The wind carried the scent of smoke and rust across Lotus as Seo-jin sat on the edge of the rooftop, watching the broken city stretch out before him. His knuckles were scraped raw, the bandages on his arms stiff with dried blood, but for once, he wasn't thinking about pain.
Footsteps approached behind him, light and familiar.
"You're brooding again," Min-ji said, her voice teasing but tired.
Seo-jin didn't turn. "Habit."
She dropped down beside him, legs swinging over the rooftop's edge. For a while, they just sat there, listening to the distant rumble of fragment storms rolling across the horizon.
"How's your side?" he asked after a moment, nodding toward the deep gash she'd taken during the fight against Black Sun.
Min-ji shrugged casually. "Hurts like hell. Nothing new."
He turned slightly, studying her profile. Even battered and bruised, she looked impossibly alive — eyes bright, posture relaxed in a way that said she wasn't afraid of anything. Or maybe she just hid it better than most.
"You should let Ha-eun look at it," he said quietly.
Min-ji snorted. "She already yelled at me enough earlier. I'll survive."
Seo-jin smiled faintly. "Stubborn."
"Takes one to know one," she shot back, smirking.
He shook his head, amused despite himself.
The silence stretched again, heavier this time.
Finally, Min-ji broke it, her voice quieter. "Do you ever wonder how much longer we can keep doing this?"
Seo-jin didn't answer immediately. He stared out over the shattered skyline, the ruins of old skyscrapers casting long shadows in the dying light.
"Every day," he admitted eventually.
She leaned back on her hands, looking up at the darkening sky. "Feels like the world's crumbling faster than we can catch it."
"It always has," Seo-jin said. "We're just… noticing it more now."
Min-ji let out a soft, humorless laugh. "Not exactly comforting."
"No," he agreed. "But it's the truth."
They sat together until the first stars appeared — faint, struggling against the city's perpetual haze.
**
Later that night, the tension that had been building in Lotus finally snapped.
Seo-jin was halfway to his room when he heard raised voices from the main hall. He hesitated, then turned toward the noise.
Inside, Ko was arguing with several of Lotus's senior members — Ha-eun, Myung-soo, and a few others Seo-jin barely knew. Their faces were tight with anger and fear.
"We can't just sit here!" one of them shouted. "Black Sun isn't going to stop after one defeat!"
"And if we chase them now, we'll walk straight into an ambush," Ko growled back.
Ha-eun crossed her arms. "He's right. We need to rebuild, not throw ourselves into another slaughter."
The tension was thick enough to choke on.
Seo-jin lingered by the doorway, unseen.
"You're afraid!" another voice spat accusingly.
Ko stepped forward, towering over the speaker. "I'm alive. There's a difference."
The room fell into a brittle silence.
Seo-jin clenched his fists, torn.
Every part of him wanted to fight, to keep moving forward before the fear could catch up with him. But Ko's words echoed in his mind — the difference between recklessness and survival.
He turned away quietly, slipping back into the shadows.
**
He found Min-ji in the training yard, practicing alone in the dim light. Her movements were slower than usual, heavier, as if weighed down by exhaustion she couldn't shake.
Without a word, Seo-jin stepped onto the cracked pavement and took a defensive stance across from her.
Min-ji arched an eyebrow. "You sure you're up for this?"
He smiled faintly. "I thought you didn't believe in taking it easy."
"Fair enough," she said, lips twitching into a grin.
They circled each other slowly, the familiar rhythm grounding them both. Seo-jin feinted left, Min-ji countered smoothly, their bodies moving in perfect, instinctive sync.
For a few precious minutes, there was no war, no factions, no broken promises.
Only the crackle of energy between them, the sharp intake of breath, the solid thud of feet against concrete.
Finally, Seo-jin stepped back, lowering his guard.
Min-ji relaxed too, wiping sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.
"You're getting slower, old man," she teased breathlessly.
He laughed quietly. "You're just getting faster."
They stood there, breathing heavily, smiles lingering.
Min-ji's gaze softened. "Thanks. For this."
Seo-jin tilted his head. "For what?"
"For reminding me," she said, voice rough with emotion. "That we're still alive. That we can still choose to fight. Not because we have to — but because we want to."
Seo-jin's throat tightened. He wanted to say something — anything — but the words caught in his chest.
Instead, he stepped closer, gently bumping his forehead against hers.
A silent promise. A quiet vow.
Min-ji closed her eyes briefly, then smiled.
**
The next morning, things at Lotus moved with mechanical precision.
Seo-jin and Min-ji helped reinforce the outer defenses, shoring up walls with scavenged metal and strengthening fragment barriers.
They worked side by side, falling into an easy rhythm. Occasionally, they bickered — Min-ji teasing him for his terrible welding skills, Seo-jin mocking her complete lack of structural planning.
But mostly, they just moved — building, repairing, surviving.
Midday, Ko gathered everyone in the main hall again.
"This isn't over," he said bluntly. "Crimson Shield, Black Sun, Valkyrie Division — they're all watching us now."
Murmurs rippled through the group.
"We'll need alliances," Ko continued. "Supplies. Training. A lot more than just luck."
Seo-jin exchanged a glance with Min-ji.
This was the reality now — not just surviving the next battle, but building something that could actually endure.
They listened carefully as Ko laid out plans for scouting missions, supply raids, negotiations.
It wasn't glamorous.
It wasn't glorious.
But it was real.
It was life.
And for Seo-jin, that was enough.
**
That evening, Seo-jin sat again on the rooftop, legs dangling over the side.
Min-ji joined him without a word, handing him a bruised apple she must have scrounged somewhere.
He took it gratefully, biting into the fruit and savoring the rare sweetness.
For a while, they said nothing, the sky darkening around them.
Then Min-ji spoke, voice soft.
"We're not just surviving anymore."
Seo-jin turned his head slightly, studying her profile in the fading light.
"No," he agreed quietly. "We're living."
She smiled faintly, eyes glinting.
"About time."
They sat there until the stars came out, faint and stubborn against the bruised sky, and neither of them needed to say anything more