Two hours later.
Taesu was sitting in front of the fireplace in the operating room.
His gaze was fixed on the flames.
He kept staring as if he had been sucked into the red and blue fire.
That was when it happened.
“Taesu.”
The voice calling his name reached Taesu’s ears.
“Yeah.”
“I think it’s time.”
“I’ll go.”
Taesu immediately moved.
The moment he arrived at the operating table, he checked on Jo Jeongmin.
Jo Jeongmin’s face, marked with several minor wounds, twisted into a grimace.
“Ungh…… Mm……”
At the sight of him suffering, Old Man Jo grew flustered.
In his usual tone, he barked,
“You fools, why are you just standing there staring? Do something!”
“He’s waking up.”
“As if I can’t tell that with my own eyes.”
Whoosh.
The flames in Old Man Jo’s eyes blazed even more fiercely than those in the fireplace.
Seeing this, Jeong Minsu leaned slightly toward Taesu and whispered into his ear,
“Maybe I shouldn’t have told him to stop earlier.”
“That……”
Before Taesu could answer, Old Man Jo scolded them loudly.
“What are you two whispering about now?”
“Ahem. Nothing.”
“I said do something, quickly!”
Old Man Jo’s booming voice was so loud that the operating room seemed to shake.
He was truly impossible to rein in.
But rather than feeling annoyed, Taesu and Jeong Minsu smiled.
“It’s definitely good to see him so full of energy.”
“Elder Wang was absolutely right when he said you had the fiercest temper of them all.”
Seeing Old Man Jo regain his strength was worth seeing a hundred, even a thousand times over.
But from Old Man Jo’s perspective, that seemed to be the last thing on his mind.
“You fools, why are you standing around when my boy is in pain? Aren’t you going to ask?”
“That boy……”
“You flat-faced bastard, just because I call him my boy, does that mean you’re one too?”
“I thought ‘boy’ was Jeongmin’s nickname.”
When Jeong Minsu smirked provocatively, Old Man Jo’s face flushed red.
“What did you say, you bastard? I ought to—Is there anything around here?”
“What are you looking for?”
“I’m going to drive something into that grinning face of yours.”
Just as Old Man Jo was venting his anger,
a faint voice came from somewhere.
“St—stop……”
“Stop what?”
“G—Grandpa.”
“Jeongmin, don’t you dare try to stop me. I’m going to teach that flat-faced bastard a lesson—Huh?”
Old Man Jo, who had been raging, suddenly flinched.
Grandpa.
It was the affectionate name Jo Jeongmin used to call him.
Old Man Jo’s agitation began to grow.
Taesu lightly gestured toward the operating table and suggested,
“Your grandson has woken up.”
“Wh-what……”
Old Man Jo was flustered, but he couldn’t bring himself to look toward the operating table.
Then it happened.
Tremble.
A thin, trembling hand rose and slowly covered Old Man Jo’s hand, which was resting on the table.
“Grand…… Grandpa.”
“Sniff.”
“Are you crying……? Why, why are you crying?”
“What are you talking about?”
Though he answered gruffly, Old Man Jo still couldn’t look at Jo Jeongmin.
His shoulders seemed to shrink, making him look almost frail.
There was even a deep anxiety in his eyes.
The change was stark.
Perhaps guessing the reason, Jo Jeongmin comforted him in a slow voice.
“Grandpa…… I’m not going to die…… We said we’d live together…… for a long, long time.”
“Sniff…….”
“I said I’d take care of you…… in place of Mom and Dad……”
“D-don’t say useless things.”
He forced out the one rough remark.
Even so, Jo Jeongmin’s voice remained endlessly gentle.
“I need to…… get married soon…… and fulfill…… Grandpa’s wish.”
“What wish?”
“A granddaughter…… cuter than Songhui…… and Seolji…… Heh, heh.”
“You’re joking around without a care, only making me worry…… Tsk.”
Swish.
After scolding him, Old Man Jo abruptly left the operating table.
No one had time to stop him; they could only stare at him in confusion.
Old Man Jo strode away and headed straight for the operating room entrance.
Click.
He went outside and even closed the door behind him, leaving Taesu and Jeong Minsu momentarily flustered.
“Wh-what was that?”
“Why did he suddenly act like that?”
“Minsu, keep an eye on Jeongmin.”
“Right. Go after him quickly. What on earth happened all of a sudden?”
They split up to deal with the sudden situation.
Just then, Jo Jeongmin called for Taesu.
“Dr. Ch—Choi……”
“Yes? Ah, Taesu. Jeongmin is calling for you.”
His voice was so faint that Jeong Minsu relayed it instead.
Taesu, who had already run all the way to the operating room door, immediately turned around.
This wasn’t some dog-training exercise.
Taesu hurried back to the operating table and answered anxiously,
“Did you call for me?”
“It’s all right.”
“What is?”
“You don’t…… have to follow him.”
“He just left like that. How can you tell me to simply stay here?”
“He needs…… some time alone.”
“Oh. Some time alone.”
Repeating the key point to himself, Taesu immediately understood.
Jo Jeongmin gazed calmly up at the ceiling and continued,
“On the day my parents died…… he scolded me for doing nothing but cry…… and left just like that.”
“Oh.”
“When I followed him…… he was crying even more bitterly than I was.”
“Hmm.”
Neither Taesu nor Jeong Minsu had much experience with matters like this.
The two of them looked awkward, but Jo Jeongmin continued with a look of remembrance in his eyes.
