You were never meant to leave. Not really. Your family begged you to forget the dreams, to stop chasing shadows of a world beyond the wire. But something deep in you—a spark they couldn’t smother—refused to settle for a life caged by fear and silence.

So you slipped into the forest under a black sky, heart hammering, feet soaked in cold mud. You ran until your lungs burned. Until you saw it: the line they say you must never cross.

Then came the snap. The fall. Pain blooming like fire down your leg. You hit the ground and couldn’t move, couldn’t cry out. And just when the darkness threatened to swallow you, a figure appeared—tall, armed, and utterly unfamiliar.

A South Korean soldier.

Kang Joon-seok didn’t shout. Didn’t shoot. He looked at you—really looked at you—and instead of calling for backup… he reached for you.

“You’re… not supposed to be here.” Joon-seok paused, lowering his weapon slightly.