“I knew you’d do that, so I was waiting right here.”
“You just said you were dying.”
“With the single-minded resolve that even if I died right now, I had to see you, Brad, before I collapsed.”
When Taesu spoke with emphasis, Brad Kim waved a hand with an incredulous expression.
Whoosh, whoosh.
“Enough.”
“Ahem. Still, it’s thanks to that resolve that I’m standing here so proudly.”
As Taesu shamelessly laid it on thick, Brad Kim smiled faintly.
“You’re doing something incredible, so I suppose I should give you a reward.”
“What kind of reward?”
“Ta-da.”
Rustle.
What Brad Kim pulled triumphantly from his bag was none other than canned beer.
Taesu’s eyes went round.
“Huh?”
“It’s an essential item when you’re dispatched. The advance team couldn’t bring any, but the main team came prepared.”
“What upstanding people. But…”
“The last patient’s surgery started an hour ago. Which means we’re free now.”
Brad Kim gave him a wink and lightly shook the beer.
The two of them headed toward the half-destroyed bus stop.
Once they perched on a broken wall and settled in, Brad Kim took more beer out of his bag and set it down.
“Now then, shall we begin?”
Hiss.
Taesu opened a can of beer, lightly clinked it, and brought it straight to his mouth.
Maybe because he was thirsty, the first taste was sweet.
Then came the moderately bitter flavor, with coolness layered on top, and his thirst slid right down.
Gulp, gulp.
After his Adam’s apple bobbed several times, Taesu let out a deep exclamation.
“Ahh. That’s refreshing.”
“Why are you drinking so fast?”
“It’s been a month since I had one.”
At Taesu’s answer, Brad Kim tilted his head and asked,
“You didn’t have even a single drink there?”
“What drinking? The day ended with me fighting muscle pain from morning to night.”
“Then you must be glad to see it. Have another.”
“Goodness, it’s an honor.”
Clack.
Taesu lightly bumped cans and drank deeply once again.
That was when it happened.
“Pfft.”
At the sound of Brad Kim’s laughter, Taesu lowered the canned beer from his mouth and asked,
“Am I drinking too greedily?”
“No, it just reminded me of the days when I couldn’t even treat myself to one can of beer.”
“You mentioned that before.”
“To think that someone like me would end up joining Dr. James’s surgical team, and Doctor Choi would end up riding in a helicopter.”
When Brad Kim spoke of how things had changed, Taesu agreed as well.
“It feels like it’s only been a little over half a year, but so much has changed.”
“Sometimes I wonder if it’s changing too fast.”
“If you stop, you get left behind.”
“Even so, step on the brakes once in a while.”
Clack.
Brad Kim clinked his beer can with a bitter smile.
Along with the faint impact, Taesu watched Brad Kim drink his beer.
It was because the words he had just heard did not feel particularly light.
Swish.
Then Brad Kim lowered his beer and shivered slightly.
“Kh. It’s not just refreshing, it’s cold, cold… Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Why would you suddenly say something like that, Brad?”
“Mm. I don’t know. Maybe because it reminded me of someone who ran ahead without brakes and hurried off up there?”
A bitter smile once again settled on Brad Kim’s lips.
Sensing a story behind his tone, Taesu finally asked carefully,
“Someone?”
“There was someone like that.”
“In any case, Doctor Choi, you’re a truly good person. So when it comes to leaving, you can do it slowly, at your leisure.”
“Mm?”
The moment he heard those words, Taesu’s eyes shifted with complicated emotion.
‘I’ve heard that somewhere before…’
Taesu could instinctively recall who it was.
The person in question?
James Jr.
It was the way James’s son spoke.
At that moment, Taesu’s mouth opened without him realizing it.
“Junior?”
Taesu murmured softly.
It was then.
Whoosh.
Brad Kim’s eyes widened, and he looked at him reflexively.
“What?”
“What is?”
Taesu responded with the divine art of shamelessness.
But Brad Kim seemed to have already heard him.
“Did the doctor even tell you about my senior?”
“Senior?”
“Not Senior James. I think it’ll be easier for us to talk if I call him Senior Junior.”
Brad Kim bitterly sorted out the form of address.
Taesu did not care either way.
He was far more shocked by something other than the title.
‘Junior was Brad’s senior?’
That part was a little hard to understand.
There had to be at least ten years of age difference between James Junior and Brad Kim.
‘What’s going on?’
No matter how much Taesu racked his brain, he could not think of a way to close that gap.
Brad Kim was quick-witted as well.
Perhaps sensing Taesu’s confusion, he spoke first.
“I first met him at a guest lecture at school.”
“A guest lecture?”
“At American universities, they sometimes invite graduates to lecture in small groups. Rather than a lecture, you could call it advice from a senior.”
“Yes. Well, I think I’ve heard of that.”
Since Taesu did not know precisely, he gave a vague answer.
Brad Kim let it pass easily.
“Thanks to that system, I was able to meet Senior Junior.”
“Mm.”
“I couldn’t even greet him properly during the lecture. Back then, I was a bit passive.”
“You, Brad?”
“I had no money, no connections, bad grades… and above all, I couldn’t speak English.”
In American society, that was a fairly significant risk.
Taesu had never been there and had only heard rumors, so he answered awkwardly.
“I see.”
“After the lecture, I was studying alone when I happened to run into Senior Junior.”
“Really?”
“That became the starting point, and we met from time to time. I even got English tutoring from him.”
It seemed to have been enjoyable.
