Chapter 11
Daeho gestured toward Kang Jinsu, not the aggressively approaching Yoo Gwanggu.
Whoosh, whoosh.
“Dr. Kang, take care of your business.”
“Um, Dr. Richard, it’s because of me again…”
“It’s fine. Looks like you have business with me. Go ahead.”
Swish, swish.
Daeho even smiled lightly as he gestured.
It wasn’t just Daeho’s opinion.
Yoo Gwanggu, closing the distance quickly, seemed to agree.
Clack!
“Hey, brat! Get lost. Mind your own business!”
“Y-yes, coming.”
Shush.
Kang Jinsu, clearly intimidated by Yoo Gwanggu, didn’t argue and quickly stepped aside.
Daeho felt pity for Kang Jinsu, caught up in this mess.
“That guy really has a tough fate.”
“Mind your own fate, brat!”
Whoosh.
Yoo Gwanggu, closing in, threw a punch immediately.
They were quite close.
But Daeho, as if expecting it, lightly sidestepped.
Swish.
“Whoa, whoa, calm down.”
“You dodged? You’ve been around, huh, brat!”
Boom!
Annoyed, Yoo Gwanggu twisted quickly and attacked again.
He unleashed a reckless attack for no reason.
By now, Daeho also felt irritation rising.
“So that’s why he told me to smash him against the glass.”
Whoosh.
“What’s he saying, this guy!”
“Huh. Still, I’m different.”
Thud!
Daeho muttered bitterly to himself.
At the same time, he grabbed Yoo Gwanggu’s incoming punch.
Thwap!
The punch, thrown with all his strength, left Yoo Gwanggu startled.
“Whoa!”
“Can we try talking now?”
“Who… who are you!”
“I’ll let go for now. Let’s talk. Okay?”
Daeho smiled and tried to persuade him.
Though his words were gentle, his strength pressed Yoo Gwanggu’s punch heavily.
Crack!
Yoo Gwanggu’s face twisted as he groaned in pain.
“Ah, ugh. It hurts. I said it hurts. Okay, o-o-okay. Talk. Talk!”
“Good. That’s a sensible decision.”
Swish.
Daeho released the grip and smiled lightly.
Yoo Gwanggu shook his hands off, glaring with narrow eyes.
“Ah, your strength is ridiculous.”
“Chief, what’s the problem?”
“You are the problem! Popping out of nowhere like this!”
“But what about Dr. Kang?”
Daeho asked calmly, but Yoo Gwanggu shouted hysterically.
“He’s sticking to you, brat!”
“That’s a misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding or not, you’re not the one to judge. Act like a proper resident and stay down!”
Daeho immediately understood the meaning behind his outburst.
‘Park Youngjun, huh… even pressured the chief.’
Daeho spoke calmly, trying to reason with him.
“Chief, you know this isn’t right.”
“I don’t know, brat!”
“You know. You know exactly where things went wrong.”
Daeho spoke in a low voice.
Yoo Gwanggu hesitated, caught off guard, his face suddenly vulnerable.
“Wh-what are you talking about?”
“I’ll ask again. You really don’t know?”
Buzz.
Daeho looked at Yoo Gwanggu with a heavy, deep gaze.
Yoo Gwanggu’s eyes wavered, but he still avoided eye contact.
“I-I don’t know. All I know is that you and Kang Jinsu tricked Dr. Park on purpose.”
“That’s all?”
“What exactly is your purpose in coming to Korea? Why are you stirring up trouble like this?”
Yoo Gwanggu demanded.
Daeho responded casually.
“Who knows. I wonder.”
“Stop pretending!”
Shiver.
Yoo Gwanggu’s eyelids twitched.
Daeho chuckled lightly.
“Aren’t you ashamed?”
“Me? Ashamed of what?”
“Of yourself.”
Daeho’s answer was firm.
At the same time, Yoo Gwanggu’s face contorted in rage.
He shouted in near-scream and swung his fists wildly.
“Uuuaaaah! You don’t know anything, brat!”
Whoosh, bam!
His punch hit Daeho’s face.
Thud.
Daeho calmly redirected it.
His face showed no redness.
Instead, only a cold, sharp gaze remained.
“Are you even a doctor?”
“What?”
“You call yourself a chief but betray juniors to save yourself?”
“You… you… what…”
Yoo Gwanggu couldn’t finish his sentence.
Daeho’s punch had cut off the flow.
Pow!
“Shut your mouth!”
“Guh!”
Yoo Gwanggu’s eyes widened in shock.
