It was after he had taken one worry off his mind.
Thump.
Jeong Minsu’s heavy hands landed on both of Taesu’s shoulders. At the same time, his round face thrust itself right up to Taesu’s nose.
“Taesu, what about me? Me.”
“You…”
“Yeah, me? What about me?”
Jeong Minsu’s voice was heated, and his face was full of expectation.
But what Taesu had to say was nothing like what he was hoping for.
“My ears hurt. Talk softer.”
“Ugh.”
Shuffle.
Jeong Minsu, struck head-on by Taesu’s high-pitched attack, grimaced and stepped back.
To him, Taesu simply relayed James’s advice.
“He said there’s only one of you in this world.”
“One person… huh?”
“You are the only one.”
Taesu said it flatly in English.
It might have been something the others wouldn’t understand.
But not Jeong Minsu.
A lump rose in his throat.
His eyes rapidly reddened, and his lips trembled.
‘You idiot.’
In truth, Taesu had vaguely guessed it on the way back.
All this time, Jeong Minsu had kept comparing himself to Taesu.
He had tried to imitate Taesu’s emergency treatment, and even copied his surgical style exactly.
It must have been his desire to close the gap between himself and Taesu.
As a result, Jeong Minsu’s individuality had been fading away.
He seemed to have forgotten what his own strengths and merits were.
James had seen through that in an instant.
That was why he had given him that advice.
Those words were shaking Jeong Minsu’s heart from top to bottom.
Jeong Minsu and Brad Kim were each looking inward in their own worlds.
Perhaps because of that, the lodging was quiet.
After knocking the two of them out, Taesu’s eyes now fell on Kim Hyeok-gwon.
He had noticed him earlier, but only now got to him because of all the pestering.
“Mr. Hyeok-gwon, you were here too?”
“……”
The silent look in his eyes was fierce and sharp.
And it was directed at Taesu himself.
Not knowing why, Taesu asked with a bewildered face.
“Why me?”
“You don’t know?”
“I don’t.”
“Ah, so you don’t know about the heinous act of shoving me into a lion’s den and running away?”
Kim Hyeok-gwon’s momentum grew more and more ferocious.
But this was the first Taesu had heard of it.
“A lion’s den?”
“Back then, I… ugh.”
“Huh? Mr. Hyeok-gwon, are you all right?”
“Do I look all right?”
His voice grew even sharper.
At the intense reaction, Taesu shook his head without realizing it.
“No.”
“And looking at me, not all right, you’re not secretly enjoying this, are you?”
“Where did that ridiculous misunderstanding even start?”
Taesu asked back, feeling wronged.
At that moment, Kim Hyeok-gwon’s eyes flashed blue as he growled.
“Catherine, Lumie. Grrr.”
“Pardon?”
“Rules for nurses? Ten things you absolutely must do? Me, me, a nurse? I’m not a nurse, I’m an interpreter.”
Thump, thump.
Unable to contain his agitation, he took it out on the bed mattress.
It was the first time Taesu had seen him so worked up, so he was more than a little flustered.
But only for a moment.
Taesu immediately guessed from the context what had happened.
He imagined Kim Hyeok-gwon wedged between the two of them.
At that instant, Taesu hurriedly clamped a hand over his mouth.
“Ha… hup.”
“Are you laughing? Are you laughing right now? You can laugh?”
“Mmph, mmph.”
With his mouth still covered, Taesu desperately shook his head.
When Kim Hyeok-gwon got angry, the best policy was not to provoke him.
This was exactly one of those times.
Silence was the shortcut to prolonging his life.
A little while later.
Jeong Minsu and Brad Kim wrapped up their meetings with their inner selves for the time being.
And above all, the whirlwind known as Kim Hyeok-gwon had passed without causing any particular damage.
“……”
The lodging was still.
Then Taesu lifted the document envelope he had brought and said,
“I received an order from Dr. James.”
“Taesu, what kind of order comes in documents?”
When Jeong Minsu asked on everyone’s behalf, Taesu answered with a wink and a smile.
“He says we should go on a business trip.”
“A business trip?”
“If you come to the PKO runway by 08:00 tomorrow morning, that’ll do.”
At that, everyone’s eyes widened.
“The runway?”
“A plane? Or a helicopter?”
“What the hell is this sudden business trip? Is he trying to freeze us to death now that the weather’s gotten cold?”
Kim Hyeok-gwon’s crooked question came last.
Taesu didn’t mind and answered with the same light smile.
“The destination is Srinagar.”
“Hmm? That is the name of a city in northern India.”
“That’s right. The order is to transfer long-term inpatients to a hospital over there.”
Taesu calmly continued relaying the information.
Even so, everyone’s faces remained full of questions.
Swoosh.
Unable to hold back, Brad Kim lightly raised his hand and asked,
“So he’s telling just us to go transfer them?”
“That’s not the end of it.”
“If you’re going to tell us, could you just get it all out at once?”
Brad Kim’s brow narrowed slightly.
Seeing that, Taesu didn’t make them wait any longer and said it plainly.
“The return flight is in five days. And we won’t be coming back empty—we’ll be bringing the last donated supplies of the year.”
“Wait. That leaves almost four days between after the transfer and when we come back.”
“That time is… vacation.”
Taesu declared it weightily.
Jeong Minsu, who had been listening while folding down his fingers, opened his eyes wide and asked,
“Vacation?”
“Yeah. And a special consolation vacation Dr. James arranged for us, saying we’ve worked hard all this time.”
“Heeeey, wow.”
Jeong Minsu raised both hands high and cheered.
Brad Kim was the same.
But Kim Hyeok-gwon was not.
