A sound transmitted like a minute vibration in a space where light was extinguished.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The repetitive sound pulled reality.
I slowly opened my eyes.
An afterimage spreading whitely stimulated my vision.
The unfamiliar sll of disinfectant, the IV line stuck in my arm, and my heavily pressed chest.
I blinked my eyes and looked around.
The first thing that entered my sight was the appearance of my mother sobbing while holding her breath.
Mrs. Kang Ji-yeon, sitting in a chair next to the bed, was covering her mouth with the back of her hand.
Seeing that fatigue was piled up layer by layer around her eyes, she looked like a person who had not even been able to sleep properly during that ti.
I tried to say sothing, but my voice did not co out because of sothing filling my mouth.
I had no choice but to blink my eyes.
Kang Ji-yeon grabbed my hand firmly.
"Hyunjun, thank you for staying alive, my son..."
I tried to smile at those words, but it seed even that was not allowed.
A pain was felt in the chest area every ti I let out a breath.
'Is... is Moon Jong-beom okay?'
I wanted to ask, but I could not say any words.
Not long after waking up, sleepiness kept rushing in.
I repeatedly closed and opened my eyes, but eventually lost.
My consciousness beca distant and was pulled back into the darkness.
***
The inside of the hospital room was very quiet.
Hyunjun fell back into a deep sleep, and Kang Ji-yeon stood up from her seat after carefully placing her hand on his forehead.
As she opened the hospital room door quietly, Choi Seo-jun, who was standing in the hallway, lifted his head.
His eyes were deeply sunken like a person who had stayed up all night.
"Did his consciousness return?"
Kang Ji-yeon nodded.
"He opened his eyes for a mont just now. He recognized ."
"That is a relief."
Choi Seo-jun let out a sigh of relief.
It felt as if the stone that had been pressing on his chest for a long ti was finally pushed aside, and the heavy weight was lightened a little.
Silence flowed in the hallway for a mont.
Suddenly, Kang Ji-yeon spoke quietly.
"What about Jin-woo? Is he okay?"
"Yes. Chief Jeong Jin-woo has been moved to the recovery room now. He was unconscious until yesterday, but they said he woke up at dawn today. According to the dical staff, it is no different from a miracle."
"That is a relief. Then what about Assistant Manager Moon Jong-beom?"
Choi Seo-jun dropped his gaze for a mont and then lifted his head.
"He is recovering in the ICU. His arm and ribs, among many others, were broken, and he also suffered burns. The relief is that his consciousness returned quickly. They said his internal organs were not severely damaged either."
Tears welled up in Kang Ji-yeon's eyes.
"It is really... a relief that everyone survived."
Choi Seo-jun nodded and spoke.
"If Chief Jeong Jin-woo had not risked his life and jumped on that day, all three would have..."
He could not finish his words and swallowed them.
After that, he spoke carefully.
"At the ti the accident occurred, traces of intentional manipulation were seen in the vehicle. As a result of the field analysis, it was the sa for the braking system and the GPS was also manipulated. It seems they tried to make location tracking impossible."
Kang Ji-yeon inhaled.
"Are you saying it was really a terror?"
"We cannot exclude that possibility either. We will have to investigate further, but what is certain is that soone intentionally tried to eliminate the three people."
Silence flowed for a mont.
And Choi Seo-jun brought out the mory of that day in a very low voice.
While Choi Seo-jun was protecting Hyunjun's party at the local hospital in Iraq, Chairman Lim Man-seok made a phone call while suspending all business.
He directly contacted the Director of Taeseong Hospital and said.
"Call Director Lee Jong-kook of the trauma center right now. It is a gunshot wound patient. Have him depart for Iraq imdiately."
The Hospital Director could not continue his words for a mont.
"Are you talking about Iraq right now, Chairman?"
Lim Man-seok's heart beca more urgent as he tried to explain.
"Hyunjun t with an accident in Iraq. One of the party has a gunshot wound, and Hyunjun and Moon Jong-beom are unconscious. Their condition is critical, so you must go quickly. Search for other necessary specialists as well right now."
