Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Su-neunim's Lab Demo
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“Didn’t you know? Those guys these days are su…….”
Eom Jin-han cut himself off and turned to look at Lee Jun and Choi Woo-jin.
“Let’s not do that and head to the practice room, seniors.”
“The practice room? Isn’t class in session right now?”
“Yeah, it’s the third-years’ practice time. They’re working on lines right now.”
“Teach ’em well. They need to learn properly so they don’t have to poke a bunch of times later—just get it in one shot.”
“That’s why I’m asking you seniors to help. You’re the best practice instructors there are.”
“Lee Jun’s the total pro instructor.”
“Exactly. Show the juniors a thing or two.”
“Alright then. Lee Jun, go show off our class’s prestige.”
“Where’s the prestige coming from in there?”
“Hey, you’re bringing light to the blind. Of course it’s prestigious. Those kids have insane luck today.”
“That’s what I’m saying. Come on, seniors, let’s go.”
Lee Jun got dragged along by the two into the practice room upstairs.
The barking of dogs and voices of people grew louder with every step up the stairs.
[Ow, that hurts!]
[It hurts, you punks. Why do you keep stabbing me?!]
[Let go of my front leg? I’ll bite you for real!]
Growls. Grrr, woof woof, arf arf, yap yap.
Amid the furious barking of the agitated dogs,
“St-stay still. Don’t move!”
“I’m not moving. You’re the one shaking…….”
“Hey, what if you stick the needle there?”
“Qu-quick, do it. This one looks pissed.”
The flustered students’ voices echoed loudly down the hallway.
‘Was I like that back in the day too?’
Lee Jun belatedly felt sorry for the dog that had gotten poked by newbie him while drawing blood.
When they arrived at the practice room, Eom Jin-han flung the door open and shouted loudly.
“Alright, everyone, attention!”
Eom Jin-han’s voice made the students’ chatter stop at least.
But it didn’t quiet the excited dogs’ barking.
[Hey, hey, you came at the right time. Save me. I can’t survive this kid.]
[Yeah. Teacher, save me please. Look at my front leg—it’s all mangled from how much he’s poked it.]
[Can I just go home and rest now?]
And so on—the dogs vented their individual complaints at Eom Jin-han.
“Eom Jin-han, you’ve got insane trust from these dogs?”
“Huh?”
“Totally. You must feed them tons of good stuff?”
“They work hard. Gotta eat well. You said it yourself, senior—sucks even more if you don’t eat right after hard work. And they’re always so grateful and sorry, so I take extra good care of them.”
“That’s true. So you’ll give them something tasty after today too?”
“Of course. Got a ton of chicken ready for a special treat.”
At Eom Jin-han’s words, the dogs’ ears perked up.
They reacted to the word “special treat.”
Noticing that, Lee Jun grinned and said,
“You all hear that? Your boss says special treats coming up soon. So hang in there just a bit longer.”
[Eek, sounded like special treat.]
[Wonder what it is today.]
[He said chicken, you idiot!]
[Idiot? Then are you a scaredy-cat? Crying and freaking out after one poke!]
[What? Scaredy-cat?]
[Yeah, scaredy-cat, what else?]
[You little!]
The dogs, already on edge, started bickering sharply.
Deciding that wouldn’t do, Lee Jun spoke up.
“Tsk! You lot, quiet down or else? Shadow, Whitey! You two, one more peep out of you and no special treats!”
Even at Lee Jun’s words, the two dogs kept growling.
They must’ve figured no way a human understands them.
“Pfft, say ‘scaredy-cat’ one more time. I’ll tell your boss to starve you till tomorrow.”
Lee Jun reluctantly threatened the dogs.
[Wait. That guy… seems like he gets what we’re saying?]
[Y-yeah. Kinda does.]
“I get it. So shut up!”
Only then did the dogs finally close their mouths.
The sudden silence left the students baffled.
Eom Jin-han was too, but he quickly pulled himself together.
“So, how about that? That’s the power of the great ‘Su-neunim.’”
“Wha……!”
“Su-neunim?”
The quiet practice room buzzed. Eom Jin-han looked around at the excited students with a triumphant expression.
“Yeah, this is the Su-neunim you all worship.”
Silence blanketed the practice room again in an instant.
So quiet you could almost hear eyeballs rolling.
But that hush soon shattered.
“Whoa!”
“Wow, really?”
“You’re really Su-neunim?”
“You’re the director of Meongmeong Animal Hospital?”
“Su-neunim’s our senior?”
“I told you. He’s from our school.”
The students shouted out one by one. The place grew noisy again.
The startled dogs seized the chance to bark wildly too.
Lee Jun liked the welcome, but worried about accidents, so he spoke up.
“Quiet!”
The instant Lee Jun opened his mouth, the barking stopped. Then the murmuring students shut up too.
“Man, that works like a charm. Silencing dogs and undergrads at once—Su-neunim for sure.”
“What Su-neunim. But why are they like that?”
“I told you, senior. You’re the role model for the undergrads these days.”
Before Eom Jin-han finished, the students surged forward from their seats.
“Su-neunim, sign my surgery book please.”
“Me too.”
“M-me too.”
“I want some of Su-neunim’s aura too.”
Two books per student. One their own, the other for classmates who couldn’t come with their dogs.
As students clamored for signatures, Eom Jin-han yelled,
“Alright, signatures later. Back to your seats for now.”
Some returned, but a few lingered around Lee Jun, unable to let go.
“B Class is super Haenguni to meet the busy Su-neunim in person. Right?”
“Yes!”
“But you wanna waste this precious time on signatures? Can’t help you then. Su-neunim’s super busy, remember.”
The students trickled back to their spots.
