Soon, Taesu also turned off the radio and gave a bitter smile.
“There’s no nuisance group quite like us.”
“And that group’s leader is Dr. Choi.”
“That’s true.”
Kim Hyeokgwon and Jeong Minsu quickly shoved all responsibility onto Taesu.
Words like that no longer even provoked him.
Clank.
Taesu turned a steel chair around and sat on it backward.
Then, looking at the two of them, he said,
“Let’s sort out our own discussion first.”
“Let’s.”
“You said you’d pay in a lump sum.”
“Is that not allowed?”
When Kim Hyeokgwon asked sullenly, Taesu narrowed his brow.
“We don’t have that much cash.”
“Right. I did bring some emergency money just in case, though.”
Jeong Minsu chimed in as well.
In truth, there was no way they would be carrying around such a large sum.
That was when it happened.
Rustle.
Kim Hyeokgwon quietly opened his thick outerwear.
Then he began taking cash out of a hidden pocket.
It was a considerable amount.
Fluttering the wad of bundled bills, Kim Hyeokgwon said,
Frrrt.
“I know very well how much this is.”
“You’re definitely someone who would.”
“And I roughly know how much cash you two have, too.”
“Yes.”
When Taesu answered calmly, Kim Hyeokgwon continued right away.
“When I calculated it like that, it seemed like it would just about be enough.”
“It won’t be plenty.”
“Then we’ll just hammer them down with a discount.”
At the same time as he answered—
Thump, thump.
He came over and placed the cash on the table.
This was a first.
Just seeing money come out of his pocket was shocking enough.
But such a large sum?
Taesu was so shaken his eyes trembled.
“Hyeokgwon.”
In contrast, Kim Hyeokgwon spoke in a heavy tone.
“It’s wartime, so… you know it goes up, right?”
“What goes up?”
“Interest.”
“What?”
For a moment, Taesu didn’t understand.
Then Kim Hyeokgwon’s expression suddenly turned crooked.
“Hey, mister. If you used someone else’s money, you’ve got to pay it back with interest.”
“Yes. Well, that’s true.”
“We’re not strangers, so I’ll be reasonable. Let’s say about twenty percent.”
“Whoa.”
Taesu blinked, dumbfounded.
Jeong Minsu was the same.
“What exactly is happening right now?”
He seemed completely confused.
Kim Hyeokgwon, however, had only Taesu in his sights.
“Anyway, that’s how I’ll understand it.”
“Um…”
“Let’s not draw blood over a few coins between us. Huh?”
“No, um…”
When Taesu tried to speak again, Kim Hyeokgwon’s face crumpled once more.
“Does this mister not understand words? Should I show you what a real mess looks like?”
“Let me speak too.”
“What?”
“I’m asking if we don’t need to write a contract.”
The moment Taesu readily accepted—
Kim Hyeokgwon’s stiff back immediately bent, and his face filled with smiles.
“What need is there for a contract? We live in a society built on trust, don’t we?”
“Then that’s fine. Make sure you put it properly in the ledger.”
“Of course. Heh heh. I’ll take excellent care of it.”
Kim Hyeokgwon’s smile did not leave his face, as if he had unexpectedly come out ahead.
Taesu simply accepted it as another one of his ways.
At this point, it would be stranger to be surprised by that side of Kim Hyeokgwon.
However, Jeong Minsu still had not adjusted.
“What in the…”
He was the very picture of bewilderment.
Taesu changed the atmosphere at a suitable point.
“For now, let’s go back to the warm lodging tent.”
There was no reason to stand shivering in the cold.
A little while later.
The three men who had parted at the storage tent gathered again in the lodging tent.
Each of them held a warm cup of coffee.
But the atmosphere was somewhat dazed.
It was because of the sudden news of war.
“Good grief.”
“What a damned mess.”
Their individual thoughts soon faded.
The war was someone else’s problem.
But the patients in the village were their own.
They had not forgotten that priority.
Taesu moved first.
He placed the cash Kim Hyeokgwon had provided in a clearly visible spot.
Then he took out all the cash he owned and put it on top.
Slap.
Satisfied with the now fuller pile of cash, he opened his mouth.
“Let’s wrap up the meeting.”
After Taesu’s voice filled the lodging tent—
Jeong Minsu approached without waiting.
Adding his own money to the bundle of cash, he raised both hands.
“Now I’m broke too.”
Money matters could easily become sensitive, but for them, it was clean and simple.
Then they immediately began the meeting.
Opening his notebook, Taesu spoke hurriedly.
“My head’s spinning from all the news that suddenly poured in.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Now, let’s finish only the most urgent matters first.”
As soon as Taesu began, Jeong Minsu pointed it out.
“The blood samples.”
“Let’s put them in the blood freezer. There’s room, right?”
At Taesu’s question, Jeong Minsu rolled his eyes in thought and answered.
“If we put this like this, and that over there… roughly, yes.”
“Even if there isn’t, cram them in.”
“But we can’t keep the blood frozen forever.”
When Jeong Minsu pointed out the next problem, Taesu answered immediately.
“When Raku comes, I’m thinking of sending them with him.”
“How are you going to receive the results?”
“The radio.”
At Taesu’s answer, Jeong Minsu nodded broadly.
“As expected, the king of petty schemes.”
“Well, I’ll admit it this time.”
“But can Raku really make it all the way here?”
Jeong Minsu abruptly brought up a negative point.
