Hua Tuo Becomes a Surgeon - Chapter 3

Bang, bang. Bang, bang…

“Hey! Anchovy. Open the door, I know you’re in there! Open it now!”

Hwabu, who had been mimicking the doctor’s movements in the video, frowned at the sudden commotion.

“Is it that Kim Hyungsun who called earlier?”

He pondered for a moment on what to do.

Originally, there was no need for him to react since the owner of this body was already dead.

‘Huh? Hold on! But it feels like a considerable amount of time has passed, so why hasn’t the possession ended?’

He looked at the clock and saw that more than four hours had passed since he was possessed.

‘Can possession last this long?’

Doubts began to creep in.

No, in fact, doubts had started the moment he realized that the blood was circulating through his body and that his organs were functioning just like those of a living person.

‘Is it not possession? Then what is it? After thousands of years, another soul has inhabited someone else’s body…’

Reincarnation? Transmigration? Summoning? Possession? Afterlife?

Whatever it was, it was hard to define, but for some reason, he didn’t feel like he was about to die anytime soon.

Bang, bang. Bang, bang, bang…

As the knocking on the door grew louder and Kim Hyungsun’s voice became more urgent, Hwabu sighed and opened the door.

‘I don’t know when I’m going to die, but let’s stop the noise for now.’

As soon as he opened the door, Kim Hyungsun barged in and grabbed him by the collar.

“Hey, you crazy bastard! After your on-call duty…”

Pak.

In an instant, Hwabu’s fist reflexively struck Kim Hyungsun’s jaw. Having lived through an era of war where blood had never dried up, his body automatically reacted the moment he was attacked.

“Ugh!”

Kim Hyungsun staggered, seemingly shocked, swaying and nearly falling forward. If Hwabu had not caught him, he would fallen face first to the floor.

“Hmm, did I react a bit too harshly? But then again, it felt like there wasn’t much to lose.”

Hwabu, who had absorbed Lee Minho’s memories, belatedly realized that the punch he had just thrown without thinking was a level of violence that might be unacceptable for the people in this era.

‘It’s just a mild concussion, so it’s not too much to worry about……’

“Uuugh!”

Kim Hyungsun, who had sat down for a moment, grimaced and, realizing that he had been punched by Lee Minho, abruptly stood up.

“Son of a…! Did you just hit me?”

Kim Hyungsun immediately swung his fist, but Hwabu dodged it effortlessly and struck his jaw once again.

Pak.

“Keuk!”

Kim Hyungsun staggered back after being hit to the jaw, and quickly got up, but lost his balance and fell back down.

“Haa! My hand keeps going reflexively.”

This time, he didn’t support Kim Hyungsun.

***

‘Fuck, I can’t believe I got beaten by this anchovy bastard!’

After a while, Kim Hyungsun came to his senses and rubbed his jaw with tears in his eyes. Part of him wanted to rush in and smash Lee Minho’s face right away, but he hesitated because he thought he might get beaten up again.

“I reflexively hit you without thinking. I’m sorry.”

“……”

“But what brings you here?”

Hwabu asked with a slightly apologetic expression as Kim Hyungsun glared at him while wiping his tears.

In fact, he already had a clue about the reason he came.

Nevertheless, he asked anyway because it wasn’t his decision to make.

‘I’m not the owner of this body… I don’t know when the possession will end.’

Seeing no signs of it ending anytime soon, he thought it might continue for a while.

‘If the possession doesn’t end soon…’

He wanted to see the doctors of this era… No, he wanted to see for himself how doctors in this era treated patients in hospitals.

‘I hope the possession doesn’t end too soon so I can experience more about this era!’

While he was making up his mind, Kim Hyungsun, who had been wearing a bewildered expression for a while, suddenly raised his voice as if he was about to cry.

“What do you mean, what brings me here? You don’t know and you’re asking me?”

“If my memory serves me right, today is supposed to be my day off.”

“Hey! Where is there a day off for an intern? The residents are already grinding their teeth right now just because you didn’t stay after your shift! I know you’re upset, but you should still be cautious of the residents’ reactions if you don’t want to do a residence at a provincial hospital!”

The reason why residents had absolute power over interns was because they were the ones who gave the interns their evaluation scores. And if the evaluation score was low, interns wouldn’t be able to stay at the university hospital and were often pushed to a branch hospital or a provincial hospital.

However, Hwabu wasn’t particularly moved by Kim Hyungsun’s words.

Even though he didn’t know when the possession would end, he would eventually bid farewell to this world once it did. So, what did it matter if he used his medical skills in Seoul or a provincial area?

“Hmm! So, even on my day off, I should come to the hospital if a resident calls?”

“Of course, if the resident calls, you have to come in even if you’re off. Even the professors come in when they get an emergency call. Who do you think you are?”

“Well, then. I got it. Let’s go to the hospital.”

When he readily agreed, Kim Hyungsun seemed to be surprised.

If you’re going to agree so easily, why did you answer the phone like that and make me come all the way here?

“Damn it, you were acting like you were about to leave earlier, but now you’re chickening out when you actually think about the aftermath?”

“Chickening out? What are you talking about…… Ah! You think I’m scared? I’m not chicken at all.”

“If you’re scared, just admit it. What’s the point of pretending?”

Even though Hwabu stood up, Kim Hyungsun just sat there. He was puzzled and asked.

“You’re not going to the hospital? Didn’t you come to pick me up?”

“I did come to pick you up, but are you really planning to go to work looking like that?”

