AUTHOR'S POV

“My name is Rika… and I was sent here under orders.”

Rika sat handcuffed, her wrists raw from struggling. She looked up, eyes trembling but voice steady, perhaps too steady for someone in her position.

“Keep speaking!” Jungkook’s eyes lifted to her, cold, unreadable.

“They told me to get inside the base, disguised as one of yours. To find out your next move… and then attack the surgeon. Without him, your soldiers would die, and South Korea would lose the war.”

Her words cut through the silence like a blade. Jungkook’s lips twitched — not into a smile, but something darker. He inhaled deeply.

Every breath laced with the kind of control that came only from a man trained to mask rage behind authority.

His jaw locked tighter.

Four men dead...Two ambushed during border patrol.

Two more… and the surgeon....attacked by this girl.

A girl who barely looked old enough to hold a gun, yet carried blood on her hands.

Jungkook’s voice, when it came, was calm, dangerously calm.“So that’s what they sent you for… a child playing assassin.”

“You should’ve known. There are no female officers stationed on the border. That uniform was your first mistake.”

Her breath hitched, realization dawning that she’d been caught not by luck — but by him.

Rika swallowed hard, defiance flickering in her eyes.“You’ll let me go now… right? You promised to help me.”

A silence followed,  the kind that made even the air nervous. Jungkook’s expression didn’t change. He simply slid one hand into his pocket, eyes locked on hers with unnerving steadiness.

“Of course.”He paused....letting her hope rise just enough to crush it.

“To the prison.”

The faint smirk that touched his lips wasn’t one of cruelty. It was colder than that — the expression of a man who didn’t believe in mercy when blood had been spilled.

Rika shouted, furiously wriggling her wrist“You lied! This is betrayal!”

He turned toward the door, his voice smooth, deep, each word landing like a gunshot.

“You should be thankful for not killing you right here at the moment for what you have done, I could have done it and named it as an encounter and even if I did anything in silence....no one would get a trace of your dead body but I don't want to take the law in my hands and you have to face the consequences.”

“For breaking inside the base and attacking two soldiers and a surgeon, you took three lives so punishment is needed, hmm?”

He walked out without looking back, the sound of his boots echoing down the corridor, steady, precise, final.

Behind him, Rika’s voice cracked, but Jungkook didn’t stop. His jaw clenched once more, the weight of loss pressing on his chest, four soldiers gone, one and only surgeon lost, and a war waiting outside those walls.

★★★

Base Camp, Next Morning

The sky was painted in shades of grey, neither mourning nor forgiving, just heavy with silence. The cold wind swept across the border field, carrying the faint echo of trumpets and the rustle of the national flags half-raised.

Rows of soldiers stood tall, boots aligned, eyes forward, the tension in their shoulders betraying the sorrow in their hearts.

Four wooden caskets stood at the center, draped with the flag, crimson, white, and blue....fluttering gently in the morning breeze.

Major Jeon Jungkook stood at the front.

His uniform was immaculate, every medal polished, every thread perfectly in place, yet his eyes carried the weight of sleepless nights and guilt too heavy for words.

He didn’t blink as the anthem began.

He didn’t flinch when the rifles fired their three ceremonial shots into the air.

But his throat tightened when he looked at the names carved onto the brass plates.

Men who had once laughed with him in the mess hall.

Men who had once followed his orders into the fire.

Men who didn’t make it back.

The commander’s voice echoed through the camp“For their courage… for their loyalty… and for the nation they gave everything to protect....we salute.”

Jungkook took a slow step forward, gloved hand rising to his temple. The salute was sharp, unwavering....the kind of salute only given by a man who knew what it meant to lose.

His jaw clenched, his breath visible in the cold air.“You did your duty… now it’s mine to make sure it wasn’t in vain.”

The soldiers behind him mirrored his salute. The sound of boots clicking together echoed through the stillness. Even the wind seemed to stop for a second, as if paying respect.

As the caskets were carried away one by one, Jungkook’s gaze didn’t waver.

Only when the last one disappeared from sight did his arm finally fall to his side.

He turned slightly, eyes cold again, expression unreadable. But inside, something shifted, something that had been quietly cracking since last night’s interrogation.

The enemy had taken four of his men and their only surgeon.

And now he had a name — Rika.

★★★

Same Day, Late Afternoon

The atmosphere inside the command tent was suffocating. The air reeked of sweat, iron, and gun oil, a combination born only in war.

The dim light from the hanging bulb flickered over the large tactical map spread across the table, red markers scattered over the border zones like blood splatters.

Commander Jung Hoseok stood at the head of the table, his sleeves rolled up, brows knitted tight. His voice carried authority that silenced even the sound of the wind outside.

“We’ve already lost four soldiers and our only surgeon. The attacks haven’t stopped since dawn. North’s pushing harder every hour. We can’t wait for backup, we need to act now.”

The officers and sergeants seated around the table exchanged heavy looks. The air buzzed with urgency, yet no one dared to speak first.

Major Jeon Jungkook stood slightly apart, arms crossed, his expression calm, too calm. The flicker of the light caught on the side of his jaw, tense and sharp. He hadn’t said a word since the meeting began, but his silence said enough.

Finally, sergeant kim broke it“Sir, without a medic, we can’t treat the wounded in time. The supplies are thin and we’ve got no one trained for surgeries—”

Hoseok slammed his palm on the table, making everyone jump slightly.“Then we’ll become surgeons if we have to! We are trained for this much yeah? Until headquarters sends someone, we hold the line. We don’t break. Understood?”

A heavy silence followed.

Jungkook finally moved, his boots scraping the floor as he stepped closer to the map. He placed both palms on the table, leaning over the red pins.

“We have more than just wounded to worry about. The spy we captured,  Rika. she’s not just a random infiltrator. She was sent here with orders. Orders to cripple us from the inside.”

Hoseok looked up sharply.“You got that from her?”

“She confessed. Their plan was to eliminate our medical unit and paralyze our recovery chain. No medics. No survivors. That’s how they planned to win.”jungkook said.

A murmur went around the table.“Then keeping her alive is dangerous, sir. If her people find out—”

Jungkook cut him off, voice low, controlled, the kind of tone that made even trained men go still.“She stays alive. She’s the only lead we have. If they want her back, they’ll make a move. And when they do… we’ll be ready.”

Hoseok exhaled slowly, watching him.“You think she’s worth the risk?”

Jungkook’s jaw flexed, his eyes cold.“I think she’s worth the truth. And if she’s lying—”He straightened, his gaze like steel.“—I’ll make her tell me everything before she takes her last breath.”

The room fell silent again. The map between them looked more like a battlefield waiting to happen.

Hoseok nodded slowly.“Fine. But remember, M

ajor, she’s your responsibility. If anything happens, it’s on you.”

Jungkook met his gaze, unflinching.

“It already is.”

★★★