She hadn’t eaten in two days.

Kim Hyun’s clothes, the books he used to read, the cups and dishes that had always come in matching pairs, the towels they shared... The traces he left behind were simple and vividly intact.

After meeting the doctor, Seoryeong had been completely drained. She spent her time unmoving, surrounded by the scent of him.

A man who’d slipped into her life so fast, only to destroy everything they’d built and vanish.

The thought that Kim Hyun might actually have been a highly skilled agent made a dry laugh escape her lips.

How could someone as naive and gentle as Kim Hyun have done something like this? The man who whined about how hard it was to clean fish or handle chicken.

Seoryeong instinctively shut her eyes tight.

As the familiar darkness returned, someone called her name—Seoryeong-ssi. He was the type of man who’d narrate every single moment to his blind wife, as if to keep her close through sound.

Seoryeong-ssi, I’m changing clothes now. Seoryeong-ssi, I’m checking my phone. Seoryeong-ssi, I just opened the fridge.

Seoryeong-ssi, right now... I’m just looking at you.

Her closed eyes throbbed like they were about to burst.

Ding— The sound of the café door opening and closing pulled Seoryeong out of her daze.

It was a clear, deep-blue afternoon in the middle of autumn. Across from her, Channa looked like she was being blown around by a storm, her eyes trembling in all directions.

Mouth agape, staring at her phone, she yanked her earbuds out the moment the news clip ended. The “I knew you’d do something” glare was a bonus.

“You didn’t get shot, did you?!”

“My body’s fine. But my bank account got shredded.”

“...Huh?”

“I was fined ten million won.”

“Urgh...!”

Channa’s face scrunched up like she now had to mourn her empty account.

Seoryeong sat in the same café, in the same seat as before. And just as she opened her mouth to bring up the reason she’d called Channa out, Channa shook her head reflexively. Her whole body bristled with wary resistance.

“Don’t tell me... the reason you called me out today, it’s not again, is it...?”

“I just don’t have any connections in this kind of field.”

Knew it... Channa muttered and quickly downed her drink.

“I want to kidnap someone.”

“...Sorry, what?”

“I want to take someone hostage. Keep them for a few days—”

“W-Wait...! Did you just say you want to kidnap a person?!”

“Channa-ssi, you’re spilling coffee from your mouth.”

Seoryeong, completely calm, handed her a napkin.

The thought of kidnapping had come to her during the interrogation.

When that so-called Deputy Director got a call, and the entire case was swept under the rug in an instant—

All she could think was: If I could keep that guy with me for three days...

That impulse flared with startling clarity.

“You know, when someone takes a hostage, the government sends in negotiation specialists. And the higher the social status of the hostage, the more leverage you get.”

“That also means the chances of you getting shot dead go up!”

Channa yelled, her neck flushed bright red. But Seoryeong’s eyes held no fear.

“To catch a ghost with no body, I have to be willing to stake my life.”

And my only condition for negotiation... will be Kim Hyun.

She wanted the name Kim Hyun—the name her husband so easily discarded—to echo through every corner of the NIS. If she set the fire, someone had to come running.

“...Unnie, how far are you planning to take this?!”

“All the way. Until I catch the husband who ran away.”

Channa roughly wiped her mouth with a napkin and huffed in frustration, but Seoryeong—who had just casually announced her intent to commit a crime—looked completely unfazed.

There wasn’t even a flicker of hesitation in her voice. Like someone who’d lived hundreds of days thinking only about this.

“Let’s be clear, you’re not catching him. You’re getting yourself caught.”

“Same thing. The moment I get caught, I’m sinking my teeth in and never letting go.”

“....”

“And once I get a hold of him, I can do something. Anything.”

She added that with a grin.

The once-numb, empty look on her face suddenly bloomed into something vivid. Her cheeks lifted with real emotion for the first time.

All that bitterness and hatred clung to her, sure—but compared to her dead-eyed expression, this was much better. She finally looked like someone alive.

“So, what exactly do you want from me?”

“I want to know about the man called the Deputy Director at the NIS.”

