Suddenly, the hearty meal he'd eaten felt like it was sitting heavily in his stomach.
Gurgle.
Taesu quietly rose from his seat.
And headed toward the window.
It was a window, but there was no pane, just a wide opening.
Glass was a precious building material seen only in big cities.
Most buildings were structured like this to let the wind pass through.
Taesu looked outside with a bitter expression.
Darkness filled the view, with faint flickers of light visible here and there.
They were likely oil lamps or candlelight.
The temporary hospital could turn on electric lights with a generator, but for other houses, even such basic civilization was a distant tale.
Taesu's gaze as he looked around the dark village was complicated.
Gim Hyeokgwon approached his side.
"This isn't our first day here. You're not some doctor who doesn't understand that feeling."
"Knowing it and feeling uncomfortable about it are different matters, aren't they?"
"Sometimes you're so strong, yet other times you're so soft. You're truly an unpredictable person."
Gim Hyeokgwon chided him without malice.
Only a bitter smile lingered at the corners of Taesu's mouth.
Just then, feeling awkward, Taesu lowered his gaze below the building, and his expression turned puzzled in an instant.
"Huh?"
"What is it?"
"The person standing down there, isn't that him?"
When Taesu asked, Gim Hyeokgwon craned his neck out.
Sure enough.
Taesu even pointed with his fingertip.
Just as Taesu had said, a middle-aged man exiting the building was heading somewhere. His stocky, familiar back was unmistakable.
Confirming Taesu's suspicion, Gim Hyeokgwon replied.
"You're right. It's Sarubia's father."
"Why is he over there right now. Then what about Sarubia? Damn it."
Just as Taesu was about to turn around in a rage.
Grab.
Gim Hyeokgwon held him back and said.
"Someone else is keeping watch."
"What?"
"Did you think we just got here? He stopped by for a moment. Don't worry about Sarubia, so let's relax, relax."
Pat, pat.
Gim Hyeokgwon even patted Taesu's shoulder lightly.
However, Taesu's irritation didn't subside easily.
With a worried look, he asked first.
"Has her fever gone down?"
"Not yet."
"But for a father to act like that. Does that make any sense?"
Point.
Taesu pointed his finger at him, choking up.
Then Gim Hyeokgwon said, exasperated.
"Oh, come on."
"Am I being too harsh?"
"Dr. Choe, are you getting angry like that without even knowing their situation?"
Despite Gim Hyeokgwon's question, Taesu's ferocious expression didn't change in the slightest.
"Situation? What situation. He's a man who said his daughter comes first. He even threatened to stop us from treating the villagers."
"I was the one who translated that."
"That's exactly my point."
Taesu shouted back.
Gim Hyeokgwon looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.
"Earlier, when I tried to talk about the situation, you said you didn't want to hear it. So why are you getting irritated?"
"When did I... Oh. T-that time."
"You said he hadn't shed a single tear and looked at him with utter contempt."
"When I said tears, did I mean actual tears? It was a metaphor, wasn't it?"
Taesu protested, but Gim Hyeokgwon didn't budge an inch.
"Was saying you didn't want to hear why also a metaphor?"
"That's not it."
"Can I speak now?"
Gim Hyeokgwon asked, his face calm.
Taesu instinctively sensed something odd in that demeanor.
At first, Gim Hyeokgwon had been so agitated that he'd tried to draw his pistol.
But now he was defending him.
There had to be a clear reason for such a drastically different reaction.
Huuu.
Taesu let out a long breath.
He replied by showing he was trying to calm himself.
Having noticed right away, Gim Hyeokgwon calmly explained the situation.
"It seems that building that was attacked was a place where they wove and traded cashmere textiles."
"They say skillful people had gathered there, recognized enough for it to be a specialty product."
Rustle.
A supplementary explanation came from Jeong Minsu in the back.
Immediately after, Gim Hyeokgwon spoke.
"The person who raises the most cashmere goats here in Makut is Karhaban, Sarubia's father."
"It seems Sarubia's mother was a highly skilled artisan renowned for textile crafts."
"But you see......"
Just as Gim Hyeokgwon was about to continue.
Taesu's spine stiffened, and he asked in a thin, trembling voice.
"Don't tell me Sarubia's mother was inside there at that time?"
"Yes. And not alone either—Sarubia's brothers and sisters too."
"What?"
Taesu's eyes shook at the creeping sense of foreboding.
To Taesu, Jeong Minsu spoke with a bitter expression.
"That's right. They all fell victim to the terror attack...."
"No, how could..."
"Sarubia was sick at home, so she was safe."
Jeong Minsu said it calmly, having heard it once before.
But Taesu, hearing it for the first time, could not remain calm.
"That. That makes no sense."
"What can you do. It's the truth."
"Then that, that. Karhaban? Anyway, that man."
Swish.
Taesu gestured roughly toward the window.
The answer came from another person.
Bread Gim approached, holding cups from which faint steam was rising in both hands, and spoke.
"It seems he was feeding the goats grass in the mountains with the other adult men. He ran over when he heard the explosion, but it was already a devastated ruin."
"T-that's..."
"They say the whole family lived diligently. Even though they had many goats, they didn't put on airs, and whenever the village needed money, they were the first to offer it. Here's coffee."
Swish.
Bread Gim held out one of the stainless steel cups he was carrying.
Taesu blankly grasped it with both hands.
Faint steam was rising.
But as if he couldn't even feel the heat, he muttered with a blank face.
"Then what the hell was that threat all about?"
