Chapter 19 – My Grandfather, Kim Yun-seok (4)

“I came in a hurry after hearing the news that the child was sick!”

Yoon Tae-seok ran to Brown and asked after Peter.

“He is fine.”

“Is that true? Is he really okay? For such a thing to happen while I was away! I am truly sorry, Mr. Brown!”

Yoon Tae-seok did not know what to do.

“Yes. Thanks to Doctor Kim over there, our Peter is safe!”

Mr. Brown pointed at Kim Yun-seok with his fingertip.

“Oh! Him?”

“That is right.”

“What is the doctor’s name?”

Yoon Tae-seok rushed to Yun-seok and grabbed his hands.

“Hahaha, he is Dr. Kim Yun-seok of our hospital! He is also my student!”

At that, Professor Cho Dong-gi, who was quick to assess the situation, put his arm around Kim Yun-seok’s shoulder.

“Is that so? Was he your student, Professor?”

“Yes. He is a professor at our hospital.”

As Professor Cho Dong-gi gave Yun-seok a look, Yun-seok reluctantly opened his mouth.

“Professor Cho, you have indeed raised an amazing student! Come to think of it, he is also very handsome!”

Yoon Tae-seok laughed out loud with a bright face.

“Now is not the time to be doing this. We must go to the hospital quickly and perform follow-up treatment. He has only passed the dangerous crisis!”

“Ah! Is that so? What? What should I do?”

“Please prepare a vehicle to transport him to the hospital.”

“I understand! I will prepare a jeep right away! Butler Hwang! Stand by with the car quickly!”

Yoon Tae-seok made a fuss and called Butler Hwang.

A moment later.

Kim Yun-seok and Cho Dong-gi got into the car with the patient, Peter.

A broad smile bloomed on Cho Dong-gi’s face as he stared at Kim Yun-seok.

“Dr. Kim Yun-seok! You did really well! I knew my eyes weren’t wrong about you.”

“…….”

Kim Yun-seok took care of Peter without paying any heed to Cho Dong-gi’s praise.

“Do you know who Mr. Brown is?”

Cho Dong-gi had no interest whatsoever in the patient, Peter.

“I do not know.”

“Didn’t you see that fellow Yoon Tae-seok making a fuss earlier? Mr. Brown is an American tycoon who supplies military goods to the US Eighth Army! A tycoon!”

“Yes.”

“Hahaha, for you to save such a person’s grandson! The road to success has opened wide for you from now on!”

“Professor, I am sorry, but I need to concentrate. Peter is not fully cured yet!”

“Uh? Uh, yes, indeed! By the way, it is truly surprising that you performed a pericardiocentesis! When did your skills improve by leaps and bounds like this?”

Professor Cho Dong-gi blushed as if embarrassed.

“…….”

Kim Yun-seok did not even reply to Professor Cho Dong-gi’s words.

Hmph—

“Y-yes! Go ahead and treat him!”

He was displeased with Kim Yun-seok’s attitude, but it was not the time to scold him.

* * *

A few days later, Peter’s hospital room.

When Peter arrived at the hospital, all the surgeons at the UN Hospital rushed to help, and Peter was finally able to pass the dangerous crisis.

“Thank you so much, Doctor Kim!”

Mr. Brown did not know what to do out of gratitude.

“It was thanks to Peter enduring it well. I did nothing.”

“No! The image of Doctor Kim calmly treating our Peter even in that urgent situation is still vivid in my eyes.”

“You flatter me!”

“That is not true. There is no need to be humble. Even in America, competent doctors like Doctor Kim are rare. So, I feel I must repay this debt.”

“No! I only did what I should naturally do as a doctor.”

Kim Yun-seok shook his hand with a serious face.

“That is not so! Do you intend to make me an ungrateful, terrible person? Tell me anything. If it is within my power, I will grant whatever it is.”

“Well, then may I ask for one favor?”

“Anything! Tell me whatever it is.”

“I heard that Mr. Brown supplies goods to the US military units. Is that correct?”

“That is correct.”

“Does that include groceries as well?”

“Of course! Isn’t food the most important supply during a war? It is only natural.”

“Then I ask this of you. There are countless children in Busan who lost their parents during the war. It is hard for them to get by day to day, so could you please help them?”

“Oh! That is a truly wonderful idea! Of course. It is absolutely possible!”

“Thank you.”

“Is there nothing else?”

“Yes. That much is enough.”

“Hahaha, seeing you, the future of the Republic of Korea is bright indeed! I am very pleased to see the hope of new sprouts budding in the ruined Korean Peninsula! Feel free to tell me whenever you need my help. I intend to help Doctor Kim to the best of my ability.”

Mr. Brown gave Yun-seok a thumbs-up.

“Thank you.”

In this way, Kim Yun-seok formed a special relationship with the American tycoon, Brown.

That evening, the duty room.

“Oho! Kim Yun-seok! Amazing, truly amazing! Rumors are flying all over the hospital. I heard you secured a massive backing?”

As Yun-seok returned after finishing his consultations, Kim Ji-hyuk made a fuss.

“Do not talk nonsense. I have no interest in things like backings.”

“Ayy, why be like that between friends? What did Mr. Brown say?”

“It was nothing major.”

Kim Yun-seok shook his head as if it were of no importance.

“Huh? It’s a secret even from your friend? Tell me honestly. You saved his precious grandson’s life, so it makes no sense that there is nothing.”

“Drop it. More importantly, be careful of Professor Cho Dong-gi in the future.”

