The crowd had grown considerably.
They were the lightly injured—those with torn clothes or minor wounds.
Besides them, many people presumed to be residents who had been hiding were also visible.
Creak, thud!
The containers were being actively unloaded by their hands.
They were laying out groundsheets and erecting tents.
They also sorted and stacked relief supplies and medicines.
Thus, a medical zone was being established around the containers.
Gim Hyeokgwon was directing the scene.
"@#$%!"
He climbed atop the building debris to broaden his field of vision, controlling multiple directions at once.
The people moving at his command wore dark expressions.
They were forcing themselves to move.
Taesu naturally accepted their state of mind.
'How could they possibly feel any better?'
They had lost family and friends in an instant.
The very foundation of their lives had collapsed beneath them.
Asking them to be happy about change was too much.
Perhaps Gim Hyeokgwon knew this too, for his voice was loud and rough.
They might think he was slapping someone who was already crying.
But it was the right thing to do.
Someone had to take the lead and get people moving.
They couldn't be left to grieve and cry forever.
Taesu watched this and arrived at Point Alpha.
The area around the containers was still too chaotic to administer first aid.
It was then, as Taesu set down the basket and prepared for first aid.
Tap!
From behind came hurried footsteps, and simultaneously, Gim Hyeokgwon's heavy question.
"What in the world were you doing alone over there?"
"Rescuing an emergency patient."
"What kind of emergency patient fits in a basket...? Don't tell me?"
Gim Hyeokgwon's voice wavered for a moment.
Taesu spoke without paying him any mind, continuing his preparations.
Then he lifted the coat wrapped around the basket.
Rustle.
"Huu... euu..."
"Hnng..."
Babies with blue-tinged pallor couldn't even cry properly.
Gim Hyeokgwon's eyes went wide at the sight.
"The children... No, why would Dr. Choe... children this young..."
"That's how it happened."
"Both parents?"
"No. I couldn't find the babies' father."
The very moment those words left his mouth,
Gim Hyeokgwon's expression, which had been filled with sorrow, transformed into rage in an instant.
"Where the hell did that father go!"
"I don't know. I need to look at the babies first. Huh?"
"Why? Ah, the names... Libero, Rebecca."
Gim Hyeokgwon suddenly said the names.
When Taesu unwound the scarf, there were letters written on the sacks wrapping the babies.
It was still a foreign language to Taesu, so he hadn't recognized them.
But Gim Hyeokgwon had read them immediately.
- Libero, Rebecca.
Knowing the names was enough.
Taesu immediately made a request of Gim Hyeokgwon.
"Please ask around for the babies' family while you're coordinating."
"Got it. And the medical tent..."
"You'll handle it, won't you, Hyeokgwon?"
Taesu's voice sank heavily.
Gim Hyeokgwon understood Taesu's state of mind all too well.
Because he felt the exact same way.
They postponed any long words for later.
"I'll radio you when I'm ready."
"Send the patients over here for now."
"Can you really administer first aid while watching the babies?"
"I have to make it work somehow. I'm counting on you."
"Damn it. Is there no way to live without hearing requests like this?"
Tap, tap.
Gim Hyeokgwon spat out bitter words and moved away again.
Taesu felt the same.
"I'd like to live without making these kinds of requests too."
Even as he muttered, his expression was filled with nothing but hollowness.
But the moment the babies filled his vision, that changed.
A smile rose on Taesu's face as if rain had fallen on parched land.
It was a forced smile.
A deliberately worn smile.
He couldn't frown at the babies.
"Libero, Rebecca. I'll make sure you're not uncomfortable soon."
Taesu spoke softly and immediately began first aid.
Swish.
He started by peeling away the cloth wrapped around the babies.
Under his touch, the babies returned to their natural state.
It was a cruel act toward children already suffering from the cold.
But he knew it was important to examine them carefully, since he didn't know what problems might be lurking.
"Huu..."
"Huu..."
The babies' whimpers grew weaker.
Accordingly, Taesu's hands grew more hurried.
Stethoscope!
Click, click.
With one hand, he moved the chest piece left and right, examining them.
Meanwhile, with his other hand, he wiped the babies' bodies with saline solution.
Swish, swish.
That wasn't the end.
Taesu's hands never rested for a moment, moving back and forth between the babies.
His touch was swifter than any first aid procedure.
Swish!
The babies' hypothermia was a battle against time.
Shortly after.
A hint of sincerity was added to Taesu's awkward smile.
He had concluded that the most urgent matter was raising their body temperature.
"Let's start with that."
Even if there were other problems, they would show themselves later.
But the moment he made his decision, Taesu began undressing.
Whoosh.
A moderately muscular upper body was revealed.
He would press the babies directly against that bare skin and hold them.
The safest way in the world to raise body temperature was a human furnace.
It had the added benefit of never overheating and operating twenty-four hours a day.
His face involuntarily scrunched up the moment he touched them, feeling how cold the babies' skin was.
"Kkuh!"