“What’s wrong with my appearance? Ah! I see, it’s a mess. I’ll go wash up, so you go first.”

“If I go first and you don’t come, I’ll have to come back and get you again, so how can I go first? I’ll wait here, so go wash up and come out quickly.”

“Whatever’s convenient for you.”

When Hwabu went to the bathroom to wash, Kim Hyungsun rubbed his jaw, which was still slightly tingling, and gritted his teeth.

I know how stressed he was to throw a punch at me, but he still shouldn’t take it out on me!

‘I must not have been taking care of myself lately, so I’ve been hit by that anchovy. Just wait! I’ll give you a good beating once I get in shape.’

If he had been hit by someone other than Lee Minho, he would have rushed to the hospital, got a medical certificate, and run to the police station. However, the other person had been wronged so much, and he was even smaller than him, so he didn’t want to do that.

***

Vroooom…

‘That’s a car! That’s a motorcycle, and is that person drinking an iced Americano? My goodness, I can’t believe they can eat ice to their heart’s content in this hot weather! People in this era really live in luxury!”

As he left the *studio and followed Kim Hyungsun to the hospital, Hwabu’s eyes darted around restlessly. ((*one-room flat/apartment))

Seeing the world he had accepted as Lee Minho’s memories with his own eyes made everything seem like a new world.

‘In my day, even doctors carried swords. Here, there are hardly any people carrying weapons!’

In the era he lived in, women, the elderly, and even children had to carry weapons to protect themselves.

“What are you looking around for? We need to go in before lunchtime is over!”

Kim Hyungsun, who was walking ahead, got annoyed, and Hwabu quickened his pace, shrugging his shoulders.

“You might be angry because of the punch earlier, sorry about that. Living in a harsh world, my defense mechanism kicked without me realizing, but I’ll be careful next time, so please understand.”

Crack.

Kim Hyungsun’s face contorted at Hwabu’s apology.

“What? Understand? *After getting slapped in Jongno and venting at the Han River, you’re telling me not to talk shit? I didn’t sue you for assault because I’m going to beat you up badly later, so save your apologies.”

((*he’s talking about being vented at when he’s not even the reason why Lee Minho was stressed))

“Hmm! You’re still quite angry. I’m sorry.”

“I told you not to apologize.”

“Alright. If you don’t want to receive apologies to that extent, then I won’t apologize.”

“Haa! Shit, what did I do… and I didn’t even have a proper breakfast, I should at least get a triangular kimbap.”

When Kim Hyungsun entered a convenience store on the way to the hospital, Hwabu followed suit.

Ignoring Hwabu, Kim Hyungsun picked up two triangular kimbaps and a drink from the display shelf.

“Is that triangular kimbap?”

“Of course it’s triangle kimbap, what else could it be? Square kimbap?”

‘I wonder what it tastes like.’

Hwabu was curious about the taste, so he grabbed ten triangular kimbaps of different kinds and five different drinks.

Looking at Lee Minho’s hands full of kimbaps and drinks, Kim Hyungsun’s eyes widened.

“Why are you buying so much?”

“I’m curious about the taste of these… Ah! No, I haven’t eaten yet.”

Hwabu quickly changed his words, realizing that he needed to imitate Lee Minho.

“What have you been doing without eating?”

“I got distracted watching surgical videos.”

“Even if you’re watching videos, you have to eat. It’s Friday, so you might not even be able to eat dinner.”

“You can’t eat dinner on Friday? Why?”

“Friday is the day when the most severe trauma patients come in! You’ve been on CS (cardiothoracic surgery) for almost a month now and you haven’t even figured out the routine?”

“Ah! That’s right. Ahem, that’s why I’m going to eat a lot beforehand.”

“But can you run around after eating all that?”

“I can definitely do it.”

“……”

Kim Hyungsun tilted his head and asked.

“But why are you talking like that?”

“My way of speaking? What’s wrong with it…?”

Hwabu quickly recalled his memories and realized that he was using an awkward way of speaking in this era.

“Haha! I guess I watched too many historical dramas.”

Kim Hyungsun shook his head and put the kimbaps and drinks on the cashier’s counter.

Hwabu quickly followed suit.

“Are you going to pay together?”

“No. Please ring them up separately.”

While Kim Hyungsun took out his card from his wallet and handed it over, Hwabu, who was behind him, hurriedly searched his own pockets.

Suddenly, Hwabu’s face changed to bewid.

“Oh! I didn’t bring my wallet?”

It only then occurred to him that he had only taken his phone, which was on the bed, when he changed clothes.

“What? No wallet?”

“U-uh. Sorry, but can you pay for mine too?”

“Damn, you’re so annoying. Sir, just ring them up together.”

“Yes.”

Hwabu felt slightly embarrassed when Kim Hyungsun paid for his meal as well.

“Thank you. I’ll eat well.”

“It’s not a treat, so pay me back later.”

“Got it.”

Kim Hyungsun went to the area with small tables and chairs in the convenience store and started eating the kimbap, Hwabu followed him and, copying what he did, unwrapped the plastic from the kimbap and started tasting them one by one.

‘Hehe, the ramen was amazing, but triangular kimbap is also fantastic! How much research did people in this era do to be able to create such flavors?’

While eating the triangular kimbap, he glanced over the display shelf and saw a lot of other things to eat.

‘I wonder what those taste like.’

He wanted to buy them all and try them immediately, but unfortunately, his wallet was not with him.

If the possession lasted a bit longer, Hwabu thought about coming back with his wallet later and trying all of those foods.