"Am I supposed to be the one in pain?"
"It’s a warzone. So basically, there should be at least one dramatic episode like dodging a hail of bullets to go treat patients."
"It’s dramatic enough as it is."
"Ugh. Boring. So why’d you call? I already know you’re not the type to set aside time and call just to ask how I’m doing, you know? Spit it out."
Bak Seongmin urged him gruffly, as if he’d lost all interest.
Taesu felt a confusion he hadn’t felt in a long time at that voice which shifted from moment to moment.
‘Unique.’
A one-of-a-kind character.
He had met countless medical staff and patients until now, but a personality like Bak Seongmin’s was truly unprecedented.
Back and forth.
Taesu shook his head roughly and came to his senses first.
He couldn’t let himself be dragged along by his pace anymore.
To get to the point, he needed to be a little blunt.
Having pulled himself together like that, Taesu immediately stated his business.
"Chief, please send me some doenjang."
"W-what?"
"Doenjang. Not the store-bought stuff—homemade doenjang, you know? That."
The moment Taesu finished speaking, Bak Seongmin’s flabbergasted voice rang out.
"Doenjang? Ha... What the hell. Are you kidding me right now?"
"I’m serious."
"Suddenly, and after half a year no less, the first thing you say on the phone is asking me to send doenjang. Our Dr. Choe must have misdialed trying to call home. Right, that’s it, isn’t it?"
When Bak Seongmin refused to believe him, Taesu spoke again, clearly and precisely.
"I called the right person."
"What kind of meju-like kid even exists? Dr. Choe, you seem tired, so get some sleep and call me back with a clear head."
"I contacted you because I remembered you said your mother makes doenjang and gochujang herself every year."
When Taesu answered resolutely, Bak Seongmin, who had been drifting off topic, returned to the point.
"What are you doing over there, what kind of work requires you to ask for doenjang?"
"The thing is......."
Taesu distilled the situation down to the bare essentials as much as possible.
It was only right to hide the sensitive details.
Even so, it took nearly a minute to finish explaining.
"......So that’s why I need it."
"No, why are they—no, I shouldn’t ask that. What circumstances brought them all the way there?"
"That’s exactly what I’m saying."
"Right. What you’re saying... You little punk. I almost agreed without thinking."
Bak Seongmin’s voice floundered.
Sure enough, now that Taesu had anchored the conversation, he wasn’t swept away by his pace.
With a satisfied expression, Taesu wanted a clearer answer.
"So, Chief. May I ask a favor?"
"Even though I used to be Chief back in the day, now some first-year resident chick is peeping away asking me to send doenjang. Wow, the world really has changed for the better."
"It will continue to get even better."
At Taesu’s cheeky answer, Bak Seongmin’s voice immediately rose.
"That mouth of yours, I’ll—"
"Chief, we can’t even tell our families that we’re here. Please take our situation into account."
"What do you mean 'our'? Lee Gijun couldn’t have gone back there again......"
"Ah, uh."
Taesu realized his slip-up in that very instant.
However, Bak Seongmin picked up on it with extraordinary perceptiveness and immediately asked sharply.
"Is Dr. Jeong there?"
"Yes. He’s right beside me."
"Wow, that punk escaped from Yeonseong and somehow ended up there? Dr. Choe, that’s too much. What do you mean trying to drag a friend to die with you instead of dying alone?"
Before the misunderstanding could set in, Taesu corrected it at once.
"He came on his own."
"W-what?"
"He found his way here himself."
"Oh ho. So it’s self-control, is it? I didn’t raise juniors—I took in psychos. Hey, you pair of lunatics. Driving nails into the Chief’s heart is one thing, but this is going too far."
Bak Seongmin flared up as if deeply wronged.
However, Taesu answered calmly.
"You weren’t even thinking much about it."
"Bingo, how did you know?"
"Anyway, I contacted you believing that you, our omnipotent Chief and classmate of God, would bestow your grace."
Taesu slipped in some flattery here and there to match his mood.
Normally it was contextless flattery that wouldn’t work on people.
But Bak Seongmin was different, as expected.
"Ahem. I am pretty great."
"When the Chief takes a step, all things bow their heads......."
"Let’s stop at the first verse. It’s not like sending doenjang is difficult, so you don’t need to say all that."
At the ready acceptance, Taesu’s expression brightened.
"Truly, the Chief’s grace is known by heaven and earth......."
"I told you to cut it out."
"Ahem. Thank you."
"You’re done now. Put Dr. Jeong on."
Bak Seongmin’s voice turned warm and benevolent.
As if he had been waiting, Taesu quickly handed the phone over to Jeong Minsu.
"Minsu, Chief."
"M-me?"
"Hurry."
Thud.
He dumped it on him completely.
Sweat trickled down.
Talking for a long time with Bak Seongmin was hard work.
The moment he was freed from the phone, he felt happiness at the quiet world.
"Ah, it’s nice that my ears are quiet."
That was Taesu’s position.
Jeong Minsu, who had belatedly taken the phone, was completely different.
"Y-yes. Chief. This is Jeong Minsu. ... Ah, no. I am not sitting down."
In a flash.
Jeong Minsu sprang up from his seat and stood at attention.
He even held the phone with both hands and answered fervently.
Before he knew it, Taesu was watching with a relaxed expression.
"He cares about you, so take it as a good thing."
That was the truth.
Bak Seongmin was surprisingly a man of clear likes and dislikes.
If he disliked Jeong Minsu?
He wouldn’t have mentioned his name at all.
Yet here was Bak Seongmin looking after Taesu and Jeong Minsu like this.
