Chapter 120
Chapter 120
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: Operating Room
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After Yi Yeon-ji was put under anesthesia, Na Gang-in entered the operating room.
Lee Jeong-ho said with a tense expression.
"Once we make the first incision on her abdomen, we have to finish the entire surgery within one hour. If we go even a minute over, her life will be in danger."
Son Seong-hyeon, who was handling the anesthesia, remarked.
"It's a surgery that would normally take six hours, squeezed into just one... It's such a shame we can't record this for training purposes."
Recording it would leave evidence behind. That's why there was no video of this operation.
Lee Jeong-ho made the incision on Yi Yeon-ji's abdomen, and the surgery began.
He excised the diseased tissue and reconstructed the necessary areas. Na Gang-in immediately sutured the sites.
Na Gang-in's hands, controlled by the AI Jeon Ji-in, moved with perfect precision and machine-like speed. There was far less bleeding than Lee Jeong-ho had anticipated. The surgery was progressing quickly.
Lee Jeong-ho felt a spark of hope.
"If it keeps going like this, we can do it. This surgery is going to succeed!"
Son Mi-yeon said in a desperate voice.
"Please."
That hope shattered in just twenty minutes.
Na Gang-in's eyes quickly scanned the surroundings. Sparks flew from equipment in the corner.
Na Gang-in was in the middle of suturing and couldn't stop. He warned Lee Jeong-ho.
"The equipment in the back is going to explode!"
Lee Jeong-ho, who had been watching Na Gang-in's suturing with both hands raised, turned around in shock.
"Gah!"
Lee Jeong-ho could see electricity arcing across the surface of the equipment. If it blew up now, the surgery would be over.
He reached out quickly to shut off the power.
The power switched off the moment he pressed it. But a problem arose.
The leaking electricity was stronger than expected. It pierced his surgical glove and zapped his finger.
"Ugh!"
Son Mi-yeon asked urgently.
"You okay?"
"I'm fi... "
He wasn't fine. Lee Jeong-ho's face turned pale.
"M-My fingers won't move! They're numb!"
"No! Seong-hyeon! This is your operating room! What's with that equipment?!"
Son Seong-hyeon, handling the anesthesia, panicked too.
"No, I bought that secondhand, and I hadn't used it since, so I only turned it on once when I got it..."
"You bastard..."
Na Gang-in finished the suturing he was assigned and said.
"We need to keep the surgery going, right?"
Lee Jeong-ho raised his right hand. Two fingers wouldn't move. He couldn't hold a scalpel like this.
He turned to the side with a desperate look.
"Jung-seok. You've been watching me all this time. You can do it, right?"
Surgeon Kim Jung-seok replied with a pale face.
"It's still too much for me."
"You're the only one. I'll guide you from the side on where and how, so you do it."
They could manage that way. But there was a reason they couldn't.
"That way, we won't finish within the time limit. Time is life in this surgery, isn't it?"
"But there's no other way! Just do exactly what I've been doing!"
"But..."
Kim Jung-seok wanted to if he could. But he knew the reality.
'This is like a drowning man grasping at straws.'
Right now, a few straws wouldn't save them. They needed a life vest. But no life vest was in sight.
Na Gang-in asked quietly.
"Ji-in. Can you replicate the incisions and reconstructions exactly as you've seen so far?"
"So you can do it?"
Na Gang-in proposed to Lee Jeong-ho.
"I'll do it."
"Pardon?"
"You said just follow the exact methods you've shown so far. Tell me where and how."
Lee Jeong-ho's eyes wavered. Na Gang-in was only supposed to handle suturing. They'd confirmed his skill there. But not with a scalpel.
Na Gang-in said.
"Time keeps ticking."
Son Seong-hyeon didn't know much about Na Gang-in. He quickly chimed in.
"If he's that good at suturing, he's probably handled a scalpel before! Bro-in-law! There's no other way!"
Lee Jeong-ho snapped back to reality. There was no other way.
