Contains spoilers for this episode and earlier episodes.
Shi-jin leaves the hospital and resumes the lighter moments of his relationship with Mo-yeon, but another deployment soon interrupts them. Dae-young still faces the choice between his uniform and General Yoon's approval. When the general offers him a place on a three-month mission, he takes it. The men say goodbye to the women they love, and Shi-jin promises to return alive. Near the end of the operation, he is shot and Dae-young remains with him while the others withdraw by helicopter. An explosion cuts off contact. The search ends without their bodies, and both men are presumed dead.
Mo-yeon and Myung-joo receive farewell letters written before deployment. Myung-joo refuses to read hers, while Mo-yeon struggles with the loss and the secrecy surrounding the mission. The women keep working while reminders of the men interrupt their attempts to move forward. General Yoon regrets opposing Dae-young, and Myung-joo returns to Uruk, where Ki-bum is stationed. A year after the loss, Mo-yeon volunteers overseas and prepares a memorial with the stone from the beach. Shi-jin's voice suddenly comes over her radio. She sees him walking toward her, runs to meet him, and embraces the man she had been mourning. The explanation for his survival has yet to reach her.