“I respect you.”
“It’s troubling when you say that out of nowhere.”
“What am I supposed to do when respect suddenly wells up in me?”
“Do it later, and please stay farther back.”
Just then, Corporal Guspia’s excited question came from behind them.
“Squad Leader, should we pop a grenade too?”
“Pop what? That side’s packed with civilian homes on both sides!”
“Damn it! Eat this, you bastards!”
Ratatatat!
At that moment, Squad Leader Sam sprang up and moved.
Adding his fire to Corporal Guspia’s return fire, he asked, “Guspia, how’s your body?”
“Nearly cracked my teeth!”
“That’d piss you off. Keep firing!”
“Ah, beeeep……”
Corporal Guspia fired his rifle while spewing curses too foul to put into words.
Tat-tat-tat, tat-tat-tat!
Both of them fired nonstop, trying not to show the slightest opening.
Then Corporal Alton got up and held out a hand to Taesu.
“Your head’s spinning, isn’t it?”
“I told you, I respect you.”
“It’s only this manageable because there’s some distance, and their firing angle is limited. Urgh?!”
When Corporal Alton pulled, Taesu sprang to his feet with the force.
And then he was seriously torn.
“Damn it.”
“Don’t even think about picking up a gun. I don’t want you to learn how filthy it feels to shoot at people.”
“Hmm.”
“We’re just doing our job. Stay somewhere safe.”
With that, Corporal Alton turned away.
Step, step.
He was agile enough to make the military radio on his back seem weightless.
Taesu watched his retreating figure, his heart unbearably heavy.
That was when—
“Alton, switch!”
“Sir! Take my bullets, you bastards!”
Tat-tat-tat!
Corporal Alton returned fire from the main position.
Having handed over his spot, Squad Leader Sam came over beside Taesu.
“Phew. Sorry for dragging you into a place like this.”
“Sam.”
“Sorry, talk later.”
Click.
Squad Leader Sam took out the radio and immediately transmitted.
“Red, engaged with the enemy. No injuries so far. Requesting Werewolf fire support!”
“Werewolf. So that’s why it was the wolf escape.”
Listening to the radio, Taesu picked up a small piece of information.
It wasn’t that he wanted to know.
It was more accurate to say he had come to know it naturally.
Soon, Squad Leader Sam lightly pressed his in-ear as if a transmission had come through.
Then he lifted the radio and answered.
“We can hold until you arrive. No worries. We’ll buy time with suppressive fire. Over.”
Tap.
Lowering the radio, Squad Leader Sam said to Taesu, “Reinforcements from the battalion will be here soon.”
“I’m grateful.”
“If they called us here, it’s only right they take responsibility for us.”
“That’s true, but there’s absolutely nothing for me to do.”
Taesu’s heart was far too heavy.
Just then, Squad Leader Sam glanced at him and said, “We felt the same.”
“Pardon?”
“That’s how it felt watching you people anxiously administer emergency treatment.”
“That really hits home.”
When Taesu spoke bitterly, Squad Leader Sam gave a faint smile.
“Right now, it’s our time.”
“Once this time passes, my time will come.”
“What if, when that time comes, we tell Dr. Choi that we’re going to operate too?”
“I’ll tell you to rest.”
The moment Taesu answered, Squad Leader Sam gave him a light wink.
“I’ll return those exact words to you.”
“I have nothing to say to that.”
“We’d better wrap this situation up quickly, then. Well.”
Squad Leader Sam swiftly moved away again.
Tat-tat-tat, ta-tat!
The alternating gunfire toward the enemy continued.
Taesu felt his perception of the weapon called a gun changing, if only slightly.
It was still undoubtedly an effective weapon for killing the enemy.
But its meaning changed drastically depending on who used it.
A short while later.
The firefight entered a new phase.
“They say the battalion has arrived!”
“Oooh, took them long enough!”
Tat-tat-tat!
Everyone’s faces brightened.
The number of bullets flying this way had definitely decreased.
But then—
“Aaaagh!”
A scream?
A sharp glint flashed through Taesu’s eyes.
At the same time, Squad Leader Sam quickly backed away and focused on his in-ear.
Then he shouted into the radio at the top of his lungs.
“So those bastards shot even after seeing a resident running away, is that what you’re saying?”
Taesu’s ears pricked up.
Rustle.
He immediately moved in front of Squad Leader Sam.
When Sam saw Taesu, he lightly extended a hand and pushed him back for a moment.
Then, as if he had heard something through the in-ear, he pressed the radio again.
“They’re out of the direct line of fire, but they’re in the indirect fire zone?”
“……”
Taesu’s expression gradually hardened.
Squad Leader Sam saw it too, but he prioritized the transmission.
“So you’re saying firing from that side is limited…… What the hell does that mean now? Who’s running in there? Stop them!”
Squad Leader Sam shouted until his voice nearly tore.
At that exact moment—
“Aaaagh!”
Another piercing scream rang out.
Taesu was slowly reaching the point where he could no longer bear it.
His desire for the radio in Squad Leader Sam’s hand grew uncontrollably.
Blaze.
His eyes were, quite literally, burning.
There was no way Squad Leader Sam failed to notice.
He knew Taesu’s personality all too well.
Squad Leader Sam instinctively sensed a threat worse than bullets.
If he wanted to survive unscathed—
“Damn it!”
Squad Leader Sam moved his hand with solemn resolve.
Pop!
With the gravest expression in the world, he swiftly detached the in-ear from the radio.
