Chapter 7

Jung-hyuk passes out from his gunshot wound, sending Se-ri into panic. When Kwang-bum limps over, Se-ri demands for the car keys, insisting she's the only one who can drive. So with our two soldiers in the back, Se-ri races down the road. Her voice shaking, she asks Kwang-bum if there is a hospital nearby.

Kwang-bum pushes her to just go to the airport, but Se-ri won't risk Jung-hyuk's life. They reach a roadblock, and she looks forward with fire in her eyes. "Do you know what my favorite movie is?" she says. "Mad Max: Fury Road." Before Kwang-bum can react, Se-ri plows right through the signs.

Soon, they screech into the Sariwon Hospital lot. Once Jung-hyuk is taken in, the nurse informs them that they need blood for a transfusion and fast. Upon learning Jung-hyuk's blood type, Se-ri immediately volunteers. "Se-ri," Kwang-bum warns, "if you don't go now, you won't be able to go back!"

At the airport, the track team's coach learns that Se-ri has yet to arrive. And she's not coming — she's sitting in a hospital bed, giving blood. When it comes to board, the team has no choice but to leave without her. Seung-joon and CEO Jeon watch them leave, with Seung-joon worried as to how Chul-kang prevented Se-ri from going.

Speaking of Chul-kang, he's already heard of his men being shot down. When he hears that the gunman was a real sharp shooter, his mind goes to Jung-hyuk. He orders a soldier to get him the Company Five's firearm logbook.

Finally, having all the blood they need, the doctors take Jung-hyuk into surgery. Before getting treated himself, Kwang-bum hands Se-ri a bag of Jung-hyuk's belongings. Looking inside, she finds Jung-hyuk's now broken cell phone and blood-spattered uniform. To her surprise, there's one more thing: her passport picture.

Touched that Jung-huk kept an extra picture, after he refused to take one together, Se-ri silently cries. Once Jung-hyuk is wheeled out of the OR, alive and well, Se-ri's eyes then fill with happy tears. Thankfully, according to the surgeon, they were able to prevent damage to a major artery. Phew.

That evening, Se-ri sits by Jung-hyuk's bedside, watching him sleep. She tells him that for so long, she would only love and hate herself, protect and abandon herself; she's not used to having someone else by her side. Now she's scared that something will happen to him. "Does this mean you've become a special person to me?" she wonders.

We then see that Jung-hyuk is dreaming of a memory. In Switzerland, after learning of his brother's death, he was preparing to move back to North Korea. A little girl came up to him, pointing out his piano on the dock, and asked if he could play for her. He gave her a smile, saying that it would be his last time playing.

Jung-hyuk's last song was one he wrote for his brother, a sweet but sad melody that echoes beautifully off the water. The little girl smiles as she listens, as do other passersby as they stop and watch. At this point, Jung-hyuk wakes up, visibly upset to see Se-ri in his room.

She tries to help him sit, but he shoves her arm away and asks why she missed her flight. Taken aback by his coldness, she tells him that she couldn't go. He scolds her, saying that they risked their lives to get her out of the country and that she let their efforts go to waste.

"How much more do you have to trouble us until you feel sorry?" he demands.

She averts his eyes and quietly says that his anesthesia probably hasn't worn off yet. She suggests she leave him alone and let him rest; he can be angry with her later. With that, she hurries out and informs the nurse that he's conscious.

The nurse and doctor catch Jung-hyuk up on his condition, and the duo giggle over the fact that his "girlfriend" was so worried about him. They tell him that Se-ri gave her blood and that she nearly fainted from crying the whole time.

Jung-hyuk's hard expression softens as this sinks in. He leaves his room to look for Se-ri and eventually finds her standing outside, looking at the rain and crying that she wishes to just drive away somewhere.

When she turns and sees him, she calls him crazy for walking around when he's hurt. He merely looks at her, her tear-streaked face, and apologizes for being so harsh; he says he didn't mean any of it.

