Boss, It's My First Time Being Your Resident - Chapter 29

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

Episode 29. A Remarkable Thing

A decorative figurehead?

Tae Heon’s expression froze cold.
He’d anticipated something, but not this naked, vulgar approach.

“Ju A Gang—that girl has tremendous commercial value.”
“…….”
“A remarkable thing has come in. Just like this gold nugget.”

The Hospital Director laughed with a fishy edge, obsessively polishing the Golden Eagle with the black carpet. As the pure gold gleamed brighter, his greed shone right alongside it.

“The K-Healthcare craze is running wild these days. Beauty’s already conquered the world, and now even general patients are making pilgrimages here to South Korea for treatment—our hospital needs to lead the charge, wouldn’t you say?”
“…….”
“I met with an SBC network director recently. He said they’re preparing a medical entertainment program. So I gave our hospital a strong recommendation. Since we’ve got a fresh, talented new resident, I told him to use her to the fullest!”

Tae Heon’s gaze turned cool and distant. The Hospital Director, intoxicated by his own schemes, pressed on eagerly.

“I was born with an eye for what’ll make money. I reached this position purely through that eye, and it’s never steered me wrong.”
“…….”
“I recommended Ju A Gang as this season’s lead. Put her in front of the cameras and we’ll see—Middle Eastern wealth? One broadcast slot on OTT and we’ll have them flocking from the Arab states, Mexico, everywhere. K-Doctor Idol—what do you think?”

Laughter filled the Director’s Office.

“The narrative is absolutely perfect!”
“…….”
“I saw her address on her resume—some dirt-poor backwater down in the Southern Coastal Region. A poor, fresh, flower-like resident who came up from the countryside and toils twenty-four hours in the Trauma Center! How’s that for a story? Doesn’t it unfold beautifully?”
“…….”

The longer Tae Heon’s silence stretched, the more triumphant the Hospital Director’s smirk became.

He was a merchant whose judgment had blurred so thoroughly he couldn’t tell people from merchandise.

“The moment our hospital makes a global name for itself—do you know how much money flows in annually from Middle Eastern sheikhs and American tycoons on medical tourism? Astronomical figures! The hospital isn’t fed by those ordinary folk, but by the big players like that!”

The Hospital Director jabbed his chin toward the window.
Through it, shabby-dressed patients streamed endlessly through the Old Building Main Gate.

He watched them with the expression of someone fed up, looking at insects, his brow furrowing tightly.

“People really do need to use their heads! We’ll leverage OTT to make our hospital a global brand…….”

“Standing in front of a camera is not a doctor’s calling.”

Tae Heon cut off the Director mid-sentence, his voice decisive.

Silence settled briefly.

“Why specifically my people? Why our Trauma Center?”
“It’s dramatic. Audiences go wild for blood-soaked scenes. Don’t you get it?”
“I cannot cooperate with filming.”

The Hospital Director’s brow twisted instantly.

“What’s this now? Have some conscience! Every other department in our hospital is sailing ahead, but you’re running a deficit, and if you block this shoot too, that’s a conscience problem with your trauma unit! Get it? Think about the hospital’s situation!!”
“A conscience problem?”
“Why, hit a nerve? You hand out favors to patients and complain about running losses and barely scraping together scraps, yet you have plenty to say. If you don’t cooperate this time, I’m cutting your budget next year and you’ll have nothing to complain about—understood?”

The Hospital Director’s gaze gleamed sharper than the Golden Eagle, greed burning in his eyes.
It was the look of a calculation already complete.

“…….”

Tae Heon clenched his lower jaw.

Listening to the Hospital Director’s money-mad mouth spewing filth, nausea rose uncontrollably.

It would take considerable restraint.

“Tae Heon. You’re holed up in that hospital so much, you don’t know how the world turns. These days it’s the age of personal PR.”

The Hospital Director, trying to lighten the chilling atmosphere, laughed again and continued.

“You have to aggressively stimulate public interest and promote yourself to survive! You’re just stuck in a corner, counting patient bellies. That’s how you end up obsolete—both you and our entire hospital!”
“Obsolete? No matter how the world turns, a doctor’s calling never changes.”
“Calling, huh?”
“Don’t touch Ju A Gang.”

