"You're really not going to say anything to Brad, right?"
"It'd be even more ridiculous to act like I know."
"Well, it would end up looking like Ozma overheard Brad badmouthing him behind his back."
"What kind of sordid nonsense is that?"
Dr. Ozma said it cleanly, and Taesu agreed.
"That's true."
"So ask what you're curious about, Dr. Choi."
Dr. Ozma urged him leisurely.
Only after hearing his confident answer did Taesu ask with an easy mind.
"Why are you trying to push him away like that?"
"We're the best surgical team in the world. We can't tolerate even a single weak link."
"Is Brad really that lacking?"
"Is that even a question?"
Dr. Ozma asked back instead.
His reaction was only natural.
So Taesu changed the question.
"Ahem. Then what about me?"
"Hm?"
"Everyone calls me the youngest member of the team, don't they?"
"That's an undeniable fact."
Dr. Ozma's answer was far too refreshing.
So Taesu dug a little deeper into it.
"Then am I not a weak link too?"
"Objectively, at this point in time, you and Brad are at about the same level, Dr. Choi."
"In any case, that makes me a weak link."
Just as Taesu showed his doubt again, Dr. Ozma abruptly asked with a sharp look in his eyes.
"Is a resident the same as a specialist?"
"Ah, that's a bit different."
"Even aside from that, Dr. Choi, you were different from our first meeting—no, from our first phone call."
Dr. Ozma corrected himself as he spoke.
It was still a vivid moment in Taesu's memory, so he answered in a bitter voice.
"Yes. I ended up calling you from Ijambak to ask for advice."
"Who told me to teach you the basics of anesthesia and surgery along with Ijakson?"
"Dr. James."
Taesu addressed him comfortably.
From Dr. Ozma's standpoint, it had to be a form of address that was difficult to accept.
But Taesu could do it.
He pointed that out.
"That way of addressing him alone makes an enormous difference."
"That's not skill. That's personal connection."
"Is that kind of connection something anyone can have?"
"Well... because I'm cute?"
Grin.
Taesu put on a ridiculous act.
For an instant, Dr. Ozma reflexively snatched up his drink as if to throw it.
"You little—"
"I oppose violence."
"Let's not overdo it."
Tak.
Dr. Ozma set the drink down and glared at him fiercely.
Taesu quickly moved his hand away.
The joke lasted only a moment.
Turning serious, Taesu asked what he truly wanted to know.
"So are you saying you're going to drive him out?"
"No. Brad will overcome it."
"Pardon?"
"Everyone is of the same opinion."
At the sudden reversal, Taesu was confused.
"What do you mean by that...?"
"His face looks mild, but he's got a vicious streak inside."
"He's mentally tough."
"But it is true that we're trying to push him away right now."
The words continued to be incomprehensible, and only Taesu was left bewildered.
So he asked directly.
"So what's the conclusion?"
"If he sticks it out to the end, he'll become a member of the team."
"And if he falls away, that's that?"
"Is there anything for us to regret?"
Dr. Ozma asked back with a shrug.
Taesu found that unexpected.
"Even though Dr. James recommended him?"
"The Doctor also knows how we're treating Brad."
"He knows?"
Taesu asked in surprise.
But Dr. Ozma answered not with an answer, but another question.
"He hasn't said a word so far, has he? Why do you think that is?"
"I don't know."
"Because we are trusted that much as well."
At those words, Taesu sorted things out from several angles and reached a conclusion.
"Wait a second. Now that I listen to you, the James surgical team is an incredibly exclusionary group."
"It would be troublesome if you forgot that you're part of our team too, Dr. Choi."
"I do have a rather exclusionary tendency myself."
"Hu hu. In any case, it may be harsh from Brad's perspective, but from ours, it's a natural procedure."
Dr. Ozma spoke meaningfully.
Taesu asked, just in case.
"Even if it weren't Brad?"
"It would be the same for anyone else."
Dr. Ozma calmly summed it up.
After listening to everything, Taesu understood as well.
"The best thing for me to do is watch quietly."
"Brad is already benefiting somewhat thanks to you, Dr. Choi."
"Because of our personal connection?"
"More than that, the fact that you were dispatched together to Makut, that you had his back in Padum, and so on. There are several positive factors."
Dr. Ozma explained pointedly.
Taesu asked with a slightly expectant expression.
"What sort of positive factors would those be?"
"The scolding level dropped from 10 to 9."
"The youngest member of the team helped him an enormous amount. Isn't that too stingy?"
"That doesn't even qualify as an objection. Denied."
Thud.
Dr. Ozma even struck his fist against his palm coldly.
On the surface, he wore a cold expression.
But he could not hide the mischief in his eyes.
Taesu was the same.
His pleading protest also contained playfulness.
The conclusion was that the result would change depending on what Brad Kim did from now on.
It was true that they were exclusionary, but from another perspective, it was the pride of the surgical team members.
Taesu now understood it properly.
So that conversation stopped there.
Now it was truly time to go.
From outside, Kim Hyeokgwon's sharp voice could be heard openly.
—Damn it, it's even snowing like hell. How long are we supposed to wait?
At that sound, Taesu flinched.
"I need to get out there quickly."
"I agree. I feel like I need to do that if I want to see you again, Dr. Choi."
"Ozma, couldn't you come out with me..."
Just as Taesu carefully began to ask, Dr. Ozma seemed to sense it and quickly turned toward the pantry.
"Sh-should I have a cup of coffee?"
"Excuse me. Ozma?"
"I wonder if there's water for coffee."
