Surviving as a Rogue Hospital Director - Chapter 49

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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 49.
Hyun Ji was delighted to receive one more souvenir under Beom Jun’s name.
“Wow, total score!”
“So you actually like this stuff, Hyun Ji?”
“Of course!”
Hyun Ji replied to Min Ho, fidgeting with her phone. To process Sung Hyuk’s orders right away, she probably would have had to work even while walking through the halls.
“Portable Battery Packs are always better in multiples. My battery drains so fast keeping up with Professor Sung. Doesn’t yours?”
“Tell me about it. I know exactly what you mean.”
Min Ho, who had followed both Sung Hyuk and Hoe Jin, immediately understood her frustration. The two exchanged knowing chuckles.
“Speaking of which—aren’t you thinking about a Fellowship? Your Residency’s almost over.”
Hyun Ji asked the question lightly, like asking if someone had eaten, but there was weight behind it.
At her question, Min Ho swallowed hard.
“That’s not really something I get to decide for myself.”
When Hyun Ji mentioned pursuing the Fellowship track at Korean University Hospital, Min Ho sounded anything but certain.
“Hmm? Why don’t you talk to the professor? I’m sure he’d be happy to have you.”
“It feels like… lobbying. And I might not make it through the application anyway.”
Min Ho seemed bothered by the idea of asking Sung Hyuk to put in a good word.
“What? Why would you not make it? Most of the past Fellows basically just transitioned straight from being Residents.”
Hyun Ji, with her years of experience, pointed out the pattern, but Min Ho still looked doubtful. He lacked confidence in himself.
“From what I heard through my peers in other departments, other professors have already been asking them about doing a Fellowship. But Professor Sung hasn’t mentioned anything.”
Hearing about his cohort’s progress made Min Ho even more withdrawn.
Unlike his peers, who had been asked to come to graduate school by the time they graduated, he wondered if his advisor had simply given up on him.
‘Maybe he just wants to graduate me and send me on my way.’
Min Ho, who had invested so much into the Thoracic Surgery Department, felt hurt deep down.
Meanwhile, Hyun Ji, who had worked alongside Sung Hyuk for so long, found his doubt puzzling.
‘The professor takes him everywhere. He really dotes on him.’
Even today proved it. Sung Hyuk had never brought a Resident to a conference before. Min Ho was the first.
Hyun Ji offered Min Ho quiet reassurance.
“The professor doesn’t usually say much anyway. He might be waiting for you to do your Fellowship without saying so out loud.”
“That’s… possible, I suppose.”
Min Ho forced out his response, hiding his turbulent thoughts behind her comfort.
Hyun Ji was bothered by the fact that Min Ho was clearly stressed about an important decision looming ahead.
* * *
A few minutes later, they made their way back to where Beom Jun was.
“Ta-da! We picked up another one for you.”
“This was what you wanted?”
Hyun Ji showed off the Portable Battery Pack she’d received as a souvenir to Beom Jun.
“You can never have too many. The director might need one later, too.”
“I don’t know, not really my thing.”
Beom Jun had little interest in what Hyun Ji was drawn to.
If anything bothered him, it was the way Min Ho gazed at Sung Hyuk with such longing.
‘What’s with him?’
But he didn’t dwell on it, instead skimming through the Medical Conference schedule. The group had scattered, each heading to lectures of their interest.
In , they’d called it a paper buried in darkness. No one even noticed it had been presented, even right after.
There’s such a thing as a grand opening rush for restaurants, but if a paper’s presentation at a conference goes unnoticed, that’s a serious problem.
Perhaps it was simply a downside of the conference being so massive.
Beom Jun recalled what had said about the paper’s author.
—He had a shaved head, and his stiff hair stuck up haphazardly, like a chestnut burr. He’d shaved it because he didn’t have time to wash his hair. He devoted every hour to research, nothing else.
“I-I-I wrote this, but how could I…”
By all appearances, he’d likely be bookish and emotional.
Beom Jun made his way through the lecture halls listed as Session 1.
“Through AI analysis of cardiac echocardiography, we achieved a diagnostic accuracy of 89%. Doctor still has to perform the examination, of course, but if a robotic arm were invented, then this would also…”
This didn’t seem to be it.
“We analyzed the correlation between Troponin I and CK-MB, and we’ve derived meaningful results…”
Not this one either.
“Cardiovascular Disease prevention is particularly important…”
Not this one.
Beom Jun, who had been eyeing the presenter, left the lecture hall. That was all the talks listed on the pamphlet. Session 1 clearly wasn’t it.
Why the trouble? They could’ve at least written the title more specifically. Beom Jun stretched.
The hallway was relatively quiet since everyone was in lectures.
Beom Jun, who had rushed into the Medical Conference the same day he arrived in Busan, roused his weary body and toured the Hotel Lobby, which he’d missed earlier.
He wandered through the souvenir booths and photo walls that Hyun Ji and Min Ho had visited, and after making a full loop, he headed in a different direction.
At the end of the hallway was another lecture room—one marked “Conference Room,” with a door that read “Special Lecture: Jason Lee.”
At that moment, a small voice seeped through the crack in the open door.
“I-I-I s-set up a h-hypothesis…”
Drawn by the trembling voice, Beom Jun entered as if in a trance.
Inside, a man with unkempt hair, hollow eyes, slouching posture, and thick-framed glasses was presenting a paper, stuttering badly.
“In c-cases of H-H… H-HOCM,”
*
the p-p-pattern…”
*Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy
The moment he mentioned the condition, Beom Jun’s eyes lit up.
