"Ah, Team Leader! The meat is burning! Please pass me the tongs!"
Suddenly, Jin Hoje snatched the tongs from his superior's hand. Lee Wooshin was gulping down water, his expression unreadable.
"By the way, Ki Taemin—what if I told you my face isn't actually like this?"
"Good. Because I really don't want to see your damn face."
"Hey, you damn bastard!"
The first to respond to that strange question was Ki Taemin, who was supposedly his best friend. Even in this brief exchange, from the disgust they showed each other, it was clear they were *close.*
"What's the importance of a face?" Taemin shrugged. "I always aim for the head."
He shot a soju bottle cap that hit Hoje's forehead squarely.
*As expected from the best sniper in the Blaster Agency.*
The two began to wrestle, locking heads, making the table shake. Unable to bear it any longer, Lee Wooshin kicked their shins hard under the table—and they immediately calmed down.
"What about you, Dawit?"
Hoje, with a flushed face, still didn't stop asking. He intended to get an answer from every member.
Instructor Dawit, with thin lips and glasses, looked quiet—but when he finally spoke, his words flowed smoothly.
"In my opinion, punishment will come whether I do something or not. As it is written in Psalm 7:15: *'He has dug a pit and hollowed it out, and has fallen into the hole he has made. His trouble will recoil on his own head.'*"
"What about you, Team Leader?"
Hoje suddenly cut in, waving his hand. Lee Wooshin leaned back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest.
"Do you have that much free time, Hoje, to watch videos like that and laugh?"
"Do I look pitiful? I was researching tactics, and the algorithm suggested that video!"
"There's no point…"
"We need to be prepared! We could become victims of someone like that at any time—!"
"We've had enough to drink. Let's call it a night."
As Lee Wooshin looked at his watch, Hoje—his words starting to slur—rested his chin on his palm and said:
"If it's a woman, I'll politely take off her clothes. If it's a man, I'll just throw him into the sea." He grinned widely. "Let his skin swell up with water, then I'll peel it off."
He was a former UDT member—a soldier far stronger in the water than anyone else.
Jin Hoje had been raised in a family of tuna fishermen, accustomed to living in the sea since childhood. His entire youth was spent working at depths of 33 meters with makeshift equipment, trying to catch schools of wild tuna.
His official job title? *Tuna cowboy.*
Hearing that, Seoryeong couldn't help but laugh.
*With a swimmer's build, he wasn't a mermaid—but a tuna cowboy…*
Later, Hoje showed extraordinary talent in mine detection and beach obstacle clearance, eventually choosing to settle in the Marines. In his opinion, wrestling with mines was much cooler than chasing tuna.
But when Ki Taemin experienced torture in the military, Hoje quit without hesitation and joined the Blaster Agency with him.
"If the situation is complicated and confusing, usually diving into the water can solve everything." Hoje tilted his head. "So, if we suspect someone is wearing a mask, can we throw them into the sea headfirst, Team Leader?"
"If you can submerge their head first," Lee Wooshin replied sarcastically, already getting up and grabbing his coat. "If it's only half their lower body, it won't do any good."
"Oh!"
"We'll end tonight's meeting here. Call the others."
As he led the closing of the atmosphere, it was clear that the meeting was almost over.
"Hey—we should hear from the new member on our team too! To be fair!"
Just then, Hoje suddenly stood up, sat next to Seoryeong, and looked into her eyes.
He was so close that Seoryeong could smell the alcohol on his breath.
Suddenly, her heart pounded.
*What the heck!*
Her eyelids trembled uncontrollably. His build was sturdy, and even his face made her want to touch it.
Seoryeong grasped her trembling hands and said:
"Actually, I don't really understand."
From the beginning, she had only listened to her seniors—and found it all absurd.
"How could you completely change someone's face with just a mask?"
"Our rookie lacks imagination, huh?"
"That too, but no matter how good the disguise, wouldn't a fake face still look strange?"
"That's why the video title uses *shocking* and *wow!*"
"I think that's just a scenario to rake in more viewers."
She tried to reason.
Hoje groaned like a big dog at that stubborn answer. Despite his large build, he was as reckless as Hyeon.
Feeling a bit sorry, Seoryeong decided to soften a little.
"But if it's true."
*The face she had trusted turned out to be fake.*
Just thinking about it made her breathless.
Without warning, she grabbed one of the soju glasses on the table and immediately downed it.
*Ugh!*
The sharp burning sensation as the alcohol flowed down her throat made her face contort.
But still, *if it was true…*
"I'm not sure I could accept it." Her voice dropped. "I've been lied to too many times."
