That was the most horrifying thing she’d heard since her husband disappeared. Even being told to go get locked up in a hospital for being crazy had sounded kinder than this.

“If you’re thinking about doing a one-person protest or something, forget it. You think you’d be the first person to demonstrate outside the NIS? Ever seen what happened to those people, even in the news?”

“.......”

“That’s how it is. That’s the kind of work they do. We’re pulling out here. We’re a government-authorized business—we’re not looking to get blacklisted poking around where we don’t belong. Still, I’d say we earned our pay on this one.”

Jeong Pilgyu sank deep into the sofa, like he’d said everything he needed to. It had only been a short while, but his palms were slick with sweat.

He looked regretfully at Seoryeong, who remained frozen, and grabbed Channa by the ear as she stood nearby, still fuming. Rising from his seat, he added one last thing.

“How the hell is a civilian supposed to track down a black agent? What they do best is hide their face, hide their name, and avoid leaving any trace. Besides, Kim Yeonmi’s son probably wasn’t even your husband’s ‘tail.’ That was just a blade of grass a chameleon stepped over—nothing more.”

Seoryeong, who had been shoving back overwhelming emotions all this time, let everything go in an instant.

Her mind tried to process and accept reality, but her heart clung stubbornly to the obsession: Just one more time—if I could just see him one more time.

Her ravaged heart was barely stitched together with thread spun from the thick, black grime he left behind.

“I have one thing I want to ask.”

She raised her stick and blocked Jeong Pilgyu’s path as he tried to leave. Still stiff as a statue, she lifted her eyes and looked directly at him.

“The ‘former NIS agent’ mentioned on the flyer... is that you, Mr. Jeong Pilgyu?”

“Yes, that’s correct...”

Seoryeong nodded slowly. That alone was a major gain. Her head buzzed from blow after blow, but at least now she had a clearer sense of who Kim Hyun might be.

But if she truly couldn’t find him—

If that really was the case—

Her deliberation was brief. There was no way she’d ever find even a hair of his through conventional means.

“If he’s someone who never leaves a trail, then... what if I do the opposite?”

“...What?”

“What if I wag the tail?”

“...Pardon?”

Seeing his baffled expression, Seoryeong slightly rephrased her question.

“What if I get picked up by the NIS?”

It was a simple problem. If she could never find him—then she just had to make him come find her. If she couldn’t locate the tail, then she could just set the forest on fire.

“If I do enough bad things... will I be able to meet active agents?”

If he was up in the unreachable upper echelons, then she’d just start by beating her way through the bottom ranks.

Beat them, interrogate them. Beat them again, and ask again. Eventually, she would reach him.

Seoryeong was willing to do anything—if it meant meeting Kim Hyun again.

A long, heavy silence filled the room. Seoryeong’s face remained blank, while the two BLAST agents looked like they couldn’t believe their ears.

While Jeong Pilgyu opened and closed his mouth in search of something to say, Channa blew through her nose and muttered, “No wonder NIS pay tastes like fucking honey,” before getting a swift kick to the shin.

“Ms. Han Seoryeong, don’t go doing anything crazy.”

She didn’t answer. She simply turned and walked away.

Moments later, her stick went flying into the trash.

With every step she took, a strange sense of certainty filled her.

It was you, wasn’t it, Kim Hyun. You did this to my eyes.

You people made me go blind.

As the light returned to her pupils, her chest grew colder and colder.

Seoryeong began to laugh—loudly.

Her sharp laughter bounced off the temporary walls of the empty hallway and echoed again and again. The twisted grin on her lips [N O V E L I G H T] didn’t fade.

Kim Hyun, we’re going to meet again.

You’ll come for me first.

***

With every step down the old staircase, the man’s gait changed.

The steady, kind, clean-cut salaryman who supposedly worked for a small company began rolling his neck and loosening his tie.

His once-straight walk turned slow and crooked. The love in his eyes vanished, replaced by dry, hollow pupils.

He unbuttoned his neat shirt one by one, then peeled back the silicone skin from his collarbone.

Gone were the square jaw, the double-lidded eyes, the plain nose, and the thin brows.

What emerged was the man’s real face.

Where his skin had been sun-tanned and rough, it was now pale and smooth—almost foreign-looking. Sharp, elevated brows, a prominent nose bridge running from brow to tip.

He looked like an entirely different species.

The sharp chin, the V-shaped nose, the depth in his eyes—he was far from looking purely East Asian.

Not just handsome, but stunning in a way that made every feature seem to shine between the lines.

He peeled off the round hydrogel patch from his neck as well.

“Ugh... It’s disgusting every time. Like a snake shedding skin. Even watching it up close, it’s hard to believe. But what’s the point of those ex-CIA agents uploading their special effects breakdowns on YouTube anyway?”

The hacker from the NIS field support team grimaced while reviewing CCTV footage they’d collected a month ago.

As the man came down the stairs, he glanced up at the ceiling camera. His sharp, slanted eyes curved deliberately as if to taunt it.

Even with bits of torn silicone still clinging to his face, he was completely composed. He twirled the silicone mask on his index finger like pizza dough, flipping and catching it with ease.

Insane. The only one in a panic was the poor support team watching over him—especially this hacker. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

If there was any silver lining, it was that this mission was finally over.

“Uuugh...”

How had he endured such a nerve-wracking job for two years? No—two and a half years, counting from when he first approached the target and began dating her.

That man on the screen had worn silicone masks, attached voice modulation chips to his throat, and impersonated “Kim Hyun” like it was nothing.

Every time he approached her with that clumsy, bashful vibe, it was impossible to tell whether he was acting or genuinely shy. Those days were agonizing.

But the moment the withdrawal order came, everything changed—his scent, even. He ripped “Kim Hyun” off like dead skin. Just like in that CCTV footage.

The hacker had known all about his decorated past. But he still found himself in awe, like some rookie recruit.

He pressed the receiver in his ear and opened his mouth.

“So, Team Leader—your escape went smoothly?”

A quiet snort echoed through his earpiece.

―Yeah. I ran without looking back. Scared shitless someone might catch me.

The voice was smooth, calm, and unnaturally casual.

A top-tier deep-cover operative said to have a hundred different faces.

Codename: Masca Masca.

Unofficial Division 1, Foreign Intelligence Bureau.

A black agent who worked directly under the First Deputy Director—renowned for his cunning, ruthlessness, and never once leaving a trace.

It was said that, with the support of the national defense science lab, he could transform into an old man, a foreigner, a drug addict—or even switch genders entirely and pass as a woman.

After two and a half years of supporting and observing him, the young hacker now believed it completely.

He’d even pulled off the “devoted husband” role to a terrifying degree.

“But... is it true you submitted your resignation? The Deputy Director nearly tore his hair out.”

―Why would you need to know that?

“If I don’t follow you, who else would?!”

His frustration burst out all at once.

With a grandfather who was a national war hero, the young man had been so moved by his superior’s legendary exploits that he’d pledged his loyalty without hesitation.

He’d seen how his team leader pulled classified intel from foreign and North Korean networks, how he assassinated and disposed of traitors who stole national secrets.

This was it. I didn’t sign up to rig comments—I wanted to make history...!

―Wonchang-ah, at this rate, you’re gonna ask me to wipe your dick for you. Aren’t you?