Surviving as a Rogue Hospital Director - Chapter 105

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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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Episode 105.
Lee Yeong-ran, the head nurse of Ward 77, also noticed that Kim Do-yoon’s attending physicians had changed to two people.
A new notice had been posted on the hospital website. Going forward, the hospital’s physicians and attending doctors would work jointly.
The attachment contained instructions on how to register an additional attending physician in the hospital’s system, and it was the ward’s head nurse who would handle the addition.
However, Kim Do-yoon was already registered with two attending physicians: Professor Im Sung-hyuk and Professor Jeong Da-eun from Eunseong Hospital.
Yeong-ran moved the mouse and clicked on the detailed information. Then the date when the attending physician was changed and the name of the person who made the change appeared.
– Patient Kim Do-yoon: Additional attending physician registered (Choi Beom-jun) 14 hours ago.
“The Director must have changed it himself. That was before the notice went out.”
Kim Do-yoon wasn’t the only patient who came from Eunseong, so was it simply because he was a VIP?
Yeong-ran calculated backward from the time shown in the detailed information. Fourteen hours ago would be yesterday evening. Around seven o’clock in the afternoon.
‘What happened after work?’
Yeong-ran opened the nurse handoff log.
The saying went: night words are heard by mice, day words by birds, and hospital words are heard by nurses.
The handoff log contained everything that had happened in the hospital during her absence.
– Three days ago; 7 PM, Director’s rounds, visiting patient Kim Do-yoon. Accompanied by Professor Im Sung-hyuk.
Yeong-ran’s attention caught on the time. Again seven o’clock. It was around the same time the attending physician changed yesterday.
‘The Director doesn’t even leave work, it seems.’
Lee Yeong-ran twirled her pen.
– Patient Kim Do-yoon. Eunseong VIP, Eunseong Foundation.
Having written down Kim Do-yoon’s patient information, she circled the repeated word “Eunseong.”
With her keen eye for detail, she quickly picked up on the fact that the Director was paying particular attention to this patient.
Yeong-ran’s usual quitting time was six, but that day she didn’t leave on the dot and stayed at her post. The Director had made the rare visit to Ward 77 twice, and she’d missed him both times.
‘It would be awkward to let him pass by three times without seeing him.’
In the ward, now relatively quiet after the permanent staff had gone home, Yeong-ran waited endlessly for Beom-jun.
After pouring warm tea in the tea room, Yeong-ran underlined and circled the same handoff log she’d already read.
Lines upon lines, circles upon circles—the paper grew thinner and thinner, and the ink bled into blotchy smears.
The tea she’d poured earlier had turned lukewarm, but there was still no sign of the Director.
Through the open door of the tea room, Yeong-ran glanced at the entrance of Ward 77.
‘Maybe today isn’t the day. I should probably just go.’
Past seven o’clock, Yeong-ran tidied up and prepared to leave. After wiping her tumbler, she changed out of her nurse’s uniform and into casual clothes.
Then she found Kim Do-yoon’s primary nurse. If the Director happened to come by, she’d ask them to mention that she’d just left. She’d also make sure they knew to keep a close eye on him.
Just then, a patient emerged from inside the four-bed room, looking around nervously.
Recognizing the patient’s face, Yeong-ran quickly pretended to be absorbed in her phone.
‘Isn’t that patient Kim Do-yoon? Where is he going?’
Kim Do-yoon didn’t recognize Yeong-ran in her civilian clothes. He checked only that there were no Korea University Hospital staff in the hallway, then entered the Simple Testing Room—a place with no resident staff, now that everyone had gone home.
Patient Kim Do-yoon quietly closed the door behind him as he entered the darkened testing room.
The door creaked slightly as it shut.
The way he entered suggested this wasn’t his first time.
Catching the scent of something suspicious, Yeong-ran made her way to the tea room connected to the opposite entrance of the testing room.
The tea room, which served as a break area for nurses, held snacks, a water cooler, and a sink. In the dish rack sat Yeong-ran’s tumbler from earlier, drying.
And from the door next to it came the sound of Kim Do-yoon’s voice.
“It’s me! I called because you didn’t see my text.”
He continued the call, trembling noticeably.
“My attending physician changed. Besides Professor Im Sung-hyuk, there’s another one? Is… is this even allowed?”
Do-yoon spoke in a lowered voice, but standing inside the testing room, he and Yeong-ran were separated by only one door.
“I’m telling you, I have two attending physicians now! Yes, yes, Professor Jeong Da-eun. I know who she is. I’ve seen her a few times at Eunseong Hospital.”
Heated with emotion, Do-yoon was reporting the situation after his hospitalization to someone. About his attending physicians having recently changed.
“I could try, but if I use my left hand, my drawing style changes completely. Would that be okay?”
What came after remained unclear.
‘Drawing style? What is he talking about? The symptoms were in his right hand, weren’t they?’
She’d heard he was a painter sponsored by the Eunseong Foundation. His “drawing style” must refer to his own artwork.
Yeong-ran, listening intently to Do-yoon’s call, pulled out her pen.
If she passed along words she didn’t understand, misunderstandings might arise.
Unfamiliar with Do-yoon’s background, Yeong-ran began taking notes out of habit. With nowhere appropriate to write, she used the back of her left hand as an improvised notepad.
