Dr. Yijakson reported quickly.
"Dr. Choi and two others succeeded in a CABG just now."
"They did?"
"I participated as the anesthesiologist. I saw it clearly with my own two eyes. Does this even make sense? A first-year resident succeeding at a CABG."
Dr. Yijakson was so excited he was on the verge of going wild.
James even had to calm him down.
"Calm down first."
"How can I calm down? And it wasn't just a success. I deliberately delayed the medication timing by one minute."
"That shouldn't be a problem, though, right?"
"Dr. Choi immediately told me to slow the heartbeat right then. Exactly ten seconds after the medication timing."
Dr. Yijakson even shouted.
Only then did James's voice also rise in surprise, as if he finally understood the reaction.
"So he caught that within just ten seconds. And then?"
"When I played dumb, he punched the heart. He even knew the shock method."
"Hoho, it seems they showed quite a lot in a single surgery. Where are they now?"
"They went to prepare for another dispatch. You have no idea how much I wanted to scream but kept holding it in."
Perhaps because there was no need to do so anymore, his voice seemed twice as loud.
James's voice calmed down a bit.
"After they depart, find out later where their next dispatch location is."
"Are you going to go see them?"
"I want to see the expressions of the patients who went through their hands."
"Yes. I will convey your intentions to the PKO until you return. Please take care of yourself. Goodbye."
Swish.
Dr. Yijakson carefully lowered his phone and shook his head back and forth.
"Dr. Choi, you're crazy. Really crazy. And Dr. Jeong following you, what are you? And assisting both of them at once while barely being an interpreter? Everyone's crazy."
Dr. Yijakson leaned back deeply into his chair.
The fatigue from struggling to suppress his amazement during the surgery seemed to be hitting him now.
A successful CABG surgery by residents.
He still couldn't believe that he had seen that surgery with his own eyes.
Meanwhile.
Taesu, Jeong Minsu, and Kim Hyeokgwon burst through the door of their quarters.
Bang.
"They say we're leaving in an hour."
"It took an hour just to find us."
"Why is it that whenever I'm with Dr. Choi, we keep frying beans in lightning like this?"
They shouted at each other as they were busy packing their bags.
But then Taesu stopped and looked over.
"Are you not packing over there, Hyeokgwon-ssi?"
"Me? I've already got everything ready."
"That's impressive."
"I think it's impressive too, so please praise me greatly, and more importantly, we'll get paid for this surgery too, right?"
Just as Kim Hyeokgwon asked to confirm.
Swish swish.
Jeong Minsu stuffed laundered clothes into his bag and said loudly.
"It will naturally be included."
"We should ask Dr. Choi."
"I'll make sure to include it even if I have to poke him in the ribs."
"I'd appreciate that."
The back-and-forth conversation between the two sounded somewhat strange.
He had felt something was off even during lunch.
Thud.
He pushed everything in and finished preparing first.
Then Taesu looked back and forth between the two and asked quietly.
"The atmosphere between you two seems quite different?"
"Us?"
"Us?"
As Taesu pondered, Jeong Minsu subtly butted in.
"What's with your way of speaking to our Hyeokgwon-ssi?"
"Our Hyeokgwon-ssi?"
An increasing sense of absurdity washed over him.
Kim Hyeokgwon gave Taesu a scolding.
"Don't needlessly say anything to our Dr. Jeong, and if you've packed everything, let's rest a bit."
"Our Dr. Jeong?"
"Are you going to keep clinging to every word I say?"
Though Kim Hyeokgwon reprimanded him, Taesu remained bewildered.
Taesu sat in an empty chair and looked back and forth between the two.
"Did you drink during the day?"
"Who have you been operating with until now?"
"You're suddenly acting like this so I'm confused. Ah, then does that mean I'm the one who drank?"
Taesu really looked out of it.
Even at that reaction, Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon spoke ill of Taesu right to his face.
"Taesu is so naive and foolish."
"Exactly. Let's do this properly."
"I'm sorry. I'll take good care of things from now on."
"Yes. Let's pay more attention."
It felt like grumbling, but the conversation was actually soft.
The only problem was Taesu.
He couldn't adapt alone to the atmosphere of the two, which had changed so drastically.
Anyway, time passed.
When they came out in front of the building on time, Bread Kim was waiting with a bag on his back.
They had met earlier but hadn't properly greeted each other.
Just as Taesu was about to introduce them.
Kim Hyeokgwon approached first and asked familiarly.
"Dr. Kim, are you really going too?"
"Yes. Dr. Choi's skills are improving by leaps and bounds; I couldn't just sit still."
"It's tough over there."
Kim Hyeokgwon subtly tried to scare him, but Bread Kim only smiled more.
"I'm not going because I'm bored."
"You'll see. Ah, is it okay for an interpreter to say this?"
"What do you mean? That's what Dr. Choi said. He said without Hyeokgwon-ssi, he can't do anything."
"I'm glad you heard the rumors."
The back-and-forth conversation was remarkably smooth.
A good atmosphere was naturally welcome.
But Taesu was tilting his head.
"Didn't you two just meet for the first time earlier?"
Taesu asked, doubting his own memory.
Then Kim Hyeokgwon's gaze sharpened rapidly.
"I saw him when Dr. Choi silently disappeared to Nepal."
"What? Ah."
As Taesu's expression grew awkward, Bread Kim added.
"I was in the follow-up team, you know. While I was preparing to depart, Hyeokgwon-ssi was looking everywhere for Dr. Choi. That's when we met."
