Taesu was the last to climb onto the ladder.
Clack.
It was the first time since training had begun that he and Squad Leader Sam were alone together.
Things must truly have been unbearable, because Squad Leader Sam aired his grievance in a small voice.
"Isn't this a bit too much?"
"I honestly don't know what to say."
"I don't know how all of you have such distinct personalities. I've handled recruit training for I don't know how many cycles, but this is honestly a first."
"Still, please don't give up. Teach us properly."
Strangely enough, Taesu was the one making the request.
Only then did Squad Leader Sam take a light, deep breath.
"Hoo."
"Yes. Pull yourself together like that."
"What am I supposed to do if a trainee is teaching the instructor?"
Squad Leader Sam had returned to being an instructor before Taesu knew it, and rebuked him coldly.
Looking at Squad Leader Sam, who had found his strength again, Taesu shouted.
"Ready to descend."
"Do you have anything you want to say?"
It was the moment Squad Leader Sam asked in a loud voice.
Flinch.
Taesu's body swayed slightly, and he quietly asked Squad Leader Sam again.
"Do I have to do that too?"
"Ah, seriously."
"No. I have something I want to say."
Taesu quickly read the room and raised his voice.
But Squad Leader Sam, already drained of energy, pointed to the other side and spoke halfheartedly.
"Jump or don't."
"Sam. No, Instructor."
"Yes, yes... Now, jump."
Swish, swish.
Squad Leader Sam spoke perfunctorily and gestured with his hand.
It was the moment they had made a training instructor throw up both hands in surrender in a mere half day.
Since it was unofficial training, it would not remain in the records, but it was undoubtedly a situation that would stay in someone's memory for a long, long time.
In the end, training was paused for a while.
Squad Leader Sam was standing alone a short distance away. With a rather sickened expression, he was holding his cell phone and talking to someone.
"...That's the situation."
"So what are the trainees doing now?"
Colonel Clark's deep, weighty voice came from the phone.
At that question, Squad Leader Sam turned his head and looked at the trainees.
The moment he saw the three people sitting side by side, Squad Leader Sam let out a sigh without realizing it.
"First, Trainee Kim's face is full of dissatisfaction."
"Hmm. Next?"
"Trainee Jeong still seems shaken."
"And Doctor Choi?"
"Trainee Choi is... Hm."
When Squad Leader Sam suddenly let out a low groan, Colonel Clark's voice turned serious.
"Is he the worst of the lot?"
"No. Our eyes just met, and he's smiling brightly and waving. He's very innocent-looking."
"What a mess."
Colonel Clark's voice grew even heavier.
Squad Leader Sam got to the point.
"So, about the training intensity..."
"Mm-hmm."
Some sort of conversation was going back and forth over the phone.
Taesu sensed that Squad Leader Sam's mood was worsening.
"What do we do?"
"What do you mean, what do we do? If we can't do it, then we don't have to, do we?"
"They say there's a training fee."
Taesu subtly poked at his weak point, but Kim Hyeokgwon's expression did not change much.
"I'll just not take it. Even without that, there are plenty of places my allowances will come from."
"Ah, I didn't tell you this."
"When you say it like that at this timing, it makes me a little uneasy."
As Kim Hyeokgwon grew wary, Taesu smiled awkwardly and said,
"If we don't complete our rappel training, we can't go outside."
"What?"
"James told me to show my resolve. I said that if we failed the training, we'd settle down in the medical camp."
At Taesu's answer, Kim Hyeokgwon's expression froze completely.
"Then what about me?"
"You'll only be interpreting, but if we succeed in the training, the extra allowance will become very generous."
"Thank you for painting such a hopeful future for me, Doctor Choi."
When Kim Hyeokgwon called him in an icy voice, Taesu flinched and answered.
"Go ahead."
"In the end, you're saying it's all or nothing, aren't you?"
"Probably."
"Starting tonight, don't walk around alone. They say the world has become very dangerous these days."
Glare.
Kim Hyeokgwon spoke in clipped, hard words with a fierce look in his eyes.
Taesu hesitated, then asked cautiously.
"Is that a notice of assault?"
"No. A notice of murder."
"Hup."
"Seriously, be careful. Being truly careful will probably be the shortcut to extending your life."
"Thank you for your concern."
Taesu barely managed to thank him.
It was not a thanks given because he was truly grateful, but because the chill he felt made him stop the conversation for now.
Whatever conversation was going on to either side, Jeong Minsu was busy trying to calm his startled heart.
No matter who looked at him, he did not seem to have recovered from his tension.
It was while Taesu was feeling his blood run cold like that.
Step, step.
Squad Leader Sam approached and called the assistant instructors.
"Trainees, stand up. And assistant instructors, to your positions."
"Let's get up. Minsu."
Taesu took care of Jeong Minsu first.
If someone had to find their strength, it could only be him.
Meanwhile, the assistant instructors shouted and moved quickly.
"To positions."
Clatter.
Soon, the assistant instructors stood in a line to Squad Leader Sam's left and right.
The atmosphere was subtly different from the beginning.
It was just as that feeling struck him.
Swoosh.
Squad Leader Sam looked over the three of them and said,
"This instructor will make one promise to the trainees."
"What promise?"
"From now on, I will stake the honor of the squad leader of the PKO Special Combat Squad and educate you properly."
"Gasp."
When their expectations became reality, everyone was taken aback.
But Squad Leader Sam spoke firmly without wavering.
"I will make no allowances for any circumstances. If you want to quit, you may say so at any time."
