My mouth fell open on its own.
It felt like my brain had frozen at the realization that something that absolutely shouldn’t be in front of me was actually real.
Unable to speak, locked in place, I just stood there as Min Yugeon started striding toward me.
“……!”
Lee Shin instinctively stepped forward, as if to block Min Yugeon, but after glancing briefly at my face, he stopped dead in his tracks.
Leaving them—Lee Shin and Rai—behind me, I hurried toward Min Yugeon.
“Min Yu—!”
In a heartbeat, his broad arms wrapped tightly around me.
I gasped, eyes going wide as I was suddenly pulled into Min Yugeon’s embrace.
His whole body trembled uncontrollably. Silent sobs, carried on ragged breaths, brushed against my ear.
“Thank you.”
His voice cracked with overwhelming emotion.
“Thank you, Suho.”
I didn’t need to ask what for—I already knew.
Min Yugeon was just relieved I was alive.
……
I closed my mouth and lowered my eyes.
Quietly, I wrapped my arms around his wide back.
He was shaking so violently, like someone enduring the deepest cold, that his trembling spread to me as well.
Seeing him like this, so far beyond worry or fear, consumed by something closer to terror—I couldn’t bring myself to push him away.
……But even so.
“You’re insane.”
The words slipped out like a sigh.
I had no idea how Min Yugeon found out that I’d fallen from the ship. But one thing was certain… there was no way he’d followed proper procedure to get here.
There’s no way they authorized an engineer—not even a soldier—to pilot a fighter down to the surface alone.
“What were you thinking, doing something like this?”
If he’d stolen a fighter, then Min Yugeon was now, without question, a criminal. Even if he managed to return to the ship, he’d be immediately exiled again.
No—
What truly enraged me deep down was the fact that he’d risked his life crossing a land crawling with monsters just to find me.
He could’ve died in some horrifying way. What the hell was he thinking…
Still clinging to me like he’d never let go, with his face buried in my shoulder, Min Yugeon finally raised his head.
His tear-soaked eyes met mine, and I could see my own reflection swimming in his dark brown irises.
He took a shaky breath.
“You told me to come to you.”
His pitiful, trembling voice stabbed straight through my chest.
A memory flickered through my mind.
“Are you seriously an idiot? You’re supposed to come to me. Why are you sitting here all alone in a place like this?”
“Next time, don’t overthink it. Just come. Got it?”
Words I once said to him when he was curled up alone in some dark, hidden corner—he still remembered them.
“But you weren’t there.”
“……”
“So… I thought I was going to die. That’s why I came.”
I’d always known he cried easily, but today, each teardrop felt like a knife carving straight through my heart.
I lifted one hand and gently cupped his cheek.
The tear touching my palm felt like it melted right through my skin and into my chest.
“Suho… can’t you just let me stay with you?”
Min Yugeon leaned into my hand, pleading in a voice so weak it barely held together.
Then he turned to glance at Rai and Lee Shin, both still watching us.
“I don’t need to be tamed.”
“……Yugeon.”
“See? I already do whatever you say.”
That look in his eyes—‘desperate’ didn’t even begin to cover it.
“I came to you… I came to you.”
His voice stumbled over the words, clinging to them like a child throwing a tantrum, even as his tear-filled eyes watched me anxiously.
Worried I might pull away. That my gaze might drift elsewhere.
It was painfully clear that he was drowning in fear, completely locked onto me, his mind trapped in a loop of worst-case scenarios.
And yet, I’d already once turned my back on this boy, even as he cried like this.
The breath I let out blended with Min Yugeon’s trembling exhale.
I blinked a few times, and tears slid down my cheeks.
Min Yugeon’s hand came up naturally, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, and gently wiped away my tears.
“……”
We stayed like that, faces close, hands cradling each other’s cheeks, as we silently exchanged tears and locked eyes. I was just about to speak—about to respond to the wet, pleading gaze fixed on me—
—when Rai’s sudden roar split the air and shook the ground beneath us.
“……!”
“Ugh!”
Min Yugeon’s expression hardened before I could even turn around. He grabbed my arm and pulled me behind him, immediately shifting into a protective stance.
“Grrr!”
Lee Shin, who had silently moved in next to me in the blink of an eye, also bared his teeth, his gaze fixed in the same direction as Min Yugeon’s.
