“Could you make a quick trip to Sakhalin?”

The clear ice inside the whiskey glass clinked gently.

Top floor of Blast Corp HQ.

Lee Wooshin had pushed all of today’s scheduled drills to the afternoon, planning to devote the morning to tending to Seoryeong. But then, out of nowhere, came a summons from the Chairman. And now—Sakhalin? His face hardened noticeably.

Kang Taegon had often sent female bodyguards to Saint Petersburg. He was also the one who’d pulled Han Seoryeong into Blast Corp in the first place. More than the suspected corruption between the NIS and Blast, that was what grated on him the most.

The moment he saw the open sky stretching out in all directions, he thought of the Owl. Just the thought alone made heat swell in his breath.

When he’d gotten ready for work, Han Seoryeong had insisted on coming with him, brimming with unnecessary military discipline. He’d briefly considered tying her down to the bed, but the murderous look in her eyes had been so infuriatingly beautiful it stirred something in his gut—so he’d just thrown her in the passenger seat. Ever since, his nerves had been focused entirely on the lower floor.

He’d told her firmly to eat first before he came upstairs, but the thought of her being the only woman among all those operatives had him seething again.

After clinging to him like that yesterday, she’d probably be sitting there, face all hazy and sluggish, chewing slowly with her cheeks puffed out. His eyebrow twitched ever so slightly.

“Looks like you’ve got some time before the Africa trip.”

Lee Wooshin’s gaze flicked briefly across the black cane resting beside Chairman Kang and smoothly swept over the room.

“We received a request from the Sakhalin Monastery.”

“......!”

Fuck. Lee Wooshin cursed inwardly without meaning to.

Sakhalin Monastery—that was the Eastern Orthodox Church’s heretical branch. His head flushed hot, then went cold, but his expression didn’t flinch. A job inside a stronghold like that? His instincts were sounding alarms.

“Russia’s currently detaining children of dissidents inside monasteries. They’d like our company to monitor the kids until negotiations are over.”

“Children. In the monastery?”

He frowned as he asked, and the reply he got felt somehow off.

“They’re just little kids. You can’t exactly keep them in a cell or some tiny side room, can you.”

“.......”

“You may not know, but there are quite a few East Asians at Sakhalin Monastery. The operatives being sent in need to blend in physically—and ideally, they shouldn’t be able to speak with the children. That’s why they contacted us.”

“Is this an official request?”

“It is.”

That easy, picturesque smile. But for a unit like the Special Security Team, it was a troubling request. It seemed simple enough on the surface, but there were too many red flags for Wooshin to ignore.

“I believe this is the first request involving children since you became team ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) leader. Aren’t all members of the Special Security Team unmarried? Some soldiers have a particular weakness when it comes to kids, you see.”

“.......”

“But if you can’t overcome sympathy, you’ll never be able to handle real work.”

“Isn’t passive surveillance a bit beneath our team?”

When Lee Wooshin expressed his discontent, Kang Taegon nodded in agreement.

“True enough. But the person who made the request is an old client of mine. A business partner, too. Said he wouldn’t be at ease unless it was the Special Security Team handling it. I had no choice.”

Lee Wooshin clenched and unclenched his fists.

“Then I’ll select three people and send them. The rookie can’t go—she’s on sick leave.”

“You mean Han Seoryeong?”

“......!”

His jaw tensed the moment her name was spoken aloud. It meant Kang still hadn’t lost interest in her. The fact that she was mentioned at all made his skin crawl with rage.

Just then, Kang Taegon, who’d been idly swirling his drink, suddenly narrowed his eyes.

“Oh dear... Seems our client wants the entire Special Security Team.”

“Wants to... invite us?”

It felt like static snapped through his nerves.

Back when the Director of the Mongolian Economic Development Bureau was killed, there’d been a report that Seoryeong had brushed shoulders with a Sakhalin-based Boogeyman at the venue.

Lee Wooshin loosened his necktie, suppressing the sudden uptick in his breath.

Those trained in extreme environments never forget a face. That’s how people in this field operate.

If she were to encounter that man again at the monastery—even once—that would be enough. Her image would embed itself in some contractor’s memory, imprinting her existence.

Just imagining that possibility made his teeth grind. The wave of disgust that surged up from his gut felt like vomit.

Was it vigilance, or was it hostility? Was it male instinct, or agent intuition? He didn’t know. All he knew was that the dread was so intense his fingers trembled.

