Fire.

“Between us, that’s not exactly something I want to hear.”

“Mm… Then, Nurse Casey, go take care of your work.”

“Did you just act high and mighty with me?”

In an instant, Nurse Casey’s expression turned fierce.

Taesu was slightly flustered by Nurse Casey’s colorful change.

“What exactly do you want me to do?”

“Hohoho.”

Nurse Casey laughed to her heart’s content as she walked away.

Realizing he’d been teased again, Taesu glanced at her sideways.

“Even if you’re a multiplayer, you could at least go into surgery now and then.”

“I can hear you.”

“I’m telling you to do some surgery.”

Taesu grumbled in protest.

But his lips were full of a gentle smile.

Talking with Nurse Casey made him feel at ease.

It reminded him of his older sister back in Korea, and also of Nurse Song Hyeonmi.

Their looks and personalities were completely different, but the way they cared for Taesu was similar.

Perhaps that was why Taesu joked around with her too.

“Heh.”

After letting out a low laugh, Taesu soon reached for the screen.

Swoosh.

As he pulled the screen aside and stepped in, the first thing he saw was the ECG monitor.

It seemed to have been placed somewhere easily visible so the medical staff could check it.

‘As expected.’

The vital signs were maintaining quite stable numbers.

In truth, since it was a patient Dr. Schmidt had operated on, it felt only natural.

Only after confirming that did Taesu turn his gaze to the bed.

His eyes met squarely with the patient, who had been lying on his side.

It seemed he had already been watching from the moment Taesu entered.

He was the very Black patient who had suffered severe burns and crossed the line between life and death several times.

Perhaps because some time had passed since he woke from anesthesia, his eyes were clear.

Fortunately, the area around his mouth had suffered relatively fewer burns.

Taesu approached him and greeted him first.

“Hello. I’m…”

“Dr. Choi, right?”

His voice came out cracked.

Still, when the patient recognized him first, Taesu instantly recalled Royce’s case from a few days ago.

Could he remember again?

Then had he made any mistakes?

Having been startled by a turtle, even a pot lid made him wary.

Still, when the patient had recognized him first, Taesu couldn’t pretend not to know.

He forced himself to steady his mind and acknowledged it.

“Yes. I’m Dr. Choi Taesu. Mr. Liberio.”

“This is the first time I’ve seen you since I came to. Though I’m sure you’ve already seen me, Dr. Choi.”

At those words, Taesu quickly swept down his startled heart.

He wasn’t amateur enough to let that show on the outside.

Hiding his inner thoughts, he responded with a broad smile.

“Yes. Since this is my second time seeing you, I’m glad to meet you. But if this is your first time, how did you recognize me?”

“A man named Dr. Schmidt… praised Dr. Choi so much.”

“Schmidt did? He’s rather stingy with that sort of praise.”

Rather than giving a dry reply, Taesu answered with a bit of personality.

Fortunately, Liberio took it as a joke and smiled faintly.

“I think he may have been a little stingy.”

“Hahaha. Just hearing you speak gives me a sense of your condition.”

“Thank you. I heard you brought me back several times after I was burned.”

“No. All I did was lend a little strength to the will to live you showed, Mr. Liberio.”

Taesu showed humility.

It was a complete 180-degree difference from how he had treated Fabian earlier.

It was only natural.

Malice for malice, goodwill for goodwill.

It would be the same for anyone.

Taesu simply had a personality that showed it more clearly, making it feel more extreme.

But the smile on Liberio’s face as he looked at Taesu turned awkward.

Then he spoke in a meaningful tone.

“Was my will to live that strong?”

“It was tremendous.”

“I see. But… why did I try so hard to live?”

Liberio’s voice was full of lament.

Taesu knew the reason through the chart, so he was not surprised, and asked even more carefully.

“Your memories still haven’t returned?”

“No. It seems not.”

“Hmm.”

“Dr. Schmidt said so. That I inhaled too much smoke, so there were problems with my memory…”

Before Liberio’s complaint could continue, Taesu boldly cut in.

“Your brain is probably resting for a bit.”

“…I couldn’t even remember my own name. My bag and passport all burned, so they said there was no way to know my name.”

“But they checked your entry information through the travel agency, I heard.”

“So I found my name. Other than that, I don’t remember anything.”

Liberio’s voice sank lower and lower.

Taesu knew as well, but he was at a loss as to how to comfort him.

He had confirmed through the chart that his bodily functions were improving too.

It was a case where only his memory had become a problem.

How great must the sense of loss, frustration, and confusion from that be?

It was a problem too difficult for Taesu to truly understand.

In his heart, he wanted to help.

However, Liberio’s yearning for life had been far too desperate.

Anyone would have been the same, but Liberio had felt a little stronger.

That was the feeling Taesu had received while directly administering emergency treatment, so he could be certain.

Before he knew it, an awkward silence flowed inside the temporary hospital room.

Taesu swept away that stiff atmosphere and asked Liberio.

“First of all, my opinion is the same as Dr. Schmidt’s.”

“That we should give it time?”

“The more urgent something is, the more you go around, don’t you?”

“There’s a saying like that, I see. But I’m not frustrated or uncomfortable.”

At Liberio’s words, Taesu tilted his head.

“You’re not bothered at all?”

“No. Since I have no memories, my mind is at ease.”

Liberio answered calmly.

But from the listener’s perspective, that made it even more bitter.

So Taesu immediately voiced the words that had just come to mind.

