"……."
"Mr. Hyeokgwon."
"Huu."
It was a relief that Jeong Minsu was with him.
Only the sound of Gim Hyeokgwon's sigh could be heard.
Meanwhile, Taesu's gaze had deepened.
'They're incredibly sharp.'
It wasn't to an unexpected degree.
So he calmly approached further.
Thud, thud.
Before he had taken a few steps, another sharp rebuke rang out.
"Who said you could approach?"
"You insolent brat."
"Why don't you answer when you're asked a question?"
The elders pressured Taesu, speaking one after another.
Their spirit was tremendous.
They didn't look like old men who lived deep in the mountains.
Even though they must have been in seclusion for a long time, their very personalities were extraordinary. Moreover, the hot-blooded vigor of their youthful prime still remained.
Taesu rather liked the sound of such shouting.
Smiling serenely, Taesu bowed politely with courtesy.
"My name is Choe Taesu. In the village……."
"Who said they wanted to hear your name?"
"……."
"I'm asking what your purpose in coming here is."
They only kept showing anger.
Taesu, listening patiently, honestly found it absurd. Still, since his opponents were elders, he had tried to show them some respect, but they were obstinate hardliners, far too narrow-minded.
He had heard that they lived with their backs turned to the past.
If this was something to feign ignorance about, Taesu wasn't going to yield indefinitely.
So Taesu steeled his heart a little more firmly.
With a bold gaze, he asked the elders in a low voice.
"Did you ask what I came here to take?"
"I did."
"Then what can you give me?"
"Huh?"
The elder who had been full of bluster faltered.
Then immediately, the elders standing to his left and right chimed in with support.
"L-look at that impertinent tone."
"Tsk, how can such a scoundrel exist?"
Even at their anger, Taesu didn't bat an eye.
If the opponent came on strong?
Taesu simply had to hit back just as hard.
With that resolve, he slowly met each of their eyes one by one and continued.
"No matter where I look, nothing seems particularly impressive."
"What?"
"For someone who came to enjoy the autumn foliage in a scenic late-autumn mountain, it's also quite far."
"Look at that greenhorn talking."
The elders' faces turned red and pale in rapid succession.
They were openly displaying hostility to that degree.
Meanwhile, Taesu turned his gaze with a still-composed face.
And he asked Gim Hyeokgwon over there.
"Is the car ready?"
"What, do you think it'll be ready in a snap?"
"Then we'll have to wait a bit longer."
"If you're going to bicker, do it properly. Do you think we crawled all the way up here because we had nothing better to do? All sorts of nonsense."
As expected, Gim Hyeokgwon's way with words was far from ordinary.
He paid no mind to the rather sharp atmosphere.
Of course, Taesu was the same.
Meanwhile, strong displeasure rose on the elders' faces.
"Ngh."
"The nerve."
Then Taesu looked back at the elders and asked.
"Still, since you've come, shouldn't you have a cup of tea?"
"No thanks. Who would go all the way somewhere to drink grass-simmered water?"
"Then shall I examine you?"
At Taesu's composed question, the elders' faces grew even redder.
"What nonsense are you talking now?"
"You are neither guests nor patients, so why have you come?"
"To kick you out, of course——"
Before the elder could finish, Taesu cut in with a weighty gaze.
"Why are you trying to kick us out?"
"Because you lot——"
"Simply because we are Korean?"
"You ask that when you already know the answer."
The elder standing in the middle shouted abruptly.
Taesu paid no mind and asked.
"What on earth have we done wrong?"
"That's none of your——"
"We don't need to know. Just leave. Fine. Let's go."
When Taesu spoke firmly, the elders rather than rejoicing became even more guarded.
"What scheme are you plotting?"
"You doubt us even when we say we'll leave because you told us to?"
"What dark thoughts are you harboring?"
"There is no scheme. But where and how will the villagers receive treatment?"
Taesu brought out the fundamental purpose of their visit.
At those words, the elders' momentum faltered slightly for the first time.
"That's none of your business."
"Do those who are ill right now share the same opinion?"
"I said it's none of your business."
The elders' hardline stance was like steel.
He could even sense a bamboo-like spirit that would break before it bent.
That was a favorable interpretation.
Viewed objectively, it was sheer obstinacy.
Taesu dealt with them rationally enough to see through them at a glance.
Because of that, he knew exactly which parts they reacted to.
He dug deeper into that part.
"We are doctors. Since you hate Koreans, I suppose we'll call ourselves NGO doctors."
"Even if you do, you lot——"
"Our nationality doesn't change, of course. But ever since leaving Korea, we have been continuously active as an NGO until now."
Taesu spoke resolutely.
He could pull out his NGO status at any time, and it didn't matter if he didn't.
That was why he could say such things.
The elders didn't know such circumstances at all.
But with the years they had lived, they didn't fall for wordplay.
"Still, being Korean bastards is all the same."
"What does that matter?"
"What?"
"We didn't come here to make a deal, did we?"
Taesu's words were correct on that point.
