This was not a matter to debate right or wrong.
They were entirely at fault for reminding her of her daughter.
Factory Manager Na Duyeong called out to the withdrawn Taesu.
"Mr. Choe would never do such a thing. I'm the one who deserves to die."
"I don't see it that way."
"You must have heard everything about us from the President, right?"
"Yes. I heard."
When Taesu answered, forcing himself to stay composed, Factory Manager Na Duyeong spoke in a hollow voice.
"I meant to sell the car and get the children what I owed them, though I was already late in doing so."
"I see."
"And I felt sorry to those who'd waited so long, but I was planning to send my wife and the children's mothers to Korea for a short while."
This was the first time Taesu had heard of it.
Taesu opened his eyes wide in surprise.
"Pardon?"
"I told them to go to Korea and see the kids, to fulfill the wish of those mothers who squeeze their hearts every day hearing only voices over the phone."
"I—I see."
"They were overjoyed to hear that. They treat me even better than when we were newlyweds."
Factory Manager Na Duyeong gave a bitter smile.
Listening to the story, Taesu could hardly bring himself to smile.
"You must have been happy."
"They were people who'd waited with such yearning... That's why they're crying, so please don't worry too much about it."
Perhaps finding it too difficult to say more, he closed his mouth.
But then.
Suddenly!
Jeong Minsu shoved his face right in and raised his voice sharply.
"How does it make sense to say all that and then tell us not to worry!"
"Mr. Jeong, you're getting too excited."
At the same time, Taesu tried to calm him down.
Swish!
Jeong Minsu quickly wrapped his arm around Taesu's neck.
And forcibly applying strength, he lowered himself to a position level with Factory Manager Na Duyeong.
The movement was so swift that Taesu couldn't even react.
"Ugh!"
The pain was one thing.
Taesu shot him a glare, but Jeong Minsu paid him no heed.
And pointing Taesu out to Factory Manager Na Duyeong, he spoke loudly.
"He's the one, right? That's why you called for Mr. Choe, isn't it?"
"I've got some experience too. How can a doctor stop an army?"
"No. Mr. Choe can do it... Right. Taesu, you can do it, right?"
Shake, shake.
Jeong Minsu shook Taesu's neck mercilessly, pressing him for an answer.
Unexpectedly, Taesu didn't resist.
Every time Jeong Minsu applied force, Taesu simply shook limply, which only infuriated him further.
"You bastard. Brace yourself. Put some strength into it and hurry up and say you can do it!"
"That's enough."
"Why can't you say it? Can't you feel the hearts of the mothers and fathers here tearing apart?"
"Mr. Jeong."
"You bastard. Don't you know how much Yeongju must be crying in Korea, you heartless son of a bitch!"
Jeong Minsu's agitation intensified.
Taesu began by loosening Jeong Minsu's arm from around his neck.
"Let go first."
"Answer first. I said answer!"
"Jeong Minsu, I told you to let go."
Taesu's gaze turned sharp.
Only then did Jeong Minsu release his arm.
Even so, he poured out unreserved criticism laced with resentment beyond mere disappointment.
"Stab you, and not a drop of blood... Ah, but since it does come out, you conscienceless, atrocious bastard!"
Taesu turned away from Jeong Minsu.
And looking at Factory Manager Na Duyeong, he asked.
"Do you feel a little better?"
"Hooo. Now that I've said it, I think I spoke out of turn."
"No. You did well. Things don't disappear just by bottling them up."
"Yes. Spitting it out makes me feel much better, at least."
Factory Manager Na Duyeong acknowledged with a heavy heart.
Taesu spoke calmly to him.
"When your wife comes in, don't scold her. Hold her well."
"If I so much as talk back in this state, I'm a dead man."
"That is true. And the President is arriving tonight, so I will speak with him then."
Taesu didn't give a definitive answer until the very end.
Factory Manager Na Duyeong's eyes wavered.
Though he himself had said no, it seemed he had thought that if anyone could find a way, it would be Taesu, who had heard from Raku.
He had clearly harbored such a thread of hope.
Taesu nudged Jeong Minsu and rose from his seat.
Tap.
"......."
Jeong Minsu too got up without making any more fuss.
Then the two turned and headed for the door.
Thud. Thud.
The weight of their hearts was carried in their footsteps.
It was as Taesu picked up the house call bag he had set down.
From behind, Factory Manager Na Duyeong's heavy voice followed.
"Let me ask just one thing."
"Yes."
"When can we see our Yeongju?"
"......."
At that question, Taesu flinched.
It was because of the sob that followed from Factory Manager Na Duyeong.
"Huu, huuuu..."
Taesu slowly turned his head.
He saw Factory Manager Na Duyeong wailing, a cloth stuffed deep in his mouth.
The longing of being separated from one's child while alive was not something only Bong Yunju felt.
Factory Manager Na Duyeong must have had his heart shredded to tatters from bearing even his wife's pain.
Squeeze.
From the side, Jeong Minsu grabbed his arm.
"......."
He simply stayed like that.
At that moment, Taesu's heart felt unbearably heavy.
Who was he to...
A situation where people pleaded to such an extent was so utterly unfamiliar.
Rustle.
Raising his head, Taesu looked at the ceiling.
'Father, what should I do?'
Unable to find an answer himself, he thought of his father.
Strangely, a conversation with his father from long ago seemed to fade in and out at his ears.
—There was a time when I, Choe Jincheol, feared nothing in the world, but one day I came to have something I feared.
