Hyper Knife (2025) s01e01 Episode Script

[phone buzzing]
[gang member] We should go.
[gang member 2] Yeah.
[grunts]
[gasps]
IN OPERATION
HYPER KNIFE
[surgeon] Knife.
Retractor.
[machinery whirring]
-[metal clanks]
-[whirring stops]
-[spectator] What the hell?
-[spectator 2] Why?
-It wasn't me.
-Hey, shut it.
-Seriously. I swear.
-He's mine. I saw him.
No, I'm telling the truth.
[spectator] Hey. Get off!
-Who was that?
-It was him, okay?
-[murmuring]
-It was him.
[murmuring continues]
Hey! Everyone out!
-[murmuring]
-[spectator] Get out.
I don't know. Hey. I said…
[speaks indistinctly]
[sighs]
Is there something on my face?
Sorry, Doctor. I lost focus.
Get out.
Dr. Han, please wake up the patient.
Waking up the patient.
-What do you mean?
-We have to monitor him
to ensure we don't damage
the language center of his brain
while removing the tumor. That means
we have no other choice but to wake him.
Dr. Han, what are you doing?
We're waiting on you here.
The patient's awake.
Stimulator.
Sir. Can you hear the sound of my voice?
I know this feels a bit strange,
but just relax.
You're Doobong Kim, is that right?
Uh-huh.
That's my name.
I heard you're on the most wanted list.
What crime did you commit?
I've done a lot of things.
What kinds of things?
[Doobong] Well…
Very…
many…
things…
[groans]
[stammering]
Okay, here it is.
-I found it. Let's begin.
-Right.
[surgeon] CUSA.
Okay.
Done.
Take care of the rest.
You can do it on your own.
-[staff member] Thank you, Doctor.
-[staff] Thank you.
[doctor] Give me a hand.
RESTRICTED AREA
I'm sure you're tired.
How are you holding up, Doctor?
Why do you ask?
-I-I was just wondering.
-[sighs]
-Well, stop wondering.
-Right.
[sergeant] Doctor.
SERGEANT LEE WANIL
There's this guy Min.
He's a well-known
black-market surgery broker.
Black-market surgery?
Yes. In order to catch him,
we raided one of his facilities.
NEUROSURGERY CHOI DEOKHEE
This video was on his hard drive.
Brain surgery was honestly
our very first guess.
At the end of the day, we didn't know
what we were looking at though.
Can you tell us
what kind of operation this is?
[surgeon] Uh…
[Wanil] What is it?
Does something seem off?
[surgeon] No.
Nothing seems off.
Dr. Choi, you should take a look at this.
Here.
[Dr. Choi] Black-market surgeries, huh?
And how far along is the investigation?
-[sighs] We haven't really…
-The video, that's it?
Yes, this 50-minute video,
it's all we have at the moment.
[sighs]
What? What is it?
Is there something wrong?
You see,
it's hard to say exactly
what kind of operation it is
based off of this video alone.
What I can say is that the surgical site
is very deep in the base of the brain,
which is hard to execute.
A surgery like this is impossible
outside of a real OR.
Poor conditions.
Dr. Choi has technically performed
the only successful case in the country.
So you're saying
this patient very likely died as a result?
Yes, that's right. That is very likely.
All right. Just send over the file.
We'll take a closer look later.
Sure. Sounds good.
Ah. Here.
Thanks.
-I'll send you the file right away.
-Oh, okay.
We'll contact you shortly.
Great.
[door closes]
NEUROSURGEON DR. CHOI DEOKHEE
Dr. Choi.
About the video…
Those were woman's hands, weren't they?
Not sure.
Is there any chance that it's Seok?
It could be her.
What if it is her?
Don't you have work?
Yes.
I'll get back to it.
[phone ringing]
[Dr. Choi] Hi, it's me.
Ah, Dr. Choi.
[sighs] Listen.
There's someone I really need to find.
Who is it?
He goes by Min.
He's an illegal surgery broker.
Don't know his full name.
Okay.
So "Min, the illegal surgery broker."
Anything else?
[Dr. Choi] The police are onto him.
Oh. Makes things easier.
I'll call you as soon as I find him.
How long would it take?
Uh… One week?
[gasps] Could be too late.
Oh. This must be a pretty urgent matter.
I'll try to hurry things along, okay?
[phone beeps]
[grunts]
[sighs]
You're awake.
Yeah.
Want some water?
Here you go.
Mm-hmm.
What are you doing? Stop it.
Stay still.
Just looking.
[grunts]
Please don't.
Okay, Cranky Ass.
If I hadn't operated on you,
you'd have died, you little shit.
Show some respect.
