Anger.

Thud.

The sound of knuckles cracking rang out ominously as fists clenched hard enough to crush themselves.

Taesu quickly turned the chilly atmosphere around.

“Why is everyone making such faces at a good moment like this?”

“In any case, it means I’m angry.”

“Ahem.”

Taesu forced out a dry cough.

Meanwhile, Kim Hyeokgwon picked up his own bundle of bills and continued.

“You said there was no middle ground, and there really isn’t any middle ground.”

“It’s quite something, isn’t it?”

“Yes. It’s very amusing.”

Kim Hyeokgwon let the words slip out blandly.

“……”

Since his intention wasn’t clear, Taesu and Jeong Minsu looked puzzled.

Just then, Kim Hyeokgwon looked at Taesu and added,

“Your personality is truly rotten, but when it comes to keeping promises, you’re damn good at it.”

“Me?”

“Who else would there be?”

Kim Hyeokgwon stared straight at him.

Taesu gave a bitter smile, then asked as if something had occurred to him.

“So am I now a solid, dependable source of income for you?”

“Hoho. I’m extremely satisfied.”

Kim Hyeokgwon’s words went beyond praise and into high commendation.

But as Taesu mulled it over, the nuance felt a little off.

“If possible, rather than calling me a good source of income…”

“Your backer?”

“Come on, please be more careful with your word choice.”

“Then how about Captain?”

In the middle of their joking, a heavy blow suddenly came flying in.

Taesu flinched, but immediately regained his balance.

Still, the title was so unexpected that he doubted his ears.

“Captain?”

“Oh. Captain Choi Taesu. That’s not bad.”

When Jeong Minsu brightened up, Taesu shot him a sidelong glare.

“I prefer Doctor.”

“Then Captain, Doctor, Teacher Choi Taesu.”

“I’m telling you, not everything you blurt out counts as speech.”

Taesu openly rebuked him.

Even so, Jeong Minsu didn’t back down and kept going.

“Tch, maybe I’ll just call you Captain Kashmir.”

“Doctor Jeong, let’s keep it in moderation.”

“Ahem, yes.”

Only after Kim Hyeokgwon stepped in did Jeong Minsu close his mouth.

Kim Hyeokgwon slowly resumed speaking.

“Both of us were gathered by Doctor Choi, so let’s not complain.”

“Yes. I’ll just humbly accept it.”

“That’s a good attitude. Then since you’re Captain now, it’s lunchtime, so treat us.”

Kim Hyeokgwon naturally drew that conclusion.

Taesu, who had been listening seriously for a moment, blinked wide-eyed.

“How does that connect like this?”

“Let’s go to the PX instead of the cafeteria.”

“Can you hear what I’m saying?”

Taesu called out, but Kim Hyeokgwon only said what he wanted to say.

“They say Korean ramen came in.”

“Ohhh, let’s hurry and go.”

Springing up.

Jeong Minsu shot to his feet and shouted.

And just like that, it was decided.

Taesu suddenly saw his future unfold clearly before his eyes.

They were earning the same amount, but it felt like only his spending would increase.

Captain?

No.

‘Backer is right.’

The words Kim Hyeokgwon had casually let slip were the correct answer.

Not that he disliked it.

What did it matter?

The excitement and anticipation of starting anew in a new environment were far greater.

Time flowed by smoothly.

After the three of them had a hearty lunch at the PX, they were each spending their free time in the quarters.

It was called free time, but each of them was studying.

“……”

“……”

Only silence lingered in the quarters.

It had been roughly a month since they’d spent such a comfortable time like this.

Perhaps because all they had done until now was physical training, they were enjoying this time of not moving at all.

Then it happened.

Taesu, who had been sitting on the sofa and studying calmly, turned his gaze to the clock.

‘Tch.’

Suddenly, a trace of regret appeared on Taesu’s face.

Apparently, Taesu wasn’t the only one feeling that regret.

Jeong Minsu, who was on another bunk bed, asked in a roundabout way,

“Do you think they won’t call us?”

“Seems like it.”

“That’s kind of disappointing.”

Tap, tap.

Jeong Minsu tapped his notebook with the tip of his pen.

Taesu shrugged and said,

“To be honest, this is how it should be.”

“Yeah. It’s James’s surgery. Where would there be room for us to butt in?”

“Still, it’s been a while, so I did want to do it together.”

It seemed they both felt the same way.

It wasn’t only the other doctors who wanted a chance to operate with James.

Taesu and Jeong Minsu’s desire was no less than theirs.

Judging by the time, the possibility of being called was growing lower and lower.

Nevertheless, they held on to a single strand of hope.

Amid such expectations, time continued to pass.

In the end, time flowed on and night arrived.

At some point, they had even let go of the hope that they might be called.

Then it happened.

Trriiing.

The phone in the quarters rang.

Taesu and Jeong Minsu’s eyes changed in an instant.

‘Could it be?’

‘No way?’

They thought they had let it all go, but apparently not.

Just as they were about to rush to the phone—

Swoosh.

Kim Hyeokgwon was already standing in front of it. Since he had been closest to the phone, perhaps it was only natural.

Kim Hyeokgwon calmly picked up the receiver and answered.

“This is Mr. Kim. Mm, we’ll be right there.”

Click.

Kim Hyeokgwon hung up after a short, meaningful call.

At his air, Taesu and Jeong Minsu’s eyes sharpened.

Between the two of them, Taesu couldn’t endure it any longer and asked first.

“Hyeokgwon, what was that call?”

“A summons.”

