“It’s an earring with that kind of meaning. That earring is really, really precious.”

Kyle continued listening to Se Hee’s story about the lost earring, which he wasn’t particularly curious about.

How many times was she repeating those words?

He felt like he would have to find that earring as soon as he got out of here.

“You don’t know how much I agonized over choosing it with the money I saved from my first part-time job. The price at that time…”

“I’ll definitely find that earring for you.”

Kyle, unable to bear it any longer, said firmly.

“What? Really? You’re a better person than I thought, Mr. Graham.”

Se Hee brightened up and drew closer.

“It didn’t seem like that talk would ever end unless I found it.”

Se Hee’s expression quickly soured at Kyle’s response.

So…

It wasn’t a pure desire to help, but saying he’d find it because he didn’t want to hear about it?

“It’s fine. I’ll find it myself. And from now on, I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

Se Hee said coldly, her mood soured, and turned away.

“No, I’ll definitely find it for you.”

“I said it’s fine.”

“I promise I’ll find it.”

Kyle’s voice grew increasingly forceful, as if making a vow.

What’s wrong with this man?

He’s showing obsession at a strange point.

Se Hee looked at Kyle as if dumbfounded.

At that moment, with a creaking sound, the ship’s hull tilted greatly to one side.

Se Hee, who was on a cruise ship for the first time, turned pale as her body was completely thrown to one side by the unfamiliar rocking.

“Kyaaak!”

Startled out of her wits, Se Hee screamed and threw herself into Kyle’s arms like lightning.

Kyle looked down with a bewildered expression at Se Hee, who was trembling while tightly hugging his waist.

Had she been this scared?

Could it be that she had been chattering so much to hide her fear?

Kyle felt sorry for misunderstanding Se Hee, who was trembling with fear.

Given the size of the ship, there would hardly be any movement even in fairly high waves, but it seems the waves were quite high today.

Just as he was about to pat her back to reassure her, the sensation of smooth skin under the deeply cut dress made Kyle’s hand stop.

Kyle carefully wrapped his suit jacket around Se Hee’s shoulders.

“The Evans Line’s Decona is a ship built entirely by Loyden, the UK’s top shipbuilding company, and I can proudly say it’s the best in terms of safety.”

His large hand grasped Se Hee’s shoulder and slowly lifted her up.

“And the special material that makes up the hull was introduced for the first time in British history. The material, developed with the full support of the Evans Group, has even secured unofficial data that it’s not easily damaged by reefs or icebergs.”

Kyle’s eyes, deep as the ocean, met Se Hee’s squarely.

“So don’t worry. This ship is stronger and safer than any other. And if anything happens… I’ll save you.”

Kyle’s gaze as he spoke seriously.

His low voice seemed to carry a powerful force.

When he said that, real belief arose in Se Hee’s heart.

The shaking of her shoulders, which had been trembling, slowly subsided.

Se Hee, who had been staring blankly at Kyle, slowly moved away from him.

“…I’m sorry for screaming. I kept having scary thoughts. Thank you for saying that, I really feel at ease now.”

Se Hee wiped her slightly wet eyes and smiled faintly.

Somehow, the sight of her trying to force a smile while putting on a bright expression made Kyle uncomfortable.

“Actually, I was scared from the beginning. I really hate being trapped in such a dark, small space.”

Se Hee always used to be locked alone in a small room when she did something wrong at the orphanage as a child.

Se Hee couldn’t leave that small space, which smelled musty, until darkness fell.

Perhaps that’s why she was afraid and disliked such dark, small spaces.

Moreover, being inside a hatch with a watergate.

It couldn’t help but be a terrifying space for Se Hee, who couldn’t even swim.

But at least today, she felt like she could bear the fear of that space a little.

She had thought his body temperature might be cold because of his sharp gaze, but a warm heat was transmitted from his hand that wrapped around her shoulder.

A refreshing body scent wafted pleasantly from him nearby.

Though it was clearly a subtle scent, Se Hee felt dizzy, as if intoxicated.

Kyle finally realized one more fact he had been misunderstanding.

