Yongguk lets out a sigh and decides it’s finally time to confront Zelo. He lightly knocks on the door twice before slowly opening it. Yongguk peeks inside to see Zelo lying in the hospital bed, his head turned to look over at Yongguk.

After Yongguk finally walks in, he makes his way over towards Zelo and softly mutters, “Hey…,” while trying not to make direct eye contact.

“Captain Bang… How are you, Sir?” Zelo replies awkwardly, staring down at the end of his bed to avoid eye contact as well.

“I should be asking you that,” Yongguk replies, looking down at Zelo's slightly bruised face then his body.

Yongguk examines Zelo’s body and notices of all the bruises and discolorations covering his pale skin. The more injuries he sees, the more guilt he feels. He begins to lightly run his fingers down Zelo’s arm to measure the amount of pain Zelo is feeling.

Zelo flinches and Yongguk immediately pulls his hand away and begins to apologize, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-“

“No, I’m sorry, Sir,” Zelo interrupts. “I’m really sorry I failed the mission, Sir. I promise I’ll try harder, Sir. I’ll try my best not to disappoint you anymore, Sir. I hope you’re not too angry with me, Captain Bang…,” Zelo says all too quickly, still looking away from Yongguk while anticipating a lot of yelling and cursing to come.

Yongguk stares down at Zelo, speechless at what he just heard. “Does he really think that I’m mad at him?” Yongguk thinks, still staring in awe at the young boy lying in bed. Yongguk feels utterly horrible now. “After I put Zelo through all of that and cause him to be brutally injured, he apologizes? He feels disappointed with himself? Shouldn’t he be mad at me?” After thinking and blankly staring at Zelo for so long, Zelo finally turns his face to look at Yongguk, now making direct eye contact.

“Are you okay, Sir…?” Zelo ask hesitantly.

Yongguk snaps out of his daze and replies, “Yeah, I’m okay and I am mad.”

A pained expression appears on Zelo’s face. He feels fear and disappointment running through his veins after hearing that Yongguk’s reply.

“I’m mad at myself…” Yongguk says quietly as he glances away and sighs. “I shouldn’t have been so hard on you. It’s you’re first day and all and I was being too harsh. I just wanted everyone to be prepared for missions, for the real thing, to be prepared for everything that can go wrong like today. I just… I…,” Yongguk sighs, “I failed as a leader.”

Zelo stares blankly at Captain Bang, surprised to see this side of him he never expected to see ever.

He turns back to face Zelo, looking him in the eyes, before saying “I’m sorry...”

They stare at each other before Zelo smiles, Zelo’s smiling reminding Yongguk of his; the smile that brightened a whole room and made everyone else smile. “They both have a contagious smile,” Yongguk thinks and a very slight smile forms from his own lips.

“It’s okay, Captain Bang. You don’t have to be sorry and you didn’t fail, Sir,” Zelo says.

“You can drop the formalities,” Yongguk says, cutting Zelo off.

“Oh… okay…,” Zelo responds, feeling awkward from the lack of formalities. He shrugs it off and contines, “I understand that you were just doing your job and that you were trying to prepare me... I’m not upset with you at all.”

Yongguk looks back at Zelo with a less pained expression, “Well, that’s a relief. I’m still sorry though. I really shouldn’t have been so hard. It’s just that a lot has happened in the past and I don’t want to make any more mistakes.”

“Mistakes?” Zelo questions.

Yongguk closes his eyes for a moment before opening them again, pain fully showing over his face now before replying, “Yeah… About a year ago, Squad 6 was on a mission and-“

“Captain Bang. Report to the General’s office immediately,” a voice announces over the intercom. At the same time, Youngjae walks back in with food in his hands.

“What’s that all about?” Youngjae asks Yongguk.

“I’m not sure but I don’t think it has to do with anything good…,” he says before he turns away from Zelo, walks past Youngjae and out the door.

As Yongguk wanders down the hall, thoughts endlessly wander through his mind. “What’s going to happen now?” he thinks. He knows that he went way too far with a rookie and that he’s probably going to be punished, but he can never figure out what the General is thinking. Will the General demote him? Will the General just give him a slap on the wrist and tell him to be more lenient? Yongguk sighs as he reaches the door of the General’s office. The questions in his mind cease as he opens to door knowing he’s about to find his answer.

“General, Captain Bang reporting, Sir!” he barks as he salutes with his feet together.

“Captain Bang, nice of you to finally join me,” the General replies.

Yongguk wonders if the General is being sarcastic or not; hopefully not.

“I heard about your incident with the simulator today… And of course I’m not happy to hear that your behavior has caused one of our soldiers to be violently injured. Have you got anything to say for yourself, Captain Bang!” the General shouts, voice full of rage.

“Sir, no, Sir!” Yongguk quickly responds as he anticipates more yelling from the General.

“I wouldn’t expect you to have anything to say for your foolish actions. I decided that your unwise deeds deserve some sort of consequence… And you can be sure that I have a gruesome one in store for you…,” the General replies with a smirk on his face.

Yongguk gulps as beads of sweat begin to form on the top of his head.

“I am sending Squad 6 and you on a mission in exactly ten days,” the General says as he turns to face Yongguk, who stands there in awe and confusion. “I’m sure you expected me to put you off-duty for a while or something of that sort but I decided I wanted to play around with you a bit just now. You really thought I was angry didn’t you?” he says before laughing. “I’m actually not upset at all with what happened today, Captain Bang. Actually, I am very pleased and ecstatic with what occurred, although it is unfortunate that Sergeant Junhong got injured today, and thankfully he wasn’t hurt too badly. The way you and the rest of Squad 6 responded to the situation was superb. I knew Squad 6 still had it in them and today you proved why Squad 6 is remembered for being legendary. You have a very strong team and today showed me that you guys are ready to go back on missions. It’s going to get harder from here on out, Captain Bang, so I expect nothing less than excellence from you. Like I said, I have something gruesome in store for you and this mission isn’t going to be easy. I know this may be hard on you, Captain Bang, but your squad is the only one capable of accomplishing this task. I know you failed once before, but I’m confident that you’ll complete the mission this time…”

“No… General… please don’t-“ Yongguk pleads out of line, knowing what the mission is going to be.

The General ignores Yongguk and cuts him off, “We will be sending Squad 6 to infiltrate Mato once again. The mission is the same as last time: retrieve the files on their secret weapon. The medics said Sergeant Junhong should be back on his feet within two days and completely healed in less than a week so he will be able to join you guys on this mission. Make a stop by the barber once Sergeant Junhong is up and moving and also resume training then. I know you’re training time is short but I know you all are ready. I wouldn’t put Lieutenant Daehyun and Sergeant Junhong on your squad if I didn’t think they were prepared. Like I said, Squad 6 showed me everything I needed to see today. I’ll have the documents regarding this mission sent to your room within a few days. Your equipment is already being prepared so no need to worry about that. I have high expectations for Squad 6. Don’t disappoint me. Dismissed.”

Yongguk stands there, face completely white before softly muttering, “Sir, yes Sir…,” and exiting the room, head hung low.