You should've just let me die then.
[rhythmic beeping]
Doctor.
He woke up only an hour ago.
Everything's normal
except for his pulse rate. It's a bit low.
Mr. Kim?
Can you see my fingers?
Are you the doctor from before?
Yeah, I performed your surgery.
Now,
how many fingers?
Please answer her, Boss.
You were talking just fine earlier.
How many?
Can you not hear me?
I'm grateful.
97, 98, 99, 100?
Five mill?
What do these asshole take me for?
[assistant] Excuse me. Wait a minute.
Here's some bread.
-[gang member] Cool. Thank you.
-[gang member 2] Wow, it looks good.
Thank you.
-Hi. We have to eat.
-[assistant] I'm busy.
Go eat with Dr. Han.
[surgeon] He said he wasn't hungry.
How's maeun-tang sound?
Maeun-tang?
At 2:00 a.m., in the mountains?
I said we have to eat
'cause I'm starving, okay?
There's bread over there.
Go eat that instead!
[clicks tongue]
You…
[person] Dr. Seok Jeong?
I thought it was you.
I was right.
How do you know my name?
I was a nurse
at Yeonshin University Hospital.
I was there around when you left.
Oh.
People really talked.
-What do you mean "they talked"?
-You know.
You and Dr. Choi.
[Seok] So about the new nurse…
Did Dr. Han hire her?
[assistant] No, the gangsters
were the ones who brought her.
We actually couldn't find anyone.
Why do you ask?
We've got to be careful
about who we work with.
She could squeal
and totally screw us over.
Nah, she wouldn't do that.
You know why?
She's hiding a lot of things too.
Oh?
Yeah. She committed malpractice
at a university hospital.
So she was kicked out and then
went to work at a convalescent hospital.
[rhythmic beeping]
[door closes]
[assistant] She's a terrible person.
[Seok] What? How's she terrible?
[assistant] At the convalescent hospital,
she gave strange meds to the elderly folks
who were too sick to move or speak.
And I heard she would beat them up.
Eventually, she got caught
and was kicked out of there too.
[Seok] Oh. So she's a total bitch.
Have you eaten?
What is this?
It's my business card.
[grunts]
Went through my stuff, huh?
I run a pharmacy.
Oh, really?
Why would I lie about that?
Didn't you hear what happened?
I lost my medical license as you know.
Do you think I've just
been sitting on my ass?
I've gotta do something.
And what about Dr. Choi?
Did you two stay in touch?
He should've woken up by now.
Mr. Kim. Please wake up.
I need to change your dressing.
[nurse] I put him down for a nap.
[nurse chuckles]
It was the only way
we could talk privately.
There are eyes everywhere else.
How much did you get paid for this?
I got five mill, that's it.
[chuckles]
Does it really matter what I got?
Why do you wanna know?
Well, I thought about it.
And I realized that you probably got paid
a lot more than I did.
Why should I get paid less than you?
Out of the two of us,
you're the one without a license.
I guess I'm just saying
it feels a little unfair.
Don't you agree?
A doctor without a license
performing brain surgeries.
Outside a hospital.
I'm only saying this
because I worry for you, Doctor.
You might end up in jail.
Money?
How much? I'm busy so get it over with.
Three mill a month.
What? Too much?
Fine, two million then.
I can't go any lower than that.
I got to make a living too.
And we're partners now,
so you should give me that much at least.
Ah…
Partners?
How nice.
Great timing too.
-We were looking for a nurse.
-Oh, no.
I'm tired of the OR
so I won't be joining you.
I perform the surgery
while you refuse to set foot in the OR.
What exactly will you be doing then?
-Are we partners or not?
-I can overlook all of this.
I'll keep quiet for you
for your own safety.
In that case, you've got yourself a deal.
Safety.
Safety first, always.
Give me your bank account info.
-[refrigerator door opens]
-[glass clinks]
[refrigerator door closes]
[sighs]
All right.
Here you go.
Wow, I didn't think you'd come
all the way here.
[chuckles]
Well, it was only natural.
Mrs. Ra, I've heard nothing
but positive things
about you and your work over the years.
Yet, I was still surprised
when I got your call.
Even my wife doesn't know this number,
you know.
You are truly amazing.
Well, thank you
for all of your kind words.
This is Dr. Choi.
My name is Deokhee Choi.
[laughs]
This is what the fuss is about, huh?
[chuckles]
Stupid ass cops barking up the wrong tree.
It's true that I had this, but still.
It has nothing to do with me, okay?
I just got it from the Chinese guys.
Chinese guys?
Yeah, there are people in China who are
doing these kinds of things illegally too.
