Just then, Kim Hyeokgwon asked,
“By the way, why did you hide half of it?”
“Because if we ended up fleeing in a panic again, I figured we wouldn’t have time to take it with us.”
“After taking one serious beating, you’ve become very thorough with your preparations.”
“That preparation includes snacks for the kids, too.”
Taesu pointed to the boxes of snacks he had bought when they stopped in the city along the way.
The last time they had come, the children had glared at them for arriving empty-handed.
This time, he had prepared so there would be no complaints afterward.
But that wasn’t why they had come all this way.
They had to end the conversation quickly, make a decision, and move.
While he was thinking that, the truck arrived at the village.
Bbaang!
Jeong Minsu, who was driving, abruptly honked the horn.
He had undoubtedly copied Kim Hyeokgwon, who had honked when they set off.
The faces of the people who came out in surprise at the sound shifted from confusion, then back to brightness.
“Oh my, who do we have here!”
“Now you’re even driving around in a car?”
“I thought you’d be coming around the time the weather started getting hot, and here you really are.”
“Haha. Seems like you come without fail whenever the season changes.”
The villagers came rushing over and welcomed them warmly this time as well.
Taesu and the three others stood side by side and bowed their heads to the villagers.
“We’re back.”
“Good. Welcome back!”
The villagers answered loudly.
That time was brief.
Taesu was now seated inside Village Chief Jeon Nosik’s house.
Inside were the trio of old men, Village Chief Jeon Nosik, and President Gu Seungheon.
Spread out in front of them were photographs taken by military satellite.
And after hearing the news Taesu had brought, everyone wore shocked expressions.
Old Man Jeon frowned and asked again,
“Is that true?”
“As you saw in the photos, it’s real.”
“You said there are terrorists spread out below. Then how did you get up here?”
Old Man Jeon threw out a sharp question.
Taesu answered calmly.
“They were a rabble. They weren’t keeping watch, and I didn’t sense much tension from them.”
“That side must be a hole in their defenses.”
“Once the war actually starts, we don’t know how they might change. And it may be that they left us alone because we weren’t in a military truck.”
Taesu said exactly what he had felt.
It could also be said that they had been lucky.
When they entered the mountain road, the terrorists had not been visible.
If they had been hiding and watching, they might not have been discovered.
Now that they had entered the village, it no longer mattered.
Then President Gu Seungheon spoke with a face full of self-reproach.
“I think I needlessly made the problem bigger.”
“Gu.”
“Yes, Second Elder.”
“The ones aiming for the iron mine are street thugs. They said the regular army has nothing to do with it.”
Old Man An calmly soothed President Gu Seungheon.
That was how much he trusted the information Taesu had brought.
Seeing how natural their forms of address were, it seemed they had grown quite close.
But that was not the issue, so Taesu once again conveyed the seriousness of the situation.
“No one knows whether they’ll clash up on that mountain or here in this village.”
“So you’re telling us to run?”
“Yes. I came to persuade you and take you away quickly.”
The moment Taesu spoke firmly, Old Man Jo said bluntly,
“You come home after all this time and don’t even bring a bottle of liquor?”
“When we go down, I’ll buy it for you by the crate.”
“You brat. Do you still not know us?”
At Old Man Jo’s question, Taesu answered with frustration in his voice.
“Even if I know you, what am I supposed to do when the situation is like this? Isn’t that right, President Gu?”
“……”
“You really shouldn’t be staying silent right now.”
Taesu urged him, but President Gu Seungheon did not answer in the end.
His mind seemed to be full of worries.
In this situation, there were only two possible conflicts.
Go, or don’t go.
The very fact that he was agonizing over that was the problem.
Taesu opened his mouth to persuade President Gu Seungheon again.
“What is there to think about? You have to leave immediately.”
“Dr. Choi, if we leave this time, where are we supposed to go?”
“Well… that… that… Hoo!”
“We have to live first. I don’t know. Isn’t living only living when you live like you’re truly alive?”
At President Gu Seungheon’s philosophical words, Taesu asked in return,
“What does it mean to live like you’re truly alive?”
“This is our home. Our village. I don’t want to be driven out of my own home anymore.”
“President Gu, I wasn’t going to go this far, but…”
As Taesu tried to begin, President Gu Seungheon stopped him.
“Then you don’t have to.”
“No, what about the children in Korea!”
“Mm. That’s true.”
“Right?”
