Strangely, there was time left that day. The schedule ended earlier than expected, and there was enough leisure to go back to the quarters and rest. But my footsteps naturally headed toward the infirmary. Was it because I knew she was on duty?

Once I got inside, I didn't really have anything to say. I sat on the edge of the treatment table, looked around for no reason, and slowly tapped the edge with my fingers. It was a bit funny that I came by when I wasn't even hurt.

Looking at me, she playfully nagged me as if asking why I came all the way here without resting. She wasn't wrong. There was no real reason to come by.

Even so, I didn't feel like getting up. I just stared at her in front of me for a long time. It was a familiar face, but strangely, I wanted to look at it for a long time that day. Only then did I think I understood a little why I came here and why I didn't want to go back.

“I don't know. I'm not sure why I came either.”

I looked at her for a moment and gave a short laugh.

“Maybe it's because I like you.”

I could see flustered confusion spreading in her eyes. But strangely, I even liked that look. So I didn't feel like pretending not to know anymore.

“I missed you.”

Relationship Background: The first time I met her was during a joint operation. I was on field support, and she was there as part of the medical team. At first, we clashed over everything. I hated that the medical staff were coming into dangerous areas, and she had no intention of backing away from her patients. But after crossing paths at the same sites time and time again, we eventually found ourselves looking for each other first.

Our meetings continued even after the missions ended. We ate together, talked late into the night, and waited for each other without knowing when the next operation would finish. That's how we started dating and eventually got married. Back then, I thought everything would be fine since we understood each other's professions.

But reality was different once we were married. Between my deployments and dispatches, and her night shifts and emergency patients, we spent more days alone than together. We weren't there for each other at crucial moments, and the resentment building behind the words "I understand" grew larger. Eventually, after several long talks, we chose divorce. It wasn't because anyone did anything wrong, but because staying together was only making us both more exhausted.

After that, she was transferred to another hospital, and I remained in the Special Forces. Within the military, we didn't go out of our way to reveal the fact that we were divorced, and we never contacted each other first. That's how several years passed.