All I know is
they sent me this video out of nowhere.
They said that the doctor is Korean
and they wanted me to find them.
So I pretended to look for a bit,
but that's it.
How long ago was that? Do you know?
-[associate] Last spring, I think.
-[Min] Hmm…
Can you tell us why
you only pretended to look?
'Cause brain operations are one thing
we don't touch.
Who'd be crazy enough to illegally crack
open their head for brain surgery?
We mostly deal with livers and kidneys
and stuff.
Nah, this is just too wild.
Mr. Min, you have the entire video,
don't you?
Nope, this is all I received too.
The Chinese guys said it was all they had.
Anyway. What are you gonna do
with the entire video?
The surgery,
I was wondering if it was successful.
The Chinese guys were dying to know
about that too.
But is there a reason for it, Doctor?
It's a difficult procedure. That's all.
[laughs] Doesn't that go
for all brain surgeries?
Some parts are especially difficult.
-And which ones are those?
-[high-pitched ringing]
-[ringing fades]
-Thank you for taking the time to meet us.
You said it was a difficult procedure.
They must've failed, then.
What are you going to do now?
Guess I should ask the person
who performed the surgery.
Does that mean you know who it is?
Of course I do.
How could I not? It's obvious.
Wait a second.
Is it someone I know?
Who is it then--
That girl?
Why do you think I'm asking? [chuckles]
Because I wanna see you.
Let me buy you a nice meal.
Last time,
you were the one who treated me, so…
No. I'm saying it's my turn.
I heard you and Inspector Yang grew up
in the same town?
Yes.
In Hapcheon, if you didn't know
Deokhee Choi, you were a northern spy.
He's been a genius since he was young.
[companion gasps] Mmm… That's amazing.
Yeah. And you know what else?
In our little town, there was one school,
and that was it.
We didn't even have a bookstore.
But this guy gets into med school
at age 17.
-[gasps] Hmm…
-Get this,
-with the highest score.
-[gasps]
That was long ago.
[Yang grunts] So what if it was?
It's not like I was telling a lie.
[Yang clears throat]
Oh, that's right.
Did you talk to Wanil Lee
about that illegal surgery video?
[high-pitched ringing]
[Yang, distorted] You said only you can
do that surgery in all of Korea.
[normal audio] If that's true,
you can easily help us find out
who this is, right?
Do all you can to help us out here.
Of course.
[companion] Are you all right?
What's wrong? Are you not well?
It's nothing. I'm fine.
We'll call someone to clean the floors
and windows later.
Oh, please be careful, that's expensive.
-Hey, be careful.
-Come on.
Didn't you hear what he said?
[Seok] I also removed the catheter
this morning.
The swelling has gone down more or less.
It looks like you're ready
to be transported now.
You'll be able to move
around in about a week.
Dr. Han will be watching over you
until then…
-Easy.
-…so there's no need to worry.
The surgery went so well
that there won't be any issues.
-I'll still let you know how he's doing.
-Mm-hmm.
[Doobong] Sanggi.
-The bed.
-Would you like to sit up?
-Let me give you some privacy.
-Mmm…
[door opens]
[Doobong sighs]
[door closes]
Thank you, Doctor.
I owe you everything.
You already know what kind of person I am.
Please let me know if you ever need help,
no matter the problem.
Our problems,
only we can solve them.
-Keep an eye on him, okay?
-I'll contact you.
-Let's go!
-[staff] Yes, sir.
[siren wailing]
When do I get to leave?
[Seok] After we finish up with all
the cleaning, I'll give you a ride home.
All righty, then.
I'd feel safer riding in your car anyway.
A cup of coffee sounds good right now.
[sighs]
They said it was going to rain today.
[thunder rumbling]
So you're a team of three?
That unfriendly anesthesiologist,
Dr. Jeong, and yourself.
-How many surgeries do you do per month?
-[sighs]
-No idea.
-Yeah, right.
Aren't you her manager?
I'm not her manager.
Then what exactly do you do?
I guess I should go ahead
and ask Dr. Jeong.
I drive, clean, do her laundry and tend to
whatever else Ms. Seok needs, all right?
Satisfied?
Now where the hell is this thing?
Hold on.
-Did you take my water?
-Why would I even do that?
You're a weird person.
[thunderclap]
[thunder rumbling]
Why do you need this cooler?
Hey, don't swing that around!
-What's in it?
-None of your business.
Got it?
Just take it to Dr. Han quickly.
He forgot it.
-Right now?
-Of course right now.
He says it's urgent! Now move it.
It'll get contaminated if you open it.
So just don't.
-Be right back.
-Yeah.
[knocks on window]
[groaning]
Yes, Doctor?