“Mm.”

Springing up.

It was the moment they had been waiting for.

Taesu and Jeong Minsu rose with solemn eyes.

At that moment, Kim Hyeokgwon added,

“Let’s hurry, to the cafeteria.”

“Yes. …Yes?”

“You don’t know where the cafeteria is?”

Kim Hyeokgwon asked back with a sullen face, as if he had never been solemn at all. Dumbfounded by that sudden change, Taesu even stammered as he protested.

“You said it was a s-summons.”

“A summons to the cafeteria.”

“Ah, seriously.”

“It’s stranger that you’re disappointed. Hoho.”

As if delighted that he had properly fooled them, Kim Hyeokgwon moved with a light smile.

Taesu and Jeong Minsu glared at him.

“He knew perfectly well we were waiting.”

“Cruel. How can he be that cruel?”

“It’s not like we were hoping something would go wrong with a patient.”

“Exactly. We just wanted to properly enter the operating room again after so long.”

Grumble, grumble.

The two of them grumbled the entire way, regretful at the reality that they had to let go of their last hope.

One hour later.

Everyone was seated in the headquarters cafeteria.

The table was already filled with traces of the meal.

As if he had finally regained some energy, James wiped his mouth with a napkin and said,

“Schmidt praised you quite a bit.”

“Pardon? Ah.”

“He said the patients you gave emergency treatment to were especially in danger.”

It seemed James wanted to hear it directly from Taesu’s mouth.

Taesu, as well as Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon, had become serious before they knew it.

Among the three, Taesu answered calmly.

“That’s right.”

“You’re not the type to admit things easily. No, I suppose this time you have no choice but to acknowledge it.”

“Yes. We trained for patients like that, after all.”

When Taesu answered awkwardly, James nodded.

“Everyone is rating highly the fact that you proved that possibility on your first dispatch.”

“It is exactly as the doctor says.”

With Doctor Isaacson at the center, the team members nodded along.

Taesu and Jeong Minsu responded humbly.

“Thank you for looking on us favorably.”

“We’ll work even harder.”

But even at a moment like this, Kim Hyeokgwon never disappointed.

“We trained our asses off. If we couldn’t arrive on time, we might as well go die.”

“Khup, kh, kh.”

At Kim Hyeokgwon’s blunt manner of speaking, everyone swallowed their laughter.

James also spoke with a face full of smiles.

“Yes. I suppose this may be the first time we’ve had medical personnel who received specialized training.”

Doctor Isaacson picked up those words.

“That’s right. We ride helicopters often too, but it’s embarrassing to call what we do rappelling.”

“It’s more like being carried up and down on a wire.”

Doctor Ozma added.

It was an extremely realistic point.

As if he agreed, Doctor Maximilian also put in a word.

“Just reducing the time it takes to get on and off is definitely an advantage.”

“In an environment like this, where there’s no rescue team, it would be even more valuable.”

Doctor Jonathan also quietly added a word.

However, everything being said right now was something they all already knew.

Yet they were deliberately emphasizing it again.

Taesu found that a little strange.

It was then.

Step.

“Doctor.”

Nurse Rumiere approached James from behind and handed him a shopping bag.

James took it and handed it to Taesu, saying,

“It’s a gift.”

“A gift…?”

“Open it.”

James urged him simply.

It meant he should check first rather than ask what the gift was.

Taesu nodded and opened the mouth of the shopping bag wide. Inside was a neatly folded white coat.

There were three coats in total.

Taesu handed one each to Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon according to the initials embroidered on them.

Jeong Minsu accepted his naturally.

But Kim Hyeokgwon did not.

“Me too?”

James answered in his place.

“We prepared three, so of course one is yours.”

“I’m not even a doctor. Why?”

“A white coat doesn’t symbolize a doctor. It symbolizes cleanliness.”

“Do I look so dirty that I need to wear this?”

Kim Hyeokgwon asked crookedly.

James went one step further and asked back,

“Is there anything bad about looking clean?”

“I’ll wear it neatly and keep it clean.”

“And there’s one other meaning as well.”

“What now?”

At the same time as Kim Hyeokgwon’s sullen question, James slowly put strength into his eyes and said,

“Patients will recognize you even from far away.”

“White does have that aspect.”

“Emergency patients don’t care whether you’re a doctor or a nurse if you can give them hope.”

When James spoke heavily, Kim Hyeokgwon nodded.

“I suppose that’s true.”

“They won’t care even if you’re an interpreter. Your existence alone is enough.”

“My existence alone is enough?”

“If someone asks, just say you’re a doctor. It’s not as if they’ll demand your license.”

Taesu was startled by James’s bold statement.

“Still, Doctor James.”

“But in order to say such a thing, you yourself must also be prepared to that extent.”

“Ah, yes. That’s true.”

Relieved, Taesu quietly stepped back.

Even after that, James continued looking at Kim Hyeokgwon as he spoke.

“So don’t feel bound by anything. Wear the coat as much as you like.”

“Why is there dust on this? How untidy.”

Tap, tap.

Kim Hyeokgwon deliberately acted distracted.

Even so, he was stealthily holding the coat tightly.

Taesu and Jeong Minsu looked at Kim Hyeokgwon with slight curiosity.

“Mm?”

“Hmm?”

At that moment, James looked at Taesu and said,

“Doctor Choi. In this world, isn’t a being such as myself truly small and shabby?”

“Like a speck of dust.”

“What would it be like if someone like me could be of help to someone?”

“I would be happy.”

When Taesu answered, James added gravely.