Boss, It's My First Time Being Your Resident - Chapter 25

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

Episode 25. The Alcohol Rookie

“Do I have to hand you tissues too?”
“No……
.”

Was it a mistake to let eagerness run ahead in trying to do better?
Why did tears burst forth without warning, streaming down her face?

She’d wanted to show Tae Heon a resolute expression, proof that she’d weathered the blow without flinching.
But instead, she found herself wiping away snot running below her nose with the heel of her palm—a pathetic gesture she couldn’t take back.

“Go clean yourself up and apologize to the patient.”
“Yes… hiccup! I’ll apologize and re-suture properly. But sir…….”
“What? Is there something else?”
“When I speak to the patient… could you stay nearby? He seemed… a bit frightened…….”

Ah Gang tugged gently at the hem of Tae Heon’s coat as he turned away, her voice hesitant.

The image was vivid in her mind—the violent patient with his massive frame unleashing a roar. She couldn’t summon any courage at all.

But all that came back was a cold refusal.

“Are you in kindergarten? Come along myself. This isn’t a school.”

In the end, facing the patient alone, Ah Gang had to tell him his stitches would be reopened and re-sutured—and he’d raged like a wild boar.

“What?! You ripped it open and sewed it back? Are you using me for sewing practice? What’s a rookie doing here?! If something goes wrong, you’re dying with me today, you got that?!”
“I’m so sorry, sir.”
“Damn brat, you’re pathetic!”

So Dam snatched the jelly bag from Ah Gang’s hand and hurried her along.

“What did that patient say?! If he gave you attitude, I’ll go straighten him out myself!”

At Ah Gang’s report of being cursed at, rough dialect—words So Dam didn’t normally use—tumbled from her mouth.

“He called me… pathetic. That’s what he said.”
“……What?!”

Ah Gang whimpered with the expression of someone watching her world collapse, and So Dam burst into loud laughter at the absurdity.

“Listen, were you really raised in a greenhouse? For us Resident Physicians, getting cursed at by patients is daily life. Haven’t you heard? First-year residents are emotional punching bags.”
“But… the things he said were so harsh…….”
“Ugh, this delicate thing! Crying over that much.”

Too soft. How was she going to survive the grueling Resident Physician life like this? So Dam clicked her tongue and casually grabbed her bag.

“……Where?”
“What kind of child are you, settling for sweets on a day like this? Times like these call for alcohol!”

“Why are you so shocked?”
“It’s just…….”
“What? Don’t tell me you don’t drink?”
“Right. Alcohol is bitter. I don’t like bitter things. I like sweet things.”
“……It’s amazing the seniors have left you alone this whole time, honestly.”
“Woo Seop always drank it for me…….”

“I have to be at work at 6 AM tomorrow……?”

So Dam hooked her arms through Ah Gang’s, forcibly lifting her to her feet and dragging her outside.

“Tonight you’re drinking with this unnie! No exceptions!”

***

It was a loud Pojangmacha.

“When you’re in a bad mood, you gotta eat something spicy and work up a sweat.”

So Dam tore noodle portions into the aluminum pot where Tteokbokki was bubbling away, speaking with cool confidence.

“So Dam, just looking at tteokbokki makes me want to throw up now.”

The moment from earlier flashed through her mind—Tae Heon draining her soul with a single glutinous rice cake.

That damned rice cake. Ah Gang shuddered.

“Then eat these chicken feet.”

“No! Of course not!”

Ah Gang feigned composure and quickly grabbed a pickled radish.

“Uh? Yeah.”

At her urging, Ah Gang took a sip—and the bitter taste on her tongue made her frown instantly.
It was a bitterness she’d never known before.

“The more I look at you, the more curious I get. How did you even get a name like Ah Gang? What kind of people are your parents?”

For as far back as her memory reached, the world was spring, and there had always been only people who smiled at her.

That there were people in the world who weren’t kind—she first learned that in university.

She couldn’t forget the glances from peers who looked at her like she was some oddity, some rare creature.

That was when she decided to hide the existence of her mother, father, and grandfather.

Ah Gang touched the rim of her beer glass, her gaze distant with longing.

“But wouldn’t it be better to tell her now than when she’s older……?”

Joon Won.
In her childhood, she’d overheard a conversation between her mother and her older brother—five years her senior—and learned that he was adopted.

He was her one and only precious older brother, and that was enough.

When she first entered school, he’d come to her classroom every break to carry her, until the whole school knew about them.

His broad back was a small universe unto itself.

“Brother, I’m curious about something.”

“I heard you and Mom talking. What is… Adoption?”

He must have thought she was too young to understand the word.

A flicker of surprise crossed his face, but he held onto his composure, and that subtle expression was seared into Ah Gang’s memory.

Her brother had hesitated for a long moment, unable to speak. Then he knelt down, met her eyes gently, and gave her a warm smile.

“Adoption is when Mom and Dad find a precious jewel that heaven had hidden away.”

“No, big brother is.”

“Yeah. A stork accidentally left me in another nest, and Mom and Dad found me again. They adopted big brother first, and then you were born—like a miracle.”
“Really?”
“Yep. That’s why big brother’s nickname is ‘Lucky Charm’! Because you were born because of me.”

Joon Won ruffled Ah Gang’s hair, his face full of affection despite her confused expression.

“But why did you tell me not to talk about being adopted? Did you think I’d stop liking you?”

“I don’t care. Whether you were left by a stork or not. You’re my real big brother.”

“Yeah! I like you more than anyone in the world!”
“And I like you more than anyone in the world too!”

That bright, innocent laughter.
That radiant smile she’d never see again—the thought of it made Ah Gang’s eyes burn red.

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