They say one’s body, hair, and skin are received from one’s parents.
So the first thing to do was to inform his parents of the situation and receive their permission.
This was the first time he had ever done this.
That was how uncertain Taesu was that he would come back from this unharmed.
Perhaps that was why his father had come to mind.
Rustle.
Taesu moved to a quiet place.
He stood before the iron fence erected at the edge of the medical camp.
And, looking through the barbed wire at the distant city, he raised his cell phone.
What time was it in Korea?
He didn’t know.
Even if he got scolded for calling when they might be asleep, getting permission was more important.
He deliberately called the house phone.
When the weather grew hot, his father, who ran warm, had a habit of sleeping in the living room.
Brrr.
After a short wait, his father’s gruff voice came through, just as expected.
“Who the hell is calling someone else’s house in the middle of the night?”
“Your son.”
“Don’t you sleep?”
“It’s morning here.”
At Taesu’s answer, his father responded even more boldly.
“Well, aren’t you proud.”
“Were you sleeping well?”
“What’s your motive for waking up a man who would’ve been sleeping just fine if left alone, just to check that?”
Irritation began to seep into his father’s voice.
Even when his son, far away in a foreign land, called after so long, he was the same as ever.
Taesu liked his father all the more for that.
So his cheekiness came out even more naturally.
“Ahem. This humble son has called because he has something to report, Father.”
“……Did you not sleep, or have you lost your mind?”
“I slept well.”
“Then go wash your face. If you’re going to call home, you ought to do it with your head on straight.”
His father’s sharp rebuke came through.
Even so, the smile did not leave Taesu’s lips.
“Haha.”
“And while you’re washing up, let some air out of those lungs.”
“Father.”
“What’s with you putting on airs… Why do you keep doing things you never do?”
His father seemed to have sensed that something felt different from usual.
Taesu spoke calmly.
“There’s something I need to tell you.”
“……So how many months along is she, and is the baby healthy?”
“Pardon?”
Taesu couldn’t understand what he was talking about at all.
His father rephrased the question.
“Aren’t you calling to turn yourself in because you caused an accident?”
“What kind of person do you think your son is, saying something like that?”
“What’s so bad about that? You just have to take responsibility.”
“That’s true, but anyway, it’s not that.”
“Tch. You’re not even man enough for that.”
At his father’s disappointed voice, Taesu couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
“This isn’t the situation for that kind of conversation.”
“If you’re going to wake a sleeping man, the news had better be about that big.”
“It’s bigger than that.”
“Well, well. Fine. Let’s hear what’s so important.”
His father granted him the chance as if doing him a favor.
Taesu gathered his scattered thoughts and began to speak.
“Half a year ago……”
From his first meeting with Lee Changgyu, to why they were here, and how things had come to this point.
Taesu told him everything without leaving a single thing out.
Because the person listening was his father, he spoke all the more earnestly.
“……So I’m going to go.”
“Let me ask one thing. Did you call to ask for permission?”
“No. I’m going.”
“Then why call when you’ve already decided?”
When his father asked the reason again, Taesu’s gaze wavered slightly.
It was because he had called in order to say these very words.
But now that the moment had come, his mouth would not open easily.
Still, he put strength into his throat and spoke.
“Because I might end up returning to Korea as airplane cargo.”
“Is it that dangerous?”
“Kids are running around with guns, with grenades strapped to them, machine guns, grenade launchers—it’s a complete mess.”
“Bastards not worth looking at even if they rot where they fall.”
As expected, his father’s curses were provocative while still keeping within broadcast regulations.
An exclamation escaped him as if he had just downed a bowl of makgeolli.
“Keu. Why can’t my curses ever have that flavor?”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“……Yes. Please speak.”
With an awkward expression, Taesu held the phone respectfully.
For a moment, he heard the sound of his father catching his breath.
Then his father’s calm voice came through.
“Taesu. If by any chance you appear before me in a small form.”
“Yes, Father.”
“I will hold that smaller you in my arms…… and dance with you, proudly showing you off to the villagers.”
“……”
For a moment, Taesu could not say anything.
As if unconcerned, his father continued.
“I will hold a village feast, and I will let you rest comfortably in the best seat.”
“……Yes.”
“So don’t worry about anything, don’t keep anything in your head, and do as your heart tells you.”
“Yes.”
“And tell those people. Tell them thank you, tell them I’m grateful, be sure to tell them…… Then I’ll wait for news.”
His father ended his words like that.
But the sound of the call disconnecting did not come.
“……Huuum.”
Only a faintly trembling breath could be heard.
Taesu instinctively knew that his father could not bring himself to hang up first.
Should he say something?
For a moment, he hesitated.
But Taesu did not open his mouth.
Instead, he breathed as naturally and calmly as he could.
“Huum…… Huum……”
He even pressed the mouthpiece close so that his breathing could reach his father’s ears.
They were both blunt by nature.
So they let only their breathing flow like this.
Neither hung up, trying to prolong this moment even a little longer.
Taesu gradually grew accustomed to the sound of his father’s breathing.
And only now did he realize that the sound of his father’s breath could put his heart so at ease.
A little more time passed.
Click.
Only then did the call end.
Only then did Taesu pull the heated phone away from his ear.
