Surviving as a Rogue Hospital Director - Chapter 18

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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 18.
“Predictable. Textbook response, wouldn’t you say? Everyone learn well from this.”
Beom Jun made eye contact with the surrounding doctors as he spoke. Seong Hyeok stood quietly beside him without brushing off the hospital director’s hand from his shoulder.
“Anything else that needs doing?”
The gathered doctors each offered their response to Beom Jun’s question.
“No, sir! We learned a great deal thanks to you.”
“That’s right. Thank you.”
The medical staff murmured their thanks and bowed.
They were hollow words spoken out of obligation, but it didn’t matter—this was how it should be.
The residents continued whispering as they left, though any who glanced back caught Beom Jun’s sharp glare.
‘Politics already? Watch the patient instead of playing games.’
[Hidden Quest completed.]
[Hidden Quest: Establish Seong Hyeok’s Standing]
[Survival Probability increased by 1%.]
[Current Survival Probability: 17%]
A Hidden Quest notification popped up. Beom Jun rolled his eyes and closed the status window.
“Why have you come all the way here?”
Seong Hyeok spoke as though indifferent to the fact that Beom Jun had elevated him, but he surely knew it. Still, this man had nothing but patients on his mind.
“Just concerned you might be overworking. How is the patient Jin Ha doing? I thought she’d achieved ROSC.”
Beom Jun started to tell Seong Hyeok to get along better with Jin Ha, then stopped himself.
There was no point lecturing someone like that. A man with high autonomy needed to do things himself or he’d never be satisfied.
“Her vitals have stabilized. She should wake up soon.”
As Beom Jun and Seong Hyeok spoke, the medical staff around them gradually disappeared.
“Why are you going this far?”
With only the two of them left before the unconscious Jin Ha, Seong Hyeok posed a fundamental question. His expression was kind beneath the severity of his personality—one of his characteristic habits from “Doctor X” was pushing his glasses firmly up the bridge of his nose.
Seong Hyeok’s face was as impassive as always, but Beom Jun could sense he was on edge. He was deliberately hiding his sensitivity.
‘The hospital director suddenly changed—it must have seemed strange to him.’
Until now, since it benefited Beom Jun, he’d let it slide, but once he’d reached out to the National Organ Donation Center, Seong Hyeok couldn’t have failed to notice he was receiving preferential treatment from the director.
Beom Jun chose his words carefully. For someone like Seong Hyeok, who wouldn’t overlook discrimination—or reverse discrimination—either, he needed to think about what would be appropriate.
‘I can’t tell him I need him to succeed so I can survive.’
Beom Jun pointed to the chair across from the patient and continued speaking. Since his possession had coincided with when the hospital director was admitted to the ICU after an accident, this would serve as a plausible excuse.
“Back when I was lying here. I kept thinking—what if Professor Seong had been my attending physician? Actually, this is how doctors should treat patients.”
Beom Jun spoke while looking at the sleeping Jin Ha. His voice trembled slightly.
It was the honest feeling he’d carried throughout reading “Doctor X.”
A doctor who cares for the patient more than the patient cares for themselves.
Beom Jun—or rather, Ui-jin—had wanted to become like Seong Hyeok, but reality had always gotten in the way, and eventually he’d given up.
Trying to manage his honor and pride as a doctor, the eyes of colleagues, the mood of family—he’d ended up saying nothing on behalf of the patient.
It wasn’t just vicarious satisfaction from watching “Doctor X.” Even as he told himself it was possible in fiction but impossible in reality, he truly respected Seong Hyeok as a physician.
“I wish there were more doctors like you.”
They say the perfect lie requires a grain of truth to go undetected.
Seong Hyeok’s gaze dropped at the sincerity in Beom Jun’s words. He spoke in a quiet voice.
“I didn’t know you held me in such regard. Thank you. Director, I won’t disappoint your expectations. I’ll work even harder.”
Seong Hyeok, speaking words he rarely said before, looked embarrassed and touched his neck. The back of his neck had already flushed crimson. He, too, fixed his gaze on the patient and avoided looking toward Beom Jun.
Beom Jun had mostly seen Seong Hyeok lose his temper in “Doctor X,” so this side of him felt novel.
He’d seemed like a distant figure, but now he appeared no different—just an ordinary man.
“Mm…”
Just then, Jin Ha’s eyelids fluttered. She blinked slowly, looking confused as she surveyed her surroundings.
“…Uh…”
“Ms. Jin Ha, are you coming around? Do you know where you are?”
Seong Hyeok posed simple questions to assess her Orientation—checking her level of consciousness.
Hearing her name, Jin Ha made eye contact with Seong Hyeok. She moved her full lips, trying to say something.
A plaintive atmosphere emanated from Jin Ha, caught between life and death. Her face was pure, yet for some reason Beom Jun sensed she was hollow.
“…W-w…?”
Seong Hyeok leaned in close so as not to miss even the faintest sound, and Jin Ha, moving her dry vocal cords, spoke as clearly as she could manage.
“…Was that you, Professor?”
* * *
Jin Ha said she’d heard Seong Hyeok’s voice while walking through a dream, dazed and drowsy.
“That sound before—was that you shouting, Professor?”
She seemed pleased despite lacking the strength to smile, her pale face brightening.
