Two hours later.
Taesu’s vague hunch had strangely, accurately hit the mark.
It wasn’t long after he finished preparing for the surgery.
"Ahem. Are you there?"
"Hello."
Following Gang Yeonghun’s voice from outside the tent, Gang Songhui’s voice could be heard as well.
At the same time, Jeong Minsu and Gim Hyeokgwon’s eyes went wide.
"What the? For real?"
"They rushed here like that and really came. How did you know?"
Both of their gazes turned straight to Taesu.
Taesu?
Shrug.
"It was just a feeling."
"What kind of feeling is that, exactly?"
"Let’s greet the patient first."
Heh.
Taesu stood up with a broad smile.
Gim Hyeokgwon and Jeong Minsu couldn’t press any further and followed suit.
Shortly after.
Taesu and the father-daughter pair sat facing each other in the surgery prep room.
Taesu first pointed to another screen inside and briefly explained.
"Beyond that is the real operating room."
"It’s a bit different from the tent where you took Changgyu."
"Yes. That was a consultation tent, while this one is for surgery."
"So that’s why it’s different."
Gang Yeonghun looked around meticulously.
It was only natural that he should.
In the meantime, Taesu turned his gaze to look at Gang Songhui.
"Is this your first time, Songhui?"
"Huh? Oh. Yes."
Gang Songhui answered, startled.
She even hid half her body behind Gang Yeonghun, who was sitting close beside her.
Even so, she stole glances at Taesu with one eye.
She looked half-curious, half-wary.
Gang Yeonghun gently admonished her.
"What did Daddy say?"
"Hmph."
"Hey now."
"Yes."
When whining didn’t work, Gang Songhui revealed herself completely.
It seemed she had been told not to hide anymore.
Now that they were properly facing each other, Taesu smiled lightly and held out a candy.
"Want to eat this?"
"Can I… eat it?"
"Of course."
The moment Taesu spoke readily.
"Thank you."
Pop.
Gang Songhui quickly picked up the candy and put it in her mouth.
Perhaps because she had tried it yesterday, her eyes immediately brightened.
Suck, suck.
Even the corners of her eyes melted into sweetness, making her look even cuter.
On the other hand, when she put the candy in her mouth, the neurofibroma became pronounced.
She couldn’t move the candy to the left side where the tumor was located.
Taesu was observing that meticulously.
'At that level…'
He also inferred the size of the tumor based on what he had heard from various specialists.
His choice of candy meant it wasn’t merely a bribe to win her favor.
Gang Yeonghun had been watching Taesu.
Then, perhaps soon realizing the meaning, a strange light flickered in his eyes.
He then nodded silently.
Gang Songhui didn’t care about anyone’s gaze.
Suck, slurp. Suck.
She was intoxicated solely by the sweetness filling her cheeks.
After Taesu had sufficiently examined Gang Songhui,
just in case, he asked Gang Yeonghun,
"Does Songhui know she’s having surgery?"
"Yes. I’ve talked to her plenty about it."
At the same time as his answer,
"Slurp. Songhui knows too."
Gang Songhui answered directly.
Taesu nodded and turned around to find Gim Hyeokgwon.
"Then… Mr. Hyeokgwon."
Rustle.
The inner screen was drawn back, and Gim Hyeokgwon came out.
He then approached Gang Songhui and matched her eye level.
When dealing with children, Gim Hyeokgwon was the gentlest, most caring man in the world.
"Songhui, shall we go get ready for surgery now?"
"The candy is still in my mouth… slurp. It’s there."
"We’ll do the surgery after you finish that. But we need to get ready first."
Just as Gim Hyeokgwon was gently persuading her,
rustle.
As Gang Songhui looked over, Gang Yeonghun stroked her head and spoke.
"Daddy will stay right here."
"Okay. Don’t go home first, slurp, without me."
"Of course. Naturally."
Nod.
Gang Yeonghun reassured her with a father’s smile.
Only then did Gang Songhui promptly hop down from the chair.
"Daddy said… slurp. I can go with you."
"Then let’s go in there. We can look around too."
Gim Hyeokgwon naturally guided Gang Songhui inside.
Taesu watched that sight with a strange gaze.
'She trusts her dad? That’s obvious, but…'
But he felt it was a bit unique that Gang Songhui showed no resistance whatsoever.
After the two of them entered the operating room like that,
"H-hmm."
A long exhale from Gang Yeonghun was heard.
Moreover, his clasped hands were full of tension.
It was so different from the appearance he had shown to reassure Gang Songhui.
In fact, he had been like that in the morning too.
Even while agreeing to have Gang Songhui operated on, he hadn’t been able to give her confidence.
But he wasn’t an indecisive person by nature either.
Taesu couldn’t understand why Gang Yeonghun was so unable to get a grip.
After worrying repeatedly, Taesu realized with a start.
Gang Yeonghun had experienced illness only in extreme cases.
Because I Changgyu’s condition had been severe, they had stayed in the intensive care tent at the NGO headquarters.
The patients he had seen were mostly those who had overcome tremendous surgeries.
He was undoubtedly applying the same standard to Gang Songhui.
This was Taesu’s fault.
He had spoken too much from his own perspective.
Realizing that, Taesu apologized without delay.
"I’m sorry."
"Huh? Why are you apologizing all of a sudden?"
"I’ve been speaking from my own standards all this time."
"Well…"
Gang Yeonghun didn’t particularly deny it.
