No matter how frail he became, a tiger was still a tiger.
Especially when he met Taesu, he spent the time growling at him with what little strength he had.
“It’s because of you bastards that I’m too bothered to even die.”
“Then please live a good long life.”
“What kind of nonsense is that? I’d rather die than live long enough to smear shit on the walls, you brat.”
“You really do have a beautiful way with words.”
“It’s my mouth, and I’m the one speaking. What are you going to do about it?”
Though his body had grown so weak it was almost pitiful, his tongue was still perfectly intact.
That did not mean they only fought.
Old Man Wang suddenly asked,
“Do you know what this bed is?”
“I’ve seen one in an old Chinese drama. It’s Chinese-style, right?”
“Then do you know why this bed is raised so high?”
“Because the floor is cold, maybe?”
“That’s one reason. But in China, people sometimes store valuables beneath beds like this.”
As Old Man Wang explained calmly, Taesu looked around the house and muttered,
“The moment a thief stepped in here, he’d probably think, ‘What a bust.’ What valuables?”
Whether he heard that or not, Old Man Wang’s voice changed at once.
“You brat. I’m teaching you something, so do you really have to say it like that to feel satisfied?”
“I’m saying that’s what this house is like. I’m not saying anything about the purpose itself.”
“Anyway, whenever I’m with you, I feel like my temper only gets worse.”
“I don’t usually talk back to my elders this much either.”
At Taesu’s grumbling, Old Man Wang flared up and shouted,
“Then get out, you brat.”
“How many times have you told me to get out already? I feel like I’ve heard it hundreds of times.”
“I’ll say it as many more times as it takes until you leave.”
“I told you, I’m still not leaving.”
When Taesu did not budge, Old Man Wang, lying on the bed, grabbed the back of his neck.
“Oh my, I’m going to die of rage because of that insolent brat.”
“You’re full of life. Where exactly do you think you’re going?”
“That temper of yours. Keep that up and you’ll never marry in your life, you brat.”
“How can you curse me like that?”
Taesu also snapped and shouted back.
It was always like this.
Conversations that began quietly always ended in bickering.
And yet, it was strange.
This was not the Taesu who was always wary of death, his nerves on edge.
Perhaps, through his conversations with Old Man Wang, who was facing death, he was being refined little by little.
For Taesu, who had only ever faced the deaths of emergency patients, these were special moments.
But the time Old Man Wang had left was not eternal.
Nor could secrets remain secret forever.
As the period in which Old Man Wang kept himself shut away grew longer, the trio of old men and the villagers came looking for him.
In that time, Old Man Wang had become terribly feeble and sickly.
He could not even rise from his sickbed.
On top of that, he had grown quiet as well.
“Hrm…… You…… you came.”
The state he was in could no longer be hidden.
The news that the day Old Man Wang would depart was drawing near spread throughout the village in an instant.
After that news, there was a change.
The trio of old men guarded Old Man Wang’s side like an iron wall.
The three old men showed their grief without the slightest restraint.
“Kh-hm.”
“You said we’d live to a hundred.”
“Where do you think you’re going…… Hyung, waah.”
Old Man Jo, the youngest among them, even wailed like a child.
Even with his gaunt face, Old Man Wang frowned.
“Tch…… Troublesome…… brats to the very end.”
But that was only what he said.
Old Man Wang’s eyes as he looked at the trio were filled with affection.
Having spent their whole lives together, they were undoubtedly more special and precious to him than anyone else.
Meanwhile, Taesu was sitting on the village’s wooden platform.
It was the meeting place used when discussing important village matters.
Taesu sat in the middle, and in front of him, Village Chief Jeon Nosik was glaring with all his might.
Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon were nowhere to be seen, as if they had been dragged off somewhere.
“……”
Village Chief Jeon Nosik’s silence continued.
Not knowing where to direct his gaze, Taesu needlessly looked around here and there.
Then Village Chief Jeon Nosik called to him in a low voice.
“Dr. Choi.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you do it?”
His voice was not merely subdued, but heavy.
Taesu knew full well this was not something he could gloss over, so he quickly answered.
“He asked me to keep it a secret.”
“That…… You’re saying that now?”
“He said it was an important time for the village…… and that he couldn’t interfere with it.”
“You.”
Bang.
Village Chief Jeon Nosik struck the wooden platform harshly.
Even so, Taesu did not avert his gaze for even a moment as he said,
“A doctor has a duty to honor a patient’s request.”
“We are his family.”
“Even if you are family, if the patient wishes it, it must be kept secret.”
“Doctor, patient—what kind of dog-bone nonsense is that in these mountains?”
Tingle.
A sharp wind laden with Village Chief Jeon Nosik’s anger pricked at his skin.
Even so, Taesu spoke with a calm heart.
“I don’t expect you to understand. But as a matter of professional ethics, we—”
“Dr. Choi.”
“Right now, you are calling me doctor. That is also a title that means you recognize me as a physician.”
“That…… Hoo.”
Village Chief Jeon Nosik could not deny that point.
To deny it would be the same as turning his back on every surgery and treatment they had performed until now.
Taesu, Jeong Minsu, and Kim Hyeokgwon.
All three were benefactors of the village, acknowledged by everyone.
No matter that he was the village chief, he could not turn his back on that grace.
Seeing his inner turmoil, Taesu said quietly,
“It’s no longer a secret, so I can tell you everything now.”
“Then how much time does he have left?”
“I don’t think he’ll make it past this week.”
“I…… see. Hoo.”
Village Chief Jeon Nosik’s sigh flowed out, deep and long.
