At that moment, Taesu lightly opened the front of his robe.
It happened at the same time.
The cries of the babies squirming in his arms rang out.
“Waaah.”
“Aaah!”
They were cries far louder than anything they had made before.
Only then did Kim Hyeok-gwon open his eyes wide and approach.
“Did the kids pee?”
“Yes. They’re still going.”
“Are you feeling……. Not very good, are you?”
“I feel fantastic. We can’t leave them like this, so hurry up and get ready before coming in.”
With a bright smile, Taesu headed toward the medical tent.
He even added a little more.
“Oh, good job. That’s it, that’s it.”
Taesu coaxed the babies as he slipped into the medical tent.
Watching him, Kim Hyeok-gwon narrowed his brow.
“The kids peed all over me……. Isn’t it normal to feel bad about that?”
Just then, Jeong Min-su passed by and said,
“I’m more surprised that you still thought Taesu was normal.”
“Come to think of it, that is surprising. But are you all right?”
“I’m going to try to become a little more composed. I think that would be better for me right now.”
Jeong Min-su’s gaze had grown noticeably deeper.
Kim Hyeok-gwon nodded.
“Fine. Let’s cry and carry on about it among ourselves later.”
“I think that would be better, too.”
“Then I’ll go deal with that clammy human first.”
“I’ll perform the initial emergency treatment on the injured.”
Smack.
The two slapped their palms together and went their separate ways.
There was trust between them in that light gesture.
The tension they had shown when they first arrived in Sahad was nowhere to be found.
By any measure, they now felt like one team.
Meanwhile.
Taesu’s face was filled with smiles after entering the medical tent.
Swish, swish.
He took off his clothes and smoothly unwound the bandages.
Soon, the babies he had been holding came into view.
They were the babies who had been too weak even to cry.
But now they were clinging tightly to either side of Taesu’s chest and even crying.
“Waaah.”
“Waaah.”
Yellow streams were flowing between the babies’ legs.
The streams were hitting Taesu’s stomach.
There was not the slightest hint of displeasure on his face.
“Oh my, you little rascals. You’re really letting it all out.”
He even looked proud of them, wearing a smile like a doting uncle.
Nor did he disturb them, waiting until the babies had finished relieving themselves.
Taesu’s behavior was astonishing.
He had not been holding them for very long.
Perhaps he had grown attached to them in that brief time, because his face was filled with smiles no matter what the babies did.
It was not merely because he had grown fond of them.
All these changes were signs that they had recovered from severe hypothermia.
“They’re healthy now. This is nothing.”
He could handle anything worse than this.
As soon as the babies finished, Taesu carefully laid them down on the operating table.
“Whimper, whimper!”
“Waaah!”
The babies immediately fussed after being separated from Taesu’s warm embrace.
Taesu smiled broadly at their reaction.
It seemed that the reality around him had been completely erased from his mind.
His eyes had already turned into half-moons.
“Aw, did you like your uncle’s arms?”
“Whimper, whimper.”
“Oh, there, there. That’s right, that’s right.”
Taesu responded foolishly on his own, despite not understanding a word they were saying.
But he was not simply enjoying the moment.
Even now, he was examining the babies.
Now that he had set them down, it was even clearer that they had recovered.
First of all, their bluish bodies had turned pale and healthy.
Their faces even had a reddish flush.
More than anything, they were moving vigorously.
Flail, flail.
Seeing them like that, it did not seem that any tests were necessary.
Above all, Taesu’s entire body was filled with proof that they had escaped hypothermia.
“Heh heh, you little brats. You really soaked me.”
No matter how much he had said he felt great, he was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable.
That was when Kim Hyeok-gwon entered.
But he was not alone. A woman in her forties was with him.
“@#^#$@$@.”
“@%#$%.”
After Kim Hyeok-gwon said something, the woman immediately approached the babies.
Speaking to them with a sympathetic expression, she moved her hands at once.
Scrub, scrub. Wipe, wipe.
The way she swiftly and precisely wiped their bodies with wet tissues and wrapped them in thick cloth showed that she was an expert at childcare.
In the blink of an eye, she had tidied up the babies, picked them up, and gone outside.
Only then did Kim Hyeok-gwon approach the operating table and place Taesu’s bag of clothes on it.
Thump.
“Let’s worry about the children later.”
“Of course. But is she perhaps their family?”
Taesu quickly took off his clothes first.
Then he wiped himself down with a wet towel and asked.
Kim Hyeok-gwon stood by the tent entrance, cleverly blocking the view, and replied,
“No. I entrusted them to a woman who has children of her own and experience as a nanny.”
“I see.”
“When I mentioned the kids, she asked all sorts of questions—whether they had been fed, when they had last relieved themselves, and so on. She asked a ton.”
“Mothers must already have all the calculations worked out in their heads.”
Click, click.
Taesu had already changed into a new pair of pants.
While he was changing his shirt as well, he realized that he still had the scarf.
‘I’ll give it to them later.’
It would not be a good idea to rush outside right away, hand over the scarf, and cause a commotion.
If they found the family after things had stabilized somewhat, it would be better to explain everything and give it to them then.
After changing all his clothes, he announced,
“I’m done.”
“Then shall we continue the conversation we didn’t finish?”
“No. We already know how that story ends, and there’s nothing we can do about it. What’s the point of repeating it?”
Something about Taesu’s expression and voice had changed.
Sensing it, Kim Hyeok-gwon immediately asked,
“Why do you suddenly look so energetic?”
“Because I got an IV full of nutrients, of course.”
“That yellow stuff wasn’t that kind of yellow, was it?”