"Please, I beg you."
"Just so you know, I can only do exactly what you showed during Dad's surgery today."
"Yes. That's all we need for the rest."
The surgery resumed.
The difficult parts were already done. What remained was repeating the removal of similar affected areas and reconstructing blood vessels. Lee Jeong-ho guided where to work.
Na Gang-in's hands moved like machines without the slightest hesitation. And incredibly fast.
Lee Jeong-ho had no choice but to hand the scalpel to Na Gang-in—and he was stunned.
'Can human hands move this fast?'
Beyond the speed, there was something else astonishing.
'His movements are exactly like mine. It's like watching my own hands.'
The AI Jeon Ji-in had perfectly copied Lee Jeong-ho's hand movements.
Lee Jeong-ho's finger numbness was gradually fading. But he didn't take back the scalpel.
'Let's keep it on Na Gang-in.'
He glanced at the clock. The surgery was progressing faster than expected.
'We can save her!'
Lee Bo-ra arrived at the outdoor art exhibition. She looked around.
"Where's Eun-ha?"
As she scanned about, Kim Yu-chan approached.
"Bo-ra! I'm glad you made it!"
"Huh? 'You made it'? What does that mean?"
"Everyone else said they had something come up and they'd be late."
"I always keep my promises... Wait, what about Eun-ha?"
"She said she's sleeping in."
With a flicker of hope, she asked.
"Awesome! So Oppa Gang-in is the only one here early?"
"Gang-in? Why would Gang-in come here?"
"You didn't invite him?"
"Gang-in doesn't usually show up for public events."
"Eun-ha could bring him."
"She mentioned it, but he said he has a prior commitment today."
Lee Bo-ra's lips curled up involuntarily.
'Eun-ha's influence is weaker than I thought? She acted like they were flirting or something? Does Oppa Gang-in just see her as a close female friend? Yeah, that seems right.'
Feeling upbeat, Lee Bo-ra beamed.
"Any good paintings? I need something for the wall."
"Yeah! Since you're here, buy one. Two would be even better. That money goes to a good cause. And post the painting you buy on SNS right away."
"Why right away?"
"The celebrities coming today need to do that so fans show up and buy other pieces too."
"Ah..."
Kim Yu-chan suggested.
"Wouldn't it be better to take off your sunglasses and mask while looking around? That way people know you came, and the buzz spreads more."
Lee Bo-ra declined.
"I want to stroll and enjoy the art like this today. I'll definitely post on SNS though."
In a car parked a short distance from the outdoor art exhibition, a man monitoring the venue through a telephoto lens-equipped camera spoke.
"A woman has made contact with the male actor from the organizing side."
"Target?"
"Face covered by mask and sunglasses, plus a hat—can't confirm. Body looks like a celebrity's."
"Photo."
The man operated the camera. Lee Bo-ra's photo appeared on the monitor.
The boss displayed a photo on his smartphone. It was of Shin Eun-ha fighting the drug cartel at Cheongpyeong Lake. She had an arrow wound then, so there was a hole in her clothes.
The boss compared Lee Bo-ra and Shin Eun-ha's photos.
"They look similar... The unique shoe design matches exactly. Target confirmed."
"Prepare?"
The boss unfolded a map handed out at the park entrance and pointed to one spot.
"This area's out of sight. When the target reaches here while viewing the paintings, we move in."
Kim Yu-chan asked Lee Bo-ra.
"By the way, about your shoes. Didn't Eun-ha have the exact same ones? Friends buying matching stuff?"
Lee Bo-ra bristled.
"No! I got these from the custom shoemaker in my neighborhood! Eun-ha just bought from the same place! And! I bought mine first!"
"Okay, okay. Why get mad?"
The surgery ended.
There was a recovery room for surgery patients here. Yi Yeon-ji was moved there.
Lee Jeong-ho bowed his head in gratitude.
"Thank you. My daughter is alive because of you."