"I understand. I will prepare imdiately."
After hanging up, Lim Man-seok imdiately made calls to governnt officials as well.
His next request was only one.
"Secure an air ambulance. As quickly as possible."
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs moved with that short phone call.
They reacted swiftly as if they had made a promise in advance.
Chief Secretary Kang Cheol-woo sent several vehicles to Taeseong Hospital.
The dical staff, including Director Lee Jong-kook, boarded with only equipnt, without even having ti to pack their bags.
The vehicles carrying them headed straight to the airport where the Taeseong Group private jet was located.
As soon as they arrived at the airfield, everyone moved busily as if a war had broken out.
The takeoff permission had already been obtained.
The private jet finished its preparations to head to Iraq urgently.
Lee Jong-kook, who boarded the private jet imdiately, said.
"As soon as we arrive, we will check the patient's condition and transport them imdiately by air ambulance. Prepare for surgery in Korea."
***
A local hospital in Iraq.
The three patients who were transported to the hospital had passed a full half-day while only receiving first aid.
Chief Jeong Jin-woo went through several crises during that ti.
His heart rate jumped irregularly and his blood pressure repeatedly fell continuously.
Several dical staff hung onto him and barely held onto his lifeline.
The Pri Minister personally gave the order.
That those people must not die here.
The noise of a helicopter was heard.
Only then could the dical staff feel relieved.
Director Lee Jong-kook, who ca from the Republic of Korea, ran to the patients as soon as he arrived.
"There are three patients. The order must not be changed. Transport them in order of severity. This side is a chest injury. Here is a gunshot wound, and this side is multiple fractures and burns. Prepare to transport all of them to the airport."
Hyunjun's face was extrely pale.
The hands of the dical staff holding the IV line were trembling.
Chief Jeong Jin-woo was unconscious while wearing an oxygen mask, and Moon Jong-beom tried to open his eyes occasionally, but his face was distorted due to pain.
They moved quickly to the airport by helicopter.
The air ambulance that arrived in the anti took off from Iraqi airspace carrying the three patients and the dical staff.
Lee Jong-kook quietly checked the patients' conditions and spoke to the nurse standing next to him.
"It will take ti to reach Seoul. We must endure sohow inside here."
He was a person who had treated countless trauma patients until now.
However, it was his first ti riding an air ambulance.
The sound of the life support equipnt echoing in the cabin and the struggle of the dical staff began.
***
The air ambulance arrived at the Incheon Airport runway.
In the darkness where the sun had not yet risen, red signals flickered and stained the area around the takeoff track.
At the end of the runway, three ambulances were already waiting.
The dical staff dispatched from Taeseong Hospital were finishing their final checks next to the vehicles.
However, there was another group with them.
"It has arrived! It is the Taeseong Group private jet."
"Prepare your caras."
Outside the control line on one side of the scene, press corps from dia companies were already gathered.
[Taeseong Group 3rd generation, Lim Hyunjun unconscious]
[Iraq shooting accident, theory of attack rapidly erging]
[HJ Partners Lim Hyunjun attacked in Iraq]
Breaking news that poured out all night continued.
Airport security guards shouted while controlling the press corps.
"This is a restricted area. You must not cross this line."
However, the press corps did not back down.
The air ambulance door opened slowly from the lower part of the aircraft.
Under Director Lee Jong-kook's instructions, the dical staff moved quickly.
"Insert the stretchers! Transport the patient with the chest injury first!"
The first one to get off was Chief Jeong Jin-woo, who was motionless while wearing an oxygen mask.
Cara flashes went off among the press corps who saw him, and so shouted as if trying to identify his face.
Soone among the dical staff covered his face with a cloth.
Next, Assistant Manager Moon Jong-beom moved.
When Hyunjun's appearance was last seen, the flashes of the press corps went off like crazy.
"It is Lim Hyunjun!"
However, the dical staff covered the patient's face with a cover and moved toward the vehicle as if running while holding the breathing equipnt firmly.
