Dong Jiwoo managed to maintain a calm expression despite her rapidly beating heart.
Fortunately, Han Seoryeong kept her head deeply bowed, looking like someone who was just temporarily out of breath.
Although she could be incredibly tenacious at times, Dong Jiwoo fully understood her determination.
They had endured this terrible hell for so long. She couldn't afford to make a mistake just **two hours** before the end.
_'Instructor, please just pass by...'_
Dong Jiwoo swallowed hard.
But the instructor's boots stopped very close.
"...!"
Involuntarily, she looked up.
Lee Wooshin stood there with a strange expression, looking at Seoryeong.
His narrowed eyes seemed to indicate that he had already seen through her tactics, but his expression remained firm and serious.
The man, standing against the evening breeze, observed Seoryeong's stiff hair and dirty forehead, the training uniform hardened from alternating between mud and seawater, and her shoes so full of mud they were almost unrecognizable.
The longer he stared, the deeper the crease in his smooth forehead became.
His persistent gaze finally fell on the ground where Seoryeong's hand lay carelessly.
Lee Wooshin's expression changed **abruptly**.
Curious, Dong Jiwoo followed his gaze downwards.
She already knew that Seoryeong had hastily written something right before she fainted.
She strained to read the faint letters.
_Kim... Kim... what was it? Kim Hi? Kim Hyeon—?_
The strange expression on the instructor's face was truly unsettling.
Lee Wooshin wore an unreadable expression, scratched his cheek with his fingernail, and then clenched his fist as if unable to bear it.
"...Damn it. So persistent. Where did someone like her come from to drive people crazy."
Despite Seoryeong's disheveled and broken appearance, the instructor stared at her with an almost **fascinated** expression.
He cursed softly, but a subtle **tenderness** appeared on one side of his face as he looked at the ground.
Dong Jiwoo scratched her neck with a bewildered expression.
The instructor couldn't take his eyes off Han Seoryeong, as if there was something incredibly captivating about her.
At that moment, a fleeting trace of **pity** appeared and vanished just as quickly in those unpredictable eyes.
_'What... was that just now?'_
Instinctively, Dong Jiwoo averted her gaze, feeling as if she had seen something she shouldn't have.
Lee Wooshin checked his military digital watch with a slight lift of his arm.
He clicked his tongue, then walked a few steps closer to Han Seoryeong through the soft sand.
_Oh... oh...!_
As the anxious Dong Jiwoo shifted uneasily, the instructor used the sole of his boot to **erase the scribbles** in the sandy ground several times before turning away.
"....."
_What was he doing?_
Dong Jiwoo blinked in confusion, watching the instructor turn his back to them.
Lee Wooshin stood tall like a lighthouse against the cold wind blowing.
Just then, Seoryeong's fingers began to move again.
---
Her mind was hazy.
Her eyelids felt too heavy to open, but a gentle breeze touched her forehead.
Seoryeong, in an extremely weak state, could barely distinguish whether it was a hand or the wind she felt.
It seemed like she had a long dream...
However, in her light sleep, she slightly moved her lips.
"Kim Hyeon..."
She turned her head to seek the breeze, which instantly disappeared—an instinctive movement that sent a gentle shiver down her husband's spine.
"Is that you, Hyeon? Why are you home so early today? There's no food at home..."
The hand that had been stroking her hair **stopped** at the words that slipped out.
At that moment, Seoryeong felt a strange sense of urgency and wanted to open her eyes as quickly as possible.
For some reason, she felt that if she did, she might see Kim Hyeon's face.
However, she couldn't move at all, as if crushed under the rubble of a building.
She tried to blink, but suddenly, a warm towel was placed over her eyelids.
_Ah..._
A deep sigh escaped her chest.
It was truly her husband.
The warmth made her body relax uncontrollably.
"I had a strange dream... a really terrible dream..."
"What kind of dream?"
The warmth, the voice so familiar responding as if it were natural, made her feel like she would cry.
"My whole body aches, and it feels like my chest is empty..."
"Where exactly does it hurt? Here?"
The familiar touch carefully massaged Seoryeong's aching arms and legs.
"Mmm... and I was doused with cold water and hit with alcohol too."
"Who did that to you?"
"That bastard..."
"..."
"That damn man..."
"..."
"But no matter where I looked, Hyeon wasn't there."
At that moment, it felt like the hand holding hers was either pulling her deeper or pushing her away with pain.
Everything was so blurry, as if it were all just a dream.
Seoryeong called his name in a hoarse voice before finally falling back asleep.