“Vacation, my foot. At a critical time when we should be earning money, how does it make sense to go spend it?”
“They said interpretation and guide expenses will be paid separately…”
Before Taesu could even finish conveying the additional information.
Kim Hyeok-gwon’s ears perked up, and his attitude changed one hundred and eighty degrees.
“That’s right. We should go on vacation. We’ve suffered so much since Ijambak, and now they finally recognize it.”
“Um, just now…”
“Dr. Choi, let’s keep quiet. There’s no need to bring up unnecessary things and ruin everyone’s good mood, is there?”
Glare.
Kim Hyeok-gwon openly signaled him with his eyes.
His behavior could have been irritating, yet strangely, it felt endearing.
And Kim Hyeok-gwon was right.
There was no reason to make this good mood awkward for nothing.
Taesu looked around at everyone and shouted vigorously.
“Let’s leave in search of freedom.”
“Let’s go, let’s go.”
“It’s freedom. Freedom.”
“Smell of disinfectant, goodbye for a while.”
The energetic voices that chimed in were filled with happy screams at the thought of vacation.
The next day at noon.
At Srinagar International Airport, a city in northern India, many planes were taking off and landing.
In one corner of that airport sat a somewhat unusual plane.
NGO.
It was a medium-sized aircraft with those letters written large on it.
Just then, many ambulances began moving near the plane.
Wee-oo, wee-oo.
After the ambulances departed, Taesu stood alone in their place, holding documents. Beside him was an Indian man dressed in activewear.
Taesu looked at him and quietly held out the documents.
“Dr. Mahal, please make the final confirmation.”
“Hmm. Everything is correct. Then I’ll sign.”
Scratch, scratch.
Dr. Mahal returned the signed documents.
After receiving them, Taesu checked them once more before closing the file.
Snap.
“It looks like everything is done.”
“Then I’ll excuse myself first.”
“Thank you.”
“Not at all.”
After exchanging a light handshake, Dr. Mahal got into the vehicle prepared for him.
Vroom.
Once the vehicle left, the group behind Taesu approached his side.
Among them, Brad Kim spoke first.
“The cleanup is all done.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“What hard work?”
“But…”
Taesu held up the documents, his tone carrying a subtle nuance.
Before he could even begin in earnest, Brad Kim spoke first.
“It’s work the professor entrusted to Dr. Choi. It would be stranger for you to worry about me.”
“Even so.”
“You said I’m the one checking the loading list on the day we return. Then we each have different jobs.”
Brad Kim smiled brightly.
There was no jealousy or wariness in that smile. He always yielded like that and never once frowned.
Taesu liked that about Brad Kim, yet also found it fascinating.
Just as that thought was about to continue.
Kim Hyeok-gwon shook the envelope in his hand and said,
“You can praise each other later. You remember this, right?”
“Isn’t that the reservation confirmation for our lodging?”
It was something a Good Morning Earth staff member had handed over right before departure.
At Taesu’s question, Kim Hyeok-gwon answered heavily.
“That’s right. The very thing we couldn’t check because some old man’s blood pressure dropped like a stone as soon as we took off.”
“Is something wrong with it?”
“I just checked, and it’s a bit…”
His answer was not exactly clear.
While everyone was briefly puzzled.
Jeong Minsu, who had been quiet, asked offhandedly,
“I heard NGOs are pretty stingy about this sort of thing. Are they not?”
“Stingy… More accurately, their principle is not to spend more than necessary.”
Brad Kim explained the intent precisely so there would be no misunderstanding.
Sensing where this was going, Taesu smiled at Kim Hyeok-gwon and said,
“So what if the lodging isn’t great? We’ll eat and play outside and only sleep there.”
“That’s not it. It’s because it’s too good.”
“It’s good?”
“It’s called the Srinagar Hotel. It’s a luxury hotel where buyers stay.”
At that, everyone’s eyes widened.
Brad Kim was the most surprised of all.
“A hotel where buyers stay? Really?”
“I said it is. I checked it over and over before saying anything.”
“Is something going on among the NGO higher-ups?”
Brad Kim was genuinely baffled.
For most NGO doctors, frugality was both a habit and an ironclad rule.
At the root was the mindset of saving even a single penny to purchase one more medical supply.
So from his perspective, it was more than enough to feel like an utterly unexpected shock.
Taesu also found that part a little strange.
“Mr. Hyeok-gwon, the reservation confirmation, please.”
“Here.”
“Hmm. Ah, Good Morning Earth made the reservation.”
When Taesu confirmed and told them, Brad Kim finally understood.
“That explains it.”
“But isn’t that also an organization run on donations?”
“That’s true too.”
Brad Kim could only keep agreeing.
At that circular conversation, Kim Hyeok-gwon threw in a remark.
“What kind of conversation has no conclusion? So are we going or not?”
“Let’s go for now. Just because it’s a hotel where buyers stay doesn’t necessarily mean it’s expensive and fancy.”
“Of course they’d have standard rooms there too.”
“Then that must be it. It’s our first vacation in a while, so let’s hurry up, check in, and go eat.”
Taesu neatly reached a conclusion.
As if everyone had set aside their various guesses, their expressions brightened.
“Let’s do that. Let’s go.”
“Indian food, huh. Mr. Hyeok-gwon, introduce us to a good place.”
“What an obvious thing to say. Now, this way. It feels awkward and nice to return to my main job after so long.”
Step, step.
Though he said that, Kim Hyeok-gwon strode ahead energetically.
Behind him, Taesu, Jeong Minsu, and Brad Kim followed with excited expressions.
The immigration procedure was extremely simple.
That was how great the value of an NGO ID card was.
After leaving the airport, Taesu and the others immediately took a taxi and headed to the hotel.