They redirected to the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, located in Sakhalin Oblast. Situated in southern Russia, close to Japan, this place was a major administrative hub densely packed with every kind of medical facility.

The St. Petersburg Office had contacted the hospital in advance, allowing them to land safely on a helipad marked with a clear H.

But if being on the verge of death felt like anything, it was this. They were immediately transported and given emergency treatment, yet the devastation she felt while dragging up Jin Hoje, whose face had been scorched on one side, and Yu Dawit, whose back was torn to shreds, remained vivid.

The seriously injured team members were rushed straight into emergency surgery. Throughout that process, Seoryeong felt as though she'd aged several years all at once, her body drained of strength. But the bigger issue was Lee Wooshin.

“Instructor, please calm down—!”

“Clear those injections. I’m not getting anesthetized.”

“...!”

When he swung his arm with those half-lidded eyes, the wheeled surgical tray crashed to the side with a shrill metallic clatter.

The medical staff screamed and backed off, scattering in retreat. Even as Wooshin staggered unsteadily, he forcibly ripped the IV needle from his arm and hurled it to the floor.

The stainless safety bar collapsed with a loud clang, and the medical cards fell like dominos. The drugs stored inside spilled out all at once, triggering chaos and noise.

Five doctors clung to his arms and legs in an attempt to subdue him, but restraining a man in such a beast-like frenzy was clearly overwhelming.

A physician who quickly checked Wooshin’s pupils with a penlight shouted that he was experiencing a massive adrenaline surge and urgently needed a tranquilizer injection.

“адренали́н...― транквилизатор...!”

At that, Wooshin covered his ears and shoved the doctors away even more aggressively. He was vehemently rejecting any kind of anesthesia—any loss of consciousness.

They needed to calm him down and get him into the operating room quickly, or they wouldn’t be able to treat those wounds. Seoryeong felt as if all the blood had drained from her body.

She’d once heard, back in training, about operatives who entered missions with adrenaline injections.

It increased heart rate and blood pressure, helping the body draw on more energy. Muscles would tense, enabling faster movement. It primed the body for combat.

If that was the case, then what did it mean that Wooshin had entered such a state without any drugs...?

“......”

He had to be in pain—unbearably, mortally so—yet he moved like someone who felt nothing at all. That made her furious.

He had driven himself into a state of extreme tension, crossed minefields and climbed towers, rescued all the team members with nothing but sheer willpower, and ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) piloted the helicopter all the way here. And now, he couldn’t even lie down and rest. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Her chest clenched painfully.

“Instructor, it’s me.”

Unable to bear it any longer, she stepped forward. The syringe she had taken from the nurse was hidden behind her back.

Wooshin, disoriented and shaking his head, suddenly pulled Seoryeong in toward him like he was clinging to an oxygen tank and drew the privacy curtain closed.

His ragged breath fell against the nape of her neck. He still moved like he was in battle—unwilling to let down his guard.

What kind of life had this man lived?

Suppressing the quivering in her chest, she spoke softly.

“Calm down, Instructor. You have to lie still to be treated.”

“I never said I wouldn’t receive treatment. I said I won’t be anesthetized.”

“......”

“Just stitch it raw.”

She barely held back the urge to shout. Only the flicker of rationality reminding her not to provoke him further kept her in check.

She hadn’t noticed because of his military boots, but when the medics cut off his shoes, Seoryeong had instinctively clamped both hands over her mouth. She was terrified a sob might escape.

There wasn’t a single toe, nail, or patch of skin on his feet that remained intact. They were crushed and torn, indistinguishable from dough beaten with a hammer. A hot sting gathered behind her eyes.

“Instructor... your injuries are worse than you think.”

“And you think I should let my guard down, not knowing what might happen next?”

“We escaped the Sakhalin monastery safely.”

“So that means this place is safe?”

“......”

“With that face, still so damn naïve. There’s nothing in this world worth trusting, Seoryeong.”

Even as he muttered with scorn, Wooshin pulled her into his furnace-like embrace and refused to let go. He bristled with hostility, guarding himself against anyone else coming near.

“Losing everything happens in an instant.”

“......”

“I know that better than anyone.”

With clumsy fingers, Seoryeong kept stroking the sweat-drenched nape of his neck. Every time her gentle touch reached him, he flinched—but rather than push her away, he only held her tighter.

She pressed her cheek to his gaunt face and, while softly soothing him, suddenly struck the back of his neck with a swift hand chop.

“――!”

His dazed eyes pinched into a brief wince. Without hesitation, Seoryeong drove the needle into his forearm.

Even then, Wooshin couldn’t push her away. His whole face twisted like a man betrayed.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“...!”