She accepts his apology but insists that his being alive is more important than anything else. Still, he says, she wanted to return home so badly. "I told you, I couldn't," she reminds him, crying again. "For once, I had to protect you too."

He keeps looking at her with those intense eyes, which she points out, and he says that he's just looking. She starts to argue, but he cuts her off by leaning in and kissing her. He pulls back to look in her eyes and then kisses her again. Swoon city…

Meanwhile, Chul-kang is convinced Jung-hyuk is the gunman after viewing the firearm logbook. Sure that Jung-hyuk is injured, he has everyone on the switchboard calling up the hospitals in that area. In his home, Seung-joon is trying to reach Jung-hyuk as well, to no avail. CEO Jeon arrives, having talked to Chul-kang, and lets him know that Chul-kang doesn't know where Se-ri is either.

At the mention of Chul-kang's planned accident, Seung-joon's whole demeanor changes. "Are you saying you don't mind killing Se-ri?" he asks, incredulous. Jeon says yes, like it's no big deal, getting Seung-joon worked up. Amused, Jeon tells him that he must be busy being a conman while trying to act human. Gotta admit, I'm surprised he's showing a more human side too.

The next day, the village wives stop their work at the sight of Dan and her mother approaching. Still very much on Se-ri's side, Young-ae tells the ladies to make the "bitch" and her mom show some respect. Dan's mom gets them irritated in a matter of seconds by speaking banmal, asking for an apartment.

It's only when Young-ae makes herself known as Jung-hyuk's boss that Mom straightens up and switches to formal speech. To make up for her rudeness, she hands each lady a new box of makeup, which makes their faces light up. Suddenly, the ladies are acting super nice and showing Dan and her mom the apartments. Pfft.

Only thing is, these apartments are not at all what Dan was expecting. The elevator breaks down midway, the room's fridge is used as a closet instead of food storage (because of the power outages), and there are farm animals kept in the bathroom and balcony. Dan escapes the tour and heads over to Jung-hyuk's house.

Before knocking, Dan balances a hand mirror on the gate and tests to see if her hair looks better in an updo. Seung-joon shows up, making her jump, and asks why she's here again. She explains that Jung-hyuk is her fiance, surprising him; he vaguely states that he knows Jung-hyuk too.

Since they're both looking for Jung-hyuk, Seung-joon suggests they wait in his car. He throws out, "You look pretty with your hair down," and she sheepishly hides her mirror as she walks past to the car.

Back at the hospital, the nurse keeps wondering why Jung-hyuk is so red when he doesn't have a fever. She asks if he saw something he wasn't meant to see, because she did. She reveals that she saw a couple having a deep kiss outside, and HA, she notices Jung-hyuk's blood pressure rising.

The nurse leaves to get the doctor, leaving Jung-hyuk and Se-ri alone. He asks her what she's doing, and she says that she's sewing up the hole in his uniform. With a sigh, she then drops the uniform and decides to end the awkwardness.

He braces himself as she presents him with three options, the first two being pretty much the same (acting like the kiss never happened) and the third being that they simply not worry about it. He jumps at the third option, which doesn't sit well with her. She figures that he must feel pressured and she doesn't want that.

She leaves to return the sewing kit, placing his uniform next to him. Noticing the sewn-on heart, he smiles. In the hall, Se-ri is greeted by the ducklings, who are relieved to see that she's okay. (Even ol' Chi-soo.) She takes them inside to see Jung-hyuk, but apparently, in the thirty seconds she was gone, he fell asleep.

Looking at him, Chi-soo wonders how he got shot when he was supposed to be agile. Se-ri tries to defend Jung-hyuk, but Chi-soo is sure that he wasn't fast enough to dodge that bullet. Unbeknownst to them, Jung-hyuk slowly clenches his fist.

