Chapter 5: MadonnaTL: Sisona

    After receiving his call and coming out to the bar, Oh Seung-Jun looked at Choi Tae-hyuk and laughed brightly.

    “Did your personality change while you were in America? Or is it just today that you’re acting strange?”

    Suddenly calling him about his sister, not to mention exposing his embarrassing past through her. And he was the one who suggested drinking first.

    None of these actions seemed to fit the Choi Tae-hyuk that Seung-Jun knew.

    While drinking, Tae-hyuk asked in a blunt voice.

    “Do you know Moon Na-young, a first-year resident in our department?”

    Seung-Jun nodded at the familiar name.

    “Of course, I know her. She’s pretty, smart, and haughty. She’s a classmate of my sister and the Madonna of their class.”

    Tae-hyuk frowned at the irritating nickname, Madonna.

    “So, she had a lot of guys interested in her?”

    Seung-Jun shook his head.

    “She was sharp in that regard. She rejected every guy who confessed to her, saying they were a distraction from her studies.”

    But the night before she started her residency, she slept with him.

    It seemed Moon Na-young had intended from the start to end it as a one-night stand with him.

    A firm tension gripped Tae-hyuk’s jaw.

    He finished the rest of his drink in one gulp, put down the empty glass, and asked Oh Seung-Jun.

    “Do you know who those guys were that confessed to Moon Na-young?”

    Seung-Jun wore a puzzled expression.

    “Why would you want to know that?”

    He wasn’t the type to be a noble loser; it just felt like he had been wronged.

    So, he needed a way to relieve his stress.

    ***

    When she continued to express her desire to stay in the Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery department, Director Park was genuinely happy and told her she had made a good decision.

    “Even though Professor Choi is harsh, you can learn a lot from him. So try to adapt well.”

    Na-young still felt uncomfortable training under Professor Choi Tae-hyuk, but she decided not to run away.

    More than anyone, she couldn’t stand being treated as a pathetic resident by that man.

    She became determined to earn his recognition.

    As a first-year resident, she was in charge of the emergency room, which meant she had many on-call duties, especially on weekends when others were resting.

    While taking a brief break and sitting in the station chair, she noticed a Post-it note someone had written.

    “Heart of a lion, eyes of an eagle, and hands of a woman.”

    These were qualities essential for a great surgeon.

    Since she was a woman, she thought she already possessed one of these qualities and laughed to herself, but then an emergency room call came in.

    A teenage boy had been in a traffic accident, was unconscious, and brought to the emergency room with severe abdominal distension and dropping blood pressure.

    “Huh? If the CT scan shows an aortic aneurysm rupture, isn’t that a case for the Vascular Surgery department?”

    [The Vascular Surgery professor is currently out, and there’s no one available to perform the surgery right now. Who’s on duty in your department?]

    With an aortic aneurysm rupture, the patient couldn’t wait for the Vascular Surgery professor to arrive at the hospital.

    If they tried to transfer the patient to another hospital, there was a high risk of death in the ambulance.

    It was a critical emergency, and Na-young felt every nerve in her body tense up.

    She urgently called the on-duty professor who was available for surgery right away.

    It was Professor Choi Tae-hyuk.

    As soon as he heard her explanation, Professor Choi quickly said.

    [Book the surgery room immediately and have everything ready for the operation before I arrive.]

    After hanging up, she hurriedly arranged the operating room, contacted anesthesiology, and moved the patient to the operating room.

    As soon as Professor Choi entered the operating room, he picked up the scalpel.

    The moment his scalpel smoothly cut through the patient’s abdomen, bright red blood gushed out, splattering everywhere, drenching her face.

    Still wearing her glasses, Na-young’s lenses became smeared with blood, turning her vision a deep red.

    Everything she saw looked like a scene from hell.

    “Suction!”

    Professor Choi Tae-hyuk shouted fiercely, but Moon Na-young was frozen, unable to move.

    With so much blood loss, how could this patient possibly survive?

    The patient’s blood pressure was dropping alarmingly fast.

    She was completely gripped by the fear of death.

    The surgery that started at night only ended when the sun rose.