“Yes. I’ll have to look into things the children can play with.”
When President Gu Seungheon spoke without wavering, Taesu felt like his insides were going to burst.
“Ah, come on! I mean…”
Taesu tried again to persuade the old men, then Village Chief Jeon Nosik, and once more President Gu Seungheon.
But in the end, all he heard repeated was that they would not budge.
Taesu picked up the radio, pinning his hopes on the situation outside.
“This is Taesu. Minsu, what’s it like over there?”
—The factory chief and the foreman went up the mountain.
“Why the mountain in the middle of the night?”
—They said they need to dig trenches. The others say they’re going to make swords at the forge.
After Jeong Minsu’s hollow reply came through,
Brad Kim’s voice immediately followed.
—It looks like the women here are planning to reenact the Battle of Haengju. They’re picking up stones.
—No, what are they, a warrior race? The kids are tangled up trying to teach each other self-defense. What is this!
Kim Hyeokgwon sounded utterly dumbfounded.
All the news coming in from here and there reached the same conclusion.
Taesu simply lay down on the floor.
“Ah, I don’t even know anymore.”
“You brat. Do we look like just old people to you?”
“What?”
Taesu sprang up and looked at them, and the eyes of the three old men shone coldly.
“At least once in our lives, we thought we didn’t want to run away.”
“It seems that wish will come true this time.”
“Choi. If you want to run, hurry up and get on your feet.”
Old Man Jo even teased Taesu instead.
Village Chief Jeon Nosik followed by saying to Taesu,
“Dr. Choi, you know us, don’t you? Our blood isn’t ordinary blood.”
“I served on active duty, completed the reserves, and even finished civil defense training. The country says it doesn’t need me anymore, but I think I’ll be useful here.”
President Gu Seungheon also showed enthusiasm.
Taesu felt as if Kim Hyeokgwon’s words over the radio were circling his ears again.
‘They really are a warrior race.’
He decided to just think of it simply.
He had expected that persuading them would not work anyway.
That was why he had brought plenty of emergency rations.
Starting the next day, the Korean village began preparing for war.
Taesu and Namgung Hyeoncheol’s eyes moved identically to one side.
“Wow, they’re digging traps over there, right?”
“They are.”
Then they turned their gazes elsewhere.
“They’re making swords now, and…”
“They’re making hidden weapons.”
There was more.
Rolling their eyes to another side, they became even more dumbfounded.
“They’re digging holes—no, trenches—in several places.”
“They even have the sense to put emergency rations inside.”
“I’m not the weird one for finding this bewildering, right?”
“I was thinking I was the weird one just now.”
While the two were looking around with blank expressions,
Jeong Minsu approached and asked,
“With that much, do you think they can hit eggs with a rock?”
“Then they’ll just break.”
“Ah, right. That’s backwards. Do you think they can hit a rock with eggs?”
Jeong Minsu corrected himself and said it again.
He was so tense that he had not even realized his slip of the tongue.
Taesu viewed it with a cold gaze.
Then the conclusion was simple.
Shake, shake.
“The eggs will be the only things shattered.”
“Then what do we do?”
“Gwanghyeon has a shotgun, and the factory chief brought a few rifles, but there aren’t many bullets… I don’t know. I have no idea what plan there could possibly be.”
The more Taesu thought about it, the more his head hurt.
Still, it could not be seen as completely hopeless.
In the mountains around the village, there were natural caves both large and small.
If they truly ran out of options, there was also the method of taking refuge there.
But they did not seem to have any intention of doing that.
Taesu soon drew strength into his body.
“Fine. If I think it’s impossible, then it’ll be even more impossible.”
“And if you think it’s possible, it will be?”
“Who knows? The heavens might gift us thunder, lightning, and hail too. Then I’ll get moving for now.”
Leaving Jeong Minsu and Namgung Hyeoncheol behind, Taesu headed toward the villagers.
He had come this far; he couldn’t just stand by and watch.
Everyone was calmly making preparations before a great crisis.
Within that, the pride of the Korean people could be glimpsed.
Their guts in not backing down before an enemy might very well be the best in the world.
Taesu returned to the hospital and turned on the radio.
After setting the frequency, he called Colonel Clark.
“This is Doctor Choi. Red Fox, respond.”
Since it was the promised time, a response came immediately.
—Chijik. Red Fox receiving. Did you arrive safely?
“Yes. We arrived safely.”
