"What are you doing?"
His sharp gray eyes sometimes felt inhuman.
Seoryeong felt relief flood through her chest—relief that he had regained consciousness—but she didn't stop tying the wire. One end was secured around Lee Wooshin's wrist; the other was wrapped around her own.
Wooshin looked at her in astonishment.
"It might look foolish," Seoryeong said, her voice hoarse but triumphant, "but I finally caught you, Instructor."
Although her muscles felt like they were burning with exhaustion, a feeling of victory exploded in her mind like fireworks. Her eyes narrowed with satisfaction. Her lips curved into a proud smile. Her raised cheeks made her face feel tight.
"There's no retake later."
Her white teeth were visible, and cheerful lines formed around her nose.
It wasn't the usual fake smile she had worn since her husband disappeared—the practiced expression she offered strangers, colleagues, anyone who might notice her emptiness.
This was the first **genuine** smile since then.
The warm, unguarded smile she used to give only to Kim Hyeon.
She looked down at Wooshin, who was still lying there, unable to get up, and smiled brightly.
Lee Wooshin, perhaps still dazed from the impact of the fall, looked at her with a deeply furrowed brow. His Adam's apple moved up and down slowly, as if swallowing something heavy.
"Unbelievable." His voice was rough. "Is this what I see as soon as I open my eyes?"
"Does your wrist hurt? Is the binding too tight?"
"It doesn't hurt, and it's not too tight. But…" He paused. "Who smiles like *that* in front of their instructor?"
"What?"
"Even when smiling, there's a time and place." His gaze darkened. "Why show such a face—one that should only be seen in bed?"
"When did I—!"
"When working, always keep your expression neutral."
His strange gaze scanned her body from head to toe. He observed her eyes, nose, mouth—even the deepest parts of Seoryeong. His attention lingered on her red tongue and teeth, predatory and assessing.
Under that gaze, Seoryeong's mouth went dry.
She became acutely aware of her position. Even her jaw, which had been relaxed from smiling, now felt stiff and awkward. Every time Lee Wooshin looked at her like that, she felt uneasy—as if all the muscles and nerves in her body were tensing up simultaneously.
*Perhaps it was because she hadn't exchanged such a gaze with anyone in a long time.*
She thought of Kim Hyeon. Warm. Comforting.
She felt the need to remember him.
"…Anyway." Seoryeong cleared her throat. "What are we going to do now?"
Lee Wooshin slowly sat up, listening to her question. He leaned his head against the ice wall, groaning softly. Although his face frequently winced in pain, his voice remained calm.
"There are two ways out. Climb back up—or go down."
Seoryeong had expected him to suggest waiting for help, not climbing on their own. She fell silent, daunted by both options.
Seeing this, Lee Wooshin leaned further against the wall and smirked.
"Ah—Specialist Han Seoryeong apparently prefers high places."
"What!"
"But the reality is, both are impossible." His smirk faded. "We can't climb this ice wall barehanded without equipment."
"So we have to survive."
Suddenly, he tore open the inside of his thick jacket and began slamming it against the ground.
"There's a tracker inside."
After a few hits, the lining tore open, revealing a small blinking red light. Lee Wooshin crushed it completely against the rock floor.
"Now they'll realize something's wrong with the instructor. The last location received was here, so they'll definitely come looking for me." He met her eyes. "Our job is to survive until the rescue team arrives."
The problem was, in this harsh winter, they had no bags, no tools—only their own bodies.
And Seoryeong had already thrown away her jacket.
As she fully understood the situation, the adrenaline in her body began to recede. Her teeth started to chatter. The tips of her fingers felt numb.
Then Lee Wooshin took off his balaclava and pulled it over Seoryeong's head.
"Ugh!"
She tried to adjust the tight knitted fabric over her face, her skin reddening from the friction. Wooshin, now very close, tugged the balaclava down to cover her nose and said softly:
"The head needs to be the warmest. If your head is exposed, you can lose about forty percent of your body heat." His voice was matter-of-fact. "The brain is most sensitive to temperature. It won't last in this weather. Just wear it."
"What about you, Instructor?"
"I'm wearing polypropylene underwear, and everything is Gore-Tex," he said casually, pulling up his jacket hood.
Although this was the first time Seoryeong had been in such a dire situation, seeing Lee Wooshin remain calm made her feel a little stronger.