"W-was that so?"
"Hyeokgwon-ssi was really hurt back then."
As Bread Kim spoke, Kim Hyeokgwon snorted as if he had been waiting.
"Exactly. I thought I was completely abandoned."
"H-haha."
"Is that funny?"
"……."
Taesu fell silent and subtly turned his head away.
They didn't seem interested in Taesu, who was embarrassed.
Kim Hyeokgwon boldly stepped forward and introduced Jeong Minsu to Bread Kim.
"This is, um... I should call him Teacher Jeong Minsu in the Korean way, right? Anyway, he's a bad doctor intern colleague over there."
"Is that so? Nice to meet you. I'm Bread Kim."
Bread Kim extended his hand first.
Jeong Minsu quickly grasped it with both hands and bowed politely.
"Hello. I'm Jeong Minsu. I've heard a lot about you."
"Dr. Choi talks about me?"
"Yes. He said you helped him a lot. If I may be so bold, I look forward to your assistance as well."
Jeong Minsu responded politely and courteously.
At that sight, Bread Kim's gaze turned to Taesu.
"It seems like a very different personality from someone."
"Ahem."
"Dr. Choi, does it sting?"
Bread Kim smiled widely and teased.
It wasn't just him; Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon did too.
In the strangely unfolding situation, Taesu just let everything go.
"It's nice that you all get along so well. Except for me."
"Yikes, I should stop. He might hold a grudge again."
At Bread Kim's words, Jeong Minsu asked with a curious face.
"Has Taesu held grudges against you too, sir?"
"Don't even get me started."
"I apologize on his behalf."
"What are you saying. By the way, how does such a nice doctor end up traveling with Dr. Choi?"
With the continued front-talk(?), only Taesu's expression grew more awkward.
'It's broad daylight, so why is it so dark before my eyes?'
For a moment, Park Seongmin's voice he had heard in Korea tickled his ear like an auditory hallucination.
- Our interns, close your eyes. The moment you close them, darkness unfolds, right? Yes. That is exactly your future and your reality. Hoho.
When Park Seongmin's mischievous expression came to mind, Taesu flinched.
When a dark future truly unfolded like when he had started as an intern in thoracic surgery, it was bleak.
Then a voice of salvation reached the bleak Taesu.
Vroom.
It was the sound of a truck engine.
Looking over, PKO trucks were approaching them.
He could see Squad Leader Sam in the passenger seat of the first truck lightly waving his hand.
Taesu immediately spoke to the group.
"Let's get going again."
"Yes. Let's go."
Kim Hyeokgwon responded as if he had never teased him.
And Jeong Minsu and Bread Kim nodded with meaningful smiles.
The next day.
The western region of Kashmir was also shrouded in darkness. The surroundings were entirely rugged mountainous terrain made up of mountains.
Through that rough path, PKO trucks moved in a line.
Rattle rattle.
The trucks shook so much that the passengers were a concern.
They had been driving through those harsh mountains all night.
Dawn was gradually breaking.
And the bumpy road became flat. And soon a village built in a basin surrounded by mountains came into view.
It was Makute Village, their destination.
The view unfolding with the sunrise was a sight to behold.
The PKO trucks hurried down the slope toward their destination.
Soon after.
Squeak.
The trucks stopped at the village entrance.
Haphazardly stacked logs were illegally occupying the road, making it impossible to proceed further.
Everyone got out of the trucks.
Perhaps because they had driven all night, everyone was full of fatigue.
Nevertheless, the PKO soldiers surveyed the surroundings and began to assess the situation.
Taesu was also looking at the stacked logs.
The feeling was ominous.
"Hmm."
Just as he let out a small exclamation.
Bread Kim came up beside him and quietly asked Taesu.
"It seems unnatural, doesn't it?"
"Yes. It looks like it was deliberately stacked."
Kim Hyeokgwon stood side by side next to the two of them.
He let out a big yawn and spoke in a blunt voice.
"Yawn. I would have blocked it too. A bolt from the blue is one thing, but a sudden bombing? I'd be furious."
"I heard it was originally a quiet village."
Jeong Minsu added an explanation with a face full of pity.
They were words that let them know why they had been dispatched to Makute Village.
Among them, Taesu added in a low voice.
"Which village wouldn't be like that."
"The surroundings are all mountains, what war?"
"Still, a lot of people came and went because of the specialty goods, right?"
"Who are those crazy guys who slipped in among those merchants and dropped a bomb?"
Everyone uttered a few more words.
Inside them were anger, pity, and compassion.
Then Squad Leader Sam approached in a guarded posture and reported.
"That seems to have been stacked by the villagers."
"I thought so?"
"Yes. I think the proper order is to go inside, let them know we've arrived, and get permission to enter."
Squad Leader Sam spoke in a confident voice.
Taesu expressed slight concern.
"Will it be okay?"
"The village requested our assistance, so it is judged there will be no major problems."
"Still, you must be careful, and then careful again."
"With the doctors here, there is nothing to worry about. Then we'll be back."
After finishing his words, Squad Leader Sam turned around.
Several PKO soldiers moved along with him as he headed into the village.
The other soldiers raised their alert level.
Though the surroundings were silent, they firmly established a perimeter so they could respond immediately if anything happened.
At the center were Taesu and the medical team.
The soldiers cared even more for those they had to protect more than themselves.
While waiting under such protection.
They saw the figure of Squad Leader Sam who had gone into the village.
But he was alone.