Se-ri eventually lets the ducklings out and, when the coast is clear, tells Jung-hyuk to quit feigning sleep. He admits that he was too embarrassed to face the guys, making her wonder if he really wasn't able to dodge the bullet.

"Of course I didn't dodge it," he says. "If I had, you would've gotten shot." Though she's touched, she doesn't want him to dodge anything for her again. He asks the same of her, that if this were to happen again, she not stay behind because of him.

While they wait, Seung-joon and Dan eat some food and discuss how Dan came to be engaged to Jung-hyuk. Seung-joon brings up the fact that Jung-hyuk and Se-ri were at a hotel together, and Dan quickly clears that up. Still, he asks, has her fiance even confessed his love to her?

To that, Dan mutters that they'll be married anyway and continues eating. Seung-joon tells her that marriage won't solve that, as it's the unknown of a relationship that really gets the butterflies going. He knows better than anyone because he had an arranged marriage that failed. Now he can't stop thinking about that woman.

Night falls, and Jung-hyuk encourages Se-ri to use his bed instead of sleeping on the floor. She happily accepts, only to frown when he moves toward the floor. What does she suggest then, he asks, for them to sleep in the same bed? She smiles and says, "There's no need for a war if we stay within our boundaries."

So Jung-hyuk gives Se-ri most of the space and lies on his side (on his bad shoulder — ouch). A few seconds later, she asks if he's asleep, assuming he is when he doesn't answer. She pouts until she drifts off to sleep herself. A little while later, Jung-hyuk sits up, having been awake the whole time, and watches Se-ri sleep. She turns to her side, a lock of hair falling on her face, and he gently moves it back.

In the morning, Chul-kang finally discovers which hospital Jung-hyuk was admitted to. Just like that, he and two trucks full of soldiers are on the move. Meanwhile, Se-ri is outside the hospital, using the payphone to call Seung-joon. He's relieved to hear that she's okay and tells her to wait for him, promising to answer the questions about her family in person.

Se-ri hangs up and then stops cold at the sight of Chul-kang's trucks arriving. She quickly hides as he and his men march into the hospital. Chul-kang barges into Jung-hyuk's room and confronts him with the firearm logbook. With that, he has proof that he shot his men in order to protect a South Korean spy.

Jung-hyuk doesn't deny what happened, but he wasn't protecting a spy — he was protecting "his woman" from people who were trying to harm her. He then reveals that he knows (from Colonel Go) that Chul-kang met with the Chief Three of the United Front Department to get information from Division 11, against regulation.

"Would it be okay if I request an investigation?" Jung-hyuk proposes. If Jung-hyuk wants to run his mouth so much, Chul-kang suggests he should say it after they arrest him. He calls for his first lieutenant, but someone else comes into the room — Director Ri.

Chul-kang salutes to his superior, unable to argue with him. He's forced to leave with his men empty handed. Back in the hall, there's some gossip going around following Director Ri's entrance. The nurses correctly guess that Jung-hyuk is the director's son, which Se-ri overhears.

Se-ri then hears Dan and her mom's voices coming her way and runs off with a girl on a wheelchair, pretending to be her caretaker. The girl asks what she's doing, so she uses the fact that girl was watching a BTS music video against her to keep her quiet.

While Director Ri got Chul-kang out of Jung-hyuk's hair, he's not finished with him yet. He demands to know why he's in trouble, ignoring his wife's protests to leave their son alone. Finally, his wife snaps and says that they should be grateful their only son is alive after being shot.

That is, of course, right when Dan and her mom burst in. After checking to make sure Jung-hyuk still has all his limbs, Dan's mom frets over his safety. She tells him that he should quit being a soldier and pursue the arts again. She wanted her daughter to marry him and not his brother for this very reason.

Dan yells at her mother to stop and apologizes to Jung-hyuk's parents on her behalf. She looks even more distressed, however, when her eyes land on Jung-hyuk's uniform and the sewn-on heart.

