Taesu raised his thumb.
Smartly.
“Absolutely correct. You could be a doctor now.”
“Let’s not say anything unnecessary. Is there anyone who doesn’t know that?”
“Ordinary people don’t use the phrase cellular regeneration activity.”
At Taesu’s minor point, Kim Hyeokgwon thought it over, then flinched.
“Damn it. Hanging around doctors has given me weird speech habits.”
“Seems like a good change to me.”
“I think that’s enough. Anyway, he said eating fish soup often seems to help.”
Kim Hyeokgwon continued speaking bluntly, relaying his conversation with the patient.
Taesu, and of course Jeong Minsu as well, nodded deeply.
Then Jeong Minsu answered a step ahead.
“Fish is good. It has a lot of protein. Protein means amino acids, and amino acids are essential nutrients for composing the human body.”
“Why are you explaining it in such detail?”
“I thought you were preparing to become a doctor. Well, if you study a bit more, you might be able to challenge the medical license exam.”
Jeong Minsu spoke playfully, as buoyant as his mood.
But his tone was not exactly pleasant to hear.
Kim Hyeokgwon, the target of those words, seemed irritated and furrowed his brow slightly. Having heard something snide, there was no way his reply would be gentle.
“Doctor Jeong. Do you have to say it like that?”
“It was just a joke.”
“If someone heard you, they’d think we were incredibly close.”
“That’s a little harsh.”
Jeong Minsu’s lifted mood seemed to sink all at once, and his expression hardened.
The shift in emotion was a little abrupt.
Kim Hyeokgwon was the same.
“Do you think you’re overflowing with refinement?”
“Seriously.”
Jeong Minsu growled lowly.
The atmosphere between the two seemed to chill in an instant.
It was then.
Slide.
Taesu quietly stepped in and calmed them both.
“We’re in front of a patient.”
“……”
“……”
The two avoided answering and swallowed down their feelings.
Taesu gave a bitter smile at the suddenly cold atmosphere.
The distance between their hearts was so far that a single joke could offend each other.
He recognized it as a problem, but it was not yet the time.
As Taesu organized the medical bag, he murmured softly.
“At times like this, he really does seem like a nurse.”
“A nurse like that? I’d hate it.”
Jeong Minsu spoke exactly as his temper flared.
Taesu cut him off decisively on that point.
“Are you going to keep going?”
“……”
“Thanks.”
Taesu welcomed his silence.
But Jeong Minsu did not seem to feel the same.
Rustle, scrape.
His hands organizing the medical bag were rough.
Kim Hyeokgwon did not even look this way.
Taesu felt a little bitter in his mouth.
The two of them were strangely like water and oil, unable to mix.
‘It’s not as if I have rice cakes in both hands.’
They were both people he could not give up, so Taesu’s heart was not at ease either.
Quite some time passed.
After finishing their final rounds, the three returned to the tent.
All three of their stomachs were bulging.
Every time they went down to the village, they were treated like this.
When people were full, they were supposed to become benevolent.
But the three were different.
For some strange reason, an awkward current flowed between them.
When they arrived in front of the tent, Kim Hyeokgwon, holding the now-slim medical bag, spoke first.
“I’ll pack what we need to take.”
Slide.
As if no answer was needed, he immediately went inside the lodging tent.
And Jeong Minsu?
He headed toward the surgery tent.
“I’ll be inside organizing things.”
Likewise, Jeong Minsu disappeared inside without waiting for an answer.
It was a fine excuse.
In truth, it meant he did not want to be together.
Whip, whip.
Taesu looked left and right in turn, then scratched his head roughly.
“Now that things are getting quiet, all sorts of things happen. Seriously.”
Scratch, scratch.
Irritation surged up, and he scratched his head nervously.
If things went on like this, there might be a serious setback to the next schedule.
That was absolutely unacceptable.
Taesu first headed for the lodging tent.
The military tent flap was lifted, and Taesu stepped inside.
At that moment, Kim Hyeokgwon turned his head and looked at him. Then, with a crooked gaze, he responded in his blunt way, cutting off all preamble.
“What is it? Are you going to tell me to get along with Doctor Jeong?”
“If I asked you to, would you?”
“……”
Tap.
Kim Hyeokgwon silently held out his hand.
It openly meant he wanted additional pay.
In other words, it also implied that if this was a business relationship, he would respond with a smile.
It was a cold drawing of the line.
To anyone watching, it would have been an off-putting sight.
But Taesu clashed with him even more strongly.
“Pay? I’ll give you as much as you want.”
“Are you going to keep bringing Doctor Jeong around?”
“You know what state Minsu is in right now.”
At Taesu’s words, Kim Hyeokgwon threw out a sharp remark.
“Yes. I know. He’s flailing around, trying to break out of his timid self.”
“Hmm.”
“But there should be a limit. His mood, his way of speaking, his personality. Can you get a handle on any of it?”
When Kim Hyeokgwon asked stinging questions, Taesu smiled bitterly.
“It’s difficult right now.”
“And yet you’re telling me to just understand unconditionally. Do you think I’m some guy who grins if you just give me money?”
“This is an unfamiliar—no, probably the worst environment of his life.”
“And you, Doctor Choi? Is your mentality made of metal or what?”
There was an edge in his fault-finding voice again. Still, seeing as he made a rhyming question, he seemed to understand.
Like it or not, they were together twenty-four hours a day.
There was no way he would not know.
Taesu answered with a faint smile.
