"Uh, u-uh. You're right."
"With this, we can run the blood sample test right away."
Thwack.
Taesu deftly snatched up the string spinner.
Seeing that it had stopped, Jeong Minsu pointed at the string spinner and shouted.
"There's a tube right in the middle here."
"It's clearly where the blood goes."
"Ooh, wait, could it be—yes, that's right. There's a paper microscope here too."
Jeong Minsu quickly scanned the floor and abruptly picked up another piece of paper.
Their joy did not end with words alone.
"We can do blood tests."
"It's absolutely possible."
"Let's finish organizing quickly and test them."
"Obviously."
Taesu and Jeong Minsu's eyes gleamed intensely.
Swish.
The two turned simultaneously and hoisted up the boxes with a flourish.
"This goes here, hurry."
"I'm doing it already. This goes here."
Thud, thud.
The pace at which they stacked the boxes was altogether different.
Gim Hyeokgwon watched the sight, bewildered.
"Well, it's good to finish quickly at any rate."
He simply made his peace with it and left it at that.
That evening.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu were inside not a lodging, but a home.
Crackle, crackle.
Firewood was burning red in the fireplace.
With stone walls on every side, the warm coziness alone was different from that of a tent.
That warmth was enough for them to take off their gowns and cashmere vests.
The house was neatly organized.
And Taesu and Jeong Minsu sat facing each other at a table unfolded near the fireplace.
It was a moment to sip tea after finishing unpacking.
Taesu, slowly looking around the house, was the first to speak his impressions.
"It's a house. A real house."
"Wind blew straight through the tent, but houses definitely have less of that."
"It's not completely draft-free, but this is heaven."
As Taesu spoke with joy, Jeong Minsu answered with a smile on his face.
"They say knock and the door will open—who knew we'd end up inside a house like this?"
"You never know what life has in store."
"That's exactly right. You really can't know the future."
Jeong Minsu chewed on those words and looked around the house once more.
No matter how much he looked, it seemed he couldn't get enough.
Then Taesu asked Jeong Minsu a question.
"Is Hyeokgwon running late?"
"Is it difficult to sort the food and supplies?"
"There's bound to be differences from house to house."
"If you divide it exactly by total population? That would still be ambiguous."
Jeong Minsu seemed to realize it was more complicated than he thought.
Taesu asked once more.
"It'll take a while longer, won't it?"
"Probably."
"Then let's just start."
"Yeah. We have to do that first."
The two simultaneously tossed back their lukewarm tea in one gulp and stood up.
The table changed in an instant.
The teacups disappeared, replaced by blood test reagents.
They took out the contents, worked their hands with mechanical clatter, and assembled a paper centrifuge.
That was not the end.
They drew their own blood for the test.
They placed the blood sample inside and began spinning the string spinner.
Whirrr, whirrr.
As they vigorously pulled and released in repetition, the spinning force gradually built up.
It reached a point where a sharp whirring sound could be heard.
They stopped the paper centrifuge after spinning it for roughly nearly five minutes.
The blood in the tube had divided cleanly in half.
The top portion was yellow serum, the bottom red blood cells.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu gaped at the sight.
"To think plasma and blood cells could separate this cleanly."
"It seems cleaner than a machine centrifuge."
"Incredible."
"Let's quickly try the reagent test."
Click, click.
In high spirits, the two proceeded with the blood tests, their faces alight with excitement.
The results did not appear as exact numerical values like a machine's.
However, each reagent had distinct characteristics, making it possible to classify results into several stages.
"Ooh, this works. It works."
"Judging by the reaction, I'm normal. Is that a given?"
It was difficult to be satisfied with a single fragmentary success.
And as they tried it out, unexpected problems also became apparent.
"We have other reagents too, so we need to test them all."
"The amount we can separate at a time is rather small."
"We'll have to do it over and over."
"Obviously. We're pulling an all-nighter tonight."
Once the reagent reactions were confirmed with the naked eye, their passion flared.
About an hour later.
Remnants of finished sample tests were scattered across the table.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu?
Slap!
They brought their palms together in a forceful high five and cheered.
"Nice."
"Awesome."
Every blood sample test using the various reagents had produced satisfactory results.
As they verified the test results with their own eyes, their passion burned even hotter.
Taesu immediately turned to Jeong Minsu.
"Minsu, let's take out the villagers' samples from the blood freezer."
"Of course. Let's test them all before tomorrow morning."
Fatigue from moving was the furthest thing from their minds.
Only the fact that they could finally conduct the long-awaited blood test mattered.
They might have to stay up all night to test all the villagers' blood.
That wasn't even a problem.
The two already had nothing else on their minds but conducting blood tests.
With nothing to deliberate over, their actions were swift.
Jeong Minsu quickly put a headlamp on his head and stood up.
He sprang up.
"I'll go get the blood samples."
Without waiting for a reply, he dashed outside.
He had to bring them from the operating room.
Taesu also had work to do inside.
He was creating an environment where the blood tests could proceed smoothly.
"First, put away the ones we already tested, and place the blood samples here."
Clack, clack.