Lee Jun greeted them.
“Nice to meet you all. I’m Lee Jun, your senior and director of Meongmeong Animal Hospital.”
“He’s really our s-senior.”
“Legit. The Meongmeong director.”
The students gazed at Lee Jun with even brighter faces than before.
“Ahem. And he’s a surgery alum.”
Eom Jin-han added, making the students buzz again.
“S-surgery? Su-neunim did surgery?”
“No way. So Su-neunim went around looking like those surgery seniors too?”
The students, incredulous about Lee Jun being surgery, glanced between him and Eom Jin-han.
Then one nodded.
“Can’t picture Su-neunim as one of those surgery seniors, but our school’s surgery skills are the best, so it makes sense.”
“Hearing you, it clicks. Wanna be like Su-neunim? Surgery’s the way.”
“Huh? I was gonna apply for surgery too.”
“You too? Me three.”
Lee Jun, Choi Woo-jin, and Eom Jin-han exchanged smiles hearing them.
Lee Jun spoke for them.
“Love the fire, guys. Hope you all pick surgery. Professor Song would love it.”
Such bold statements from students were like rain in a drought for grad students complaining about shortages.
Lee Jun smiled warmly and continued.
“But you really wanna go for surgery grad school?”
“Yes!”
They answered in perfect unison. Lee Jun’s smile deepened.
“Good. Since you’re juniors, I’ll keep it casual. You sure you know what Teacher Eom’s life is like?”
No one answered this time.
Not clueless—just hesitant.
“Then anyone know how other surgery grad seniors live?”
Lee Jun asked again, and students hesitantly replied.
“……Stuck at school all day.”
“Living in the on-call room?”
“Like ghosts…… no, slaves…… uh, ghosts haunting the place…….”
One student trailed off, face flushing red in shock at his own words.
“That’s right. Tied to the school hospital all day, barely time to go home sometimes. Just think of it as living at school full-time. Not always, though.”
“Then what?”
“If you wanna take it easy, go home, live chill. Run papers through a translator, skim ’em. Stay at school only for your shifts.”
Students exchanged puzzled looks.
But Lee Jun’s next words flipped them to “knew it” faces.
“But in this field, more cases mean faster skills. More skills mean more lives saved with these hands.”
Lee Jun held up his hand as he spoke.
“To do that, see one more case, practice one more time—but when for going home? Anyway, surgery hopefuls, take note.”
Wrapping up grad school talk, Lee Jun shifted to practice.
“Alright, class time. IV lines tougher than they look?”
“Yeah.”
The students chorused as sudden noise from outside filtered in. The back door opened, and students peeked in.
“What’re you guys doing?”
Eom Jin-han asked.
“Uh, Su-neunim’s here…….”
“Came to see Su-neunim.”
“We wanna greet Su-neunim too, teacher!”
They’d blabbed in the group chat about Su-neunim being there.
Guessing as much, Eom Jin-han laughed.
“Word spreads fast. Come on in.”
The students poured in.
All eyes turned to Lee Jun.
They filed in quietly with expectant faces, sitting in empty spots or standing in back.
Some who couldn’t fit just stood outside.
“No clue what’s going on here.”
Lee Jun gave Eom Jin-han and Choi Woo-jin a baffled look.
He’d just come to say hi to his old prof, not get mobbed by juniors.
Juniors he’d never met.
“That’s ’cause you’re popular, senior. Show us a move. The One-Shot One-Kill Man’s secret to nailing IVs first try, every time!”
One-Shot One-Kill Man was a nickname from back when Lee Jun nailed IV lines on any animal in one go.
“I’ve heard that legend.”
“Me too. Thought it was fake.”
“Guess not. That’s Su-neunim.”
“Whoa.”
The students stared at Lee Jun with sparkling eyes.
Under their hot gazes, Lee Jun scanned the dogs in the room.
‘First time, so pick one with visible veins?’
Pros don’t care about color.
But for teaching know-how, visible veins were best.
‘Yeah, that white one.’
Lee Jun approached Whitey.
“You’re up for some work today.”
[Me?]
“You look bravest. Won’t hurt.”
With praise for bravery and double special treats, Lee Jun got Whitey’s promise to stay still.
[Well, if so…….]
“Thanks.”
Eom Jin-han prepped the IV line and venous catheter, and students swarmed Lee Jun.
On tiptoes or chairs to see, some climbed lab tables.
Lee Jun pointed behind Whitey.
“You can watch from there.”
“But the restrainer blocks the view?”
“No prob. Skipping the restrainer for your view.”
For blood draws or X-rays, right positioning is key.
The restrainer holds that pose, and hitting veins without one is tough even for vets with years under their belt.
No restrainer?
Students looked skeptical, but at Lee Jun’s cue, Whitey extended his front leg.
Snap!
“Good boy. Not just brave—you’re smart too, Whitey.”
Pleased by the praise, Whitey followed Lee Jun’s lead perfectly.
Even as the catheter pierced skin into vein and blood flashed back, Whitey sat still as instructed.
“Whoa, slid right in.”
“Amazing. Truly!”
“Insane! No restrainer and first-try success. Su-neunim!”
“And check Whitey’s reaction. Was he ever this chill? No muzzle, no collar, just sits.”
“Yeah. He yanked his paw and growled at me.”
“But…… it’s Su-neunim.”
“Exactly. That’s why.”
Exclamations erupted everywhere.
When they tried, dogs barked and thrashed to escape—routine.
Multiple pokes standard.
Lee Jun made it look effortless, so shock was natural.
As students said, unmuzzled and uncollared Whitey sat calmly with the IV in his front leg.
Lee Jun’s near-miraculous demo cranked the already hot practice room to boiling.