Before long, Taesu approached Kim Hyeokgwon.
Kim Hyeokgwon glanced over and checked the time.
“One minute and ten seconds. You did well.”
“I hate wasting time.”
“Still, thanks to that time, I’ve got everything prepared.”
“Then let’s move.”
Without even warming up, Taesu headed straight for a nearby patient.
Flinch.
The moment the patient saw Taesu, he shrank back.
He was clearly frightened.
Taesu persuaded him in a calm voice.
“I’m only going to help with what hurts, then I’ll leave.”
“%@#$%……. Huh?”
Kim Hyeokgwon, who had been interpreting, blinked.
Taesu immediately asked.
“What is it?”
“He says his stomach hurt, but he received medicine a little while ago and took it.”
“Is that so?”
“There should be some kind of mark so we know.”
Kim Hyeokgwon grumbled with a sullen face.
Taesu guided his thoughts in a positive direction.
“If he’s not in pain, that’s something to be grateful for. Then shall we move on?”
“Let’s.”
Kim Hyeokgwon immediately agreed and moved.
But the same thing happened again.
“Huh, this person says he was treated a little while ago too.”
Rustle.
The patient, watching their reactions, quietly rolled up his clothing.
From his wrist to his elbow, he was wrapped in a compression bandage. His sleeve was thick and long, so there had been no way to tell from the outside whether there was a compression bandage or not.
Taesu was a little flustered as well.
Before anything else, he finished speaking with the patient.
“Is there anywhere else that hurts?”
“@%@#$%#@……. He says no. And he says what happened earlier was satisfying, and thank you.”
“Thank you. All the bad things have passed now, so only good things will happen from here on.”
Taesu offered sincere comfort and ended the conversation.
Soon, Taesu rose from his spot and looked around.
The inside of the tent was packed to bursting with patients.
That was a fact he already knew.
What Taesu was focused on was something else.
Whether emergency treatment had been administered or not.
There had to be some kind of mark, or at least a visible change.
The first people they had treated had definitely been marked.
But apparently, that had been all.
Patients had poured in from every direction, and now it was confusing even to tell who had received emergency treatment.
They were past the stage where they could sort them by sight.
Step.
Kim Hyeokgwon stood beside him and accurately grasped what Taesu was looking at.
“You can’t tell by looking like this when the problem is hidden under their clothes.”
“And it’s not as if they only have simple external injuries.”
“That makes it even more of a problem.”
“And there’s another problem.”
The moment Taesu finished speaking—
“%^#%.”
An urgent voice came from the side.
It seemed newly discovered patients had arrived, and people were busily trying to make space.
“Dr. Jeong, take a look over there.”
“I’m in the final stage of emergency treatment here.”
“They’re getting all mixed together over there. This won’t do. Dr. Jo, you go.”
At Yun Juseong’s shout, Jo Uncheol also looked troubled.
“I can’t move either.”
“……Fine. Dr. Choi. Why are you standing there like that?”
Whoosh, whoosh.
Yun Juseong urgently gestured toward Taesu.
But Taesu did not budge.
Kim Hyeokgwon stared at him with an incredulous expression.
“You’re just going to leave it like that?”
“Where do we move them right now?”
“Still, we can’t let them get mixed together like that.”
Even as Kim Hyeokgwon showed his frustration, Taesu’s reply was mild.
“It’s difficult.”
“Hey. Captain, why again? What are you dissatisfied with this time that you’re acting so contrary?”
As he said that, Kim Hyeokgwon subtly changed the title he used for him.
Since he was the leader, it was pressure to quickly come up with a way through.
On the other hand, Taesu’s gaze had settled low.
There was no way he was indifferent.
He was searching for a method in his head.
And fortunately, he found a way to effectively manage a large number of patients.
Perhaps he had already known it.
Because that information existed within Caprene’s memories.
If there was a problem, it was that they needed a leader.
Someone had to take the center and guide the medical staff effectively.
To do that, they needed medical knowledge and experience to match.
Right now?
Scratch.
He scratched his cheek with his fingertips and gave a bitter smile.
‘Well, this is something.’
It was awkward that situations kept arising where he had to step forward.
But there was no helping it.
There was no need to even mention Caprene’s knowledge of thoracic surgery. On top of that, his knowledge and experience in general surgery were nearly on par with a chief specialist.
Taesu, who possessed that knowledge, was strong in emergency medicine and fieldwork.
In an environment like this, there was no one more suitable.
Taesu set everything else aside and thought of only one thing.
The foundation of medicine: the patients.
Hundreds of people had been suffering for hours.
He could not simply stand by and watch.
In a situation like this, holding even the slightest thing back was unthinkable.
‘Let’s pour it all out.’
Once he made up his mind, his heart actually became more at ease.
At that same moment—
Taesu cupped both hands and shouted loudly.
“Medical staff, please gather for a moment.”
“Dr. Choi, why all of a sudden?”
“Can’t you see everyone’s busy?”
Yun Juseong and Jeong Minsu protested loudly.
But he could not shout back and argue point by point.
At that moment, Kim Hyeokgwon called out heavily from beside him.
“If the team leader gives an order, aren’t you supposed to gather first?”
“……We’ll finish up quickly and come.”
Yun Juseong immediately lowered his tail.
He might not have found Taesu difficult to deal with, but Kim Hyeokgwon was another matter.
The other medical staff were the same.
Once the commotion settled for the moment, Kim Hyeokgwon glanced sideways at Taesu.