That was the wisest way Squad Leader Sam could at least protect the radio.
He didn’t care who mocked him for it.
To Squad Leader Sam, it was a truly important matter.
At that moment, the flames filling Taesu’s eyes weakened a little.
Taesu’s gaze was still fixed on the radio.
From the radio, the voice of someone from the battalion rang out sharply.
—The resident who was just hit appears to be the mother!
“So the daughter collapsed, and she ran into a place with bullets flying?”
—The daughter is estimated to be about middle-school age.
The voice from the radio was filled with regret as well.
Patients, and a firefight.
Now two problems had come rushing in at once.
Squad Leader Sam wore a troubled expression.
Taesu made the decision on his behalf.
“If I ask you for the radio in this situation, I’d be a truly shameless bastard, wouldn’t I?”
“I sincerely thank you.”
“So Sam, you stay here and handle the radio. Give me a gun.”
Thud.
Taesu truly grabbed not the radio, but the gun.
Startled, Squad Leader Sam deftly twisted the gun and pushed Taesu’s hand away.
“What are you doing?”
“Come on, don’t be like that. Give it to me.”
“You said you wouldn’t shoot people.”
Squad Leader Sam stood in Taesu’s way with a serious expression.
But Taesu was serious too.
“Those things aren’t people. They shot when a child was running, and then they shot her mother too. Is that something a human being does?”
“You’re too worked up.”
“Yes. I’m worked up. So I’m going to kill those bastards.”
Taesu openly held out his hand.
It was an utterly confident, utterly natural gesture.
Right now, Taesu’s eyes were cold enough to be chilling.
Cold enough that anyone facing him would feel a shiver down their spine.
It was a look even Squad Leader Sam, who had faced a hail of bullets, could not take lightly.
Looking into Taesu’s eyes, Squad Leader Sam instinctively knew.
If he handed over the gun, Taesu would charge straight at them.
Clench!
Strength naturally entered the hand with which Squad Leader Sam held the gun.
“I’ll do it.”
“You’ve suffered enough until now, so I’m saying I’ll take over for a bit.”
“Absolutely not.”
Squad Leader Sam refused with an expression more serious than anything in the world.
But whoever it was in the battalion had appallingly poor timing and sent a transmission at that very moment.
—Two residents hit. The severity of their injuries is not normal. Bleeding has been confirmed.
At that moment, Squad Leader Sam flinched violently, looked at the radio, and shouted.
“You crazy bastard, now even your mouth is causing a damn problem!”
“……Sam.”
Taesu called him in a flat, sunken voice.
In that instant, Squad Leader Sam flinched.
That was when—
Ta-tang, tat-tat-tat!
Gunshots rang out.
Stray bullets that had struck here and there flew toward them.
Ting, psshk, thud!
The sounds and sight of bullets ricocheting around them were vivid.
And yet Taesu and Squad Leader Sam did not move a muscle as they faced each other.
Taesu remained with his hand outstretched.
The problem was that the meaning was far too clear.
“Sam.”
Taesu called him again.
At that moment, Squad Leader Sam said heavily, “Give me exactly five minutes. I’ll resolve it.”
“If you don’t, I’ll take that gun.”
“I’m doing this because I don’t want Dr. Choi’s hands stained with blood!”
“You don’t want a doctor’s hands stained with blood?”
Taesu responded coldly.
Squad Leader Sam answered even more gravely.
“If it were surgery, I’d approve whether you used a gun or a bazooka. But this isn’t that.”
“The circumstances are clearly different.”
“And you’ve told me many times why you don’t pick up a gun.”
Squad Leader Sam boldly touched Taesu’s weak point.
In that instant, Taesu, who had been like a runaway train, came to a halt as if it were a lie.
“You said five minutes.”
“For Dr. Choi’s sake as well, I’ll keep my promise.”
“Understood.”
Slide.
After answering, Taesu took one large step back.
Then he checked the time.
Every action was set to the span of five minutes.
Squad Leader Sam had not mentioned five minutes for no reason either.
Holding the radio he had defended with difficulty, Squad Leader Sam called the other squad members.
“Red here. Fox, Baby, Dr. Choi’s lid has blown.”
Everyone should have been listening to the radio, so that single sentence was enough.
And those who knew Taesu would surely understand exactly what it meant.
Radio transmissions came from the squad members immediately.
—Fox here. Sniper standing by. He says the firing distance is short and there are many obstacles, so there may be a slight margin of error in accuracy.
“The hell with margin of error. So, has he found the target?”
—Target acquired.
“Stand by. And 33 Wolf, are you on the radio?”
Squad Leader Sam called out with a unique call sign.
It seemed he was calling the battalion troops.
An answer soon came.
—Engaged in combat. Radio will be difficult.
“We’re engaged in combat too, so cut the bullshit. Cease fire. When the sniper takes the shot, fire simultaneously.”
—Understood.
“All personnel capable of firing, stand by. Timing for operation commencement is left to the sniper.”
By the time he finished transmitting, Squad Leader Sam had arrived at the three-way intersection.
Click-clack.
He reloaded his rifle and was taking deep breaths.
Corporal Guspia and Corporal Alton were the same.
All PKO personnel went on standby.
But the terrorists did not.
With no response from this side, they seemed to be thrown into confusion.
Tat-tat-tat, taang!
They deliberately fired warning shots, trying to provoke a reaction.
But this side absolutely did not return fire.