Jo Jeong-min was not easily fooled.
Even with a little thought, the gaps were quick to show.
"I must say, I'm truly sorry……"
His voice was still dark.
Tae-su quickly changed the subject.
Clap, clap.
"Now, that's enough of that. What matters most right now is today's surgery."
"Dr. Choe is right."
"Jeong-min, how is the surgery schedule looking?"
Tae-su asked hurriedly.
Jo Jeong-min couldn't hold out either and followed along.
"Mr. Bak Hui-nam said he'll undergo the surgery."
"He was our first priority, so that's a relief."
As Tae-su spoke, Jeong Min-su expressed heavy agreement.
"That's right. This man needs surgery as fast as possible."
"He's the one Dr. Jeong saw yesterday, right?"
"Yeah. The inflammation in his right leg was severe."
As the conversation shifted to proper medical matters, Jeong Min-su's voice changed first.
The same was true for Tae-su.
"Was there sensation all the way to his toes?"
"I told you yesterday."
"He's listening with us."
Tae-su gestured with his eyes toward Jo Jeong-min.
Jeong Min-su also thought of him as a guardian.
To be exact, he was a conduit connecting to the guardian.
If they spoke to Jo Jeong-min, it would be delivered identically to the guardian as well.
Believing that, he added a further explanation.
"He said the third and fourth toes were slightly tingly."
"Response speed?"
"A slightly dull feeling."
It felt like the two of them were talking alone.
But Jo Jeong-min kept the conversation going, breaking it down into plain Korean.
Tae-su pressed a little deeper.
"Could the inflammation have penetrated the nerves?"
"I think the chances are high."
"The bone?"
"I couldn't see that."
At Jeong Min-su's answer, Tae-su let out a startled sound.
"Right. That wouldn't be visible to the naked eye."
"Anyway, that's the situation."
"Jeong-min. I'm afraid……"
Before Tae-su could ask, Jo Jeong-min stepped forward perceptively.
"I'll go and bring him here right away."
He sprang up.
Jo Jeong-min quickly rose with a solemn face.
Right after Jo Jeong-min left, Kim Hyeok-kwon appeared.
In both his hands were pots steaming with heat.
It was breakfast.
"Where is Jeong-min?"
"He went to get the patient."
"Surgery right away?"
"That's how it has to be."
As Tae-su answered, Kim Hyeok-kwon placed the pots on the table.
Thud.
"Eat up. Let's get ready quickly."
"You need to eat to have strength."
"Let's eat."
After a brief greeting, they immediately ate like they were in combat.
Chop, chop, chop.
Everyone seemed to be in a rush.
And they were.
The patient would be arriving soon.
They were on the verge of a surgery of unknown duration.
They absolutely had to fill their stomachs.
This wasn't just a meal.
It was an act for the survival of the medical staff.
The medical staff who had finished eating immediately began preparing for surgery.
But in the operating room, only Tae-su and Jeong Min-su were preparing.
Clack, clack.
Tae-su was busily filling the medical cart.
Behind him, Jeong Min-su gathered supplementary surgical supplies and asked,
"Tae-su, electricity is minimal, right?"
"What's your thinking?"
Tae-su asked right back.
He wasn't deflecting; he was asking for an opinion.
Jeong Min-su seemed to feel the same, thinking briefly before answering.
"I think we'll need suction."
"Anesthesia?"
"General anesthesia."
Jeong Min-su's answer was short and heavy.
Feeling something strange in that voice, Tae-su looked straight at him.
"What's wrong?"
"It's Bak Hui-nam. He might be worse than we thought."
"Hmm. Earlier you……"
"Yeah. I said things a bit more optimistically because Jeong-min was here."
When Jeong Min-su admitted that, Tae-su looked at him with a strange expression.
"You must have had a reason. What was it?"
"Because I wasn't sure myself. It was best to put it that way."
Jeong Min-su's voice gradually grew agitated.
Tae-su cut him off.
"Min-su, get ahold of yourself."
"……"
"You're the one who said it. That what you see with your eyes has limits."
"I did."
When Jeong Min-su acknowledged it, Tae-su spoke his next words a little more forcefully.
"Frankly, it's not like we have X-rays or MRIs attached to our eyes. So how can we judge the interior?"
"Still…… a lie is a lie."
"You said you're not sure."
"Yeah."
"If the situation is good, then it's good as is. If not, we just make it the truth."
Tae-su said it with absolute nonchalance, as if it were nothing.
But Jeong Min-su couldn't possibly not know how much of a burden those words carried.
"Phew. Should we have hurried a bit more?"
"If we had, we wouldn't have heard that news yesterday."
"……"
"If we hadn't heard, we might have been kidnapped straight to headquarters right after surgery."
"……"
Tae-su slipped in a light joke.
Only then did Jeong Min-su force a bitter smile.
"That's true, too."
"Anyway, let's prepare for the surgery more broadly."
"That sounds good."
"In that sense, do you think we'll need a Bovie?"
When Tae-su smoothly changed the question back to surgical prep, Jeong Min-su followed along.
"Let's just have the Bovie ready and decide based on the situation."
"Good judgment."
"I'll get that ready."
Swish, swish.
After coordinating opinions, Tae-su and Jeong Min-su picked up the preparation pace.
About thirty minutes flew by in surgical preparation.
Tae-su, Jeong Min-su, and Kim Hyeok-kwon finished all surgical preparations.
They were waiting for the patient who would undergo surgery.
The atmosphere in the operating room had settled calmly.
It was a situation before surgery.
For now, they had no interest in war or anything else.
They held in their hearts only the wish for the patient's surgery to proceed safely and end satisfactorily.
