I offered the sergeant who had entered the office with me a seat and handed him a glass of cold water. His throat clearly parched, he gratefully accepted it and drained the glass in one go. Perhaps it was because he had left the observation room, but his face looked noticeably more at ease.
“Ahem. Uh, Team Leader Seo Suho…”
Clearing his throat, the sergeant quickly bowed his head in a polite gesture.
“If what our Colonel said came across as offensive… I sincerely apologize.”
“…”
“He really didn’t mean any disrespect toward you. Just as he said, it’s difficult for him to feel any sort of positive emotion toward the beasts…”
“I understand.”
I gave a brief reply. Who in their right mind would feel kindly toward the beasts?
Besides, it wasn’t as if Sun Woosung had said anything particularly offensive. Even if my feelings had been hurt, there was no reason for the sergeant to be the one apologizing.
I stared at him in silence. I was beginning to understand why Sun Woosung hadn’t come alone. Given his naturally intimidating presence, it would be easy for people to misunderstand him. Maybe that was why the sergeant had come along—to smooth things over like this.
A sense of relief spread across the sergeant’s face after hearing my response. Bowing once more in gratitude for my understanding, he carefully continued, watching my expression.
“In the Reconnaissance Unit, there are times during missions when we’re forced to engage in combat with the beasts. Sometimes… there are casualties. I think the Colonel’s aversion stems from having experienced such situations multiple times.”
It was something I had already assumed. I listened quietly and took a sip of my own water.
“In fact, even during our most recent mission, not everyone made it back.”
With a darkened expression, the sergeant lowered his gaze to the table.
The Reconnaissance Unit, which had been granted observer status at the previous showcase, had already left the ship on a mission prior to the event. From what I knew, they hadn’t attended because the mission had run longer than expected. It seemed the sergeant was referring to that particular operation.
Maybe that’s why I’d run into Sun Woosung while visiting my parents.
I recalled the image of Sun Woosung walking with heavy steps, his shoulders burdened. It made me wish the higher-ups would make an official announcement so that everyone on the ship—not just his fellow soldiers—could know and remember those who had fallen.
I offered a moment of silence for the team members who hadn’t returned. A hush settled over the room, steeped in solemnity.
Gasp. The sergeant suddenly sucked in a breath, his face draining of color.
“I shouldn’t have said that in front of you, Team Leader…! That was thoughtless of me.”
“Pardon?”
What does he mean?
I raised an eyebrow, puzzled. The sergeant, sweating now, stammered nervously.
“Did I… bring up any painful memories for you…?”
“…”
Ah. So that was it. He must have been thinking about my past. There were few who didn’t know about that incident—when I had been the only survivor in a disaster that nearly destroyed the entire ship.
Both my parents and the members of the Reconnaissance Unit had lost their lives to beasts. It seemed he was drawing a connection between those facts. A bit too considerate, really. I couldn’t tell if he had always been like this, or if working under Sun Woosung had made him overly cautious, but the way he kept shrinking back and overthinking everything came across as somewhat pitiable.
“No. Not particularly.”
I looked at him calmly.
“It’s fine.”
“Ah… If you say so, then…”
The sergeant let out a small breath of relief, though his hesitation lingered. After a moment’s pause, he spoke again, carefully.
“Actually, that day… I saw you. From afar.”
“…Did you?”
The unexpected confession took me a second to respond to. So I hadn’t been a complete stranger to him.
Still, I had no memory of the sergeant himself. Aside from a few members of the Reconnaissance Unit who had been closer to me—Sun Woosung among them—I couldn’t recall the faces of the other soldiers present at the scene.
“Yes. I wasn’t with the Recon Unit at the time, but I was deployed under orders to stay alert for emergencies. All I really did was assist the Colonel afterward, and even then, I wasn’t of much help… I still regret not doing more. I should’ve recovered at least one more belonging of yours or your family’s.”
I paused at the somber tone in his voice.
…Belongings?
***
Though the house my family had lived in had completely collapsed, a few of my parents’ keepsakes that had remained somewhat intact within the rubble had been returned to me. It was thanks to the soldiers who, during the search for my mother and father, had managed to recover a handful of undamaged items.
I was momentarily surprised to learn that the sergeant had been one of those soldiers. But that paled in comparison to what I learned next—that it had been Sun Woosung himself who had taken the lead in that search.
