Everyone’s gaze toward the surgery had, at some point, grown complicated.
Among them, Taesu’s gaze was especially so.
His position was a little different from Jeong Minsu’s and Brad Kim’s.
Before being dispatched to Nepal, he had spent a brief time among them, working with them in surgery.
‘I was in there…….’
Thinking back on it, it had truly been an incredible time.
But right now, he had no leisure to reminisce.
He was hard-pressed just to keep up with what was unfolding before his eyes.
That said, this was not a time to observe surgical technique.
That could come later.
He was watching more carefully what it meant for team members to breathe and balance together.
They said you saw only as much as you knew.
There was nothing wrong with that saying.
Only now did he get a sense of just how extraordinary their skill was.
In a word, it was enough to take his breath away.
“Hup.”
“Hmm.”
Jeong Minsu and Brad Kim were also drawing in sharp breaths. They were not even comparable to them.
Then what had they been doing until now?
Playing doctor.
It was not self-deprecation, but fact.
Taesu, in particular, felt that keenly.
The three of them stood there, unable to so much as open their mouths, until the surgery was over.
A long time passed.
The spleen surgery was completed.
After that, under Doctor Maximilian’s lead, the next surgery began.
It was a spinal implant.
It really existed.
It was a surgery to insert a bone made of special alloy in place of the fractured vertebra. It seemed to be a special medical device that had been prepared in advance.
It looked as if some slight adjustment was needed.
Even so, they must have performed that surgery many times as well, because their coordination was flawless.
The sight of Doctor James coming down as an assistant and aiding Doctor Maximilian was especially impressive.
Afterward, even the final check was completed.
Beep, beep.
The sound of the ECG became steady and stable.
It was to the point that the urgent sounds they had heard upon first entering the operating room seemed almost doubtful.
Amid that calm, everyone’s gaze turned to Doctor Izakson.
After checking a few more things, he soon turned around.
Thump.
He immediately raised his thumb.
“Good.”
It came at the same time as the anesthesiologist’s confident sign.
Doctor James’s taut tension softened.
And then.
James lightly raised his hand.
“Come closer.”
He called everyone, including Taesu, to the operating table.
Taesu, Jeong Minsu, and Brad Kim, who had been waiting and observing until then, quickly approached.
Beside them came Kim Hyeokgwon, his face looking as if it had shrunk to half its size.
“You all look wonderfully lively.”
With his gaunt face, he glared sidelong at Taesu and the doctors.
It was because, with the shortage of nurses, he had been running around until the very end. Even so, perhaps because of the allowance Doctor James had promised, there was not much malice in it.
Like that, everyone gathered around the operating table.
The gazes of Taesu and everyone else turned to Doctor James.
As if he had been waiting for this moment, Doctor James slowly looked around at everyone and said,
“First, I offer my respect to the patient, who endured for no small amount of time. And everyone, you worked hard.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Bow.
Strangely enough, everyone bowed their heads in greeting.
It was the Korean-style greeting Taesu had spread while operating together with them.
And so, the surgery came to an end.
A short while later.
They came out of the operating room one after another.
It was also a moment of liberation.
Everyone began taking off their hair caps one by one.
“Good grief.”
“Ugh. I’m dying.”
“Ah, aah. My legs hurt.”
Groans came from here and there.
In the meantime, Taesu had also taken off his mask. But the lips revealed beneath it were pressed quite firmly together.
He had looked forward to this moment more than anyone.
Even grabbing James’s hands and jumping up and down would not have been enough.
But he could not do that.
The thoughts he had had while watching the surgery had not yet been properly sorted out.
His own contribution?
He did not care if no one acknowledged that.
What he had felt from this surgery was more important.
Not only that, Jeong Minsu and Brad Kim were the same.
Just then, Doctor James spoke to everyone.
“Everyone worked hard. You must be tired, so without saying much else, let’s get some rest first.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“Right. All schedules for today and tomorrow are canceled. Everyone, recover yourselves.”
That was the end of it.
Step.
Doctor James was the first to leave the tent.
Taesu watched him with a complicated gaze.
There were dozens of things he wanted to chase after him and ask right away.
‘Should I go?’
It was only a thought.
Thud.
His feet would not follow.
His body was already as heavy as a thousand pounds.
In the end, he could not chase after him.
Instead, he promised himself tonight or tomorrow.
For now, rest came first for Taesu too.
“Thank you for your hard work. I’ll go first.”
“You worked hard too, Doctor Choi.”
Doctor Izakson, who had not rested once during the surgery, waved his hand while sprawled across a folding chair.
The other medical staff were the same.
Even sharing joy required stamina.
For now, rest came first.
Soon, Taesu slung his bag over his shoulder and stepped out of the tent.
The blazing sun was hot.
“It was fairly chilly at dawn.”
That was already a thing of the past.
The morning had vanished without a trace, and the sun was already hanging high in the sky. An awkward smile spread across his darkened face.
Just then, Kim Hyeokgwon came out with a half-asleep look and said,
“We’ll settle up later this evening.”
“What?”
“I’m going.”
Whoosh, whoosh.
Kim Hyeokgwon waved roughly and walked away.
For him to turn down money.
It was the clearest sign of just how tired he was.
At that moment, Brad Kim approached.