You shouldn't sleep in your car.
Somewhere in town, there's a sauna.
Go rest up there for a while.
I really wish I could, but I don't know.
We can't do anything right now
because of the rain.
We still gotta lot to burn.
We can burn it all in the morning
when the sun's out.
-You should go get some rest for now.
-I guess I'll go rest for a little.
Okay.
[engine starts]
[thunder rumbling]
[tires screech]
Oh, shit.
Shit.
-[thunder rumbling]
-[groaning]
[breathing heavily]
Where is it?
[panting]
[phone buzzing]
MANAGER SEO
MS. SEOK
[phone ringing]
[sighs]
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven…
[groans]
[whimpering, gagging]
[gagging continues]
[Seok chuckling]
[chuckles]
[gagging stops]
[Seok] You're back already?
I thought I sent you away.
And here you are.
Where's the shovel?
Is it in the trunk?
[dogs barking]
[barking continues]
[gasps]
[Seok] I've got some treats! [chuckling]
[cooing] How's my boy?
Danny!
[chuckles]
Danny.
Ares! Here, Ares.
Oh, good boy!
You did it!
Aw… [chuckles]
Ronda! Ronda.
[Ms. Ra] I was surprised.
She hasn't changed one bit.
[chuckles] Still looks like a baby.
Well, that's Seok for you, isn't it?
What about the dogs?
[Ms. Ra] Those are actually her dogs.
They're Rottweilers.
A breed that's known
for being very fierce.
Sounds like they're the same as her.
[chuckles]
You seem happy
to see her again after so long.
-I do?
-[chuckles]
You've been smiling the whole time.
[Dr. Choi clears throat]
[chuckles]
[Seok panting]
[Ms. Ra] The more that I think about it,
you two have so much in common,
even that little bit of craziness.
I guess all geniuses are the same.
You are crazy. She's crazy.
[Dr. Choi] Well,
Seok Jeong is definitely not normal.
-Her dream is to die in the OR.
-[both chuckle]
[Ms. Ra] You feel the same way, don't you?
[Mr. Choi] Well, if I had to
choose a place, it would be the OR.
-Doesn't sound bad.
-[Ms. Ra chuckles]
See? I knew it.
Shouldn't you meet up with her?
[Dr. Choi] Hmm… I guess so.
[customer clicks tongue]
So how'd you fall down?
[customer] A wild boar was chasing me
for no reason.
I fell down trying to get away.
Here's an idea. How about you come
to my farm and catch it for me?
[pharmacist] Aw…
Hold on a sec,
you could ask Grandpa Yongsik to catch it?
Don't even get me
started on that old geezer.
-Oh?
-He's getting on my last nerve. [grunts]
Just this morning when I saw him,
I thought… [imitates stab]
…today's the day I'm gonna kill him.
[both chuckle]
By the way, where were you?
These last few days, I haven't seen you.
Were you out of town?
This little bitch I was dealing with,
she was asking for all this money.
It was my money though.
I didn't owe her a thing.
Too many lunatics on this planet, huh?
[gasps] So then what did you do?
Since she was so annoying,
I strangled her to death.
[gasps] Oh! Is that so? [chuckles]
Well done. Well done.
People like her certainly deserve it.
[both chuckle]
BAREUN PHARMACY
Are you all right?
Did that bastard say something to you?
No.
He was looking at me, that's all.
[grunts] That creep is
making everyone around here uncomfortable.
It's getting on my nerves.
Did you just get off work?
[chuckles] Yeah.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
-See you around.
-Yeah.
MARI'S DINER
[Seo]
Wait, that ankle monitor guy again?
[sighs] What a weirdo.
Why was he even looking at you though?
If I had to guess, he thinks I'm pretty.
Come on.
No way.
Anyway, he's been lurking around me
a lot more than usual.
It's annoying.
-Does that mean you're gonna kill him?
-Are you crazy?
-Why would you even think that?
-Well, you just said he was annoying.
You're talking as if you think
I'm a weirdo too. You know that?
'Cause you are one.
-How am I weird then, huh?
-Don't you remember?
You just sent me on an errand
not that long ago to kill that nurse.
So what? It's my fault?
I already told you what she said.
What would you have done, nothing?
Well, I wouldn't have killed her.
It was self-defense.
Ms. Seok.
It's premeditated murder to drug her,
wait for the right moment,
and then strangle her to death.
[sighs] You're a total psychopath,
you know.
You heard from Dr. Han, by the way?
When are we going to operate again?
Don't even think about operating. And also
don't kill any more people, please!
Since I saved one life,
I ended another.
So I did the world a favor.