‘I’ll try to come back alive, if I can.’
Inwardly, he murmured the words he had not been able to say.
Then he moved again toward his first destination.
Now, nothing could block Taesu’s path.
Soon, Taesu arrived at James’s medical tent.
Rustle.
He lifted the curtain and announced his presence first.
“James, it’s Dr. Choi.”
“Come in.”
“Excuse me.”
Step.
As he entered, the fragrant scent of Toritina reached him.
He had never yet served it to James, so Taesu’s eyes widened.
“Huh?”
“It has a nice aroma, doesn’t it? You came at just the right time.”
“Ah, yes. But this tea……”
As Taesu approached with a bewildered look, James smiled and said,
“It’s tea Dr. Hanks sent me. That fellow asked me to let him live for just three months, and now he’s entered his fourth.”
“That much time has already passed.”
“Maybe because the tea’s fragrance is so good, it makes me feel refreshed. They say the production site will stop after this year and go into maintenance for several years. A pity.”
James lightly brought the Toritina to the tip of his nose, savored the scent, then raised it to his mouth.
Taesu looked down at the teacup and let out a faint, wry laugh.
“Heh.”
“What is it?”
“I just thought life is quite interesting, even though I haven’t lived all that long.”
“Did something happen?”
James still looked as if he had no idea what he meant.
Taesu picked up the teacup and said,
“This tea is called Toritina. Its name is made entirely of pure Korean.”
“Is that so? Then it seems tea produced in Korea is exported all the way to England.”
“Its place of origin is Kashmir.”
“……Hm?”
James paused and looked at him.
Taesu nodded and explained again.
“I said its place of origin is Kashmir.”
“Really? How interesting. Tea grown right under my nose had to take two flights to England before ending up in my hands.”
“What’s even more interesting is that among the tea leaves in that box, one was probably picked by me.”
At Taesu’s words, James’s brow furrowed sharply.
“Was the deployment you mentioned back then for this tea?”
“That’s right.”
“Ha. Hahaha. Truly interesting. Interesting indeed.”
James now understood what Taesu was saying.
But then Taesu added one more thing.
“If things go wrong, we may never be able to taste this tea again.”
“Because the tea fields were ruined back then?”
“No. We received the seeds. But the world won’t allow them to be cultivated.”
“Hm. Explain that so I can understand.”
“The truth is……”
Finding the right timing, Taesu told him about the crisis that had befallen the Korean village.
The scope of his explanation was quite different from the one he had given his father.
He respected and admired James, but he could not compare him to his father.
As Taesu continued explaining, strength entered James’s eyes.
A short while later.
Taesu toyed with the cup of Toritina tea as he finished.
“……So I’d like to go and come back.”
“Are you asking me for permission, or are you informing me?”
“I’m telling you because I want to receive permission.”
“And?”
“If the situation doesn’t allow it, then it may become an announcement.”
Taesu left several possibilities open and answered as gently as he could.
But James’s hardened expression did not change.
That was not all.
Splash.
Suddenly, he poured the tea onto the floor.
Taesu froze at the unexpected action.
“Why the tea……”
“If I cannot drink it again, shouldn’t I avoid training my palate to crave it?”
“If we get through this crisis, it can be cultivated as much as we want.”
“Do you not understand what I’m saying?”
James’s gaze turned heavy and serious.
At that moment, Taesu felt something.
He did not leave it at a mere feeling, and asked carefully,
“Do you not want me to go?”
“That’s right. If that tea disappears, many people will lose a source of enjoyment.”
“Yes. That’s true. So……”
“But tea leaves cannot save a person. Even if you put you and those tea leaves in my two hands a hundred times, my decision would be the same.”
His words were utterly firm.
Thinking there might be a misunderstanding, Taesu explained.
“The tea leaves were just something I mentioned in passing.”
“I, too, am using the tea leaves as an example.”
“James. There are people there.”
“Right now, all I see is Dr. Choi.”
“Hmm.”
Taesu’s gaze wavered slightly.
He was grateful that James thought of him this much.
But his heart had already made its decision.
Regrettably, he could not follow him this time.
“I’m sorry.”
“This time, Dr. Choi, you’re thinking wrongly.”
“It’s all right, even if I am.”
“I’m telling you I cannot guarantee your safe return.”
James’s voice gained force.
Even so, Taesu smiled gently.
“That may be so.”
“And yet you’re going?”
“James, I am a very small person.”
“What do you mean?”
James frowned, but Taesu still spoke calmly.
“I know that you’re trying to let me see, hear, and experience a larger world.”
“You know that, and?”
“But what keeps appearing before my eyes are small things.”
“So?”
James’s voice remained cold.
Taesu paid it no mind and continued gently.
“So I will take care of the small things I can see first. If I gather them one by one without letting them slip away, won’t they grow larger?”
“If you grow larger yourself, you’ll be able to take care of many more small things.”
“I don’t think what I miss now will come back again.”
“……”
James stared at him with a heavy expression.
The more he did, the more serenely Taesu smiled.
Then he added one more thing.
“I’m sorry. This time, I cannot follow your wishes, James.”
Bow.
Taesu rose from his seat and bowed politely.
It was a greeting of gratitude, and of farewell.