“What? What do you mean by that?”

“You seemed to have gotten completely on Professor Cho Dong-gi’s bad side. He even asked me to become his lackey.”

Thud—

Yun-seok said, sitting down on the cot.

“Huhuhu. Really?”

“Yeah. He said that if I just helped him, the road to success would open up.”

“Then why didn’t you do that?”

“It is not too late even now, should I?”

Yun-seok smirked.

“Well, go ahead if you want.”

“Why? Are you scared? I will surpass you with actual skill. Such cheap tricks are not allowed by my pride.”

‘As expected of my grandfather!’

“Is that really possible?”

Kim Ji-hyuk smirked.

“Just wait. I will catch up soon.”

“All right! Let me look forward to it!”

“Anyway, you must be careful of that Cho Dong-gi guy. He’s a human being you shouldn’t even get close to!”

‘I know, Grandfather! What a piece of trash that man is. Exactly ten years from now, he will go down due to an unprecedented corruption scandal. Of course, I intend to bring that time forward!’

“All right, all right. I will keep it in mind!”

Kim Ji-hyuk laughed brightly and put his arm around Yun-seok’s shoulder.

* * *

A few months later.

Thus, the year 1952 set, and the year 1953 rose.

1953, the year when the Korean War would come to an end!

In just seven months, this dreadful war would finally end.

Around the time when the UN Forces were in the middle of behind-the-scenes contacts to negotiate an armistice, the South and the North were fighting fierce local battles to capture even a little more high ground.

“Ji-hyuk, when will this war end?”

Even though it was the New Year, the Korean Peninsula still could not escape from the crucible of war.

“It will end soon.”

“Soon? Will it really turn out that way?”

“Neither the South nor the North has the power or justification to sustain the war. In any case, this war depends on the will of the Western powers. There is nothing we can do on our own.”

“Mm, it is a miserable reality.”

“We have to overcome it. What kind of people are we? We are not a nation to back down from this level of ordeal, are we? There may be trials in the Republic of Korea, but there can be no failure.”

‘Ah, those are fine words. By the way, I wonder where Chairman Jung Ju-hyung is and what he is doing right now.’

Kim Ji-hyuk was suddenly curious about Jung Ju-hyung, the founder of Hyuntae Group.

“Oh! That is a famous quote! Right. Now, the reconstruction of the Republic of Korea is the responsibility of young people like us.”

“Yes. We will have a lot of work to do in the future.”

“By the way, what happens to this hospital when the war ends?”

“What else? Naturally, they will withdraw to their home country.”

“Right? Before that, we should extract everything we can from the Swedish doctors.”

“Of course. Starting from now, we must keep our eyes peeled and absorb their medical knowledge.”

“All right! I will work hard.”

“Yeah. Yun-seok, you have the ability to memorize anything once you see it, like a camera, right? Copy everything into your head. Then I will free-ride.”

“No way! Do you think I would let you do that? That will absolutely never happen!”

“Wow! You are really cheap.”

Giggle, giggle—

It was around the time when Ji-hyuk and Yun-seok were exchanging jokes.

A major incident broke out.

The Battle of Umulmeori Hill!

The 2nd Infantry Division of the United States Army, the French Battalion, and the 2nd Infantry Division of the Republic of Korea Army fought a fierce battle against the Chinese Communist Forces over Umulmeori Hill.

The battle was fierce.

The Chinese forces pushed down with lightning tactics, and their momentum was tremendous.

The flustered Allied Forces!

Helplessly pushed back by the Chinese forces, the Allied Forces retreated while losing their outposts one by one, and in the end, they were in danger of losing the high ground as well.

Since Umulmeori Hill was an extremely important strategic stronghold, the Allied Forces and the National Army could not just stand by and watch.

Reorganizing their ranks, the Allied Forces began to push back up with the support of additional US troops, and later, while the Chinese forces focused on another fierce battlefield, White Horse Hill, they succeeded in reclaiming the high ground.

Thus, the South and the North had no choice but to continue a desperate and tedious battle of offense and defense to occupy even a span of land in preparation for the armistice that might take place soon.

However, the damage suffered by the South and the North due to this was devastating.

Our side suffered massive casualties from this battle, and because there were no hospitals capable of properly treating the severely wounded, they ended up coming all the way down here.

Jeeps lined up one after another.

Each jeep was fully loaded with numerous wounded soldiers.

Soldiers covered in blood from head to toe were letting out painful groans.

Kim Ji-hyuk and Kim Yun-seok, who rushed down to the emergency room after receiving the contact, were dumbfounded upon seeing the soldiers sprawled across the emergency room.

“What on earth is going on?”

Kim Yun-seok could not close his agape mouth.

“I do not know either! First, let’s start with emergency treatment on whatever we can see.”

“Y-yes, all right.”

Arghhh—

Groans of struggle from extreme pain erupted here and there.

“Please save me!”

“Argh, my leg! My leg!”

“D-did you turn off the light? I-I can’t see anything in front of me!”

From patients who were in pain from a bullet penetrating their thigh—relatively light(?)—to those whose abdominal organs were entirely exposed, those whose heads were hit by bullets and half-crushed, and those whose eyeballs had ruptured and could see nothing, the groans of patients who had suffered horrific injuries filled the emergency room.

The emergency room instantly turned into a living hell.

‘I have never seen anything like this before.’

It was Kim Ji-hyuk vividly experiencing the horror of the terrible war.