"Ah—she did or didn’t?"

Channa reflexively shook her head at the impatient tone of his voice.

"Then I don’t get it."

"What don’t you get?"

She whispered back, keeping her voice low.

"No one’s liver swells up that fast in that short a time."

"What the...!"

"So how the hell do you explain what she’s doing right now? Is any of that normal?"

"......!"

Channa couldn’t help but flinch. Having already, unintentionally, given legal advice to Seoryeong twice, she was hit with a sudden sense of dread. Did he find out? About her grand plans?

Did he know about her attempt to defect to the North, or her fantasy of kidnapping the NIS Deputy Director? Had everything come to light? Channa’s face had gone completely pale.

Their new team leader was generally lax, but in certain ways, he had a knack for fixating and tearing things apart.

Most of the Special Security Team’s clients were wealthy and corrupt, but Lee Wooshin handled them with astonishing poise and political tact.

Yet with his subordinates, he only ever asked inane questions—about blood types, about relationship status. Never anything substantial. And when he had free time, he always napped. But the moment training began, he'd smile sweetly as he flayed your pride raw.

In other words, he was capricious and unmanageable.

If she’d somehow landed on his radar...

"You think it’s sane to be serving a three-dish Korean breakfast every morning to a bunch of scumbags?"

"Ah..."

So it was that. Channa’s stiff shoulders relaxed all at once.

"These assholes could survive on combat rations if they wanted to. Who the hell cooks full Korean meals during an op? You really think the company sends 'ladies' like her to worry about our diets?"

"......."

"They disguise support staff so there’s someone to claim the body when someone gets shot. But seeing how slow you’re moving, I guess Han Seoryeong might actually be useful this trip."

The way he said it—like it was satisfying—made Channa twitch again.

Just then, the loading bar on her laptop began to fill rapidly. As she breached the security system, lines of fingerprint patterns rolled down the screen.

But it seemed someone had caught on—one by one, lights began flickering on in the darkness. Channa bit her nail and stared at the monitor. Come on... hurry... please, hurry...!

"Right now, Han Seoryeong seems cognitively impaired for her age."

And then, another out-of-place comment.

"If it’s not alcohol-related brain damage, then what—she’s just stupid enough to need to taste the shit to figure out if it’s shit or miso? That bastard who ran off with all her money must’ve been serious fucking garbage."

"......."

"Didn’t ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) think a person could unravel this pathetically."

It wasn’t clear who the scorn was aimed at, but it came out like a blade. Channa clenched her teeth in silence, anger starting to boil.

"...All you need to know is she got hit by the worst of the worst. That son of a bitch ruined her."

"......."

"If I ever see that fucker while I’m still breathing, I’m gonna gut him and turn him into a goddamn kebab skewer. Don’t ask me anything else—just remember that."

Lee Wooshin pressed his thumb into the back of his neck, massaging the tensed muscles.

"So you’re the one who pulled her into our company."

"...Yeah. That was me."

He paused, then asked quietly.

"There were a lot of reasons, but honestly? The first one was that there are a lot of guys here. I figured... if she’d stop overthinking and just mess around with some young, fit men, maybe it’d help her bounce back. I was just being nosy."

"......."

"Thought that’d be the perfect way to recover, didn’t I? Honestly, no regrets about sticking my nose in."

The laptop screen shifted. The chaotic strings of encryption halted, and finally, files began flooding open.

Channa was so focused on wrapping up the task, she didn’t even notice that the house had gone eerily silent.

"So it was you."

Lee Wooshin murmured the words, a faint, satisfied smile in his voice.

He gave her a gentle push on the back. A signal: your job here is done.

Without looking back, Channa pulled her hood up and exited the house. The others would be heading to the border zone, but for her, the mission was complete.

When she got back, she'd make spicy ramen with Gan-na unnie.

And just like that, she disappeared into the dark alleyway as the lights cut out behind her.

***

“――!”

Seoryeong shot up in bed in the middle of the night.

It was the first time she’d ever woken up without warning, without cause. Even after waking, she lay there staring at the ceiling for a long while.

Maybe it was the ramen she’d eaten too late. She’d had a salty midnight snack, and now her mouth felt parched and her throat dry.

She sat up and checked the time—it was about when the agents who’d gone to the border should be returning.

Honestly, this so-called “dispatch” didn’t feel any different from life back at headquarters.

She cooked, cleaned, and cleaned some more. That monotonous rhythm had continued until suddenly, the return to Korea was only a day away. Embarrassed, she rubbed her cheek and swung her legs over the bed.

“.......”

Her dazed gaze swept the air.

What... was that?

Again, that vague, indescribable sense of wrongness crept up.

The walls in this rundown motel were thin. At night, you could hear everything.

Voices speaking in foreign languages, toilet flushes, footsteps, cups clinking on tables—those background noises existed like ambient air.

But now... there was nothing.

Right. By now, the driver next door should be coughing, maybe watching one of his old movies again. It should be noisy. That’s how it always was.

But all the sound had vanished.

“.......”

Rubbing her arms for no reason, she opened the door. Creeaak— The stiff hinges groaned as she pushed open the hall drenched in eerie silence.

It was an unnaturally still night.

She glanced around and took slow steps into the crumbling corridor. Her gaze drifted—drawn, somehow—toward the driver’s door, which was left slightly ajar.

Her tongue felt dry. Her heart thumped.

She reached out and pushed the door open with a flick of her wrist—and froze like someone drenched in ice water.

“Ah... ah...”

Afraid she might scream, she reflexively clamped her hand over her mouth.

The clean white sheets she had laundered were completely soaked in red. In the man’s throat and forehead, the knife was buried to the hilt—only the handle showed. Blood still spilled in heavy, glugging bursts.

“Ugh...”

She forced her paralyzed legs to move and placed trembling fingers under his nose.

What the hell... what the hell had happened...?

He was dead. The driver was dead, drenched in blood, his eyes wide open, unblinking.

Seoryeong stood there, mind blank, then backed out of the room and staggered down the hallway—toward the room she’d passed without a thought earlier.

Her steps wobbled, weakened, then sped up. She didn’t hesitate. She grabbed the next doorknob.

Her hand trembled violently, but she gritted her teeth and pushed inside. The stench hit her immediately—foul and metallic, flooding her sinuses.

“No...”

What is this... what the hell is this, no...

The medic, the one with the bleached hair, was lying face-down, a knife stabbed into his back.

He had vomited blood from his mouth—his entire lower face and chest were soaked scarlet. There was so much blood, it was impossible to even guess where to press to stop it.

How had two people died without anyone knowing?

Seoryeong wiped her damp face with trembling hands. Her breath was ragged and scattered. She swept her eyes across the room.

“.......”

There were no signs of a struggle.

Which meant they hadn’t even had time to scream. They’d been stabbed fatally—instantly.

But why?

At this hour... who made them drop their guard?

Her distorted gaze locked on one of the walls.

Wait... the next one... the next room was...

“Channa...!”

A hot surge erupted in her chest.

It was Channa’s room.

Seoryeong fell, knees buckling, then scrambled up from the floor. As she did, something caught her eye—lodged in the ear of the dead medic.

“――.”

A black wireless in-ear device. It was still stuck in his ear. Whatever he’d tried to do after being attacked, the little thumb-sized comm was soaked in blood.

Seoryeong pulled it out and shoved it into her own ear. She had no idea how to use it.

She pressed it, tapped it, did whatever she could, and sprinted toward Channa’s room. Please... please...!

The moment she threw open Channa’s door, a slow, familiar voice came through her ear.