Surviving as a Rogue Hospital Director - Chapter 98

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

Episode 98.
Left alone, Han Myung-jae tightened his grip on the fountain pen. Unlike the glass cup that had shattered into fragments, the pen remained intact.
It was partly due to the quality of its construction, but also because the old man’s grip wasn’t particularly strong. Likely, it would only be marred if thrown and struck something hard.
Han Myung-jae had played the Eunsung Hospital Dispatch card specifically to send Bum-jun to that hospital.
Once he suffered enough, he’d learn to keep his head down at Korea University Hospital.
He was causing trouble precisely because he was at Korea University Hospital. But if he went to Eunsung Hospital, which was connected to the Eunsung Group itself, he’d realize he was nothing special—a mere frog in a well.
‘He should have learned not to thrash about so ignorantly, unaware of how wide the world truly is. How unfortunate.’
Han Myung-jae clicked his tongue.
If Bum-jun had floundered in a place where he had no foundation, he would have come to his senses. But that opportunity had slipped away.
Han Myung-jae had made Bum-jun director the moment he became a professor. The goal was to keep him ignorant and dependent, but that seemed to have backfired.
He hadn’t understood that an inexperienced man, when kept from uttering even a sound whether he liked it or not, was what made an organization run smoothly.
If he’d gone on dispatch and struggled alongside the professors he’d been lording over, the relationships would have fractured. It was a waste.
‘When things go wrong, people inevitably blame those above them. Bum-jun has never faced criticism before, so he doesn’t understand.’
There was no need to sow discord. The positions of physician and hospital director were fundamentally different. How could the one being managed and the one doing the managing be on the same boat?
He’d thought that once Bum-jun experienced such depths, he’d return to his former self. Breaking his wings would be enough to keep him from chasing futile dreams.
But instead of sending him on dispatch, the moment a physician from Eunsung Hospital came for the exchange program, everything fell apart.
As the number of physicians increased, Korea University Hospital was freed from the labor shortage, and the physicians in teaching positions gained strength by establishing superiority over the Eunsung physicians.
And that strength was turned toward Bum-jun.
‘Doesn’t the work feel pretty relaxed these days?’
‘Actually, I didn’t even skip lunch this entire week! I’m eating meals and drinking coffee!’
‘I can’t even remember what it was like before the physicians came from Eunsung.’
‘Exactly, why did we… Director really seems amazing, doesn’t he?’
When Han Myung-jae happened to overhear the residents’ conversation, he was deeply displeased.
Through this dispatch, the physicians’ daily lives changed immediately, and they began to feel the work Bum-jun was doing viscerally.
But to solidify the Medical Rights Association, physicians needed to be overwhelmed with work. That way, the voices calling for the protection of physicians’ rights would gain more power.
Knock, knock, knock.
At that moment, there was a knock, and the employee who had been hit by the glass cup earlier entered.
“Chairman, we have a call from Kim Mu-hyung, the Director of Eunsung. He’s asking what this is about—what should I tell him?”
Ha—at the employee’s words, the chairman let out a laugh as if exasperated.
Seeing that Kim Mu-hyung, who used to come running at a moment’s notice, was now asking for a reason, Han Myung-jae felt his authority crumble.
Kim Mu-hyung had been involved in the change of plans for the Eunsung Hospital dispatch.
He roughly understood what kind of deal Director Kim Mu-hyung had made with Bum-jun. It would have been about bringing in VIP patients for Eunsung Hospital. That’s how Im Sung-hyuk was able to treat the Eunsung family’s genetic disease.
But Han Myung-jae was not the type to crumble overnight. Had there been no difficulties in getting here? He had dealt with every crisis well.
On one side of Han Myung-jae’s office stood a bookshelf that filled an entire wall. Books packed from floor to ceiling vividly displayed his network.
Looking at the bookshelf, Han Myung-jae confirmed the fortress of connections he had steadily built.
“Just tell him it’s related to an Eunsung Group VIP. Don’t say anything else.”
If Bum-jun were bound to a patient in such a way, he’d have no choice but to go down with him. The patient would become a chain around his ankle. Director Kim, who had become entangled with Bum-jun, would make a fine bait.
“Yes, understood, Chairman. And I’ll just leave this here.”
The employee quietly placed ointment and bandages on the desk and left.
Han Myung-jae checked the wound reflected in the monitor. A scratch ran diagonally across his cheekbone, and blood was carelessly wiped, leaving the area messy.
Han Myung-jae picked up an alcohol swab and cleaned the wound. With the sharp scent came a stinging pain.
But he didn’t blink. This was nothing.
Han Myung-jae threw the blood-stained swab into the trash. He didn’t even touch the ointment and bandages.
* * *
“Manager Jae-gyeong, have you heard? Starting now, the residents from Eunsung Hospital will train here at Korea University Hospital.”
Employees flocked around Jae-gyeong.
Because she was someone everyone at Korea University Hospital knew, she had access to the latest information. As a former secretary’s office staff, she seemed close to the director, but this time it was an even bigger scoop!
That was because Korea University Hospital and Eunsung Hospital had formally declared an exchange partnership.