It seemed Taesu hadn’t been entirely wrong.
It seemed Gang Yeonghun hadn’t been able to bring himself to tell Gang Songhui.
That was why Gang Songhui must have followed Gim Hyeokgwon so readily.
And yet Gang Yeonghun had been fretting behind them.
Only now did Taesu see everything clearly.
It was good that he had realized now rather than later.
If it wasn’t too late yet, it was right to act immediately.
Taesu calmly settled his mind and looked at Gang Yeonghun.
"I think I need to explain again."
"You already told me everything yesterday."
"That was based on my standards. I’ll explain properly again."
Taesu even showed determination.
At that momentum, Gang Yeonghun nodded.
"Yes. Please do."
"Ahem. First, the surgery Songhui is receiving is completely different from Changgyu’s case. So…"
Taesu explained in detail, taking plenty of time.
He went over even the most basic concepts one by one.
Gang Yeonghun’s attitude changed too.
Before, he had just nodded along, but this time he asked immediately when he didn’t know something.
"Excuse me, but what exactly does anesthesia mean?"
"Anesthesia temporarily makes the patient…"
"Then does it cause problems to the body…"
"Here, we conduct a simple test. That test is…"
Taesu’s explanation continued without stopping.
Talking too much naturally made one’s mouth dry.
That was why there was a glass of water.
That glass was refilled when emptied, and never ran dry throughout the explanation.
Had about an hour passed?
Gang Yeonghun’s expression had brightened tremendously, not just a little.
"Ah, so that’s the kind of surgery it is. Then there’s not much to worry about."
"Still, as I mentioned, we can’t talk about one hundred percent with surgery."
"No. Compared to Changgyu, this is really a simpler surgery than eating cold porridge."
Seeing Gang Yeonghun make the comparison, he seemed to have understood clearly.
But Taesu’s worry was exactly the same as before.
"As I said again…"
"No. No. You don’t need to say anything more."
"Still…"
"Now our Songhui will be able to look for my face."
He was already treating the surgery’s success as a foregone conclusion.
Taesu found that a bit ambiguous.
"But it’s my first surgery as lead surgeon."
"You’re too modest. Even me, who knows nothing, got a sense of it just by listening."
"That…"
"I’ve taken up too much of your time. I’ll take a walk around the area."
Bow.
Afraid that he himself might be a burden, Gang Yeonghun quickly greeted him and left.
Taesu jumped up and quickly reached out his hand.
"Ah, uh, I…"
But it was already too late.
Left alone, Taesu’s expression turned blank.
Plop.
Taesu sat back down with a deflated face and muttered bitterly,
"I told you it’s not my field of expertise."
But there was no one to listen.
Taesu felt dazed with a sense of emptiness.
It was then.
Rustle.
The screen opened, and Gim Hyeokgwon reproached him with a sullen face.
"The kid is waiting."
"It’s not that…"
"I have ears too."
Gim Hyeokgwon cut him off.
The screen wasn’t as thick as one might think.
Taesu smiled bitterly because he knew that too.
"You must have heard."
"You were making noise out here, and inside, Dr. Jeong was explaining to Songhui to an astonishing degree—it was utter chaos."
"How did Songhui react?"
At Taesu’s immediately serious question, Gim Hyeokgwon answered indifferently.
"What’s there to say? She’s on the verge of tears."
"Ah… knowing is a problem too."
"It’s a hundred times better than hurting without knowing. By the way, aren’t you doing the surgery?"
"No. I have to. Hoo… Up we go. Let’s go."
Taesu gathered his strength and stood up, heading into the operating room first.
The inside of the operating room was similar to the time in Sahad.
Vrooom.
The sound of the generator installed outside the surgery tent echoed from afar.
Beep, beep.
The calm beeping of the ECG punctuated the room at intervals.
In the center of such an operating room, Gang Songhui was lying on the operating table. Since only her face was being operated on, her body was covered with a thick blanket.
Her right hand, connected to an IV, was also neatly placed under the blanket.
However, the middle of the blanket was rolled up.
It was plain to see how tightly she was gripping it with her tiny hands.
Moreover, her face was full of anxiety.
It was the complete opposite of her carefree appearance when she first came in.
She looked like she didn’t even have the energy to look at whoever came in.
At that moment, Jeong Minsu, fully dressed in surgical scrubs, approached Taesu and spoke.
"Blood type confirmed, adverse reaction to anesthesia checked, no problems."
"But the young lady seems to have a lot of problems?"
"She’s probably gotten quite a lot worse."
"Did you threaten her?"
Taesu tested him lightly, but in the operating room, such provocation didn’t work on Jeong Minsu.
"It was the kindest explanation in the world."
"We can check that soon enough."
The moment Taesu answered calmly, Jeong Minsu threw a random question.
"Anesthesia method?"
"Sedation anesthesia, and local anesthesia."
"Then the type and dosage of the anesthetic? Ah, for reference, Songhui’s weight is…"
Jeong Minsu didn’t say that part directly.
Rustle, rustle.
He spread both hands and expressed it with his fingers instead.
He was being careful about parts that could be sensitive, no matter how young she was.
Such delicacy was a level above Taesu.
After confirming the number with his eyes, Taesu quickly calculated in his head and answered.
"The anesthetic dosage is…"
"Okay. Then let’s talk until we’re ready."
Swish.
Jeong Minsu immediately turned back to prepare the anesthetic.