🔊 TTS Settings
CHAPTER 03
“What is this about?”
Forcing a smile, Chohee slowly stood before the police officer. His gaze lingered on her shabby Western-style dress.
“You a Joseon native?”
“Yes. What is this about?”
“Where’s your train ticket?”
Chohee handed over the ticket Chihoon had given her from the inside pocket of her coat, barely suppressing the trembling in her hands.
The officer snatched the ticket from her and examined it carefully.
Something felt strange.
Ordinarily, police officers didn’t inspect train tickets. There were conductors for that. It made no sense for him to be checking tickets personally.
Unless…
“Chohee, there’s no time to explain. The police searched our house. You need to leave immediately.”
Could the officers who had searched their home actually be looking for her? Had her brother already been caught?
A terrible feeling crept over her. Biting her lip, Chohee tried desperately to steady her shaking hands.
Thankfully, the officer held the ticket back out to her as though returning it. But when she reached to take it, he tightened his grip and refused to let go.
“…But tell me. Why don’t you have any luggage?”
She had boarded the train suddenly, dragged there by her brother’s hand. Of course she had no luggage.
The only thing she carried was the small handbag she always kept with her.
She needed to answer carefully. Otherwise, he would become suspicious.
Think. Quickly.
“My husband has it.”
Before the silence stretched too long, the plausible lie slipped from her lips.
“Your husband?”
“He was here until a moment ago. He stepped out to get something.”
“To get what?”
Chohee scrambled for an answer. Hadn’t that shameless man earlier had something in his pocket?
“…Cigarettes.”
The officer stared intently at her for a long moment before crooking his finger.
“Come with me.”
“W-why?”
“If I say come, then come.”
The officer grabbed her wrist roughly and dragged her out of the compartment.
“Wait! Let go of me!”
“Shut up, Joseon bitch! Just follow me quietly!”
“Please let go!”
Chohee struggled with all her strength, but she was powerless against the force of a grown man.
“Help me!”
She cried out desperately, but no one opened their doors to help her. The passengers who had been watching the commotion glanced at the officer’s uniform, then indifferently returned to their seats as though nothing was wrong.
There was no one in first class who would help a Korean woman.
“Let go of me!”
“Get in!”
The officer shoved her through a door at the end of the first-class carriage.
It was a luxurious VIP cabin, even more extravagant than first class itself.
Unfortunately, it was empty.
Chohee glanced at the door—the only escape route.
The Japanese officer stood in front of it, blocking the way.
“Please let me go. My husband will be back soon—”
“Husband, huh? Then tell me, why are you really on this train?”
“My husband will come looking for me, please—”
Thinking he might release her if he believed someone was searching for her, Chohee kept pleading.
But it was useless.
The officer let out a disgusting laugh.
“We received a tip that a suspicious person boarded this train. A woman traveling alone without luggage? Isn’t that a little too obvious?”
“No! It’s not like that!”
“You’re lucky. I’m actually quite gentlemanly. Sleep with me once, and I’ll spare your life.”
The officer openly looked her body up and down before wrapping an arm around her waist.
Chohee screamed and swung her fists wildly, but his right hand caught both her wrists with brutal force.
“Stay still!”
“Let go!”
The officer grabbed the top of her dress and yanked hard. The thin fabric felt ready to tear apart in his grip.
Was she really about to suffer humiliation on this train?
Fear crashed over her.
Tears welled in her eyes without her realizing.
Then—
Thud!
With the sound of something striking hard, the officer collapsed sideways.
Someone had struck the back of his neck from behind.
“We meet again.”
A familiar male voice spoke as the man casually kicked the unconscious officer aside.
“Not quite the afterlife, though.”
Tears staining her face, Chohee looked up at the man standing before her.
Tall. Broad-shouldered. Strongly built.
Among all the passengers on this train, there was only one man with such a powerful physique.
“…Shameless pervert?”
After briefly hiding in the first-class section, Dowoon leisurely made his way back toward the regular cars.
Now that Sinuiju Station was approaching, it was time to resume the mission.
When he reached the ordinary seating cars, the atmosphere was completely different from first class.
Despite the sweltering heat, Korean passengers were packed tightly together on narrow benches with barely any space between them. Some who lacked seats crouched on the floor instead.
Far off, a woman dressed in white hanbok caught Dowoon’s eye and rubbed her nose.
Seeing the signal, Dowoon pulled his fedora lower and leaned casually against the front door of the carriage.
A man seated nearby subtly raised his head.
It was Joseph.
“Michael, there’s been a slight change of plans.”
“A change?”
Dowoon looked up sharply.
This was the first he’d heard of any modification.
“We’re blowing up first class too.”
Joseph lowered his voice.
Their mission was to use the Gyeongseong-to-Sinuiju train to bomb Sinuiju Station.