“…”
“…”
Taesu and Kim Hyeokgwon could not answer easily.
If the war had already begun, there were far too many possible variables.
Jeong Minsu, who had voiced that negative view, added with an awkwardly flinching expression.
“Fine. I admit I’m negative. I’m timid and… anyway, I am. But things can’t always turn out well, you know.”
“You’re right.”
“R-right?”
When Jeong Minsu asked while gauging their reactions, Kim Hyeokgwon clicked his tongue.
“Why are you watching people’s moods here?”
“Him. That guy. His personality’s weird.”
“Ah, then go back to watching his mood. You never know when a fist might fly.”
Kim Hyeokgwon showed agreement in a strange place.
Taesu no longer even registered that kind of slander.
With an indifferent face, he said to Jeong Minsu,
“You’re right. We should think about and prepare for the worst case too.”
“Then what measures do you have?”
“Let’s think only good thoughts today.”
Taesu changed the subject absurdly.
Trying to suddenly assume even the worst-case scenario made his head ache from how complicated it was.
This time, Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon also agreed with Taesu.
“Yeah. We’ll pass on that today.”
“Let’s do it when our heads are a little clearer.”
They boldly put off what needed to be put off.
Even so, there was still much left to discuss.
“Let’s leave that at that… What else is there?”
At Taesu’s question, Kim Hyeokgwon flipped back and forth through his own notebook and spoke.
Jeong Minsu asked after him as well.
Watching quietly, Taesu worked his thoughts for a moment, then soon shouted,
“All stop.”
“Yes?”
“Let’s resolve the urgent surgeries first. It won’t be too late to proceed after that.”
Taesu drew the line clearly.
Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon immediately nodded.
“Understood.”
“Yeah. Surgery comes first.”
Scribble, scribble.
They even summarized it briefly in their notebooks.
Then Kim Hyeokgwon immediately asked,
“Dr. Choi. So what are we doing about meals?”
“We need to use ours first.”
“And the other side?”
“We’ll inform them and ask for cooperation. After the surgeries.”
Taesu attached a clear condition.
Kim Hyeokgwon accepted that right away as well.
More than that, he seemed slightly dumbfounded by how things were unfolding.
“We’ll have to become a temporary community.”
“I suppose so.”
“So water and oil can mix after all.”
Kim Hyeokgwon expressed it metaphorically and summarized it in his notebook.
That matter was settled for now.
In the quiet that followed, Jeong Minsu looked at something in his notebook and asked Taesu,
“But you said you heard a bit earlier about the village’s history?”
“I’m curious about that too.”
Kim Hyeokgwon joined in.
Taesu let out a groan.
“Can we just let it pass today?”
“Is there anything important in it, or not?”
“The fact that they crossed over the mountain from the Chinese side is about the important part.”
“Okay. We’ll stop there for today.”
Kim Hyeokgwon seemed to have no desire to use his head anymore either.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu were the same.
Thud.
They closed their notebooks at the same time.
The moment the meeting ended, Taesu headed straight for his field cot.
Flop.
Collapsing face down onto the field cot as if diving, Taesu let out a low breath.
“Phew, I can’t think straight at all.”
His head was truly spinning.
Not a single thing was resolving neatly.
Everything kept tangling and tangling, and he felt a migraine coming on.
So he simply closed his eyes as he was.
Even taking off his clothes and getting into the sleeping bag felt bothersome right now.
‘Whatever.’
He wanted to recharge his exhausted mind first.
It was not only Taesu; Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon were the same.
Jeong Minsu only shoved the blood samples into the blood freezer and headed straight for his field cot.
Flop.
“Uuuugh.”
“I’m turning off the light.”
Click.
Kim Hyeokgwon did not wait for an answer.
At the same time as his announcement, he turned off the light and lay down on his field cot.
Thump.
“Aaagh.”
Perhaps because his back was finally stretching out, a groan escaped his mouth on its own.
After everyone was ready to sleep—
Taesu’s voice sounded inside the dark tent.
“You worked hard. Get some rest.”
“Tomorrow’s work can wait until the sun rises tomorrow. Bye.”
“Good night.”
Jeong Minsu’s and Kim Hyeokgwon’s voices came one after another.
And had even a minute passed?
“Snore.”
“Phoo.”
All kinds of breathing sounds could be heard.
It seemed they had fallen asleep the moment they lay down.
It had been an exhausting day.
A day that felt longer than ten days had finally come to an end.
The next morning.
Jo Jeongmin came to visit early.
The moment he found a spot and sat down—
Taesu and Jeong Minsu informed him of the current situation first.
“We received some bad news yesterday evening. That news was…”
Jeong Minsu also helped little by little from the side.
“So we…”
As Jo Jeongmin listened to their explanations, his expression grew darker and darker.
After some time had passed—
Taesu brought the long, lengthy explanation to an end.
“…and we are proceeding with even those measures in place.”
“Don’t worry. Surely the front line won’t expand all the way to this mountain village.”
Jeong Minsu also chimed in bravely.
But Jo Jeongmin’s expression remained dark.
“Because of us, you’re staying here like this…”
He spoke in a subdued voice, blaming himself.
At that moment, Taesu cut him off before that reproach could continue.
“I told you, the road back is already blocked.”
“That’s right.”
Jeong Minsu quickly backed him up.
There was not the slightest frown on the faces of the two men telling the lie.
This was a lie for everyone’s sake.