Jihyo tossed and turned in bed; she couldn’t sleep. She was worried about the person who would eat the toxic combination of herbs.

It’s not your fault, she told herself. You’ve done what you could, it’s not your fault. She kept repeating, but it didn’t stop the guilty tears from rolling off her cheeks. I’m sorry… I’m sorry…

She left her bed to the closet, being as quiet as possible. 6 girls shared a room together; she didn’t want to wake them up. She opened the wrapped leaf, which still had some sweetened peanuts left and popped them into . She calmed down a little and slowly drifted to sleep with the nut in .

In the next morning, the girls reported to the kitchen in the morning as usual. However, atmosphere that day was tense. The other trainees and she exchanged nervous glances before entering the kitchen. The cooks were getting scolded by someone, so the trainees stood at a side. They couldn’t hear the conversation properly, but it seems that there was a problem with the dishes sent out yesterday.

“Lucky… stopped… no one was harmed… unbelievable mistake… punished…” the trainees only caught some words, but it was clear enough for Jihyo. She heaved a sigh of relief. It was thankful that no one got hurt; someone, probably a physician noticed the clashing herbs, she thought to herself.

The man scolding them left, and the trainees were quickly sent away to work like nothing happened. They murmured softly among themselves, trying to figure our what happened. Jihyo was wise enough to keep quiet about what she knows. 

Days passed since the herbs incident, and everything was back to normal. The assistant chef seemed to pay more attention to Jihyo, but that’s about it. She still did similar things as the past- bringing the ingredients to and fro the kitchen. Perhaps something different was that she was always in charge of carrying the herbs, if any was involved in the cooking. Maybe it was because the assistant chef felt that she could handle those better than the rest, as she would not mix them up. It was a minor change, but it pleased her, because at least she still had that little connection with being an official doctor.

Meanwhile, Gary’s performance at the military side was getting from bad to worst. He couldn’t shoot at the animals; he tried aiming his arrow, but somehow, he will always change his aim at the last minute. Of course, Jae Suk noticed it. One day, he called the boy to stay back while the rest went for their lunch break.

Jae Suk disappeared into the forest, leaving Gary behind with another senior soldier, who was in charge of testing his shooting skills. Gary had perfect aim, as with the past, which left the soldier puzzled. He wanted to ask Gary why was he unable to hunt down anything, but he remained silent.

Jae Suk came back shortly and noticed that Gary almost shot all his arrows into the bull’s eye. He raised his eyebrow at him, and Gary looked at the ground.

“Kang Hee Gun,” Jae Suk said. Gary looked up nervously. Jae Suk was holding up a rabbit by its ears and it seemed to be struggling. Gary his lips. He could guess what was going to happen.

“I see you’ve managed to hit all your targets,” Jae Suk commented coolly. “Then it wouldn’t be that hard for you to shoot this rabbit, right?” he asked.

Gary hesitated for a moment. Jae Suk spoke again. “If you don’t kill the rabbit, then you would not get your meals today. And tomorrow, we’ll repeat this again,” he warned. Gary looked at his bow and arrow, but did not make any movement. The soldier nudged him to shoot. Slowly, he raised his bow and arrow. He closed his left eye and made his aim at the rabbit.

But he gave up and aimed for the side instead.

Jae Suk furrowed his brows, clearly seeing through his trick. “Why did you shift your aim?” he asked. He could tell from his angle that it was a perfect aim.

Gary looked down. “I can’t do this, sir. I’m sorry, but I don’t think I am fit to be a soldier, sir,” he said.

“You’re too afraid to watch it die?” Jae Suk asked. Gary did not respond.

“Then you’ll have to get used to this,” Jae Suk said, as monotonous as ever. He pulled out his sword and swung it at the rabbit, ready to slaughter it at its neck.

Without even thinking, Gary pulled up his arrow and shot at Jae Suk’s arrow.

Almost immediately after releasing the arrow, Gary belatedly realised what he had done. He knelt down, trembling out of fear.

“I…I’m sorry sir! I deserve to be executed,” he said with a quivering voice, head hung low.

The other soldier pulled out his own sword and put it at Gary’s neck, ready to kill on command.

Jae Suk was stunned at Gary’s act, but he quickly regained his composure. He waved his hand at the soldier as a signal for him to leave. He was shocked that Jae Suk did not order to kill Gary, but he obeyed nonetheless and left without questioning.