Chapter 4: The True Doctor

-WHOOSH

Private First Class Hong Jin-oh, stationed with the Air Force at the 38th Fighter Wing in Gunsan, Jeollabuk-do, was an aircraft mechanic.

Kim Cheol-soo immediately called the unit and spoke with the commanding officer.

“Who is this? This is Captain Park Seol-jung, commander of the 4th Maintenance Company.”

The voice on the other end sounded curt, and since Kim Cheol-soo didn’t expect to get along with him anyway, he responded coldly.

“This is Major Kim Cheol-soo from the general surgery department at Hampyeong Armed Forces Hospital.”

“…”

“What does the hospital want?”

Military commanders generally harbored negative feelings toward hospitals. This one didn’t even bother saluting a superior officer, which was impudent.

“You have a soldier named Private First Class Hong Jin-oh, don’t you? I heard he requested an outpatient visit. Why was it ignored? Do you think you can just skate through military life like this? Send him to the hospital immediately. I’ll examine him myself.”

“Whether to send him or not is up to the unit commander and the medical unit. The medical unit’s doctor found nothing wrong, so we didn’t send him. It’s highly inappropriate for a higher-ranking hospital to call and give orders like this. I’m not sending him!”

As expected, the captain reacted like a typical officer.

It was the classic officer mentality—disdain for any situation that could cause trouble, regardless of whether a subordinate soldier lived or died.

Come to think of it, the Air Force has a lot of issues.

Kim Cheol-soo fumed, thinking about how Hong Jin-oh was likely exposed to carcinogens while maintaining aircraft, yet they were trying to sweep the issue under the rug.

Enraged, Major Kim Cheol-soo shouted,

“Hey! You want me to come to your unit and drag Hong Jin-oh out myself?! What kind of captain dares defy a major’s orders?”

-CLICK!!

Captain Park Seol-jung hung up the phone.

Even though 15 years had passed since his own discharge, Kim Cheol-soo was furious to realize the military hadn’t changed one bit.

His anger surged as he thought about how to deal with these scumbags.

At that moment, Lieutenant Shin Se-young approached and asked,

“Who were you talking to so aggressively? You didn’t just yell at someone from another unit, did you?”

Though she hoped he hadn’t caused trouble on just his second day, she had a sinking feeling he’d been talking to an officer from another unit.

There was no reason for Kim Cheol-soo, who hadn’t even met the general surgery inpatients yet, to be calling another unit’s officer.

Skeptical but curious, she asked, and Kim Cheol-soo replied nonchalantly,

“You’re right. I was just talking to an Air Force captain. He said he’s the maintenance company commander.”

“What… What did you say? Major, why on earth did you raise your voice like that? Even if you outrank him, you can’t just yell at someone from another unit. This could cause big problems later.”

If anyone’s causing a problem, isn’t it you, Lieutenant Shin Se-young, for not using formal speech with a superior?

Kim Cheol-soo almost teased her but held back, realizing it wouldn’t be funny.

Instead, he asked with a grin,

“Lieutenant Shin, can you drive?”

“Huh? Why driving all of a sudden…”

“Let’s skip work and go! Come on!”

**

-VROOOM!!!!

Shin Se-young’s expression was peculiar as she drove the military jeep down the road.

After hearing the rough explanation from Kim Cheol-soo, she’d agreed to come along, but her feelings were mixed.

Saving a patient was important, but she wasn’t sure if handling it so recklessly was the right approach.

She was the type who preferred to handle things by the book.

Though she was following her superior’s orders, she had doubts about the man sitting in the passenger seat.

“Major, do you really not know how to drive?”

“I have a license, but it’s a paper license. So don’t think about passing this off to me—focus on driving. It’s a long way to Gunsan.”

His shameless response made her wonder if she’d gotten herself into something complicated. Should I turn back now?

Sighing deeply, Shin Se-young asked,

“But are you sure the kitchen lady’s son is actually sick? We don’t have any confirmation yet.”

“He says he’s in pain, so he needs to come to the hospital. It’s more likely that the officers who think he’s faking are wrong in cases like this.”

“That may be true, but… if he’s not sick, you could get in trouble for overstepping. Not just our department head, but the hospital director won’t like this either.”

