NO STRING ATTACHED - JENLISA

The Cost of a Bullet

SEASON 4
EPISODE 7: "The Cost of a Bullet"

INT. MILITARY BASE – MEDICAL WING – NIGHT

The sterile white of the medical room is too quiet. Monitors beep rhythmically beside Lisa's bed. Her face is pale, skin clammy from blood loss, her body still. The bullet had lodged dangerously close to her lung. Emergency surgery barely bought her time.

Jennie hasn't left her side.

She sits in the dim light, hands clasped tightly in her lap, her thumb brushing the edge of Lisa's serpenti necklace — the one Lisa gave her. Her other hand rests gently over Lisa's. Holding it. Willing her to wake up.

The door opens slowly. Son Ye Jin walks in first, eyes soft but steely. Behind her, Kim Hyun Bin follows in his sharp uniform, face unreadable. Taeyong enters last.

SON YE JIN
(quietly, to Jennie)
We heard she made it through surgery.

Jennie nods, but her throat is too tight to speak.

TAEYONG
The President's safe — thanks to her. She saved a nation today, and nearly gave her life for it.

Kim Hyun Bin steps closer, folding his arms.

KIM HYUN BIN
He asked us to deliver a message himself.

He pulls a sealed envelope from inside his jacket and places it gently on the bedside table.

KIM HYUN BIN (CONT'D)
"The Republic owes Captain Manoban its survival," he recites from memory. "And I owe her mine." The President will visit when she's conscious. For now... he sends this.

Jennie finally speaks, voice barely a whisper.

JENNIE
She'll want to say something sarcastic about that when she wakes up.

A beat passes. Son Ye Jin's eyes flick to Jennie's hand clutching Lisa's. She kneels slowly beside her daughter, brushing her fingers along Jennie's arm.

SON YE JIN
You love her deeply.

Jennie doesn't answer. Her silence is answer enough. Ye Jin smiles faintly.

SON YE JIN (CONT'D)
I've never seen you cry for anyone. Until now.

Kim Hyun Bin doesn't speak, but he turns toward the window — a flicker of protectiveness in his eyes.

KIM HYUN BIN
Let us know the moment she wakes. She has earned rest. But politics waits for no one.

They leave Jennie alone again.

Jennie leans closer to Lisa's sleeping face, pressing her lips to Lisa's hand.

JENNIE (WHISPERING)
Come back to me, Lalisa. I didn't say you could leave yet.

⸻

INT. TRAINING FLOOR – SAME TIME

The squad regathers in their corner of the facility, shaken but alive. Jisoo is pacing. Seulgi has her arms crossed, jaw tight. Mingyu is silent for once, sitting on the bench. Rosé and Somi are whispering at the monitor.

SEULGI
That shot should've killed her.

JISOO
She moved in time. She calculated the second bullet and placed herself in the line.

ROSÉ
She protected the President and neutralized the sniper. It's insane.

MINGYU
She's a damn legend. That's what she is.

The door bursts open. Taeyong steps in.

TAEYONG
President Seo is officially recommending Lisa for the Civic Honor Medal. That's the highest non-combatant honor in state. She's also being considered for a Special Advisor role — pending recovery.