The sun rose behind the trees, painting the sky in soft pink and gold. The forest was calm — but only for a moment.
"Wake up!" Captain Lee shouted. "Training starts in thirty minutes!"
Everyone rushed out of their tents.
Yuna sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes. Her body ached from all the walking. She hadn't slept well.
She stepped out of the tent and saw that everyone was already doing warm-up exercises to get ready for training.
Mi Van walked over and said,
"Wash up in the river, then come eat breakfast."
She looked at him and replied,
"You know I don't eat rice."
He gave her the same serious look.
"Who said it's rice?"
She narrowed her eyes in doubt.
"Fine, I'm coming."
After washing in the river, she returned to the tent and saw a bowl of soup waiting for her. She hesitated, then took one spoonful.
Her eyes opened wide.
"Mmm! This is delicious!" she said, then began eating quickly.
Outside, Mi Van was watching the others train — he was the one leading them. Jay came over and said,
"I saw you this morning, coming back from the forest with wild vegetables. Who did you cook for?"
Mi Van didn't look at him. He kept watching the group.
"For myself," he said.
Jay smirked.
"Come on. I know you didn't go into the forest yesterday for fruit, and again today for vegetables, just for yourself. Why do you care about her?"
Mi Van rubbed his nose nervously and stammered,
"She doesn't eat rice, so I tried to cook something else for her."
Jin came from behind them and smiled.
"Hmm, I didn't know our leader Mi Van had such a caring side."
Mi Van looked at him awkwardly and quickly changed the subject.
"There's less than a month before the mission. We need to move faster."
Jay agreed.
"You're right. Let's speed things up."
Jin teased,
"I smell someone trying to avoid the topic."
Mi Van looked at them again, then walked away quickly. Jin laughed loudly,
"Hahaha!"
Just then, Lima came up to him and said,
"Childish, as always."
He followed her and said,
"Take that back!"
But she didn't even look at him.
---
Somewhere nearby...
Jin passed by Yuna and waved.
"Morning."
She smiled softly.
"Morning. What are you all doing?"
Jin, while stretching, replied,
"We're warming up for training."
Yuna blinked.
"Training?!"
Sora stood nearby, arms crossed, watching Yuna from head to toe.
"Yes, training. What did you think? That you came here for a fashion show?"
Yuna narrowed her eyes.
"I didn't ask you."
Then Sora said sharply,
"And who even allowed you to be here? You don't seem to know anything about training. Did someone bring you here as a favor?"
Yuna turned and walked away.
But Sora didn't stop.
"You know, some of us actually worked hard to get here. We trained. We earned it. Not like some spoiled girl who was clearly sent here because her parents hate her and wanted to get rid of her."
Yuna stopped walking.
She clenched her fists.
Then turned around.
"Say that again."
Sora smirked.
"Oh? So now you have a voice?"
Without warning, Yuna walked up and pushed her shoulder, her eyes filled with tears.
"Say it to my face."
Sora pushed back.
"Touch me again and you'll regret it."
Rosa tried to pull Sora away, but Sora pushed her aside.
Yuna shouted,
"Stop acting like you own this place — or like some man you cling to who doesn't even care about you. I've seen girls like you before."
Gasps filled the air.
Rosa and Lima rushed in, trying to stop the fight, but it was too late.
Sora's face turned red with anger.
"What did you just say?!"
She pushed them aside and ran at Yuna like she wanted to hurt her.
Suddenly, Sora grabbed Yuna's hair and pulled her head down.
Yuna, shocked for a second, grabbed Sora's hair in return.
The group quickly ran over, shouting,
"Hey! Stop it!"
Jin jumped between them, trying to separate them, but Sora was more aggressive — after all, she was a trained officer.
"What's going on?!"
Then — a loud voice broke through everything.
"Enough!"
Everyone froze.
Mi Van stood there. His eyes were dark and full of fire.
He walked toward them.
"You think this is a playground? Are you children?" he said, looking at both girls.
"Fighting like this during training?"
He looked at Sora, who gave him an innocent look, then turned to Yuna, who was still angry and breathing hard, her hair full of static.
"She started it!" Sora shouted.
Yuna shouted back.
"She insulted me first!"
Mi Van raised his voice.
"I don't care who started it! This is not how we act here!"
He looked at Sora and said,
"Do you like how you look right now, hitting a trainee you know is weaker than you?"
Then he looked at Yuna.
"And you — why are you always slowing down our progress? I don't want to see anything like this again."
Silence.
"You two — run around the area for three hours."
Yuna's mouth dropped open.
"Three hours?! Are you serious? Are you even—"
Everyone stared at her in shock.
Before she could finish, Mi Van yelled,
"I said three hours! Go!"
Without saying another word, she grabbed her sun hat and started running.
She looked funny with her messy, frizzy hair, and the team began to laugh at her.
Mi Van turned to the others.
"Respect her. She's not what you think. Don't involve her in things you know she's not able to handle."
No one said anything.
The group went back to training. Mi Van joined them too.
They were in pairs doing difficult movements, like strong core exercises. They looked very skilled.
Meanwhile, Yuna kept running. But in reality, she was almost walking — her steps slow and tired. She barely passed by twice.
Her cheeks were red, and she was breathing hard.
Sora, on the other hand, ran past the group seven times.
Mi Van walked over to where they were running and said,
"Stop. That's enough time."
Yuna looked at him, rolled her eyes, and moved her lips like she was cursing him — without sound.
Sora walked up to him and said,
"I'm sorry, Mi Van. I'll make sure she doesn't provoke me again. Today was…"
Mi Van was looking at Yuna, who was walking toward the river.
Sora noticed where he was looking and said,
"Can't you see? Since this trainee joined the mission, she's been slowing us down. At this rate, four months will pass and we still won't catch them. I don't even understand how she was sent on such a serious mission."
Mi Van looked at her and said,
"We'll move faster. Nothing will slow us down again. Now that I've confirmed who they are, they won't escape justice."
Sora looked nervous.
"What if they find out we're here? Will they cancel their plans?"
He shook his head.
"This mission means more to them than their lives. If they know we found them, they'll fight us — and still continue."
Sora put her finger on her lips.
"I still don't understand why they hide for four months, then return, then sell the girls. Why don't they just sell them right away?"
Mi Van looked into the distance and said,
"This way, the case goes cold. New problems appear, and no one follows the old ones. As you saw, this case has been closed many times for 'lack of evidence.' Also, when they kidnap them, it's at the exact time the club cameras go off. The car leaves at that same moment and heads to a ship — a ship that disappears for months with no trace. Even if someone discovers the car, there's no proof it had the kidnapped girls. And this has been happening for years, and no one found out."
Sora stared at him in shock.
"Wow… I'm still wondering how you discovered them."
He looked at her and said,
"Go get some rest."