On the other hand, Taesu headed toward the thicket at a slightly brisk pace.
Rustle, rustle.
As he rounded the side of an unnamed cluster of bushes, he saw someone approaching from the other side.
He was leaning on a wooden support, and his left pant leg fluttered.
There was only one villager with those characteristics.
It was Old Man Wang.
When their eyes met, Taesu bowed his head in greeting.
“You’ve come.”
“Did you know I would?”
“I heard the sound.”
“You’ve got sharp ears.”
“It’s so quiet here.”
Taesu smiled calmly and closed the distance between himself and Old Man Wang.
Old Man Wang asked, puzzled.
“Why are you coming over?”
“To support you.”
“You know how?”
“I’m excellent at it.”
Firmly.
Taesu supported him as soon as he answered.
Surprisingly, Old Man Wang did not refuse.
So Taesu supported him a little more actively.
He locked arms tightly with him and put strength into it, guiding the old man to lean on him completely.
Thud.
“Excellent, aren’t I?”
“Seems you have many talents.”
“Thank you. Please walk comfortably.”
“I will.”
Rustle, rustle.
Taesu’s support truly seemed effective.
Old Man Wang’s steps became considerably lighter.
The sight of the two moving leisurely looked unexpectedly affectionate.
But that moment lasted only briefly.
Soon, they arrived at the outdoor table.
Taesu slowly released his arm and invited him to sit.
“Please have a seat.”
“Very well. Mm, with it this quiet, it’s no wonder you could hear footsteps.”
“Well, more or less.”
Taesu answered plainly as he sat in the seat opposite him.
Meanwhile, Jeong Minsu’s eyes were wide, as if Old Man Wang’s appearance had surprised him.
“No, uh…… Why all of a sudden?”
Just then, Kim Hyeokgwon passed by Jeong Minsu and said,
“Let’s serve him a cup of tea and then go see the kids together.”
“Yes, we should. But why did he really come?”
“At this point, you ought to be able to figure it out.”
Kim Hyeokgwon shook his head from side to side, pitying the clueless Jeong Minsu.
A short while later.
At the outdoor table, Taesu and Old Man Wang sat facing each other.
Between them sat the tea Kim Hyeokgwon and Jeong Minsu had left behind.
Taesu was the first to gesture politely and offer it.
“Please have some tea.”
“Looks like all the savory tea has been drunk.”
At the remark comparing it to soybean paste, Taesu smiled and answered.
“You emptied it down to the very last spoonful that time.”
“Yes. I did, didn’t I.”
“Shall I try to get you some more?”
“No. Ahem. More importantly, it seems you knew I would come today.”
Old Man Wang changed the subject, as if the reason he had come was more important.
Taesu answered with a faint smile.
“I did think it would be soon, but I didn’t know it would be this morning.”
“Why did you think I’d come looking for you?”
“Because I checked Songhui’s postoperative progress yesterday.”
Taesu’s answer was utterly unassuming.
That seemed to make Old Man Wang even more curious.
“If that were the reason, shouldn’t Changgyu have come first?”
“Back then, you came to see what sort of fellows we were.”
“That’s quite a direct way to put it.”
“I don’t particularly like beating around the bush.”
Taesu answered with conviction.
Old Man Wang, if anything, seemed to like that way of speaking.
“Good. Then let’s cut to the chase.”
“I’m listening.”
Straightening.
Taesu quite literally corrected his posture.
He was waiting like that for Old Man Wang’s question.
But then, Old Man Wang suddenly scolded Taesu in a blunt voice.
“By the way, what are you doing right now?”
“I’m waiting for you to speak.”
“You said you’d examine me too, and now that I’ve come, you’re treating me like a guest?”
The reprimand came out of nowhere.
His tone and expression were different from just moments ago.
He had said himself that he was fickle, and this change fit those words perfectly.
Yet Taesu answered without the slightest change in expression.
“I am examining you.”
“Who told you to stare at this wrinkled face?”
“No. I’ve been observing you since I supported you over there.”
Taesu even pointed beyond the bushes.
Perhaps thinking it was a bluff, Old Man Wang’s expression sank heavily.
“Seems all you have is a glib tongue.”
“Hmm. If you insist, shall I tell you a few things?”
“That means you’ve found something out.”
Old Man Wang’s suspicious gaze flashed sharply.
That look was terribly fierce.
It even felt threatening.
Even so, Taesu showed no agitation.
Instead, he asked in a calm voice,
“First of all, when you wake up in the morning, it’s hard to come to your senses, isn’t it?”
“Mm? Hrrm.”
“Your body temperature was high, and your pulse was rather slow.”
“And?”
Old Man Wang snapped back.
It felt as if he was forcibly suppressing his surprise.
Taesu continued without minding it.
“In ordinary cases, the opposite appears.”
“How would I know that?”
“Then, because your weight is placed only on one leg, the balance of your body has been thrown off quite a bit.”
“Anyone can see that.”
He was getting angry for no reason.
His sharp gaze wavered for an instant as well.
It was clear Taesu had hit the mark.
Even so, he did not readily admit it.
Taesu was not swayed by that anger.
He simply recited the other problems he had found.
“Your complexion is extremely yellow, but there are flushes of red here and there.”
“So what?”
“Adding in the overall swelling of the arm I supported, it seems your blood circulation isn’t smooth.”
“Hrrm.”
Old Man Wang’s eyes narrowed.
Taesu, on the contrary, smiled and asked,
“Shall I continue?”
“You’re saying useless things because you have nothing else.”
“Hmm. There is a bitter smell coming from your mouth and body.”
Taesu immediately mentioned another symptom.