Seoryeong tried to stop her thoughts, hitting the pause button in her mind. She didn't want to drown in these overwhelming feelings.
So she decided to stop drinking. Everyone else was too drunk anyway—their words were just nonsense.
At that moment, she met Lee Wooshin's gaze.
He was standing stiffly.
He looked at her with a strange, dark expression—then turned and left the room.
It was only after that last drink that Seoryeong truly felt the alcohol starting to take effect.
---
Outside, snow fell lightly.
In the middle of the city center, the snowflakes mixed with the streetlights, and the last heavy snowfall that had once blanketed the world in white felt like a distant dream.
Ki Taemin and Hoje left with their arms around each other's shoulders, while Yoo Dawit walked away to a quiet spot, shaking his cigarette case.
Han Seoryeong stared at the figures of the team members disappearing, her expression blank.
Tonight had been quite productive—she had gained a rough idea of their backgrounds and personalities.
"Haa…"
The air was still cold enough that her breath looked like steam. As she buttoned her coat and was about to walk, a sudden glare of headlights blinded her.
A Jeep she had never seen before stopped in front of her.
The vehicle looked like it was made for rough terrain—a design that nomadic soldiers would surely appreciate. The dark window rolled down, and from behind the gap, Lee Wooshin looked at her, raising an eyebrow.
"Get in. It's past midnight—you'll have a hard time getting a taxi."
"You yourself said we should drink responsibly and take care of ourselves."
"That's what I'm doing."
"…"
There was a strange tension in the air, but Seoryeong opened the passenger door without hesitation.
*There was no harm in accepting kindness when there was nothing to sacrifice.*
As soon as she sat down, she was greeted by a new scent—a blend of cologne and leather seats. The car was warm, the heater was on, and the seat was at a comfortable temperature.
Her body slowly relaxed.
The alcohol was starting to feel stronger, and Seoryeong fastened her seatbelt. Lee Wooshin turned the steering wheel smoothly and started driving down the road.
*Occasionally, this man had an unexpected scent.*
The smell of his skin could change, and his clothes carried many different kinds of aromas.
Seoryeong silently watched the snow melting on the windshield—but finally couldn't resist speaking.
"But, Instructor, you're driving without GPS?"
"…!"
"You didn't even ask for my address."
"Where do you live?"
He reacted a beat too late—but Seoryeong had already moved.
"Let me enter it myself," she said, inputting the address into the system.
The car fell into silence.
They didn't exchange words—just stared at the road ahead. The wipers scraped against the windshield, and a soft pop song played from the radio.
The warm air in the car made Seoryeong's eyelids feel heavy.
It was then that the man—who had been staring straight ahead with a stiff expression—finally spoke.
"I first met Jin Hoje ten years ago in the UDT."
Through her blurring vision, she saw that expressionless face. The taillights of the car in front of them reflected faintly on the leather seat surface, creating strange shadows.
"He was two classes below me, and his face—I was surprised—looked like he had never experienced hardship in his life." His voice was low, almost detached. "Like a healthy and smooth pebble."
"…"
"Every time I saw him, he always seemed full, polite, and considerate. Looked pathetic—but also showed that he was really diligent. Especially in taking care of his colleagues and being loyal to his superiors."
*Is he praising his subordinate?*
But his deep, sunken voice didn't match the content of his story.
Seoryeong began to fall asleep.
"…"
Lee Wooshin glanced at her—noting how her head was starting to droop—then turned up the radio volume slightly and continued.
"A sincere person at all times is sometimes useful. First, if their appearance is ordinary, they don't attract attention. Second, they easily blend in with others."
"…"
"So I made sure to pay close attention to that plain face. A face that seemed to have grown up with parental slaps." His jaw tightened. "I observed. I watched. I remembered. *Imitating others is much easier and more useful than digging into my own emotions.*"
"…"
"And that's how Hyeon was created."
Lee Wooshin chuckled softly—a hollow, bitter sound—leaning his head back against the headrest.
"The original version of your husband is that bastard Jin Hoje."
His grip on the steering wheel loosened.
His words slid out slowly, almost as if chewed one by one.
Seoryeong was already fast asleep, her face peaceful. Her breathing was soft and even.
The loud announcement from the navigation system telling him to turn left disturbed the quiet, so he muted the sound—and instead made a sharp turn to the right.
"Seoryeong," he said quietly, "you have a strange talent for recognizing the real thing."
His eyes flickered to her sleeping form.
"That very thing makes the fake ones feel **_insecure._**"