There was a cold warning in Tae Heon’s lowered voice.

“……Tae Heon, don’t you see? These days, a doctor has to be an influencer just to survive.”

The Hospital Director tapped the ID photo printed on her resume with his fingertip, leering.

“I’m offering to package some provincial bumpkin from nowhere and turn her into a nationwide star. What could she possibly be ungrateful enough to refuse? She should be bowing to me in gratitude. Understand?”

The Hospital Director had no intention of backing down.
He was a man who felt no qualm whatsoever ranking people like goods and dividing them by grade.

Tae Heon gazed down at Ju A Gang’s photograph, carelessly toyed with at his fingertip, then slowly raised his eyes.

And met his gaze directly.

“You’re vulgar.”

The Hospital Director’s laughter stopped dead.

“What? Vulgar?”
“The vulgarity of calling a lifesaving operation dramatic. That’s what I mean.”

The Hospital Director’s face flushed crimson.

“In your eyes, do the medical staff straining to save lives, the patients fighting to survive, and a struggling new resident amount to nothing but disposable entertainment?”
“Making the hospital prosper is my calling as Hospital Director!”
“Don’t sanitize it. It’s not a calling—it’s greed.”
“What? Greed?”

The Hospital Director gripped the eagle so hard his hands trembled with indignation, his smile vanishing as he glared at Tae Heon.

“Tae Heon. You strut around in that pristine white coat like you’re something special—do you think it washes away your filthy origins? Playing the righteous doctor, do you think it cleanses your dirty roots?”

The Hospital Director’s narrow eyes glinted with serpentine malice.

“Dirty blood doesn’t lie.”
“…….”
“Your father—the blood of that savage yakuza who robbed and trampled others. Where do you think that’ll go? Your roots are in such vulgar mud. What right do you have to stand before me pretending to be clean, preaching about your calling and righteousness!”

The Hospital Director laughed with a fishy edge, leaning in close to Tae Heon’s ear.

“You and I are the same breed of monster. Aren’t we?”

In an instant, Tae Heon’s dark pupils flared with a sharp, cold light. His masseter muscles bunched visibly above his clenched teeth.

“Yes. I know my blood is dirty. Before you see something far worse, let’s stop here. My patience isn’t as abundant as you might think.”
“Are you threatening me? Do you think I don’t know how the Tae San Group climbed to where it is? My word alone determines the fate of Tae San!”

Without deigning to respond, Tae Heon turned and walked out of the room, leaving the Hospital Director flailing behind him.

Wait and see. How much uglier that monster becomes once he truly breaks.

***

Ju A Gang opened her eyes slowly as she awoke.

Warm sunlight filtered through the sheer white chiffon curtains.
Squinting against the dazzlingly bright, dreamlike light, A Gang glanced around.

……Where am I?
This doesn’t look like the hospital. Am I still dreaming?

The room was wide enough that her vision couldn’t take it all in at once.

If anything, it was the epitome of minimalism.

The space was immaculately organized with not a single unnecessary piece of furniture, a harmony of white and gray tones that radiated a cool, austere presence.

They say a home’s interior reflects the owner’s personality.

If this wasn’t a dream, the owner of this house was certainly someone from whom not a drop of blood would flow even if stabbed—or else a perfectionist living a highly controlled life.

Then a subtle fragrance drifted past her nose. It was a scent she’d encountered before, not an unfamiliar one.

Could she smell something this vividly even in a dream?

A Gang gazed down at the pristine white sheets not a speck of dust could touch.

Despite her having lain on them, the sheets remained so crisply creased they showed no wrinkle—a state of perfection she’d never seen even at her family home with its several live-in housekeepers.

Then she noticed, arranged on the bedside table: a hair tie, a new toothbrush, a hangover cure, and a small note.

[I’ve processed your leave. Come in once you’ve sobered up. —Tae Heon]

“……Sobered up? Tae Heon?”

Could this possibly be Tae Heon’s apartment?

A Gang’s face drained of color as she quickly threw back the blanket to check what she was wearing.

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