Then it happened.
Swish.
As the screen was drawn aside, Jo Jeong-min came in supporting a middle-aged man in his mid-forties.
Frowning so deeply that his already quite stubborn face looked even fiercer.
He was Bak Hui-nam, who would be receiving the surgery.
Stagger, stagger.
"Krrgh. Urgh."
"We're here."
"Doctor, krrgh… I'm causing you…… hiss…… a lot of trouble because of me."
Even in pain, Bak Hui-nam forced a smile.
Unlike that smile, the bandage wrapped around his right leg was soaked with damp discharge.
One would frown just from seeing that pain, even without experiencing it firsthand.
Yet the man himself, Bak Hui-nam, was still smiling.
That in itself was extraordinary.
His stubborn impression and personality matched perfectly.
But there was no time to praise him for it.
"Onto the operating table, quickly."
Tae-su's voice was low and intense.
The gazes of Jeong Min-su and Kim Hyeok-kwon were also completely different from what they had shown outside just moments before.
Surgery.
To them, it was war.
They did not wield guns or knives, but it was a battle of blood and flesh against life.
The solemnity felt in Tae-su's voice was that mindset.
Jo Jeong-min hid his astonished eyes with effort.
For now, he guided Bak Hui-nam first.
Leading him carefully, calmly, and politely.
"Sir, slowly. Slowly."
"Nngh, kuk."
"We're here. This is it. This is it."
Thud.
"Phew. Heh."
Lying on the operating table, Bak Hui-nam let out a long sigh first.
His face was already drenched in sweat.
Now that the patient was lying in place, it was the medical staff's turn.
Tae-su took the center and gave orders to Jeong Min-su.
"Min-su, connect the IV and add antibiotics to the glucose first. Connect the transfusion pack, but don't open it yet."
"Okay."
Swoosh.
Jeong Min-su moved quickly.
Tae-su continued, speaking to Kim Hyeok-kwon.
"Please connect the ECG, and start unwrapping the bandages."
"Cutting them would be faster."
"Then cut them."
"Let's do that."
Swish.
Kim Hyeok-kwon moved immediately as well.
In the meantime, Tae-su approached Bak Hui-nam.
Wearing a mask and surgical gloves, he only bowed his head in greeting.
"I'm Choe Tae-su. We met briefly yesterday."
"Urgh…… Ah, I see. Then over there…… must be Dr. Jeong."
"He said you were tormented a bit yesterday."
"Tormented? I wouldn't put it quite like that. No, it's more accurate to say I shouldn't say that."
Trickle.
Even as painful sweat flowed, Bak Hui-nam showed a hint of anger.
Because yesterday he had screamed so loudly the house seemed to fly apart due to the pain.
Tae-su read that anger and smiled with his eyes.
"The surgery won't be as painful as that."
"Dr. Jeong threatened me the same way yesterday."
"Oh, did he?"
Tae-su asked softly, but Bak Hui-nam replied with a frown.
"Yes. He said that if I didn't have surgery today, it would hurt twice as much by evening."
"He explained it accurately."
"It hurts so much, and though I'm a stubborn fool, please take good care of me."
Bak Hui-nam's eyes drooped at the corners as he pleaded.
Tae-su responded with his eyes still smiling.
"Though I may be lacking, I'll do my best."
"It won't hurt as much as yesterday, right?"
"Perhaps Dr. Jeong is simply more human."
"I'm not going to die, right? Let's just get it over with quickly."
Bak Hui-nam suddenly raised his voice.
It was a cry to shake off both pain and fear.
Tae-su saw that clearly.
'I'll do my best.'
He didn't even say success was unconditional, not even inwardly.
But he clearly saw the amount of pain the man had endured until now.
Now it was time to erase that pain.
In the meantime, Jeong Min-su and Kim Hyeok-kwon had carried out all orders.
Beep, beep.
The ECG sound was slightly fast.
His heart rate had risen due to the pain.
Looking at the revealed wound, it was understandable.
In a word?
It was horrific.
From the thigh down to the calf, it was full of inflammation.
Burst and torn here and there, pus flowed in streams.
Seeing that, Tae-su's expression hardened slightly.
'It might be more difficult than I thought.'
He muttered inwardly.
Jeong Min-su's prediction felt increasingly accurate.
It still wasn't certain.
They couldn't afford to waste more time.
Tae-su immediately spoke to Jo Jeong-min.
"I think we need to proceed with the surgery now."
"Yes. I should leave. Please take good care of him, Doctor. And as for the other matter……"
"That's for after the surgery. Right now, I want to think only about the surgery."
As Tae-su spoke firmly, Jo Jeong-min nodded his head greatly.
"Understood. Then…… Sir, have a good surgery. See you later."
Swish.
Having spoken as if giving notice, Jo Jeong-min quickly exited the operating room.
Tae-su immediately sought Jeong Min-su.
"Dr. Jeong."
"Preparing intravenous anesthesia."
Tok. Tok.
Answering, Jeong Min-su's expression was quite hardened.
He too had an intuition that this surgery would not be easy.
Tae-su decided not to delay any longer and proceed with anesthesia immediately.
"We'll be entering surgery shortly."
"Yes."
"Before that, it's general anesthesia. I'll put you to sleep comfortably."
When Tae-su spoke, Hui-nam, unfamiliar with the situation, asked with a flustered face.
"Wh-what's so good about that for me?"
"Staying awake during surgery won't be very pleasant."
"Put me to sleep quickly."
"Understood. Dr. Jeong. Please prepare the intravenous anesthetic and the sedative."
At Tae-su's call, Jeong Min-su approached.