The explosives had already been placed inside the VIP cabin near the engine room. Their original strategy was to detach the first-class section and use the remaining cars for the explosion.
But now the plan had changed.
Joseph intended to detach the ordinary passenger cars instead, leaving first class attached to the blast.
“Why?”
“There’s a top-priority target in there. We can’t waste an opportunity like this. Besides, it’s only Japanese bastards in first class anyway.”
Dowoon frowned.
He hated changing plans midway through an operation. Unexpected variables always followed.
A “top-priority target” usually referred to Koreans who had sold out their own country.
It was a rare opportunity to eliminate such a person.
But there were others in first class too.
“No matter how many Japanese are there, it’s too risky. And—”
A woman’s face suddenly flashed through his mind.
“Damn it.”
Not only Japanese passengers were in first class.
That woman.
The woman who punched him.
Dowoon cursed under his breath and immediately shoved open the carriage door.
“Michael, what are you doing?”
“Go ahead without me!”
Leaving behind a bewildered Joseph, Dowoon sprinted toward the first-class cars.
“Shameless pervert… how are you here?”
Chohee muttered in disbelief.
Ignoring her question, the man nudged the unconscious officer with his foot before speaking in an exaggeratedly wounded tone.
“I think it’s time you stopped calling me a shameless pervert after I just saved you.”
“T-that’s—”
“The man who ran over after seeing you dragged away by a police officer in first class gets called a shameless pervert. How tragic.”
Chohee bit her lip.
Yes, his behavior earlier had certainly been shameless—but regardless, he had saved her now.
Sweat dotted his forehead. It looked as though he had genuinely run here with all his strength.
At last, she awkwardly cleared her throat and whispered softly.
“Thank you.”
“What was that? I couldn’t hear you.”
The man frowned theatrically.
Chohee sighed, then repeated herself loudly and clearly enough for him to hear.
“I said thank you for helping me!”
“I may not have received an apology yet, but I’ll accept your gratitude for now.”
Hearing her forced thanks, the man grinned with satisfaction. He seemed utterly unaffected by the icy glare she shot him.
Kneeling down, he peeled back the officer’s eyelids to check him, then began searching through his clothes.
“What are you doing?”
Chohee asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Wait a moment. Ah.”
The man pulled a revolver from inside the officer’s jacket.
The corner of his mouth lifted automatically.
“Jackpot.”
Casually tucking the gun into the back of his waistband, he looked around.
“We need to leave.”
“What about him?”
Chohee pointed at the unconscious officer.
Unlike her alarm, the man looked indifferent.
“Someone will find him eventually.”
Just then, the scenery outside vanished suddenly into darkness.
The compartment filled with a deep rumbling echo.
A tunnel.
“Damn it.”
The man cursed under his breath.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s the tunnel.”
“So?”
“That means we’re out of time.”
“Out of time?”
His cryptic words left her confused.
Suddenly, her body jerked forward.
The man had grabbed her.
“Let go of me!”
“This time, really stay still!”
The instant he finished speaking, light burst back through the windows as the train emerged from the tunnel.
At the same moment, a deafening crash erupted and the train shook violently as though it were about to overturn.
“Aah!”
Chohee screamed instinctively.
The man caught her before she lost her balance, locking her firmly against his chest.
His scent surrounded her.
Looking up at him from his arms, Chohee noticed that the playful smile he had worn earlier was gone.
Now he looked deadly serious.
In his hand was the revolver.
“You’d be better off covering your ears instead of screaming.”
“What are you doing?”
The man aimed at the massive window.
“Making us a door.”
Before Chohee could question him further—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The window shattered.
Instantly, the roaring sound of the speeding train mixed with violent winds crashing into the compartment. It felt as though her eardrums might burst.
Chohee hurriedly covered both ears.
Ferocious wind tore through the broken window into the VIP cabin. Her hair whipped wildly around her face, her skirt fluttering helplessly around her ankles.
“Are you insane?!”
Covering her ears, Chohee shouted at the top of her lungs.
But the thunderous noise swallowed her voice whole.
The man shouted something back while covering his own ears, but she couldn’t hear him either. She tried reading his lips, but failed.
“I can’t hear you! What?!”
The man shook his head in frustration before pulling Chohee tightly into his arms.
She wasn’t especially short—but in his embrace, she suddenly felt tiny and fragile.
His shoulders were that broad.
Without realizing it, Chohee leaned into the solid chest shielding her from the violent wind.
She had noticed it earlier too: despite looking like he should smell of sweat, his skin carried instead a faint citrus scent.
“Close your eyes.”
Close her eyes?
Chohee stared at him in confusion.
Then she understood.
“This might hurt a little.”
Holding her tightly, the man threw himself through the shattered window.
The blue sky and golden fields spun together wildly before her open eyes.
“Aah!”
Chohee’s scream tangled with the roaring wind.