—Chijik. Is the chick herding proceeding as planned?
“They say they’re going to have a fight.”
The moment Taesu answered,
The sound from the radio suddenly grew busy.
—Chijik, chijik. Request retransmission.
“They’re preparing to fight.”
—Chijik. Informing you we have assessed the scale. One flock of sparrows, one flock of pigeons, a considerable amount of millet, and red beans are reported to have a strong spicy kick!
Taesu decoded the message in his head and understood it.
The Chinese army has strong firepower?
“Even if I tell them, I don’t think the chicks will react.”
—Chijik. Proceed again with chick herding. Why don’t they understand that it’s for the best?
“What can I do when they won’t budge? For now, that’s the end of the situation report. Starting tomorrow morning, I’ll keep the radio open full-time.”
Click.
Taesu turned off the radio and shrugged his shoulders.
“I’m not saying it can’t be done for no reason.”
The sun had set, but preparations for war continued.
On the other hand, he understood them.
How tired must they have been of a life spent being chased?
Now, they probably wanted to stand their ground.
Taesu suddenly thought,
‘It’ll be hard to avoid it this time too.’
He meant taking up a gun.
The answer lay in his father’s words.
At that moment, as his heart commanded.
That was what he decided.
And another day passed.
It was D-Day, the day the war was expected to begin.
The world was still.
Step, step.
It was so quiet that the sound of walking could be heard.
Such silence meant not even the grass insects were crying.
Taesu’s gaze turned toward the mountain.
‘Cheonjibong?’
It was said to be the name the Korean village had given it.
That Cheonjibong would be the high ground used as a stronghold.
And it was also the very snowy mountain where he had given Royce first aid and rescued him.
The silence continued without promise of ending.
Because of the endless tension, he was not hungry and did not even feel the need to use the bathroom.
Everyone was waiting quietly inside their homes.
No one had any intention of acting as the first fuse.
Even now, it was only natural to wish that things would simply pass by like this.
But in the end, their wish turned to dust.
Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwang!
An enormous explosion rang out.
And that was the beginning.
Tu-da-da-da. Peo-beo-beo-beong!
Brilliant flames burst all over the mountain like fireworks.
Taesu and Kim Hyeokgwon were watching through the window.
“Damn it. Wasn’t the opening shot a small surface-to-surface missile?”
“The Chinese army opened fire.”
“They must have money rotting away.”
“Looks like they don’t, since they only fired one.”
The two spoke almost like commentators.
But that composure lasted only a moment.
Kwa-gwa-gwang!
A bomb fell somewhere in the village.
The surprising thing was that no screams could be heard from anywhere.
The pregnant women were hiding in the safest place. There were other women and children too, but not a single cry rang out.
“They’re incredible.”
“I told you, they’re a warrior race.”
Kwa-gwa-gwang!
“The strikes are coming this way faster than expected.”
“Then we have to move.”
The moment he said that,
The radio sounded, and Old Man Jeon’s voice came through.
—Everyone, scatter. Bombs don’t have eyes, so be especially careful.
—Nothing bad comes from listening to your elders.
—Hide as much as you can in safe places. Don’t come out and wander around for no reason, then get shot.
Old Man An and Old Man Jo’s radio transmissions followed.
At that moment, Taesu gave a bitter smile.
“I brought extra radios… and this is how they’re being used.”
“Still, it’s better than everything being chaotic. That…”
Just as Kim Hyeokgwon was about to say something,
Whoooosh. Thunk!
Something fell into the front yard.
Seeing it, Taesu’s eyes flew wide open.
“Get down!”
Wham!
Taesu shoved Kim Hyeokgwon aside and threw himself along with him.
At the same moment,
Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwang!
An explosion that seemed to shake heaven and earth struck their ears.
And the stone wall collapsed with a rumble.
“Kuaaak!”
Someone’s scream rang sharply.
Then dust billowed up from the collapsed house.
Soon, the dust cleared.
The house had been half destroyed, two sides completely collapsed, while the other two sides were also partially damaged.
But there was no movement.
Taesu and Kim Hyeokgwon?
They could not be seen.
Beep.
—Taesu, Mr. Hyeokgwon, please respond!
—Choi, you brat. You good-for-nothing punk.
—What the hell? What happened!
—Who’s nearby? Go check quickly!
Only the sound of the radio could be heard from inside the collapsed house.
—End of Side Story Part 1.—