Director Lee Jong-kook boarded the vehicle that Chief Jeong Jin-woo rode.
Among the three, he was the most critical.
The warning lights of the lead vehicle flickered and lit up as it ran along the road.
The procession of three ambulances running like a train on the dark road pierced through the silence toward downtown Seoul.
At that mont, the morning news throughout Seoul was filled with the following content.
[Taeseong Group 3rd generation Lim Hyunjun. Returns to Korea in an unconscious state. dical staff urgently deployed]
[Iraq attack incident. Doubts regarding the mastermind intensifying]
***
In front of the operating room.
In one place, Director Lee Jong-kook personally entered to operate on Chief Jeong Jin-woo's gunshot wound, and in another room, an orthopedics professor and burn surgery dical staff were focusing on recovering Moon Jong-beom's fractures and burn areas.
And in the innermost part, Hyunjun was lying on the operating table.
Director Lee Jong-kook did not stop his hands for a mont while holding a scalpel.
Sweat flowed in streams from his forehead, and the air inside the operating room was tense as if ti had stopped.
As he was the highest authority in severe trauma, he moved swiftly.
Only cold air lingered in the waiting area in front of the operating room.
The first people to arrive were Lim Do-kyung and Mrs. Kang Ji-yeon.
Kang Ji-yeon could not even sit in the chair in front of the operating room and was standing with both hands gathered at her chest.
She moved her lips continuously while praying.
A mont later, another group arrived in the hospital lobby.
It was Moon Jong-beom's wife and young daughter.
With a haggard face, she asked the reception desk staff and barely arrived in front of the operating room under the guidance of a nurse.
The child was holding her mother's hand tight while tense.
"Is... is this the right place? Is my husband okay?"
"Yes, he is currently in surgery. If you wait here, the doctor will explain to you."
They arrived in front of the operating room and sat down on the floor.
The woman shed tears while trembling in anxiety while holding the child's hand tight.
Soon after, Chairman Lim Man-seok, dressed in a gray suit, arrived under the protection of the security team.
His expression was dark, but there were many traces of him trying hard to remain calm.
Even while moving, he asked Chief Secretary Kang Cheol-woo.
"What did they say the situation is?"
"All are in surgery. Director Lee Jong-kook is currently operating on Jeong Jin-woo."
Lim Man-seok looked at the operating room light without a word and sat quietly in a chair.
He could see his son and daughter-in-law who arrived before him, but they did not say any words to each other.
After a little while, Lim Hye-seon and Jeong Seo-yeon arrived.
She shut her mouth as she looked at her father and her younger brother's couple.
President Lim Do-hyun and his wife also showed themselves.
Lim Do-hyun bowed his head briefly toward his father and then sat on a waiting chair.
No one said any words.
No, they could not easily bring up words.
Ti flowed slowly.
Inside the operating room, a struggle to protect life continued, and outside the operating room, tears waiting for a loved one followed.
The place where the light turned off first was the operating room where Jeong Jin-woo was.
He did not have a family.
The person who quietly guarded the front of the operating room was Choi Seo-jun.
Chief Jeong Jin-woo always looked cold-headed but was a person who had a sense of distance.
However, Choi Seo-jun knew.
That he had a heart hotter than anyone else inside and was a man who would bet everything on soone he had once accepted.
"Please, definitely live."
Lee Jong-kook, wearing surgical scrubs, walked out.
"Are you the guardian of the patient Jeong Jin-woo?"
Choi Seo-jun answered.
"Yes, I am a colleague of Chief Jeong Jin-woo."
The doctor nodded briefly and spoke.
"Fortunately, the gunshot wound did not reach the heart. It was urgent, but thanks to catching the bleeding well, he is currently finding stability. He is not conscious yet, but the possibility of recovery is high, so do not worry too much."
The mont he heard those words, Choi Seo-jun almost sat down on the floor as if his tension had been released.
Fortunately, he did not do that.
"Thank you. Thank you very much."
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