Taesu thought for a moment, then answered calmly.
“We’ll have to ask an NGO for food aid.”
“Then it should be possible.”
“Let’s handle that issue that way.”
Scratch, scratch.
Taesu wrote a condensed note in his notebook.
Without a moment’s rest, Jeong Minsu seized the timing and spoke.
He wasn’t trying to rush things; this was the most important discussion, so he was hurrying.
“The people on my side who need surgery are…”
“I have something similar…”
“Then the order of priority…”
No sooner had the two of them broached the subject than they compared their notebooks and put their heads together.
“This person’s symptoms are…”
“Mm. This person here is more…”
Just like that, they were drawn into discussion in an instant.
Kim Hyeokgwon glanced at them, then stretched out at length on the wooden platform.
“Ahh, this is nice. Call me when you’ve decided who’s first in line for surgery.”
Since there was no harm in him moving only after the surgical patient had been decided, he took it easy.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu let him be.
Deciding on the first surgical patient came first.
After a brief exchange of arguments, the top-priority surgical patient was decided.
“…So I think it would be best to operate on this person first.”
“Mm. Yeah. If that’s the reason, I agree.”
“Good. It’s decided.”
“But, Taesu.”
When Jeong Minsu suddenly called him, Taesu looked at him questioningly.
“What?”
“Can we just decide this among ourselves?”
“Mm? Ah, right… We need to go ask them.”
“True. It’s not something that can be settled just because we’re the only ones worked up about it.”
Jeong Minsu gave an awkward smile for no reason.
Taesu was the same.
They had emphasized the necessity and importance of surgery to the patients in question again and again.
But they had not gone so far as to set schedules.
Now they would have to visit them again in order of urgency and arrange the dates.
That was the problem.
Just a short while ago, they had prodded at their wounds and caused them pain.
It was questionable whether they would be welcomed warmly if they visited again.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu’s gazes turned to Kim Hyeokgwon at the same time.
Slowly.
They looked at him with deep eyes, silently pleading.
Had he sensed those gazes?
Twitch.
Kim Hyeokgwon quietly turned over onto his side.
It was a clear expression of refusal.
It seemed he, too, felt burdened by the thought of visiting them again today.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu withdrew their pleading gazes and smiled bitterly.
Just as silence was about to settle in.
Step, step.
Along with the sound of footsteps came a calm voice.
“Is there any way I might be able to help?”
At that moment, everyone looked in that direction.
As soon as Taesu confirmed who it was, his face brightened.
It was the children’s teacher he had met in the village.
“Teacher.”
At the way he was addressed, the man in his mid-twenties, with a neat and upright impression, looked embarrassed.
“What kind of teacher am I?”
“A teacher who teaches children is more of a real teacher, isn’t he?”
“No, not at all. I’m just playing with them.”
The man, who had come closer, even had a faint blush on his cheeks.
Taesu did not tease the flustered man any further and asked gently,
“Then may I call you Jo Jeongmin?”
“I’m much younger than you, so please speak comfortably to me.”
“Well, then I’ll call you Jeongmin.”
Jo Jeongmin seemed to like the way Taesu addressed him and nodded.
“Yes. Please call me that.”
“More importantly, don’t stand there. Come over here.”
“May I?”
“Of course. Come sit down and think of this as your own village’s platform.”
Tap, tap.
Taesu lightly patted the wooden platform as he invited him over.
At his characteristic thick-skinned friendliness, Jo Jeongmin smiled innocently.
“Haha. Yes. I’ll think of it that way and sit.”
As Jo Jeongmin took a seat on one side,
Jeong Minsu, seeing him for the first time, tilted his head and asked Taesu,
“Who is he?”
“The next-generation leader of this village.”
“Mm?”
“By day, he’s the teacher who teaches the kids Hangul, and by night, he’s an admirable man who studies the development of the village.”
Perhaps Taesu’s explanation was too grand, because the startled Jo Jeongmin waved both hands vigorously.
Whoosh, whoosh.
“I’m only doing it because I like it.”
“The villagers were praising you a lot.”
“What praise? They’re just looking kindly on me.”
“Haha. Let’s leave it at that.”
Taesu stopped joking at an appropriate point.
With his face slightly flushed, Jo Jeongmin looked around the village and said,
“As Mr. Choi must have heard roughly, it has only been about ten years since we settled here.”
“…”
At those words, Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon’s eyebrows twitched.
Whoosh.
Their puzzled gazes turned to one place.
Receiving those gazes, Taesu gave a slight hand gesture.
A quick motion.
‘Later.’
It was a sign like a code exchanged between them.
“…”
Kim Hyeokgwon and Jeong Minsu chose silence for now.
At their reaction, Taesu also showed a smile.
Then Jo Jeongmin continued speaking.
“Everyone has been sick and suffering, and then all of you appeared.”
“Mm.”
“I truly cannot thank you enough. That’s why I came to see if there was anything I could help with.”
Jo Jeongmin finished speaking with a deep look in his eyes.
Taesu quietly thought for a moment, then his eyes glinted lightly.
“If you help us, Jeongmin, we’d be the ones grateful.”
“I don’t know if I’m overstepping.”
“No. Everyone still finds us burdensome.”
“In that regard, it would be easier for me to speak with them.”
