Two hours later.
As the sun had already begun to set, night was falling over Mohar.
The chaotic scene from the day had settled down considerably.
The traces of the bus terror attack could now be seen only in the half-destroyed bus stop.
The minibus had vanished somewhere.
In its place stood medical tents, the NGO mark emblazoned clearly on them.
In front of them, medical staff hurried back and forth, exchanging words.
“Patient 10’s surgery is over, right?”
“It just finished. The patient’s been moved to recovery, and they’re cleaning up the surgical tent.”
“Patient 16 is waiting, so hurry.”
“We’ll wrap it up quickly and contact you.”
Tap, tap, tap.
Though darkness had fallen, their steps moved without hesitation.
That was because searchlights brightly lit the paths, and the heat blazing from the oil drums kept the cold at bay.
At the same time.
Taesu had entered one of the medical tents.
It was a shared ward arranged so that four patients could recover there.
There was only one patient.
A young white man, with a thick cast wrapped around his leg.
A name was hung on the patient’s bed where it could be seen clearly.
—Fabian.
Taesu watched him with a sunken gaze.
The tent was filled only with silence.
Soon, a groan flowed out, breaking the quiet.
“Ughhh……”
It seemed he was waking up.
Fabian groaned a few more times, then slowly opened his eyes.
“Ugh…… Where is this…… I remember…… going into the operating room……”
He muttered, moving only his eyes from side to side.
Taesu quietly turned away and began filling out the chart.
He was noting the time Fabian woke up and briefly recording his condition.
That was when it happened.
Fabian’s voice reached Taesu’s ears as his back was turned.
“Who’s there……”
“You’re awake?”
Swoosh.
Taesu turned around with a bright smile.
At that moment, Fabian’s eyes rapidly widened, and his pupils shook violently from side to side.
“Y-y-y-you……”
“How are you feeling?”
“Huk.”
“Why are you so startled?”
Thud.
Taesu stepped closer to the bed and asked.
Fabian’s eyes trembled even more wildly.
He clearly remembered what he had said.
He started making pathetic excuses for no reason.
“I, I didn’t say anything.”
“Is that so?”
“Th-th-there must be some misunderstanding…… I really didn’t say anything.”
“Did anyone accuse you of something?”
When Taesu asked, Fabian flinched.
“Pardon?”
“I came to visit you.”
“Ah, I, I see.”
“You must still be groggy because the anesthesia hasn’t fully worn off.”
When Taesu said it for him, Fabian eagerly went along with it.
“I, I think that’s it.”
“That can happen. Oh, what’s this in my pocket?”
Taesu, suddenly changing the subject, pulled something from the pocket of his gown.
It was a scalpel.
Flash.
The silver gleam of the scalpel reflected in the fluorescent light swept across Fabian’s eyes.
“Hup.”
“So it was this scalpel. Right?”
“I…… suppose so.”
“This thing is very sharp, you see. Even if you just put it against flesh, it slices right through.”
“Wh-wh-wh…… Why do you have that?”
Fabian’s eyes could not stay still.
Taesu smiled faintly and said,
“I carry it around to tear open the mouths of liars.”
“Huk.”
“Have you perhaps told any lies?”
Flash.
Taesu scattered the silver light once more.
Fabian’s terror deepened.
“Huuugh.”
He couldn’t move, and even though he wanted to scream, his voice wouldn’t come out that far.
Whatever Taesu did to him, he was in no position to resist.
That was when it happened.
Tak.
Taesu raised the blade of the scalpel and muttered,
“You said you didn’t say anything?”
“Now that I think about it…… I might have said something.”
“What did you say?”
Glint.
Taesu stared at him with icy eyes.
At that gaze, Fabian hurriedly confessed everything.
“I lost my temper. I didn’t mean to……”
He confessed smoothly, like a recorder.
Taesu had roughly heard it already, but he didn’t want to hear it again.
So he cut him off.
“Wait.”
“Yes?”
“You lied to me, didn’t you?”
Swoosh.
Taesu’s eyes flashed.
At that instant, every hair on Fabian’s body stood on end.
Feeling his life threatened, he immediately began to beg.
“I was wrong.”
“About what?”
“Badmouthing you behind your back and cursing at you. All of it was wrong.”
An apology now?
Taesu found it laughable.
“Why? Are you afraid of the scalpel?”
“Yes.”
“I’m more afraid of the tongue, you see.”
“Pardon? ……Hup.”
Fabian flinched and lifted his head.
When his eyes met Taesu’s, he was startled and quickly turned away.
“Even though it’s nothing but a lump of muscle, the tongue can drive a person to death.”
“Th-that has happened, I’m sure. It must have.”
“Even though it’s just a tongue, neither sharp nor hard.”
“Yes.”
All Fabian could do was answer.
Taesu paid him no mind and said only what he wanted to say.
“You probably only said those things because you felt like it.”
“That’s right.”
“Then I can stab you with this scalpel because I feel like it, right?”
Clink.
When Taesu raised the scalpel again, Fabian was horrified.
“No. I’m sorry. I was wrong.”
“Hoohoo, wrong, you say.”
Step.
“Wh-why are you coming closer?”
“To make myself feel a little better.”