Daeho removed his fist from Yoo Gwanggu’s stomach.
“Even two punches are too good for someone like you.”
“Ugh… ugh.”
“Even in a world where everyone’s out to survive, you have to protect what matters.”
Step, step.
Daeho turned and headed toward the emergency stairwell, heavy steps echoing.
His back was completely unguarded.
But Yoo Gwanggu couldn’t strike him.
Creak, creak.
The punch to his abdomen had left him collapsed on the floor, unable to move.
Daeho had one principle: treat water as water, fire as fire.
It was obvious.
He showed no kindness to someone with malicious intent.
Conversely, there was no reason to attack someone who showed goodwill.
This principle never changed.
Inside the hospital coffee shop,
Daeho waited for his coffee.
He thought back to the earlier fight and smiled bitterly.
“History really does repeat itself.”
He glanced at his fist.
Even though it was old, he could hear the past conversation vividly in his mind.
“-Mr. Kim, what are you teaching the kid now!”
“-Dr. Park, can’t you see? Indian secret martial arts…”
“-Is he crazy? Why teach that to the kid!”
“-Forgot whose kid Daeho is? Should we go through his life?”
“-Ah, right. Teach him immediately. Teach him twice! Hard!”
Daeho suddenly covered his ears and shook his head.
“Ugh.”
Even though it was a memory, it was loud.
Buzz, buzz.
The pager vibrated, and Daeho cleared his head and moved to get his drink.
Shortly after,
The nurses carried the coffee Daeho had ordered.
“Dr. Richard, thank you. I’ll enjoy this.”
“I thought you were just going for a walk. My mistake.”
“Why buy this on your first day? Haha.”
The nurses smiled happily, showing off the coffee.
“Please help us a lot in the future.”
Daeho responded with a gentle smile.
The atmosphere was friendly, erasing the tension from the earlier conflict.
But that was only in the nurse station.
Residents ran around attending to patients.
Among them was Yoo Gwanggu, bandage on his forehead.
All of them glared at the nurse station, but no one approached.
Their frowns were aimed only at Daeho.
“That guy’s so spoiled.”
“What a boss. So we’re servants now?”
“The nurses are too much. No loyalty at all. Damn!”
“Don’t worry about it. Let’s do our job.”
Whoosh, whoosh.
They swallowed their rising irritation and tried to ignore it.
But more annoyed than the residents were the ER specialists.
They sniffed at the friendly atmosphere in the nurse station.
“Pfft. What is this? A playground? That guy immediately!”
“Senior, I’ll go and say something. This isn’t right.”
“The chief said to ignore him. Forget it.”
“Ugh, I’ve lived long enough to see this world, tsk!”
Their faces were full of outrage.
Even so, they could only watch as Daeho laughed and chatted, overturning the ER.
Afternoon came.
Still, no one approached Daeho.
On his first day, no one guided or showed him anything.
Even patients were kept away.
“Direct admission for abdominal pain.”
“Dr. Kim, handle it. Dr. Park, bring him in!”
“Chief, I need to do a gastric lavage. Richard is just…”
“Don’t even mention his name. He doesn’t exist. Move, now!”
Clatter, clack, clack.
Residents rushed past the nurse station.
The specialists’ plan was clear.
‘Complete isolation. Let’s see how he handles it.’
It was a strategy to fully ostracize Daeho.
Anyone in that situation would feel uneasy or worried.
But Daeho was different.
“Wow, easy pickings.”
He leisurely enjoyed the time near the nurse station.
Then, at the ER’s back door, a patient in a wheelchair appeared with a caregiver.
The patient’s left leg was tightly casted.
Rumble, rumble.
They crossed the ER toward the nurse station.
Medical staff glanced but only made way, showing little interest.
It was a common sight in the ER.
Daeho noticed them casually at first.
He was about to look elsewhere when something made him pause.
“Huh?”
Whoosh!
He focused on them again.
The middle-aged patient’s face looked strangely familiar.
“Wait a second.”
Squinting, Daeho paused.
It was yesterday’s patient.
Treated for complex leg fracture in an emergency.
The EMR confirmed the surgery was completed that morning.
He shouldn’t be moving around like this.
Daeho’s face went pale as he urgently got up.
Snap!
“How… how is this person here?!”
His low shout made the nurses flinch.
“Dr. Richard, what’s wrong?”
“What’s happening?”
The nurses asked in succession.
Clack, clack!
“Excuse me for a moment!”
Daeho shouted sharply and reflexively rushed out of the nurse station.
TO BE CONTINUED.....