Digging through the wreckage of a crumbled building to locate and retrieve specific individuals is no easy task. That someone who had already fulfilled his duties as part of the Reconnaissance Unit—someone who had fought Rai and rescued me—had voluntarily taken on such a role was… nothing short of astonishing.
After finishing the conversation with the sergeant, I met with Sun Woosung again to plan our schedule. We discussed various matters, including the possibility of lapses in our collaboration due to the Reconnaissance Unit’s regular deployments, and how the contents of our contract would be reported to the upper ranks. As we finalized the agreement, I glanced at Sun Woosung.
Perhaps sensing my gaze, he looked in my direction.
“……”
Though it had been an officer in charge of the past incident who officially received my thanks, I felt it was only right to express my gratitude—albeit belatedly—to the person who had provided direct help. According to the sergeant, who had waved his hands modestly when I thanked him earlier, it had been Sun Woosung who suggested moving intact-looking items out of the wreckage, and he was the one who played the biggest role in locating my parents, even in their damaged state.
Still, it wasn’t a subject fit to be brought up in front of others. Rising along with the rest of the team, I gave a small nod to Sun Woosung and the sergeant.
“Then, I’ll see you next week.”
“Yes.”
After being briefed about the time he’d be spending in the observation room with Cat, Sun Woosung signed the contract without another word. Though his cold expression remained unchanged, he was cooperative enough. Perhaps because nothing we asked of him felt unreasonable.
This joint operation may be for the sake of fostering a connection between soldier and beast, but I didn’t actually expect any emotional bond to form between Sun Woosung and Cat. Sun Woosung loathed beasts, and Cat saw all humans—except me—as prey. Even if Sun Woosung were a different type of person, it would’ve been impossible. After all, even my parents, despite all their effort, had never managed to establish an emotional rapport with Rai.
So, the plan was to start by imprinting on Cat that attacking Sun Woosung was off-limits, using myself as the intermediary. From there, I’d try to gradually get Cat to obey his commands the way he obeyed mine. At the very least, for now, Sun Woosung wouldn’t have to take initiative—he simply needed to accompany me to the observation room. Once that was made clear, he had seemed noticeably more agreeable.
Sun Woosung rose from his chair but remained standing, unmoving. He stared straight at my face, and I wondered if he had something to say. I met his gaze.
“Is there something you wish to say?”
“…No.”
He paused a moment before replying, then turned away.
“No need to see us off.”
“We’ll be on our way now!”
The sergeant gave a quick farewell to me and the team and followed after Sun Woosung.
The team members remained standing with pleasant smiles until the soldiers’ figures completely disappeared. Once the door closed and the sounds from outside had faded, they slumped in unison, visibly relaxing.
Pointing to their chairs, I asked,
“Shall we take a short break?”
“…! Yes, Team Leader!”
Both of them answered simultaneously, their faces noticeably brighter.
“Team Leader. Earlier, I almost got the wrong impression because the mood was a bit… intense. But Colonel Sun Woosung actually seems like a good person.”
Seol Young-jun spoke up as he took a seat. Had something changed during their conversation? I looked at him silently.
“Like you said, we were also curious about why he personally showed up, so we asked. He said it was because the other members were hesitant, so he decided to come himself.”
Honest answer. It wasn’t strange—he probably understood from the beginning the purpose behind our request for cooperation. Still, given the strict chain of command, the Recon Unit members would have come even if they felt uneasy, had they been ordered to. That spoke to how much Sun Woosung valued and took responsibility for his team.
And honestly, it might have been much more difficult if someone else from the Recon Unit had come. Considering how blunt and hot-tempered many of them were, even with the sergeant present, things could have easily gone off the rails.
“He doesn’t say much, but he answered all our questions properly—he was very polite.”
Ignoring someone who’s speaking to you face to face would be a problem in itself, especially in an official setting. I looked at Seol Young-jun with mixed feelings; he struck me as a bit too innocent.
“Technically, we should’ve been the ones answering questions.”
Even Lee Seo-rim, who interjected sheepishly, soon joined in with a bright expression, sharing the things she had learned from Sun Woosung.
Though they hadn’t exactly been able to treat him casually, meeting someone from the Recon Unit for the first time seemed to have piqued their curiosity. They’d apparently asked him various questions about the kinds of beasts he encountered in the field.
I nodded, listening to the team’s light-hearted chatter.
