Acknowledge him as the leader?
That wasn't it.
It was merely cooperating to unify the chain of command and reduce confusion.
Thanks to that, Taesu was able to avoid repeating or missing the same tasks.
Shortly after.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu also began heading to the school, each carrying two large boxes stacked together.
It was almost their final turn.
All that remained was for the medical staff in charge to bring the rest.
Thud, thud.
Their minds were frantic, but their movements were as heavy as lead.
"Nngh, damn it."
"Shut your mouth. You'll waste your strength."
"But everyone was cooperative."
"Deep down, we're all the same."
Taesu said curtly.
And yet, those words were exactly right.
No one could watch someone die before their eyes and laugh about it.
The instinct to help in any way was natural.
The conversation was brief.
They walked, conserving even the strength to speak.
Swish.
Dr. Talon approached and walked alongside them.
He chewed on something in his mind, then opened his mouth in a low voice.
"Forget Dr. Kuramoto. Dr. Choe takes the lead."
"That's not something I decided."
"Dr. Choe knows who everyone is following right now."
Dr. Talon's expression was serious.
It didn't seem to be empty words.
But Taesu didn't want to concern himself with trivial matters.
"Let's save the patient first, then talk. That seems to be the order of things."
"Can you do it?"
"We have to. Isn't there always only one reason we strive?"
Lips pressed tightly together, eyes fixed on one spot.
Taesu's grim face was filled with determination.
Then, beyond Taesu's face, Jeong Minsu came into view.
As if he had been waiting for their eyes to meet, Jeong Minsu spoke in a low voice, his round face completely composed.
"Dr. Talon, do you happen to know what kind of person is the scariest in the world?"
"Dr. Jeong."
Zap.
Taesu shot him a warning glance and tried to cover his mouth.
But there was no way Jeong Minsu's mouth would be easily silenced.
Without even nodding, Jeong Minsu's gaze remained fixed on Dr. Talon.
Dr. Talon, meeting his eyes, pondered for a moment before answering.
"Well..."
"It's someone with nothing left to lose."
"Hmm. Why say that all of a sudden?"
"What do you think happens when people with nothing left to lose suddenly have something to protect?"
A sharp gleam flashed deeply in Jeong Minsu's eyes as he threw the question back.
Dr. Talon rolled his eyes, chewing on the question, and then his gaze shook greatly for an instant, as if something had occurred to him.
"No way."
"Yes. Nothing else is visible. Because aside from what we must protect, we have nothing left to lose."
"..."
"Just saying. It's not that serious, so you don't need to dwell on it. Now, let's hurry."
Beaming.
Jeong Minsu smiled his good-natured smile again and urged them to move.
Dr. Talon, on the other hand, couldn't take it so lightly.
If he hadn't experienced them directly, he might have dismissed it as the bravado of boastful residents.
But he had watched them from up close, if only for a short time.
They were people who studied with their feet to the fire past midnight, despite having run around all day.
And they weren't satisfied with merely studying—they applied it to patients starting the very next day.
It wasn't something that could be done with ordinary tenacity or passion.
Especially Korean tenacity was world-renowned.
They were a people who said chili peppers tasted best when dipped in gochujang; nothing more needed to be said.
Those were the kind of people they were.
Yet Dr. Kuramoto had picked fights with them all this time and still asked them to participate directly in the emergency surgery. Talon was curious what was going on in his head.
'Is he a fool, or does he have that much skill?'
His mind grew slightly complicated.
But Dr. Talon didn't think too deeply about it.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu's words were certainly right.
The priority was to save the patient first; everything else could wait.
Clack, clack.
Their steps toward the school continued without rest.
The power of human beings was truly great.
It had been only ten minutes.
In that short time, one classroom had truly transformed into an operating room.
They had laid tarps on the shabby classroom floor and wrapped the walls all around with double-layered vinyl to block out external air as much as possible.
In the center, they had pushed together hard desks and laid out surgical drapes to create a makeshift operating table.
And searchlights mounted on long poles blazed from both sides with an intense light so bright it was almost hot.
An ECG and general anesthesia machine were also in place.
A bright smile gradually rose on Taesu's face as he made the final checks.
"I thought ten minutes was always short, but I guess not."
As his words trailed off, Jeong Minsu chimed in from beside him.
"No matter what anyone says, humans are great."
"That's why we eat so much."
Kim Hyeokgwon shattered the moving moment with an absurd retort, and Jeong Minsu glared at him.
"Could you refrain from such lame jokes at a time like this?"
"Refrain from what? You doctors shouldn't be floundering in a cauldron of emotion right now."
"Why? Huh?"
Jeong Minsu's ears perked up as he voiced his question.
Tap-tap.
"Where are they?"
"Over there."
"Hurry, hayaku."
A high-pitched voice was heard from far down the hallway.
English and even Japanese.
Then it was certain.
Whether Taesu heard it too, his expression of emotion quickly hardened.
"It seems they're coming."
"Then I'll take my leave now."
As Kim Hyeokgwon spoke calmly, Taesu called out to him.
"Mr. Hyeokgwon. You really won't help?"
