“The director wishes to see you, Jaegyeom.”

The moment he heard Han Juyoung’s words, Jaegyeom’s heart sank.

“The director became interested in you after hearing the rumor that you saw a deer during the exam. You’ll be summoned soon, so prepare yourself and greet her properly.”

Seok Juryeon had hinted once before that the director of the Office of Narye wanted to meet him. But a month had passed without any word, and eventually Jaegyeom had half forgotten about it.

Could it be that he had been caught for something connected to what happened at the Gongju branch?

Maybe it was just his guilty conscience speaking, but an ominous feeling washed over him. The timing was terrible. A summons from the director arriving immediately after yesterday’s incident was too strange. No matter how he thought about it, it felt far too coincidental.

“When am I supposed to meet her?”

“Tonight.”

After a moment of hesitation, Jaegyeom asked,

“Is there... a specific reason she’s calling for me?”

“Well. I’m not entirely sure either...”

Han Juyoung’s brows drooped apologetically as she gave him a vague smile. She did not know the details herself. The summons had come down through Seok Juryeon, and Han Juyoung was only there to escort him.

Seeing how pale Jaegyeom looked, she tried to ease his nerves.

“Ah, maybe it’s because you fought against ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) the Byeoksadan ghosts? The rumors have already spread all through headquarters. And the director has apparently had her eye on you for quite a while now. Besides, you’re the only one who directly confronted Byeoksadan...”

Her voice trailed off before she smiled again.

“In any case, try not to be too nervous. Think of it casually.”

For now, Jaegyeom simply nodded.

Han Juyoung then left the hospital room after telling him she would return to pick him up in the evening and asking him to “keep the summons from above a secret.”

Once she was gone, Jaegyeom sat alone in the hospital room, lost in thought.

Han Juyoung had told him to keep the summons secret, but the more he thought about it, the more he felt he could not do that.

Of course, he had not told Yoon Taehee about his previous meeting with Seok Juryeon either. At the time, he had thought the subject would only trouble Taehee unnecessarily. He had planned to tell him eventually, when the opportunity came.

But somehow, he had missed the timing.

If he had known the meeting with the director would happen this suddenly, overnight like this, he would have told him long ago.

But now the meeting was right in front of him.

This was an emergency.

He needed to inform Yoon Taehee immediately and prepare together for the meeting that evening.

After a moment of hesitation, Jaegyeom picked up his phone and called Yoon Taehee.

-The person you are trying to reach is unavailable. You will be connected to voicemail...

Yoon Taehee did not answer.

The sky, which had been clear during the day, gradually filled with dark clouds, and by evening rain had begun to fall.

As midnight approached, Han Juyoung called. She was waiting at the hospital entrance and told him to come downstairs.

When Jaegyeom reached the first floor, an unfamiliar car was parked outside.

He got into the passenger seat while Han Juyoung drove. She said nothing during the ride to headquarters, and Jaegyeom, with nothing to say himself, simply stared out the window.

In the end, there was still no word from Yoon Taehee even deep into the night.

Jaegyeom had lost count of how many times he called. He had even sent a text telling him to call back because there was something important he needed to say, but no reply ever came.

He wondered if something had happened.

This was the first time Yoon Taehee had ever been so unreachable.

In the end, Jaegyeom never managed to tell him that he was going to meet the director.

When they arrived at headquarters, Jaegyeom followed Han Juyoung into the elevator.

Very few people knew where the director’s office was located.

Han Juyoung pressed several buttons at once, and the elevator began climbing endlessly upward without stopping on any floor.

The higher they went, the more anxious Jaegyeom became.

What kind of person was the director?

The director of the Office of Narye was Yoon Taehee’s enemy.

The very person who had ruined his life and driven him to dedicate everything to revenge.

The thought of meeting someone like that made an indescribable tension settle heavily over his entire body.

Why does she want to see me?

As Han Juyoung had said, perhaps she merely wanted to see his face and exchange greetings.

Something similar had happened when he met Seok Juryeon. He had been extremely nervous then too, worried he might be interrogated over something, only for it to amount to nothing in the end.

Jaegyeom tried his best to stay calm.