That the meaning of the word “bad side” Se Hee had mentioned when they were first trapped might have referred to this space itself, not to him.

“Lastly, there’s one more piece of good news. The fact that it’s five minutes before the patrol team arrives.”

Kyle, feeling sorry for misunderstanding Se Hee who had been trembling with fear, spoke in a gentle voice to reassure her.

Smiling at Se Hee for the first time.

* * *

After checking all the CCTV footage, they couldn’t find where the passenger from room 1305 or Kyle were.

“Damn it.”

Marcus cursed in frustration.

“Where on earth do we start looking and how?”

“Since the last sighting of the two was at the cocktail party venue, I think we should check the surrounding area again.”

Dave, sitting next to him, also let out a heavy sigh.

He requested the crew member waiting in front of the monitor to check the CCTV again, with a worried expression.

“No. We should search the sea right away. We should immediately request rescue from the home country, so we can get in touch with the Greek Navy as soon as possible.”

Marcus spoke decisively, as if he had already made a decision.

“Contacting the home country is a decision for the CEO to make. If you could just wait a moment.”

“Until when! The CEO is missing right now. Are we going to wait until their bodies float up in the sea to start the rescue?”

Marcus shouted angrily at Dave, who was contradicting his words.

“Captain! Please mind your words. The CEO is not someone who would irresponsibly leave his post. There must be a reason.”

Dave spoke up, defending Kyle.

“And as you know, please don’t forget the fact that I am delegated authority as the CEO’s proxy when an emergency situation occurs. Contact with the home country is also impossible without my permission.”

Dave didn’t back down any further.

Although they couldn’t accurately confirm the whereabouts of the two on CCTV, Dave was certain that at least they hadn’t jumped into the sea.

That’s why he pushed his opinion even more strongly.

“What reason? We’ve mobilized all the regular staff to check the entire ship, but we couldn’t find them anywhere. I’ll give you exactly one more hour. If we can’t find them after that time, we’ll stop the ship immediately and start rescue operations.”

Captain Marcus spoke threateningly and left the office.

“Haa, where on earth are you, sir?”

Dave hit the desk with a dejected expression.

* * *

Forget five minutes, thirty minutes had already passed.

From the time Kyle had reassured Se Hee with a confident tone.

The patrol team should have come to check this place exactly thirty minutes ago.

Could it be that they had disturbed the regular staff deployment to search for him who had disappeared?

Dave, knowing his personality, would never have done such a thing.

Then was it the captain?

The captain’s stubborn expression flashed through Kyle’s mind.

“…It seems like more than five minutes have passed…”

Se Hee, who had been trusting his words completely, started to feel anxious.

Kyle’s expression darkened as well.

“To be precise, thirty minutes have passed.”

“Th-then did the patrol team pass by? We should have knocked to let them know there were people here, but they must have passed without knowing. What should we do? Oh my goodness.”

Se Hee’s face fell.

“They didn’t come.”

Kyle’s voice became even lower than before.

“…They didn’t come?”

Se Hee asked, with a look in her eyes desperately hoping he would say it wasn’t true.

“We’ll have to look for another way for now.”

A thunderbolt-like sound came from his mouth.

Surprised, Se Hee sat down right where she was.

“We’re not… going to die like this, are we?”

“If I were to die from something like this, I wouldn’t be in this world already.”

“…What?”

Se Hee looked at Kyle with a surprised expression.

“So trust me. After all, I’m the only person you can trust in here, right?”

Saying that, Kyle immediately started inspecting the interior.

How many people could respond so calmly in this kind of situation?

Se Hee was simply amazed at his composure, acting as if it was nothing.

“What are you doing? Should I help too?”

Seeing Kyle actively taking action, Se Hee felt more strongly that she should find a way to help him rather than feeling anxious.

“If you find anything that looks like a vent, let me know.”

So the tall Kyle took charge of the ceiling area, while Se Hee agreed to check the upper part connecting to the ceiling.

“I think it’s here.”

Not long after, Kyle found a vent.

But the vent was firmly sealed.

Kyle unbuttoned his wrist cuffs one by one and rolled up his shirt sleeves, then checked for a position where he could stably pull the vent cover with both hands.

