Part One: Reclusion

Seo Dae Young could never fathom how he was actually seeing the downside of things all at once: it was nighttime, the Special Forces aircraft had already left, and it was only he and his team captain left stranded in the foreign warzone somewhere nearing the Kosovo boundaries of the Albanian nation. Knowing that the three civilian hostages were top priority passengers, they made both ends meet by deciding to stay behind and wait for the group to come pick them up after dropping a few of them back to the military base, but unfortunately due to the sudden change of circumstances, it seemed like the captain, Yoo Si Jin, could not wait any longer.

Everything happened in a blink of an eye; while Si Jin was all smiles after a successful mission, a stray bullet pierced the soldier's chest, and Dae Young was surprised when his comrade's weight shifted entirely towards him, with blood trickling down his chest and mouth.
 

"Captain!" The sergeant major immediately took cover behind an old, dilapidated vehicle as he carried his superior on his shoulder. He looked straight in the captain's eyes to see them flutter in a downward direction.
 

"I will go..." He croaked, slowly losing consciousness.
 

"Yoo Si Jin, don't close your eyes! Stay alert!" He yelled at him, trying to keep him awake and conscious but for Si Jin, everything started to seem so far away. Dae Young's voice was too faint, and silence was slowly seeping in.


Is this...the end?


At that moment, Si Jin couldn't think of anything else but to at least try living; it was the first time he had felt such great importance of getting out of this place alive, all because of love.


Kang Mo Yeon... the body was too weak to groan out her name, but his mind was screaming it as loud as he could. He didn't want to die, not like this; if he were to die, he would've preferred to die in her arms.


He looked pleadingly over his ever-loyal friend, Seo Dae Young, tightening his grip on the sleeve of his uniform as if he was begging for help, but Dae Young recoiled in an instant when he was shot as well on the shoulder. "Argh!" Dae Young gritted his teeth as he slumped on the wall of the vehicle, torn between attending to himself, attending to his captain's critical state, and searching where the unknown gunman was hiding. He chose to tend to Si Jin's needs, after pulling out the bullet from his shoulder. It was nothing compared to the gunshot that went through Yoo Si Jin's chest, so Dae Young could still move. "Si Jin, stay awake, okay? They're coming back," Dae Young tapped on his cheek to at least get his attention.

"Leave that area!"


Unknown voices had suddenly entered the scene. Seo was taken aback when two masked men came to their current location and yanked his hand, dragging him away from their hiding spot.


"Let go!" He tried pulling against his direction, but to no avail.


"If you don't follow, you'll blow up in pieces!" One of the men yelled, still pulling Seo Dae Young away. Hearing this, Dae Young was left with no other choice but to side with the two unknown men, despite not knowing whether they were really on their side or not.


He then pulled Si Jin's arm higher up on his shoulder. It was, beyond any doubt, even more difficult to lift Si Jin up; the poor captain no longer having the strength to stand on his own feet, "Hold on, captain! Don't you dare close your eyes!" Dae Young found it unnatural of him to command his captain, but he was, in all aspects at that moment, totally in command. He carried him on his back and immediately ran together with the two strange men away from their former hiding place. Si Jin was alarmed at his sudden movement, but finally realized Dae Young moved in the nick of time when the car where they had hidden awhile ago exploded right in front of their eyes.


Now they were left alone in a nearby shelter, the two masked men suddenly out of sight, and it was now safer to perform first-aid on Yoo Si Jin's wounds. He quickly rested his injured comrade on the wall.


"Take the bullet off..." Si Jin groaned, barely opening his eyelids, "Quickly,"


He was relieved to know Si Jin was indeed holding on; Dae Young will forever be amazed at how this guy is difficult to kill, even at the brink of death. "Yes sir," He replied back, haphazardly fumbling on a few items from his first-aid kit: antiseptic, bandages, and gauze strips. "This is all I brought along,"


Si Jin weakly shook his head but nodded afterwards; he didn't have any time to complain about his comrade not even bringing enough things for first aid. He nodded even more, commanding him to do whatever he needs to do immediately, "We're not alone here.... Those men.. They're enemy militia. Do what you must. Fast,"


Dae Young, despite having questions on how the captain knew the two other men were their foes, still did as he said; he stripped him off his top clothes and his protective vest—which he personally thought was useless since the bullet had penetrated his body. Because of the absence of tweezers, Dae Young had no other option but to take the bullet off Yoo Si Jin's flesh using his fingers, making Si Jin wince and groan in pain.


