Taesu was the first to recognize him and called out in welcome.
“Doctor Sandro!”
“Huh? Oh, Samba!”
Doctor Sandro merely raised a hand in greeting and tried to pass by.
Kim Hyeokgwon caught him.
Tap.
“What’s with this cold reaction?”
“I just got an emergency call.”
“What kind of emergency call goes to the Department of Laboratory Medicine?”
Kim Hyeokgwon looked as if this was the first he’d ever heard of such a thing.
The same went for Taesu and Jeong Minsu.
At that moment, Doctor Sandro glared sharply at Taesu and said,
“I’m on my way because Internal Medicine Team 2 called me. I’m curious what Doctor Choi thinks about that.”
“Internal Medicine Team 2… I was just there.”
“What? Then… Doctor Gallion, that bastard, seriously.”
Grrind.
Doctor Sandro clenched his fist so hard it looked like it might crush.
At that reaction, Taesu quietly took a step back.
It felt as if that anger might pour down on him, but his curiosity came first, so he asked,
“What do you mean, Doctor Gallion ‘again’?”
“What else would it be? A lab request, obviously. Ever since that day, I’ve practically been clocking in at Internal Medicine Team 2 every single day.”
“Oh dear, how did that happen…”
At Taesu’s mutter, Doctor Sandro shot him a piercing glare.
“How did it happen?”
“Hap. Sorry.”
“Come here. Why are you standing so far away? I said come here.”
“Samba!”
Taesu let out the exclamation at a completely absurd moment.
There was no way Doctor Sandro would respond to it.
“My life motto is samba, and medical is soul, but being called in every day from Laboratory Medicine was not part of the plan.”
“Then don’t go.”
“Don’t go? Doctor Choi, do you not know Doctor Gallion? That fussy, cold, heartless…”
Doctor Sandro ground his teeth as he badmouthed him.
Just then, Taesu quickly raised his hand, holding his phone.
“Doctor Sandro, one moment.”
“I have a lot to say.”
“Doctor Jeong will listen to you.”
Taesu pushed the task off with confidence.
Whoosh!
Doctor Sandro immediately turned and poured out his grievances to Jeong Minsu in his characteristic rapid English and thick accent.
“Hey, listen. Listen to me. Ever since Doctor Choi called me, I…”
His lament, accompanied by both hands waving wildly, was more long-winded than a rap.
While Doctor Sandro continued venting,
Slid.
Taesu lowered his phone and called him.
“Doctor Sandro. I think you’ll only have to go until today.”
“It’s suddenly over? Really?”
“Go see Doctor Gallion. I earnestly asked him to give Doctor Sandro some room to breathe.”
Taesu declared, phone still in hand.
At that instant, Doctor Sandro’s distorted face brightened radiantly.
Thump!
Grabbing Taesu’s hand, Doctor Sandro said heartily,
“Doctor Choi, you are the savior of my life. Oh, my sun!”
“No. I’m not exactly the sun.”
“I love you!”
“No. Please put that love away too.”
Even as Taesu firmly pushed him back, Doctor Sandro could not stop rejoicing.
“Doctor Choi, if you ever need anything again, no matter when, you must come find me. Got it?”
“What? This situation right now…”
“Anyway, I have to go get a definite answer from Doctor Gallion now, so I’ll see you later. Everybody welcome!”
After shouting energetically, Doctor Sandro bounded away.
Everyone stared after him with baffled expressions.
Among them, Jeong Minsu quietly opened his mouth.
“Do you think Doctor Sandro doesn’t remember why he ended up going through all that trouble in the first place?”
“If so, that is a serious issue that requires us to examine how he became a doctor to begin with.”
Kim Hyeokgwon responded with a grave face.
Then Taesu spoke in a low voice.
“I like how bright and innocent he is.”
“Aren’t you the one person who shouldn’t say that?”
“He said to call him anytime. As his junior, I should listen to my senior.”
“You devil. Is your conscience even attached somewhere?”
“I must have dropped it somewhere. Still, I’d been feeling bothered because I didn’t know what happened to Doctor Sandro, but now I feel a bit relieved.”
Taesu even smiled faintly as he entered the headquarters building.
Meanwhile, Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon walked a little apart from him.
They even kept their guard up as they whispered.
“His character is seriously unbelievable.”
“It’s the kind of character that would make even the evil gods of India slap their knees in admiration.”
“Now that we’ve seen his true nature, let’s be careful.”
Murmur, murmur.
Taesu heard every word of the badmouthing behind him clearly.
It seemed everyone was finally at ease.
Taesu was the same.
While he had been away, the slightly troublesome matters had been sorted out one by one.
“Time really is the best medicine.”
With a refreshed face, he quickened his steps toward the lodging.
Several days passed.
During that time, Taesu and the other two recovered at the lodging from the exhaustion of their dispatch.
Normally, after returning from a dispatch, they were given rest like this.
Until now, between emergencies and whatnot, even their return days had been chaotic.
This was what things were originally supposed to look like after coming back.
Rest was indeed the best tonic.
Their haggard, weary faces had recovered considerably.
The three of them stood in front of the administrative office inside the headquarters building.
Kim Hyeokgwon glared at the door and said,
“They could’ve just called one person. Why make all of us come and go?”
“It’s about the Helicopter Medical Team, isn’t it?”
“If it’s resuming, can’t they just tell us to go back on emergency standby from today?”
Kim Hyeokgwon continued voicing his dissatisfaction.
Regarding that, Jeong Minsu leaned slightly toward Taesu and whispered,
“He’s like that because the allowance for this dispatch wasn’t much.”
“We explained to him that it’s different because the hazard pay itself was left out.”
“He’s someone who puts cash first no matter how many times you explain.”
