First Snow

Wrong Train, Right Direction

"I can't ..." he whispered in response.

Seri's mother understood, she nodded sadly, before disappearing into the room. Ri Jeong Hyeok leaned against a wall and closed his eyes, trying to keep his emotions in check. He was in pain, so badly in pain.

He stayed like that, frozen in a daze, for hours. He didn't have to pick up his phone and read or listen to the dozens of messages he'd received.

He knew he couldn't escape reality.

His flight was just a few hours away. There was a time when the thought of returning to Pyongyang was heartwarming. He was aware of the faults of his country, but it was there that he had grown up, where he had his memories, his family. There was always something reassuring about the familiarity to know that he was going to see his parents again, to taste his mother's delicious cuisine, who only cooked for him.

Yet now, he felt like he was going to an unknown land. There was his family, of course, always. But he felt like he no longer belonged there. His father had given him to understand that it might be temporary, but not to have any illusions either. What was he supposed to do then, when he felt homeless whenever he wasn't by her side.

His phone buzzed, and when he saw the caller id, he answered.

"Captain... Where are you? Are you okay? We couldn't find you at the apartment..."

Kwang Beom sounded worried, which didn't happen often to the young cool man he was.

"I'm at the hospital..."

His voice was terribly hoarse and he had to clear his throat.

"The hospital ! Are you hurt?" came Ju Meok's panicked voice.

"I'm fine..."

He swallowed the lump in his throat and bit his lips to prevent himself from being overwhelmed.

"It's Seri?"

"YA, what did that woman do again? We told her to stay in bed and to rest! I'm sure she did the opposite, she's so stubborn, these south Koreans don't know how to obey..."

Ri Jeong Hyeok stayed silent after Pyo Chi Su's outburst, unable to voice out what had happened. From the moment she had come to see him to how harshly he had treated her. Pyo Chi Su finally asked in a voice that betrayed how worried he actually was.

" Is she okay? "

Was she? He didn't even know for real, there was what the doctor had said but he hadn't checked himself...

"She will be..."

He wasn't convinced, and by the silence that answered him, neither were his men.

"Captain... We are sent to bring you back..."

Ri Jeong Hyeok thought quickly. If they went to his apartment, then they didn't know all that happened with Cho Cheol Gang. Maybe Agent Kim did actually a good job at keeping things from bursting in the news... It didn't mean that he wouldn't have to face the police, he knew that Agent Kim or his men were still waiting in the hospital.

Taking a man's life was never something he did lightly. He was a former soldier, and officially, his country was still at war, even if in fact it was more a war of silence and through this impassable border with the south. He had been prepared for the idea of ​​killing. But only did so in cases of extreme necessity. Protecting the woman he loved was an extreme necessity.

This man had sent someone to kill Seri, this man had killed Ji Ah and destroyed his brother. This man had tried to kill him. So he was ready to answer for his actions. As long as it kept Seri and his parents and brother safe.