"What?"
"Are you quitting now? Answer me."
"No."
Only Taesu answered immediately.
Kim Hyeokgwon was seriously considering it, and Jeong Minsu had become frightened again.
"Mm."
"Uh, uhh..."
Glance.
The moment Taesu saw that, he felt a huge surge of unease.
'That won't do.'
He had already received a murder notice from Kim Hyeokgwon.
If he was going to die anyway, Taesu wanted to say what he had to say.
He raised his hand sharply and shouted in a resounding voice.
"Instructor, may I say a word to the other trainees?"
"No."
"What?"
For a moment, Taesu was flustered.
He had not expected to be refused.
Toward Taesu, whose eyes had gone wide, Squad Leader Sam spoke coldly.
"Must Trainee Choi offer advice on the other trainees' decisions?"
"No, sir."
"Then wait. But I will state one thing clearly. Even if Trainee Choi remains alone, training and instruction will definitely proceed."
"Understood."
Taesu accepted it and lowered his hand.
His tone had been cold, but Squad Leader Sam was absolutely right.
He could not keep provoking them and persuading them to go together forever.
It felt as though they had suddenly come to a fork in the road.
Taesu had never dreamed that a situation like this would unfold.
But.
'We needed this at least once.'
He murmured heavily to himself.
It was something he had been thinking about for some time.
Even though they had been together for a long time, they were still circling around each other.
It was true that they had grown closer than at first, and their teamwork was gradually beginning to match.
However, it was still ambiguous to say they were truly one team.
Instead, he was certain that someday, they would come together tightly as a single team.
That was a matter for the future.
Conversely, Taesu did not have much time to remain in Kashmir.
There were only two years left until the time he had promised Chairman Seok Jeonghyeon. In a person's life, two years was a very short time.
And as for Caprene's vast knowledge, he had only now approached the level of a taste of it.
The skills Taesu had struggled so desperately to develop amounted to only that much.
It was also the part that made him the most anxious.
That was the decisive reason Taesu wanted to fly to the scene even if he had to mobilize an emergency transport helicopter.
Developing his own specialty was important.
But if he faced an emergency patient at the scene of an accident, he would use every means and method to save that person.
Perhaps he was choosing danger in order to awaken himself.
Even if that plan was extreme, there was no more suitable way to restore someone's life and awaken himself.
Taesu's thoughts grew longer and longer.
That was because Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon still had not answered.
Each of them was being cautious for their own reasons.
It seemed they, too, sensed that their decision now would become a major turning point.
Taesu's gaze toward them had become cold before he knew it.
"..."
It was the expression of someone who had steeled himself not to be disappointed or hold them back, no matter what decision they made.
And Squad Leader Sam did not hurry them either.
"..."
His will to hear a definite answer from their own mouths, even if it took all night, was evident.
A little more time passed like that.
Kim Hyeokgwon slowly closed his eyes, then opened them and raised his hand.
At that moment, Taesu and Squad Leader Sam's gazes turned to him at the same time.
Squad Leader Sam asked the question.
"Trainee Kim, do you have something to say?"
"I have something to say to Trainee Choi... No, to Doctor Choi."
"This is this instructor's time. There will be no personal remarks."
Squad Leader Sam shut it down at the source.
As soon as those words ended, Kim Hyeokgwon's eyes turned sharp.
"This is a problem related to my life. It's not like you're going to take responsibility for my life."
"...Very well. Ask Trainee Choi your question."
"I'm going to do it in Korean, so just take it as it is."
"Speak comfortably."
Squad Leader Sam gestured with his hand and calmly permitted it.
Because he knew the relationship between the two of them so well, he seemed to have sensed that this was a moment when he should not interfere.
At that moment, Kim Hyeokgwon looked at Taesu.
And for the first time since entering the training camp, he called him in Korean—and in informal speech.
"Choi Taesu."
"Yes."
"You're not going to abandon me, are you?"
Kim Hyeokgwon asked with a hardened gaze.
The meaning of that question was far too deep and profound.
Taesu's answer was only one word.
"No."
"Then can I trust you until the end?"
"That's up to you, Hyeokgwon."
"..."
At those words, Kim Hyeokgwon's eyes turned fierce.
Then Taesu continued with the words he had left.
"I am always the same."
"Don't show me your back."
"I can't promise that. I think I'll be showing my back often."
"What?"
"It's not as if we can treat patients while facing each other."
Taesu answered in a sullen voice.
For a moment, Kim Hyeokgwon's expression crumpled violently.
"That's not what I meant."
"No. That is exactly what you meant."
"..."
"And the only person I can comfortably show my back to is you, Hyeokgwon."
Taesu finished speaking in a voice full of certainty.
Kim Hyeokgwon stared piercingly at Taesu.
"..."
"..."
Taesu did not avoid that gaze for even a single moment.
Trust and faith.
They were not tangible things that could be shown just because someone asked to see them.
They were melted into the way they treated each other, and contained in the conversations they exchanged.
Kim Hyeokgwon knew that as well, but he had clearly wanted to hear it from Taesu's own mouth.
After that time of silence passed.
Kim Hyeokgwon was the first to break the quiet and open his mouth. But his informal speech had disappeared, and he had returned to polite speech.
"The job market is unstable these days, so a stable position—that part appeals to me."
"Just speak comfortably."
"It's only natural to speak politely to an employer. This has become a habit, and I don't particularly feel a need to fix it."
"If that's more comfortable for you."
As long as Kim Hyeokgwon was comfortable, Taesu did not care what form it took.