Jeong Minsu asked him.
“You can at least handle basic emergency treatment for external injuries, can’t you?”
“What kind of question is that… Huh?”
Kim Hyeokgwon, who had been answering sullenly, flinched.
Then he quickly looked at Taesu.
Taesu’s eyes lit up as well, and he snapped his fingers.
Snap!
“That’s right. That’ll work.”
“Are you talking about us?”
When Squad Leader Sam looked puzzled, Taesu summed it up simply.
“Keep watch and administer first aid. Wouldn’t that solve two problems at once?”
“I see. If that’s the case, it doesn’t seem like it would be too troublesome for us.”
“We’ll be counting on you starting tomorrow, new doctors.”
Taesu winked at Squad Leader Sam and his men.
Receiving that look, they grew awkward.
“Looks like we’re going to end up playing doctor when it was never in our fate.”
“It was my dream when I was young.”
“I tried it for a bit earlier, and it wasn’t bad.”
Squad Leader Sam quietly added a word as well.
A small flutter of excitement could be felt in their expressions as they murmured among themselves.
Meanwhile, Kim Hyeokgwon asked Jeong Minsu with the utmost seriousness.
“Where did that idea come from?”
“It just came to me while I was listening to this and that.”
“I’m proud of you. Very satisfied.”
Kim Hyeokgwon looked as though he wanted to applaud Jeong Minsu for finally developing some sense.
Jeong Minsu, on the other hand, tilted his head.
“What are you suddenly proud and satisfied about?”
“Grrr. Please, can we just stick to one thing?”
“Yes. But what exactly should we stick to?”
Jeong Minsu’s face turned innocent again.
Sensing it at once, Kim Hyeokgwon gripped Taesu’s shoulder tightly and lamented.
“If he were really doing that on purpose, I could at least hit him.”
“Still, Minsu’s idea was excellent.”
“Do something before I die of pent-up rage.”
“That’s outside my jurisdiction.”
Taesu firmly pushed him away and smiled faintly.
Realizing he would be no help, Kim Hyeokgwon changed course and lamented to Brad Kim.
“I’m growing old from working with doctors like that. Old, I tell you.”
“I understand. I understand everything.”
“There couldn’t be anyone stranger than those doctors, right?”
“They’d be hard to find.”
Pat, pat.
Brad Kim even patted Kim Hyeokgwon on the shoulder.
Kim Hyeokgwon’s expression was that bad.
“Someone even stranger really… No. That senior of theirs will stay in Korea until the end.”
Shake, shake.
Kim Hyeokgwon quickly erased the thought that had come to mind.
Seeing his reaction, Taesu immediately guessed who it was.
‘I should contact the Chief one more time.’
He wanted to, but the senior was still someone difficult for him to approach, so putting it into action wasn’t easy.
The rest of the day’s schedule was spent entirely resting.
Even so, they made a round through the village and checked the health of all the villagers once more.
Most of them showed symptoms of body aches caused by severe stress.
For Taesu and the medical team, treating them like that was no different from taking a walk.
After returning to their lodging, they warmed their backs against the heated floor.
“Ugh. What’s ours really is the best.”
And with that blissful feeling, they ended the day.
The next day.
The early morning village was filled with thick fog.
Since it was in the mountains and near the upper reaches of the river, mist often formed there.
From within the dense fog, so thick that one could not see an inch ahead, came the sound of footsteps.
Thud, thud.
It was the sound of many people moving, enough to make one dizzy.
Soon, Himan emerged through the thick darkness.
And behind him, many of the locals appeared. Each of them carried a rectangular wooden box on their shoulders as they walked.
Step, step.
After them, all the villagers followed.
Among them were Taesu and the medical team as well.
“……”
They took one step at a time in a solemn atmosphere.
The reason they had gathered so early in the morning was to hold Bashu’s funeral.
As the fog slowly thinned, it became clear where they were headed.
Their destination was the mountainside beside the tea field.
In the middle of the slope, a large pit had been dug deep into the ground.
Beside that pit, Mo Sangdu and several locals waited, covered in sweat.
That was Bashu’s grave.
Soon, Bashu’s coffin was placed into the grave.
At that moment, the bereaved family once again shed bitter tears.
“!%@#$. Huaaah.”
His young wife and little children.
They clung to one another, denying the situation before them.
Even though they knew there was no turning back, they expressed their desire to deny reality through their sobs.
No one could console that grief.
All they could do was look at the bereaved family with heavy hearts.
Taesu and the medical team were among them.
“……”
At this moment, they simply stood there solemnly.
A little time passed like that.
A pile of stones appeared on the mountainside.
It was the grave completed according to their funeral customs.
The bereaved family, exhausted from crying, stared endlessly at the stone mound.
Step.
Passing by them, President Gu Seungheon approached the stone grave.
His physical condition was currently quite poor. Even as he bowed twice in the Korean way, his body swayed.
After paying his respects, he lowered himself and reached out toward the stone grave.
“Bashu… Ugh.”
He, too, seemed unable to believe this moment.
For a while, he calmed the emotions surging within him.
Once he seemed to have settled down, President Gu Seungheon spoke quietly in English.
“Don’t worry about your family. I hope you’ll be filled only with happiness in a place without pain or sorrow.”
Thud.
Pressing his forehead to the stone grave, President Gu Seungheon ended his mourning.
