Clear and Present Danger

Seonjang

The North Korean elite captain was Captain Im Chul Woo. A leader of the special forces, he made his way to the top through all the exemplary things he did for the military. His loyalty was to a fault, but then some things did not go according to his plan for his career.

He was forced to leave the military and live like a vigilante. A high ranking official threatened him to kill his wife and child if he doesn't follow his commands. Loving and happy as a family man, he was forced to follow the order given to him. A lot of people died in his hands, and everytime he did so, his conscience was killing him. To allow him to work without thinking about it, he resulted in using bingsu, and that only made him a killing machine under control by a master.

'SJ, I can't believe there are people who are too loyal to a fault,' Yeonssi, who was sitting beside me, quipped. I looked at her, because just a few weeks ago, she told me I was so. She might have remembered when I saw her break into a smile.

'I mean, why are they still following orders when they know it is wrong already?' she asked.

I looked once more at her and tried my best to explain things I know.

'As a soldier, we are bound to follow every rule to a T. We may not know what truly went on there, but based on this file that Lee gave us, he may be manipulated by those people above him. And General Kwak,' I replied as I pointed at the files on the table. She nodded and I hoped she understood what I meant. I was in the same situation as Captain Im before.

I stood up to get some fresh air outside, and even though there were sheets of iron surrounding us, it allowed me to rethink the strategy we are going to use to catch this crazy person who was the General and stop him from further doing any damage to the country. I had a feeling that he will still work to get to his ambition, one way or another.

I did not notice my wife coming out of the cafe and brought me something to munch on.

'Honey, have some of these first,' she called. I looked back at her and her visuals was something that obviously allowed me to clear the thoughts in my head. It made me think of why we are here facing these things ahead of us. What if we met at a time where everything was otherwise? Would we be where we are? Would we be loving each other the same way? Or would we not meet at all?

I went to where she was and just embraced her. Out of the blue, just for nothing.

'You know what, I actually wished we met at an earlier time, like when we were young. Or maybe live a different kind of life than what we have now,' I whispered. I wanted to give her everything that I could to make sure she will be fine.

I felt her hand behind me and as she crossed it across my back, she answered back.

'But if we did, would we be like this? Would you love me? Would I even love you likewise?' she asked as she buried her face on my chest.

I sighed, because I never knew what the answer to her question was. All I know is that right now, I wanted to make her feel that I will take care of everything. I have my men who can help me, and I have some people from the high ups whom I could ask for help likewise.

'Everything's going to be fine,' I said as I kissed her temple.

'Captain Kim,' Chul Woo called when he was awake. I looked straight back at him. He called me in a name I would always remember as a sign of my cowardice.

'I have been looking for you, sir. I have a lot of things to tell you,' he said. As he said so, he closed his eyes and winced in pain. He was holding his abdomen. The cancer has definitely penetrated his entire system.