She smiled faintly and carefully brushed his furrowed brow. If he couldn’t rest of his own will, she’d have to forcibly flip the switch for him.

Yet even her own hand felt awkward as she stroked him, and she quickly curled her fingers into a fist.

“I’ll stay with you until we reach Korea. If anyone suspicious comes near, I’ll drive them off. So... just close your eyes, even for a moment. I’m not going anywhere. Please... try to trust me—”

Even as she said it, she flinched. Trust her?

What a joke. She was the one who’d abandoned all belief in the world after Kim Hyeon disappeared.

And yet, looking at this man biting down on his tongue, bloodshot eyes refusing to close no matter what, the words had spilled out on their own.

“No... Kiya...”

“You mean Priest Kiya? That’s what you were worried about? If anything like that happens again, I won’t just let myself be dragged off this time. You trained me, Instructor. Trust me, just this once.”

At that, his eyelids slowly began to grow heavier, and his ragged breathing visibly calmed. Even then, Wooshin reached out, found her hand, and held it loosely.

When his weary eyes finally shut all the way, Seoryeong let out a long breath of relief.

It was finally time for him to receive proper treatment.

***

The members of the Special Security Team were loaded back onto stretchers after receiving only the most urgent surgeries at Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Hospital, then moved to the airport.

It was deemed better to board a Blast Corp transport aircraft and undergo further surgeries in Korea rather than remain here.

With no one else available to make decisions, Seoryeong had to handle everything herself. She couldn’t sleep a wink, too afraid that any misstep might cost someone their life.

Jin Hoje, who had never regained consciousness after sustaining facial burns and internal damage; Yu Dawit, with bruised, bleeding lower back and fractured ribs; and Lee Wooshin, who had suffered internal tissue damage and torn foot ligaments from shrapnel—

According to the only relatively uninjured member, Gitaemin, the explosion had occurred when they tried to pin down a tripped landmine with a truck. One of the rear wheels suddenly slipped off, veered, and detonated another mine without warning.

Luckily, Yu Dawit had been lifted off the ground at that moment, and the blast had occurred far enough away that he had survived.

Seoryeong tried to picture the frantic chaos of that moment, but couldn’t quite summon the image.

The team members who made it back to Korea safely were placed under strict care in a Sehwa Group hospital and began the recovery process.

Their injuries made an immediate return to duty impossible, placing the Special Security Team in a state of suspended activity—but the life-or-death emergencies had, one by one, been stabilized.

Seoryeong stopped counting how many days had passed since she last slept and stayed constantly by their side. Enduring the pounding headache, she opened the first hospital room.

“――.”

A man with thick bandages wrapping from his face to his neck.

Seoryeong, who had just placed a flower vase down, paused to look at him. It was Jin Hoje’s room—he still hadn’t regained consciousness.

“Kim Hyeon is close to you.”

When she heard that, the first people who came to mind were inevitably her teammates in the Special Security Team—and among them, the one who most resembled Kim Hyeon had been Jin Hoje.

She had since learned that Kim Hyeon had used a fake face, but still, some creeping suspicion continued to stir within her.

Surely, bone structure and facial shape had to be similar to pull that off. And seeing him now, his face wrapped entirely in gauze... it made her feelings even stranger.

“Masca...”

As if someone had staged it in advance—how could things line up so precisely?

“It means mask, you know.”

Her gaze dropped to Jin Hoje’s lower body, and she flinched, wiping a hand down her face.

What the hell was she doing, staring at a fellow operative unconscious in his hospital bed...?

Her heart throbbed like someone had pelted it with rocks. She scrubbed her face so hard her complexion turned patchy before finally picking up her phone. A familiar voice—one that had helped her immensely on the return flight—rang in her ears.

—Yes, Gan-na unni, just speak freely...!

“Could you tell me about Agent Jin Hoje?”

—So you mean... you want the dirty secrets nobody knows about, right?

“No, that’s not exactly what I—”

—Truth is... I’ve been waiting for this day. The moment you singled out a man, I was ready to dig straight through his underwear...! Now that Agent Jin Hoje is hurt, your heart’s all twisted up in revolution, huh?

“......”

—Just leave it to me...! If you wanna understand a South Korean man, you gotta dig through his entire family tree too...!

She could already hear furious typing through the receiver.

Seoryeong considered how to stop Channa, who was clearly spiraling into her own delusions, then gave up and just rubbed her forehead. Quietly leaving the hospital room, she wandered the empty hallway, gradually slowing her pace.

“...Just one more thing.”

She hesitated.

“Foreign nationals really can’t get into the NIS... right?”