And the elders surely knew, having heard from Gang Yeonghun.
When he pressed that point, as expected, the elders bit their lips slightly.
"Ahem."
"I heard you permitted us to come this far. Is that not so?"
"A-hem."
"That's why we set up here. We intend to treat people here."
Taesu pointed out each thing clearly one by one.
But such logical conversation didn't work on the elders.
"That may be how it starts. But eventually……."
Just as another negative conversation was about to begin.
"Everyone, stop."
A heavy voice echoed through the mountain.
And the bushes shook once more.
Rustle.
Soon, Gang Yeonghun appeared.
But he wasn't alone; he was approaching while supporting someone.
It was an elder close to eighty.
His trousers fluttered loosely, likely because his left leg was missing.
He walked using a thick branch as a splint against his right side.
Clack, clack.
And there was another.
It was a young girl following after him, holding onto Gang Yeonghun's pant leg.
The characteristic of the child who looked about ten years old was that one side of her face was swollen.
Taesu recognized at a glance that the child was 'Songhui.'
At that elder's appearance, the other elders changed.
"When did you……."
"Why did you come all the way here again……."
"Something we should have ended among ourselves……."
They muttered while glancing at one another.
But the elder with the splint paid no heed and slowly approached.
Thud, thud.
Having slowly come forward, he asked Taesu.
"Are you Mr. Choe?"
"I am Choe Taesu."
"Let me ask first. Why are you so desperate to treat our villagers?"
The opponent's tone was unexpectedly gentle.
But to Taesu, that calmness felt even more weighty.
'His vibe is like a mob boss.'
He really was.
The feeling was different from the three elders from the start.
The sharpness hidden within his calmness was no ordinary matter.
In some ways, he felt as warm as a neighborhood grandfather. At the same time, he felt mixed with the shrewdness and chill of a veteran of a hundred battles.
This wasn't the atmosphere of a grandfather living in such a remote mountain valley.
Even Taesu felt slightly tense.
But that didn't mean he was overwhelmed by the momentum.
Because the purpose of his visit was clear, he answered with unwavering conviction.
"Because they are patients."
"Even though you are being pushed away like this?"
"That is why I have been pushed this far."
It was a puzzling answer.
But a faint smile formed on the elder with the splint's face.
"An interesting young man."
The moment he said that, the other elders objected.
"Elder Brother. Shouldn't you not believe his words as they are?"
"He surely has an ulterior motive."
"Do not jump to conclusions."
It was then.
Swish.
The elder with the splint lightly waved his hand.
Then, as if by a lie, the other elders' mouths shut tight.
Clearly, the elder with the splint was the final boss.
"……."
As Taesu watched silently, the elder with the splint spoke in a low voice.
"You plan to stay here?"
"Yes."
"Isn't entering the village the easier path?"
"I do not wish to cause unnecessary commotion."
Taesu's answer was simple and clear.
However the elder with the splint took it, he gazed quietly and then asked heavily.
"I simply cannot understand why you all are doing this."
"We often feel the same way."
"What?"
"I believe it is only natural for doctors to seek out patients, yet you say it is wrong, so I am perplexed."
It was the moment Taesu revealed the conviction he held.
The elder stared piercingly at Taesu.
"……."
"……."
Taesu had no reason to avoid his gaze and met it.
They continued to look at each other like that for a while longer.
The elder with the splint spoke first.
"They say there are guns in the village."
"I understand that carrying firearms for self-defense is not illegal in this country."
"Those gun muzzles could be pointed at you."
"That is the first I've heard that we are game."
Taesu's answer was nonchalant.
In truth?
'Damn it.'
Honestly, he was nervous.
When they warned him so openly that they would point guns at him, he couldn't remain entirely composed.
But the guts he'd displayed even among soldiers from opposing sides didn't listen to his head.
At Taesu's unyielding reaction, the elder with the splint smiled faintly for the first time.
"You've got quite some nerve."
"My legs are trembling."
"And quite the sense of humor too."
"Think of it as you like."
Taesu was honest, but the elder with the splint shifted to a slightly curious expression.
"However……."
"Hmm. Just a moment."
"A moment?"
Just as the elder with the splint turned to a puzzled expression.
Swish.
Taesu approached toward them.
The other elders' guard levels shot up.
"That bastard."
"What trick is this?"
The backlash was severe.
But Taesu paid no heed.
He finally approached right near the elder with the splint.
The other party himself had no particular reaction.
Because he could see exactly where Taesu's gaze was directed.
Just as he had seen, Taesu's target was Songhui standing beside Gang Yeonghun.
Swish.
Songhui half-hid behind Gang Yeonghun.
Keeping some distance, Taesu crouched down and called out gently.
"Are you Songhui?"
"I'm Songhui. Gang Songhui."
"So you were Songhui. But Songhui, can I see your face for a moment?"
"Why?"
Swish.
Gang Songhui hid deeper behind Gang Yeonghun. But true to her curious nature, she was stealing glances at Taesu with one eye.