Now outside, Se-ri thanks the wheelchaired girl for helping her out. The girl, who introduces herself as Min-ji, is just impressed to hear Se-ri's impressive Seoul accent. Min-ji asks Se-ri who her bias in BTS is, hers being Jungkook (same!), and Se-ri smiles. "Ri Jung-hyuk," she says. "He's my favorite."

Seung-joon's car pulls up to the girls, so Se-ri says a quick goodbye to Min-ji and climbs in. Though confused, Min-ji calls Se-ri cool as she and Seung-joon drive off.

The parents leave Jung-hyuk and Dan alone, and the first thing Dan brings up is the uniform. Jung-hyuk tells her that, yes, the stitching was done by the person she's thinking. And though he didn't want to hide anything from her, he has to admit it: "I like that woman."

That said, he feels that he can't marry Dan when he has feelings for someone else. Dan can't accept that, saying he's only getting butterflies because Se-ri is leaving soon. Getting agitated, she blames their lack of romance on the arranged marriage. Hm, seems like Seung-joon's gotten into her head.

Either way, Dan is sure that everything will be fine once Se-ri is gone, so she has no intention to cancel their wedding. She walks out of the room, back to her mother, and tells her that they need to get a wedding dress.

Seung-joon takes Se-ri back to his place, urging her to relax. But she's dying to know if he's reached her family in the south. So he sits her down and reassures her that her whole family was ecstatic to learn that she was alive.

Se-ri's smile falls. "You're lying," she says, unable to believe her brothers would ever be happy with that news. But when Seung-joon brings up the paragliding accident, she lights up again, thinking he must've talked to them if he knows that.

Seung-joon adds that her family even postponed the general shareholder meeting until her return. We see that that, of course, is a big fat lie, as her family is holding that very meeting as they speak.

Chairman Yoon stands before the press to clarify what happened to Se-ri. He confirms that she was, in fact, missing and that after a month of unsuccessful searching, they officially registered her death. And just like that, news of Se-ri's death spreads like wildfire.

The chairman sits back, looking as if he hated having to say that, and looks on as the next announcement is made. The brothers and their wives wait for it, and after the shareholders put in their votes, the results for new management comes out to… Se-hyung.

Dan and her mom sneak over to a secret wedding shop. The shopkeeper reveals that she bought the latest wedding fashion magazine on her trip to Shanghai and hands it over to Dan. As she flips through the magazine, she comes across a news article with a picture of an all too familiar face — Se-ri, the South Korean heiress, declared missing. She rushes out of the store, magazine still in hand.

Meanwhile, Jung-hyuk is worried sick as he looks for Se-ri. He asks the hospital staff to show him the security footage and they're more than thrilled (now knowing he's Director Ri's son). On tape, he finds the moment when Se-ri rushes into a car and disappears. Unable to see the driver's face, he jots down the license plate number and tracks it down.

Se-ri wakes up in Seung-joon's bed, realizing she fell asleep before she could call Jung-hyuk. She finds Seung-joon setting up dinner and asks if she can use his phone. However, Seung-joon's face is eerily detached as he tells her, "You don't need him anymore. You have me."

He tries to convince her that with him she'll have a better chance at escaping. Besides, if Jung-hyuk keeps helping her, he'll only get in more trouble, since he obviously can't leave his own country. Her eyes widen, and he steps forward, knowing he has her, to deliver the final blow: "He could die because of you."

Jung-hyuk is on his way out of the hospital, on his way to find Se-ri, but he's stopped by Dan in the hall. She holds up the news article and asks if he can explain himself; did he know the woman he liked was from the south?

Without missing a beat, he answers yes. She can't believe that knowing that, he'd be willing to help Se-ri. She warns him that if he gets caught, he could lose everything, including his life. Even so, she asks, he still likes her?

Jung-hyuk doesn't answer this time, merely looking up at Dan with a determined expression.