After Jeong Minsu added that,
Kim Hyeokgwon shot him a sharp look and snapped,
“It seems Doctor Jeong has some complaints about my life philosophy.”
“Not at all. I was just explaining the situation.”
“When you say something everyone already knows out loud, isn’t that because you want me to hear it?”
Kim Hyeokgwon’s reaction was definitely sensitive.
Slide.
Taesu stepped between the two and calmly soothed him.
“Mr. Hyeokgwon, that’s exactly why you need to go in.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You said it before, didn’t you? That after going somewhere extremely dangerous, the allowance was on a different level.”
“That’s true.”
“Then I think you need to speak to Hakuna, who’s in charge of us.”
Taesu was not particularly interested in whether that was within Hakuna’s discretion.
At this rate, Kim Hyeokgwon would hold out until the very end, so he was trying to persuade him to go in.
After thinking quietly about Taesu’s words, Kim Hyeokgwon nodded.
“I am earnestly hoping that the good feeling I had back then continues into the next dispatch.”
“Then let’s go in.”
Creak.
As soon as Taesu seized the timing, he quickly opened the door.
That way, Kim Hyeokgwon could not say anything more.
After twists and turns, Taesu entered the administrative office with the two of them.
Hakuna, as if he had been waiting, greeted them at the door.
“Oh, did you all rest well?”
“Yes. You contacted us because of the Helicopter Medical Team’s resumption, right?”
“That’s correct. PK0 said their preparations are complete, and Captain Austin also said he can fly anytime.”
“Then hasn’t it already resumed?”
Taesu also found it a little hard to understand why they had been called in just for that much.
Kim Hyeokgwon was moments away from steam bursting from his nostrils.
Knead, knead.
Jeong Minsu was massaging his shoulders, holding him back so he wouldn’t explode.
Hakuna seemed a little oblivious to all that and remained as cheerful as ever.
But what he said next was unexpected.
“With a new team leader coming in this time, the team has been reborn as an official medical team.”
“What has? The Helicopter Medical Team?”
“Of course. The only team I’m in charge of is our team.”
Hakuna even spread both hands as he proudly emphasized that they were one team.
But for Taesu and the other two, it was unexpected.
A new team leader?
They had never heard anything about that.
At that moment, Kim Hyeokgwon lightly pushed Jeong Minsu’s hands away and approached Hakuna.
“Hakuna, what do you mean, a new team leader?”
“As you know, the two of you are residents, and Mr. Kim is a medical assistant.”
“I don’t feel especially good about that, but let’s hear the rest for now.”
“The higher-ups apparently thought that if a specialist took the center as team leader, accidents like the previous one could be avoided somewhat.”
At those words, Kim Hyeokgwon lightly raised his hand.
“Who exactly are these higher-ups?”
“They’re people with tremendous influence at the Kashmir NGO medical camp.”
“I know all those doctors. May I call them?”
“Of course. In particular, Doctor James actively recommended this appointment.”
Hakuna spoke with a face full of confidence.
At that, the expressions of Taesu, Jeong Minsu, and Kim Hyeokgwon turned puzzled.
“He didn’t say anything like that even on the day we came back.”
“Doctor Jeong, you said you briefly met him yesterday.”
“Yes. I had something to ask Doctor Isakson. Even then, he didn’t say a word about it.”
“What on earth is that old man scheming?”
Kim Hyeokgwon’s eyes blazed, not caring that it was James.
Just then, Taesu rolled his eyes and asked with a maybe-it-could-be expression.
“Hakuna. About the new team leader. Is he Korean?”
“Oh! Doctor Choi, how did you know that?”
Hakuna’s already large eyes opened even wider.
It was the same for Kim Hyeokgwon and Jeong Minsu on either side of him.
“Which Korean?”
“Teacher Yun? Or Teacher Jo?”
To the two of them, who were barking up the wrong tree, Taesu gave a decisive hint.
“Someone we haven’t met recently.”
“Wait, could it be?”
“That’s right… Bread, we’ve found you out!”
Taesu’s heavy voice rang through the office.
At that instant, someone suddenly rose up from behind the partition.
It was indeed Bread Kim.
He first showed Taesu a sullen expression.
“This is why I hate quick-witted Doctor Choi.”
“What’s there to hate?”
Step, step.
Taesu approached with a bewildered face.
Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon followed after him.
Hakuna’s face was filled with disappointment because the surprise had failed.
Before long, the three of them stood close before Bread Kim.
Taesu, who had first been smiling in delight, blinked and asked,
“Are my eyes out of focus?”
“Seriously. Bread, were you sick or something? Why is your body so swollen?”
“Your face lost weight, so is all of that muscle?”
The three of them expressed their doubts one after another.
Bread Kim suddenly drooped the corners of his eyes and began to complain.
“I had no idea rappelling would be that hard to learn.”
“What?”
“I didn’t let it go in one ear and out the other back then. I definitely listened carefully… But everyone tormented me so much, and it was so hard I couldn’t even get angry.”
His strange complaint began to sound increasingly familiar.
At that moment, a dizzying memory flashed through the minds of the three.
Taesu asked urgently,
“Did Squad Leader Sam train you, by any chance?”
“Yes.”
“They all said they were going to do hell training.”
“I was in that hell.”
At Bread Kim’s answer, everyone flinched.
At that moment, since his plan to surprise them had fallen through, Hakuna showed his disappointment and suggested,
“Why don’t you all take a seat?”
“Let’s do that. First, let’s finish talking.”
Scrape.
Everyone sat down for the moment.
They could catch up anywhere.
The important issue right now was what would happen after the Helicopter Medical Team resumed.
Hakuna took out the documents related to that and began his briefing.