When he finished his greeting and raised his head, Royce was smiling softly.
It was truly a handsome smile.
And yet, from Royce’s lips came words full of unexpected reversal.
“My situation really must have been quite bad.”
“It certainly was.”
“That must be why you made mistakes even a resident wouldn’t make.”
Royce spoke in an easygoing tone.
Taesu simply laughed it off.
“……Ha, ha.”
“May I ask where you’re from?”
“Korea.”
When Taesu answered, Royce gave a deep exclamation of admiration.
“Oh. As expected, it really is hard to guess the age of people from there.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you’re a specialist, you’d naturally be older than me, wouldn’t you?”
“I’m a resident.”
Taesu corrected the strange misunderstanding.
The moment he said it,
Royce flinched violently, as if he had been struck by lightning.
“Pardon?”
“The year changed, so I’m now a second-year resident.”
“So, uh…… Is that why?”
“Pardon?”
Taesu asked, tilting his head.
But Royce paid him no mind and muttered to himself.
“A resident got ahead of himself, so that’s why it turned into something I couldn’t tell was treatment or torture.”
It was the sort of thing one would normally say inwardly.
But Royce had said it out loud.
Taesu was honestly dumbfounded.
‘What the hell?’
It wasn’t something one should say with the person in question standing right there.
Just then, Royce realized his mistake and apologized.
“That was meant to be to myself. I’m sorry.”
“I heard it very clearly.”
“When I suddenly start thinking, words sometimes slip out of my mouth.”
Royce spoke seriously.
Since it was, in fact, true, Taesu let it pass.
“Well, I suppose that can happen.”
“I truly do hold my gratitude for saving my life deep in my heart.”
It was a thanks he had already repeated several times.
Each time, sincerity had been contained within it.
An awkward silence arrived.
Honestly, Taesu even considered putting Royce back to sleep.
It was too obvious a move, so he held back.
Instead, Taesu now began asking what he was curious about.
“Why on earth did you go there?”
“I was traveling.”
“A trip through a war zone, barehanded no less, crossing snowy mountains?”
Taesu asked, pointing out each part one by one.
That was how absurd he found it.
But Royce instead tilted his head.
“Must I explain all of it to you?”
“Not necessarily, but that’s an area where people don’t set foot.”
“No wonder…… I only saw animal tracks.”
Royce’s answer, to put it nicely, was free-spirited.
To put it badly, it was self-centered.
Taesu roughly grasped what kind of personality he had.
So Taesu decided to answer casually as well.
“Well, it’s fortunate you saw even those.”
“It’s not as if travel must only be to places where people live, is it?”
“You’re right. But why did you fall?”
When Taesu asked what he was most curious about, Royce answered.
“The scenery was nice, so I wanted to take a picture.”
“And your guide?”
“He’d gone to take care of business.”
Hearing Royce’s answer, Taesu tilted his head.
“Didn’t he tell you to stay still before he left?”
“I thought the area around me was safe.”
“So in the end, it was carelessness.”
When Taesu reached that conclusion, Royce objected.
“With that much snow piled up, how was I supposed to tell whether it was a path or a cliff?”
“If you can’t see, you should stop.”
“It was only a few steps. What was I supposed to do when the ground was like that?”
“No, that’s…… Never mind.”
Taesu forced down the surge of irritation in his chest.
What more could he say to a patient who had just undergone surgery and was recovering?
It felt as though it would only turn into a pointless argument, so he restrained himself.
Taesu thought that inwardly.
Royce, on the other hand, said everything out loud.
“I don’t want to raise my voice at someone I’m grateful to.”
“I don’t want that either.”
“And that matter is my personal business, so I’d prefer you not take any further interest in it.”
As Royce’s tone grew a little stiff, Taesu also responded in a businesslike manner.
“I’ll do that.”
“I still have some questions about the rescue process, but I’m feeling tired first.”
“I’m sure you are.”
“I’ve only just begun recovering, so please excuse me.”
Rustle.
After speaking however he pleased, Royce simply closed his eyes.
The conversation ended that emptily.
Taesu was honestly stunned.
‘Ha.’
Was his gratitude just bait?
That was how it felt.
Even when he went over the conversation again, it was quite unpleasant.
A bitter smile formed on its own.
‘As if accepting a thank-you would bring me wealth and glory.’
Still, Royce was his patient, so he had come to greet him, only to have his mood ruined.
Now Taesu no longer wanted to stay.
Whoosh.
Turning around, Taesu walked away from the bed.
Taesu headed straight for the entrance of the ward tent.
Bred Kim was standing squarely in front of it, waiting.
With a somewhat meaningful expression, Bred Kim asked Taesu,
“Did the hospital visit go well?”
“Bred, do you have a moment?”
“Yeah. That’s why I was waiting.”
“What about the surgery?”
Taesu asked while noticing that Dr. Ozma had disappeared.
As if he understood what he meant, Bred Kim answered plainly.
“It should be starting soon. I was excluded from this surgery from the beginning.”
“I see. Then……”
Just as Taesu was about to suggest going out,
Step, step.
The sound of irritable footsteps approached.
Soon, Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon came over, fuming.
“Wow, I can’t believe someone like that exists.”
“I’ve met all sorts of people, but this is my first time meeting a bastard who’s politely rude.”
From that alone, it seemed they had experienced something similar with Royce.
