8:35 p.m.
“Rumble!”
A massive roar echoed from behind the Geumsan Elementary branch school, accompanied by thunder. The unfinished drainage channel couldn’t handle the rainwater, and the soil of the steep mountainside poured down with the water.
The construction workers who had been drinking a little in the evening at the container quarters and had turned in early had no idea that moment was coming.
“Huh? What’s that sound?”
It was the moment construction worker I Jeonghun was waking up and trying to rise.
“Uwaaah!”
Suddenly, the container began to slide. A massive mound of earth mixed with sand, rock, and trees crashed down on the quarters.
“Save me!”
“Help!”
The screams were drowned out by the rain.
***
Taeho urgently stopped the SUV and rolled down the driver’s side window.
Whoosh!
Nothing but thick, heavy rain pouring violently in the deep darkness. He couldn’t see anything.
Crash!
Lightning struck.
In that instant, Taeho witnessed a horrific sight. Where the temporary quarters had stood, only a massive pile of earth remained.
“It’s a burial accident!”
Taeho immediately dialed 119.
“Hello, this is 119.”
“A burial accident caused by a landslide has occurred at the Geumsan Elementary branch school in Geumsan-ri!”
“We’ll check. However, there are multiple emergencies in other areas right now, so it will take at least three hours for the rescue team to arrive.”
“Three hours? That’s too late!”
Taeho hung up and urgently called Gihwan.
“Gihwan!”
“Director? You weren’t at the clinic. Where are you right now?”
“A landslide happened at the branch school construction site. I think people are buried right now!”
“What? Oh my god! People are buried? Hah!”
Gihwan’s voice trembled.
Taeho gave calm instructions.
“Gihwan, listen carefully. There’s no time. 119 said they’ll come in three hours.”
“Three hours? What should I do?”
Perhaps thanks to Taeho’s steady, composed voice, Gihwan was breaking free from panic.
“Contact the new village head right now and have him broadcast to the village. Tell everyone who can wield a shovel to gather.”
“Yes. Wait, I’ll write it down. Please tell me.”
After listing everything needed, Taeho hung up. He took a deep breath.
Thud, thud!
The shovel blade struck the pile of mud.
Clumps of wet, heavy earth splashed mercilessly all over Taeho’s body. The mud that splashed up to his waist mixed instantly with rainwater, making his body even heavier. His soaked grip trembled as if electrocuted. The field shovel handle kept trying to slip out of his grasp.
“Hah...”
The sigh forced through his throat was like a scream. His hot breath scattered and vanished into the cold night air. Panting roughly, he thrust the shovel back into the mud.
He relied on the SUV headlights, but they were far from enough to pierce the pitch darkness. Moreover, his vision kept being obscured by the torrential rain that showed no sign of stopping.
The red dot marked by Rema was barely visible.
Taeho threw down the shovel and began digging through the mud with his bare hands.
A squishy sensation touched his fingertips.
“There!”
His heart pounded as if it would burst. He tried to pull the buried person out, but slipped several times. Rapidly scraping away the mud, he found the victim’s face. He forcefully swept the dirt from around the nose and mouth with his palm.
Rema’s voice was faintly heard.
“Faint heartbeat detected.”
“I have to secure the airway!”
Mud foam formed at the man’s lips.
Taeho pulled off his wet gloves and swept inside the man’s mouth with his finger, removing clumps of mud. Then without hesitation, he pressed his lips directly to the man’s and blew breath into him.
After several rounds of chest compressions and rescue breaths.
“Huu!”
The man’s chest suddenly heaved with a cracking sound, and normal breathing returned.
“That’s it. He survived!”
The man’s thigh was pinned under a pile of dirt. Taeho used the shovel as a lever to push away the clump of earth. His shoulder muscles pulled as if tearing.
“Uwaah!”
Shouting as he exerted force, the clump of earth finally rolled away.
Taeho barely moved the rescued victim toward the SUV. As his body temperature dropped, it took several times more strength, but he moved with desperate force.
“Huff... huff...”
The moment he closed the SUV’s rear door and tried to catch his breath, another blinking red dot appeared before his eyes.
On the outside, it was just a pile of dirt, but there was a person inside.
But Taeho too was completely drained of strength.
Taeho squeezed his eyes shut.
‘Taeho!’