"Looks like the surgery went well."
"You did it yourself, so you know better than anyone."
"I just followed Dad's instructions."
With Yi Yeon-ji's surgery a success, Lee Jeong-ho felt some relief. He asked what had been bothering him throughout.
"Um... How do you have the exact same surgical habits as me? Technique aside, matching habits is tough..."
"I watched."
"Pardon?"
"I learned by watching you operate today. I just copied exactly what you did."
"No, that doesn't make sense..."
Yet he'd seen it happen with his own eyes just moments ago.
Lee Jeong-ho couldn't understand but decided to accept it. The important thing was his daughter lived.
Looking at Na Gang-in, he thought of the only explanation that fit.
'A genius?'
Yi Yeon-ji needed time to wake up.
Na Gang-in waited at the hospital in case of emergencies.
His phone was off. For the same reason they didn't record the surgery—no evidence that he'd been at the hospital all day.
Plastic surgery director Lee Seong-hyeon lent him a laptop. Na Gang-in passed the time gathering info online as usual.
Yi Yeon-ji woke up.
"It hurts. It really hurts."
Even with painkillers, it hurt. She grimaced.
Lee Jeong-ho said with a bright face.
"The surgery was a success. A huge success! You're going to live!"
Yi Yeon-ji, wincing in pain, said.
"Feels like I got scammed. Dad, wasn't my illness minor?"
She knew she had something wrong. She'd been hospitalized for tests often the past few months.
But no separate treatment, no meds. They said it was nothing serious.
So she hadn't thought it was major. Then suddenly surgery.
"Mom. Dad. What was wrong with me? Surgery's over, so tell me honestly."
"Alright. You need to know now. But this stays between us."
Lee Jeong-ho explained Kaitiger syndrome.
After the story, Yi Yeon-ji said.
"Whoa. I was unknowingly living on borrowed time and got saved. If I'd known earlier, it could've helped my acting later."
Son Seong-hyeon, from the side, said.
"As you just heard, this surgery blatantly violated medical laws. Total secret. If you let it slip to anyone, we all get arrested. Don't even mention this kind of thing in acting practice later."
"Hmm... Can't tell anyone?"
"No. Not a soul."
"Who all knows right now?"
"Your parents and me. Teacher Kim Jung-seok."
"Just four?"
"Yeah... If the name of the person who helped with surgery gets out, they'd be in trouble too. Better you don't know."
They hadn't told Yi Yeon-ji Na Gang-in's name. If this got out and they faced legal consequences, they'd agreed separately to let at least Na Gang-in walk free.
Son Mi-yeon had insisted on it.
'He saved Yeon-ji's life, so we have to protect him.'
Yi Yeon-ji said.
"Got it. I'll go along with that for now."
'They must have reasons for hiding who it is. Maybe someone I know?'
Lee Jeong-ho said.
"Tomorrow we'll move you to our hospital's ward, so rest well today."
They got Yi Yeon-ji to sleep and left the room. Son Mi-yeon stayed behind.
Na Gang-in, working in the lobby, closed his laptop.
"All talked out?"
"Yes. Yeon-ji understands the situation."
Lee Jeong-ho explained the next steps.
"Yeon-ji will stabilize here for a day, then transfer to my hospital starting tomorrow for admission."
Plastic surgery director Lee Seong-hyeon asked with slight unease.
"If she gets admitted to your hospital and they find out what we did here, don't we all end up in cuffs?"
"Just keep the surgery location hidden. Paperwork and procedural issues—me, Jung-seok, and your sister can handle."
Lee Jeong-ho was the surgical department chief, Kim Jung-seok a surgeon. Son Mi-yeon ruled the surgical nursing staff. An admin would help more, but they could manage without.
Son Seong-hyeon said.
"Wow. Even after the surgery, everything we're doing is still illegal? One slip and we're all done for."
"But we saved Yeon-ji."
Son Seong-hyeon nodded.
"True. That's what matters."