—Korea University Hospital and Eunsung Hospital declare a Medical Brotherhood henceforth.
—Korea University Hospital Director Bum-jun: “It would be a shame if this dispatch ended as a one-time affair…”
When the news broke big in yesterday evening’s broadcast, employees came looking for Jae-gyeong from morning onward. They were staff members directly under the Deputy Director and the Chairman. Jae-gyeong responded to her female colleagues, with whom she was on informal terms.
“Yes, yes, I think it’ll be for a year.”
“Really? A year out of three is pretty long, isn’t it?”
If the youngest physicians, the residents, run about busily doing their work, those above them could breathe in turn. And it wasn’t a loss for Eunsung Hospital either, since they could learn Korea University Hospital’s medical expertise.
‘I never would have imagined he’d solve the manpower issue this way.’
Jae-gyeong thought anew that Bum-jun was remarkable. Many things had changed since the director had his accident, but he continued to amaze her. She wondered when she’d ever stop being surprised.
“That’s exactly what the article said yesterday about the Medical Brotherhood!”
“Eunsung Hospital has a lot of good medical equipment. Could we borrow some of that too?”
One person went a step further, suggesting they bring over Eunsung Hospital’s medical resources.
“Well, I’m not sure that would be possible?”
“I suppose not?”
“That’s a shame!”
Jae-gyeong spoke with a negative undertone. It was to prevent unconfirmed matters from becoming rumors. She steered the conversation in a different direction.
“Oh, and there’ll be performance bonuses soon. Incentives.”
She shared information with the employees that hadn’t yet been officially announced. In truth, everyone would find out a day or two later anyway, and it wouldn’t change anything knowing it now.
“Wow, that’s awesome. I’ll share anything I hear from the Deputy Director’s office too.”
“Me too!”
Sharing this familiarity, Jae-gyeong strengthened her bonds with the employees.
“There were incentives before too, right? But until now, weren’t they only applied to the professors? If we do well, our salaries could go up!”
“But we’re not in sales or anything. What incentives are these? Aren’t they just trying to incite competition and cause unnecessary overtreatment?”
Opinions were split among the employees upon hearing that incentives were being introduced at Korea University Hospital.
They were happy about the pay raise, yet concerned about overtreatment.
But at least they showed no resistance to the new changes coming about.
Director Bum-jun had stirred up so many things over this time, and seeing that those changes led to good results, Korea University Hospital’s attitude toward receiving new information had shifted.
The Korea University Hospital that had been terribly conservative was now a thing of the past.
“What would the criteria be? Success rate of surgeries? Patient severity?”
“Hmm, I’m not really sure about that myself.”
Jae-gyeong kept her words guarded. She strictly adhered to what Bum-jun had told her not to disclose.
[Affinity has reached MAX. I will never betray you.]
Even after her personnel transfer, she often spoke with Bum-jun. She’d learned about the Eunsung Group partnership yesterday.
As if well aware that Jae-gyeong was wielding influence through exchanging information, Bum-jun would inform her of announcements before they were made official, carefully distinguishing what could be shared and what couldn’t.
‘Jae-gyeong, are you doing well? Don’t get too attached to that place. You’ll have to come back later.’
When she asked when “later” was, the director always said the same thing.
‘When the time is right.’
Jae-gyeong waited quietly, holding her breath, for that right time.
Working under Director Min Jung-sik, she was building her skills by handling executive-level tasks, but the chairman had subtly been pressuring her by changing the approval structure.
“You were under Bum-jun, right? Is that why your attitude is like this? You have no manners. Your documents are a mess. Fix them and bring them back.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Hmm, good. That’s much better today. Good work.”
“Thank you very much.”
The chairman treated Jae-gyeong differently each time, but it wasn’t based on his mood—it depended on hers.
Watching how he’d pick a fight when she was confident, and offer praise when she was withdrawn, Jae-gyeong felt that the chairman was trying to train her.
Jae-gyeong was an experienced manager—experienced enough in social life—so finding the chairman fault her attitude as though she were a new graduate was almost laughable to her.
Having worked under Bum-jun, where she was treated with personal respect, Jae-gyeong had in fact come to see through Han Myung-jae’s inadequate character.
‘I wonder if the director is alright.’
Instead, she worried about Bum-jun. The reason Han Myung-jae was so frustrated at not being able to control her was surely because of the director.
‘He treats me this way, so how much worse must it be for the director? He should be fine, though.’
Despite the physical distance between them, her relationship with Bum-jun remained unshaken, and paradoxically, her attachment to him grew stronger.
She felt the reality of being truly his person. She, who had lived quietly in the shadows, drawing little attention anywhere, felt her bond with Bum-jun all the more special.
She didn’t know when that “right time” would come.
But when it did, Jae-gyeong vowed to become someone the director could rely on more than anyone.
For some reason, she had a feeling that right time wasn’t far away.

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