*Maybe it was just baseless faith.*
But she felt certain—they wouldn't die here.
They sat on the narrow ledge in the middle of the ice wall, facing the roaring wind.
---
"I'm finally going to join the Special Security Team."
Han Seoryeong said it with a smile, even though her teeth were chattering.
"You're kidding, right."
"What?"
"Are you seriously talking about that *now?*"
"What's more important than that?" She raised her bound wrist, the wire glinting dully between them. "I got here because I was trying to catch you, Instructor."
Lee Wooshin just remained silent.
"I won."
Seoryeong shook her wrist, connected by the wire to Wooshin's. The instructor frowned and turned his face away, as if refusing to continue the conversation.
Meanwhile, the cold sweat that had appeared during the chase began to dry, causing their body temperatures to drop drastically. Seoryeong's hands and feet had been numb for a while now, and her stomach was twisting with emptiness.
For the past few days, she had only survived on water—and now even that was almost gone.
She hugged her knees, leaning her tired body against them, when suddenly she heard the sound of a zipper opening and something gently pulling her hair.
"Get in here." Lee Wooshin's voice was low. "Focus on surviving first."
He opened his thick jacket wide, gesturing for her to come inside.
The meaning of that gesture made Seoryeong pause.
"Don't waste body heat. The wind keeps getting in."
"Why don't you just give me your jacket…"
"I hate the cold," he replied flatly.
Although she felt reluctant to press her body against the man's, she knew that safety was more important than awkwardness. She nodded slowly and moved closer, clumsily slipping into the open jacket.
She sat on the man's thighs—which felt strong and hard beneath her—her body tensing as she tried to keep a distance.
But Wooshin just chuckled.
"Specialist Han Seoryeong, you've chosen a strange time to be polite."
Suddenly, he pulled Seoryeong's body closer, positioning them face to face. That rough and direct hand pulled both of her legs to the side and gripped her waist.
Their chests touched. Their lower bodies pressed together without any gap.
As Seoryeong startled at the closeness, Lee Wooshin immediately zipped up their jacket.
To put it politely, it was like carrying a baby in front of your chest.
But *impolitely*—
Well. It was similar to an intimate face-to-face position.
Their faces were so close that his breath touched her lips.
Although feeling embarrassed, Lee Wooshin just hugged her tightly to warm her body. The embrace felt suffocating—down to her bones.
She had never felt the warmth of another person's body seeping into the cold gaps of her own like this.
But after a while, that discomfort made her try to wriggle away.
Lee Wooshin, noticing her movement, patted her bottom with his palm.
"Ah—!"
She was too surprised to speak.
Even in this cold, should she be grateful that at least she felt… *warmer?*
With wide eyes, Seoryeong exhaled a long breath.
"Below us is a cliff." His voice was dry. "Where do you think you're going to run off to?"
Lee Wooshin frowned, his gaze falling to her neck.
"You're fine with some other guy's filth, but you're bothered by a touch that's essential for survival?"
The sense of danger she had felt in the mountains seemed to have followed her here.
Her instincts made her wriggle again, and Wooshin's eyes flashed sharply—an intimidating glint of amusement.
"How can I accept you as a subordinate if you can't stay still?"
He bit his dry lip while still looking at her neck.
"Our best recruit, who will soon be joining the Special Security Team—almost died because she couldn't sit still." His voice dropped. "And now? Pointless movements?"
*Soon to be joining the Special Security Team?*
*The best recruit?*
Seoryeong's face immediately brightened.
The instructor, who had always pushed and criticized her, now seemed to acknowledge her abilities. More than that—it felt like an incredible acknowledgment that she would be accepted as a team member.
Even though she was still shivering and her head was spinning, her heart felt warm.
"Just so you know," Wooshin said quietly, "if I'm not satisfied with a subordinate's work, I won't hesitate to use harsh methods either."
"Like you did just now?"
Seoryeong didn't seem scared at all by the warning—in fact, she was even more curious.
"…"
"So…" She tilted her head. "Have you ever patted Instructor Jin Hoje's butt too?"
Seoryeong asked enthusiastically.
Lee Wooshin immediately frowned, as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard.
Then he turned his face away with a suffering expression.
He stared at his wrist bound with wire—as if considering whether it would be better to just break it off.