After ascending for what felt like forever, the elevator finally stopped.

The doors slid open.

A dim corridor stretched before him.

It resembled a tunnel, long and silent, with nothing at the end except a single door.

The bizarre atmosphere made Jaegyeom swallow dryly.

“Do you see the door at the end? Just go through there.”

Han Juyoung stepped out of the elevator first and pointed ahead as she explained the route and how to enter.

Her role as escort ended here.

Jaegyeom walked down the corridor exactly as instructed.

When he reached the end and opened the door, he found himself inside the bare outer office of the director. From there, he headed toward another door leading deeper inside.

When he opened that one, another wooden door appeared.

This had to be the last one.

Just as Jaegyeom carefully reached out to open it—

The moment the door swung open, an enormous garden unfolded before him.

Jaegyeom’s eyes widened.

Rain had been pouring outside only moments ago.

But here, a clear night sky stretched overhead beneath a bright round moon.

It felt as though he had stepped into an entirely different world.

At the far end of the vast garden stood a grand tiled-roof residence.

Once again, Jaegyeom found himself astonished that such a place could exist inside headquarters.

Overwhelmed by the surreal scenery, he stood frozen for several moments before abruptly snapping back to himself.

Crossing the wide garden, he eventually reached the inner residence.

Jaegyeom removed his shoes and stepped onto the wooden veranda.

Standing before the paper-paneled door, he hesitated briefly.

“What are you doing? Come in.”

A voice drifted from inside as though its owner had known all along that Jaegyeom had arrived.

Jaegyeom flinched.

After steeling himself, he slowly pulled the door open. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

The first thing he saw was a large folding screen.

And seated before it was an old woman with short white hair, dressed in voluminous traditional robes.

“Sit.”

The director neither introduced herself nor greeted him.

Her manner was strangely casual and familiar, as though they had known each other for years.

She brewed tea herself and slid a teacup toward him.

“Did you lose your way? I prepared the tea in advance, but it’s all gone cold now.”

Without even having the chance to greet her, Jaegyeom found himself sitting across from the director with a low heated-floor table between them. The entire situation felt bizarre.

“It’s very good tea, though. Cold tea can still be pleasant.”

As she spoke, the director pushed the teacup closer.

The gesture was steeped in formality.

Jaegyeom did not touch the tea placed before him.

He had no idea what might be inside it.

Reading the quiet caution in his eyes, the director smiled faintly.

“Smart boy.”

The director spoke with a benevolent smile.

“Yes. You must have learned something that day. You realized that drinking what others offer you can bring harm. But there’s nothing in this tea, so you may relax.”

At those incomprehensible words, Jaegyeom’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“......”

Still looking downward, Jaegyeom slowly lifted his gaze and stared intently at the director.

So this is Taehee’s enemy.

The person who took everything from him and ruined his life.

Yet the director gave an unexpectedly plain and unadorned impression. At the same time, there was something refined about her. If he had seen her on the street, he probably would have assumed she was merely some elderly woman from an influential family and passed by without another thought.

But the longer he looked at her, the stranger the sense of familiarity became.

“It’s rude to stare at your elders like that. What is there to see in an old woman like me?”

The director spoke casually while pouring tea with a smile.

“Youth is such a fleeting season...”

She murmured the words almost to herself.

“Youth disappears so quickly. People once told me I was quite beautiful in my younger days, but every time I look in the mirror now, I wonder when I became such a shabby old woman. Sometimes I feel like a stranger even to myself. It makes one lonely.”

Listening quietly, Jaegyeom lowered his gaze to the teacup and spoke.

“Do you really think that?”

“Growing old is ugly by nature.”

After a brief silence, Jaegyeom reached for the teacup.

“It’s natural for everyone to grow old.”

“But you don’t.”

Jaegyeom’s hand froze halfway to lifting the cup.

...What?

His head snapped upward.

The director had turned toward the distant window, gazing outside.

As though sensing his stare, she slowly looked back at him.

And in that instant, Jaegyeom’s eyes flew wide open.

His pupils trembled violently.

The face before him was familiar.

“...Suhyang?”

The teacup slipped from Jaegyeom’s hand at last.