They were both staring toward the trees, where Rai had lowered his body and was now glaring with murderous intent.
“Rai?”
Grrrrrrr!
When a beast acts like that, it’s usually because it’s encountered a human, an unfamiliar object, or a hostile presence radiating killing intent.
So then… what was Rai reacting to right now?
Thud. Thud.
A low, thunderous sound echoed across the forest floor—something was running at high speed. The tempo was sharp and fast, setting everyone on edge.
With three humans standing around, odds were high a beast had caught their scent. Maybe that’s why Rai was reacting—because he sensed the creature’s bloodlust and desire to attack.
Even though I had no intention of moving and breaking his focus, Rai flicked his gaze toward Min Yugeon and Lee Shin—both still gripping me tightly—then turned back toward the dense brush.
CRACK! CRAAACK! BOOM.
A cluster of old trees snapped and collapsed like twigs. Whatever it was, it plowed through everything in its way with its head, knocking down any obstacle as it burst into view—a black-furred beast.
……Cat?
Grrrrrrr.
Its face was twisted in irritation, lips curled to bare its fangs. From the creature’s back, Sun Woosung leapt down.
“……?”
The chaos made me question my own eyes.
Did Sun Woosung just… ride in on Cat?
Even seeing it for myself, I struggled to grasp what I was looking at. It was so far beyond reason that my thoughts hit a wall.
Our eyes met—me, stunned, and Cat, still snarling in disgust. His flattened ears suddenly pricked up. His pupils widened as he stared at me.
……! KYUUUUGH!
With something close to a scream, Cat suddenly reared, preparing to lunge toward me.
But Rai immediately stepped in, planting himself squarely between us.
GRRRRRR…! ……GRRRRK!
Just before jumping, Cat froze. He narrowed his eyes at Rai, as if asking who the hell he was, crouching low in response. His legs were so tightly coiled with tension that even from a distance, it looked like he could spring at any second.
Rai looked down at him with open disdain and casually slammed a forepaw onto Cat’s head, pinning him in place. He was clearly blocking Cat’s path, engaging him in a silent battle of wills to keep him away from me.
“Rai! You don’t need to be so defensive. He’s…”
I started to call out to them and take a step forward—
But then Sun Woosung began walking toward us.
“Seo Suho.”
There were a few scratches on his face—probably from Cat’s wild run.
Frankly, it was a miracle that was all he had. No protective gear, riding a raging beast across a monster-infested land, and he looked that intact? It was absurd.
Even though this technically meant the Military Beast Project I’d dreamed of had somehow just succeeded—the idea of Sun Woosung and Cat cooperating—I wasn’t moved.
Instead of awe or gratitude, I was filled with disbelief at the sheer recklessness of it all.
I wanted to curse him out on the spot. Loudly.
“…Colonel.”
I tried to step out from behind Min Yugeon to face him properly.
But Min Yugeon grabbed my forearm from behind and didn’t budge.
“Min Yugeon, let go for a second.”
“……”
“Yugeon.”
Even though it was obvious this soldier knew me, Min Yugeon’s grip only tightened, as if he trusted him even less because of it.
His expression, visible from the side, was cold—completely devoid of the tears he’d shed just moments ago.
“So that’s what this is?”
Still staring at Sun Woosung, Min Yugeon let out a dry, hollow laugh, muttering like something had just clicked.
Right as I began to question his sudden shift—
Rrrrhh.
To make things worse, Lee Shin suddenly stepped forward and growled like a beast, planting himself between me and Sun Woosung.
Lee Shin still regarded Sun Woosung like an enemy, poised to strike the moment he saw an opening.
But Sun Woosung didn’t spare either of them a glance.
His eyes were locked solely on me.
From head to toe, his gaze swept across my body, as if he were checking my condition.
And for some reason, that only made Lee Shin angrier.
With a shriek, he let out a beastly screech.
At the same time, Min Yugeon’s grip on me tightened to the point where I wasn’t sure I could break free even if I tried.
A short distance away, Rai and Cat were still locked in their own standoff.
Here, it was Min Yugeon, Lee Shin, and Sun Woosung facing off.
As the chaos swirled around me, my head began to throb.
“Ah…”
A familiar sound called out from the distance.
I looked up.
Fighter jets filled the sky.
