“Uuh…”
I can’t see anything… Pitch black… Even though I kept blinking, not a single ray of light was caught. My heart dropped with a familiar fear, and my stomach churned with a cold dread. She tried to move her stiff body, trying her best to understand the situation. The handcuffs rattled, and a throbbing pain spread from her shoulders to both wrists. Her hands and feet were tightly bound to something that felt like a hard wooden chair.
“Haa…”
He really was a liar. He said he would be by my side when I opened my eyes. As her eyelids fluttered rapidly, she could feel her eyelashes brushing against something stiff. It was then she realized, there was nothing wrong with her eyes—she was just wearing a blindfold. The breath she had been holding finally escaped.
“What a complete fraud…”
“Are you talking about me?”
Her head snapped up instantly. That low voice sounded closer than she had expected. The pungent smell of fresh paint assaulted her from all directions.
“You… you’re here?”
“Don’t move your hands too much, you’ll get hurt.”
“Take off my blindfold…!”
She snapped sharply. Maybe she should have just shot him as soon as she saw his face. But when she finally met Kim Hyeon, the urgent feeling that arose revealed a sincerity she herself hadn’t realized. The rough sea voyage.
The far more exhausting training… When she saw Kim Hyeon’s face, she felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her. That she could finally be free from that suffering. But that didn’t mean she would just give up.
“You said you’d be by my side, and now you’re playing with words? Are we playing a childhood game of hide-and-seek, huh?”
“I’ll take it off.”
The creaking of an old chair was heard, followed by a presence that felt so close. He was touching the back of Seoryeong’s hand.
“As long as you listen to your husband.”
At that moment, Seoryeong didn’t hold back and immediately headbutted him. A ‘thud’ sound echoed as her hard head collided. She rocked the chair and her entire body to slam into Kim Hyeon.
“――!”
As soon as the fragile chair shattered, Seoryeong managed to free her legs and kicked Kim Hyeon in the torso. But her ankles were immediately caught, and her body was thrown hard onto a table.
“Ugh…!”
Pain spread from her back like a wave. She knew logically that Kim Hyeon was an NIS agent, but actually fighting like this still felt foreign and confusing. As Kim Hyeon clicked his tongue, intending to help her up, Seoryeong immediately dropped under the table. The chair she had been sitting on broke into pieces, and finally her hands and feet were free. She hurriedly tried to remove the blindfold, but suddenly—’thump!’— something heavy pressed down on her body. Large hands pressed against her face, while her body was straddled.
“Honey, you still don’t understand the situation, do you?”
“Ugh…!”
“Seoryeong has caused a huge mess.”
She really couldn’t move. Thighs as hard as steel pressed down on her lower body, and her wrists were gripped tightly by those large hands. But it wasn’t just that—the familiar endearment made her body stiffen. As she remained silent, Kim Hyeon stuffed her mouth with a broken chair leg, like biting a horse’s bit.
“Those Chinese forces you massacred—”
“Uugh…!”
“From covering up the case, medical expenses, to compensation, none of it is a small matter. And worst of all, they could file for your extradition.”
“…….”
“If I hadn’t saved you first, you would have been shot dead on the spot or injected with a lethal drug in China. Their laws are unforgiving. You almost died in vain—do you understand now?”
For some reason, his thigh between her legs felt so right.
“How long are you going to act like a mare in heat?”
“Ugh…!”
Saliva dripped from the corner of her gaping lips. Her vision was still dark, her mouth couldn’t close properly, and her body was locked and pinned down. The humiliation sent heat rising to the back of her neck. But Kim Hyeon’s voice remained flat, without a trace of emotion.
“Once this interrogation is over, I’ll send you home sooner.”
“……!”
“Depending on your answers, you could be considered in violation of the National Security Act—or I could cover it up. So cooperate well. Right now, the NIS is busy cleaning up the mess you made.”
“Mmm…!”
Suddenly, her head throbbed. As she tried to move her body with a hoarse sound, Kim Hyeon pressed down on her even harder. Only then did she realize that this place was an interrogation room—and the one interrogating her was her own husband. A hand came under her armpit and pulled her body up. She was dragged to a new chair, and her wrists were handcuffed again. Kim Hyeon even lifted his chair and slammed it down in front of the table. She could feel him leaning forward and gripping the armrests of his chair.