His father, who had died in a coal mine burial, came to mind. No matter how painful it was, if he didn’t move now, that person would die.
Taeho gritted his teeth and moved his body.
He tried to gather all his remaining strength to grab the shovel, but his finger joints were stiff and the shovel slipped.
But he couldn’t stop.
With every step, it was as if the mud were sucking his feet in. He slipped and slammed his knees, nearly planting his face into a puddle.
Rema’s voice rang out.
“Warning: additional collapse probability 40%.”
‘I have to hurry.’
Thud!
Mud and gravel splashed from the shovel tip. With each strike, the shock traveled sequentially from his shoulder to his elbow to his wrist.
Once, twice... ten times.
The skin of his palms peeled away and blood trickled down.
“Krrgh...!”
Letting out a short groan of pain, he panted and drove the shovel into the mound of dirt.
“Hold on just a little longer!”
Taeho pushed deep into the mud up to his elbows. His fingertips grasped the wet work uniform sleeve.
At that moment, fine grains of sand began trickling down like a light rain from the earth layer above. If he let go now, both of them might be buried.
Taeho caught his breath briefly and pushed his waist deeper. Cold muddy water flowed down his neck and beneath his collarbone.
Taeho wedged his hand under the victim’s shoulder and used the space between the torso and back as a fulcrum to fold and lift the body with all his might.
In that instant, the earth layer behind him collapsed with a dull thud.
“Ugh!”
The heavy mass of earth pressed down on his waist, and a breath-stopping shock engulfed his entire body.
Instinctively, Taeho hugged the victim even tighter. He rotated his body to absorb the impact with his back.
Thud—!
More piles of dirt poured down all at once into the spot they had escaped from.
Taeho got up with all his strength. Along with him, the victim’s upper body slowly emerged from the mud.
“Just a little more!”
He barely dragged out the man’s body, which had doubled in weight from the rain.
His waist felt like it would snap. Taeho struggled and pulled his feet from the mud.
At that moment, a red liquid gushed out between the muddy water.
It was blood.
Taeho froze in shock as if his breath had stopped. Bright red blood gushed from the man’s right groin in rhythm with his pulse. A crimson pool formed around them instantly.
“Rema! Scan!”
“Femoral artery rupture.”
“Blood pressure 80/50. Hemorrhagic shock in progress.”
“Damn it!”
Taeho immediately pressed down hard with both hands above the patient’s groin. Hot blood kept flowing between his fingers.
“Stop, please!”
But direct pressure alone had its limits. He couldn’t completely stop the blood coming from an artery torn deep inside.
There was no time. If this went on for five more minutes, everything would be over.
Taeho hurriedly unfastened his belt. It was a thick leather belt. At the same time, he pulled a ballpoint pen from his pocket.
‘I have to make a tourniquet.’
Taeho wrapped the belt around the upper thigh, about 5 cm above the groin. He inserted the body of the pen into a belt hole and began turning it clockwise.
“Unngh!”
The patient groaned as the belt gradually tightened. But Taeho couldn’t stop.
One turn, two turns...
With each turn of the pen, the belt compressed the thigh more strongly. The tendons in Taeho’s wrist bulged.
On the fourth turn, the spurting blood finally began to decrease.
“Just a little more!”
On the fifth turn, the blood trickled thinly, and on the sixth turn, it stopped completely.
Taeho secured the pen firmly at the end of the belt and wrapped the area with duct tape he took from the car. He wound it tightly in multiple layers so it wouldn’t come loose.
“Done!”
But it was too early to feel relieved. Taeho immediately checked the patient’s ankle pulse. The blood flow below the tourniquet was cut off, and no pulse could be felt. It was expected.
“Rema, scan again!”
“Blood pressure rising to 90/60.”
“Pulse 110, fast but stable. Tourniquet application successful.”
Taeho checked the time on his phone and recorded the application time of the tourniquet.
“21:47. We have to get to the hospital within two hours.”
The tourniquet was a tool that saved lives, but if left on too long, there was a risk of leg amputation. But right now, life took priority over that.
The patient’s body temperature was dropping rapidly.
Taeho lifted the patient under the armpits and seated him inside the SUV. He went to the driver’s seat and turned the heater to maximum. He took an extra blanket from the trunk and covered the patient.
“Ungh... ugh...”
The patient moaned as if regaining consciousness.
