Time, which had once dragged like lead in the camp, now began to flow with the gentle, swift current of happiness. Seasons turned. The fierce heat of summer softened into the crisp gold of autumn. Jun’s presence in Seoul became less of an event and more of a fact. He developed a quiet routine. Mornings were for physical training, a habit too deeply ingrained to break, but now done in a sunlit gym with a view of the city, not in a frozen yard under the watchful eyes of guards. Afternoons were for study. He devoured books on history, economics, and world literature, voraciously filling in the gaps of a stolen education. He was remaking his mind, one page at a time.
Yuna watched his transformation with a sense of profound wonder. The sharp, angular planes of his face had softened. The perpet
