguration was an event in itself.
Breaking the long-standing custom in which hospital directors were usually chosen from internal medicine or surgery, he became, for the first time since the hospital’s founding, a thoracic surgeon to take the helm.
Some worried about his bulldozer-like drive, while others sneered that a man from the ever-deficit thoracic surgery department could never manage a hospital properly.
That's right.
Meaning he was almost universally criticized.
Director Lee’s inauguration meant a reform of the hospital’s constitution, and the results were the successful opening of the Cardiovascular and Aortic Hospital and its branch hospital.
There had been a few minor noises here and there, but nothing worth making a fuss over.
The Cardiovascular Hospital had, in a short time, recorded a huge number of surgeries and a survival rate in Yeongnam comparable to a major hospital’s aortic vascular center in Seoul.
And Geoje Hospital was being inundated with patients, but the subsidies it had received under the pretext of strengthening medical care in the southern coastal region were no small sum....
Anyway, even he, who seemed utterly flawless, had recently gained a head-scratching nuisance... no, a bundle of questions he simply couldn’t understand.
“...So this is the CCTV footage from back then?”
Director Lee Jae-yoon frowned as he looked down at the tablet PC on the desk.
In front of him stood Vice Director of Medical Affairs Yoon Tae-ryong, wearing a troubled expression.
“Yes, Director. This is the original CCTV footage from the emergency medical center resuscitation room at the time.”
Director Lee couldn’t take his eyes off the tablet PC Yoon had brought him.
The screen was a scene of utter chaos.
The emergency room resuscitation area.
A patient drenched in blood.
And a crazy doctor.
“So this guy is that emergency medicine third-year resident people are talking about? The one named Han something?”
“That’s correct, for now. But as you know, this footage was taken when he was a first-year resident, basically a rookie.”
“Huh....”
Lee Jae-yoon took off his glasses and wiped them, letting out a hollow laugh.
“From the sound of it, he’s a madman who should be disciplined immediately. No, forget discipline—this is the level of overreach that should have his medical license revoked, isn’t it?”
From a hospital director’s point of view, this was an unacceptable act of insubordination and a clear violation of protocol.
By common sense, it made no sense.
No matter how urgent the situation was, a first-year resident—an emergency medicine resident, no less, not even a surgeon—performed a laparotomy right in the middle of the ER?
It was practically an act of sabotage meant to ruin the hospital.
This was the kind of incident where you’d grab him by the collar and demand to know which hospital had sent him as a spy.
But.
“But the patient lived....”
“Yes. Very much alive, too. According to Professor Kang from the trauma center, if they hadn’t opened the abdomen then, he would have died before he even made it to the operating room.”
Lee Jae-yoon quietly replayed the video from the beginning.
And he zoomed in on the screen.
Because it seemed as though he could see the shadow of someone who had been watching in breathless silence.
“Vice Director Yoon.”
“Yes, Director.”
“Could you get me one surgical video of Professor Yang from Cheonan University Hospital... from back when he was alive?”
“…Pardon?”
Vice Director Yoon Tae-ryong blinked at the abrupt request.
“I think he once presented one at the Pan-Pacific Trauma Society or something... Was it when he got patient consent and did a case study? I can’t remember, but anyway, it’s a video related to damage control.”
“All of a sudden? Why would you suddenly want a video of the late Professor Yang....”
“I have something to compare it to. Please do me this favor.”
“…Yes. Understood. I’ll dig through the archive.”
Vice Director Yoon opened his laptop and started typing rapidly.
In the meantime, Lee Jae-yoon was watching the video on the tablet over and over.
Even amid the fountain of blood, the first-year resident on the screen showed no sign of panic.
With his right hand, he bundled gauze to support the back of the organ, while his left hand was clenched into a fist, pressing hard deep into the abdomen.
A low murmur slipped from Lee Jae-yoon’s mouth.
Left Fist, Right Pack.
Those were words Professor Yang had once habitually used.
…
“Left hand a fist, right hand packing. How cool is that? When you don’t have nimble assistants, your own body is the surest clamp there is.”