“Can you hear me? It’s okay. The bleeding has stopped. Don’t move, stay like this.”
Taeho raised the patient’s legs high so blood would circulate better back to the heart.
Cold rain poured down relentlessly, but inside the car it was warm. Color was gradually returning to the patient’s face.
Only then did Taeho wipe his face, soaked with rainwater, with his palm. His arms trembled, and pain flooded his entire body. But in that darkness, red dots still waited to be rescued.
‘I can’t stop.’
The taste of blood seeped between his tightly clenched teeth.
Just as Taeho was struggling painfully to rise.
Lights appeared in the distance. Headlight beams pierced through the rain in the pitch-black darkness.
The van driven by Bak Geumja skidded to a stop in front of Taeho’s SUV. As the doors opened, Seong Gihwan and the nursing assistants hurriedly jumped out.
“Director!”
Reinforcements had arrived.
Taeho clenched his fist tightly, closing and opening his eyes.
Gihwan ran through the mud and grabbed Taeho’s arm.
“Director. Are you okay? Your face...”
“I’m fine. Did you bring the emergency kits?”
“We brought three first-aid bags, two oxygen tanks, and a resuscitator from the clinic.”
“Good work! Nurse Bak.”
“Yes! Director!”
Bak Geumja saw Taeho’s haggard appearance and barely held back the tears that welled up, biting her lip.
“Set up a temporary shelter on the flat ground to the right with the assistants.”
“Yes!”
Bak Geumja nodded vigorously and led the assistants to move.
“Gihwan, come with me...”
Honk honk honk!
A long line of headlights stretched from the road. Village residents were entering, pulling trucks and tractors. Dozens of lights added to Taeho’s SUV, which had stood alone in the darkness.
Taeho nodded with a wet face.
“We heard the broadcast! Where should we help?”
“We called an excavator operator too! He’ll be here soon!”
“My goodness! Just tell us what to do! We’ll do whatever you say!”
The villagers who jumped out of the cars shouted, trying to get ahead. About half were faces Taeho knew. They were people who usually received treatment at Geumsan Clinic. The other half were people he was seeing for the first time.
Taeho climbed onto a truck.
Dozens of gathered people were all staring at Taeho’s mouth.
“Everyone! Right now, split into manpower teams, drainage teams, and medical support teams!”
The villagers nodded at Taeho’s orders.
“Manpower teams, grab shovels and pickaxes and follow me to rescue survivors. Drainage teams, follow Seong Gihwan and create a waterway on the left to prevent a secondary collapse. Medical support teams, follow Nurse Bak Geumja, set up a temporary shelter, and prepare emergency treatment for the rescued! Got it?”
“Yes!”
“Roger! Director!”
The villagers’ thunderous shouts pierced through the wind and rain.
“Manpower teams, dig here and here first. There are people inside, so dig carefully.”
Taeho pointed at two spots marked with red dots. People began scooping up mud with shovels and hands.
“Gihwan, we need to dig that side drainage path quickly. If we don’t divert the water, it’ll collapse more.”
“Understood. I’ll dig the southern slope at a 30-degree angle, 50 cm deep.”
Gihwan led the youth group members and ran to dig the drainage path.
When Taeho looked back, Bak Geumja was also directing the nursing assistants and village women, setting up tents properly.
Just as people were moving, divided into three groups.
Beep beep beep—
The ambulance siren echoed around the steep hill in front of the Geumsan Elementary branch school.
“Make way! Ambulance coming through!”
People cleared the way at once, and the ambulance rushed in and stopped.
The rear door opened, and surgical department chief Yu Sihyeok from Samcheok Medical Center jumped out.
Yu Sihyeok paused briefly when he saw Taeho standing there, soaked and covered in mud. The protagonist of the video he had watched dozens of times was right there.
Soaked in mud, blood, and rainwater...
“Director... Director Gang?”
“Chief Yu? You really came.”
“When Director Gang requested help, I wanted to come no matter what. Meeting you in person... I’m truly glad.”
Instead of shaking hands, they firmly grasped each other’s shoulders.
Yu Sihyeok surveyed the surroundings. And he saw Taeho’s hands covered in wounds and drenched in blood.
As expected, Director Gang Taeho was exactly the kind of person he had imagined. No, he was a far superior doctor than that.