As if his weakness had been exposed, Old Man Wang burst out angrily for no reason.
“That happens to everyone when they get old.”
“It is not because of age.”
“Then what?”
“You have trouble digesting, don’t you? It’s the smell produced when toxins accumulated inside your body are discharged through sweat.”
“……”
Old Man Wang’s gaze sank heavily.
Taesu finished speaking with an even gentler smile.
“This is what I’ve grasped so far. Since I’m still a novice doctor, I’m not sure if all of it is correct.”
“You run your mouth as if you’re so great, then quietly lower your tail—does that count as being polite?”
“Then is it really all correct?”
“What?”
“These are areas I’ve been studying intensively lately, so I wasn’t entirely confident myself.”
Scratch, scratch.
Taesu rubbed the back of his head, looking embarrassed as he answered.
At that moment, Old Man Wang even widened his eyes, looking even more dumbfounded.
“You mean you just said whatever you pleased?”
“I observed strictly based on facts.”
“And if you were wrong?”
“There’s nothing I can do about that.”
At Taesu’s indifferent answer, Old Man Wang’s expression turned incredulous.
“What sort of irresponsible person are you?”
“That’s not it.”
“What do you mean, that’s not it? You just said things roughly, and if they’re right, good, and if not, oh well.”
When Old Man Wang got angry, Taesu felt wronged.
“It’s not as if I gave you a proper examination, is it?”
“Mm?”
“I simply answered based on what I observed with my five senses—what I saw, heard, and smelled.”
Taesu emphasized that it had been an uncertain, basic assessment.
Old Man Wang had been the one to lay out the mat and tell him to try.
As if he remembered that himself, Old Man Wang’s expression became slightly awkward.
“Ahem. When an elder is speaking, you look him straight in the eye—tsk.”
“You really do have many different sides to you.”
“You insolent brat. Tsk.”
Old Man Wang clicked his tongue openly.
Taesu was familiar with that side of him. The old men in his hometown back in Korea had acted exactly like that.
No matter who saw it, it was “being unreasonable.”
When someone came out with a take-it-or-leave-it attitude, there was honestly no answer.
Since he had nothing to say, he was clearly just stubbornly insisting.
Taesu was not swayed by Old Man Wang’s constantly changing demeanor.
Instead, he spoke quietly with a calm expression.
“It isn’t only your problem, Elder.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Everyone I’ve met so far is showing similar symptoms.”
“So that was true.”
Old Man Wang’s expression instantly sank heavily.
Taesu also answered seriously.
“The truth is, through Changgyu……”
He explained, in detail, the results of Lee Changgyu’s blood test from the NGO headquarters.
He made it clear that it was not merely conjecture.
“……”
Old Man Wang listened to Taesu’s words with a stiff expression.
Before long, Taesu’s lengthy explanation ended.
“……That is why I suspect fatty liver—no, a fatty liver condition.”
“You’re saying fat can accumulate only in the liver?”
“The jaundice, or icterus, on your face right now is evidence.”
Taesu did not merely speak.
Slide.
He took a hand mirror from his gown pocket and held it out.
Along with his stethoscope, it was one of the few items he always made sure to carry.
The old man directly checked his own yellow skin in the mirror.
Compared to Taesu, it was clearly different.
He did not deny the difference plainly visible to his eyes.
“It really is different.”
“Do you often drink?”
“Alcohol? I don’t even remember the last time I drank.”
Old Man Wang shook his head.
Taesu, on the contrary, nodded.
“I see.”
“You believe me without question?”
“For it to reach that degree, you would have to live with alcohol in your mouth every day.”
“Then if it isn’t alcohol?”
Old Man Wang pressed him in a way that seemed oddly anxious.
At that moment, Taesu got a feeling.
“As expected, most of the villagers seem to have similar symptoms.”
“Just answer what I asked.”
“If it isn’t alcohol, then it must be food.”
“Food. Why?”
“These symptoms can arise from consuming a particular food, or ingredient, over a long period of time.”
Taesu explained the knowledge he had learned from Dr. Wallach in simple terms.
Old Man Wang fell into thought with a cautious expression.
“Mm.”
“Does something come to mind?”
“You brat, don’t rush me. Wait a bit.”
“Do you remember now?”
When Taesu asked in succession, Old Man Wang frowned deeply.
“What a personality.”
“You can just tell me what you usually eat, can’t you?”
“You little punk, where do you get off losing your temper?”
Old Man Wang burst out angrily.
At that moment, Taesu’s voice rose as well.
“We have to think it through together if we want to find it quickly, don’t we?”
“There are more than one or two things I’ve been eating for a long time, that’s why I’m like this.”
“Then you can tell me when you started eating them and how you came to eat them.”
Taesu did not shrink back and confronted him strongly.
At that moment, Old Man Wang growled with a cold gaze.
“Are you telling me to reveal every matter of the past?”
“If it’s necessary.”
“What did you say?”
“Why did you come here? Didn’t you come because you wanted to look after the villagers’ health?”
Taesu also let his frustration burst out, raising his voice at the top of his lungs.
Old Man Wang was no pushover either.
“That’s right, you brat. I came here like this to look after their health.”
“Then why are you hiding things?”
“Because you don’t need to know.”
“Who asked you to tell me everything? I’m just asking you to tell me what you eat.”
Taesu’s eyes filled with force.
The eyes of Old Man Wang facing him also blazed as if on fire.
It felt like they were running on parallel lines.
Their thoughts were not coming any closer at all.
In that state, they confronted each other for a while.
The reason they did not speak was to calm their heated emotions.
The conversation had grown too intense, so it was right to take a beat and pause.