—What is it?
—You might not know, but Dad has two treasures. If I lose them, I don't think I could go on living.
—I suppose so. Please take good care of treasures even more precious than your children.
Back then, he hadn't known that the treasures were his sister and himself.
Now he knew.
It seemed that with his father's blunt personality, that was the only way he could have expressed it.
Only after recalling that did the hearts of Na Duyeong and Bong Yunju truly reach him.
He understood that this tea field was to them not merely a place to keep a promise.
It was the sole lifeline to reclaim their precious treasure.
What if it were him?
Pride wouldn't even be an issue.
Yet he had approached such hearts in a merely calculating manner.
He was so sorry for that.
And he thought.
James had said the reason for the dispatch was unclear.
Until hearing news of the patient's outbreak, his position had not changed.
Taesu had agreed with him then.
But now, it was different.
'What more reason do I need to find?'
No justification for mobilization could be more important than this.
Taesu made a decision in his heart.
It was a firm resolve that would no longer waver.
"Hoooo."
Taesu let out a long breath.
And spoke to the wailing Factory Manager Na Duyeong.
"Yeongju may not see her father, but I think she might be able to see her mother before long."
"......."
Sniff.
Factory Manager Na Duyeong's wailing stopped for a moment.
Beside him, Jeong Minsu was looking on with wide eyes.
Taesu continued speaking to Factory Manager Na Duyeong.
"When the President arrives, I will go to both sides immediately and settle the matter."
"......."
"I cannot guarantee it will work. But at the very least, I will ensure you never hear that those bastards came and went as if on a pleasure trip. Please rest."
Rustle.
Having finished speaking, Taesu led Jeong Minsu and moved.
Before long, the two stepped outside.
The darkness was growing deeper.
Before long, Raku's car would arrive.
Plod, plod.
As Taesu walked with such thoughts, Jeong Minsu quickly approached his side.
"Is your plan to use today's incident to find fault with both sides?"
"That might be part of it."
"No? Then maybe you can contact someone higher up. Is that why you're trying to pressure from the top down?"
"If I had such connections, I would have used them long ago."
Taesu's answer was utterly half-hearted.
Perhaps frustrated by that, Jeong Minsu followed and kept asking.
"Then what is it?"
"I'll tell you when everyone's gathered."
"Give me a hint. Surely you're not planning for the four of us to become special forces and infiltrate, right?"
"I've considered it."
Taesu looked at him incredulously, but Jeong Minsu seemed hooked on that idea.
"Right. If it's a world where the strong devour the weak, we aren't pushovers either. With Bread added, our forces are upgraded too."
"Your sense is downgraded, though."
"Yeah. A man dies but once, not twice. I'll take the lead. If something happens to me, just leave me behind and go. I'll be fine."
Clench.
Jeong Minsu clenched both fists, even showing a grim resolve.
Taesu paid him no heed and simply left him alone.
For Jeong Minsu, who had fallen into his own world, indifference was the best medicine.
Time passed and night fell.
Taesu sat on a straw mat spread over the wooden platform in front of the tea leaf storage warehouse.
Though it was spring, it was chilly perhaps because it was in the mountains.
Taesu was using this chill to wash out his complicated thoughts.
His gaze was directed toward the rough road connecting the village to the outside world.
Rustle.
Checking his wristwatch, Taesu muttered softly.
"It's about time."
As time passed, he grew worried that something might have happened.
Then Taesu sensed someone approaching.
Rustle, rustle.
He turned his gaze toward the light footsteps.
He saw someone approaching beneath the faint glow of the streetlamp.
Taesu quickly rose from his seat upon seeing the figure.
"Elder Madam."
Just as Taesu called out, the figure of Kim Yeongseon, wife of Gu Seungheon, appeared.
Her gentle, kindly face gave an impression that put the viewer at ease.
It had not been long since Taesu had formally greeted her.
It was when she had guided him to an empty house to use as lodging and had prepared dinner.
Through conversation then, he had come to realize she was the type to look after those around her.
But Kim Yeongseon's complexion was considerably poor.
Everyone was in a similar state, but the responsibility she felt seemed to be of a different kind.
Kim Yeongseon, approaching close, asked Taesu.
"Why are you out here alone?"
"It was about time for you to come, and I was getting some fresh air."
"Should I say that's fortunate? I heard you came out alone, so I brought this just in case."
Rustle.
Kim Yeongseon held out a lidded mug.
Though he couldn't see inside, Taesu immediately realized what it was.
Receiving it with both hands, he smiled gently.
"When it's chilly, a cup of tea is the best. Thank you."
"Not at all. I worried I might be a bother by constantly offering it."
"From today, I love tea."
Taesu answered with somewhat odd phrasing.
He had never drunk tea to this extent before. Yet it was so mellow and smooth, lingering on the palate, that he felt no aversion.
Kim Yeongseon smiled faintly, as if his odd remark wasn't unpleasant.
Then she greeted him with warm eyes.
"Thank you for everything today. It must have been hectic."
"I am more worried about you, Elder Madam."
"Me? I'm just..."
Kim Yeongseon smiled, but her face was full of heaviness.
Taesu's gaze kept falling on her complexion, which had grown far too haggard.
In truth, it was a complexion that wouldn't be excessive even if she were put to bed immediately.
He wanted to do just that with all his heart.
But if she took to bed now, many people would surely be agitated.
Knowing that everyone was anxious, Taesu couldn't force her either.