That was when.
The curtain drew back, and someone entered.
A middle-aged man with dark brown skin, large eyes, and a benevolent air.
It was Dr. Schmidt.
Taesu and Bread Kim immediately rose from their seats and bowed.
A slight bow.
Though it was a Korean greeting, it felt natural with doctors from so many different countries coming and going.
Dr. Schmidt approached leisurely and returned the greeting lightly.
“What were you talking about so amusingly?”
“It wasn’t anything amusing.”
“Then was it gossip about me?”
When he asked mischievously, Taesu and Bread Kim smiled awkwardly.
“It wasn’t gossip either. We were talking about this surgery.”
“Surgery, you say. What kind of conversation?”
Hmm.
Dr. Schmidt sat down with a puzzled expression.
Bread Kim answered his curiosity first.
“We were talking about the charisma with which you led the surgery calmly, even in the midst of urgency.”
“Charisma? Not the incompetent surgeon who couldn’t even find the diverticulum?”
“Excuse me? What do you mean?”
Bread Kim jumped in surprise, but Dr. Schmidt spoke with the same mischievous expression.
“You were talking in Korean; how would I know if it was gossip about me?”
“Really, it’s a huge misunderstanding.”
Bread Kim let his indignation show.
Taesu was no different.
“It really isn’t. You’re genuinely mistaken.”
Perhaps finding their reactions amusing, Dr. Schmidt chuckled lightly.
“Haha, it’s a joke. As if I wouldn’t know you aren’t the type to do that.”
“Ah, really.”
“Phew.”
Bread Kim and Taesu finally began to relax their on-edge nerves.
Dr. Schmidt turned his gaze to Taesu, of the two.
“You went on a dispatch and returned yesterday, correct?”
“Yes. It was a village called Sahadran…….”
Taesu naturally unfolded the long story of his experiences at the dispatch site.
But there was no boredom on Taesu’s face.
He was simply grateful to everyone who worried about and was curious about his young, inexperienced self.
Perhaps because the conversation had started with a joke, the atmosphere remained cheerful.
Since the surgery had concluded safely, they felt even less burdened.
And since they were all doctors, talk of surgery naturally couldn’t be left out.
Among that, Bread Kim mentioned Dr. Schmidt’s stern advice.
“At that time, I was so embarrassed I truly wanted to run out through the tent.”
“Was it that bad?”
As Dr. Schmidt responded lightly, this time Taesu stepped in.
“It’s true. I had never thought about it from that perspective before, so it was even more embarrassing.”
“I understand.”
“You do?”
Taesu glanced about, expressing doubt.
Dr. Schmidt answered with a gentle smile.
“Because I was the same.”
“…….”
“Surely you don’t think I rose to this position for no reason?”
At his following question, Taesu and Bread Kim shook their heads simultaneously.
“No.”
“That’s not it.”
Perhaps pleased with the answer, Dr. Schmidt added.
“Though I am still lacking as a doctor, there was a time when I was even more inadequate.”
“Well…….”
“Yes. Just as everyone was once a child, I too was a child as a doctor.”
Dr. Schmidt seemed to recall some past moment with a deep gaze.
As if infected by his sentiments, Taesu and Bread Kim also calmed down.
“…….”
“…….”
As they waited quietly, Dr. Schmidt’s mouth slowly opened.
“It’s something I heard from the lead surgeon of an operation back then. It amazes even me that time has passed and now I’m the one saying it.”
“James.”
Taesu unwittingly let the name slip from his mouth.
A glance.
Dr. Schmidt glanced at Taesu with a soft smile.
“Did Dr. Choi know it was Dr. James’s advice?”
“Not exactly, but I think I overheard it in passing sometime.”
“You overheard those words in passing?”
“W-well, yes.”
Taesu answered vaguely.
He couldn’t remember clearly enough to answer properly.
It had simply been a mutter that popped out.
And indeed, they were Dr. James’s words.
He just couldn’t express that, so he was equivocating.
Perhaps seeing Taesu’s embarrassment, Dr. Schmidt didn’t press further.
“If you worked with Dr. James for a time, that could be the case.”
“Ah, yes.”
“In any case, those words of his have now spread widely throughout the NGO.”
Dr. Schmidt spoke with a face that was both matter-of-fact and proud.
But Bread Kim was different.
“Those were words spoken by Dr. James?”
His eyes sparkled instantly.
He desperately wanted to hear exactly what his idol had said.
As if he had been waiting for that reaction, Dr. Schmidt nodded and continued.
“He put it like this. If there is a protagonist in surgery, wouldn’t it be the patient?”
“Oh…….”
“The professional differences between doctors and nurses, the differences in experience and career—at this moment when we operate together, they are meaningless.”
Dr. Schmidt quoted and conveyed Dr. James’s words exactly.
Bread Kim’s eyes were sparkling, flashing, and ablaze.
“Wow.”
“If you’ve entered the operating room, don’t step back. A supporting actor who does their best for the protagonist is truly beautiful, he said.”
“Kuu, I’m truly moved.”
Thump.
Bread Kim placed his hand over his heart with a face full of sincerity.
And he seemed to be deep in thought.
Taesu was the same.
“Don’t step back.”
“There must be nowhere to step back to.”
Through the brief exchange, they chewed over the core message once more.
Even thinking about it again, it was a maxim.
And they felt in their hearts why everyone in the NGO followed those words.
Dr. Schmidt waited calmly without hurrying them.
Because he himself had felt similar emotions back then.
A moment later.
Taesu and Bread Kim’s expressions changed to something considerably more settled.
It was the feeling of having realized something.
