There was not a moment’s hesitation in Hee-won’s stride, and it was the enemy who was taken aback.

“Stop, I said stop! Damn it, can’t you see this woman here?”

A sharp blade was pressed against her cheek, and the captive woman let out a scream mixed with sobs.

But Hee-won decided not to pay it any mind.

If his feet got tied up here trying to save one hostage, he wouldn’t be able to remove the bomb inside the gate.

Then it was clear that countless people bound inside, unable to escape, would all die.

The calculation was precise, and so there was no hesitation in his movements.

“Please… save me….”

His unwavering steps suddenly faltered for a moment.

The student, held at the neck by the organization member, was looking at Hee-won desperately with a tear-stained face.

“Please, save me…”

“……”

Hee-won silently looked at that crying face. And he was inwardly surprised at himself for not feeling any emotion.

Why did he not feel sorry for her? Why did he not pity her? Why did he only find it bothersome?

He even thought that if someone could precisely look into his mind, they might want to throw him into a mental hospital right away.

Uncle Ji-hwan’s words, muttered jokingly at a drinking party, that Hee-won would likely be living as some villain somewhere if not for the Center, only now felt real to him.

Seo Hee-won was, to the bone, closer to being a bad guy than a good one.

He turned away again, ignoring her.

Rescuing the hundreds of civilians tied up inside the gate was far better than saving this one person. That was the right judgment.

‘…Would you still say that even if that one person was your elder sister Na-eun?’

He didn’t know why his younger sibling’s words suddenly came to mind at this moment. Without realizing it, he stopped in his tracks.

And at the same time, as soon as he imagined the person held in the enemy’s arms as Yoon Na-eun, his heart sank to the floor.

“You crazy…!”

Bang. Everything happened in an instant.

Hee-won, who seemed like he would stride past without a care for the hostage’s well-being, picked up the twisted gun barrel that had been taken earlier and threw it at the enemy.

The metal chunk hurled with superhuman strength was no different from a cannon, and in an instant, it blew off the head of the man holding the hostage.

The surrounding enemy troops who had their guns pointed at Hee-won began shooting like crazy.

Clicking his tongue, Hee-won ran towards the hostage collapsed on the floor in the opposite direction of the gate.

Even he himself thought this was a stupid thing to do, but his body was already moving first like an instinct.

He wanted to ignore it, fearing the situation would get this complicated. But he couldn’t go back on the choice he had already made.

Now that it had come to this, the best thing was to quickly rescue her and enter the gate.

Without hesitation, Hee-won threw his body over the woman collapsed on the ground.

Gunshots that seemed to tear eardrums rang out dozens of times, and the student who had nearly died with a dagger to her throat just moments ago was still crying, drenched in fear.

As she trembled with her face covered by both hands, an irritated groan escaped from the solid body covering her as if embracing her.

“Stop crying. It annoys me when someone cries in front of me.”

“…Sob, sob, sob.”

At the cold tone that made her come to her senses, she slowly opened her tightly shut eyes.

Soon, she wanted to faint at the sight before her.

The black military uniform of the man covering her was not only drenched in the blood of the enemies he had defeated so far.

The red liquid kept seeping out from the man’s upper body. Having taken all the bullets aimed at her with his back instead.

Hee-won looked down at the woman covering her mouth with both hands and gasping at the terrible sight, no scream coming out.

Even amidst this, he didn’t feel much, but asked out of curiosity.

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

It was a question that didn’t fit the serious situation at all, but the woman was dazed for a moment before shaking her head.

Hee-won asked again.

“Family?”

“……”

This time she nodded. After confirming that, Hee-won asked again.

“Friends?”

Although it wasn’t common for people to have no friends in the world, Hee-won, who actually didn’t have any notable friends, asked just in case.

As expected, when she slightly nodded her head, he smirked.

“…I see.”

If you die too, there will be someone whose heart sinks to the floor.

Although slightly delayed, Na-eun and Soo-hyun, who had safely arrived in Jeju Island, were moved to a small pension located by the beach by Sun-jin, who had been waiting at the airport.

The neat-looking two-story pension was surprisingly spacious, with more than enough room for not just two, but even six people to stay without being cramped.

“I feel bad for borrowing such a nice pension for free, so I brought a little something at least.”

Sun-jin made an awkward expression at the white envelope Soo-hyun handed her.

“It’s really okay. This is my uncle’s pension, and there are no guests right now, so it’s really a place that would go to waste.”

