After thinking it over for a moment, James soon nodded.
“Ah, I think I’ve heard of that too. But what I’m talking about is a little different.”
“How so?”
“Currently, helicopter operation focuses on transport.”
“That’s right.”
When Taesu answered calmly, James got to the point.
“If first aid, or even emergency surgery, could be performed on-site, how much of a difference do you think it would make in survival rates?”
“A tremendous difference.”
“And if it were happening in the middle of nowhere, with no facilities at all?”
“Gasp.”
Taesu’s eyes went wide.
James drove the point home.
“Dr. Choi, you’ve moved through all sorts of regions until now. You even climbed the ABC alone.”
“That’s true enough.”
“I’d say you’ve built up more than enough tolerance for such harsh environments. Am I wrong?”
James asked heavily.
Having grasped his intent to some degree, Taesu silently acknowledged it.
“I suppose I have a little more tolerance than most.”
“On top of that, you’ve picked up the fundamentals of several medical specialties. We can discuss depth later.”
Since James added the qualifier first, Taesu had no choice but to accept it.
“I’m studying hard.”
“That in itself is turning you, Dr. Choi, into a very unique doctor.”
“Yes. I suppose I am a bit unusual.”
At Taesu’s answer, James immediately continued.
“And Dr. Jeong and Mr. Kim are with you as well.”
“Yes.”
“What if you specialized those strengths of yours further?”
James was clearly asking a question.
And yet his eyes, expression, and tone—
all were filled with certainty.
But Taesu’s expression somehow turned awkward.
“Mm.”
“Does saying it like this not move you much?”
“No. It’s not that…”
When Taesu gave an awkward smile, James calmly urged him on.
“Go ahead and say it.”
“To be honest, when we finished the emergency surgery in the helicopter, I briefly had a similar thought.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. What you just said was so similar that it gave me goosebumps.”
Swoosh.
Taesu rolled up his sleeve and showed him.
There really were goosebumps prickling up along his arm.
Seeing that, James smiled faintly.
“It seems Dr. Choi was also searching for a way to survive amid fierce competition.”
“If you stop, you fall behind.”
“That’s right. Exactly. The moment anyone stops making the effort to grow, they’re bound to be pushed back.”
James agreed with great intensity.
Taesu brought up something a little difficult to say to the delighted James.
“This time, we happened to get on a helicopter, but we can’t keep relying on chance in the future.”
“That’s true.”
“To do that, we’d need professional training too, and honestly, that won’t be easy.”
Taesu scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
At that, James looked dumbfounded.
“To think you consider that difficult.”
“Pardon?”
“Sometimes, think about the cards you already hold. Who is it that Dr. Choi is acquainted with?”
At the hint he gave, one person flashed through Taesu’s mind.
“Do you mean Colonel Clark?”
“Do you think the head of external cooperation wouldn’t have that level of authority? You said you were going to visit him anyway.”
“That’s not why I was planning to meet him.”
When Taesu spoke in alarm, James smiled gently.
“I know. And Dr. Choi shouldn’t make that kind of request.”
“Exactly.”
“But I can.”
“Ah.”
“I’ll pass along my intentions. So that when you meet, the topic can’t help but come up naturally.”
Taesu was flustered by James’s proactive drive.
“To go that far…”
“This isn’t a benefit. In fact, Dr. Choi may end up resenting me for this.”
“Surely not.”
“What condition do you think a patient who needs emergency transport by helicopter would be in?”
When James asked in a low voice, Taesu froze.
How could he not know?
Just imagining it made his head throb.
But that lasted only a moment, and soon he put on a wry face and joked.
“I know very well after experiencing it enough yesterday.”
“Which is why you’ll have no choice but to resent me.”
James gave a bitter smile.
Taesu understood exactly what he meant.
And he made his own opinion on the matter clear.
“Yes, I think I’ll resent you a lot.”
“You will.”
“But I’ll cling to the patient’s lifeline until the very end.”
Taesu declared his firm resolve.
It felt as though the air inside the medical tent had settled heavily.
James, who had been facing him seriously, suddenly winked and changed the mood.
“While resenting me?”
“Yes. I’ll curse you as much as I need to, and fight as much as I need to as well.”
“Hahaha.”
James burst into hearty laughter at Taesu’s shameless answer.
Taesu also smiled softly.
In truth, though he was smiling, it was not because he felt good.
If he thought about it, it was clear he was stepping onto an even more difficult and arduous path.
But if he looked far ahead, the story changed.
Taesu summed up all his thoughts simply and neatly.
‘Save patients, and create a specialty.’
It was a chance to catch two rabbits at once.
He had to seize it, no matter what.
Because of that, darkness might come for him in the immediate future.
But Taesu firmed his resolve as he imagined a brighter, more radiant future.
About an hour later.
Only then did Taesu leave James’s medical tent.
But he was not alone.
Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon were with him.
“Then we’ll be going.”
“Surgery is important, but please take care of your health too.”
Various farewells rang out toward James.
And the three of them immediately turned and headed toward the patients.
Step, step.
The expressions of the three walking side by side were heavy.
In the midst of that, Jeong Minsu spoke first.
“So James wants to make us into a team that deploys by helicopter and even performs emergency treatment, right?”
“That’s right.”
“How could he even think of that… No. What’s even more amazing is that we could become that kind of team.”
Jeong Minsu’s expression changed constantly.
It was not that he doubted James’s words would come true.
He meant that the change happening to them was astonishing.