“I, no, I apologized……”
“You can apologize a little later.”
At those words, Taesu slowly pushed the scalpel forward.
In that instant, Fabian’s eyes flew wide open.
“K-kugh.”
“Why are you so surprised?”
“Ughhh.”
Thump.
His head, filled with an expression of disbelief, dropped to the side.
He had fainted.
Taesu looked at him and said coldly,
“I poked you with my finger. But if I weren’t a doctor, I really would’ve just…”
After delivering that final blow, he felt a little better.
There would be no reason to meet him ever again.
With a somewhat refreshed expression, Taesu left the tent.
Whooosh.
For some reason, the cold night air felt refreshing.
“Was that a little too much?”
Muttering, Taesu shook his head.
A person like that?
He deserved to be punished.
Besides, given Taesu’s personality, if he had let it slide, he felt as if he would have gotten sick from anger.
Filled with relief, Taesu headed to another ward tent.
The ward tent he entered this time was a little different.
Beep, beep-beep.
In the spacious area, the sounds of ECG monitors could be heard from here and there.
What he could actually see were screens.
This was an intensive care unit, where the inside of the tent had been divided into smaller sections to care for each patient.
Taesu was slowly looking around.
Someone quietly approached from behind him, raising both hands.
Step, step.
They were being careful, but they could not hide even the faint sound of their footsteps.
At that moment, Taesu’s gaze, which had been curiously surveying the place, turned sharp.
‘Hm?’
During his training period, he had been ambushed from behind more times than he could count on both hands and feet.
His trained, sensitive senses warned him of someone’s approach.
That was when it happened.
“Wa-oong.”
Whoosh.
With a pleasantly playful exclamation, something lunged at Taesu’s back.
Just as Taesu was about to kick backward, he recognized the familiar tone of the voice and stopped himself.
Flop.
That something clung straight onto Taesu’s back.
Then a voice full of mischief followed.
“Guess who?”
“Doctor Oliver will get jealous again, Casey.”
Despite his troubled tone, Taesu’s face was filled with a smile.
Just as Taesu had guessed, it was Nurse Casey’s prank.
Even though she had been found out, she continued her prank while clinging to Taesu’s back.
“Let him get jealous. I need to see him get jealous like that sometimes to feel that I’m still loved.”
“Couldn’t you spare a thought for me, stuck in the middle and having to read the room?”
“I don’t really want to think about that. What should we do?”
“Then…… I’ll just have to keep reading the room. I’d be disappointed too if I couldn’t even joke around with Casey this much.”
Taesu responded smoothly.
Only then did Nurse Casey climb down from his back and come around to the front, smiling brightly.
“Of course. Our bond can’t fall apart just because Oliver gets jealous.”
“Naturally.”
“It’s been a while, Doctor Choi.”
Whoosh.
Nurse Casey opened both arms and hugged Taesu.
At her overly bold action, Taesu’s poker face crumbled.
“Um, well, everyone’s watching.”
“Hoho. Doctor Choi, that’s exactly why I keep wanting to tease you.”
“Then should I try enjoying it a little?”
“Shall we? I knew it the moment I hugged you. What are all these muscles? Oh my, you’re packed solid.”
Pat, pat.
Nurse Casey groped him without hesitation, her eyes gleaming.
Feeling a strange threat, Taesu quickly stepped backward.
Shuffle.
“Hey. This isn’t right.”
“What do you mean it isn’t? Come here. Let me touch a little more.”
“No. I refuse. I’m not going.”
Taesu quickly put more distance between them.
Finding his startled reaction amusing, Nurse Casey laughed even louder.
“Hohoho. I told you, Doctor Choi, you’re no match for me.”
“Yes. I surrender. I won’t get cheeky again.”
Step.
When Taesu even raised both hands in surrender, Nurse Casey finally stopped teasing him.
Thus, the two of them closed the distance again.
Thud.
Holding each other’s hands, they finally shared a true moment of reunion.
Taesu asked Nurse Casey first.
“Have you been well?”
“That’s what I should be asking. Just what kind of turbulent life have you been living these past few months?”
“I happen to like a dynamic life.”
“Even so, there are limits.”
Nurse Casey seemed sincere, even the corners of her eyes drooping.
The more she did, the more energetically Taesu answered.
“I came back healthy like this, didn’t I?”
“What good is coming back if you’re off doing rappel training one moment and flying here the next?”
“You were at the camp for a while too, Casey, and I heard you kept going out on dispatch with Doctor Oliver.”
Taesu was saying it because he had heard the news from Doctor Quentin.
Nurse Casey pouted, though not in an unpleasant way, and retorted,
“Still, I was in a safe place with the person I love.”
“Khhh. That’s what I envy most. I was living with a bunch of smelly men.”
“Just hearing that makes me dizzy. Hoho.”
“Haha.”
Taesu and Nurse Casey laughed together, enjoying the moment of their happy reunion.
And a little while later.
Nurse Casey guided Taesu to one of the screens.
“It’s here.”
“You said his name was Riverio, right?”
“Yes. It’s a unique name, isn’t it?”
“It’s easy to remember, at least. Thank you for guiding me.”
When Taesu bowed politely, Nurse Casey stuck out her lips.