On top of that, Han Seoryeong had once been someone the NIS protected to an extreme degree. Even if that operation had since ended, the real identity of Rigai was still unknown.

No one could say for sure whether it was safe for her to meet another ethnic Korean under such circumstances. His nerves burned like live wire.

“Then you’ll need to call Han Seoryeong back.”

Kang Taegon laughed heartily as he said it.

“I passed along some helpful information, you know. It’s obvious, really. She’s probably taking sick leave after the mess at the post-quantum encryption symposium yesterday.”

“......!”

So that’s where he got it. Wooshin bit down on his tongue.

“Don’t fall for the sick leave. Call everyone in.”

The Chairman downed the rest of his whiskey in one go and set the glass down with finality.

Lee Wooshin closed his cold eyes for a long moment before opening them again.

He had already installed the hacking module Poison Tab on all the executives’ phones, siphoning off every scrap of contact data. The mission was going smoothly. If nothing went wrong, this would be his last operation with the NIS. It was only a matter of time.

So breathe. Don’t provoke Chairman Kang unnecessarily. Don’t stir up something better left alone.

“Sir, if I may... are you a member of the Sakhalin branch?”

“......!”

The amusement drained instantly from Kang’s eyes.

Wooshin met his gaze head-on, waiting for an answer.

In the past, Kang Taegon had been a gangster who made backroom vodka deals with the Russian mafia.

He’d used that money to found a small security firm, which he then built into East Asia’s largest military contractor. An obsessive businessman who’d devoted everything to that path.

There’d never been any sign of religious affiliation—but Wooshin no longer trusted what was written in files.

“I don’t believe in God.”

Kang smiled as he stroked his cane.

“But people can’t live without believing in something, you know.”

“.......”

“I do follow them, yes—but more precisely, I follow their money. It’s money that drags people into the mud, or lifts them out of it. Isn’t that a miracle in itself? Is there any god that performs greater ones than money does?”

Money... So Russian money—Orthodox Church money—was already flowing in? In the form of political donations, religious subsidies, investment capital?

If that’s how he was growing his private army—

A cold gleam flickered in Lee Wooshin’s eyes. What Deputy Director Ju Seolheon was truly watching wasn’t just leaks between Blast Corp and the NIS. It was the deeper lobbying connection between the NIS and Russia.

She had been suspicious of the Director of the NIS himself. If this turned out the way she planned, it wouldn’t be long before she seized power.

It was right in front of him now. If he waited a little longer, someone’s head would roll. The long-coveted records from Castle Winter, the suffocating burden of duty—it was all nearing its end.

But even if he escaped this field... could he ever live like a normal human being again? Even he didn’t know the answer. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

“Then, Team Leader Lee Wooshin—what is it you believe in?”

“I don’t believe in anything.”

Kang Taegon’s gaze lingered on him. Hmm... He looked intrigued.

“They say faith is the evidence of things not seen.”

“.......”

“You’ve lived a life without leaving behind a single trace of that.”

Lee Wooshin didn’t even blink. His face was blank, like a perfectly carved sculpture with nothing inside.

He had always lived wearing a silicon mask, becoming someone else. A man who existed, but did not truly exist.

His face, his posture, his voice—and even his emotions, his promises. Everything had changed, and he himself had become that sort of man. In such a world, there was nothing to believe in. He’d even mastered how to suppress his pulse and blood color to fool lie detectors.

So he lived by eliminating threats one by one. Careful. Paranoid. Deceitful. That was the only way he knew how to survive. Even in precious relationships, he operated that way.

If truth became an obstacle, then bury the truth. If it was Kim Hyeon, then bury Kim Hyeon.

For the first time in his life, he’d started to dream—shamelessly—of a life where he could be with her.

Just then, there was a quiet giggle.

“――!”

Kang Taegon jumped up and walked to his desk, spinning the monitor toward them.

Had he been in a video call before this meeting? On the screen was a man in a black cassock, his stare intense and greasy.

The thought that he might’ve heard everything made Wooshin instinctively scowl.

“Oh, where are my manners...!”

Kang Taegon’s wrinkled face lit up like he was introducing an old friend.

“This is the one who made the Sakhalin request.”

“......!”

At those words, the priest with the sharp, morbid expression slowly curled his lips into a grin.

“привет, лжец (hello, liar).”

Their eyes locked across the monitor.

Hello, liar.

That’s what the priest said.