After that, Chairman Seok Jeonghyeon only added brief responses here and there.
“Mm. I see……”
And so the connection between Taesu and the Korean village was broadcast and flowed into Korea for the first time.
It was a long, lengthy story, so Taesu spoke by himself for nearly thirty minutes.
By the time a faint dryness rose in Taesu’s mouth, he finally finished.
“……That is how those people are living.”
“Hrrmm.”
Chairman Seok Jeonghyeon’s heavy sigh of feeling sounded long in his ears.
Taesu quietly waited until he spoke first.
Not long after, Chairman Seok Jeonghyeon’s voice asked a question.
“Who knows about this?”
“Only the three of us know the full circumstances.”
“You said they—no, those people—are keeping silent?”
Chairman Seok Jeonghyeon asked, using a respectful term.
That meant he trusted Taesu’s words completely.
Taesu’s heart thudded heavily from that change in address alone.
“Yes. But do you believe me?”
“What reason would Dr. Choi have to lie to me from that foreign land?”
“None. But I think it’s something difficult to believe so easily.”
Taesu spoke his honest feelings.
But to Chairman Seok Jeonghyeon, it seemed to sound like a foolish question.
He immediately gave a wise answer.
“Even if everything else were false, the fact that they exist there cannot be false, can it?”
“Yes. That is true.”
“That alone is enough. Dr. Choi, you did well to call.”
Chairman Seok Jeonghyeon quietly praised him.
The moment he heard those words, Taesu felt as if something had opened up inside him.
It was simply refreshing.
“Hoo. Ahem. Thank you.”
The end of Taesu’s voice trembled slightly.
As if understanding how he felt, Chairman Seok Jeonghyeon gave him no small measure of comfort.
“Why were you so tense? What is so difficult about making one phone call?”
“It wasn’t exactly easy to bring up.”
“Drink a full glass of water and sort yourself out a little. I’ll call again soon.”
Click.
The call suddenly ended.
Taesu, whose heart had been pounding, abruptly turned into someone who had the wind knocked out of him.
“Huh, huh? Hello?”
Rustle.
He looked at the phone screen, then put it back to his ear, repeating the motion, but the call had indeed ended.
Taesu was bewildered, but he tightly gripped his phone and waited endlessly for the call.
The time Taesu waited was not that long.
Tiririk.
As soon as his phone rang, he answered reflexively.
“Yes, this is Choi Taesu.”
“Did you drink some water?”
“No. There wasn’t any, so I just waited.”
“How honest. In any case, Chief Jeong and I have drawn up a preliminary plan.”
At those words, Taesu’s eyes widened.
“Already?”
“If you think of it simply, it’s easy.”
“Ah, yes.”
Taesu, not having reached such a level himself, was left bewildered.
Perhaps because he could not see his face, Chairman Seok Jeonghyeon’s voice immediately continued.
“We’re going to use that Rakul merchant to buy the entire stock.”
“But if Dongseong imports and sells hoes, the image might be a little…… Would that be all right?”
“Even if we gave them out as gifts to employees, it would take decades.”
“That’s true. I didn’t think of that. But is there a reason you’re going through Raku?”
Just as Taesu’s curiosity deepened.
Instead of Chairman Seok Jeonghyeon’s voice, he heard the voice of Chief Secretary Jeong Yongcheol.
“Dr. Choi, you’re on speakerphone.”
“Yes. Chief Secretary.”
“The reason we intend to go through that merchant is so as not to touch those people’s pride.”
Chief Secretary Jeong Yongcheol’s words flew at Taesu like a dagger.
“Urk! Ah, yes.”
“What is it?”
“I touched on that point a little while ago.”
When Taesu confessed honestly, Chairman Seok Jeonghyeon’s voice came through.
“That was your mistake, Dr. Choi.”
“Of course. I’m reflecting on it.”
“Always keep in mind that one small word I let slip can become a great wound to someone else.”