“Well, I’m not worried about that. If I get fired, I’ll just find a job somewhere else. I’m pretty skilled, you know. Haha!”

Then what about me? You can just leave, but what am I supposed to do as a lowly nurse?

Shin Se-young wanted to shout, but her shoulders slumped like a scolded puppy, and she gave up.

After all, she was just as worried about the patient.

She was furious at Kim Cheol-soo, who was leisurely admiring the scenery outside without even glancing at her, but she also thought his determination to personally go for one patient wasn’t a bad thing.

Still, she couldn’t stop pressing the accelerator.

-VROOOM!!!

“Whoa, what’s going on? This is too fast! Are you trying to cause an accident to kill me?!”

Kim Cheol-soo screamed in fear, but Shin Se-young pressed the accelerator harder.

She wanted to teach her superior, who’d dragged her into this mess, a lesson.

“You said we need to hurry, right? Since Major showed up in the afternoon, we’re short on time. I’ll speed up even more.”

Oblivious to her intentions, Kim Cheol-soo gripped the overhead handle in the passenger seat, terrified.

She seemed like a pretty, gentle woman, but she’s got some fire.

Still, he thought her willingness to drive meant she was fundamentally kind, and he tightened his grip on the handle.

“Whoa?! There’s a bus coming! Dodge it!!!”

“Don’t worry. I’m a good driver.”

-SCREECH!!!!

Whether she was deliberately trying to mess with him, she sped through an intersection at over 100 km/h, narrowly missing a large bus that grazed the passenger side.

Kim Cheol-soo feared he might die in a traffic accident before getting fired from the hospital and regretted letting Shin Se-young drive.

-WHOOSH!!!!

Another truck zoomed dangerously close to the passenger side, and forgetting he was in the military, Kim Cheol-soo let out a string of curses.

“Dodge it!!! You crazy woman!!!!”

**

Upon arriving at the 4th Maintenance Company of the 38th Fighter Wing on the outskirts of Gunsan, they faced an unexpected situation.

The guard at the gate, after making a call to the unit, refused to let them in.

Flustered, Shin Se-young pleaded with the soldier,

“It’s really an urgent patient. Please open the gate!”

“I’m sorry, Lieutenant, but the 4th Maintenance Company told us not to let you in. What can I do?”

“Ugh, seriously…”

Though she’d been upset about speeding earlier, she didn’t know how to handle this situation.

Turning to Kim Cheol-soo with a panicked expression, she asked,

“What do we do, Major? They won’t let us in.”

“What do you think, Lieutenant? Should we just turn back?”

“Huh? But then the patient…”

She really has a kind heart.

Despite her rough driving, Kim Cheol-soo saw her compassion and stepped out of the jeep, approaching the guard slowly.

“…? What’s the matter, Major?”

There were two guards at the gate—one corporal and one private first class.

If he could handle the corporal, they’d get in.

“The guy I talked to on the phone was Captain Park Seol-jung, right?”

“Yes.”

“Look at the insignia in front of you. What’s my rank?”

“You’re a major, sir.”

“So you’re ignoring a major’s orders to follow a captain’s? Is that what they teach you in the military? What unit are you from?”

-THWACK!!

“I’m from the 3rd Maintenance Company, 1st Platoon.”

Kim Cheol-soo kicked the corporal in the shin.

“Ow!!!”

The corporal collapsed from the unexpected attack.

The startled private first class aimed his rifle at Kim Cheol-soo, and Shin Se-young looked horrified, but Kim Cheol-soo didn’t care.

“We clearly said we’re from the hospital to see a patient. And you, with no authority, are blocking us? Keep blocking us. Go ahead. Your platoon leader’s a second lieutenant, right? I’ll grab him by the collar and ask how he’s training his soldiers.”

-THWACK!!

-THWACK!!

Hitting the same spot repeatedly, the corporal finally surrendered.

Stammering, he let the seemingly crazed military doctor in.

“S-Sorry, sir. Please go in!”

“You should’ve done that from the start. Open the gate now.”

“Yessir! Understood. Salute!”

-CLUNK!!