At the words that he could be of help, Jo Jeongmin’s face brightened.
Taesu did not merely talk; he immediately made a request.
“Then it’s about the surgeries…”
“Yes, yes… Ah, like that…”
“And…”
Taesu continued the conversation with Jo Jeongmin while looking at the notebook together.
It was Taesu’s way to ask for favors straightforwardly as well.
Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon were the same.
Quick on the uptake, they separately copied down the information to give to Jo Jeongmin.
A little later.
Jo Jeongmin received the paper and showed firm enthusiasm.
“Then I should visit them as you explained.”
“We’ll be counting on you.”
“That’s what I should be saying. I’m excited that everyone will receive the surgeries I’ve only heard about.”
Tightly.
Jo Jeongmin held the paper preciously to his chest.
His expression brightened at the thought of the villagers becoming healthy.
That sight felt truly innocent.
Taesu, who had been smiling warmly, thought for a moment, then asked about another subject.
“Oh, right, Jeongmin. Do you really want to go outside the village?”
“Yes. If we stay trapped here like this, everyone will eventually have a hard time.”
“That is the situation right now.”
“And in a few years, it will become even harder.”
Jo Jeongmin’s expression had become serious before they knew it.
It seemed he could clearly picture the village’s future.
Taesu shared the same opinion.
So he respected Jo Jeongmin’s judgment.
“We’re going to radio the NGO today and call for a vehicle.”
“Ah, yes.”
“It would be very good if you could move with them then.”
Inwardly, Taesu was also planning to make use of the NGO’s connections.
Jo Jeongmin could not know that much.
But when he saw signs that things would proceed quickly, even his eyes changed.
“Would that really be all right?”
“Of course.”
“Then I’ll have to persuade the elders first.”
“I’ll probably be able to tell you the detailed schedule tomorrow.”
When Taesu calmed him, Jo Jeongmin also held himself back for the moment.
“Then I’ll hear the schedule tomorrow and move accordingly.”
“Yes. That should do.”
“I’ll hurry and do this first. Thank you for your hard work, and I’ll see you tomorrow. Thank you.”
Holding the paper tightly, Jo Jeongmin bowed several times as he moved away.
The three men lightly waved their hands.
When he had gone some distance, Taesu said,
“We should start heading back too.”
“Let’s do that. Looks like we’ll have a lot to talk about today as well.”
“I’m glad the night is long.”
Each saying a word, they slung their bags over their shoulders.
It was now time to leave the village.
Slowly.
They took in the village, now growing dark, in one broad glance.
It had a different charm from daytime.
“Then we’ll see everyone tomorrow.”
Taesu murmured his farewell.
Then the three of them walked side by side out of the village.
They did not look back.
The village gate could now be opened at any time.
They were on the road from the village toward the medical tent.
Jeong Minsu thought about this and that, then cautiously brought up a topic.
“That guy, Jo Jeongmin.”
“Yeah, why?”
“How should I put it… He’s pure. He’s pure, but I don’t think he feels completely transparent.”
Jeong Minsu was cautious, wondering if he was being too hasty.
But Taesu calmly agreed.
“That’s right. He has a reasonable amount of greed, and ambition for the village’s development too.”
“People like that tend to be surprisingly loyal.”
When Kim Hyeokgwon added that, Taesu agreed.
“That’s what it seemed like.”
“He seems to have his own sense of mission, and also a material desire to live well.”
“I think this is the first time I’ve heard you praise someone like this, Hyeokgwon.”
When Taesu sounded surprised, Kim Hyeokgwon drew a clear line.
“Where is there such a thing as an entirely good person?”
“That’s true.”
“I’m not looking at him crookedly. I just feel sorry for him because he’s trying to carry too much on his own.”
“We seem to have too much to do ourselves to pay attention to every little detail.”
When Taesu wrapped up the conversation appropriately, Kim Hyeokgwon nodded as well.
“I was just saying what I felt.”
“I know.”
“It’s not like I’m in any position to do something for him.”
“I’m the same.”
After Taesu answered,
Jeong Minsu unusually raised his hand and offered his opinion.
“Um, excuse me…”
“Just say it.”
“Let’s hurry back and eat first.”
At that moment, Taesu and Kim Hyeokgwon, who had been expectant, turned deflated.
“Yeah. Food is important.”
“I am hungry.”
“But on the way, we should still check on the children.”
“Of course.”
Step. Step.
The three men’s steps quickened a little.
With the end of the day not far off, they mustered even more strength.
After some time, the sky was stained red.
It was after they had finished an early dinner.
Before they could grow any more sluggish, everyone got to their feet.
“I’ll radio first.”
“I’ll check the generator.”
“Then I’ll roughly set up the operating room.”
Rustle.
Each stating what they had to do, they dispersed.
Taesu headed straight behind the lodging tent.
In the light of his headlamp, a tarp came into view.
Behind that tarp stood a tall antenna.
Looking at it, Taesu entered the tarp-covered space.
Thud.
It was pitch-dark inside, but with his headlamp, there was no problem at all.
What the light revealed were all kinds of boxes.
From medicine to foodstuffs and daily necessities.
All the necessary supplies were piled up there.
Among them was an unusual item.
It was a desk placed beside the entrance.
On top of that desk sat a large military radio.
And a small device was attached to the military radio.