“Thank you for your words.”
Taesu immediately took the pointed advice to heart.
After that, Chief Secretary Jeong Yongcheol continued explaining the plan.
“Once a certain level of trade is established, we will increase the order volume.”
“It will be difficult for them to accommodate that.”
“Then we will have a reason to invest on our end.”
“Ah!”
Taesu could not help but exclaim at that.
These were things he could never have imagined on his own.
As Taesu was thus astonished, Chairman Seok Jeonghyeon’s voice reached his ears.
“For now, we’ll say only that much.”
“I think my head will burst just listening.”
“Hoho. It must sound complicated. So leave that to us, and we’ll be able to talk face-to-face before long.”
“Yes…… Huh?”
Taesu, already surprised, felt an even greater shock.
Chairman Seok Jeonghyeon spoke as if it were only natural.
“If we’re going to invest, shouldn’t we conduct an inspection?”
“Of course, I suppose so?”
“So we must go and see. See for ourselves, listen again, ask questions, and solve things one by one that way.”
“Yes. Understood.”
“You seem dazed…… Mm. We should pretend not to know about this for now. That is the right thing to do.”
When Chairman Seok Jeonghyeon firmly decided, Taesu first followed his lead.
“I will absolutely keep silent until you tell me otherwise.”
“You don’t ask why?”
“I’ll know when the time comes.”
“That’s right. At times, putting something off is also a virtue. Then thank you for the call after so long. Get some rest.”
Click.
Chairman Seok Jeonghyeon once again hung up immediately.
Since Taesu had experienced it once before, he was not surprised this time.
“He really moves fast.”
It seemed his state of mind was quite different from his relaxed voice.
Even so, Taesu felt good, as if he had solved one huge assignment for the Korean village.
This kind of legwork, he could do as much as needed.
That smile was brief.
Taesu’s expression gradually calmed, and strength entered his eyes.
“I should keep doing what I have to do.”
As a patient, he did not have much time left.
His body was slowly beginning to itch.
This was a separate issue from the helicopter medical team.
A white coat.
It kept flickering before his eyes.
It was clearly a signal from himself, longing for the moment he would return to being a doctor.
Taesu finished his walk in good spirits.
And from there, he headed to the hospital room.
Creak.
As he opened the hinged door and entered, Park Huinam, lying on the hospital bed, raised his hand in greeting.
“Oh, you’re here?”
“Are the tests over?”
“The tests are over, and I’ve even finished eating. That detailed examination or whatever it was, I absolutely can’t do it twice.”
Park Huinam shuddered.
It seemed the fasting period had been quite painful.
Taesu smiled at him as he groaned.
“That’s why I did what I did on the first day.”
“As expected, Dr. Choi understands well because you’re one of our village people.”
“More importantly, what did they say?”
Thump.
Taesu asked as he placed both hands on the frame at the foot of the bed.
His gaze naturally turned toward the leg in a cast.
Perhaps the cast had been newly replaced, because it was clean and the auxiliary equipment had been simplified.
And the cast only covered down to the ankle.
Everything below was clearly exposed.
Two of Park Huinam’s toes were missing. They were the very toes that had to be amputated due to necrosis after the surgery.
Every time Taesu saw them, his own toes twitched for no reason.
‘I’m sorry……’
Taesu’s eyes toward those empty spaces were filled with too much guilt and regret.
Park Huinam was about to answer, but sensing Taesu’s gaze, he changed the subject.
“My foot’s pretty handsome, isn’t it?”
“Yes. It is.”
“Still, if you stare at it like that, I get a little embarrassed.”
“……My eyes keep going there.”
Taesu’s expression darkened as he answered.
Park Huinam scolded him.
“Isn’t missing two toes better than missing a whole leg?”
“That’s true.”
“Then why are you shrinking back like children who broke a bowl? Don’t do that. If you do, what am I supposed to do, after the damn fuss I made back then?”
