His shoulder looked badly injured, tinged purple.
Taesu’s guess that the problem was his shoulder had been right on the mark.
He also immediately understood why Jeong Minsu had said it was ambiguous.
‘A simple muscle laceration, or a ruptured ligament or blood vessel?’
There were surprisingly many things that could cause a bruise on the shoulder.
Taesu couldn’t tell just by looking either.
At times like this, palpating was best.
Slide.
The moment Taesu carefully placed his hand on the shoulder—
“Urgh.”
The patient swallowed the groan that burst out and turned his gaze away.
Kim Hyeokgwon found the sight fascinating.
“Well, well. Just a moment ago you were shouting and arguing, making all that fuss.”
“Huuup.”
“Now you’ve suddenly grown some patience you never had before.”
Kim Hyeokgwon was dumbfounded.
Since it was all true, and with Taesu there, the patient didn’t dare so much as open his mouth.
Meanwhile, Taesu quickly examined the shoulder.
Relieved that it was a simpler problem than he’d expected, he explained it to the patient.
“Blood has pooled inside. If we squeeze it out, it should get better.”
“S-squeeze it?”
“Why? Should I not?”
Taesu’s voice instantly sank flat.
At that moment, the patient quickly averted his eyes and gave in.
“D-do as you see fit.”
“Thank you for your consent. Hyeokgwon, the surgical drape first.”
With the patient’s permission(?), Taesu immediately began emergency treatment.
The procedure was simple.
After local anesthesia, he would make an incision with a scalpel and squeeze out the pooled bleeding inside the shoulder.
Of course, only the emergency procedure itself was simple.
For the patient, it was a location where he would feel considerable pain.
Taesu did not care in the slightest.
Since he had already reduced the pain with local anesthesia, he went straight into action.
Pressss.
“Grrrr.”
“You’re holding up well. One more time.”
Press.
“Ugaaagaaa… uuuuugh…”
The patient endured it with superhuman effort.
It seemed Taesu was frightening enough to make him do that.
Even so, the reason he obediently accepted treatment was because he believed they had been on his side from the beginning.
Taesu would never betray that trust either.
Only, the hands carrying out the emergency treatment moved a little faster.
“We’re almost there, so let’s push through to the end in one go.”
“Uuaarghraa… huff. Hah. Khek, khek.”
The patient held it in until his breath seemed to go down the wrong way, and he began making a commotion all by himself.
A short while later.
Bloodied gauze was scattered around Taesu.
And Taesu was wrapping the patient’s shoulder with a compression bandage.
“You endured very well.”
“Thank you.”
“It may throb a lot now, but it will gradually improve.”
“It should. I think it’ll get better right away.”
The patient forced out an answer, his face gone pale from exhaustion and pain.
Still, he did not throw a single fit.
Taesu did not mind this atmosphere.
But then—
Kim Hyeokgwon, who was tearing off and holding out tape, suddenly scowled.
“Is that bastard allowed to come here?”
“Who… Ah, what’s he here for, ruining the mood?”
Squeeze.
The moment Taesu saw the Indian army adjutant, anger surged up in him and he tightened the compression bandage hard.
At the same time, the patient’s face twisted horribly.
“Ggaaaarghraa…”
At the strange groan, Taesu realized his mistake.
His resentment turned toward the Indian army adjutant, who still had not left.
“That was because of that bastard, so curse him.”
“Grrrr.”
“Anyway, we’re done here. You did well.”
“Thank… you.”
It did not exactly look like a grateful expression.
Taesu paid it no mind and rose from his seat.
Then he headed straight for the Indian army adjutant.
Taesu didn’t want to see him either.
But the people were afraid.
If the man had come for him, he wanted to resolve it quickly and send him away.
Soon, Taesu and the Indian army adjutant stood facing each other at a reasonable distance.
Taesu immediately asked in a crooked tone.
“What, again?”
“We’ll be leaving soon, so you don’t have to look at me like that.”
“Then you could’ve just left. There was no need to come looking for me like this.”
“We caused a disturbance. I apologize for that.”
The adjutant even gave a light bow.
His manner looked quite plain and unadorned.
But at that moment, Taesu’s eyes flashed coldly.
He immediately asked in a low voice.
“Are you apologizing to me right now?”
“Yes. We’ve agreed with the PKO to treat it as if it never happened, so I hope you won’t concern yourself with it.”
“You sure live life conveniently.”
At Taesu’s arrogance, the adjutant’s eyebrow twitched.
After a very brief moment, the adjutant endured it and spoke calmly.
“I understand that you were displeased by this disturbance.”
“That’s… No, if you have nothing more to say, let’s end it here.”
Taesu ended the conversation and was about to turn away.
Then the adjutant asked,
“Don’t you have something you want to say?”
“It’s just meddling, so you don’t need to worry about it.”
“Well, if that’s the case.”
“Then that’s all.”
Whip.
As soon as he finished speaking, Taesu turned around.
But his expression was not merely cold—it was icy.
The target of the apology was utterly wrong.
And yet the adjutant himself did not realize that.
‘Keep it narrow. Keep it narrow.’
Meddling was something you did for someone you liked.
He didn’t even want to see the man’s face, and had not the slightest intention of treating him kindly.
On the other hand, the adjutant misunderstood Taesu’s coldness.
He quickly spoke on that point.
“The deputy commander is on a satellite call with the PKO. He said he would come to apologize when he’s finished.”
“Tell him I’ll consider the apology received, so he should go back.”