---
Seoryeong's eyes suddenly snapped open, scanning the white ceiling of the infirmary.
Her face quickly paled, filled with black fear and despair.
She couldn't remember anything. Nothing at all, since some point in time.
When she quickly turned her head to look out the window, she saw the darkness fading and the sun rising.
_Wait, the sun is rising? How long have I been asleep?_
Her heart pounded relentlessly, like a broken ball.
She didn't need to look in a mirror to know that her face looked terribly pale.
"_Ugh...!_"
She suppressed a groan that escaped and tried to sit up.
Even just lifting her upper body made her break out in a cold sweat, as if her whole body was bruised and abnormal.
Just then, the infirmary door creaked open.
"You...!"
Seoryeong stared at the pale Dong Jiwoo.
It was obvious from her clothes.
Hell Week was **over**.
The filth-smelling figure had been cleaned up. Her dirty clothes were now clean.
As she stared at her silently, it felt like her head had been hit, leaving her speechless.
_Why can't I remember anything?_
Her heart beat unnaturally fast.
"Did I... not wake up after that? Were you caught?"
She couldn't help herself, her voice trembling.
It felt almost like **fear**.
"I'm asking—were you caught?"
She asked again, enduring the pain that felt like her body was being crushed.
Dong Jiwoo, who was about to say something, suddenly froze.
Tears fell from her eyes.
She only moved her lips, unable to respond.
The tears streaming down her face looked as if a faucet had been left running.
"Who caught you? Was it Instructor Lee Wooshin? **Was it?**"
"That... What about you?"
"What?"
"Why isn't there any blood or water dripping from **you**?"
Seoryeong frowned, confused by this nonsense.
She touched her eyes and then casually wiped away the moisture with the back of her hand as if it were bothersome.
Just then, Dong Jiwoo quickly corrected the misunderstanding.
"You can relax. You finished Hell Week well, and now you're lying here."
"How could I have finished the training if I don't remember anything?"
"You must have been barely conscious..."
Dong Jiwoo looked at her with a strangely disgusted expression.
"But, you got up, moved, spoke, and did everything."
"What?"
"Anyway, everyone except you was like sleepwalking. In the end, Song Uckhan even **pushed** you. He kept trying to force you to quit, but you can treat him to a meal later."
"..."
"Anyway, everything went really well. I wasn't caught, I wasn't kicked out, and I finished."
_We'll be out of here soon!_
At that, Seoryeong exhaled the breath she had been holding and lowered her head into her hands.
This time, she truly felt like she would break.
The frozen blood within her began to flow again.
"But... Instructor Lee Wooshin brought you here right after the training ended."
At that moment, Dong Jiwoo, who was awkwardly scratching the back of her head, spoke.
"He was the first to notice you had fainted."
Seoryeong frowned and made a puzzled expression.
"He said you walked fine and answered questions, so he didn't realize anything was wrong. But as soon as the training was over, Instructor Lee picked you up and **carried** you."
Unconsciously, she began to lightly scratch near her collarbone.
_I've never been carried by anyone except my husband..._
Without thinking, she scratched her neck, leaving a long red mark from her fingernails.
For some reason, she stared blankly out the window at the rising morning.
Suddenly, her eyes widened as if remembering something forgotten.
Seoryeong hurriedly looked around the infirmary and asked.
"Is there anyone else here besides you?"
"Huh?"
Suddenly, her vision blurred again.
_What's wrong with me..._
Seoryeong rubbed her eyes in confusion, but they kept welling up, as if something inside her had broken.
Maybe it was because her body had reached its limit and broken down.
For the first time, Kim Hyeon appeared in her dream.
Her husband, who had never appeared even once in her dreams, appeared **this time**.
She turned her hands back and forth as if fascinated by something, observed them closely, and then held them out in front of Dong Jiwoo's eyes.
"Look, my hands are **clean**."
"What?"
Dong Jiwoo seemed unconvinced, but Seoryeong remembered the warm towel wiping her hands clean.
"This doesn't feel like a dream..."
"Han Seoryeong, you **stink** right now. Who else would be near you wiping your hands? Of course, it was a dream. How many people go in and out of the infirmary after training, ah—"
Her expression subtly changed as she trailed off.
Just then, the infirmary door opened without warning, and a familiar tall figure appeared.
Seeing his shadow stretch long on the floor before the person entered made her heart skip a beat slightly.
Between his damp hair and cold eyes, it was unmistakable.
The man who entered abruptly scanned Seoryeong and Dong Jiwoo, then frowned deeply.
"She's the one who did it?"