Medical knowledge absorbed from Sung Hyuk flooded his mind like a catalog, pulling up the unfamiliar terminology.
‘It’s one of the types of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy!’
He hadn’t shaved his head yet—maybe just hadn’t gotten around to it. But his presentation was undoubtedly about Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, the very thing Beom Jun had been searching for.
Beom Jun called Sung Hyuk.
—Come to the opposite side of the Grand Auditorium from the Hotel Lobby. It’s a special lecture only held here. You’ll want to hear this.
Sung Hyuk, if no one else, had to listen to this presentation.
A few minutes later, Sung Hyuk arrived, and Hyun Ji and Min Ho came along too. But both of them couldn’t seem to focus on Jason Lee’s presentation.
“This is worth listening to, right?”
“C-could we go catch another symposium afterwards?”
Beom Jun was beginning to understand why Jason Lee had never gotten recognition. His presentation skills were truly abysmal.
‘With communication this poor, who would ever listen?’
Unfortunately, Jason Lee possessed no charm whatsoever to draw an audience.
The Conference Room held only a handful of medical staff from his affiliated hospital.
Sung Hyuk stood at the very back, quickly reading through the PowerPoint Presentation that Jason Lee had created.
‘Right—genius recognizes genius.’
The slides were so detailed that the core argument was obscured; one had to read the full text to grasp it. Sung Hyuk was doing exactly that.
But what caught Beom Jun’s attention wasn’t the PowerPoint, but Jason Lee’s entourage. The logos visible throughout clearly belonged to Cheon Hee University Hospital.
‘So the paper’s author was a doctor at Cheon Hee University Hospital. No wonder it didn’t get attention.’
According to , Cheon Hee University Hospital doesn’t focus on research.
When Korean University Hospital develops a treatment, Cheon Hee University Hospital, which owns the most branches across the country, carries it all the way to the southern tip of the peninsula.
Which was probably why Professor Shin So Jung had transferred to Korean University Hospital for her research.
Meanwhile, Jason Lee was fighting against adverse conditions rather than having favorable ones in place around him.
But Beom Jun also knew another person with a determination every bit as fierce as Jason Lee’s.
“It’s somewhat rough around the edges, but if you control the variables properly, I think it could be applied clinically.”
After reviewing the entire PowerPoint, Sung Hyuk spoke to Beom Jun.
Fortunately, Jason had caught Sung Hyuk’s attention. Beom Jun, who had been wondering how to bring the two together, felt relieved.
‘Just giving them a chance to talk should be enough.’
After Jason Lee’s paper presentation ended, Beom Jun approached where the Cheon Hee University Hospital staff had gathered.
“Hello. What a surprise to meet the Cheon Hee University Hospital team here.”
Half of them had the look of ‘Who is this guy?’, but fortunately, someone among them had seen the promotional video for Korean University Hospital.
“Oh! Are you the director of Korean University Hospital?”
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Beom Jun Choi, Hospital Director.”
The person who appeared to be the oldest stood up and offered Beom Jun a handshake.
“Good to meet you. I’m the head of the Surgery Department at Cheon Hee University Hospital.”
“Professor Jason Lee’s presentation was absolutely fascinating. The level of research being conducted at Cheon Hee University Hospital is truly remarkable.”
Beom Jun began the conversation with praise, playing up the other side.
“N-no, well, to c-catch up to Korean University Hospital, we still have a l-long way to go.”
As Jason made a fuss about it, the department head gave him a pointed look. It was corporate rivalry at play before a competitor.
But Jason lacked the sense to pick up on it.
“Th-thank you for l-listening. It m-means a lot.”
“Since you’ve all listened so well, would you perhaps join us for dinner? I’d like to treat you after such an excellent lecture.”
At Beom Jun’s suggestion, the Cheon Hee University Hospital staff didn’t answer immediately, just blinked, and the department head declined on their behalf.
“We’re glad you enjoyed it, but we must decline.”
“That’s too bad. I thought we could discuss Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy further.”
Beom Jun gave Sung Hyuk a signal, allowing him to say what he wanted.
“In fact, I was thinking the comparison you made between Septal Myectomy
*
and Alcohol Septal Ablation
**
could potentially be applied in clinical practice. I believe it’s entirely feasible.”
*Septal Myectomy
**Alcohol Septal Ablation (ASA)
At that, not just Jason but the entire Cheon Hee University Hospital team’s faces lit up. Toward Sung Hyuk, who recognized research they’d poured so much effort into. Everyone must have sweat and bled working on this research alongside Jason.
“Oh, w-wait, really?”
“We were hoping there would be follow-up research too!”
“Yes, if we apply the data in clinical settings, I believe follow-up research would definitely be possible.”
“Oh! That sounds great! Korean University Hospital must have plenty of patient cases.”
At last, a conversation befitting the purpose of attending a Medical Conference took place.
Jason and the Cheon Hee University Hospital staff crowded around Sung Hyuk, bombarding him with questions, and soon the three of them were too busy talking to pay attention to Beom Jun and the department head anymore.
“You will join us for dinner, won’t you?”
At Beom Jun’s words, the department head replied with a reluctant face.
“…That would be fine. It seems we have much to discuss.”
The department head couldn’t stop Jason and Sung Hyuk from having their academic conversation.
Since it was a research team built entirely under his leadership, the research’s direction was largely at Jason’s discretion.
‘If we can give Jason good ideas, then dinner is more than worth it.’
But the department head had no way of knowing that Jason’s research would be brought to completion in Sung Hyuk’s hands.

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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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