It was Jeong Minsu who gave a hint.
"Think back to that time. Didn't you notice the other patients yielding?"
"Hmm."
"Sarubia is sick, and his other family members met a tragic end. What composure could Karhaban possibly have right now?"
As Jeong Minsu added, Gim Hyeokgwon chimed in.
"Everyone knew the situation, so no one said anything."
"I see......"
"Please stop taking things personally and flying off the handle. What will you do if your reason runs away from home and never comes back?"
Gim Hyeokgwon scolded him fiercely.
At that moment, Taesu paused and asked.
"Didn't you say you'd shoot him?"
"I apologized."
"You shouldn't say that so brazenly."
"Why? I apologized, and they understood. What's the problem?"
Taesu had nothing to say to Gim Hyeokgwon's brazen question.
"It's nothing. That's good."
"Of course it's good. Anyway, let's just let it go. From Karhaban's standpoint, even that much was exercising great patience."
"Hmm."
Taesu let out a heavy sigh and turned his gaze to the window.
They say you can know ten yards into water, but not one yard into a person's heart.
That proverb suddenly came to mind.
He felt once again that what appears on the surface is not everything.
Then Jeong Minsu's voice came from behind.
"I'll wash up and get ready for bed."
"Let's go together. We need to sleep as much as we can to move again tomorrow."
As Gim Hyeokgwon replied, Jeong Minsu's exhausted voice followed.
"Seeing how we gave emergency treatment to patients today, tomorrow is going to be no joke."
"Wasn't it like that in Sahad? I guess we'll just have to deal with it."
The sound of Gim Hyeokgwon and Jeong Minsu conversing as they went out could be heard.
Meanwhile, Bread Gim approached and asked carefully.
"By the way, Dr. Choe, are you okay?"
"Even if I didn't know then, after learning about it, my heart aches."
"No, I mean your hands. I diluted it with water, but I was wondering if it's still hot."
Bread Gim precisely pointed out the issue.
A puzzled Taesu lowered his gaze slightly.
He saw the stainless steel cup he was gripping tightly with both hands.
At that moment, a scorching sensation shot up both hands to the top of his head.
Taesu, his face screwed up as much as possible, quickly set the cup down and cried out.
"Uwah, hot."
"Goodness. Were you really that out of it?"
"Ugh. How could you give me something this hot?"
"Where would we get ice here? And I clearly said it was coffee."
"Even so. Ahhh."
Taesu groaned at the stinging sensation in his palms from the burn.
Bread Gim looked at him incredulously and shook his head.
And so, the tumultuous first day in Makut passed.
The next morning.
The medical staff got up with red-rimmed eyes.
It wasn't just from fatigue.
Bread Gim rubbed his face with his bare hands and asked.
"Who had the last watch?"
"Yawn. Me."
Jeong Minsu raised his hand and answered with a yawn.
Then Taesu sprang up beside him and asked.
"How was it?"
"Sarubia's fever still hasn't broken."
"We should go there first. But what about the baby?"
Tap, tap.
Taesu lightly tapped his head as if to clear his mind and asked.
Meanwhile, Jeong Minsu answered with a still-dazed face.
"Fortunately, the baby woke up and farted. The smell was so awful, I think my head is still throbbing."
"That's good news."
"It was the first time I'd ever found poison gas fragrant. Though it was rough trying to sleep."
Looking closely at Jeong Minsu's face, it was pale and drawn.
It seemed his groaning hadn't been just empty words.
In the meantime, Gim Hyeokgwon got up from the military cot and spoke.
"Then Sarubia first?"
"Of course."
"Let's go right away."
As Gim Hyeokgwon suggested, the doctors followed.
Shuffle, shuffle.
Perhaps because they had overexerted themselves yesterday and had been up at dawn, their gait was far from brisk.
Soon, the door to the temporary ward where Sarubia lay opened.
Creak.
On the sickbed lay Sarubia, and beside her sat Karhaban.
The medical staff entered one by one with resolute expressions.
Among them, Taesu was somewhat awkward.
Having been so angry yesterday, after hearing the circumstances, his heart felt uneasy.
"Ahem, ahem."
"Aren't you going in?"
"I'm going in...... Huh?"
Taesu flinched at something he saw.
Karhaban sprang up from his seat and was quickly approaching.
Karhaban closed the distance in an instant and spread his arms wide, embracing them all.
Swoop.
Without giving them time to wonder, he spoke.
"@%#$%#."
Everyone's gaze turned to Gim Hyeokgwon at once.
Gim Hyeokgwon's eyes grew wider as he listened to Karhaban.
"Huh?"
"What?"
"He says her fever has broken."
At the words Gim Hyeokgwon conveyed, the doctors' eyes widened.
"Really?"
"He says he checked a short while ago. He checked twice, but still wanted to check once more before coming to get you."
"Wait. Let's check first."
Everyone's heart raced at the sudden good news.
Gim Hyeokgwon quickly conveyed that sentiment.
"Karhaban, .%#$.%#."
"Oh. @%#@$%."
Karhaban replied immediately and lowered his hands.
Everyone regained their freedom.
In that moment, the doctors rushed toward Sarubia as if competing.
Hurriedly.
Taesu, who arrived first, looked at the girl on the sickbed.
Sarubia was asleep.
"Shh."
"Yeah."
Short signals were exchanged simultaneously.
"......."
"......."
The doctors, mouths shut, began examining her carefully with eye signals and hand gestures.
Thermometers, blood pressure cuffs, stethoscopes, and so on.
The variety was diverse.