…
Lee Jae-yoon fixed his gaze on Han Hyeonjae’s hand on the screen.
A very short segment of the aorta just above the celiac artery branch point.
In the video, the first-year resident was pressing his left fist into that deep area without hesitation to compress the aorta.
A technique to block bleeding at its source.
At the same time, with his opposite right hand he spread out surgical gauze and pushed it in between the back of the liver and the abdominal wall.
“…Hmm.”
Lee Jae-yoon narrowed his eyes.
Not because it was a maneuver from a textbook.
Anyone could learn it and do it.
But.
Only someone who had opened hundreds, thousands of abdomens could possess that sense of space; a nonsurgeon would have trouble with it.
The ability to map anatomical structures not by looking, but purely by the sensation at the fingertips.
“I found it. On this laptop....”
“Oh, thanks. Put it here.”
Lee Jae-yoon took the laptop and set it beside the tablet.
“Vice Director.”
“Yes?”
“What happened to this patient?”
Lee Jae-yoon pointed at the tablet.
“In the ER they did four-quadrant packing, and after taking him to the OR, they removed the spleen. It was a splenic rupture.”
“You knew it was a splenic rupture from the video?”
“Oh, no. While that guy was doing four-quadrant packing, he took the gauze out one piece at a time and... as you can see, he found the bleeding point with his bare hands in the ER.”
“Hah, hahahaha....”
Lee Jae-yoon wore an expression of sheer disbelief.
He found a burst spleen in a sea of blood using only the sense of touch.
“Director, anyway, we’re going to somehow talk to the emergency medicine chief about that guy and....”
Without taking his eyes off the screen, Lee Jae-yoon raised a hand to stop Yoon Tae-ryong.
“Vice Director. Let’s talk later.”
“Yes.”
Vice Director Yoon shut his mouth.
The director’s expression was as serious as that of a lead surgeon who had encountered an unexpected variable in the middle of a difficult operation.
On the left was Han Hyeonjae’s CCTV footage.
On the right was Professor Yang’s surgical video.
Lee Jae-yoon played them at the same time.
And he kept rewatching specific sections over and over.
Lee Jae-yoon’s gaze darted back and forth left and right.
‘Spread the fingers, support the liver with the back of the hand, then sweep in with the palm as if ushering the gauze upward. The wasted motion in that process is....’
Professor Yang’s own timing for preventing tissue from getting damaged.
And even the habit of twisting the wrist slightly when withdrawing after packing to make space.
It was terrifyingly identical.
But.
A first-year resident, fresh out of internship.
The exact hand shape of that pose, the entry angle, even the speed were perfectly matched.
As if the same person were performing surgery across space and time.
“Is he Professor Yang’s disciple? From Cheonan University?”
“No. He’s from Cheongjin University. Different generation, too. He must have been a student when Professor Yang passed away.”
Lee Jae-yoon let out a hollow laugh.
It isn’t something you can do just because you learned it.
These are actions that only come from being ingrained through thousands of repetitions.
And yet an emergency medicine resident?
A guy who had never studied under Professor Yang?
Too seasoned to call him a genius.
Too precise to call him insane.
“Vice Director Yoon, what was this guy’s name again?”
“Han Hyeonjae. Han Hyeonjae. He’s a third-year now, and when he becomes fourth-year next year, he’ll probably be made chief.”
“Han Hyeonjae....”
Lee Jae-yoon mouthed the name to himself.
Darkness had already fallen outside the window.
The lights in the director’s office showed no sign of going off.
The two videos were simply replaying endlessly.
***
“Welcome. I’m Director Lee Jae-yoon.”
A deep voice carried through the microphone.
The first day of April.
This beautiful morning.
I was sitting in the very front row of the main auditorium with a look of complete agony, like a cow being dragged to the slaughterhouse.
‘I want to go home.’
I think I had this thought thousands of times.
Coming to a monthly meeting after an overnight shift and not even being able to go home.
‘Isn’t this a labor-law violation?’
There should be a provision in the Resident Act guaranteeing rest time.
Is the hospital director’s speech counted as work time, or as rest time?