Taesu slowly bowed his head to him and apologized.
“I’m sorry. This was not a matter we could do anything about.”
“I suppose not. He is advanced in years, so it’s not as though we didn’t expect it.”
“I see.”
“Even so, you should have given us time to prepare. You should have let us steady our hearts and exchange even one more word with him, you people.”
Village Chief Jeon Nosik shouted.
In his eyes, tears had gathered and were about to fall.
With a calm expression, Taesu shook his head.
“Because the elder did not wish it.”
“He is someone who devoted his entire life to this village. He never married, and he has no children. No, we are his children.”
“Yes. I know.”
“If you knew, then you shouldn’t have done this. You should have at least hinted it to me. At least I should have known. Aigoo, aigoo.”
Thump. Thump.
Village Chief Jeon Nosik struck his stifled chest roughly. With the shaking, the tears brimming in his eyes spilled down.
Without even thinking to wipe them away, he struck his chest again and again.
Taesu did not move an inch from where he stood.
There was only silence.
Village Chief Jeon Nosik was in a position where he wanted to resent someone, even if it was forced, and the one before his eyes happened to be Taesu.
This was not a matter of who was right or wrong.
Person and person.
It was only the intersection of their pain.
In an instant, the village was filled with gloom.
All construction stopped, and everyone set aside their work.
Families went into Old Man Wang’s house one by one to greet him.
And in the yard, both the medical team’s tents and canopies had all been set up.
A fire was lit in the wood stove, and everyone gathered within.
Everyone was together so that the path Old Man Wang took in leaving would not be lonely.
Taesu, Jeong Minsu, and Kim Hyeokgwon watched from a place a little distance away.
Among the three of them, Kim Hyeokgwon spoke heavily.
“The old man lived well.”
Kim Hyeokgwon’s expression was blunt, but accurate.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu also deeply agreed.
Then Jeong Minsu asked in a low voice,
“What does it mean to die?”
“Who knows.”
“Honestly, most of the people who have left us until now did so suddenly. My father was the same.”
“He was.”
When Taesu acknowledged it, Jeong Minsu spoke in an even more subdued voice.
“Maybe that’s why this case feels so unfamiliar.”
“Isn’t this the most natural course?”
“It is. This is what’s normal.”
“Seeing something like this makes me feel an even greater sense of responsibility.”
When Taesu blurted out the sentiment that rose from within his chest, this time Jeong Minsu agreed.
“That’s right. Leaving because of an emergency or an illness is too empty. It means there isn’t even time to say goodbye to family.”
“I wish moments like this came more often.”
At Taesu’s words, Kim Hyeokgwon lightly picked at him.
“Shouldn’t you not say something that irresponsible?”
“Is that something we can decide as we please?”
“Then we have to make it happen.”
It was a clear-cut answer.
Taesu turned to Kim Hyeokgwon and slipped in a twist.
“To make it happen, two people are a little lacking.”
“Whether it’s two or three.”
“It’s different.”
“You’re not a leech, so why are you clinging so damn hard?”
Kim Hyeokgwon grumbled, but he did not refuse to the end.
That was enough.
Taesu turned his gaze again and took everyone into his eyes.
How much time passed like that?
Creak.
The door opened, and the trio of old men came outside.
Then there was no one inside.
Could it be?
The villagers’ eyes grew moist.
At that moment, Old Man Jeon, Village Chief Jeon Nosik’s father, looked for Taesu in a ringing voice.
“Where’s that Choi? Choi, you brat.”
At that, Taesu approached them.
“Yes, elder.”
“Go inside.”
“Mm.”
Taesu let out a heavy sound.
He had said before that when a person died, the doctor would be the last to check their reactions and declare death.
He thought that moment had arrived.
Smack.
In that instant, Taesu’s back burned hot.
“Ugh.”
“How dare you treat a perfectly living man as if…… You brat.”
As fiery as his temper, Old Man Jeon’s hand flew first before he scolded him.
Since Taesu had been hit for nothing, he felt a bit wronged.
“Ah, you could have just said so.”
“What did you say, you rascal?”
“Nothing. I’ll go in.”
Since the man was not someone he could argue with, Taesu quietly headed toward the house.
Then, from behind him, he heard the old men grumbling.
“How could Hyung kick us out?”
“That brat sweet-talked Hyung into it.”
“That damned rascal.”
The bleak reproaches stabbed at the back of Taesu’s head.
Now that he knew the reason, Taesu smiled bitterly.
‘I think I’d be angry too, if it were me.’
Perhaps he should consider it fortunate that it ended with just one slap on the back.
After that roundabout process, Taesu entered the house.
Thud.
As he closed the door, a distinctive smell inside the house stimulated his nose. It was the unique odor that arose as bodily functions stopped one by one.
Without so much as a sniffle, Taesu approached the bed.
Old Man Wang’s eyes were half-open.
“Huuuh…… Huu, uuh……”
Even his breathing was uneven.
His cognitive ability seemed to have declined to the point that he did not even know Taesu had come in.
‘Ha.’
Taesu had a strong intuition that only one step remained.
This was not something to leave as a prediction, so Taesu quickly listened to the sounds within with his stethoscope.
Thump…… Thump……
His heartbeat had become far too slow.
There was also a catching sound somewhere in his breathing.
And as though all the organs in his abdomen had stopped, no sound could be heard from them at all.
Most of all, he could not feel Taesu’s hand as he examined him with the stethoscope.
His prediction had been correct.
The problem was that it was a prediction he could not be happy about.