“You deliberately disrupted international relations, created tension, and disturbed regional peace and security, is that right?”
Kim Hyeon removed the wood from her mouth, as if asking her to answer. But the current Kim Hyeon felt foreign, not the husband she knew. Seoryeong ran her tongue over her aching teeth.
“Does my answer still even matter?”
“You have disgraced the country’s position, so of course it needs to be confirmed. And I still hope I’m wrong.”
“Then, I’m sorry.”
“…….”
“I knew exactly what I was doing. I hoped you and the NIS would be utterly destroyed.”
Seoryeong replied with a sneer.
“But if you could only catch me now… then I did a pretty good job, didn’t I?”
“…….”
“You can’t even imagine how desperate I’ve been all this time.”
As she smiled with a light tone that didn’t match the situation, Kim Hyeon’s voice grew colder.
“You’re still full of empty hopes.”
“……!”
“Because I always cleaned everything up for you, right? Do you really not understand the situation you’re in? Even just being accused of receiving orders from the north is enough to ruin you. And if even one little rat spreads it to the media—then the accusations of attempted defection to the north, terrorist attacks at the quantum conference, kidnapping the deputy head… and now this—it will all be combined.”
As he pressed his fingernail into Seoryeong’s lower lip, a sharp pain spread.
“After this, you won’t be able to ‘play’ with me anymore. Not even like this.”
“――.”
Her face hardened. It wasn’t Kim Hyeon who came to her mind upon hearing those words… Her consciousness returned instantly, and Seoryeong remembered the tracking device. One of the reasons she had bitten the man’s face so violently was certainly to quickly remove his mask, but more importantly, she wanted to hide the tracker amidst the chaos. However, if she just attached it to his clothes or shoes, the man would surely throw it away immediately. She had briefly considered attaching it near his neck, but didn’t know where the fake mask began and ended. Having only one chance, Seoryeong had to attach it to something that wouldn’t change, even if Kim Hyeon was disguised. From this point on, everything was pure gamble. When she headbutted him and knocked him down, she attached the small film hidden in her sleeve to Kim Hyeon’s sock. She briefly thought, even if he hurriedly changed his shoes, would he also change his socks? If so, all that remained now was the real pursuit. She had to quickly finish this interrogation to be able to track the man’s hiding place or movements. Her hands trembled with the urge to contact Channa immediately. She just wanted to get out quickly and check everything.
“From now on, even if there’s an external request, the National Intelligence Service will act as if they know nothing. To that end, you must remain calm, not cause any trouble, and stay silent.”
“……”
“It’s simple. This is an agreement that, for the time being, you won’t make an issue if you feel you’re being watched. Sign this, and you can leave immediately.”
She still couldn’t see anything. His voice was gentle, just like before, but her heart felt frozen. A board with documents was pushed across the table, and the sound of a pen cap being opened was heard. Seoryeong turned her face away, ignoring it. But suddenly, the man grabbed her chin and lifted it, as if wanting to look directly into her eyes.
“Don’t want to? You don’t like my conditions?”
“……”
“Then… how about we go back to how we were? A weekend couple, for example?”
His words sounded as if he were making an offer. Seoryeong just gritted her teeth in silence. That bastard… Not Kim Hyeon. She was increasingly certain this man was an imposter. Even if the mask were removed, the face that appeared might not be someone she knew. Once the reality was seen, Kim Hyeon would vanish like an illusion.
“Back then… I once thought it wouldn’t matter if my eyes went blind again, as long as Hyeon returned. I was even willing to do crazy things repeatedly because it felt like my life wouldn’t be in vain. But now… it feels like my life is too precious to waste.”
“……”
“Give me the pen.”
She said it without the slightest hesitation.
“I’ll consider this my signature on the divorce papers that I didn’t get around to processing back then.”
Now, the most important thing was to go along with it and get out of this place quickly. Although her face was expressionless, her mind was racing relentlessly. Every time she thought about the tracking device, her heart pounded and her mouth felt dry. She moved her hand, as if asking to be released immediately.
“We don’t need to get back together. I won’t do anything dangerous again either.”
“……”
“Besides… I already have another man.”
The breath that had felt so close suddenly stopped. A chair was dragged roughly. Her neck snapped back, and her head almost lolled. At the same time, the blindfold pressing against her temples was lifted so easily, she barely felt it.
“Besides me, who else?”