The staff must have opened the door for him without suspicion. They probably thought he was a prostitute.

But for the past few years, Seoryeong had lived as a blind person—and she didn’t ignore the instincts her body sent her.

The moment the assassin lunged again with vicious eyes, she struck his groin once more. Even from a sitting position, her leg extended fluidly, grazing his knife with her kick.

Without pause, Seoryeong once again used her mouth to click, load the gun, and fired directly at his genitals with a bang—!

When his face contorted with pain and turned toward Channa, Seoryeong—bang—! bang bang—!—fired again and again.

From that point on, she emptied the magazine in a near-frenzy. The figure, who had been writhing, eventually collapsed in the kitchen with a slack thud.

“Huff... huff...”

Her hands trembled violently. Her entire body hurt, but Seoryeong didn’t lower the gun until the end. Her nerves were honed sharp like needles—if anyone even touched her slightly, a bullet would probably fly out reflexively.

—...Ryeong! If you’re alive, answer me!

A fierce shout pierced her ear. But Seoryeong couldn’t answer.

Fuck... This gun is hard as hell...

***

As soon as they climbed the stairs, the wretchedly familiar stench of blood hit the team. The cold, dead hallway was eerily silent.

While the other agents confirmed the deaths of the medic and the transport officer, Lee Wooshin headed straight for the kitchen. He hesitated for a moment at the sight of the shattered door—uncharacteristically.

“......”

He frowned briefly, brushing off the discomfort.

The kitchen was a wreck at a glance. Just one step inside, and the soles of his boots were soaked in an instant. The reddish liquid pooling on the floor was a mixture of doenjang soup and blood.

At the center of it all, a small-framed figure—likely the Thai assassin—lay dead, blood gushing from his lower body. Lee Wooshin’s gaze slowly shifted to the open pantry door.

“......”

Han Seoryeong was still holding the gun straight, aiming at someone. Wooshin bent down and checked her pupils.

A deep, heavy sigh escaped his lips.

“Whoa—looks like she passed out just like that.”

A team member who followed behind mumbled as he looked at Seoryeong.

Just as he said, Han Seoryeong had fainted. Moreover, her arm—the one holding the gun—was gashed so badly that the skin was practically shredded.

Even so, one hand stubbornly clutched Hur Channa, pressing tightly against her neck.

Stupid, stubborn woman.

The two of them, covered in blood and clinging to each other like a single lump of flesh, looked utterly ruined. Not that he’d expected them to be in one piece to begin with.

“What the hell are you standing around for? Move them.”

Wooshin scowled openly.

He’d told them to hold out, sure—but that was just a sugarcoated lie. It was better to thrash in desperation than to sit and wait for death.

Even so, the odds of Han Seoryeong and Hur Channa—neither of whom were combatants—surviving here had been zero.

He requested body bags from headquarters.

Specifically, he asked for four.

A terrible feeling struck him—that maybe it wasn’t the assassin, but he who had driven Han Seoryeong toward death.

Wooshin leaned on the sink for a moment and exhaled a breath that had been caught in his chest. Only then did his ribcage rise and fall, like he was finally breathing again.

Just then, the medical staff he’d called en route burst in with emergency stretchers.

And one of the agents whistled mockingly.

“Whoa—Team Leader, this fucker’s not a chick. He’s a guy.”

“What?”

“Definitely has balls.”

“......”

“Though it looks like the lady here blew ‘em apart.”

At those words, Wooshin bent one knee and lifted the dead man’s clothes.

Several bullets had embedded themselves in various parts of the kitchen, but quite a few had passed cleanly through the man’s body.

Four shots to the genitals, one to the neck.

His expression shifted oddly. The neck... It was eerily similar to where Hur Channa had been wounded.

“Holy shit, how’d she even catch on? She just nailed all the vital spots. That’s not instinct, that’s—!”

Just then, one of the medics moving the survivors said in an awkward tone.

“Um... she won’t let go of the gun.”

“......”

That’s not the owl I knew.

This was a stranger—a woman he’d never encountered before.

