Mo Yeon's pov
[past, 3 years ago]
'Looks like they are making the noise even louder on purpose.' I say to Y/n next to me, both of us holding a canned coffee standing at the back of the hospital building, the morning trash collecting truck has come to clear the hospital bins. The workers complain that some people don't recycle properly, hauling the trash bag into the truck as I glance at Y/n. To be honest, I am still slightly uncomfortable around her, feeling like a tiny floating shrimp just trying to survive in between the two big whales fighting.
Y/n doesn't reply, her hand digging into the coffee can, the thin metallic surface starting to get crushed. I turn to see her properly, her eyes turning glassy and unblinking as she stares at the glass bottles being thrown into the truck with a loud shattering noise.
'Are you okay?' I ask, Y/n staying silent, her hands starting to shake.
I reach out as she turns around, holding herself as she sprints away into the hospital building. I follow her into the rooftop after trying to get the elevator full of patients and staff for five minutes straight.
'Y/n?' I ask as I see her back crouched down, her hands covering her ears. I walk closer, hearing Y/n whimper as she leans onto the wall, slapping her ears at something.
'Is everything okay?' I say again as I kneel down next to her still rubbing her ears as if something is piercing her eardrums, the tears falling down to the dark green floor even when I can't see her face from the strands of hair covering it.
I only tap her shoulders, unsure what the problem is since I have never seen her like this before. Even when things were tense with the Director, I only saw her with her best composure, me being more shaken up by the small things between the two heirs. Y/n suddenly looks up, her eyes looking hazy as she stares at me blankly, lowering her hands to her side.
'...' I look back at her, Y/n reaching up and rubbing her teary eyes. 'What was that?' I ask carefully, Y/n still staring at me with unreadable eyes.
'I heard my mother and my father figure...get killed. And saw it too. It keeps coming back.' She replies, her voice sounding quiet, looking toward the sun starting to rise. I look at the orange sunrise reflecting in her glassy eyes, the tearstains glinting against the sunlight seeping through the dark clouds.
'...If you are suffering...shouldn't you get treatment?' I suggest timidly, sitting properly next to Y/n blankly staring out to the sunrise.
'I tried.' She replies curtly, and I glance at her, hoping I didn't bother her with unnecessary assumptions. 'But they keep asking me to talk about it. It's too hard.' She says, pulling her knees together, burying her lips into her arms on top of them.
'You know, being ill isn't a weakness.' I offer but Y/n only shakes her head slowly.
'For most people, but not for Haesung.' She replies, her words muffled from the tears.
I watch her brush the tearstains with the tip of her fingers, the spring breeze brushing the strands of hair sticking to her tears away. Instead, I reach my hand out, placing my arm around her back.
Surprisingly, she leans onto me, closing her eyes.
[present]
CCTV footage 120220241
'That's how I found out she's a human too. Not always unafraid of anything.' The surgeon says as the four sit at the cafe, their coffees untouched as they only stare at the table, teardrops forming on their faces. The surgeon's voice shakes, hiding her eyes into her hand as the female soldier places her hand on the doctor's shoulder.
The Captain looks down, the teardrop silently splashing onto the table surface as he holds the doctor's picture in his hands. It's impossible to guess what he's thinking exactly as he stares at the doctor's photo, but it's clear that he's thinking about her.
'...' Suddenly the Sergeant looks up from his seat out to the window with the evening setting in, a car pulling up in front of the cafe as the driver gets off, walking near to the table that the four are sitting at. The driver holds up the deceased doctor's business card at the window, the Captain's eyes widening as he sits up. The unknown driver only gestures at the four, the First Lieuetnant's pained expression turning confused as the driver mouthes at them to come out.
The four stand up, abandoning their untouched drinks and sprinting out of the cafe. The driver silently opens the door to a car with a sleek black surface, the four hesitantly glancing at each other before getting into the car. They drive away quickly, out of the camera's angle.
Shi Jin's pov
'What...where are you going?' I ask, my voice sounding hoarse as I ask the driver with a large front tooth and black jacket that does not match the clean look of the car. He only clicks his tongue, making odd sounds with his teeth as if to take a pepper flake off of the corner. Dr. Kang at the front seat sitting next to the driver looks at him with resentful eyes, the teardrops still hanging on her face.
'I'm asked to bring you to the funeral.' The driver replies, his local dialogue accent thick as he exclaims. I place Dr. Han's picture on my lap, reaching over to the front driver's seat.
'Did they...find her body?' I ask, the lump in my throat growing hotter as I speak, feeling defeated to admit that Dr. Han is not part of this world anymore. Myung Joo gives me a sympathetic look from next to me, the driver only sighing jokingly as he drives.
'You need a body to throw a funeral? We know she died so we do a funeral.' The driver says bluntly as he glances back at me, Dr. Kang giving him a look.
'She's not someone who you can talk like that about, ajussi. Watch what you say.' She says, her voice shaking as the driver only shrugs, driving toward wherever we are going.
CCTV footage 120220245
'What?' The Chairman of Haesung shouts at his secretary standing in front of him in his office, his son behind him glancing at the two timidly.
'Han ee-sa-nim's funeral... will be starting in a few minutes.' The secretary replies, glancing at the angry Chairman.
'I told you not to move. Her body wasn't found so there's no need to do a funeral and make the public focus on it even more.' The Chairman says furiously, slapping the secretary's face with a stack of paper. The secretary only bows, regaining his balance as the two Haesung's leaders glare at him.