That much more, Taesu snapped to full alertness.
Then he took out a white cloth from his bag and wrapped it around himself and the babies.
The white cloth was meant for something completely different, but this was the best option for now.
Soon, with his outer coat back on, Taesu's appearance turned bulky.
Rustle.
When he lowered his head, the babies' fussing had clearly diminished.
"...Huu."
"...Hoo."
Only faint breathing sounds came, as if their freezing bodies were thawing.
That was only the outward appearance.
With his skin directly against theirs, Taesu could feel the babies' heartbeats.
Faint, but slightly faster.
These were babies with a story behind them.
Taesu had to see with his own eyes the moment they became healthier.
Just as he was finishing up the first aid—
"Taesu!"
Jeong Minsu's shout came from behind.
Swish!
When he turned, sure enough, Jeong Minsu was running toward him.
But he wasn't alone; people carrying a stretcher were with him.
The moment Taesu saw them, he knew.
An emergency patient.
There was still some distance before they'd arrive, so it was right for Taesu to prepare.
Taesu, who had been leaning forward toward his bag, stopped with a start.
"The babies!"
Rustle!
He loosened the front of his coat to check; they seemed fine.
He felt relieved upon checking the babies, who had absolutely no resistance.
In this posture, first aid was definitely limited.
The babies were a problem, but another emergency patient's life was precious too.
What was the solution?
There was a countermeasure.
He had learned it from Sergeant Sam during his first dispatch.
It was a method of effectively utilizing the surroundings.
There was also a spot he had seen earlier while administering first aid.
Taesu stood up awkwardly and lifted the heavy bag with one hand.
It was a weight that was burdensome even to carry on his back.
It was a motion that strained his waist, but he didn't care.
"Ngh!"
Thud!
His face turned red and the tendons in his neck bulged taut.
Taesu moved forward step by step in that state.
Trudge, trudge.
Fortunately, the distance wasn't far.
Straining himself, he arrived at the street corner.
It was a house with one wall collapsed.
There was an old dining table, perhaps from the kitchen wall side.
Only upon arriving in front of it did Taesu put down the bag.
Thud!
"Hoo."
"The height is just right."
Jeong Minsu, who had followed behind at some point, expressed admiration.
There was no way anyone would be inside the collapsed house.
Having a table certainly broadened the range of motion for first aid.
Jeong Minsu spoke of such advantages, but Taesu's circumstances were different.
Taesu was already bending his body to the side.
At that moment, Jeong Minsu approached like lightning and lightly pushed Taesu's shoulder.
Shove.
"The babies are important, but you'll ruin your back like that."
"You heard?"
"Of course."
Swish!
Jeong Minsu spread out a folded plastic sheet widely on the dining table.
Then he took out the first aid tools from the bag himself.
"Hoo, hoo."
Faint breaths could be heard between movements.
Having run here and immediately trying to prepare, he seemed winded.
Taesu felt a bit apologetic.
"Right now..."
"Where and how am I supposed to leave hypothermic babies right now?"
"You leave me speechless."
"But can you really administer first aid?"
Clack, clack.
Jeong Minsu asked something important as he laid out the medicines.
Taesu made a dumbfounded expression at that question.
"Why do you think I dragged a dining table all the way here?"
"If you're slow, I'll kick your ass."
"You worry about yourself."
A faint smile appeared on Taesu's face as he retorted.
Jeong Minsu's silly question had at least made him smile once.
Jeong Minsu was the same.
Before he knew it, a thin smile had formed at the corners of his mouth.
Now, each other's mere existence was a source of strength.
In this place of despair, being able to exchange a single absurd smile was enough.
It was truly comforting.
While Jeong Minsu was setting up, the patient arrived.
Jeong Minsu immediately slapped the dining table and shouted in English.
"To the table!"
"Over there!"
Click, click.
The approaching people carefully lowered the stretcher onto the table.
It was an improvised stretcher made of mixed rebar, wood, and dirty cloth.
Jeong Minsu then spoke to the people in English.
"Go back to Mr. Kim."
"Yes."
The people answered shortly and rushed away again.
Taesu glanced at the departing people and asked.
"You speak English?"
"About three out of ten residents can communicate enough."
"That's amazing."
Click. Click.
Taesu's questions ended there.
It was time to focus on the patient who had arrived while preparing the medicines.
Continuing preparations, he started by examining the affected area.
There were considerable traces of bleeding on the right arm.
Then Jeong Minsu handed him saline solution and spoke.
"His right arm from the upper arm down to the fingers was crushed under debris."
"Crushed?"
Splash.
Taesu poured saline solution on the arm covered in blood and asked.
Jeong Minsu quickly continued.
"Fortunately it didn't get pulled in up to the shoulder, but the muscle tear is severe."
"The patient's response... Did you administer local anesthetic and a sedative too?"
He asked because, quite literally, the patient showed no response.
The patient was a man who appeared to be in his early thirties, around their age.
His eyes were closed and his face wasn't contorted in pain.