Chapter 40 – New Chief of Surgery, Heo Jeong-tae (1)

The Chief of Surgery’s office.

One week later.

Just as Director Lee Tae-soo had said, a surgeon to take the vacant Chief of Surgery position had arrived at the National Medical Center, and he summoned Kim Ji-hyuk to his office for an interview.

“Hello, I am Kim Ji-hyuk.”

Kim Ji-hyuk greeted him politely.

“Yes. I’ve heard a lot from the Director about how you are a very talented surgeon.”

“You flatter me.”

“Yes. I should introduce myself too, right? I am Heo Jeong-tae! I’m not familiar with the hospital work yet, so please help me out!”

Chief Heo Jeong-tae reached out his hand with a bright expression.

‘He is very polite. He is on a completely different level from Professor Han Seung-won of Korea University Hospital!’

“Yes. I also haven’t been at the hospital for very long, so I’m not familiar with everything yet, but I will do my best to assist you!”

“Great! I feel like I’ve gained an army of thousands. Let’s do well in the future.”

Tap—

Heo Jeong-tae approached and patted Ji-hyuk on the shoulder.

“Oh, Chief! You can speak comfortably to me.”

“Hahaha, shall I?”

‘Of course! I’m just glad you aren’t calling me this bastard or that bastard.’

“Of course!”

“Now, let’s have a cup of tea.”

“Yes!”

A moment later.

“The Director said you performed actively on the frontlines. Which unit did you serve in?”

“Hmm, I served in the 6th Division.”

Sip—

Chief Heo Jeong-tae took a sip of his coffee.

“Wow, then the Blue Star Division?”

“…….”

Fufu—

Chief Heo Jeong-tae showed a faint smile without speaking.

What kind of place was the Blue Star Division?

At a time when the National Army was suffering consecutive defeats during the Korean War, wasn’t it the place that rang the first victory bells for the South Korean forces in Eumseong, Chungcheongbuk-do?

Furthermore, the Blue Star Division, which participated in the famous Incheon Landing Operation and reached the Yalu River fastest among all South Korean military units in forty-one days, was the best division at the time.

In particular, the 2nd Regiment of the Blue Star Division was a victorious unit that overcame a numerical disadvantage at Mount Yongmun and led to a great victory in the ‘Battle of Mount Yongmun’ by crushing the Chinese forces.

“That is truly amazing! Did you participate in those fierce battles?”

“The soldiers were the ones who suffered, what suffering did a military doctor undergo?”

He waved his hand as if it were nothing.

‘He is even humble!’

“No! Just because you are a military doctor doesn’t mean the North Korean soldiers’ bullets will avoid you.”

“Hahaha, is that so?”

“Yes! I would really like to hear your heroic stories later, Chief!”

“Since I am no hero, there are no heroic stories, but if you want, I’ll tell you.”

“Thank you!”

“Anyway, it’s good to meet you, and once the inpatient charts are organized, put them on my desk. I’ll check them in two or three days.”

‘What? It can’t be that he is on vacation right after taking office…’

“Ah! Are you going on vacation?”

“No. I still have some matters to resolve on the military’s side, so I will be away for a few days. Please take care of things in the meantime.”

“Yes! Have a safe trip!”

Afterward, Kim Yun-seok also completed his interview with Chief Heo Jeong-tae.

Surgery duty room.

“Chief Heo is truly amazing! He said he is from the Blue Star Division?”

Yun-seok entered the duty room in excitement.

“So I heard. There are even rumors that he is a complete war hero.”

“Right! I heard that too. Because he is such an outstanding person, he even served General MacArthur?”

‘Uh, I don’t think it goes that far…’

“Really? Anyway, his character is also wonderful, and we are lucky. We got to serve such a great person as our boss.”

“Right! He was also famous at Yonhei since his undergraduate years!”

“Ah! He is an alumnus of Yonhei?”

“Yeah. He studied so well during his undergraduate years that he never missed first place, studied vascular and visceral surgery at Cambridge University in England, and then when the war broke out, he returned to South Korea and volunteered to enlist, according to rumors.”

Yun-seok praised Chief Heo Jeong-tae with foam at his mouth.

‘Hmm… Cambridge? Well, it’s possible if it’s Yonhei Sebastian Hospital… But something is a bit strange. There were barely any foreign books on his bookshelf.’

Compared to Yun-seok, Kim Ji-hyuk tilted his head in suspicion.

“Wow, a truly amazing person has come to our hospital.”

“Yeah! Let’s learn a lot from the Chief. He is someone who perfectly possesses both theory and clinical practice, right? They say that if you experience a war once, the medical level grows tenfold. This seems to be exactly that case.”

“Yes. Don’t be too excited. Anyway, since the Chief said he’ll be away for a few days, we must do well to make sure no problems arise in the meantime.”

“Of course.”

“We must manage the residents well. Okay?”

“Yeah!”

In that way, the surgery department of the National Medical Center was settling in.

* * *

Two weeks later, hospital emergency room.

Almost no one visited the emergency room of the National Medical Center. First, even though it was the National Medical Center, the medical fees were exorbitant.

Because quack and fake doctors who performed medical acts at cheap fees were rampant in the market, there was no need to pay expensive medical fees to come to a large hospital.

Occasionally, the patients who rushed to the emergency room were mostly suffering from the complications of reckless and unlicensed treatment by quack doctors.

Quack doctors caused deaths during abortion surgeries, caused deaths from sepsis during open abdominal surgeries in unhygienic environments, and there were not a few cases where fake doctors who were former military medics caused a man to lose his primary organ during a circumcision.

Seoul was literally a world of quack doctors.

The young child whom Ji-hyuk and Yun-seok were currently examining was also such a case.