“I dare say that right now, it must feel as if you’ve been dropped alone in the desert, lost and in despair.”

“That’s true.”

“But perhaps that is what life is.”

At the deep subject Taesu brought up, Liberio’s expression grew even more serious.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Life is something without signposts, without a fixed path forward, or even a set direction, isn’t it?”

“Well… Since it feels as if I was born again today, I don’t really know, but I’ll listen.”

Liberio was puzzled, but he did not push away Taesu’s sincerity.

Since he was at it, Taesu added one more thing.

“Time flows on, so sometimes simply entrusting yourself to it isn’t a bad method.”

“Have you had moments like that too, Dr. Choi?”

“Recently. I spent day after day in what felt like hell.”

Taesu shuddered without realizing it.

Perhaps that sight struck him strongly, because Liberio looked saddened.

“Oh dear… And you didn’t leave that place?”

“In the end, I realized it was something I had chosen.”

“Your own choice.”

“Once I felt that, I simply threw myself into that time.”

As Taesu spoke with his own experience woven into his words, Liberio showed deep interest.

“And then?”

“At any rate, time passed, and now I’m here, in this place.”

“Yes, you are here.”

“Then wouldn’t the place I am now be where I’m meant to be?”

Shrug.

Taesu lifted his shoulders as he asked.

Perhaps because the question had been asked in a somewhat light manner, Liberio smiled faintly.

“That’s true. The place I’m in is my place. Right now… it’s a hospital bed.”

“Then you just need to be faithful to your role as a patient.”

“Heh, a faithful patient. That’s an amusing thing to say, but it hits me the hardest.”

Liberio’s smile became a little brighter.

Though he clearly looked tired, it felt as if his heart had become a little lighter.

Taesu felt good, thinking the words he wanted to say had been conveyed well.

All those words had been sincere.

When you can’t see ahead, you simply don’t look.

There was no need to force yourself to try.

Do your best every day?

Bullshit.

Doing your best meant exerting all your strength right up to the moment before death.

There was no way anyone could do that every day.

What mattered more was steadily taking one step at a time, putting in just a little more effort than your current capacity allowed.

The step you take today is only one step.

But if those steps pile up day after day?

At some point, you will have moved far from the starting line.

It was also the way Taesu was currently living.

Even the day he would return remained undecided.

Until the day came when he felt it was time to go back, he would simply walk on silently, day by day.

After finishing his visit with Liberio, Taesu stood before another screen.

As if he had no intention of going in, he opened it slightly and looked inside.

Beep, beep.

The faint sound of the ECG became a little clearer.

The patient on the bed was lying properly on her back, asleep.

The patient was the local woman who had suffered that astonishing wound.

Not much time had passed since the surgery ended, so she was still asleep.

Dr. Oliver had performed the operation.

As the ECG showed, the result was a stable set of vital signs.

“…”

Taesu nodded with a gentle smile.

Seeing this was enough.

Just as he was about to end the brief visit that simply, it happened.

Rustle.

The sound of light footsteps.

‘Again?’

It was caught by Taesu’s radar.

He had been curious about the person with such light footsteps.

Whoever had approached abruptly wrapped their arms tightly around Taesu’s waist.

Cling.

‘Hm?’

When he turned his head, he saw a child with his face buried in Taesu’s lower back.

Because there were many critical patients, the child was wearing simple sanitary clothing.

Taesu recognized him at a glance.

It was the patient’s child.

Their meeting had been special, so he still remembered it vividly.

The child had undoubtedly recognized Taesu too.

He was clearly imitating exactly the way Taesu had hugged him earlier.

Warmth could be felt from the child’s embrace.

Taesu slowly turned around.

Then he lowered his posture and looked properly at the child for the first time.

He was a cute little gentleman with large eyes full of tears.

Swoosh.

Without a word, Taesu smiled and spread both arms.

“…”

“…”

The child came into Taesu’s embrace without hesitation and hugged him.

Tightly.

The two people holding each other exchanged encouragement and comfort through their hearts, not words.

The child’s embrace was not merely warm, but hot.

It surely was not simply a matter of body temperature.

‘This is enough, isn’t it?’

It was more than enough—overflowing.

All the hardships he had experienced today melted away like snow meeting scorching sunlight.

Only after parting from the child did Taesu step outside the tent.

It was now a pitch-black night.

Perhaps because of the burning gratitude in his heart, he did not even feel the cold.

Taesu stood in place and took a broad look around.

The atmosphere was quiet.

It seemed the soldiers who had been cleaning up had also withdrawn to the temporary barracks.

There was no trace of the scene from when he had first arrived.

Though only a few hours had passed, it had already become a thing of the past.

‘If it isn’t now, it’s all the past.’

He hoped the residents here would look at the present that way and quickly break free from the terror of the attack.

He was in the midst of wishing that.

“What are you doing?”

At the familiar voice, he turned around and saw Brad Kim smiling.

Since they were only now meeting properly, Taesu smiled brightly.

“Brad.”

“Dr. Jeong and Mr. Kim were already completely out cold. Why is only Dr. Choi so lively?”

“Lively, my foot. I’m dying too.”

When Taesu dropped his shoulders and groaned, Brad Kim burst into laughter.

“Haha. Yeah. You do look tired.”

“By the way, did you stop by our tent?”

“Yeah. I was a little disappointed there was no one to greet me, though.”

This time, as Brad Kim groaned, Taesu responded with practiced good humor.