With a face that had become quite timid, he asked Taesu,
“Do you think the professor just left because of me?”
“Why would you say that?”
“I think I was too nervous when the surgery started earlier. Even though I’m supposed to be a surgeon. Damn it.”
“You made up for it afterward.”
Taesu stated an obvious fact, but it did not seem to be much comfort to Brad Kim.
“Whew, I can’t help feeling like I’ve been marked.”
“I don’t think so.”
“You didn’t hear anything, did you?”
“We were all together the whole time.”
At Taesu’s answer, Brad Kim’s face became even more haggard.
“That’s why it’s driving me even crazier.”
“Get some rest first. If I meet Doctor James later, I’ll ask him discreetly.”
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep. Anyway, if you hear anything, let me know.”
“Of course. Don’t worry and go in.”
Taesu carefully urged him.
As if admitting there was nothing he could do about it right now, Brad Kim’s shoulders drooped and he turned away.
“I’ll go first. Get plenty of rest.”
“Yes. You too, Brad.”
“…….”
Whoosh.
After turning around, he swung one arm widely over his head and walked away.
Just then, Jeong Minsu approached with hollow eyes.
“Taesu, I’m going to collapse.”
“Me too.”
“Let’s think about everything else later and just go to the lodging and collapse first.”
“I completely agree.”
Thud, thud.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu headed straight for their lodging.
Even their footsteps were heavy.
They had no strength left to think about or worry over anything.
They simply walked toward the building in the distance.
And a short while later.
Creak.
The door to the lodging, with their names written on the nameplate, opened, and Taesu and Jeong Minsu came in.
Both of them were utterly wilted and exhausted.
They staggered toward the beds and dived straight onto the mattresses.
Flop.
“You worked……. Sleep……. Snore.”
“Later tonight…… Zzz.”
Neither of them even managed to properly finish encouraging each other for their hard work before they completely passed out.
Inside the lodging.
On the beds, Taesu and Jeong Minsu were tangled together with the blankets as one.
“Gororong.”
“Grrr.”
The sounds of snoring rang out as if in competition.
They were loud enough to be called noise.
Despite that, the two did not budge.
After a long journey and then participating in surgery as helpers, the aftermath of over twenty-four hours of forced marching must have been considerable.
They were sure to wish this happiness would last forever.
For Taesu and Jeong Minsu in particular, it had been a long time since they had slept so deeply.
However.
That time of happiness was soon shattered.
Bang. Bang.
A violent sound rang out, as if the door were about to be broken down.
At the same time.
Flash.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu opened their eyes as if it were a lie.
An emergency patient?
At a dispatch site, that was something that happened all the time. Even though they were that exhausted, it seemed they had not let go of the final thread of tension.
But this was not a dispatch site.
No, they did not even have the presence of mind to realize that.
Bang, bang, bang.
The violent knocking rang out again.
Still not fully awake, Taesu shouted,
“What is it?”
“I don’t know. Shouldn’t we go out first?”
“Let’s go.”
Crash, clatter.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu kicked off the beds and rushed toward the door.
Taesu, who arrived a step ahead, flung the door open without asking or arguing.
Bang.
Standing in front of the opened door was Kim Hyeokgwon.
His expression was extremely urgent.
Sensing that something was unusual, Taesu quickly asked,
“Why? What’s going on?”
“There’s no time. I’m saying it’s five minutes away.”
His voice was full of seriousness.
At that sound, Taesu came sharply to his senses and asked again,
“What’s five minutes away?”
“Quitting time.”
“Yes. Quitting patient……. What?”
Taesu’s mouth twisted as he repeated the words.
Quitting time?
What kind of nonsense was this?
But Kim Hyeokgwon’s expression was still urgent.
He must have been so pressed that he even grabbed Taesu’s hand as he spoke.
Grab.
“Hurry. At this rate, the Good Morning Earth staff will go home.”
“W-wait a second. What did you say?”
“What do you mean, wait a second? Hurry up and come.”
Kim Hyeokgwon pulled Taesu’s hand even harder.
But Taesu was not dragged along obediently.
Tap.
He planted his feet and resisted, first gathering his hazy mind.
“Hyeokgwon, wait. So you’re not doing this because of a patient?”
“I’m about to become a patient from the fire burning inside me.”
“Why?”
The moment Taesu asked with an absurd expression.
From beside him, Jeong Minsu’s voice came as he checked his wristwatch with puffy eyes.
“There are five minutes left until the staff leave. No, now it’s four minutes.”
“Ah, the dispatch allowance.”
Only then did Taesu understand this uproar. If they went home today, it would be pushed back to tomorrow.
Kim Hyeokgwon was not the sort of person to stand by and watch that happen.
Since the other party was Kim Hyeokgwon, in a way, it made sense.
Taesu tried to calm him down first.
“Wait a moment. But we’re not the only ones who need to go.”
At the same time as those words.
Slide.
Brad Kim appeared beside them, yawning with his mouth wide open.
“Haam. Hi.”
“Huh? Brad.”
“Don’t shout. My head’s ringing.”
Tap, tap.
Brad Kim lightly tapped the side of his head.
He seemed so out of it that he had not fully woken up.
At a glance, it was obvious he had been dragged out by Kim Hyeokgwon.