“Once we return to the camp, we plan to relocate farther away immediately. I ask for your understanding until then.”
He kept speaking to Taesu to the very end.
Taesu did not even want to answer.
He could simply ignore him.
But then—
Taesu’s eyes filled with the sight of the people of Malnoi.
People whose bodies were injured and whose hearts were diseased.
The ones who truly deserved words of apology were those people.
And yet they had not heard a single word.
‘Tsk.’
Taesu did not like it, but he forced it down.
There was a mountain of work to do.
He didn’t want to let time slip away in a pointless argument.
Taesu deliberately turned his head.
Shifting his gaze like that, he put distance between himself and the adjutant.
Step, step.
As he headed toward Kim Hyeokgwon, his gaze naturally moved forward.
Among the faces of the many people before him, a familiar face brushed past.
Old Man Wang.
‘Huh?’
Whip.
Taesu quickly looked in that direction.
But of course, it wasn’t him.
There was no way Old Man Wang would be among these people.
It was a strange illusion.
It seemed the longing still remained.
Just as he was about to smile bitterly—
One by one, the faces of the people from the Korean village surfaced in his mind.
Taesu was deeply flustered.
Their situation was different from that of the people of Malnoi, and the reality they faced was different too.
So why was he suddenly thinking of them?
“…”
Taesu fell into serious thought.
Meanwhile, he was approaching Kim Hyeokgwon.
Step, step.
Kim Hyeokgwon must have been watching the whole time, because as Taesu came closer, he spoke quietly.
“This is why people get treated like dirt when they don’t have a country.”
“Damn it.”
At Taesu’s abrupt, harsh reaction, Kim Hyeokgwon glanced sideways at him.
“Was that aimed at me?”
“No. My mood just suddenly turned foul.”
“You’re saying seeing me made your mood foul?”
Kim Hyeokgwon sharply demanded.
Taesu shook his head and said what he had been thinking.
“They overlapped with the people from the Korean village, and it pissed me off.”
“That’s true. They’re not all that different.”
“I was really trying to hold it in… Damn it.”
When Taesu turned around roughly, Kim Hyeokgwon quickly stopped him.
“What, are you going over there to hit someone again?”
“I’m not going to hit him.”
“Your expression says you’re about to beat him to death.”
“I really tried not to meddle, but that’s not easy.”
Taesu said something that sounded almost out of the blue.
But Kim Hyeokgwon seemed to understand.
“You said it yourself, Dr. Choi. That treatment includes the heart too.”
“I did.”
“We don’t have the ability to heal hearts as well, do we? That’s something they have to resolve over there.”
Kim Hyeokgwon spoke quietly.
His deep gaze held the meaning that this kind of meddling was welcome.
Taesu said what was weighing on him.
“There are a lot of emergency patients right now.”
“Don’t you see them running around over there?”
“Then give me just three minutes.”
“Two minutes is enough. Why cling to someone you don’t even like for that long?”
Kim Hyeokgwon bluntly announced the compromise.
What they were talking about now was the time Taesu had to meddle with the adjutant.
Taesu nodded and answered.
“Fine. Two minutes.”
“That’s exactly enough time to set up.”
Whip.
Kim Hyeokgwon turned and began selecting a place to properly set up.
Taesu turned as well.
‘Let’s finish this quickly.’
Feeling that even two minutes was long, he resolved to get to the point and speak quickly.
Taesu soon approached the adjutant.
When Taesu returned, the man looked at him in puzzlement.
“What is it?”
“I think I need to meddle after all.”
“Now I’m curious.”
The adjutant’s suspicion deepened.
Taesu asked bluntly.
“Whose land is Malnoi, exactly?”
“Isn’t it naturally the land of great India?”
“Do they think so too?”
At Taesu’s sharp question, the adjutant’s expression turned serious as well.
“What do you mean?”
“Who would acknowledge you after you make a city like this and then try to run away?”
“You call keeping our distance so we don’t interfere with NGO activity running away?”
“If this is your land and they’re your citizens, why are you shoving them onto us? Does that make sense?”
“That is…”
The adjutant’s eyes wavered for an instant.
Taesu paid it no mind and asked further.
“Why aren’t you doing disaster recovery? You caused this mess, so why are you standing by and watching?”
“This happened because the Pakistanis invaded, didn’t it?”
“So if buildings collapse and people die, you have nothing to do with it?”
As Taesu pressed him with questions, the adjutant found it harder and harder to answer.
“That’s not what I mean…”
“Can a nation and an army exist without its people?”
“No.”
“Then cherish them and embrace them a little. Is that so hard?”
“…”
The adjutant was silent.
Taesu waited exactly three seconds, then opened his mouth again.
“I have a lot of work you people dumped on me, so I’ll excuse myself.”
Whip.
Taesu turned around just like that.
What they did from now on was for them to figure out.
He did not want to concern himself with that too.
And what he had said to the adjutant did not apply only to this place.
The reality of the Korean village had weighed on him, so he had spoken more fiercely.
Taesu did not deny that.
‘That feels refreshing.’
After giving him a thorough tongue-lashing, his mood improved slightly.
Then he checked the time.
There were roughly a little over three hours left until the main unit was expected to arrive.
Even now, the number of patients could not be counted.
There were still quite a few emergency patients they had not touched.
At the very least, each of them would have to pass through the medical staff’s hands once in order to wait for the main unit without suffering.
Taesu set that as his purpose and his goal.