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Chapter 1
Professor Min Yushin was an outsider.
It had been barely a few months since he started working at Boksan University Hospital. Even so, he had shamelessly infiltrated the place and was busy pretending to be a perfectly respectable doctor.
All while collecting a hefty paycheck every month. Without a care in the world.
Of course, Yushin knew it, too.
He knew this sacred place was completely unsuited to someone like him.
A hospital was the front line where life and death met. In that respect, it was remarkably similar to the place he had originally come from.
Both the hospital and that place were filled with people drenched in the smell of blood and sweat. The only difference was their reasons and objectives.
Here, everyone bustled about trying to save lives. Back there, they generally did the opposite.
Yushin was a man who had come from such a place.
To someone like him, the hospital was far too peaceful and tranquil.
This place really isn’t a good fit for me.
Thinking this, Yushin picked up the glasses lying on his desk. He then took the white coat off the hanger, put it on, and stood in front of the mirror.
He forced the cold expression reflected in the glass into a smile, then ran a hand through his wildly tousled hair to smooth it into place.
Only then did the familiar image of Professor Min Yushin, the man the hospital staff knew, emerge.
Professor Min Yushin, Department of Gastroenterology
He gave the name tag pinned to the left side of his chest a light tap with one long finger.
“…Hmm.”
After letting out one final, brief sigh, he opened the door to his office and headed for the elevator.
“Good morning, Professor.”
“Hello.”
The employee elevator opened on its way to the outpatient department, revealing several staff members who greeted him warmly.
Yushin returned their greetings with a faint smile and a slight nod before stepping inside.
He had already spent several months playing the role of a doctor, a profession that had never been in his destiny. Yet he had little to show for it.
Where am I supposed to start looking today…?
He pressed his lips together, slipped both hands into the pockets of his white coat, and closed his eyes.
As the elevator descended toward the first floor, where the consultation rooms were located, he quietly recalled the day he had first arrived at this place.
The only thing illuminating the room, which reeked of cheap alcohol and blood, was a single, battered surgical light.
Piano music blared from a speaker. Yushin’s hands moved swiftly to the melody of Gymnopédie. With each soft shhk, shhk, blood spread across the surface.
His mask and disposable plastic gown had long since been soaked in blood. Wearing an indifferent expression, he hummed along to the notes coming from the speaker.
Just then, a heavy metal door creaked open.
A man stepped into the room, immediately scrunching up his face and clamping a hand over his nose.
“What the hell? You’re still not done?”
Yushin didn’t answer.
The man let out a hollow laugh and turned down the speaker’s volume. Only then did Yushin briefly glance in his direction, moving nothing but his eyes.
“Oh, you’re here?”
“Don’t you ever get tired of this? How can you listen to the same music every single time?”
“It’s nice, isn’t it? So clean.”
Yushin’s companion looked him up and down, taking in his blood-soaked appearance, then shook his head.
“Yeah, right. Clean.”
“Ah, but Gymnopédie is innocent. The real problem is those bastards from the Cheonghwa Gang who sent someone back in tatters.”
“Did you find anything out?”
“Not yet. But whoever did this is clearly a professional. Did the Cheonghwa Gang hire some new people or something?”
After studying the wounds Yushin pointed out for quite some time, the man shrugged and stepped back.
“How should I know? You’re the one who’s supposed to dig that kind of stuff up.”
“Come on, damn it. Then pay me more. Looks like I’ll be up all night again today.”
At Yushin’s irritated complaint, the man reacted with surprise.
“What? You need money?”
“Who doesn’t like money?”
The man rubbed the blood pooled on the floor with the sole of his dress shoe, then looked at Yushin.
“Hey, how about I pay you more and have you do some fieldwork?”
Only then did Yushin turn his head for the first time.
His cold eyes beneath the surgical light settled on the man, followed by a brief, mocking sneer.
“That wasn’t in the contract.”
“No, it wasn’t. But there’s something else that is.”
“What?”
“I heard the Cheonghwa Gang is selling drugs there.”
Before the man had even finished speaking, the tip of the scalpel in Yushin’s hand began to tremble.
He changed his grip on the scalpel, which he had been holding loosely between his thumb and forefinger, and clenched it tightly in his palm. The blade, now brimming with force, plunged deep into the corpse’s abdomen with a wet thunk.
“Oh, really?”
Yushin’s eyes gleamed as he looked at the man.
“So? Want to give it a try?”
“Where’s the job?”
“Boksan University Hospital.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.”
Yushin’s brows furrowed instantly. Watching his reaction, the man continued.
“Come on, it’s a good deal. I’ll get you a well-paid position. You’ll make money and get what you want, too. I’ve racked my brain over this, and you’re the only bastard I can think of who’d be suitable to plant in a hospital.”
“What are the terms?”
“Work as a professor for a couple of months. All you have to do is track those guys’ movements. I hear professors get ten million won a month. Allowances are separate, of course. The company will take care of everything, from your introduction to your eventual exit. No loose ends.”
“Viper, you’ve got quite the silver tongue today.”
“It’s because we’re screwed if you turn me down. Hell, I’d even throw in some of my own money if I had to.”