“Still, this isn’t right. Make sure to give it to your uncle. I’d like to thank him in person if possible, but I heard he’s recuperating, so it can’t be helped. Please relay my gratitude to him as well.”

“Haha…”

On the surface, it was made out to be Na-eun asking to borrow the pension run by Sun-jin’s uncle, but Soo-hyun seemed to feel it was improper to use a place like this for free for a whole month.

On the other hand, Sun-jin felt indebted to Na-eun and Soo-hyun for postponing all their personal schedules and coming all the way here due to their circumstances, so she felt uncomfortable accepting money.

Na-eun, glancing back and forth between Sun-jin and her mother, held Sun-jin’s hand.

“Mom, the beach here is so pretty, I want to go for a walk. Is that okay?”

Soo-hyun looked down at her daughter, who was childishly holding her friend’s hand and asking with an excited face, as if she was cute.

“Sure. Mom will be unpacking, so go play. Here’s some pocket money. Buy Sun-jin something delicious.”

“Ah, really, I don’t need…”

“Yay! I’m so excited. We’ll be back!”

As Soo-hyun took out a card from her wallet and handed it to her daughter, Sun-jin waved her hands in a fluster, but Na-eun was faster.

She swiftly took the card and pulled the bewildered Sun-jin out the door.

Soo-hyun fondly watched her daughter and her daughter’s friend bickering, then quickly went upstairs to the second floor with her luggage.

Outside the pension, Sun-jin grabbed Na-eun’s shoulders and stopped her with a troubled face.

“Let’s return this quickly.”

Na-eun smiled at Sun-jin, who was speaking while holding the thick envelope Soo-hyun had given earlier.

“Just keep it. It’ll put my mom’s mind at ease to help.”

“……”

“You don’t seem injured, so that’s a relief. Have you been well?”

It had been several weeks since she had seen Sun-jin as well.

Sun-jin gazed at her friend, who was only concerned about her well-being without any hint of disappointment at not being able to contact her, and smiled.

“Yeah. I’ve been doing well.”

“I know you haven’t actually been doing well, but I’ll pretend not to know.”

Na-eun knew a lot had happened, and not all of it was good, but she casually brushed off the situation with a joke.

Sun-jin silently smiled, knowing even that was consideration.

In fact, she had come all the way here to recover from a near-fatal injury she had received three days ago, but she didn’t mention it.

She didn’t want to make Na-eun, who was already worried sick, worry even more about her.

“You’ll probably be able to see Seung-joo tomorrow too.”

Seung-joo, who was injured too deeply a week ago and was still recovering, had now started to regain consciousness and move.

Like Sun-jin, he was scheduled to be deployed to the field as soon as his recovery was complete.

In other words, this place was where Center personnel who needed a brief rest due to injuries were stationed.

“Really? I was worried he might be badly hurt. I’m glad he’s safe.”

Na-eun, who had no way of knowing the inside story, looked relieved, thinking it meant he could be seen because he wasn’t seriously injured.

While Sun-jin avoided her gaze, feeling a prick of conscience, something happened.

An unpleasant mechanical sound began to ring out from the pocket of her outer clothing.

It was a familiar sound to Sun-jin, and even Na-eun was used to it by now.

Na-eun deliberately took a step back so as not to disturb Sun-jin, who was checking her phone screen.

It was also to avoid seeing the contents displayed on the screen, even by chance.

As Sun-jin’s face hardened in an instant after calmly checking the message on her phone, Na-eun looked on with concern.

“…If something urgent came up, you should hurry and go.”

Na-eun tried to give way to Sun-jin, telling her not to mind her.

Then Sun-jin, who had her gaze fixed on the phone screen, raised a hand to stop her.

“No, no. It’s not that… Damn it.”

With a scoff and a hollow laugh, she kept checking the screen as if she couldn’t believe it for some reason, then asked.

“You saw Seo Hee-won at the airport before coming here, right?”

“Huh? Yeah. I even got his number… Did something happen to Seo Hee-won?”

Na-eun’s complexion also darkened as she watched Sun-jin’s reaction with a feeling of unease.

Even at her question, Sun-jin only checked the screen without giving any answer, and Na-eun felt even more anxious.

She hurriedly took out her own phone and searched for the airport they had used to come here.

She knew roughly that the plane had been delayed due to a shootout and there had been a terrorist threat on international flights, but she hadn’t thought much of it.

Soon, after checking one of the many related articles, there was a photo of a man in a black military uniform covered in blood, walking through the airport from behind.

It was Seo Hee-won. The headline of the article read: