“If you lie, I’ll be disappointed. If you come back hurt, I’ll worry. If there’s a truth you can’t tell me till the end, there must be a reason, so I won’t pester you to reveal it. It’s okay if you don’t return as much love as I give you. I don’t want to burden you when you’re already practicing love for so many people besides me.”

Since unlike you, I don’t have the amazing ability to save people amidst tragedy, what I can do is limited.

Seokhoon openly shared with Na Eun the resolution he made after learning his girlfriend’s secret.

“I saw how badly hurt Seungjoo was today, but there was nothing I could do. Still, if even someone like me can be of any strength to her, I’ll just wait here. Praying that she, who must be in great pain and injury, will be alright. Right here in this spot.”

Seokhoon smiled and drove the point home to Na Eun’s increasingly blank face.

“That’s what it means to love everyone’s hero.”

Exactly one week after the terror attack near the university hospital, Na Eun packed her bags with her mother Suhyun and booked plane tickets to Jeju Island.

Suhyun’s reaction to seeing the receipt for psychiatric counseling was just as Na Eun expected.

Upon learning that her daughter was still struggling with past memories, she readily agreed to Na Eun’s wish to rest somewhere remote for about a month.

Watching her mother rearrange her work schedule with difficulty, Na Eun felt a twinge of guilt, but decided to turn a blind eye this time.

It was all for her and Suhyun’s safety.

Fortunately, there was no need to worry about missing school as it was during break, and she settled the tutoring sessions she had been doing by quitting. She packed plenty of study materials.

Since there wouldn’t be much to do on Jeju Island anyway, studying was the best way to pass the time.

Suhyun gazed at Na Eun with slightly mixed feelings as she packed books and a laptop even for a getaway, but understood it as her daughter’s unique way of healing and pretended not to notice.

Upon arriving at the airport, while Suhyun briefly left to check in their luggage, Na Eun stopped by the restroom.

As she washed her hands and was about to exit, someone blocked her way.

The person snapped their fingers loudly in front of her as if to bring her back to her senses as she walked absentmindedly. Na Eun’s eyes widened as she recognized who it was.

She covered her mouth with one hand to avoid making a loud noise.

“Seo Heewon!”

Still, Na Eun called out to him like a scream, and the person whose name was called chuckled.

Though his face was slightly obscured by the hat he had pulled low, Na Eun could now spot Heewon in an instant even if he was hiding a hundred meters away.

“If I knew you’d greet me like this, I should’ve dropped by to see you once in a while.”

The last memory Na Eun had of seeing Heewon was when he left with injured Seungjoo a week ago.

As if the past days of constantly being together were a lie, Heewon had now become someone she could barely see or contact.

Of course, the same went for her other friends.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? How did you get here? Is Seungjoo, is Seungjoo safe? Is she alive?”

“One question at a time.”

As the questions poured out like bombs, Heewon smiled softly despite pretending to be annoyed.

But seeing Heewon’s haggard appearance under the hat, Na Eun couldn’t hide her concerned expression.

Heewon calmly shared his recent status with her as she looked distressed.

“To summarize briefly, Kwon Seungjoo is alive, I’m also alive as you can see, and everyone you know has survived safely. Work is a bit… very busy, but it’s bearable.”

Although he spoke casually, it didn’t sound light to Na Eun as she had been reading articles about the daily terror attacks in the city over the past week.

Heewon handed something to her as she had a gloomy look.

It was a small piece of paper.

“Call this number when you arrive in Jeju Island. Lee Sunjin will come pick you up.”

Heewon advised that even if she tried to contact Sunjin through the contact information she currently knew, it wouldn’t reach her.

As Na Eun obediently nodded, he continued.

“And the plane you’re supposed to board will probably be delayed a bit.”

It was a brief comment, but she immediately grasped the hidden meaning. A terror attack at the airport too, of all places. That crossed the line.

“By any chance, is it because…”

Is it partly because my mom and I are here? She was about to ask that, but realized her question could also cross the line and quickly shut her mouth.

Heewon looked down at her as if she was admirable.

Even before falling for her, he thought she was quick-witted and always accurately distinguished between when to get involved and when not to.

The difference from the past was that her wisdom used to be intriguing, and now it was lovable.

“The plane may be late, but you and your mother will arrive safely in Jeju Island.”

You trust me? Heewon asked as if confirming the obvious, and Na Eun quickly nodded like a good child.

“Your mother finished checking in the luggage. Go ahead.”

Spotting Suhyun walking from a distance, Heewon pulled his hat down further and nodded.

Na Eun stared at Heewon, who had purposely come to her amidst his busy schedule to relay contact from her friends and share updates, and said:

“Seo Heewon.”

As his name was called again, his gaze turned to her. Na Eun spoke.

“Don’t get hurt.”

“…”

“I’m worried.”

She knew it was a meaningless worry.

Heewon was working in the face of death every day, and there was nothing she could do for him even if she worried.

Still, she expressed her concern because she had a heavy conviction that Heewon would do anything she wanted.

Heewon looked down at her with affection as she seemed to worry if she had crossed the line again after saying it.

He answered softly.

“I will.”

If you tell me to, I have to do it no matter what.

Some ex-girlfriend had once told him. You must have been a son of a bitch from birth.

At the time, Heewon had scoffed but acknowledged it.

Objectively judging himself, Heewon admitted that he wasn’t a good person.

If it was true that all his abilities were superior to others, it was also true that his emotional empathy was far inferior to others.

It was for similar reasons that he had dated the way he did and was constantly criticized for the decisions he made while carrying out missions at the Center.

He was interested in the pleasure of flesh-to-flesh contact but indifferent to the affection exchanged after the relationship, and while he was proactive in annihilating enemies, he treated civilian rescue as an optional consequence.

Joining the Center was also a coincidence due to his uncle’s coercion, and he had been doing it because fighting suited him well, but Heewon never had the mindset of a “hero” as the media had praised him.

So even when the recently fickle media cursed at him, he didn’t suffer any mental blow.

The accusation of being a fraud made him scoff, “So what?”

When did we ever ask to be treated like heroes? They set expectations on their own first, and now that they’re disappointed, they’re quick to throw stones. It was so unsightly that it made him laugh instead.

He knew that Sunjin muttered “That psycho…” behind his back as he deliberately watched and snickered at the news that other heroes avoided out of discomfort, but that was all.

His attitude of turning a blind eye, thinking it couldn’t be helped if one or ten civilians died in an unavoidable situation, was cold-blooded enough to be called abnormal, let alone heroic.

Heewon knew he was like that, and he didn’t particularly dislike that side of himself.

Excessive empathy had many elements that made living in the world quite uncomfortable.

It was the same today. The large-scale shootout that began inside the airport quickly turned the surroundings into chaos.

Fortunately, it was an international terminal where the terror took place. If it had been a domestic terminal, Na Eun and her mother Suhyun would have been directly involved, and the thought sent chills down his spine.

As soon as he received information that those bastards would soon cause trouble at the airport, Heewon arrived at the location alone.

Due to the recent frequent terror attacks, the organization that used to operate as a team had now changed its style to individual play.

When an incident occurred, he had to handle everything alone. The Center was currently in a situation where even if there were a hundred and thirty heroes instead of thirteen, it wouldn’t be enough.

Not having to move as a team also meant there was no one beside him to nag.

In a way, it was a rather favorable situation for Heewon, who preferred to act alone at least when fighting.

There were no shouts to prioritize human lives, no orders to avoid killing as much as possible even if they were enemies, so there was nothing right next to him to stop him.

If either Seungjoo or Sunjin had witnessed this scene, they would have called it a rampage.

Heewon mercilessly massacred the organization members who rushed at him without showing any mercy.

It was a principle to refrain from killing unless necessary during missions, but Heewon had never carefully followed that principle.

He had always been reluctantly restrained by someone next to him who tore him away, but today, that rein was loosened.

After breaking the gun of one who charged at him and rendering it powerless, he threw the person against the wall without hesitation. The solid wall caved in, and red blood gushed out from the already lifeless body like meat juice.

Most of the citizens had already evacuated and were not at the scene, but he noticed a few who were fleeing from a distance looking at him, drenched in blood, as if he were a monster.

The military uniform is black for times like this. Although it was soaked heavily with enemy blood, it wasn’t very noticeable, and he chuckled as he checked his inconspicuous appearance.

As he slowly stepped inside the departure gate where the bomb was installed, he sighed and scratched his head at the sight that caught his eye.

What is that again?

“Don’t move. If you take even one more step from there, I’ll stab this into her head.”

Probably because he had run out of bullets, one enemy pulled out a dagger and grabbed the neck of a girl who looked like a student, making threats from a distance far from Heewon.

He was blocking the position of the departure gate, and Heewon had to go there.

The surroundings were full of other armed enemies pointing their guns at Heewon and on alert.

Don’t they collect data on us? Even in a situation where a hostage was captured, Heewon calmly had that thought.

If there was one thing he had learned from numerous fights, it was that at least Heewon was someone who had not the slightest interest in the well-being of a captured hostage.

Normally, his teammates would have handled the situation or stopped him, but unfortunately, there was no one to stop Heewon now.

With indifferent eyes, he walked step by step toward the bastard holding the hostage, or more precisely, toward the departure gate behind him.