    And the patient did not die.

    The Vascular Surgery professor, who was called urgently, joined the surgery and saved the patient’s life by repairing the ruptured aorta and replacing it with an artificial one.

    Na-young slowly wiped off the blood on her face after taking off her glasses.

    Even this small act required all her remaining strength.

    Just as she finished cleaning her face and was about to leave, she hesitated upon seeing Professor Choi Tae-hyuk leaning against the wall in the hallway.

    It seemed he was waiting for her, as he straightened up and walked towards her without hesitation.

    Na-young had to suppress the urge to turn around and hide in the women’s restroom.

    Now, she had to face him without her glasses, completely bare-faced.

    Choi Tae-hyuk stood in front of her and asked accusingly.

    “You thought that patient was going to die, didn’t you?”

    Unable to deny, Na-young could only look up at his face.

    Indeed, she had believed so, and during the early part of the surgery, she couldn’t do anything.

    It was only after Professor Choi had clamped the ruptured aorta and infused the patient with blood and heart-lung solution, stabilizing the blood pressure, that she regained her senses and could assist in the surgery.

    “If you’re going to enter my surgery and be a nuisance with such thoughts, don’t ever come back!”

    That’s why, even though Professor Choi harshly scolded her, Na-young couldn’t say a word in her defense.

    Even when he scolded her harshly and she continued to be out of it, Tae-hyuk frowned deeply and then extended his hand, commanding.

    “Give me your hand.”

    She thought he might be about to punish her by slapping her hand.

    Without complaint, Na-young placed her left hand on top of his.

    She felt him grip her hand firmly.

    Swiftly.

    Before she realized what was happening, her hand was placed on Professor Choi Tae-hyuk’s chest.

    Beneath the thin surgical gown, his solid body was palpably felt.

    Thump, thump, thump.

    Even the beating of his heart was clearly felt.

    “Don’t forget. The toughest thing we have is life.”

    Tears welled up in Na-young’s eyes.

    It seemed she would never forget.

    The coldness of death she felt in the operating room and the warmth of life she felt from his body.

    ***

    During the morning rounds, Nam Ho-jin commented, trying to be funny, upon seeing her without glasses.

    “The ugly Moon Na-young didn’t come today.”

    When Na-young and the other female doctors glared at him with narrowed eyes, Nam Ho-jin quickly shut his mouth.

    At 7:50 AM, as always, Professor Choi Tae-hyuk appeared.

    His gaze briefly met hers but he quickly looked away and said to everyone.

    “Let’s start the rounds.”

    It didn’t seem that long ago when she first heard those words, but they had already become familiar.

    Na-young, walking at the front, watched Professor Choi’s back and made a promise to herself.

    To really do well.

    To definitely earn Professor Choi Tae-hyuk’s recognition before her first year was over.

    For the first time since he appeared at this hospital, Na-young could face him as doctor to doctor, setting aside the memory of that one night. s?a??h th? N?v?lFire.n?t website on G??gl? to access chapters of n?vels early and in the highest quality.

    But, on the contrary, Tae-hyuk was not like that.

    Tap, tap, tap.

    Sitting at his office desk, Tae-hyuk glared at the Death Note.

    It was the list of male doctors who confessed to Moon Na-young, as told by Oh Seung-Jun. There were too many.

    He was pondering how to legally deal with all these guys when a knock sounded and the door opened.

    “Professor.”

    It was Chief Dong-gun.

    “Are you okay with having a welcoming dinner and gathering for you today, Professor?”

    Tae-hyuk didn’t particularly like gatherings.

    But such an occasion might provide an opportunity for a private conversation with Moon Na-young.

    The prospect lifted Tae-hyuk’s spirits.

    “Sure, I understand.”

    When Professor Choi readily agreed, Dong-gun immediately sent out a notice for the dinner to the entire Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery department.

    Attendance was mandatory for those in the department.

    Since it was also officially a welcome party for Professor Choi Tae-hyuk, an invitation was extended to other departments for those interested, gradually increasing the size of the gathering.

