Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Wrapping Up Year 1 (2)
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The gallery ghosts' cold, hard facts hit me like a punch to the gut, but I forced a cool "What do you know?" vibe and closed the window.
Still, those comments stabbed right into my chest.
"Let's think positively" is basically the most polite way to say "Get lost" in the real world.
I'd failed.
But I couldn't just give up like this.
Lee Min-jae's manic glare and his curse-like words—"The future of our department rests on your shoulders"—wouldn't leave my mind.
Right, it's not just Park Seong-jeong.
There were still more interns left.
And so my desperate, pathetic courtship of the interns continued.
I prowled the emergency room like a hyena, scanning for interns who looked like they needed help or were struggling.
Just then, I spotted Intern Choi Min-seong over by the side, taking a 12-lead ECG on a patient and tearing off the long printout.
I zipped over to him at the speed of light.
"Hey! Min-seong!"
"Yes, doctor?"
"Hand me that ECG paper. Want me to drop it off at the station on my way? You're busy, right?"
I snatched the results from his hand.
Choi Min-seong stared at me, looking utterly bewildered for a moment.
His eyes practically screamed, *What's with this guy suddenly acting all nice and shit?*
I flashed him the kindest, most benevolent smile I could muster.
But my one-sided acts of kindness didn't stop there.
At the triage desk, I saw Intern Park Seong-jeong buried under a mountain of emergency patient sorting charts.
Classic busywork.
I swooped in like a hero.
Well, more like *my* subjective version of a hero.
"Seong-jeong!"
"Yes, doctor..."
"Don't sort those triage notes! Stop! That's senior stuff! Hands off!"
I yanked the stack of charts from his hands.
"EM doesn't have that outdated bullshit. We're super progressive here—seniors handle all the grunt work! Go see another patient! That's *your* job!"
Park Seong-jeong's face was a mix of confusion and感动.
But I clearly saw the nurses nearby, who'd watched the whole thing, shaking with barely suppressed laughter.
Funny?
I'm grinding my teeth here, giving it my all.
Don't laugh, you bastards.
That's when I was going full throttle on my image makeover.
From the corner of the station, Kim Ji-hoon—who'd watched the entire spectacle from start to finish—looked at me like I was some gross bug and said,
"Hey."
"Yeah?"
"You should probably quit while you're ahead."
"Quit what?"
"You know, that 'nice senior' cosplay. It's embarrassing just watching. My toes are curling."
"Cosplay? You little shit! I'm helping the juniors out of the pure goodness of my heart!"
Kim Ji-hoon clicked his tongue at my indignant outburst.
"That's why you handled that ass-full-of-something patient so cleanly? Out of the goodness of your heart?"
"..."
I was speechless for a second.
This guy's hitting me with cheap facts.
Let's counter with some honorable bullshit.
"Uh, that was for educational purposes! A senior giving his juniors a valuable learning experience!"
"Bullshit."
With that, Kim Ji-hoon grabbed my mixed coffee from beside me and took a sip.
*Slurp.*
He took another swig, then sighed.
"Hah... How many applicants we got this year, I wonder..."
I frowned at his out-of-nowhere mutter.
"Why? What's the worry?"
"What's the worry?"
Kim Ji-hoon looked at me like I was some naive kid who knew nothing about the world.
"You know these interns are almost done, right? Application season's coming up. Next year's fate for our department is in those fresh kids' hands."
He nodded toward the interns scurrying around with patient charts.
"No way none of them will apply, right?"
I was floored by his self-deprecating tone.
"What're you talking about? We filled ours last time. TO was four: me, you, Jo Soo-yeon, Choi Min-jun. All four spots. Wasn't short last year either, so why worry already?"
Instead of comfort, my words made Kim Ji-hoon look even more despairing.
"You idiot."
He said.
"That was a miracle."
"Huh?"
"How many second-years now? Two! Started with four—one bailed after six months to private practice, another ghosted outta nowhere! Third-years: three. Fourth-years: three! In the last five years, our year is the *only* one that fully filled TO. We're the weird ones, dumbass!"