He was ignoring him with absolute thoroughness.
Asking any further would only waste time.
Realizing that, Taesu gave up on seeking help and said goodbye.
"I'm going."
"Yes. You worked hard."
"Can you hear me now?"
"What did you say?"
Dr. Ozma's expression as he asked back was far too shameless.
Taesu returned his joke with a smile and said farewell.
"I'm really going."
"Yes. It seems dangerous outside, so take care."
"If you're worried..."
The moment Taesu began to speak, Dr. Ozma, realizing what he was getting at, immediately did something else.
"Oh dear. I'm sure the coffee was here somewhere..."
"I'm leaving."
Swish, swish.
Taesu roughly waved his hand and headed toward the flap.
Dr. Ozma saw him off with a smiling face before he knew it.
Soon the flap of the medical tent was lifted.
Sararak.
As Taesu came out through it, he was startled for a moment.
"It's really coming down."
Huge snowflakes were falling so thickly that they obscured his vision.
For a moment, he worried about the Korean village.
'I hope they're all right.'
Forcing himself to swallow that feeling, he turned his gaze around.
Soon Taesu found Kim Hyeokgwon and Jeong Minsu.
But their appearances were a little strange.
It was because snow had piled up thickly on their hair and shoulders.
Of the two people full of dissatisfaction, Kim Hyeokgwon growled in an icy voice.
"So, did you have a nice conversation?"
"That... Good grief, what is all this?"
Tap, tap.
Taesu quickly approached and carefully brushed the snow off their shoulders.
Even as he did, Kim Hyeokgwon's cold gaze remained unchanged.
"I thought Dr. Choi was trying to turn us into snowmen."
"I only meant to exchange a few words, but..."
"You could have told us to go first."
"You could have just gone."
"And how were we supposed to know when you'd come out?"
Kim Hyeokgwon's voice turned frosty.
Jeong Minsu was the same.
This was indeed Taesu's fault.
"I'm sorry."
He apologized cleanly.
But it had no effect at all on the two of them.
They talked while excluding Taesu entirely.
"We're powerless, so what choice did we have but to wait?"
"I was waiting so long that I even wondered if I should change my name altogether."
"This is why they say people should look around carefully as they live."
"I feel like that saying came about because of someone who doesn't."
They chewed Taesu out right in front of him, quite openly.
Taesu also realized that this was not anger that would simply fade away.
So he played his trump card.
"Since it's officially the day we return, shouldn't we have a drinking party tonight?"
Taesu's prediction was correct.
Both of their eyes flashed for an instant.
"D-drinking?"
"Ah, beer... Ahem."
A clear and definite reaction emerged.
Having seized the advantage, Taesu offered them a choice with an intense look in his eyes.
"Should I arrange the place, or should we just let it pass?"
Calling it a choice was generous.
The answer had already been decided, and the meaning leaned more toward asking whether they were going to keep this up.
Naturally, Kim Hyeokgwon and Jeong Minsu reacted as if nothing had happened.
"So where are we going now?"
"I heard James said to stop by the headquarters office first."
"Oh, right, he did. What are you doing? Let's go."
"Yeah. Taesu, what are you doing? We have to go."
The two of them, with identical expressions, instead pushed Taesu forward.
Dr. Ozma was like that too.
The people around him really were consistent.
Taesu was one of them as well.
This was not a situation where he could blame others, so he was satisfied with having changed it into the situation he wanted.
"Let's hurry before you turn into snowmen again."
Taesu took the lead spiritedly.
Then, suddenly, he gave a bitter smile.
'I guess they roughly knew.'
That must have been why they waited even while turning into snowmen.
They were enemies who bickered every other day.
Behind that lay deep and broad consideration.
That was why Taesu could not help but like Kim Hyeokgwon and Jeong Minsu.
The three of them immediately entered the NGO headquarters building.
It was the widest and tallest building in this camp.
Most of the lodgings for the medical staff belonging to the NGO were here.
He also knew well that it was equipped with various examination rooms, operating rooms for critical patients, and recovery rooms.
James and the surgical team members, who were in the middle of a polypectomy, would also be inside this building.
In a word, it was a general hospital.
Step, step.
As he walked down the corridor thinking about this and that, he arrived in front of the office before he knew it.
"Ahem, we..."
"It'd probably be..."
When the two tried to stop, Taesu blocked them.
"It's your first time meeting him, so you should at least say hello."
"How are we supposed to know when we'll see him again?"
"I heard James said you should go along too."
"What are you doing? Do I have to open the door for you too?"
Kim Hyeokgwon snapped for no reason, as if he had nothing to say.
Jeong Minsu only stuck out his lips and did not complain.
In contrast, Taesu opened the door energetically.
A little while later.
The three of them were seated around a large table.
There was also a Black man who appeared to be in his mid-thirties seated there.
His brightly smiling face suggested a cheerful nature.
As expected, he introduced himself in that same bright manner.
"I'm Hakuna. It is truly a pleasure to meet such wonderful people."
"I'm Dr. Choi Taesu. It's nice to meet you."
"I'm..."
"Well, as for me..."
Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon also added simple introductions and greetings.
After they had exchanged names, Hakuna smiled even more brightly and said,
"I'm in charge of support for the helicopter medical team, so please feel free to tell me anything."
"Will it continue operating?"
"Of course. After yesterday's dispatch, the higher-ups have started showing interest as well."
"Then I'll speak plainly."
As Taesu lightly set the mood, Hakuna subtly leaned in, even offering an ear.