Kim Hyeokgwon seemed to feel the same.
“They say you never know what’ll happen in a person’s life. A mediocre interpreter like me is suddenly about to become a medical specialist interpreter.”
“You already are a medical specialist.”
“So when does this team get formed?”
“He’ll tell us soon. And until the team is officially announced, keep it strictly confidential.”
Taesu gave them a firm warning.
It was because James had asked them to surprise everyone.
Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon had heard it too, so they only nodded emphatically.
As they talked, they arrived in front of the ward tent.
It was time to meet the patients.
At last, they could meet the patients who had put them through hell on the snowy mountain.
He felt he would not be satisfied unless he met them and asked why they had done that.
The moment he remembered the suffering, his teeth ground together on their own.
Grit.
“Let’s go in.”
Taesu and the other two entered the ward tent with cold eyes.
Inside, the ward tent was a large hospital room.
Beep-beep-beep, chirp.
ECGs, EEGs, ventilators, and so on.
Various medical machines were arranged beside each bed.
Since this was the private inpatient tent of James, the NGO’s top surgeon, there was no way the patients admitted here would be in good health.
They had just begun looking around.
Catherine and Nurse Lumie approached like lightning and grabbed Taesu’s hands.
“Dr. Choi.”
“Oh my, how long has it been?”
They welcomed him warmly, like older sisters.
At their touch, Taesu’s stiffly hardened face melted away.
This was not good.
That was what he thought, but he was too happy to meet people he was glad to see.
Before he knew it, Taesu was smiling as he first asked after them.
“Have you been well?”
The question was short, but the replies came like rapid fire.
“Look at your face. How much did you suffer?”
“Doesn’t it look like he’s lost weight?”
“No. Look at these arms. He’s lost muscle.”
“Do they make people work there and not even feed them? Oh, what are we going to do?”
The high-pitched voices ringing from both sides stimulated Taesu’s ears in surround sound.
Taesu greatly disliked noise.
But he was not cold-hearted enough to push away such affectionate concern.
“I’m fine.”
“Fine, my foot. Oh my.”
“Are you hurt anywhere? Is anything uncomfortable…?”
Whoosh, whoosh.
Catherine and Nurse Lumie chattered nonstop as they thoroughly examined Taesu.
Since he had been the youngest member of the surgical team, they looked after him even more tenderly.
On the other hand, Jeong Minsu was watching with a slightly envious gaze.
“There’s a person here too.”
“They can’t hear you, so saying it won’t do any good.”
“I’m seriously incredibly jealous of Taesu for the first time.”
“Jealous, even. Oh, Dr. Maximilian, it’s been a while.”
Kim Hyeokgwon also went toward the team members he knew.
Left alone, Jeong Minsu rolled his eyes left and right with a sulky expression.
“I know how to be welcomed too.”
Jeong Minsu knew James’s surgical team members well too. However, he was not yet close enough to say they were incredibly friendly.
For that reason, he envied Taesu and Kim Hyeokgwon.
Taesu was full of smiles the whole time he exchanged greetings.
But that time did not last long.
“I heard you have surgery in a little while.”
“That’s why we were just about to go prepare. We’ve only just seen you, so what a shame.”
“I’ll be here for a while, so there will be plenty of time to talk.”
“All right. Surgery comes first for now, so we’ll see you later.”
They moved away as coolly as they had greeted him enthusiastically.
That was how rich their expressions of emotion were.
Only now left alone, Taesu asked Jeong Minsu, who was standing blankly beside him.
“Why are you standing there like that?”
“What did I do?”
“Why are you being prickly again?”
“Fine. I’m petty, I have a prickly personality, I can’t read the room, and I’ve gotten ridiculously fat. So what?”
Jeong Minsu responded sharply.
But Taesu nodded gravely.
“You’re doing a good job of self-reflection.”
“You little—”
“Let’s mind the time and place.”
Taesu gently soothed Jeong Minsu, whose eyes were blazing.
Just then, two people approached.
Step.
Seeing those who stood before them, Taesu and Jeong Minsu’s expressions brightened once more.
“Dr. Ozma.”
“Brad, wow.”
Thud.
Only now meeting someone he was close to, Jeong Minsu even hugged him fiercely.
Brad Kim, who did not know the circumstances, was filled with bewilderment.
“What’s with you? Dr. Jeong. What are you doing?”
“Brad. I’m feeling neglected and hurt.”
“Don’t pretend to cry. What are you so—?”
Brad Kim placated Jeong Minsu with a troubled expression.
Meanwhile, Taesu and Dr. Ozma were clasping hands.
Firmly.
“I saw you briefly yesterday, and now I’m seeing you again.”
“That’s right. Yesterday, for a moment, I wondered if you were a patient, but today you look a bit better.”
“I slept well, so I’m much better.”
“Youth is unfairly powerful.”
Dr. Ozma joked deeply.
Taesu smiled softly as well, then showed curiosity at the sight of Brad Kim standing beside him.
“But Brad is with you?”
“We’ve been moving together for some time now.”
“Yes… Huh?”
Taesu, who had been answering calmly, was startled.
Moving together meant the same thing as having become a team member.
As if confirming that Taesu had understood correctly, Dr. Ozma explained properly once more.
“He’s the new youngest member of Dr. James’s surgical team. Though he doesn’t exactly have that fresh, sprout-like charm.”
“Everywhere needs an original youngest member.”
“What’s an original youngest member supposed to be?”
Dr. Ozma seemed dumbfounded, yet subtly accepting.