Sorry, he thought while his ears endured the loud groans of the other soldier.


Fortunately, the pain did not last that long because Dae Young did everything speedily and now had controlled the bleeding. "You okay?" He asked as he dressed his gunshot wound with all the bandages and gauze he got; Dae Young had no time to spare, and so he pushed everything before buckling his protective gear and uniform on.


Si Jin could only nod to assure him he had nothing to worry about anymore; he wasn't okay, of course. He lost a huge amount of blood.


"What do we do now, Captain?" Dae Young asked, but before the two Alpha Team soldiers could formulate a plan, sounds of leather boots and clicking rifles were coming in their current location. Yoo Si Jin was correct with what he said earlier: they weren't alone.


More masked men, the rebels, started making their way towards them pointing their guns toward Seo Dae Young, who reluctantly raised both his hands up in surrender. A gun was pushed against Yoo Si Jin's head by a rebel as well, but he was too weak to even raise his hands.


"Is that man a goner?" One of them asked, pointing towards Yoo Si Jin. The other one, who was currently pointing a gun on his head, examined Si Jin whether he was alive and then finally seeing a good determiner—his gunshot wound—pressed it with his foot, which made blood gush out and caused the wounded soldier to wince in agony. "He's not dead yet," the rebel said, lifting his foot up from the soldier's chest. the outer sole of his boots dripping with blood. The once-white gauze bandages Dae Young haphazardly placed in his chest was now soaked with the captain's blood.

"The leader commands we won't kill them," The other said, "We'll need them for intel. Bring them to the cells," with that command, a few of the rebels harshly lifted the two soldiers up, confiscating all of their weapons, and dragged them outside the shelter. Dae Young would look behind from time to time to see Si Jin slump or stumble occassionally on the ground.

"Boss, he's no good. He'll die anytime soon," The enemy soldier yelled, grabbing on Si Jin's hair and commanding him to get up,


"Then let him die in the shelter," One replied, "One is useful as long as he is alive. Drag him if you must,"


Dae Young frowned at the enemy militia's maltreatment to Si Jin, as they continued their walk to a nearby truck. There, they were struck down and cooped up, with guard soldiers pointing their guns on their heads. Dae Young couldn't do anything but to stay put from where he sat, while Si Jin laid unconscious: his head faced on the truck's floor while he bled all over. Later on as they have travelled a few miles away, a sack was placed to cover the captain's head, and soon later Dae Young's vision blurred and darkened when his face was likewise covered with a sack. They truly had no intention for them to know where they were headed.

 

Unknown to the two soldiers, the Special Forces aircraft arrived back at their previous location and were convinced that since their bodies were missing, they died in the explosion. Three out of the five original members of the Alpha Team began their search, crossing their fingers that their captain and second-in-command were still alive. Otherwise, at least they would find their brothers' bodies and give them a proper burial back home.

The three men arrived where they last saw Si Jin and Dae Young, however everything was nothing but rubble and soil.



But the two missing soldiers, at that moment, were being thrown in a prison cell. Right when the jailkeeper had left their cell, Dae Young took off the covers in his head and went to check on the captain's condition. He yanked the sack that covered his head and was appalled to see him.


He was pale, and extremely weakened from the journey; his eyes were half-open and only heaven could tell how exhausted he was. "Daewi," he tried to call his attention, as he checked his pulse and placed two fingers somewhere at the crook of his neck. Si Jin could only reply with the slow shifting of his eyes towards his direction.


"Let me rest," He finally winced, "Then we think...escape,"


"Yes, indeed," Dae Young nodded.


"We have ladies waiting, you know..." Si Jin said with a weak smile he managed to give in the midst of the pain he felt on his wounded chest. "They're...waiting,"


Yoon Myung Joo and Kang Mo Yeon.


Dae Yeong thought the same as well; he couldn't let things turn out to be this way when he was currently winning Myung Joo's father's approval on him. Moreover, Yoo Si Jin's health relied on him, and the captain also had his own reasons to come back home.


Dae Young examined the prison cell: huge rusty-old metal bars that of a normal cell was what caged them from what was outside, as well as the small caged window high up at the opposite side. Quickly, the sergeant jumped up until his hands could reach the b