Chapter 20
"We're here!"
The rescuer's shout echoed through the cave.
"Survivors found!"
Flashlight beams cut through the darkness and illuminated the cave's interior.
It was less a cave than a natural hollow beneath a massive boulder.
They'd been living in a place like this?
For a moment, they were puzzled, but the rescuers who checked inside fell silent.
"..."
Because the cave looked nothing like they'd expected.
In fact, when they'd first entered the cave, they'd been prepared for the worst.
Days of record-breaking rain.
And with no signal, they'd been cut off from the outside world.
It was unlikely ordinary people could have endured several days in conditions like these.
At best, they'd expected them to find somewhere to shelter from the rain, huddle in a panic, and wait to be rescued.
But what they saw before them was completely different from what they'd expected.
"Amazing."
The rescuer slowly looked around the cave.
Neatly stacked firewood lay on one side.
On the other was a space they'd set up to shelter from the rain.
Around the campfire, there were signs they'd carefully kept the embers from dying out.
The cave bore unmistakable signs of people having lived there for several days.
"This is an excellent base camp."
The rescuer was genuinely impressed.
"Despite all this rain, you kept the fire going and even set up a proper living space."
For a moment, the rescuer had almost forgotten they'd come to save them.
"Most ordinary people wouldn't know what to do to this extent if they got stranded."
The rescuer looked at Kang Tae-seong.
A man with a massive build and remarkably calm eyes, even in a situation like this.
"Could it be..."
The rescuer asked cautiously.
"Did you used to serve in the special forces?"
Kang Tae-seong's eyes widened.
"What?"
The rescuer smiled as they spoke.
"We run into people like that sometimes, and they're definitely different. Staying calm in a crisis and prioritizing what to do comes naturally to them. Sir, could you perhaps—"
Kang Tae-seong hurriedly waved his hands.
"No, no. Nothing like that. I just... got lucky."
But the rescuer didn't look convinced.
"There's a lot here that luck alone can't explain."
Kang Tae-seong awkwardly rubbed the back of his head.
The truth was, he knew it himself.
None of this was thanks to his own abilities.
Without his skills, he wouldn't have found a safe place so quickly.
Nor would he have been able to tell what was safe to eat and what wasn't.
Since he had no way to explain that, he brushed it off vaguely as before.
"Anyway."
The rescuer nodded brightly.
"You did a wonderful job holding out."
"Both of you."
Kang Tae-seong was smiling awkwardly when—
"Mr. Kang! Ms. Yu-ri!"
An urgent voice came from the cave entrance.
A familiar voice.
It seemed the company employees had followed behind.
Soon, a woman entered the cave, panting.
It was the head of the Management Support Team.
It was obvious she'd spent the past few days searching the mountain.
Her clothes were soaked with sweat and rain.
Her face was etched with exhaustion.
But right now, she shouted as if none of that mattered.
"Mr. Kang! Ms. Yu-ri! Are you all right?"
The team leader's face lit up the instant she spotted the two of them.
They were alive.
They really were alive.
As she approached a few steps in relief, she suddenly stopped.
“Uh..."
Because what she saw before her was rather embarrassing.
In front of the campfire, beneath its warm glow.
Kang Tae-seong and Choi Yu-ri, standing very close together.
Choi Yu-ri stood demurely behind the dependable-looking Kang Tae-seong, clutching the hem of his clothes.
The cave, too, bore signs of them living together for days.
The two of them looked perfectly comfortable, not awkward in the slightest.
The team leader blinked for a moment.
"..."
It had certainly been an emergency.
The fact that the two of them had survived was a miracle in itself.
But, for some reason...
She felt a strange atmosphere, as if she shouldn't interrupt them.
She'd been married for three years now.
She'd developed a certain instinct over the course of dating and then married life.
'Oh my, oh my. The two of them are...'
The team leader was quietly impressed to herself.
Of course, she knew this wasn't the time to be thinking about such things.
"Ahem!"
The team leader cleared her throat for no particular reason, trying to break the mood.
"I'm so glad you both look healthy! Everyone was so worried about you."
Only then did Choi Yu-ri realize how the two of them must look.
"...Ah."
Her eyes widened as she tried to explain.
"I-It isn't like that!"
Choi Yu-ri hurriedly spoke up.
"I mean, this really isn't what it looks like..."
Her words tangled as she panicked.
"W-We were just..."
Choi Yu-ri fidgeted with her hands.
"I get cold really easily..."
Realizing she was only rambling more and more, Choi Yu-ri's face grew even redder.
“Oh, Yu-ri! I didn't say anything! I haven't misunderstood anything, so you don't have to explain yourself!"
"You look like you totally misunderstood!"
Kang Tae-seong explained for her, while the team leader smiled fondly.
"She needed to maintain her body temperature because of the cold. Ms. Choi had been caught in the rain for a long time, and she was at risk of hypothermia."
The rescuer, who'd been listening behind them, nodded.
"You did the right thing."
The two of them looked at the rescuer at the same time.
"People sometimes get worse from hypothermia because they're embarrassed and keep their distance. Both of you made the right call."