Then he shook and pulled the cover hard.

Once, twice.

And finally, the third time.

With a creaking sound, the vent opened wide.

In an atmosphere where she felt like she should give a standing ovation, Se Hee clasped her hands together and looked at him with an admiring expression.

But as he lowered his arms, his brow furrowed slightly.

“Are you hurt? Does it hurt a lot? Of course it does, tearing out something fastened with screws with your bare hands.”

With a worried expression, Se Hee quickly approached and grabbed his arm.

“It’s fine…”

Startled, Kyle tried to pull his arm away from Se Hee’s grasp.

“What do you mean it’s fine? I can tell you’re in pain. Don’t be like that, let me see your arm.”

“I said I’m fine.”

But Kyle spoke seriously and removed Se Hee’s hand.

When he spoke so firmly, Se Hee couldn’t say anything more.

“Are we going to escape through here?”

Se Hee, feeling awkward, peered into the vent.

“It seems too small for either of us to fit in there.”

“Then why?”

“We need to send a signal for escape. Like this.”

Thump thump thump.

Kyle tapped the inside of the vent at regular intervals.

“What’s that?”

“Morse code.”

“M-Morse what? You mean that S.O.S. thing from old spy movies? Do people still use that?”

Was it not just a disappeared code that only existed in really old movies?

Se Hee looked at Kyle in disbelief.

“It’s sometimes used as a last resort in extreme situations. The sound transmitted upwards through the pipes could travel quite far, but the machine noise is too loud to be heard right now.”

Kyle sighed and checked the vent again.

“If we’re lucky, someone might hear it.”

“I… don’t tend to be very lucky.”

Se Hee’s expression quickly darkened at Kyle’s words.

After all, she had never had the luck to meet new parents at the orphanage even once.

“In my opinion, Ms. Lee Se Hee seems to be the luckiest person in the world.”

Kyle said with certainty as he observed Se Hee’s changed expression.

“What? Me? Why?”

Se Hee looked at Kyle with surprised eyes.

“Because you met me.”

His deep eyes gazed down at Se Hee intently.

For a moment, Se Hee’s heart fluttered.

“W-what are you saying.”

Afraid it might have shown, Se Hee averted her gaze and pretended to be distracted.

Because of this, Se Hee didn’t see the corners of Kyle’s mouth slightly turning up.

Kyle sent signals for a while, inserting his hand as deep as possible into the vent.

“Let’s switch. It’s been quite a while. Your arm must be falling off. And I’m worried about your injured arm.”

Se Hee, who had been watching him from the side, approached Kyle.

“I can still manage for now.”

“Don’t be stubborn, let’s switch. If you collapse from pain too, Mr. Graham, I’ll be really scared.”

Seeing Se Hee’s anxious eyes sincerely worrying about him, Kyle hesitated for a moment, then moved away from the vent.

“Then shall we rest a bit?”

“You worked hard.”

Kyle flinched and stepped back as Se Hee unhesitatingly approached and started massaging his arm as soon as he moved away.

“Your arm has completely stiffened up. It was already injured, and of all directions it had to be that side. You don’t know how nervous I was watching. Look at this, it’s so tightly knotted it won’t loosen up.”

Se Hee even clicked her tongue and frowned.

“…That’s… usually called well-maintained muscle.”

Kyle said meaningfully.

“Ah… muscle. No wonder.”

Se Hee’s face turned red in an instant as she immediately stood up and headed towards the vent.

“I have a good idea. The echo here should travel quite far, right?”

“Probably?”

As soon as Kyle’s words fell, Se Hee shouted for help into the vent as if it were a speaker.

But soon her voice became choked and she even started coughing.

Kyle’s brow furrowed slightly as he watched her strange behavior with puzzlement.

“I guess this isn’t good? I should consider your precious ears too, Mr. Graham. A song would be better. Something with long lyrics?”

Se Hee started singing the only long song she knew all four verses of.

“Until the East Sea’s waters and Mount Baekdu are dry and worn away~ God will protect and preserve us…”