His health had improved so much that his face had a healthy sheen. There was no need to check anything else.
Taesu said exactly what he saw.
“You look fantastic.”
“Everyone has been taking very good care of me.”
“That must be why we’re meeting again like this. I’m truly so glad to see you.”
“Sir, I feel the same.”
“But you really are all right now, aren’t you?”
Still, just in case, Taesu asked cautiously.
Corporal Ryan answered with a slightly sheepish expression.
“My gait is still a little awkward.”
“You can move well enough that it’s only a little awkward?”
“Yes, sir. For that reason, I can’t actively participate in movement or combat, so I haven’t been able to join operations.”
He sounded regretful, but Taesu shook his head firmly from side to side.
“No. At this point, your recovery is incredibly fast.”
“I feel a bit frustrated.”
“I suppose this is right about when your body starts itching to move. If you overdo it now, you could suffer terribly when you’re older.”
Taesu’s advice was blunt.
At that moment, Colonel Clark, who had been watching their reunion, stepped in.
“That’s why I’ve been taking him around under the pretext of having him as my aide.”
“Is that so?”
“It’s a life you went to such lengths to save. How could I work him recklessly before he’s officially declared fully recovered?”
Colonel Clark offered a very plausible excuse.
Taesu, in response, raised his thumb.
Thump.
“As expected of you, Colonel.”
“Haha.”
Colonel Clark answered only with a laugh.
After the greetings were over, Corporal Ryan personally brought over the tea he had prepared.
It was an iced Americano with ice floating in it.
“I prepared it for today.”
Taesu immediately took a large gulp and exclaimed deeply.
“Ahh, this is seriously incredible.”
“Thank you.”
Corporal Ryan smiled brightly and stepped back.
Now it was time for Taesu and Colonel Clark to talk.
At that moment, Taesu held the glass cup full of ice in both hands and sighed in admiration.
“Ah. Coffee with precious ice in it really is the truth.”
“I imagine ice wasn’t exactly common.”
“That’s true, more or less.”
“In that case, how could I not ask to hear about that place?”
Colonel Clark subtly prompted him.
Taesu knew very well what he wanted.
Geographical and military details.
Taesu had experienced this once in Ijambak, so he began speaking about those aspects.
“The Sahad region is…”
“So there are mineral resources along the river…”
“Because it’s that abundant, that region…”
“More serious than I expected…”
Back and forth.
Taesu and Colonel Clark continued their in-depth conversation.
After they had talked for some time.
Colonel Clark folded the notebook he had opened and filled with notes, then said,
Snap.
“Thank you. Information of this quality can only be heard from someone who has actually been there.”
“Experience is a frightening thing. Now that I’ve become a little more composed, I find myself looking around in more detail.”
“As expected, there was a reason your information was more detailed than it had been during Ijambak.”
“If you take away my quick wits, I’m left with nothing.”
Taesu made a joke.
But Colonel Clark, who had been smiling the whole time, suddenly looked a little darker.
Before Taesu even had time to wonder, his voice came.
“Dr. Choi. Do you plan to continue going on medical dispatches to dangerous areas after this?”
“Yes. I asked them to schedule it as soon as possible. Why do you ask?”
“No matter what region you go to, I think you’ll need to be careful.”
“Mm. You’re not the sort to worry over nothing, so that concerns me.”
Sensing something unusual, Taesu did not let it pass and focused.
At Taesu’s serious attitude, Colonel Clark became even more solemn.
“You know that Kashmir is not one single entity.”
“Yes. Broadly, there is Jammu Kashmir and Ajid Kashmir, and there’s also a small Chinese-controlled area.”
“On top of that, autonomous factions seeking independence and armed groups are entangled in it as well.”
At his added explanation, Taesu spoke bitterly.
“I don’t understand why everyone is so desperate to tear apart such a small country.”
“It’s too complicated to explain every detail.”
“To be honest, I don’t even want to know. But I do want to hear why you’re telling me this, Colonel.”
Taesu brought the conversation back to the point.
Colonel Clark nodded and continued.
“Recently, the various factions have become much more extreme, both politically and emotionally.”
“Mm.”
“It worsened when hawkish commanders took office in the militaries on both the Jammu and Ajid sides.”
As his explanation grew longer, Taesu showed doubt.
“Does that have something to do with me?”
“We still don’t know what position the new commanders will take regarding the ‘Hero of Ijambak.’”
“That nickname is a bit…”
Taesu looked troubled.
But Colonel Clark’s grave expression did not change.
“That isn’t what matters. What matters is that from now on, the war may not stop simply because Dr. Choi appears.”
“That is a rather important problem.”
“And the problem does not end there.”
“There’s more?”
Taesu, too, had straightened his posture before he knew it.
Seeing him focus, Colonel Clark continued immediately.
“We don’t know what the other armed groups will do. They are ruthless bastards who put forward their own causes and won’t hesitate to do anything for profit.”
“Mm.”
“No one can guarantee that Dr. Choi will be exempt from that.”
Even Colonel Clark’s eyes flashed.
He had not come to see Taesu for no reason.
It was clear that he had deliberately come to warn him about serious and dangerous circumstances.
Taesu had no intention of taking it lightly either.
So he asked,
“Have there been any recent incidents?”
“A plane was shot down, there have been bombings, and many other incidents both large and small.”
“What about civilian casualties?”
“To be honest, they’re not zero.”
At his answer, Taesu continued questioning with a heavy expression.
“Were they able to receive proper treatment?”
“That is something we have no way of confirming yet.”
“What the hell do those bastards think human lives are?”
“It’s a damned thing.”
“Phew. Damn it.”
A rough curse slipped naturally from Taesu’s mouth.
His face had already darkened with irritation.
Then Colonel Clark spoke calmly.
“I know very well that you are not someone who will refrain from going just because I try to stop you.”
“…”
“Dr. Choi, you have common sense and intellect. But I want to tell you not to make the mistake of expecting that from those people.”
Heavy advice flowed from Colonel Clark’s mouth.
Taesu, too, nodded sincerely.
“I understand. I’ll remember everything you’ve told me and act accordingly.”
“The best thing would still be…”
“Colonel.”
Taesu stopped him and smiled gently.
It was a smile that said not to worry.
As if admitting defeat, Colonel Clark slowly nodded.
“Understood. Since you do not wish to hear it, I will say no more.”
“Truly, thank you for your sincere advice.”
“Then that’s enough. Whew, I should be going now.”
Scrape.
Colonel Clark slowly rose from his seat.
It seemed he had indeed put off other work to come here.
He must have come to see Taesu first because he did not know when Taesu would leave again.
Each and every bit of that consideration was deeply appreciated.
So Taesu pressed his sincerity into his words and said,
“I’ll make safety my top priority.”
“Do you mean the patients’ safety?”
“Of course.”
“Haha.”
Colonel Clark laughed heartily and left the lounge with Corporal Ryan.
After hearing about the complicated web of interests, Taesu’s head throbbed.
“Why the hell do they have to make things so damn complicated?”
From what he had heard, it was no ordinary serious problem.
But he had no intention whatsoever of being swayed by it.
He was a doctor.
Nation, religion, sect?
He had no interest.
His sorrow for the civilians who had been meaninglessly sacrificed was far greater.
Taesu’s concern was only that one thing.
Still, no one knew what would happen from here on.
Even so.
‘I can’t stop.’
He had already taken this step. He did not want to retreat.
After lunch.
Taesu, Jeong Minsu, and Kim Hyeokgwon walked side by side toward the medical camp.
But a small trace of dissatisfaction could be felt on Kim Hyeokgwon’s face.
“Why are you taking me along?”
“I told you, Dr. Schmidt said he wanted to see your face.”
“If someone says they want to see me, do I have to go?”
“Yes.”
When Taesu answered firmly, Kim Hyeokgwon glared at him.
“This is a free democracy, right?”
“What do you expect from him?”
Jeong Minsu slipped in a sarcastic remark.
At that moment, Kim Hyeokgwon turned and scolded Jeong Minsu.
“You said you were his classmate. Try looking out for me a little.”
“Yes. I’m sorry.”
The atmosphere between the two of them was somehow strained.
Taesu had felt it since earlier as well.
But since visiting someone came first, he had postponed asking about it for now.
While they exchanged such small talk.
As they circled around the large NGO headquarters building, the camp began to unfold in earnest.
At the same time.
All three of them stopped walking at once.
“What the?”
“Why?”
Their faces filled with bewilderment.
Before their eyes lay utter chaos.
Vroom, vroom.
“Emergency patient. Let the car through.”
“What lunatic drives a car in here in this situation?”
“That patient… Damn it. Send them to Surgical Team Two for now.”
“Don’t just shove them through. Someone triage the patients, please!”
The place was filled with shouting.
The traffic congestion was so severe that even calling it rush hour would not be enough.
Rattle, rattle.
The medical staff moving patients on stretcher carts were moving as if running a hundred-meter dash.
That sight continued all the way to the far end of the medical camp.
Kim Hyeokgwon, frowning deeply, spat out a bitter remark.
“The scale is completely different from ours.”
“And the patients’ wounds, ugh.”
Jeong Minsu also seemed shaken.
Taesu narrowed his brow as he watched.
It was because what he had heard from Brad Kim yesterday and his conversation with Colonel Clark that morning had combined into one.
“They said things had been a mess lately.”
“Really?”
“War, and even terrorism. They say all of Kashmir is in chaos.”
“What did the patients do to deserve this?”
Jeong Minsu burst out angrily in pity.
Kim Hyeokgwon was the same.
“There’s a limit to the bullshit those immature bastards can pull just to gobble up land.”
“Let’s not stand around. We should go too.”
“Who are we with?”
“Uh… well, Dr. Schmidt will let us in. This way.”
Taesu immediately hurried his steps.
He was not the kind of person who could stand still after seeing chaos like this.
“Fine. Let’s go for now.”
Since it was a medical camp overflowing with doctors, Jeong Minsu showed enthusiasm.
Kim Hyeokgwon hesitated slightly, but soon shrugged.
“Why do these people always make work for themselves?”
Each of them seemed to be thinking something slightly different.
But.
Step, step.
They were the same in hurrying their steps toward the medical camp.
The three of them joined the chaotic crowd as well.
Taking yesterday as a lesson, Taesu was wearing a gown today.
At the very least, it was to show that he was part of the medical staff.
But in this chaos, that was working against him even more.
“Move over there.”
Thud.
“Open the way, damn it.”
“Hey, you should know enough to get out to the side.”
Thump, smack.
Everyone kept shouting and yelling at one another.