If it’s the former, I can endure it since I’d at least get minimum wage; if it’s the latter, I should report this to the Ministry of Employment and Labor right away.
Of course, I didn’t have the guts to report it, so I was only grumbling inwardly.
“...Therefore, even amid our Cheongjin University Hospital’s emergency management system, we have achieved remarkable growth....”
The director’s speech was disgustingly long.
I desperately tried to suppress a yawn and pinched my thigh.
“Then, we will now proceed with the awards ceremony. Please come up to the stage when your name is called.”
The moderator livened up the atmosphere.
At last, the end was in sight.
“First, we have the Employee of the Month for Kindness. Nurse Kim Seon-min, head nurse of Ward 71, and Mr. Oh Jeonghyeon, radiologic technologist at the Second Diagnostic Imaging Center!”
Clap clap clap clap!
With applause, the two shy-looking recipients went up to the podium.
A plaque, a bouquet of flowers, and gift certificates were handed over.
Jealous.
What I need isn’t honor, it’s that envelope.
“Next is the Special Merit Award. Since the opening of the Cardiovascular and Aortic Hospital in June last year, it achieved an unprecedented 500 aortic surgery cases by this March as a single center. In recognition of the contribution to enhancing the hospital’s prestige....”
This time, the thoracic surgery and vascular surgery professors went up together and received awards.
The applause seemed even louder.
Maybe the director’s expression looked brighter too—it must be my imagination.
And then.
“The next one is a little special.”
The moderator chuckled while looking at the paper.
This was ominous.
“There will be a commendation for outstanding passengers aboard the emergency medical helicopter and those with meritorious service in disaster response.”
Outstanding passenger?
‘What, did I rack up mileage or something?’
What kind of dumb name is that for an award?
“Through swift response and dedicated treatment, he contributed to saving many lives, and especially in special situations, he never lost his composure....”
Stop.
Please, just stop reading.
My face was burning.
“Is that the guy who delivered the baby on the helicopter?”
“He’s a third-year in emergency medicine, isn’t he?”
“He says he could tour the whole country just on helicopter mileage.”
Even though Son Jongun spouted nonsense at the end, I ignored his nonsense as best I could.
“...Emergency Medicine resident Han Hyeonjae! Please come up to the podium!”
“Oh dear... here I go.”
I whispered quietly to Professor Kim Seong-chan, who was sitting next to me, and got to my feet.
“Yeah, Hyeonjae. Shoulders back! Be confident!”
Professor Kim Seong-chan slapped my back.
When I went up onto the podium, the lights were so bright it stung my eyes.
‘Just do what they tell me. Just do what they tell me.’
I recited the manual the general affairs team had sent me yesterday in my head.
One.
Stop briefly three steps in front of the director.
Thud.
Two.
Bow once toward the audience below the podium, once toward the director.
Three.
While the director reads out the plaque, keep both hands politely folded and listen.
“Commendation. Emergency Medicine resident Han Hyeonjae. This person, with unwavering devotion to duty....”
…
“...I hereby commend you. April 1. Director Lee Jae-yoon.”
Four.
While taking the plaque, turn your head slightly and smile toward the camera in front.
Click! Click!
Five.
Hold the plaque in your left hand, then shake the director’s hand with your right.
I took Director Lee Jae-yoon’s outstretched hand.
And now it was time for the director to deliver the standard congratulatory remarks.
‘Good job’
Or something like that.
I answered with a suitable thank-you and prepared to step down as I listened.
The director gripped the hand we were shaking tightly and leaned slightly toward me.
“Dr. Han.”
“Yes.”
“See me after the monthly meeting.”
?
Did I hear that wrong?
The director let go of my hand as if nothing had happened.
“Congratulations.”
He even put on a show of saying it loudly while patting my shoulder.
I gave a dazed bow and staggered down from the podium.
‘What?’
Why would the hospital director ask a mere resident to meet him separately?
A compliment? Encouragement?
Or....
‘Oh, is that it?’
Today is April Fools’ Day.
Yeah.
That’s it!
‘It’s probably an April Fools’ joke aimed at the award winners!’