Boss, It's My First Time Being Your Resident - Chapter 24

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 24. Tension-Free Suturing

“I followed the procedure exactly as I was taught.”
“Did you? Exactly?”
“Yes. To prevent scarring, I divided the layers and sutured carefully. I used Vicryl on the muscle layer and 7-0 Nylon on the outer layer, stitching meticulously and thoroughly…….”
“Meticulously? There’s your answer.”

Ha Tae-heon cut her off mid-sentence, tilting into a thin smile toward Ju Ah-kang.

“The foundation of suturing is tension — the force exerting pull on the thread. If you overtighten it like that, the tissue necrotizes. Don’t you see the whitened area at the wound site?”
“…….”
“You need to regulate the tension loosely so blood flows freely — that’s how you get minimal scarring and faster healing. You don’t know tension-free suturing? Do I have to teach you basic principles too?”

Tae-heon stepped closer, narrowing the distance, and spoke in a low murmur.

“Do you honestly think you deserve to be in our Trauma Center?”

His cold gaze held countless words—
Believe in yourself.
You can do this.

“Not knowing tension-free suturing is an amateur mistake, something interns fresh out of the ER would do. How am I supposed to trust you going forward, Ju Ah-kang? How do I assign you real cases?”
“I was just trying to do well, so I worked harder than usual…….”

Tears she’d held back all day suddenly burst through.

In that instant, a tidal wave of emotions crashed over her.

She’d run into family at the hospital—people she’d never wanted to see at work.
A camera crew had suddenly appeared, catching her face on broadcast without her consent.
She’d taken a rice cake a patient offered with good intentions and been scolded for it.
And now, to cap it off, a contemptible animal abuser had mocked her…….

And now this.

Tears streamed down Ah-kang’s cheeks.
The pride she’d carried through all her hard work crumbled in an instant, and her throat tightened with sorrow.

“Crying at work—that’s what amateurs do, isn’t it?”
“…….”
“This is exactly what it means to not act like a professional.”

Tae-heon sneered and passed by Ah-kang without another word.

***

Woo-seop arrived at the Trauma Center’s On-call Room at quitting time, his hands weighted down with a cake and assorted snacks.

“What brings you here? Heading out already?”

Shim Woo-seop had sharp instincts.

The way his neat brows twitched suggested he’d already read her troubled mood like an open book.

“What? I came to see you. Where Ju Ah-kang is, there Shim Woo-seop will be!”
“Come on. Don’t joke around.”
“I’m serious. I’m on call tonight, but I risked dereliction of duty just to see you.”
“Really, now. I’m not in the mood for wordplay.”

Though Woo-seop smiled playfully while studying her expression, Ah-kang couldn’t bring herself to pour out everything that had just happened.

With his volatile temperament, if he heard it all, he’d either track down Tae-heon and grab him by the collar, or charge at the gangsters head-on. One or the other, for certain.

“Look at our Ah-kang! You did something amazing today!”

Woo-seop pulled a small cake from its box and deftly lit the candles.

“What’s this sudden cake about?”
“A memorial for Ju Ah-kang’s first gangster patient encounter! You’ve had it rough dealing with those rough characters today.”

Thankfully, Woo-seop seemed oblivious to her tears and runny nose earlier.

“You’ve never seen an actual gangster in your life anyway.”
“A gangster? Um…… well, no, I haven’t…… wait, I’ve seen plenty in movies! Like that one, New World of Gangsters.”
“Oh, our Ah-kang! You’ve seen it in movies, haven’t you? Of course—when has our princess, who’s walked on flower petals her whole life, our precious pampered Ju Ah-kang, ever had reason to cross paths with such people?”
“Like you’ve seen them in person?”
“Me? I see those kinds of people every day.”

As Woo-seop continued with his unusual chattiness, Ah-kang coolly pulled a basket of tangerines and suturing tools from the cabinet.

Things she’d hidden away after Tae-heon had burst into the On-call Room in the deep night, frowning at the tangerine scent—his sharp gaze lingered in her mind like an afterimage all day.

