Panic erupted like wildfire aboard the small wooden boat. Min-ho didn’t hesitate—he slammed the engine lever fully forward. The old motor screamed and roared, coughing a thick cloud of black smoke as the boat spun around, desperately trying to race back toward the open sea. “Tell them we are running!” Min-ho shouted.
Jun spoke frantically into the microphone. “We are turning back! We are heading south at full speed!” The voice from the coast guard cracked through the radio. “We have deployed emergency support, but they are twenty minutes out! You are being actively pursued! The submarine is closing the distance behind you!”
Looking out the rear window, the water behind them began to churn and boil. A massive, dark shape was moving just beneath the surface, tracking their coordinates perfectly. If they were captured, they faced a lifetime in a foreign prison under espionage charges. Surrender wasn’t an option. They had to outrun a weapon of war.