Kim Hyeok-gwon stared at him in disbelief, but Taesu straightened his shoulders.
“Will anything change if we worry ourselves sick and fret over it?”
“That’s the problem. Nothing will.”
“Then let’s just stop thinking and keep moving.”
“You’re saying we should just wait for time to pass?”
“Yes. At the very least, I won’t let that time go to waste.”
Taesu’s expression as he answered was almost serene.
Kim Hyeok-gwon gradually took on the same expression.
“Fine. There’s no need for a reason to save people.”
“That’s a line from somewhere.”
“Instead of worrying about that, let’s get out there.”
“Right. But Min-su……”
Just as Taesu was about to speak quietly, Kim Hyeok-gwon beat him to it.
“He already started.”
“That’s a betrayal I can’t hate.”
“If you don’t want to get nagged at for being late, move.”
“Right. Ah, Hyeok-gwon.”
When Taesu called out to him, Kim Hyeok-gwon stopped as he turned around.
“What is it now?”
“Fighting.”
Clench.
Taesu even thrust out a vigorous fist.
At that moment, Kim Hyeok-gwon said with a sullen expression,
“I might really start fighting.”
“I’m saying let’s stay strong. Why do you want to fight?”
“Do you have to say ‘fighting’ every time something happens? Get out there and treat people with some fighting spirit.”
“It’s still encouragement. That’s harsh.”
Taesu grumbled as he started moving.
When Taesu passed in front of him, Kim Hyeok-gwon pushed him from behind and said irritably,
“Move faster!”
“I’m moving.”
“Don’t sulk like a child!”
“I’m not sulking.”
Taesu was blatantly pouting.
Kim Hyeok-gwon seemed to be coaxing him along.
Seen this way, they even felt like brothers.
Perhaps because they had already been through so much together, nothing about them seemed unnatural.
That appearance vanished as if it had been a lie the moment they stepped outside the tent.
Taesu moved toward the medical tents with a sharp gaze.
As he did, he said to Kim Hyeok-gwon,
“Then do that and return as quickly as possible.”
Tap!
After saying that, Taesu quickened his pace.
Kim Hyeok-gwon, meanwhile, stared after him dumbfoundedly.
“What am I supposed to do?”
They had not actually discussed anything specific.
What was strange, however, was what Kim Hyeok-gwon did next.
He grabbed one of the locals passing by and asked,
“How can this city not have a single police officer? Are they all dead?”
“The police station is farther inside, over there.”
“Then where exactly in the city are we?”
“This is the southern entrance.”
At the answer, Kim Hyeok-gwon deeply furrowed his brow.
“If those bastards want to fight, they should fight in the village. Why the hell are they fighting on this huge stretch of land?”
Now that everything they had figured out so far had become useless, he vented his irritation at both armies.
The city was clearly on an entirely different scale from a village.
Knowing he could not handle it alone, Kim Hyeok-gwon gathered several people and changed tactics.
“Find the officials and police first.”
“Yes.”
“And since there are medical personnel here……”
Kim Hyeok-gwon designated this place as the center of the city’s reconstruction and asked the people for their help.
No one would be able to object to a place equipped with medical care and food.
At the same time.
Taesu and Jeong Min-su left everything to Kim Hyeok-gwon and devoted themselves entirely to medicine.
At least dozens of injured people had gathered in the medical tents.
There were already three such tents set up.
With the wounded gathered in one place, this was essentially a field emergency room.
“Ugh……”
“Ah……”
“Gnnngh……”
Groans echoed without end.
The stench was considerable as well.
The able-bodied were doing their best to clean things up, but it was not enough.
There were simply too many injured people.
The wounded gathered before them already outnumbered the population of an ordinary village.
They knew that.
But there were only two doctors.
That was why they had to move even more.
True to their resolve, the two of them focused on speed as they administered emergency treatment from their respective positions.
Snip, snip. Rip!
“This one’s done. Anyone who speaks English!”
“I can manage a little.”
“This patient goes over there……. Next!”
Only after adding a brief explanation did they move on to the next patient.
There were even patients for whom they skipped the explanation altogether.
Sometimes, after administering emergency treatment and turning around, they found someone in even more urgent condition.
In those cases, Taesu and Jeong Min-su’s bodies reacted before their minds, leaving them no time for any additional explanation.
The way they raced through the medical tents resembled wild animals.
They threw themselves at the patients, again and again, without a moment’s hesitation.
Amazingly, despite all that running, the number of patients continued to grow.
Before long, Kim Hyeok-gwon joined them as well.
As soon as Taesu saw him, he asked,
“What’s the situation?”
“I left it to the people who were supposed to handle it in the first place.”
“Who are the people who were supposed to handle it?”
“Officials and police.”
“They were here?”
When Taesu looked surprised, Kim Hyeok-gwon gave a bitter smile.
“They say this is the city’s entrance.”
“Just the entrance……. That makes sense.”
“It is a big city, after all. A police officer saw this place and left, so more people will probably be directed here.”
“Time’s going to fly by.”
Taesu forced the bitter words out in a cheerful tone.
At least it meant that some semblance of a system had been established.
But the laughter lasted only a moment.
“!%$#$%.”
“%#$%.”
At the sudden commotion, Kim Hyeok-gwon’s expression hardened completely.
Seeing that, Taesu immediately asked,
“What is it? What happened now?”
“They’re coming.”
“What?”
“Patients are pouring in here in droves!”
Kim Hyeok-gwon shouted like a thunderclap.
Taesu looked dumbfounded, as though he had been scolded for no reason.
But that bewilderment soon changed into astonishment.