“Hey! That blister on your hand still hasn’t healed.”

Woo-seop jumped up and swiftly snatched the suturing tools from her hands.

“The second knuckle on your index finger, the first knuckle on your middle finger—I told you no practice until both are completely healed! What if you aggravate it?”

Woo-seop gently traced the tender fingertips.

The way he examined each reddened, blistered finger, handling them as though they were fragile glass, was achingly careful.

“Go on back upstairs! Didn’t you see Ha Tae-heon’s look earlier? He told you not to come down here.”

Ah-kang gently withdrew her hand and spoke.

“So he’s a Fellow—that doesn’t make him a god. I’m not afraid of him at all.”
“Listen, we’re not interns anymore where the seniors let everything slide. We’re first-year residents! And this place is a war zone! Don’t start throwing yourself in front for me.”
“For you it’s a war zone, but for me it’s paradise. Because you’re here.”

Paradise?
Watching Woo-seop pile on more nonsense, Ah-kang shook her head slowly.

“Ju Ah-kang. When exactly are you going to get your own place?”

Woo-seop had already begun tidying the clothes scattered across the bed.

From light shades to dark.
His back, arranging clothes in perfect gradient with precise angles, appeared casual, yet…….

She knew better.
This was only the beginning.
What remained was systematically ransacking the entire On-call Room like a professional organizing expert.

“Shim Woo-seop? What, are you my actual bodyguard? Don’t invade my personal space!”
“Why? Can’t I be your bodyguard?”

Woo-seop stopped and turned to face Ah-kang with a steady gaze.

Ah-kang always tensed in that moment—when the playfulness drained from his eyes and something grave took its place.
It was a foreign weight, precariously balanced on the line of friendship, seeming about to snap.

“That’s enough! Get going!”

Ah-kang pulled the clothes from his hands and pushed his back toward the door.

“Put medicine on your hands!”

Even as she shoved him out, Woo-seop squeezed in one final nagging reminder through the cracked door, his persistence drawing a frown from Ah-kang.

***

“So-dam, I’m here.”

Ah-kang pushed open the PS Department door, her hands full of snacks Woo-seop had provided.

“Oh! Ah-kang!”

So-dam, just finishing up late overtime and preparing to leave, welcomed her warmly.

“What brings you here at this hour? Why do you look so drained? You weren’t even picking at lunch.”

So-dam, observing Ah-kang’s slow trudge toward the table, sensed something amiss and set aside her playfulness to ask.

“Have you eaten dinner?”
“I had something earlier……or did I?”

Catching sight of the small cake box rattling in Ah-kang’s right hand, So-dam quickly changed the subject.

“The dessert stomach is separate!”

Ah-kang turned the convenience store bag inside out over the table, and chocolates and jellies tumbled out in a cascade.

So-dam stared at the mountain of snacks with astonished eyes.

“Did a ghost with a sweet tooth possess you? Why did you bring so much?”
“When you’re stressed, you need to eat something sweet.”

Ah-kang flopped into a chair and tore open a jelly bag.

That was the moment her grip failed.
After hanging from the gangster patient’s wound for so many tense hours, strength drained from her fingertips all at once.

Colorful gummy bears scattered across the floor.

The sight mirrored her heart, torn to shreds throughout the day…….
Ah-kang’s lips twisted involuntarily.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

So-dam’s kind words unleashed a tsunami of sorrow.

In front of Ha Tae-heon, in front of the gangsters, and in front of Woo-seop.
The composure she’d maintained all day crumbled.

She clenched her lips and tried to hold back, but couldn’t stop the sobs leaking through.
The cry she’d forced down choked her throat.

“Come on, tell me right now! What happened? I’m going crazy here!”

Those terrifying moments from hours ago—when her heart nearly stopped—came vividly alive before her eyes.

Tears fell onto the jelly bag.

“So-dam…… I heard swear words today that I’ve never heard before in my life. From a patient.”

Ah-kang wept bitterly, turning over the insults the gangster patient had hurled.

Could there be language so vulgar in the world?

Crude, obscene words she’d never encountered until now.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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