That fact alone flashed through his mind like a red alarm.

***gv

“――.”

She had dreamed an ancient dream.

Memories from so long ago they were almost imaginary floated through the haze as Seoryeong slowly cracked open her heavy eyelids.

The sterile white ceiling startled her for a moment, but the sound of a humidifier helped her realize—I’m not dead...

Then again, this ceiling is too white. For a second, she almost thought she was in heaven, completely out of her depth.

Even the chaotic stream of thoughts drained her energy, so she lay there, staring blankly upward. And just then—the hospital door opened.

A tall man in a suit entered like it was the most natural thing in the world. His eyes met hers, wide open.

“......!”

The moment she saw Lee Wooshin scowl, crumpling that sharp nose of his, all the memories she’d suppressed came rushing back.

She tried to sit up—but a bolt of pain stabbed through her right arm like an electric shock.

It felt like she’d been jabbed with knives, her whole arm burning and throbbing, like a freight truck had run it over. The pain was indescribable.

“Urgh...”

“Ah—looks like it hurts.”

Wooshin shoved his hands deep into his pockets and smirked.

“Nice. I’ve been waiting to see that look on your face. That ‘hurts-so-bad-I-could-die’ expression.”

She couldn’t tell whether to call him blunt or just confront him for being a shit the moment she woke up.

Seoryeong looked at him, utterly dumbfounded.

“What kind of person talks like # Nоvеlight # that?”

“Well, your right arm’s shredded but you’re alive, so should I compliment you on how cheap the price was?”

If nothing else, it was clear his mood was utterly foul.

Leaning lopsided on one leg, sneering down at her, his smirk twisted unpleasantly.

After staring at her for a beat, Wooshin finally plopped into the chair next to the bed, loosening his tie. His face was etched with visible fatigue.

“You probably have a lot of questions. What do you want to hear first?”

Seoryeong immediately thought of the short-haired girl’s face, but her lips wouldn’t move. The hot, mushy sensation that had squished under her thumb was still clinging to her fingertips.

Whatever her face looked like, Wooshin clicked his tongue and turned his head away.

“Hur Channa’s in the ICU.”

“...She’s alive?”

Her hands clenched the blanket before she realized it.

“Yeah. She made it. But she’s still unconscious.”

“......!”

“They performed emergency surgery at the scene in Thailand. But the bleeding was worse than expected—she had two major close calls. Her heart even stopped once.”

“......”

“You had your arm stitched up too. Between the anesthesia and the painkillers, you’ve been in and out for a while. As soon as the surgery wrapped up, we brought you straight back to Korea. It’s already been a week.”

He explained it all flatly, voice even.

Seoryeong nodded stiffly.

Wooshin slumped in the chair and pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose, eventually covering his eyes with one arm. Even as he spoke, he didn’t look at her.

“Your wrist ligaments are torn from the recoil. Your fingers are swollen, so we had to wrap them up.”

“Ah...”

“You’ll probably have trouble with daily tasks until it heals.”

“......”

“You got anyone who can take care of you?”

The pain flaring up in her chest kept her from answering.

Wooshin simply looked at her in silence.

“What, I thought you had a husband.”

“......!”

“He’s not on your family registry. Not listed as an emergency contact. Doesn’t show up even when his so-called wife gets hurt. Makes me wonder if he’s even real.”

He yanked his tie another inch.

After swallowing something bitter, he continued in the same indifferent tone.

“The doctor says even your gums are bruised. You’re on porridge duty for now. Supposedly it’s going to feel like crying every time you chew. No split lips, no busted jaw—so what the hell did you jam in there to get bruised like that?”

“Oh... that...”

Seoryeong rubbed her gums with her tongue. Sure enough, they still felt sore.

“What’s it called again? The slide? Sliden? Slison? Anyway, I didn’t have another hand. I couldn’t rack the gun properly. So...”

While Seoryeong explained casually, Wooshin abruptly pulled his arm away from his face. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

His slouched posture straightened, and he stared at her with sharp intensity.

His brows twitched like he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard.

As if looking at something completely absurd.