Starting with him, a procession of mourners followed.
Taesu, the medical team, and the soldiers only watched.
They had not even known Bashu by face, so it was not their place to step forward.
Sending their hearts from afar like this was enough.
Among them, Taesu murmured quietly to himself.
‘Your family won’t be lonely.’
Just as Taesu had thought, those who had finished paying their respects gathered around the bereaved family.
As he watched them, it happened.
Slowly.
The thinning fog began to clear away even faster.
Along with it, the hazy view became clear.
What entered Taesu’s eyes then were the tea field and the village.
The stone grave was located in the best place, where it could watch over everyone.
“What an incredible spot.”
Taesu murmured that bitter sentiment.
The funeral ended reverently and calmly.
Afterward, everyone began descending back to the village.
A tea field spread out at the entrance to the village. Spring had arrived, but perhaps because the temperature was still chilly, it was filled only with bare branches.
It looked rather desolate.
But then, Field Chief Go Jiyong’s puzzled voice rang out.
“Huh?”
That was not the end.
Tap, tap, tap!
With urgent steps, he ran deep into the tea field.
At his sudden action, everyone stopped.
“What’s with him?”
“I don’t see any wild animals.”
Questioning gazes filled the area.
In the meantime, Field Chief Go Jiyong, who had been staring intently at something, shouted loudly toward everyone.
“Buds are sprouting!”
Because he had shouted in Korean, several people translated into English and Hindi.
Only then did everyone’s faces fill with surprise.
“Huh?”
“How?”
Their reactions were full of bewilderment.
That was because it was a little too early for new shoots to sprout.
Taesu and the medical team’s gazes immediately turned toward President Gu Seungheon.
As expected, President Gu Seungheon was more astonished than anyone.
President Gu Seungheon raised his voice and asked.
“Chief, is that true?”
“Just a moment!”
Field Chief Go Jiyong urgently asked for their understanding.
Fortunately, the wait was short.
Field Chief Go Jiyong returned at an even faster pace.
Tap, tap, tap!
When he arrived, he held out his hand while panting.
“Hah, hah. Here.”
Rustle.
When he opened his fist, a sprout smaller than a fingernail lay inside.
Everyone’s eyes focused on that sprout.
“Ooooh!”
“How is it already?”
Astonishment and confusion mixed together.
On the other hand, Taesu and the medical team’s impressions were simple.
“Is that the first sprout?”
“Then do they harvest the tea leaves now?”
It was an unfamiliar field to them, so those guesses were all they had.
At that moment, President Gu Seungheon and Field Chief Go Jiyong’s conversation reached their ears.
“Chief, are there more?”
“Yes. It’s not just this one. Buds are sprouting from over there.”
“Isn’t this a week earlier than usual?”
“Exactly. The temperature is about the same, too, so I don’t know what’s going on.”
Even after seeing it with his own eyes, Field Chief Go Jiyong could not believe it.
Meanwhile, people began examining the nearby tea trees.
“Wow! @$@#$.”
“Look here. New shoots are coming up!”
Excited voices burst out here and there.
Meanwhile, not only the medical team but even the soldiers looked at Taesu.
Their eyes seemed to be asking him to resolve their curiosity.
Taesu found it somewhat absurd.
He could understand the medical team, since they were always like that, but he had not expected even the soldiers to act this way.
Just then.
Thump.
Someone pushed him from behind.
Shoved forward, Taesu immediately looked back.
“Whew, whew.”
Only Kim Hyeokgwon was pretending to look elsewhere.
Glance.
Taesu looked at him, but Kim Hyeokgwon was not the kind of person to blink at something like that.
Still, having been pushed forward, Taesu felt somewhat dumbfounded.
That feeling lasted only a moment.
Since he himself had something he was curious about, Taesu approached President Gu Seungheon.
President Gu Seungheon spotted him first and quickly showed him the tender shoot.
“Dr. Choi. Look at this. It’s a sprout.”
“I know. You said the buds would only appear next week.”
“That’s how it’s always been, but I don’t know how this happened either.”
President Gu Seungheon’s expression was truly bewildered.
Taesu felt the same, but what he was curious about was a slightly different matter.
“Then can you harvest now?”
“In about three days. It will begin when the bare trees turn green.”
“Hmm. Then we’re going to get busy.”
Taesu’s expression suddenly grew complicated.
President Gu Seungheon, not understanding why, tilted his head and asked.
“Why would you get busy?”
“Because we need to raise everyone’s condition as much as possible within three days.”
“There’s no time for that.”
“No time?”
This time, Taesu was puzzled.
Then President Gu Seungheon’s face, which had been like a dry fallen leaf, came back to life in real time.
A healthy smile appeared on his face, and strength entered his voice.
“There is much to prepare.”
“It seems it’s not as simple as just picking tea leaves.”
“No. We don’t even have time for this. Please excuse me first.”
President Gu Seungheon asked for understanding and turned at the same time.
Then he headed straight for the tea-leaf storage warehouse, calling for Himan.
“Himan!”
“Yes, Boss!”
“We need to hurry and prepare for cultivation!”
“Oh, Boss, you bad. You not let us rest. Haha!”
Even Himan’s joking complaint was full of energy.
He did not translate separately.
The villagers were already following behind him.
Field Chief Go Jiyong and Mo Sangdu also hurriedly moved.