Since there were other patients around, Taesu calmly suggested,
“Let’s go outside. Let’s talk outside.”
“Fine. Let’s go. On a cold day like this, I need at least an iced coffee to cool myself down.”
Flap.
Kim Hyeokgwon roughly swept aside the curtain and strode out ahead.
He really seemed furious.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu’s feelings were not much different.
Flap, flap.
They even needlessly shoved the already-open curtain aside once more with force.
Only Bred Kim followed quietly behind them with a bitter smile.
The four of them took seats at an outdoor table in the rest area.
Despite the chilly weather, Taesu, Kim Hyeokgwon, and Jeong Minsu were gulping down cold drinks.
Glug, glug.
The three of them drained them in one go and set their drinks down at the same time.
Among them, Taesu spoke first.
“Phew, the more I think about it, the angrier I get.”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Either don’t say thank you, or say it with a little decency.”
“And his pride is insanely strong too. He’s practically on the level of ‘I alone am honored in heaven and earth.’”
The three of them growled in unison.
Bred Kim, who alone remained calm, quietly poured oil on the fire.
“The two of them are friends.”
“What a pair of assholes.”
Thud.
An angered Kim Hyeokgwon slammed the table roughly.
Even while looking at that fiery reaction, Bred Kim offered an unexpected remark.
“At least you’re blessed, Hyeokgwon.”
“Well, since I’m not a doctor, I didn’t get cursed at directly.”
“That wasn’t exactly what I meant.”
Bred Kim became cautious.
Just then, Kim Hyeokgwon brought up someone they had forgotten.
“By the way, where’s the guide who fainted as soon as the emergency surgery ended?”
“We got him lodging and let him rest. The guide didn’t seem all that eager to stay with them either.”
“Who could put up with personalities like that?”
Kim Hyeokgwon openly badmouthed them.
Taesu took those words with a grumble.
“No one could put up with them. If you tried, your hair would turn white within half a year.”
“Enough already. You just don’t have to see them.”
“I’m already pissed off.”
When Taesu reacted crookedly, Bred Kim delivered the decisive line.
“I have to see them several times every day. Think of me too.”
“……”
At that moment, Taesu and the other two shut their mouths tightly.
They wanted to offer some comfort, but with how they felt right now, it was difficult.
So they chose silence instead.
Bred Kim seemed used to this reaction.
“Everyone fumed about it at least once. That’s why they’ve let a lot go now.”
“What were they like?”
“Where is this place, why did you bring me to such a miserable place, and so on.”
“We should stay quiet.”
Taesu answered and shot the others a look.
Kim Hyeokgwon and Jeong Minsu nodded vigorously at the same time.
It seemed Royce had at least been polite to them.
If he had been terrible to the others, there was nothing more to say.
Amid the silence, Jeong Minsu neatly reached a conclusion.
“Yeah, like Bred said, we just don’t have to see him.”
“That’s right.”
“We greeted him. That’s enough. There’s nothing more to give or receive from each other.”
“Minsu, you’re saying something sensible for once.”
Taesu praised him generously.
But it seemed Jeong Minsu heard it differently.
Glare.
Jeong Minsu shot him a sharp look and asked,
“What do you mean, something sensible?”
“I mean you said the right thing.”
“No. The way I heard it, it sounded like you were saying I’d just been spouting nonsense all this time.”
“I don’t know. Take it however you want.”
When Taesu showed that he found it troublesome, Jeong Minsu’s expression grew fiercer.
“Hey, Choi Taesu, what kind of attitude is that in a conversation?”
“At-attitude? Hey. What kind of way is that to talk?”
“Way to talk? Anyone listening would think we were in some strict superior-subordinate relationship. Right?”
“What, you punk?”
Grrr.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu’s voices gradually became more emotional.
Just then, Bred Kim quickly stopped them.
“That’s enough. Stop.”
“……”
“Why are you being sensitive in the wrong place? It’s even stranger for us to be like this among ourselves.”
Bred Kim actively mediated.
Hearing that, it was true.
Srrk.
“……”
“……”
The two of them silently turned their heads in opposite directions.
The fire that had been about to flare up was stopped for now.
Kim Hyeokgwon, who had been watching quietly, finally slipped in.
“So how did Bred end up joining James’s surgical team?”
“Is it all right for the topic to change this abruptly?”
“It’s know-how I’ve gained through experience.”
“You should change jobs. Become a mediator.”
When Bred Kim sincerely recommended it, Kim Hyeokgwon smiled bitterly.
“I’m already working three jobs. Interpretation, nursing, and mediation.”
“I should offer you my deepest sympathies.”
“Don’t bother with empty words. So, how did it happen?”
Kim Hyeokgwon subtly returned to the original topic.
Then Taesu and Jeong Minsu, who had turned their backs, quietly perked their ears toward them as well.
Seeing that, Bred Kim no longer pushed it away and answered.
“After I returned from Padum……”
Bred Kim explained things one by one in order.
After that, various conversations passed between them.
There was also news from the Korean village.
Their wariness seemed to apply to both foreigners and Koreans.
However, he said that the moment he mentioned Taesu and Jeong Minsu’s names, he was welcomed.
News like that was always pleasant to hear.
He also briefly told them about the Korean medical staff.
They had formed their own team and left to provide medical service in a village in southern Kashmir.
Other news came as well.
The topics changed so frequently that it was enough to make their heads spin.