“Right. It should get attention once. Five years ago there was a painter who became famous as a ruined genius, and things have been going well ever since.”
As more specific details emerged, Do-yoon lowered his voice further. Yeong-ran pressed her ear hard against the door.
* * *
The next day, Beom-jun called on Sung-hyuk for the first time in a while.
Though coffee sat before them side by side, the ice had melted entirely without either man touching it.
“How’s the patient Kim Do-yoon? How is the treatment progressing?”
“It’s been confirmed as secondary Tremor caused by a tumor. We’ll conduct a Biopsy during surgery as well.”
At Beom-jun’s words, Sung-hyuk briefed him on patient Kim Do-yoon.
“Based on the CT scan, the nerve isn’t being completely compressed, so if he undergoes rehabilitation well, there’s a high likelihood of functional recovery.”
Sung-hyuk had already completed his diagnosis of Kim Do-yoon. The physical cause of the Essential Tremor was a tumor pressing on the nerve.
Through surgical removal, they’d also determine whether it was malignant.
Just as it had appeared in Doctor X, Do-yoon’s treatment was less difficult compared to other patients.
But what Beom-jun was curious about wasn’t just that.
“I see, so that’s how it is,”
Beom-jun murmured to himself, then tapped his index finger against the cup he held.
If events unfolded as in the original story, Kim Do-yoon’s right hand would recover soon. Once Im Sung-hyuk removed the tumor that had been pressing on the nerve.
But Beom-jun somehow didn’t feel confident that Do-yoon’s treatment would proceed smoothly.
‘The quest clearly said a false medical incident would occur.’
It wasn’t certain yet, but for now, the odds seemed high that Kim Do-yoon would trigger the false medical incident.
“Since his hospitalization, he doesn’t seem to meet separately with the Chairman. He must be being careful on purpose.”
Beom-jun’s grip tightened on the cup. Beneath his rolled-up shirt sleeves, the muscles of his forearms were visibly defined.
For the past few days, Beom-jun had been monitoring Han Myeong-jae’s movements.
Since Kim Do-yoon was admitted, Han Myeong-jae had been suspiciously still, and to Beom-jun he looked like someone taking care to leave no trace—like a predator lowering its body before a hunt.
The way a beast crouches before pouncing.
“The patient is… quite guarded. He won’t engage in any personal conversation beyond treatment.”
Sung-hyuk had no leads to report either. He’d been eager to pull out the patient’s inner thoughts.
But he was deflated.
A man who’d lived his whole life with an upright character—he couldn’t change overnight. If he had, Beom-jun would suspect he was on his deathbed.
Beom-jun spoke to him in a teasing tone.
“Or is it something you can’t do?”
“…! I apologize.”
Stung by Beom-jun’s words, Sung-hyuk clenched his jaw. Flustered, his ears had turned bright red.
Beom-jun let out a soft laugh at the sight of him. He’d found it endearing that Sung-hyuk wanted to try. In truth, he hadn’t expected much.
Im Sung-hyuk shone brightest at the scene where he saved patients’ lives. That would be his role in Doctor X.
“I don’t know what to do about patient Kim Do-yoon.”
“There, there is a way. You do what you do best. That’s enough.”
Even at Beom-jun’s words, Sung-hyuk’s face remained dark. It wasn’t just because he hadn’t handled the task Beom-jun had entrusted to him—it was also because he couldn’t shoulder everything that was happening to his patient alone.
Because this time, good treatment of the patient wasn’t all there was to it.
But Beom-jun had already worked something out.
‘I need to assign the right person to the right job.’
He’d learned something when reassigning Jae-gyeong. That a task’s nature and the right talent had to align well. The work that Jae-gyeong had struggled with was nothing to Ha-rin.
Beom-jun had no intention of repeating the same mistake.
Someone who is very close to patient Kim Do-yoon,
and has a very keen eye for detail.
“When you go on rounds with patient Kim Do-yoon, tell the head nurse of Ward 77 to come to my office.”
“You mean Lee Yeong-ran?”
Beom-jun nodded quietly.
“Yes. I think I know what kind of person she is.”
Sung-hyuk spoke without knowing Lee Yeong-ran directly. He’d only recognize her face from passing through Ward 77.
But if it was her, she could make contact with Do-yoon naturally. Perhaps she already knew something.
“When were the rounds?”
“It was today, but it doesn’t matter. I’ll go again first thing tomorrow.”
Sung-hyuk spoke with more briskness than usual.
Having found nothing out about patient Kim Do-yoon, he felt ready to do anything for Beom-jun, who wasn’t reproaching him.
Beom-jun checked Yeong-ran’s personnel information stored in his Status Window.
[Name: Lee Yeong-ran / Position: Head Nurse, Ward 77]
Patient Care: ■■■■□
Clinical Support: ■■■■□
Medical Administration: ■■■□□
Internal Communication: ■■■■□
– Growth Potential: Average
– Favorability: 7
[Quick with calculations and good at managing practicalities. Has a sharp eye for detail.]
Though she had been merely an extra in Doctor X, Beom-jun had a strong instinct that she would become the key to this episode.
What had started modestly and by chance was now fully prepared for her to shine.

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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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