“Ha...”

Channa grabbed the back of her neck in exasperation.

“Even the kids of those NIS execs don’t know what their parents really do...!”

She sighed deeply before continuing.

“Digging up info on government execs is harder than squeezing tears from a rock. They’re always surrounded by bodyguards, every address is a fake... Even if you somehow figure out their movements the old-fashioned way, after that—”

Channa slammed her forearms onto the table.

“You think you can single-handedly get past their guards and pull off a real kidnapping?”

“....”

“You think you can dodge surveillance and actually run a hostage operation without getting caught?”

As Seoryeong fell quiet in thought, Channa took the opportunity to change tack.

“If you don’t have the confidence for that, just learn the skills instead!”

Channa desperately wanted this crazy unnie of hers to at least try walking a safer road.

Make money like a normal person. Meet a new guy. She was still young and pretty—why not enjoy South Korean-style dating, seduce some hot guys...

She wanted her to live freely, unbound by anything.

It was the same wish she once held for her second-eldest sister, the one who hadn’t made it across the border with her.

Even if longing for lost family came flooding in uncontrollably, she didn’t want her sister—or this woman—to be shackled to it forever.

That’s why she just couldn’t look away from someone like Seoryeong, sharp and cold like an ice shard.

“I’m not supposed to say this, but you know what they say—if you stay near ink, you’ll get darkened.”

“What—”

“If you’re gonna do this, do it right. If you’re gonna blow something up, at least have the fundamentals. Learn the skills! All the real professionals are there.”

“There?”

“At our company.”

Seoryeong’s brow furrowed slightly. Company? Channa’s company? Then something stirred in her memory—something she’d heard from that errand center. Bla... Blast, was it?

“If they’re good at saving hostages, they’re probably great at taking them, too.”

“....”

As soon as she said it, Channa looked away, eyes shifting guiltily.

But the more Seoryeong thought about it, the more sense it made. A kidnapping and hostage act required accomplices and skills. And if she was targeting a former NIS officer, she’d need the strength and experience to match.

She’d need to get close naturally, but act with precision and force.

“So for now, don’t overthink it. Just take your pick and eat your fill!”

And the Deputy Director had bodyguards?

Blast Corporation... Seoryeong’s eyes gleamed.

A clash of different dreams was beginning.

***

Ding— The café door opened again, and Seoryeong straightened her already perfect posture.

The man who stepped in had a harsh, prowling air. The moment he saw her by the window, his face turned rigid.

“Ms. Han Seoryeong.”

With each long stride he took toward her, the frown between his brows deepened.

“What exactly did you want to say about Channa?”

Jung Pilgyu didn’t even sit down before jumping to the point. His expression made it painfully clear—he didn’t want to waste even a second on her.

But the colder he became, the more relaxed Seoryeong seemed. She stared at him with calm curiosity, prompting him to finally pull out a chair and sit with barely restrained irritation.

He must be boiling inside. She smiled faintly.

She’d threatened him into this ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) meeting just the night before.

“I heard you’re family with Channa-ssi. Brother-in-law and sister-in-law, right?”

“......”

Jung Pilgyu’s face twisted. He clearly didn’t like the fact that she knew anything about his family.

“That’s why I contacted you. So you’d be in trouble, too.”

“What—”

But before he could finish, Seoryeong casually tapped a button on her phone.

From the speaker came a voice that was unmistakably Channa’s: ‘Not under the bridge—if you’re gonna get caught anyway, just take the car and save yourself the trouble.’

With her face perfectly clear and unbothered, Seoryeong said:

“I was thinking I’d bring up Channa-ssi next time I attempt defection.”

“...!”

The man who’d been nothing but irritable suddenly blinked in shock.

“I got caught trying to defect recently. And the one who taught me how was Channa-ssi.”

“...!”

“Apparently, if you want to be flagged as high-risk, you need to try a few more times before they really start watching you. I’m only human, so if the NIS corners me, I get scared.”

“You—what the hell are you—”

“I got lucky the first time, but I don’t think I’ll be so lucky next time.”