As if he had been waiting for those expressions, Dr. Schmidt broke the silence and spoke.
“It seems something is clicking.”
“Thank you for sharing such precious words.”
“It’s not the nagging of an old man?”
“Absolutely not. Absolutely.”
Taesu and Bread Kim waved their hands identically, flustered.
Dr. Schmidt, who had actually made the joke, smiled broadly and seemed to enjoy their reaction.
Contrary to his benevolent face, he had a secretly quite mischievous personality.
In that warm, harmonious atmosphere, they continued their conversation a while longer.
Dr. Schmidt checked the time and stood up, saying.
“It’s time to eat, so let’s go.”
“Yes. This way.”
Taesu and Bread Kim guided Dr. Schmidt from both sides.
Though there was playfulness in the gesture, sincerity outweighed it.
All the advice given inside and outside the operating room was that precious.
Only after finishing the meal and when night fell did Taesu return to his quarters.
Creak.
When he opened the door, Jeong Minsu, who had been lying down, sprang up and shouted.
“Hey, what time do you think it is?”
“Ah, I’m exhausted.”
Thud.
As Taesu collapsed straight onto the bed, Jeong Minsu narrowed his eyes.
“What have you been doing alone somewhere?”
“What would I be doing?”
“We? We would obviously……. Did you come back from surgery?”
Jeong Minsu’s eyes went round.
But as for Taesu?
Snore.
He had fallen asleep before he knew it.
Today, the day after returning from dispatch, he had operated from morning till evening.
It was only natural to be exhausted.
Jeong Minsu looked at Taesu with a sulky expression.
“You sneaky bastard.”
He seemed envious of the fact that Taesu had experienced even one more thing alone.
And he had things to say, too.
He was itching to talk about what conversation he had had with Kim Hyeokgwon.
But it wasn’t right to wake a sleeping person.
Click.
Jeong Minsu soon turned off the lights.
Consideration for Taesu?
Fat chance.
Snore.
Jeong Minsu, who had fallen asleep instantly, snored even louder and more refreshingly.
And so Taesu and Jeong Minsu finished the second day after their return.
The next afternoon.
Taesu was walking down the hallway of the Good Morning Us building.
“Someone came to see me?”
He was on his way to the lounge after hearing the news that someone had requested a meeting with him.
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t think of who it would be, so he tilted his head in puzzlement.
That was when.
Thud, thud.
Heavy footsteps sounded from the opposite direction.
The other person was wearing a US military uniform.
They were too far away to distinguish anything but the clothes.
As they drew closer and he could see the other’s face, Taesu’s expression brightened vividly.
It was Colonel Clark, chief of the PKO External Cooperation Department.
He handled the most information in the PKO and was always pressed for time.
So it was difficult to meet often.
That was certainly the case.
Yet the stout-looking man approaching from the opposite direction was indeed Colonel Clark, even upon second glance.
“Colonel Clark.”
“Dr. Choi.”
A response came as well.
Taesu’s footsteps quickened accordingly.
Soon the two, having drawn close, clasped hands lightly without hesitation.
Clack.
Taesu was the first to show his delight.
“Have you been well? I was actually going to come greet you.”
“Did I get here first?”
“Uh, um. You were about the third.”
Taesu answered with an awkward smile, trying to dispel his embarrassment.
At that honesty, Colonel Clark laughed loudly.
“Hahaha. As expected, Dr. Choi hides nothing.”
“What good is a lie that will be found out immediately? But did you have business here?”
Taesu asked politely.
Colonel Clark answered with an earnest expression.
“Yes. I am taking care of business right now.”
“Who? Me?”
“That’s correct.”
“Then the person who came to see me was…….”
Taesu was so surprised he trailed off.
Conversely, Colonel Clark smiled brightly and answered.
“Yes. I was waiting in the lounge and came out to meet you.”
“Ahaha. You should have just called me to the PKO.”
“Still, since you returned from a long-term dispatch to a dangerous area, wouldn’t it be natural for me, the External Cooperation Department chief, to come see you directly?”
He stated his reason, making full use of his position.
Taesu’s eyes drooped slightly.
“It’s been a while since we met, but the reason for the meeting seems too stiff.”
“There is much else to say as well.”
“Then it’s a welcome thing. But you really came to see me?”
When Taesu asked slyly once more, Colonel Clark spread his arms wide and presented himself.
“Otherwise, why would I be here?”
“Really. Wow.”
Taesu still didn’t seem to believe it easily.
The more that was the case, Colonel Clark smiled even more softly and stood beside him.
“Now, let’s go to the lounge.”
“No, but this is—”
“Let us speak of other matters when we get there.”
He guided Taesu without giving him room to refuse.
He was, after all, one of the highest-ranking PKO officials.
He held a key position mediating between the various factions in Kashmir.
To have such a Colonel Clark personally guide him, Taesu found the situation nothing short of absurd.
Entering the lounge, Taesu was surprised once more.
Because Corporal Ryan was standing firmly on both legs and saluting smartly.
Snap.
Such things were the furthest from his mind right now.
Joy surged at the fact that Corporal Ryan, who had been at death’s door from gunshot wounds, had recovered like this.
“Corporal Ryan.”
“S-... Dr. Choi.”
“No, this… wow. Wow.”
Taesu couldn’t stop exclaiming in admiration.
Corporal Ryan’s face was filled with an expression even more moved than Taesu’s.
“I recovered like this thanks to Dr. Choi’s help. Thank you, and thank you again.”
“What did I do? More than that, really, wow.”
“I am recovering safely and well like this.”
“Let me see you up close.”
Swish.
Taesu immediately stepped close and began by checking his complexion.