Taesu neatly organized the sprawling items and sketched a rough layout by eye.
He was correcting deficiencies based on their earlier attempt.
Then he adjusted the positions bit by bit, exactly as he had envisioned.
It was not long after Taesu finished all preparations.
Creak.
The wooden front door opened, and Jeong Minsu and Gim Hyeokgwon entered together.
Jeong Minsu shouted the moment he entered.
"Blood samples arriving!"
"Thaw just one for now."
"Right. We have to test it one more time."
It was best to test the water before crossing.
Even so, Jeong Minsu seemed thrilled, hopping about.
It was then.
Gim Hyeokgwon set his bag on the floor, sat in a chair opposite them, and grumbled.
"Did we really need to drag work all the way home?"
He only said that.
His eyes were already taking stock of the situation on the table.
Taesu smiled faintly and greeted him first.
"Good work."
"I was the one who said I'd do it. More importantly, I heard the blood test sample trial was a huge success?"
"It was incredible. However, I think we'll have to work through the night."
"We've pulled enough all-nighters that it doesn't even surprise me anymore."
Gim Hyeokgwon answered amiably.
Meanwhile, Taesu looked at the bag Gim Hyeokgwon had set on the floor.
"What's in the bag?"
"Our food. Roughly about three weeks' worth."
"Did you divide it up house by house?"
When Taesu asked, Gim Hyeokgwon nodded readily.
"Yes. Following the method here, I divided out the cold-weather gear on the spot as well."
"Sleeping bags, wool scarves, and winter hats, right?"
"I also slipped in some heat packs sent from Korea."
The heat packs had been a gift from Bak Seongmin.
Having taken Taesu's words that winter was approaching to heart, he had sent quite a lot of heat packs.
Only today had they put Bak Seongmin's gift to good use.
Deeply satisfied, Taesu casually asked,
"Did everyone like them?"
"They didn't even know what heat packs were."
"You just shake them and they're good to go."
"I told them to shake them and put them in their sleeping bags to sleep."
Gim Hyeokgwon's words made Taesu a bit concerned.
"There probably wasn't enough to go around."
"So I opened them all up and divided them equally."
"You did well. But what did you do with the sheep? There aren't even fences yet."
"I gave one to each household that said they'd watch over it."
"Hmm. It seems they were pleased."
As Taesu guessed, Gim Hyeokgwon waved his hand.
"Pleased? Some households even brought the sheep inside their houses."
"Really?"
"They say the animals are precious bodies that will be of great help to the village in the future, so they can't let them sleep outside."
"Haha."
"We'll be lucky if they don't give up their own beds."
Gim Hyeokgwon was dumbfounded.
But Taesu could clearly picture the villagers' happy faces.
For those pressed for every single day, hope that could draw a future had sprung forth.
That alone would infuse the village with great vitality.
Taesu smiled faintly as he imagined the people's expressions.
But then.
"You brats."
A small voice came from outside the house.
Jeong Minsu, who had been near the fireplace, reacted first.
"What was that?"
"Right. There was a sound."
"Yeah. I definitely heard it."
Jeong Minsu answered with certainty.
True to his words, the voice came again.
This time it was slightly clearer.
"Hey, you little brats."
Little brats?
It was a term directed at them.
Second of the trio of old men, Elder An, enjoyed using it.
The tone of the voice was unusual.
"Something's wrong?"
"Let's go out."
They shot up.
Taesu and Gim Hyeokgwon stood simultaneously and headed for the entrance.
Jeong Minsu followed hot on their heels.
They flung the front door open and went outside.
Outside was pitch black.
It was a village without electricity, so people avoided going out after sunset.
If there was business?
They illuminated their way with oil lamps.
The glow of oil lamps was visible here and there.
It seemed they were not the only ones who had heard the shouting.
At that moment while looking around, Gang Yeonghun's urgent voice rang out.
"Second Elder, Hyeonuk on your back…… Why is he like this?"
It was quite far away.
But his voice was so loud that it rang out clearly.
Soon, the voices of other approaching villagers were also full of shock.
"Oh, oh, Hyeonuk."
"Does it hurt? Where?"
"Someone go tell the doctors quickly."
Urgent voices cried out simultaneously.
In that moment, the three men's eyes turned sharp.
It was an emergency.
This was no time to stand around.
"Hurry."
In a rush.
Surprisingly, the three went back inside the house.
Had even five seconds passed?
Swish.
Taesu shot out of the house like a wild bird and dashed toward the lamplight.
The only difference was that he now lit his way with a headlamp.
He must have gone inside to grab it because he couldn't run without being able to see.
The headlamp brightly illuminated the path ahead.
Pat-pat-pat.
Taesu's legs moved frantically.
Following right behind, Jeong Minsu and Gim Hyeokgwon burst out of the house.
Each was carrying a doctor's bag.
They too ran frantically, lighting the path with headlamps no less than Taesu.
Meanwhile.
Taesu, who had left first, soon arrived near the people.
"Move aside."
With an urgent heart, he shouted first.
"Wha…… Oh, it's Dr. Choe."
"Hurry over here."
"This way. Right this way."
The villagers made way in unison.