Park Huinam grumbled, even bringing up children.
There was not the slightest resentment toward Taesu in his nagging.
Rather, perhaps recalling the unreasonable tantrum he had thrown right after the surgery, his expression began to turn uncomfortable.
Seeing Park Huinam like that, Taesu quickly changed the mood first.
“It healed well. It’s clean enough that there shouldn’t be any problems going forward either.”
“How bland. If that’s the case, why look so sorry and make a person feel bad? Good grief.”
“I know…… So what did they say about the results?”
When Taesu asked subtly, Park Huinam started to answer, then paused.
“Something’s strange.”
“What is, all of a sudden?”
“You’re the doctor, so it’s strange that you’re asking me.”
“I told you, I’m a patient right now.”
Pat, pat.
Taesu proudly brushed his patient gown lightly to emphasize it.
Park Huinam answered with an incredulous look.
“They said the next checkup can be pushed back about three months, and then they’ll change it to a device I can walk with.”
“That’s a relief. But English…… Were you always good at it?”
“No, I’m not good at English.”
“Then how did you understand all that?”
Taesu found that point puzzling.
In this building, Kim Hyeokgwon was the only expert who could fluently interpret Korean.
Right now, he had left with Jeong Minsu after being called by Dr. Jonathan.
Good Morning Earth had a person in charge of Korea, but they were in a different building to begin with.
Brad Kim was at the medical camp, but he had no reason to come into the building.
Other than them, the foreign medical staff’s level of Korean was only enough to exchange greetings.
Even that was a recent change.
It was a new trend that had arisen as Taesu and Jeong Minsu’s names became known in the NGO.
It was only natural for Taesu to be curious.
But Park Huinam instead asked back with a dumbfounded face.
“There was a Korean nurse. Didn’t you know?”
“A Korean nurse?”
Taesu narrowed his brow and searched his memory.
No matter how much he thought about it, a Korean nurse in the headquarters surgery department was news to him.
‘Did she arrive today?’
Just as his puzzlement deepened.
Rattle.
The door opened, and a clear, pretty voice spoke in Korean.
“Patient Park Huinam, I’ll check your IV…… Oh! Dr. Choi.”
“Yes? Huh? Ah! Nurse Lee Chorong.”
Taesu turned around in surprise at the voice calling him.
And he immediately recognized the person reflected in his eyes.
It was definitely Nurse Lee Chorong.
She had voluntarily come all the way to Malnoi, suffered through hardships, and then they had parted without even being able to properly exchange farewells.
He had already been thinking that he should ask after her.
When she appeared right in front of him like this, Taesu could not hide his surprise.
“What happened?”
“Just a moment. Let me check the IV first.”
“Of course.”
Standing at the foot of the bed, Taesu followed Nurse Lee Chorong with astonished eyes as she approached the IV stand.
Meanwhile, Park Huinam’s eyes moved back and forth between the two of them.
Then, smiling meaningfully to himself, he asked.
“Can only handsome men and pretty women become doctors and nurses?”
“Pardon?”
“No, just looking at you two like this, you seem pretty well matched…… Well, I’m just saying.”
Park Huinam did not say it outright, but prodded them here and there.
Taesu immediately grasped the situation and grumbled inwardly.
‘Honestly, is this meddling disease in our DNA or something? It knows no borders.’
Put nicely, it was interest; put badly, interference.
Of course, what Park Huinam showed was interest.
The problem was that the direction of that interest had strayed far too differently.
It was something that could make Taesu and Nurse Lee Chorong awkward with each other.
But Nurse Lee Chorong, who had a bold personality, reacted in an entirely unusual way.
“Oh my, did you notice right away that I like Dr. Choi?”
Wink.
Nurse Lee Chorong gave only Taesu a slight wink.
It meant to let him know she was joking.
But Nurse Lee Chorong did not know that Park Huinam had no talent for that kind of joke.