“That was when I realized. I’d watched my parents for nearly twenty years…… but Grandpa had watched over them for more than forty.”
“I suppose so.”
“I hugged Grandpa and told him I wouldn’t leave him.”
Jo Jeongmin’s low, subdued voice stopped there.
Taesu, Jeong Minsu, and Gim Hyeokgwon listened in silence.
Of them all, Taesu had a lecture piled up to his throat.
But he held it back.
Scolding Jeongmin for his carelessness now would have been too cruel.
There would be time for that after his body recovered.
Jo Jeongmin talked a little longer before falling asleep.
He was not yet in a condition to stay awake for long.
Everyone remained by his side, watching over him.
Then it happened.
Vroom.
The sound of a truck could be heard.
It seemed Raku and the caravan were setting out.
But everyone’s eyes turned back to Jo Jeongmin.
Jeongmin, who had been supposed to leave with them today, was lying there like this.
When the image of him cheerfully delivering the news overlapped with his current state, he seemed all the more pitiful.
Thirty minutes later.
Taesu left the operating room and headed toward I Changgyu’s house.
His visit had been delayed because of Jo Jeongmin’s emergency surgery, but it was only natural that he go now.
It was a problem that had to be resolved.
As a person, not as a doctor.
Step, step.
Before he knew it, he had entered the yard of I Changgyu’s house.
‘Let’s push with all our heart.’
They said desperation opened every door.
Taesu put his worries aside and knocked cleanly on the door.
Knock, knock.
“Who is it?”
It was Gang Songhui’s clear voice.
Taesu lightened his heart and answered,
“Songhui, it’s me.”
“The big doctor.”
Bang.
The door opened immediately along with her cry.
Gang Songhui called Taesu “the big doctor” because he was the leader of the medical team.
It would have been even stranger for a young child to call them “Doctor Choi” and “Doctor Jeong.”
And unlike the other villagers, she had no reservations about the medical team.
Even now, she had opened the door wide, her face bearing a bright smile.
Although a bandage covered her, it left her eyes and mouth exposed, so every bit of her expression could be read.
Taesu lightly patted her head and praised her first.
“You’ve been helping with the nursing, too. Songhui, you’re amazing.”
“Thank you. But Changgyu Oppa and Auntie are in very bad moods.”
“That’s why I came.”
“Then come inside with me.”
Without hesitation, Gang Songhui took Taesu’s hand and led him inside.
As he closed the door, Taesu glanced at it.
‘So this is the door.’
The story he had heard left a bitter taste in his mouth, but he did not show it outwardly.
Thud.
Although he quietly closed the door, its sound was the loudest thing in the house.
That was how quiet it was inside.
When he turned around, Gim Hyeongyeong rose from her log chair and greeted him. After returning her greeting, he slowly shifted his gaze.
He felt familiar in the house he visited every day.
From where he stood, Taesu could see two beds placed against the walls on either side.
Han Juyeong and I Changgyu were each lying on one of them.
“……”
“……”
Neither of them moved.
With the heavy atmosphere settling over the room, the silence felt unbearably oppressive.
At that moment, Gim Hyeongyeong approached and whispered quietly,
“Both your elder brother and Changgyu…… They haven’t said a word and have no energy at all.”
“Has it been like this every winter since that incident?”
“Brother knows what his problem is, so he even closes the windows and doesn’t go outside at all.”
“Hmm.”
“Then his mood sinks, but things don’t get out of hand.”
This was important information.
As expected, asking the people around a patient was the best way to learn about the problem.
Taesu firmly stored it in his mind before moving on to his next question.
“How is Changgyu?”
“He’s a little better, at least.”
“Even judging by his eyes?”
“He doesn’t cause a fuss, but he becomes extremely sensitive. Sensitive enough that even the adults have to watch what they say.”
“I see.”
Taesu slowly nodded in agreement.
Then Gim Hyeongyeong added another remark.
“There were so many good things yesterday that everyone’s been making a commotion since this morning……”
“I’ll stay here, so go get some rest with Songhui.”
“You must be tired after operating on Doctor Jo.”
“I’m fine. They might have a hard time again, so I think it would be better for me to watch over them.”
Taesu gave what he considered a reasonable explanation while avoiding any provocative wording.
Only then did Gim Hyeongyeong nod.
“That’s true. It shouldn’t happen, but you never know.”
“Yes. Then……”
“All right. Songhui, let’s go.”
Gim Hyeongyeong held out her hand.
Perhaps because she had heard their conversation, Gang Songhui let go of Taesu’s hand and went over to Gim Hyeongyeong.
“……”
She did not say a word, either.
Her quick-witted and precocious demeanor looked adorable to Taesu.
Gang Songhui came closer and gestured.
Swish, swish.
Taesu lowered himself to match her height.
Gang Songhui hurriedly whispered into Taesu’s ear,
“Please make Auntie and Oppa’s hearts beautiful and healthy, too.”
Flinch.
Taesu answered with an awkward expression,
“I’ll try.”
“You’ve changed, Doctor.”
“Huh?”
“When we were outside the village, you definitely hooked fingers with me and promised. You said that meant you absolutely had to keep the promise.”
Pout.
Gang Songhui’s lips stuck out in a pout.
Glance.
Taesu looked at Gim Hyeongyeong with an appeal for help in his eyes.
But—
“……”
She was looking away.
She was clearly doing it on purpose.
Realizing that he could not expect any help, Taesu let go of even the slightest hope.