    ***

    “……”

    As the guest of honor at the gathering, Choi Tae-hyuk sat in the middle, looking grumpy, which prompted Director Park, seated next to him, to scold him.

    “Lighten up. This is your welcome party.”

    So, this was a place to welcome him, but why wasn’t Moon Na-young here?

    With so many people attending, his irritation grew.

    So many people came! Why not Moon Na-young!

    “It seems like a resident from Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery is missing.”

    Eventually, he brought it up.

    Kim Young-mi, who swapped duty with Na-young today, responded.

    “Ah! Dr. Moon Na-young is on duty, so she’s staying in the ward.”

    Tae-hyuk had already checked that Na-young wasn’t on duty today, so he looked at Young-mi disapprovingly.

    Young-mi was nervous, unable to understand why.

    Just then, Director Park stood up to propose a toast, allowing her to escape from Professor Choi’s piercing gaze.

    “Come on, everyone, raise your glasses. It’s rare for the surgeons of Hanyang University Hospital to gather like this, so let’s make this toast meaningful.”

    Tae-hyuk gave up and raised his glass.

    Truthfully, even if Moon Na-young had come to the dinner, there wasn’t much he could have done.

    Acting like that night would have caused trouble, and pretending to be a friendly professor would only make her more wary.

    “And today is the welcome party for Professor Choi Tae-hyuk. Let’s drink to welcome Professor Choi back.”

    As Director Park mentioned his name, all eyes turned to him.

    In this awkward and focused moment, Yoon I-na, sitting in the front row, cheerfully clinked her glass against his.

    “Welcome.”

    Seung-hee, sitting in a corner, quickly snapped a photo of this with her phone.

    She felt immensely proud of herself for capturing such a significant moment at the gathering.

    ***

    “Woooaaah!”

    The sound, akin to a wild animal’s howl, came from a delirious patient with hepatic encephalopathy, thrashing violently.

    When she rushed to the sound, the intern, terrified by the patient’s irrational state, hadn’t even attempted to administer an enema.

    She had no choice but to help.

    Even restrained in a restraint bed, the patient showed incredible strength, requiring both of them to struggle to hold and secure him.

    After barely completing the enema, Na-young retreated to a corner to rest.

    The patient with hepatic encephalopathy needed enemas every 30 minutes until his blood ammonia levels decreased, so she took out a chocolate bar to replenish her energy. Just then, her phone rang.

    It was a message from Seung-hee, who had gone to the gathering.

    It was a photo of Professor Choi Tae-hyuk and Professor Yoon I-na clinking glasses.

    See? I was right, wasn’t I? Total medical romance. Hahaha.

    Na-young laughed helplessly.

    While she was enduring the filth and waging a war with the enemas, that man was drinking affectionately with his ex-lover.

    Na-young glared at the photo and bit into her chocolate bar aggressively.

    After leaving the intern to finish up with the hepatic encephalopathy patient, Na-young realized her body had already absorbed the foul smell.

    She lifted her arm, sniffed, and grimaced.

    She was about to head to the changing room for a shower when she heard a low, firm voice behind her.

    “Dr. Moon Na-young.”

    Turning around, Na-young flinched upon seeing Professor Choi Tae-hyuk walking towards her.

    What? Why is he here when he should be at the welcome party?

    As he approached quickly with his long strides, Na-young hurriedly extended her hand to stop him.

    “Wait! Stop right there.”

    He halted abruptly.

    He seemed utterly bewildered, as if he hadn’t expected a first-year resident to issue a restraining order against him.

    “Can’t we just talk from there? I can hear you.”

    She couldn’t let him smell what was emanating from her.

    Although it was a consequence of her medical duties, the embarrassment was hers to bear.

    And to Tae-hyuk, her behavior appeared as nothing more than a defensive stance against him.

    He had left the dinner party to meet her, only to be told not to come any closer.

    This was like being treated as a stalker.

    Even if she wanted to avoid encountering him in the hospital, Na-young shouldn’t have acted this way.

    Because, after all, he was a professor, and she was a resident.

    “I don’t like that,” Tae-hyuk said, moving his foot towards her.

    *****

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