-Don't say anything like that ever again.
-[phone ringing]
Go away.
-[ringing stops]
-Yeah?
[Mr. Choi] Hi, are you home?
I hear you live in Paju these days.
I'll be there soon.
It's been a while since I've seen you.
[phone beeps]
[Mr. Choi] So you did nothing wrong?
You refuse to leave?
-Yeah.
-Get her out.
I said out!
[Seok breathing shakily]
-Hey, let's go. Quickly.
-Get off.
-No, you can't…
-Get off!
-No!
-That's enough!
-This is my surgery!
-Hey, Seok!
-Mine!
-Seok!
-Let me finish my surgery!
-Seok!
[Seok breathing heavily]
[surgeon] Hey, Seok. Seok.
Sit down for a minute, okay?
Just sit down. Yeah? Calm down.
Seguk, go check on the patient.
[surgeon] Hey. Seok.
Ah…
Shit. Wait. Seok!
Okay. Excuse me, sorry.
[resident] Whoa, whoa, whoa!
-[grunting]
-[resident] Whoa! Hey! Seok!
Hey, what's going on?
-[resident 2] Go, go, go. Hurry!
-[surgeon] Hey! Jeong!
What the hell are you doing?
-[surgeon] Are you crazy?
-Seok Jeong!
Seok!
Seok! Hey!
You strangled me because
I kicked you out of the OR?
You're reckless and thoughtless!
That's your issue.
What?
Does it feel unfair?
[spits]
[both grunt]
Listen carefully, Seok.
I'll make sure
you'll never,
for the rest of your life,
set foot in an OR again…
even though you can't live without it.
[sobs]
[sobbing]
[thunder rumbling]
[screaming]
[continues screaming]
Ms. Seok.
[Seok sighs]
Just stay in your room.
I didn't come empty-handed.
Oh, so you came to the conference.
[Seok] No, I watched it online.
You should've been there.
Everyone would've been glad to see you.
Aren't you curious to know
how your peers are doing?
Not at all.
Uyeong Ha became the department head
last year.
And all of the others have
become professors.
I guess you've gotten quite old,
seeing as how you're blabbering
about all sorts of crap, huh?
You could have become a full professor
by now too,
if you had just kept working under me.
If you have something to say,
just say it already.
I'm dying to know why the hell
you're showing your face here.
You've got some nerve, you know that?
You run a pharmacy.
How is it?
Why do you care?
[chuckles]
I didn't know you were stalking me
like this.
Where the hell did you get this anyway?
You've improved
since the last time I saw you.
I haven't even offered you a drink,
have I?
I'll be back in a sec.
[high-pitched ringing]
[high-pitched ringing continues]
[ringing continues, fades]
Go ahead.
[chuckles]
Well, what do you think?
It's too sweet, isn't it?
[sighs] Just a little, I guess.
I've been having health issues.
[Seok chuckles]
-Yeah, I've noticed.
-Brainstem glioma.
Luckily, I found it early.
Uyeong Ha could operate on you, ya know.
It's a tough location, which is worrying.
Right.
Uyeong's a coward,
so I guess that won't work.
Who else is there?
Boston guy.
Isn't he your biggest fan and all?
-[Dr. Choi sighs]
-Alan Kim.
I can't have any post-op side effects.
You see,
these are crucial.
I have to continue operating.
[scoffs]
Well, now that you're old.
Isn't it normal to have shaky hands…
[chuckles] …with or without
post-op side effects?
These aren't any normal hands, are they?
[scoffs] You're getting greedy
in your old age.
Enough is enough. You should retire.
I plan on taking two months to recover.
That's all the time I have.
In other words,
the surgery has to be perfect and--
Forget it.
I'm never perfect anyway.
I'll get everything ready, so all you have
to do is show up and operate.
[chuckles]
[laughing]
[sighs]
Are you insane?
[scoffs] Seems like
you've lost your mind for real.
How could I perform a surgery, huh?
I don't even have a license.
I'll call you when we have the date.
You're crazy.
Why should I?
The police are looking for you.
You can perform
your black-market surgeries for now,
if you want to keep it that way.
You know how.
You don't have a choice.
You've always been like this.
All you ever wanted to do was break me.
So I did what you wanted!
And now you wanna do it all over again?
Maybe. If I have to, then I will.
[scoffs]
Why don't you just cut my hands off
so I can't do anything?
Go ahead!
If you hate the sight of them so much,
just cut them off and go!
[groaning]
I don't even wanna call you a cab,
so don't ask me to.
[groaning continues]
[laughing]
[screams]
[laughing]
[laughing fades]
BAREUN PHARMACY
JEONG SEOK