...Huh.
Now that I think about it, yeah.
"But why did we..."
"That drama back then! Kids got hyped watching it, all 'EM is so badass!' and swarmed us. Plus, Professor Cheon Eun-jeong was killing it with lectures and recruitment. Hell, even Jo Soo-yeon only joined EM because *you* sweet-talked her."
...Yeah, that tracks.
And I was the one who dragged Jo Soo-yeon into EM.
Sorry.
"But this year? Drama's over, Professor Cheon barely lectures anymore. Word among interns is our ER's 'the hellhole you never go to.' No way it's zero, right? At least one..."
Kim Ji-hoon's voice trailed off smaller and smaller.
Short-staffed.
A death sentence for residents.
The shortfall means more on-call shifts and less rest dumped on whoever's left.
If no one joins next year, me, Kim Ji-hoon, Jo Soo-yeon, Choi Min-jun.
The four of us face three years of hell way worse than now.
I shoved down the anxiety bubbling up inside and patted Kim Ji-hoon's back.
"Come on, don't freak out. It'll work out somehow."
I glanced around the station.
Zero applicants... On-call shifts 1.5 times more next year?
Fuck. Horrifying just thinking about it.
We were side by side, staring into our grim future, sinking into despair's abyss.
"Um... excuse me, doctors."
An unfamiliar yet clear, youthful voice called out.
I looked up. A woman in a white coat stood by the station, clutching a document envelope, staring at us.
"Ah, yes. What is it..."
I started to reply casually, then froze when I saw her face.
Huh.
That face.
Neatly tied hair, bright eyes behind round glasses.
Baek Eun-seo?
Three letters on her name tag.
Hmm... Sounds familiar.
Face rings a bell.
A face from an unforgettable moment.
I racked my brain desperately.
When was it?
When?
Oh.
That day.
The day I got possessed by God's Scalpel and sliced open a patient's belly in the ER resuscitation room.
Blood spraying, seniors freaking out, me barking orders in casual speech—right in the middle of that hell, the terrified intern bunny-like face, scrambling with gauze.
The shock was so huge, I barely remembered the others there, but her scared rabbit face stuck faintly.
"Uh, wh-what's up?"
I stammered without thinking.
That document envelope in her hand felt ominous.
Did something from that day catch up? Is she here to complain?
Did I screw her intern eval?
"Um, about the resident recruitment application..."
She spoke.
"Normally it's straight to Education Training, but the notice said EM, Surgery, Pathology go direct to department admin to consolidate. Where's admin...?"
Resident... application?
My brain short-circuited, failing to process.
"Ah... yeah? Application? So right now..."
My voice shook as I asked the big question.
"You're applying for EM first-year? Or second choice maybe...?"
Please. Please. God.
Buddha.
Allah.
If you haven't forsaken me, please.
Baek Eun-seo met my desperate eyes and beamed innocently.
"Ah, EM! First choice!"
The world slowed to a crawl.
A halo seemed to glow behind Baek Eun-seo.
No, if my eyes weren't lying, there really was one.
Emergency room angel of salvation descending.
Our messiah.
Living saint guaranteeing my days off next year.
I fought to control my face, suppressing the fireworks and whoops exploding inside.
Bit my lower lip to stop my mouth from grinning like an idiot.
"Y-yeah! Great choice! Excellent decision!"
My finger creaked pointing over there.
"See that? Admin window! Drop it there! Tell 'em you're applying to EM—they'll guide you super nicely!"
"Yes! Thank you, doctor!"
Baek Eun-seo bowed 90 degrees politely and trotted to the admin window.
I whipped around to Kim Ji-hoon, who'd been spacing out beside me.
Grabbed his shoulders.
"You see that!!! See it, Kim Ji-hoon!!! She's coming!!! That angel just said she's coming!!! Not zero!!!!!!! We're saved!!!!!!"
I howled, shaking Kim Ji-hoon's shoulders like a maniac.
Not zero.
A first-year is coming.