“Let’s use your voice properly.”
“It’s my first time being team leader.”
“You’ve been team leader all along.”
“Hmm. Let’s just say that’s the case for now.”
Taesu answered vaguely and glossed over it.
It was not the time to argue over when he had become team leader.
Taesu was looking around when—
Vroom.
The sound of a car driving away reached them.
Then Squad Leader Sam and Deputy Squad Leader Leo approached.
“Dr. Choi, we sent the Indian soldiers off.”
“Perfect timing.”
“If you need help, tell us anything. Ah, before that, what was discussed was……”
Just as Squad Leader Sam was about to report—
Step.
Taesu raised a hand and stopped him, refusing.
“I don’t think I need to know.”
“That was true before, but now you should know these things too.”
“Still, not right now.”
“Sir. I’ll tell you afterward.”
Squad Leader Sam saw the medical staff approaching and immediately changed his attitude.
After accompanying them several times, he had learned how to read the flow.
Squad Leader Sam’s silence was appropriate.
Soon, all the medical staff gathered in front of Taesu.
At that moment, Taesu quickly met each person’s gaze one by one.
Sweep.
His eyes took on a firm light.
Seeing that, Jo Uncheol said a word.
“Those are the eyes you had when you were glaring at that Gura bastard in Padum.”
He sensed that the situation was beyond serious.
As if everyone felt the same, the atmosphere also settled.
It was the moment they felt the current of the air change.
Taesu opened his mouth.
Considering they were with the PKO, he spoke in English.
“Everyone is moving in all directions without order.”
“There is that tendency.”
“So we’re going to completely change the system.”
“How?”
Jeong Minsu showed his curiosity with a calm gaze.
Taesu immediately looked at Deputy Squad Leader Leo.
“Leo. Please split up with the members of the deputy squad leader team and assess any additional patients.”
“Should we participate in the rescue as well?”
“As much as possible, move together with the locals.”
Taesu gave the order while also considering the safety of the PKO.
Deputy Squad Leader Leo replied, committing his task to memory.
“Sir.”
“Head out first.”
At Taesu’s suggestion, Deputy Squad Leader Leo immediately took action.
Tap tap tap.
With his abundant brown hair flying, he moved away in an instant.
Soon, his voice came from Squad Leader Sam’s radio.
—Beep. Deputy squad leader team, pair up and scatter to the east, west, north, and south……
The radio transmission continued for a while.
The request was being conveyed exactly as given.
Taesu was satisfied with that voice.
He immediately continued, speaking to everyone.
“From now on, we will reexamine and classify all patients from the beginning.”
At those words, everyone was startled.
“Isn’t that too inefficient?”
“More importantly, when are we going to check that many people all over again?”
“Wouldn’t that be a bit too much?”
Voices full of concern rang out.
Taesu had expected this, so he spoke without the slightest movement.
“We can’t even distinguish who has received emergency treatment. And do all of you remember how each patient is hurting?”
“That’s…… difficult.”
Yun Juseong’s answer grew quieter.
Because they were the ones who had moved without a system.
But Taesu was not scolding them for that.
“Work suddenly piled up and got tangled, so we’re reorganizing it. Don’t worry about it.”
“Ahem. Anyway, the idea is good, but I think it’ll be hard to keep up.”
“That’s why Hyeokgwon and I will handle the initial examinations.”
At that, Kim Hyeokgwon looked at him in surprise.
“Why am I hearing about this for the first time?”
“Because I’m saying it for the first time.”
“Now you’re just using me however you want.”
“It’s a crime to be competent.”
Taesu dismissed him in a single sentence.
Kim Hyeokgwon said nothing more.
At that moment, Jeong Minsu asked.
“The two of you can classify all the patients?”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll only note the main symptoms, so if you find anything additional, please write it down separately.”
Taesu spoke concisely.
But from the listener’s perspective, it was not concise at all.
The idea that he would distinguish countless diseases and symptoms on his own was far too beyond common sense.
Yun Juseong was also filled with concern.
“Dr. Choi, it’s not that I doubt you. It’s just, really……”
“Is there another way?”
“No, there isn’t. There isn’t, and it’s driving me crazy too.”
Yun Juseong spoke honestly.
The way he cleanly admitted it was, if anything, good to see.
Because it was Yun Juseong, Taesu did not raise his voice either.
“Then please trust me.”
“I said I trust you.”
“We’ll proceed as I said.”
“What should we be doing until then?”
When Yun Juseong asked, Nurse Chu Gangik quickly gave him a meaningful look.
“Do you think there’ll be time to do anything?”
“There won’t. I don’t even know if we’ll have time to restock the medical supplies.”
Yun Juseong no longer disturbed the atmosphere with negative thoughts.
Just as the duties of the medical staff were beginning to take shape—
Squad Leader Sam asked carefully.
“Should we line the patients up?”
“No. I’ll have to borrow your hands again this time.”
“What should we help with?”
“Emergency treatment for the lightly injured.”
Taesu quietly told him what needed to be done.
Squad Leader Sam’s eyes gleamed slightly.
“We’ll finally get to use what we learned back then.”
“You’ll be able to use it until your arms fall off.”
Taesu raised one corner of his mouth slightly.
During training, Taesu had taught them first aid as a way to repay them.
It was time to repay them for how passionately they had taught him.
That was also why Squad Leader Sam and his squad members had been able to assist medically in the snowy mountains and Mohar.
Since Taesu had personally trained them, he knew their skill well.