“This is driving me crazy! What should we do about this? This student won’t be able to act as a man anymore!”

“…….”

Sigh—

Kim Ji-hyuk also could only sigh, his face grim.

A ten-year-old boy who was carried into the emergency room.

After undergoing circumcision by a quack doctor, he was infected with bacteria, and his primary organ was rotting.

As a result of running a few tests including blood and urine tests, the white blood cell count was rising crazily, and the inflammation levels had long exceeded the normal range.

In the end, the only way to save the child was to amputate the infected organ.

“He didn’t properly remove the preputial ring but just cut it off, which seems to have caused severe pain. As a result, the remaining prepice compressed the organ, and due to the continuous pressure, it swelled and gathered pus, which seems to have been removed and drained with unhygienic tools again. On top of that, because they used illicit antibiotics recklessly…”

“Sigh, in the end, he underwent the procedure by a quack doctor.”

“It seems so. Look at the suture thread here.”

“Wow! Th-does this make sense? Isn’t this just sewing thread?”

“Right. How could such a thing happen?”

Kim Ji-hyuk had a blank, devastated expression.

“Hmm, then does it mean we have no choice but to amputate?”

“Yeah. If we delay a bit more, he could die of sepsis. I think amputation is the best choice.”

“This is crazy! They say this child is the only son for four generations! Furthermore, the child’s father died in the war. The family line is about to be cut off.”

“Cutting off the family line is not the problem, the child might die! First, let’s explain it well to the guardian and enter surgery immediately. I’ll report to the Chief.”

“Since I’ll do the reporting, can you meet the guardian instead? Honestly, I just can’t bring myself to say it.”

Yun-seok made a troubled expression and implored Ji-hyuk.

“Sigh, okay. I’ll meet the parent, so you report to the Chief quickly. Since we need to enter surgery immediately.”

“Got it! Then please, Ji-hyuk!”

A moment later.

“Ji-hyuk! Did you tell the child’s mother?”

Yun-seok, who had returned from reporting to Chief Heo Jeong-tae, came down to the emergency room.

“Yeah… She was crying and making a scene. I barely managed to convince her that she absolutely cannot avoid the surgery.”

Kim Ji-hyuk had a grim expression.

“Of course. How could that be an easy decision? I wouldn’t be able to permit it either.”

“And yet you told me to convince her?”

“Oh, is that what’s important right now? In the end, you got her permission! That’s all that matters!”

“Sigh, right. Anyway, where is the Chief? Why did you come down alone?”

Kim Ji-hyuk looked around.

“He told you to perform the surgery directly. He said it’s a surgery you are fully capable of.”

Yun-seok shrugged his shoulders.

“What? He told me to perform the surgery directly?”

“Yeah.”

“Hey! This is not such a simple surgery. It’s a surgery to amputate the organ!”

At the current time, urology was not properly established.

Although the hospital’s situation was so poor that surgery of various other departments, let alone urology, had to be taken over by general surgery.

“That is true, but the Chief said he has an important surgery. Outside.”

“What? He is leaving his post again?”

Kim Ji-hyuk snapped, furrowing his brow.

“Yeah! He said one of the high-ranking government officials has to undergo appendectomy. So he is going to Hanseong Hospital.”

‘Something is strange! It’s not just once or twice, he leaves his post every single time there is a surgical case?’

“This is absurd. Why does he perform surgery at another hospital while leaving our hospital behind? Last time, he went saying there was an important meeting at the Ministry of Health, despite having a surgical patient?”

“Right! Come to think of it, it’s been almost three weeks since the Chief came to our hospital, and he hasn’t properly examined a patient yet, has he?”

Yun-seok tilted his head.

‘I have a bad feeling about this! Anyway, we have no choice. We must save the patient first…’

“Okay. Since the patient is in an urgent state, let’s ask the Chief about that directly later.”

“O-Okay.”

“You contact Dr. Yong Tae-in. I’ll secure the operating room and go through the procedures right away.”

“Oh! Ji-hyuk!”

“What?”

“Come to think of it, what’s strange is, why was the man who said he was going to perform an appendectomy fiddling with a fishing rod?”

“What? A fishing rod?”

“Yeah. A fishing bag was placed next to the Chief’s desk.”

“……!”

‘He was touching a fishing rod?’

Kim Ji-hyuk had a dazed expression as if he had been hit on the back of the head.

* * *

The penectomy that Ji-hyuk performed directly was successful.

Male genital resection (VMMC).

In modern times, the main reason for resecting the male genitalia was mostly to prevent fatal sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS, or in unavoidable cases for gender reassignment surgery.

But this case was a surgery of a different dimension.

Anyway, Kim Ji-hyuk successfully completed the surgery to amputate the patient’s organ along with Kim Yun-seok.

‘Fortunately, the entire organ was not rotted!’

Fortunately, it was not that the entire organ was infected and rotting.

“Whew! Then, if it goes well, can he still act as a man?”

“Well, we’ll have to wait and see, but it’s not entirely impossible.”

“What a relief, really!”

“Although we must monitor him continuously in the future, since he is still in his growth period and young, we can’t say there’s absolutely no possibility. Let’s watch a bit more.”

“Yeah! Anyway, you did a great job, Ji-hyuk.”

“Yeah, you too.”

‘Chief Heo Jeong-tae! What on earth is your identity?’

The joy of succeeding in the surgery was brief; Kim Ji-hyuk’s head was entirely occupied with Chief Heo Jeong-tae.

The next day, Chief Heo Jeong-tae’s office.

Knock, knock, knock—

As soon as Kim Ji-hyuk arrived at work, he went to meet Chief Heo Jeong-tae.