“I was in Isambark, and I’ve been to Nepal too, so I’ve adapted a lot.”
“True. Your mentality ran away several times in Isambark.”
“Back then……”
“I did too. Let’s not bring up stories we both already know.”
He placed a restriction at an appropriate line.
Taesu seemed to agree and continued after leaving that part out.
“In any case, right now he probably doesn’t even know what he’s doing wrong. So……”
“I’ll pay some attention to that part.”
“Thank you.”
“But Doctor Choi.”
When he called him in a weighty voice, Taesu also responded calmly.
“Please speak.”
“I don’t know exactly what kind of guy Doctor Jeong is. But I do know this.”
“What would that be?”
“If you two aren’t planning to live your whole lives cozying up just between yourselves, something is going to have to change.”
Kim Hyeokgwon’s advice was full of sincerity.
Taesu had guessed as much himself, so he nodded and said,
“I know that well.”
“Then that’s fortunate. I’ve said everything I need to say.”
Kim Hyeokgwon ended the conversation first and slowly stood up.
Taesu, standing up with him, asked,
“Hyeokgwon, are you going to leave?”
“Then am I supposed to live here forever?”
“No. I mean after we return to headquarters.”
Taesu asked persistently.
It was a reverse expression of his wish that he not leave.
Kim Hyeokgwon, sensing that instinctively, had a slightly deep look in his eyes.
“Doctor Choi, do you trust me?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t trust you, though. I trust the money I can make through you.”
Kim Hyeokgwon nitpicked.
With an indifferent face, Taesu answered dryly.
“Then if I continue to be profitable for you, that trust will be maintained.”
“……”
“I’ll work hard and become a solid source of income with strong substance. Now, please finish packing.”
Taesu ended the conversation.
That evening.
The PKO arrived.
There were two vehicles in total: a military truck and a military jeep.
The military truck had brought patients who had received surgery and treatment at the NGO camp.
Once the people got off, the empty cargo bed was filled with the medical equipment they needed to take away. The medical tent they had set up and the remaining medicine were left in place.
They said that was the unwritten rule around here.
Since there were no medical facilities, it was also the minimum consideration for emergency treatment.
Taesu, Jeong Minsu, and Kim Hyeokgwon checked the newly arrived patients one more time.
It must have been their desire to do everything they could until the very last moment.
But there was not much to do.
Taesu let out an exclamation without realizing it.
“As expected of an NGO.”
“When am I ever going to catch up?”
“Catch up?”
When Taesu gave him a sideways glare, Jeong Minsu backed down.
“It’ll be hard, right?”
“What are you talking about? If you’re going to do it, you should surpass them.”
“What’s with that confidence?”
“A dream? No, a goal should at least be that much.”
Taesu smiled lightly.
But perhaps it was not a joke, because his eyes flashed slightly.
Soon, Squad Leader Sam approached with a resolute face and reported.
“Doctor Choi. We’re ready to depart.”
“I told you, I’m not a soldier. You can speak comfortably.”
“Sir. Yes, sir.”
Squad Leader Sam’s reply was concise yet booming.
A fierce will to refuse flashed through it.
Kim Hyeokgwon and Jeong Minsu stood behind them, looking away.
“……”
“……”
No matter who looked, the atmosphere between them was indifferent and sullen.
But that sight only lasted a moment.
Their eyes narrowed, and they pointed behind Taesu, speaking quickly.
“Doctor Choi, someone is coming from over there.”
“Who—ah.”
Taesu turned his head and let out a small exclamation.
It was not only Taesu.
“Huh?”
“Hmm.”
Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon’s surprised voices followed.
A group of people was coming up the hill.
Chief Kandor stood at the front, and behind him, many villagers formed a procession.
Among them, those who did not seem to be walking easily were being helped by other villagers.
They must have come to greet the patients who had just arrived.
In addition to that, they seemed to have come to see off Taesu and the medical staff.
Everyone’s mood was heavy.
Even the unruly children, who were always acting up and playing pranks, were subdued.
Taesu looked at them with a slightly bitter expression.
‘They say those who meet must part.’
He had experienced this many times before.
Even so, when it came time to leave, he could not help feeling heavy and troubled.
The difficult emergency treatments they had gone through came back to mind.
Just a little more.
Only that one phrase circled in his mind.
Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon were also watching with heavy hearts.
Soon, Chief Kandor and the villagers drew close.
Among them, Chief Kandor, spreading both arms wide, came closer in front of Taesu and the others.
Then he began speaking in their language.
“@.%#$#.”
Kim Hyeokgwon, who specialized in simultaneous interpretation, listened attentively and spoke.
“Good grief. They’re always looking for that god of theirs, no matter the time or place.”
“It’s something to be grateful for.”
Taesu smiled brightly.
They were wishing them blessings in their own way and by their own methods.
Religion did not matter.
The heart behind it was more important.
To Taesu, who had encountered many tribal cultures, there was no sense of rejection at all.
Soon, as if the ceremony had ended, Chief Kandor smiled softly. Then, not in their language but in English, he briefly explained.
“I asked God to grant infinite glory to your futures.”
“No wonder strength is surging through me and my mind feels clear.”
“If you can feel the effect right away, that’s even better.”
Clasp.
Chief Kandor was greatly pleased and lightly held Taesu’s hand.
But from their overlapping palms, Taesu felt a strange sensation.
It was a small leather pouch.
Jingle.
When he shook it slightly, he heard the sound of something striking together.