“Give me the datapad,” Hanjoon said, his voice low but firm, as they stepped aboard the Wildflower. The tension in his tone left no room for argument.
Sela didn’t hesitate. She reached into her jacket, retrieving the battered datapad, and handed it over without a word. Hanjoon turned and pressed it into Magnolia’s hands, his golden eyes meeting hers with an intensity that refused to let her retreat into her grief.
“I got the map from your dad,” he said quietly. “It’s connected. Whatever he was involved in, it ties back to this.”
Magnolia stared down at the datapad, its surface cold against her trembling fingers. The weight of everything—the execution, the unanswered questions, the map—pressed down on her chest, making it hard to breathe. Wordlessly, she clutched the datapad and began weaving her way through the narrow halls of the ship toward her quarters.
Hanjoon watched her go, his expression unreadable, but his fists clenched at his sides. He turned to the rest of the crew gathered nearby. “We need to get out of the system,” he said sharply, his voice cutting through the heavy silence. “Now. No debates, no delays.”
In-Su, leaning against the wall, straightened and gave a slight nod. “I’ll prep the engines,” he said, already moving toward the ship’s control hub.
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Sela arched an eyebrow at Hanjoon. “You think the Syndicate’s coming after us?”
“They don’t leave loose ends,” Hanjoon replied, his jaw tight. “And Magnolia—she’s a threat just by existing. We’re not sticking around to find out how far they’re willing to go.”
Sela didn’t argue, though her sharp eyes lingered on the hallway Magnolia had disappeared down. “She’s not going to let this go,” she said quietly.
“I know,” Hanjoon said, his voice softening slightly. He rubbed the back of his neck, the weight of the situation settling on him. “But we’ll keep her alive long enough to figure it out. That’s the priority.”
Sela tilted her head, studying him with an unreadable expression. “You’ve got a lot riding on her, don’t you?”
Hanjoon’s gaze flicked toward the dim corridor. “She’s got the fire to see this through,” he said simply. “We just have to keep it from burning her alive first.”
Sela smirked faintly, though there was little humor in it. “Fair enough. I’ll help In-Su.”
As the ship hummed to life, Hanjoon lingered a moment longer, his thoughts racing. The map, the Syndicate, the Wildflower—it was all converging, and Magnolia was at the center of it. He couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever came next would push all of them to their limits.
With a final glance down the empty corridor, he turned and strode toward the bridge, his resolve hardening like steel.