Consciousness is divided into five levels.
From the normal state of Alert,
to Drowsy,
Stupor—responding only to strong stimuli,
Semi-coma—capable only of reflexive movement—and finally Coma, complete unconsciousness.
Beom Jun diagnosed Jin Ha’s state as he listened to her words.
‘She was somewhere between Drowsy and Stupor.’
If she’d heard Seong Hyeok’s voice, it must have been then. She’d responded to that piercing tone.
Beom Jun hadn’t heard Seong Hyeok shout, but he could imagine how completely immersed he’d been. He must have fought desperately to save Jin Ha without restraint.
That’s how Seong Hyeok always was with his patients.
“Well, in emergencies, we always have to do that.”
Seong Hyeok touched the back of his head again, looking embarrassed.
“I thought I was falling asleep, but hearing that woke me up. If not for you, Professor… would I have been able to come back?”
Though it had no solid medical basis, Jin Ha spoke from her own experience. That familiar voice she’d heard as her consciousness slipped away had been a great comfort to her.
“If treatment worked that way, I’d have shouted a hundred times over.”
Seong Hyeok responded with exasperation to Jin Ha’s words. To him, it was a rather absurd claim lacking medical foundation.
“…”
Jin Ha closed her mouth, looking sheepish.
The atmosphere had suddenly grown cold, so Beom Jun stepped in.
“It shows how hard you’re trying. The patient can feel that clearly. Isn’t that right?”
Standing a step back, Beom Jun patted Seong Hyeok’s shoulder and spoke. Only then did Seong Hyeok realize his mistake and fell silent.
“Professor Seong has worked so hard to save Ms. Jin Ha’s life.”
“I always…!”
Seong Hyeok tried to cut Beom Jun off, looking flustered, but Beom Jun was quicker.
“Even if you come across as blunt, deep down you’re wishing the patient won’t give up.”
Seong Hyeok turned his head away in embarrassment, while Jin Ha straightened her stiffened body and began actively engaging in conversation.
“Yes, that’s what you told me earlier too.”
Already? Beom Jun assessed Jin Ha’s words, then studied Seong Hyeok’s expression. He noticed their gazes meet.
‘Ha—I was worried they’d be awkward with each other.’
There was no need. The two were building a solid Rapport just as in “Doctor X,” approaching treatment with commitment.
Seong Hyeok was poor at expression, but if one looked closely enough, his sincerity shone through. Jin Ha had managed to see it.
Beom Jun didn’t ask Jin Ha about trivial matters like whether she’d enjoyed tteokbokki. Instead of inserting himself between them, he drew out only her determination—focusing on what truly mattered.
“Then what about you? Do you still lack strong desire for treatment?”
Looking at Seong Hyeok, she spoke slowly but distinctly, claiming her own voice.
“No… I won’t give up either! I won’t!”
* * *
The next day, Deputy Director Hee Jung heard news about Jin Ha. She, who had been monitoring Beom Jun’s every move, had finally found her opening.
She recalled what the staff had told her.
‘About a week ago, the hospital director contacted the director of the National Organ Donation Center. It seems a heart transplant was discussed at that time.’
Hee Jung, learning belatedly that Beom Jun had met with the Donation Center director, felt her blood boil.
Until now, most hospital business had gone through her, with Beom Jun informed afterward—that was the arrangement. But this had been handled differently.
‘I hear the patient is a woman in her late twenties with exceptionally striking looks.’
At this additional detail, Hee Jung let out a heavy sigh, at a loss for words.
“Ha!”
So that’s why the hospital director was fussing over a non-VIP patient. Men would be men.
Hee Jung seethed with anger, realizing Beom Jun had handled things without proper protocol.
‘A hospital director who can’t distinguish public from private? This is why unqualified people shouldn’t be given power.’
She headed straight for the Director’s Office, determined that unlike last time, this wouldn’t go his way.
– Bang!!
She shoved the office door open violently and spoke to Beom Jun at once.
“Is it true you separately requested a heart transplant for patient Jin Ha with the Donation Center director?”
“A request, no—more of a tentative arrangement.”
Annoyed by her accusatory tone, Beom Jun decided to let this one slide.
“There are so many patients waiting for transplants, and you’re cutting in line? And meeting the Donation Center director separately to handle business—what’s Korea University Hospital’s official stance going to be from here on?”
She spoke strictly about the operational issue.
“This is outright abuse of power. The patient isn’t here to see it, so you think you can do whatever you want?”
Hee Jung made a pointing gesture as though it were habit. Beom Jun, looking at her, considered flicking her finger away.
“What’s the exact order?”
Instead, he asked with measured composure.
“Did you bother to look into it properly before coming here? The Director’s Office isn’t a convenience store on your block.”
He spoke softly, scratching his neck. At his menacing tone, Hee Jung puffed out her chest, trying to appear unintimidated.
The hospital director had met with the National Organ Donation Center director, and immediately after a heart donation was registered, the patient underwent surgery. That alone was enough for misconduct—what more was there to investigate?
Hee Jung, who’d expected him to fumble, was instead thrown off by his calm confidence.
“Th-that’s why I’m saying we should investigate that order… okay!”
And without realizing it, she had begun speaking with formal politeness.

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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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