'It wasn't from Haesung. The man who...introduced himself as Han ee-sa-nim's former personal guard.. organised the funeral...' The secretary says, the Chairman's eyes narrowing in suspicion.
'How come I only hear about it now? Who's that.' The Chairman demands, his calculating gaze searching for answers at the mysterious man.
'Apologies, Hwae-jang-nim (*Chairman). He seems to have come out of nowhere. Nobody has seen him before.' The secretary explains, the Chairman only brushing him off irritatedly.
'It'll be even more suspicious if we don't turn up. Prepare the car.' He replies, the secretary bowing in front of the Chairman and the Director and leaving the room.
CCTV footage 2024211
The car stops at a building, the lobby already bristling with visitors in black clothes as the three soldiers and the surgeon enters. The Captain's fists tremble as he sees the Director and the Chairman in the bereaved family's funeral attire, standing beside the picture of the deceased doctor decorated with flowers and well-lit candles on the table.
The Director looks up as the funeral helper says something, notifying them to greet the new guests. His face stiffens seeing the two soldiers who were presumed to be dead for months, the Captain's veins protruding from his arms as his lips tighten. The Chairman regains his composure quickly, leaving his seething son behind as he walks up to the four.
'Thank you for coming to say goodbye to my daughter's last journey.' The Chairman says, the cold gaze lingering in his eyes unlike the words as he reaches his hand over to the Captain standing tensely in front of him. The Captain only glares at the Chairman, his fist tightening on his sides. The other three look between the two, the bottom of the surgeon's eyes growing red once again.
'You do not deserve to call her your daughter.' The Captain breathes, his eyes filled with furious tears as his gaze shifts over to the Director behind the Chairman.
'How dare you show up when you're the one who killed her.' The Captain says, pushing the Chairman out of the way as he shoves the Director backward despite the others trying to pull him back.
'What are you talking about.' The Director seethes, shoving the Captain away as the Sergeant holds his arm back.
'Captain. Not here. She's watching.' The Sergeant says quietly as the Captain furrows his brows, the tears flowing down his face, still slowly shifting his gaze over to the doctor's picture surrounded by flowers. The other guests only eye him silently, looking sympathetic as they wipe their own tears away.
The Captain moves out of the Sergeant's grip, staggering over to the table, his legs giving out in front of the doctor's picture. The surgeon watches his back, the Captain staring at the doctor's picture for a few seconds before burying his eyes in his hand, the silent tears streaming down his face. His shoulders heave for the first time since he heard the news, biting his lips to suppress the sounds. It must have sank in only now, that the doctor would not be coming back to him again in this lifetime.
The First Lieutenant reaches for the Sergeant's hand, her eyes already red as she sits behind the Captain with the Sergeant. She looks up at the doctor's neutral smile, the teardrop rolling down her cheek slowly. The Lieutenant bites her lips, glancing at the Captain reaching out to the doctor's photo, brushing his finger over her cheek.
Surveillance footage 20245612ertu
The water boils loudly in the electric kettle in a dark underground kitchen, a pair of hands opening the pack of cupped instant ramyeon open. The hand reaches over to the wooden chopsticks, splitting it into two before rubbing them against each other. Grabbing the spices included inside the cup, the fingers rip the package and pouring it into the noodles. The hand suddenly flinches, moving over to the figure's side and rubbing it softly.
The kettle goes out with a "tick" sound, the same hand pouring the hot water up to the line shown on the cupped noodle package. Closing the lid back, the hand puts the chopsticks on top to let the noodles cook before taking it to the black desk with a wide screen in front. The figure sits down at the desk, putting in the earpiece that was on the surface, pulling her knees up onto the chair and pushing the strands of hair off of her face.
'Can you hear me?' The figure says into the earpiece, the computer screen coming up to show a scene of a funeral.
'Yes. They're all here. Somehow the two heard about it too though.' The person on the other side speaks, the scene moving sideways as if to follow the gaze of whoever is on the line with the figure in black clothes. The screen shifts to show the Director and Chairman of Haesung Group standing by the table with flowers and a photo of the dead doctor, brightly lit candles on the sides.
'As if they ever treated me as a family. Well. At least you chose a nice picture of me.' The figure says blandly as the person turns to show the table, staring at her own funeral photo with the black ribbons tied on top. 'Well done. Just keep an eye on what's happening now.' She says, reaching her hand to the cooked noodle and opening the lid. The steam rises from the hot soup, the doctor taking the chopsticks and picking a few strands of noodles.
'Special forces way it is.' She whispers bitterly to herself as the screen keeps showing the scene of the funeral, taking a headband with light from the side. She puts it on her head, the small light illuminating down to the cupped noodle as she rests it on top of her knees, her regretful eyes focused on the screen.
The doctor sips the soup, occasionally wincing and rubbing her side as she watches the scene. The person with the camera turns to the entrance, the doctor's eyes turning blank as she places the cupped noodle to the side, leaning forward on the desk closer to the computer. She stares at someone on the screen, her brows flinching as she effortfully removes her legs from the chair. Her lips part, her eyes clouding with tears as her hands starts trembling watching the man getting restrained by another soldier away from her brother.
She reaches her hand out to the soldier slumping down in front of her photo, burying his face into his hand as his shoulders shake. Her fingers hesitantly reach over to his back on the screen, the teardrops slowly rolling down the doctor's cheeks.
Her lips arch despite her eyes watering, her hand on the soldier's back as the soldier brushes his own fingers on her own funeral photo.
Author's note: okay now y'all can breath