As the barriers were removed, Shin Se-young stared at Major Kim Cheol-soo in the passenger seat.

They called him the ‘Mad Dog of S University,’ and his actions are something else.

But she couldn’t argue, as she also wanted to get in to see the patient.

Sighing deeply, Lieutenant Shin Se-young drove into the unit.

She couldn’t stop a major anyway, so she decided to see it through, though she shot him a glare.

“What? Got something to say?”

“No.”

She couldn’t bring herself to respond to Kim Cheol-soo’s shameless grin.

He’d figured out how to handle her.

Switching to a serious expression, Kim Cheol-soo said,

“Alright, let’s see what kind of neglect the Air Force has been putting our soldier through.”

**

Surprisingly, there were no obstacles inside the unit.

Thanks to that, Kim Cheol-soo met Private First Class Hong Jin-oh easily and let out a curse.

“These bastards…! His jaundice is this bad, and they didn’t send him to the hospital?”

Jaundice—a condition where a liver metabolism or excretion issue causes bilirubin to build up, turning the skin yellow.

To let someone get to this point without sending them to a hospital—the military’s discipline is an absolute mess.

They were clearly ignoring regulations.

No, forget regulations—this was a violation of human rights, something you’d expect in some far-off place, not South Korea in 2001.

Shin Se-young covered her mouth in shock.

“How could this happen…! This is completely wrong. He should’ve been sent to the hospital long ago. We need to run tests immediately…”

“Let’s transfer him to general surgery. Hong, let’s go! We’re taking you to the hospital!”

At the mention of going to the hospital, Hong Jin-oh’s lifeless face lit up with hope.

He asked in disbelief,

“C-Can I really go to the hospital, Major?!”

“Of course. You’ll even get to see your mom. Let’s go get tested.”

“My mom? How do you know my mom…?”

The word mom—just saying it made Hong Jin-oh’s eyes well up with tears.

Realizing his mother must have asked the major to come for him, he was overwhelmed with emotion.

“Your mom told me to come get you. Hurry up before some idiot tries to stop us. Your jaundice is severe, and you need tests right away. You might even need surgery.”

“Yes… Understood.”

As they left the unit, there wasn’t a trace of the captain who’d taken his call.

Whether he was too scared to face a lunatic or intimidated by a superior, Kim Cheol-soo didn’t know.

Thanks to that, they quickly brought the patient to Hampyeong Hospital, ran several tests, and by that evening, identified the cause via CT scan.

Kim Cheol-soo wanted to ask what the unit commanders and medical unit doctor were doing to let things get this bad.

“Oh…!”

Looking at the CT results, Shin Se-young covered her mouth with both hands, tears streaming down her face.

With a grave expression, Kim Cheol-soo delivered the diagnosis.

“Gallbladder cancer in the hepatic portal…! It’s spread to the liver. We can’t fully remove the cancer without resecting the entire right liver.”

“Major…! That’s an extremely difficult surgery. We can’t be sure the patient will survive. No military doctor would take on such a risky and challenging operation! It’s too dangerous. If it fails, there could be a medical lawsuit. No military doctor in the country would step up!”

Her tearful outburst was justified.

Military doctors, comfortably collecting their monthly paychecks, wouldn’t touch such a difficult case.

It wasn’t just gallbladder cancer—it had metastasized to the liver.

Attempting it would be considered insane.

Organ resection wasn’t something done with ordinary resolve.

“Major? What do we do?! If we don’t operate, the patient will die…! What about the surgery? Without it, all we can do is non-surgical treatment like biliary drainage…! That would only delay the liver failure caused by bile duct obstruction. It’s just a matter of time before the patient dies. He’ll die…!”

Her face, soaked with tears, wasn’t an overreaction.

Few medical professionals could remain composed in the face of a patient’s inevitable death.

An ordinary surgery? No, an incredibly difficult one with a low chance of success.

Most military doctors wouldn’t touch it—they didn’t want the responsibility.

But… Kim Cheol-soo was different.

Calming the sobbing nursing officer, he said,

“Schedule the surgery. I’ll perform an extended right hepatectomy to remove the gallbladder cancer invading the hepatic portal in one go. I will save this patient!! Absolutely!!”