Choi Yu-ri quietly shut her mouth.
It seemed like saying any more would only make things worse.
"We'll head out now."
The rescuer said.
"You can get a thorough examination once we return to the resort."
It was time to leave the cave, which had been a space just for the two of them for several days.
The warm campfire, the familiar base camp...
It was all really over now.
'...Ah.'
The days of lighting a fire, sharing meals, and laughing and chatting about trivial things with Kang Tae-seong.
The fact that it was all coming to an end felt unexpectedly sad.
But now it was time to go.
Choi Yu-ri took one last look at the spot where the campfire had been, then slowly turned around.
*
"Haa... haa..."
She was gasping for breath.
As soon as she'd heard the news, Park So-young had rushed to the resort and headed for the parking lot without even catching her breath.
The ambulance door opened.
Kang Tae-seong stepped out, followed by Choi Yu-ri.
...!
They were alive. They really were.
Park So-young finally let out the breath she'd been holding.
"Ah!"
Choi Yu-ri spotted Park So-young.
"So-young unni!"
Shouting brightly, Choi Yu-ri ran over and hugged Park So-young.
"I missed you."
At those words, Park So-young's body stiffened slightly.
"...Mm."
She managed to answer.
"I missed you, too."
Of course she was happy.
That Choi Yu-ri had come back alive.
She really had been worried about Choi Yu-ri, after all.
How anxious had she been when she heard they'd fallen in a landslide?
And yet, strangely...
Even as she patted Choi Yu-ri's back in her arms,
her gaze was fixed elsewhere.
Kang Tae-seong, surrounded by the employees.
It was a familiar face she was glad to see again.
"Mr. Kang."
Without realizing it, Park So-young began walking toward him.
"Assistant Manager Park."
Kang Tae-seong spotted her and raised his head.
At that moment, Park So-young's eyes welled up.
For days, she'd imagined one terrible possibility after another.
What if something had happened to him?
What if the last time she'd seen him really had been the last?
"......"
Her lips trembled.
"...I missed you."
Kang Tae-seong's eyes widened slightly.
"I really did."
Park So-young's words drew everyone's attention.
Anyone could say they'd missed him or been worried, but Park So-young's words carried a slightly different meaning.
Kang Tae-seong, too, sensed that subtle difference and smiled awkwardly.
"I must have made you all worry a lot. I'm sorry, everyone."
Park So-young shook her head.
"More importantly, are you all right, sir?"
"I'm fine."
"Shouldn't you go to the hospital?"
Kang Tae-seong smiled reassuringly.
"I'm perfectly fine."
It was then.
Choi Yu-ri, beside him, cut in and raised her voice.
"Opp... Mr. Kang! You've scraped your knee! Hurry and go to the hospital!"
...!
Park So-young wondered if she'd heard correctly.
The other employees might not have noticed, but she'd definitely heard it.
'...Did she call him oppa?'
Had she misheard?
No, there was no way.
She'd heard it clearly.
Choi Yu-ri had been about to call Kang Tae-seong "oppa."
It could have been a simple slip of the tongue, but... even as a slip, it was strange.
People unconsciously use words they're familiar with.
It must have slipped out because somewhere in her mind, Kang Tae-seong had already become someone she thought of as "oppa."
Or maybe she'd been calling him oppa the whole time they were alone in the mountains.
But even more shocking was Kang Tae-seong's reaction.
"It's only a little scrape. It'll heal if I put some spit on it."
"Tsk. Go get it treated first. Hurry."
Park So-young's gaze wavered violently.
"...Why?"
"Hmm?"
"Why are you speaking informally?"
Kang Tae-seong generally always used polite speech.
He treated every employee the same, regardless of age.
He seemed gentlemanly and easygoing with everyone, yet at the same time, it felt as if he'd drawn an invisible line.
That was what Kang Tae-seong's polite speech was like.
But now, that same Kang Tae-seong...
He was lowering that wall only for Choi Yu-ri.
By speaking casually to her.
"Ah..."
Kang Tae-seong faltered.
Only then did he seem to realize his mistake.
"I guess it's become a habit. We were together like that in the mountains for so long."
Kang Tae-seong scratched his head.
Just a few days ago, Park So-young had thought that distance between them was only natural.
Just a good boss.
A reliable superior.
Nothing more, nothing less.
But when had it started?
"..."
The fact that the person who'd crossed that wall
wasn't her—
She hadn't expected it to hurt this much.
"You should go back to speaking politely now."
"If speaking casually is more comfortable, you can keep doing it."
Unaware of Park So-young's feelings, Choi Yu-ri smiled quietly.
"Still, we should use polite speech at work, right?"
"Right."
Kang Tae-seong nodded.
"I'll be more careful."
"Then when it's just the two of us...?"
"Then we'll go back to speaking casually."
Their conversation was so natural.
As if the time they'd spent together over the past few days were simply continuing.
Park So-young quietly watched the two of them.
"You two..."
She said with a faint smile.
"You seem pretty close, huh?"
But her eyes weren't smiling at all.