They might be a sore spot for him.
Since he couldn’t go back to those days anymore, he would be holding onto painful memories.
Of course, the same was true for Taesu and Jeong Minsu.
There was no second chance to make up for the mistakes made back then.
So now they were striving not to repeat those mistakes again.
Someday they would grow enough to be proud of themselves.
When that day came, they wanted to show Bak Seongmin.
And over a glass of soju, they wanted to laugh it all off.
They believed that day would surely come.
It was while Taesu was deep in thought amidst the silence that
Gim Hyeokgwon asked in a low voice.
"Is that Chief the senior you mentioned back then?"
"Yes. That’s right."
"He’s really loud. And why is his voice so good?"
"You heard?"
"......."
Silently.
Gim Hyeokgwon pointed instead of answering. To be exact, it was at the phone Jeong Minsu was fervently holding.
— ...You punk, you....
Bak Seongmin’s voice could be heard faintly.
Having heard it directly, Taesu smiled broadly and said.
"He talks a lot, but it’s all just checking in on us."
"What kind of welfare check involves scolding?"
"That’s just his affection."
Taesu smoothed things over nicely.
At that moment Gim Hyeokgwon furrowed his brow deeply and asked seriously.
"He’s not coming here, is he?"
"He won’t be able to."
"Phew. Thank goodness. I can’t stand noisy things. So please, I hope he prospers in Korea."
Gim Hyeokgwon even clasped his hands together and prayed to the heavens.
To him, Taesu slipped in a joke.
"If Mr. Hyeokgwon comes to Korea, you might meet him."
"Me? If I were Dr. Choe, would I go?"
"You said earlier that you were curious who the person your mother loved was."
"I am curious. But please know that my anger, the kind that makes me want to tear him apart and kill him, is equally present."
Gim Hyeokgwon growled as if chewing on the words.
Taesu realized his mistake and apologized quietly.
"I’m sorry. That wasn’t my intention."
"Phew. I’m the one who got worked up."
"It was my mistake."
"Ah, it’s all because of that Chief or whatever guy. I don’t even know his face, but I really don’t like him."
Swiftly.
Perhaps feeling awkward, Gim Hyeokgwon turned his body away entirely and averted his gaze.
Taesu also felt uncomfortable, as if he had inadvertently provoked him.
It was then.
Jeong Minsu pulled the phone from his ear and called out to Taesu softly but urgently.
"Taesu, hey."
"What?"
"Chief is asking where and how to send it?"
Seeing his slightly pale complexion, he seemed to have endured an enormous scolding.
He was practically begging to be teased immediately.
But Taesu was greatly flustered.
"Ah, right."
"What, you don’t know?"
"Tell him I’ll look into it and contact him by email."
"Hey, you irresponsible punk. You tell him."
Swipe.
It was the moment Jeong Minsu held out the phone.
— Dr. Jeong, I told this punk to ask, and did he really bite and hang on? Why aren’t you answering quickly?
Bak Seongmin’s yelling could be heard even outside the phone. At the sound of the bark aimed at him, Jeong Minsu quickly pressed the phone back to his ear and replied.
"Chief. So....... Ugh. No. That’s not it......."
Even in the chilly weather, the cold sweat was unmistakable.
Soon Jeong Minsu lowered the phone and growled roughly at Taesu.
"He said if you call irresponsibly one more time, he’ll twist your ear and make you do the twist. Make sure I pass that on."
"Alright. I’ll keep that in mind."
"You, dammit."
Jeong Minsu looked ready to launch into a heated retort.
At that very moment Taesu immediately got up from his seat, took the phone, and spoke.
"Let’s go get some rest first."
"Do you think I can sleep right now?"
"Then hang out. Mr. Hyeokgwon, let’s go."
When Taesu suggested it nonchalantly, Gim Hyeokgwon, who had been sitting turned away, immediately responded.
"Let’s do that. I’m tired. Let’s get going."
"I’ll need to start wearing thicker clothes soon."
"I suppose I’ll be putting what I bought with the chairman’s allowance to proper use now."
"I told you, you’re a man of foresight."
Taesu and Gim Hyeokgwon conversed even more affably than usual, as if trying to erase their awkwardness.
"Ugh. Choe Taesu."
Meanwhile, Jeong Minsu followed behind, glaring at Taesu’s back with a deeply furrowed brow.
Shortly after.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu entered their quarters.
It was the lodging located inside the Good Morning Us building where they always stayed.
Click.
When the light came on, two single beds came into view.
Beside each one was a large bag.
Taesu sat on the bed first and looked at the large bag.
"Our luggage is slowly increasing."
"Still, it’s mostly clothes."
"That’s true."
"More importantly....... Beer?"
Jeong Minsu asked, opening the refrigerator.
Perhaps because the experience had become ingrained in his body, now that sight was so natural.
Taesu was the same.
"Of course."
"Here."
Swish, catch.
The moment Jeong Minsu lightly tossed it, Taesu caught it immediately, opened the beer, and took a big gulp.
"Whew. As expected, beer drunk in the quarters after returning is the best."
"Agreed. Ah, but shouldn’t we tell Chief the shipping method?"
"I’ll ask the person in charge at Good Morning Us tomorrow."
"That’s the cleanest way. Ah....... What should I say, it feels like coming home."
Jeong Minsu looked around and expressed how it felt to be back.
It was the same sentiment for Taesu.
"Right. Maybe it’s because it’s our quarters."
"We won’t be staying here long either."
"Let’s move around busily. Time passes faster when you’re busy."
At Taesu’s words, Jeong Minsu smiled bitterly and raised his beer.