"Ellen and Casey are here; what good would I do? Do you need someone to wipe your sweat?"
"That's not it."
"Hah. Don't be ridiculous. When the real deal is here, the fake should step aside. Good luck, then."
Srruk.
Kim Hyeokgwon turned around without hesitation.
Then Taesu called out to Kim Hyeokgwon again.
"Mr. Hyeokgwon."
"What now?"
"I was just wondering……"
Whisper, whisper.
Taesu said something quietly.
Soon, Kim Hyeokgwon's eyes gleamed coldly.
"Let's have the preparations made, just in case."
Rustle.
As if he had something to do, he walked out of the classroom gravely.
Taesu steeled his nerves.
Jeong Minsu, Nurse Casey, Nurse Ellen.
The four of them were positioned there.
They finished preparations by merely donning surgical gowns.
They were now waiting for the patient who would arrive shortly.
Dr. Kuramoto and the Japanese medical staff would be joining them as well.
Someone he was particularly fond of...
Fortunately, there was one.
Dr. Yamaguchi.
He was at least a humane anesthesiologist who occasionally met with Taesu privately to share various complaints.
Because people lived in Japan too.
Beyond that, he didn't care.
Dr. Kuramoto and the Japanese medical staff wouldn't be thinking anything else.
Unless they wanted to take another beating.
If not, he thought they would restrain themselves this time.
His increasingly urgent mind kept calling up distracting thoughts.
Shake, shake.
Taesu shook his head roughly to shake them off.
And staring intently at the classroom door, he spoke.
"They're coming. Soon."
It was a resolute voice.
It reached the medical staff as a stimulus.
Shhh.
The atmosphere sank heavily.
And it wasn't long before...
Bang.
The classroom door burst open as if breaking.
Immediately, Dr. Kuramoto leaped in agilely.
Tap-tap-tap.
"This way."
As he shouted, the Japanese medical staff followed and arrived.
The patient was lying prone on a stretcher, and a nurse was assisting breathing with an AMBU bag.
Sshook, sshook.
"Patient, where to?"
Someone shouted the question.
Taesu calmly pointed at the operating table.
"Here, the head goes this way."
"Move quickly."
Tap-tap.
The stretcher urgently approached the operating table.
Then, Kim Hyeokgwon's fierce voice was heard from outside the door.
"Block them there. I told you not to enter. Damn it. Why am I even yelling in English. #$%#^……."
Bang.
As the classroom door closed, the piercing voice also felt distant.
Inside the operating room, they didn't pay any attention to such sounds.
Because they were in the process of settling the patient onto the operating table.
"Slowly, slowly... That's it."
"Connect everything quickly."
There was no respect whatsoever in Dr. Kuramoto's voice—only sharpness.
That was his true self.
Perhaps that was why such a tone felt much more natural.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu were used to it by now.
So it didn't bother them.
They focused solely on connecting the patient to the surgical equipment they had already prepared.
"Nurse Casey."
"Nurse Ellen."
It was simultaneous with the two people's shouts.
Swift.
Nurse Casey and Nurse Ellen approached like lightning.
"Dr. Choe, here's the general anesthesia respirator."
"Dr. Jeong, ECG pads."
Clack, clack.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu quickly connected what was handed to them.
The Japanese doctors weren't just standing around watching either.
"Move the IV."
"Clear the stretcher."
"Stand by with the cart to the side."
Voices rang out chaotically.
But the actual distance moved was extremely short.
If they reached out while thinking of what they wanted, it was miraculously right there.
"Huh? The IV pole has fresh blood packs, electrolytes, and glucose hanging on it all.... .."
"Where does this stretcher go... Are we supposed to put it here?"
"The cart is... right here. All the basics are already set up."
Before anyone knew it, the Japanese doctors' gazes were directed at Taesu and Jeong Minsu.
Their expressions were doubtful, unsure how much to believe that this operating room had been prepared in just ten minutes.
The same was true for Dr. Kuramoto.
"..."
He had to suppress the praise that was about to burst out of him unconsciously.
Such thorough preparation certainly appealed to him.
But that was exactly why he disliked it even more.
In the meantime, Taesu and Jeong Minsu finished connecting the ECG and ventilator.
Beep-beep-beep.
The ECG fluctuations were far from ordinary.
The expressions of the two who saw it hardened stiffly.
"Phew."
"Ugh."
The outlook was bleak.
Taesu quickly turned his head.
Swish.
And finding Dr. Yamaguchi, he quickly gave an order.
"Dr. Yamaguchi, the general anesthesia machine."
"..."
"You bastard, a person's life is on the line. Hurry up."
Taesu shouted explosively.
For an instant, something flashed through Dr. Kuramoto's mind, and his eyes turned sharp.
"Everyone, watch."
"Hai."
"They moved first. As you can see, the patient's condition is very poor."
At the cautious Dr. Kuramoto's words, the Japanese doctors fell silent.
As long as they had eyes, they too knew the patient's condition well.
"..."
"If we step in late and something goes wrong, we'll all be held responsible."
"Ah."
At those words, the Japanese doctors hesitated.
In short, it was unspoken pressure not to move until he gave the order.