At the man’s bluster, Yushin pulled down his mask with his bloodstained surgical gloves and smiled.
“Looks like you’ve managed to sell me on it. I’m interested.”
[First floor.]
There were less than ten minutes left before the morning consultations began.
As the elevator doors opened, the staff who had filled the car hurried into motion.
“Professor? Aren’t you getting off?”
“Ah… I was thinking of buying some coffee in the basement.”
Yushin smiled and took a step back.
If he got off here, he’d undoubtedly have to walk alongside those people all the way to the outpatient department.
What a pain.
The elevator doors closed, and with a rumbling sound, it began descending toward the basement.
Yushin pulled out his phone and checked his recent calls. Then he dialed Viper.
After a brief series of rings, the man’s voice came through the Bluetooth earbud in Yushin’s ear.
[Hey, Scalpel. Calling in to report for work?]
From that moment on, Yushin began unloading all his complaints.
“Another wasted day yesterday. How is it possible that I haven’t seen a single trace of those Cheonghwa Gang bastards in over a month?”
He clicked his tongue softly.
“Seriously. I’m about to start swearing my head off…”
Yushin suddenly trailed off, his eyes narrowing.
He felt the elevator cables winding slowly over the pulley above. The brakes gradually engaged, and a faint vibration traveled through the floor.
The display showed Basement Level 5.
The elevator’s speed had slowed ever so slightly. It seemed it would stop soon.
He could sense someone’s presence on the other side of the firmly shut metal doors.
“Hold on a second. Don’t hang up. Just wait.”
As he spoke, Yushin instantly bent at the waist, rounded his shoulders, and lowered his head.
The large, self-assured presence he had carried moments earlier vanished in an instant. Now, standing in the corner of the elevator, Yushin looked like nothing more than an ordinary doctor worn down by overwork.
A moment later, a ding sounded, and the doors slid open.
A woman with her hair tightly tied back in a single ponytail stepped inside.
The moment their eyes briefly met, Yushin found himself holding his breath without even realizing it.
She wasn’t particularly glamorous or strikingly beautiful at first glance.
She wasn’t wearing any special perfume, either.
And yet, Yushin felt an inexplicable sense of urgency.
…What is this?
He quickly retraced what he had just noticed. An unsettling feeling crept over him, as though he had overlooked something important. In the end, he couldn’t resist lifting his head for another look.
His gaze met hers head-on.
But this time, Yushin was the one who quickly looked away.
His heart pounded, and instinct screamed at him.
This woman is dangerous.
It was an intense premonition unlike anything he had ever experienced before. Yushin repeatedly stole sideways glances at the woman’s back.
She appeared to be standing casually, but her feet were firmly planted on the floor. Her legs, waist, and shoulders were aligned in perfect balance, her posture straight and steady.
She’s not an ordinary person…
Her figure, concealed beneath cargo pants and a loose T-shirt, was slender yet looked remarkably solid and strong.
Perhaps she hadn’t noticed Yushin watching her. With a muttered, “Oh, right,” she rummaged through her pocket and pulled out her phone.
She tapped the screen a few times to open her messages, then let out a deep sigh.
Congratulations! You have been selected as the final candidate for the Environmental Services position at Boksan University Hospital.
Yushin, who had been peeking at her phone screen over her shoulder, raised an eyebrow slightly.
Environmental services? A cleaner?
She scrolled through the message to check the details, found the floor where the environmental services office was located, and pressed the corresponding button firmly.
[Ding-ding-ding, ding-ding, ding-ding!]
A loud ringtone suddenly blared through the elevator.
The name displayed on the screen was Park In-gyu.
Startled, she hurriedly tapped the answer button.
Bringing a hand to her mouth, the woman spoke in a low voice.
“I’m at the hospital. …Am I sick? What the hell are you talking about? I’m already at work. It’s my first day.”
Muffled words came from the other end of the line.
Yushin quickly pulled the earbud out of his ear so he could listen more closely.
“Yeah, yeah.”
[…]
“Ah, I said I got it. I’ll check every last inch until my eyes fall out and sweep the whole place clean. Happy now?”
[…Fighting!]
A booming voice rang through the phone.
The woman held the phone away from her ear for a moment, as though the volume hurt, then hung up without another word. Shaking her head in disbelief, she shoved the phone back into her pocket.
Just as the elevator came to a stop, the woman turned her head toward Yushin.
As if apologizing for the disturbance, she gave him a brief, polite nod before stepping out quickly and disappearing from view.
Yushin followed her retreating figure with his eyes, then slipped his earbud back in.
“So the Cheonghwa Gang has connections inside the hospital after all? Didn’t know they’d infiltrated the place like this.”
[What the hell are you talking about all of a sudden?]
“You didn’t hear?”
“No. I didn’t hear anything. What did she say?”
“She said, ‘Cheonghwa. Fighting.’”
[…Is there seriously someone out there who would say something that insane?]
“If I didn’t mishear her.”
A dry gulp came through the earbud.
Yushin ran a hand through his neatly swept-back hair and smirked.
“I’ll have to look into it first. Find out whether it’s true or not.”
