Wren Wynter gently pried Joy Lynch’s hand away, her tone tinged with fond exasperation. "Joy, I’m not going off to war. I promise I’ll come back in one piece."

"Okay, okay. You have your own plans, so I won’t say any more. But you have to promise me you’ll come back safely!"

Just as Joy Lynch finished speaking, she spotted Felix Vance hurrying through the crowd and waved to him.

"Captain Vance, over here!"

Felix Vance waved back, but his expression grew grave as he turned to Wren Wynter. "Do you really have to go?" he asked with concern.

As a pilot, he’d heard all too much about the dangers of war zones and understood the responsibilities that came with being part of Doctors Without Borders.

Wren Wynter nodded, her gaze firm. "I have to."

Knowing words wouldn’t change her mind, Felix Vance suppressed the tenderness and reluctance he felt. "Stay safe."

"Thank you."

Boarding time was called. After saying goodbye, Wren Wynter grabbed her luggage and went to board her flight.

The early start had made her drowsy. After boarding, Wren Wynter found her seat, quickly fastened her seatbelt, and closed her eyes to rest.

She paid no mind when someone took the seat next to her, assuming it was just another passenger.

"Your seatbelt is on wrong."

The familiar voice made Wren Wynter’s eyes snap open. She whipped her head around to look at the person in the adjacent seat.

It was Shaun Quinn!

The two hadn’t been in touch since they’d last parted ways at school. She never expected to see him again on a flight to Aferia.

Aferia was in the midst of an active war. Almost no one would willingly wade into such a mess, and the massive plane was nearly empty, with only a handful of passengers.

Wren Wynter couldn’t guess why Shaun Quinn was on the same flight.

"Shaun?! You’re going to Aferia too? Is everything okay?"

"To do the same thing you are, of course."

Shaun Quinn pulled out his phone and showed Wren Wynter the text message confirming his application had been approved.

Wren Wynter’s eyes widened in disbelief.

"When did you..."

"I submitted my application the same day you submitted yours."

As he spoke, Shaun Quinn corrected Wren Wynter’s seatbelt, then fastened his own.

"I was worried about you coming alone. Besides, I have more experience than you."

The simple sentence left Wren Wynter stunned.

She pressed her lips together, her hand gripping the seatbelt tightly. Her thoughts were a mess, tangled up in the implications of what he’d just said.

’Shaun’s personality was so different from hers. He loved peace and stability. But now he was willingly coming with her to war-torn Aferia?’

Wren Wynter frowned. "Shaun, I can handle this myself. You don’t have to come take this risk with me..."

Shaun Quinn cut her off with a smile. "Well, I’m already here."

Seeing that she was about to protest again, he simply closed his eyes.

"I was up early. I just want to catch up on some sleep now."

Wren Wynter took the hint and fell silent, leaning back in her seat and letting her gaze drift out the window.

As the plane climbed, soaring toward the heavens, the emotional turbulence stirred by the man beside her seemed to drift up into the clouds.

More than ten hours later, the plane arrived in Aferia.

Wren Wynter and Shaun Quinn walked out of the airport side by side. The area looked just like any modern, peaceful city, with no visible traces of the war’s chaos.

"Looks like you were worried for nothing."

The words had barely left Wren Wynter’s mouth when Shaun Quinn’s pupils constricted. He shouted.

"Look out!"

Before Wren Wynter could react, she felt herself pulled into a warm embrace and then forced to the ground.

A second later, a massive explosion erupted behind them.

BOOM!

The blast knocked Wren Wynter’s mind blank. Her hearing vanished, replaced by a piercing ring.

Only when he was sure there were no secondary blasts did Shaun Quinn slowly let go. They clambered to their feet and turned around.

Wren Wynter froze, shaken to her core by the scene of utter devastation.

The acrid smell of gunpowder filled her nostrils as thick clouds of dust and smoke billowed up, blinding her.

The airport they had just exited was now a pile of rubble.

Parked planes, riddled with holes, had collapsed into scorched metal skeletons.

The other passengers who had been walking just behind them were now nothing but mangled limbs and bloody remains.

Looking around, Wren Wynter felt the horror and cruelty of war for the first time, the shock striking her to the very core.

Seeing the usually vibrant woman beside him now staring with vacant eyes, looking as fragile as a doll on the verge of shattering, Shaun Quinn quickly raised a hand to block her line of sight.

"Wren, don’t look."

In contrast to Wren Wynter, Shaun Quinn was remarkably composed.

Wren Wynter closed her eyes, tears carving clean paths through the dust on her face, revealing her profound grief.

Rescue workers led them to a surviving building nearby to rest, and Wren Wynter’s frayed nerves began to settle.

Shaun Quinn brought her a cup of water and began checking her for injuries.

Luckily, they had been just outside the epicenter of the blast, so both had escaped with only minor scrapes.

"Shaun, I always thought war was something distant. So distant it wouldn’t even appear in my dreams. But now that I’ve truly felt it, it feels so close... so close it nearly killed us."

She had thought she was prepared before coming, but being here, she now saw how deeply unprepared she truly was.

Shaun Quinn soothed her in a gentle voice, "That’s why I was worried about you coming alone."

His words sent a warmth spreading through Wren Wynter’s chest, seemingly chasing away some of the oppressive chill left by the shocking reality of war.

Wren Wynter watched the local medical staff hurrying back and forth, her expression complex. She and Shaun Quinn wanted to help, but the staff, noting they were foreigners, gave them a terse refusal, politely telling them to look after themselves first.

"Not everyone is as lucky as people in our country... to live and work in peace, free from the chaos of war."

Wren Wynter sighed. "You’re right. Not everyone is as fortunate as we are..."

’It’s true,’ she thought, ’only a strong nation can ensure its people live in peace and prosperity.’

"These people are insane! Dropping missiles on the airport... aren’t they afraid of hitting our people?"

Just then, a rather heavyset man walked over, cursing under his breath. He pushed his thick glasses up the bridge of his nose, his sharp gaze sizing up Wren Wynter and Shaun Quinn.

"You must be the two new arrivals Lily told me about. Come with me."

Shaun Quinn stood up warily, placing himself in front of Wren Wynter. "And you are...?"

The man gave a rough grin. His eyes flickered with admiration as they swept over Wren Wynter’s face, but he quickly suppressed it.

He introduced himself, "I’m the director for the Doctors Without Borders mission here in Aferia. You can call me Director Archer. Follow me, I’ll take you to our base camp. We’re short-staffed right now, so your arrival is perfect timing. We’ll have to skip the orientation."

After speaking, he produced his identification.

Only after Shaun Quinn had carefully examined the credentials did he nod to Wren Wynter, signaling that they could trust the man and follow him.

Along the way, Wren Wynter was once again confronted with the horror and brutality of war. The landscape was littered with bodies, and the nauseating stench of death and gunpowder hung in the air.

As they passed some ruined but still-standing houses, Wren Wynter’s attention was drawn to a few lonely-looking children.

Their faces were grimy, and their sad, pitiful eyes were heart-wrenching.

Wren Wynter wanted to approach them and offer help, but Director Archer sharply stopped her.

"There are kids like that everywhere here. You can save one, but can you save all of them?"

Disagreeing with Director Archer’s cold attitude, Wren Wynter retorted, "If conditions allow, I’m willing to do my best to save every single one!"

"It’s useless."

Director Archer’s expression was placid, but a profound, chilling light surfaced in his eyes. "Sometimes, what appears pitiful on the surface isn’t friendly at all."