Brad Kim’s expression as he looked back on those days was deeply wistful.
Taesu cautiously offered his guess.
“He must have been a great source of strength for you.”
“He was. I received a lot of comfort from him, and courage too.”
“And there were losses as well, weren’t there?”
“That’s right. I was treated even more coldly by the other kids.”
“I guess people are the same everywhere.”
Taesu answered bitterly.
After that, Brad Kim rambled on about many things.
How he ended up following Junior into the NGO.
The happy memories they shared doing medical volunteer work together.
And then it reached Junior’s death.
“…That was how Senior Junior suddenly left.”
“Then is that when you met James?”
“No. Doctor Choi knows very well when I first met him face-to-face.”
He was referring to the Abbe surgery.
Taesu grew even more curious.
“Then how did you find out you were connected to that Senior Junior?”
“The doctor said he saw me at Senior’s funeral.”
“Ah, then…”
“Apparently, everyone was greeting the doctor, trying to get in his good graces.”
“You probably couldn’t even think about looking at James’s face, and since you were just crying in front of the grave, he must have been curious.”
Because Taesu knew both of them so well, he could easily guess.
As if that was the correct answer, Brad Kim smiled bitterly.
“That’s right. And then he met me again during the Abbe surgery.”
“He must have heard about you through people around him.”
“He did. Cheers.”
Clack.
After immediately taking a large gulp, Taesu mulled over the conversation so far and asked quietly,
“Then you joining James’s surgical team…”
“I told you I was designated as a surgical assistant after returning from Padum.”
“You said James asked you to have a cup of tea with him.”
“I said it roughly back then.”
“Then what’s the truth?”
When Taesu asked curiously, Brad Kim smiled bitterly and answered,
“His first question was this: What kind of senior was Junior?”
That single question contained everything.
Goosebumps ran all over Taesu.
“Uh, oh, wow.”
Rub, rub.
Goosebumps had risen on his skin, so he quickly rubbed his body roughly.
At Taesu’s noisy reaction, Brad Kim smiled gently.
“I thought my heart was going to stop.”
“I really think it would have.”
“It was after I told him everything about Senior Junior and what we had done. He told me to start coming there from the next day.”
After listening quietly, Taesu asked just in case,
“Does that mean James is taking over what he couldn’t do?”
“Thankfully, yes.”
“Wow, isn’t that an incredible thing?”
When Taesu asked in surprise, Brad Kim shook his head.
“It’s not incredible at all.”
“But you entered the surgical team.”
“Have you ever seen someone parachuted in being loved?”
All sorts of stories were compressed within that question.
“Do they make things hard for you?”
“Don’t worry. I have absolutely no intention of backing down, and no intention of giving up.”
“Of course you shouldn’t.”
“Skill? I can just build that up. Then someday I’ll become a team member. No, I will become one.”
Brad Kim revealed his feelings with great force.
Taesu applauded that firm resolve.
Clap, clap, clap.
“I’ll be cheering you on passionately.”
“Wait a minute.”
“What is it all of a sudden? You don’t like my support?”
At Brad Kim’s suddenly changed expression, unnecessary thoughts even crossed Taesu’s mind.
But Brad Kim, with a serious face, was pondering something.
Soon, as if he had found the answer, Brad Kim grumbled with an incredulous expression.
“This wasn’t supposed to be about me.”
“Then what was it?”
“I was in the middle of telling you not to run without brakes like Senior Junior and then suddenly leave.”
Brad Kim accurately returned to the starting point.
Taesu’s brow furrowed slightly for a moment.
‘Ah, I could have gotten past it.’
He had known.
He had kept his mouth shut, trying to smooth it over somehow without showing it.
Perhaps seeing that expression on Taesu’s face, Brad Kim beat him to it.
“Don’t think you can just let this slide.”
“Ahem.”
“Let’s take our farewells a little slowly.”
Brad Kim asked with a deep gaze.
Taesu could have answered with a smile.
But perhaps because he had a drink in him, he wanted to address it properly while they were at it.
With that intention, he asked,
“What if this situation happened the other way around?”
“That’s a good way to think from the other person’s perspective.”
“Then what decision would you make, Brad Kim?”
“Huh? Ah… I don’t know.”
It seemed that when it came time for him to make that choice himself, the answer was not easy.
At that moment, Taesu voiced his own thought.
“I would be with them.”
“With them?”
“How could I just worry from behind and agonize over it?”
Taesu spoke sullenly, but Brad Kim agreed deeply.
“True. If it were you, Doctor Choi, you’d rush in.”
“Yes. I think I’d rather experience it together and feel it with my own body.”
“And if you still thought it wasn’t right?”
Brad Kim slipped in a challenge.
Taesu answered easily.
“Even if I opposed it, I’d have reason and justification.”
“So right now, you’re just stamping your feet helplessly?”
“This is purely my own thought. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong.”
Taesu drew that line clearly.
It was because he did not want to cause a misunderstanding.
Brad Kim slowly mulled it over, then nodded.
“You’re right.”
“I said it’s just what I think.”
“Don’t worry. I understand very well what you’re saying, Doctor Choi.”
“Then that’s good.”
Taesu smiled softly.
At that moment, Brad Kim seemed to accept it on his own and abruptly spoke.
“The truth is, the person I thought of most was the doctor.”
“About why he doesn’t stop me?”
“Yes. Now that I’ve heard it from you, Doctor Choi, I know the answer.”
Taesu was curious about that as well.