Inside the office, Seoryeong absentmindedly squeezed and released a hand grip. Every time the door opened, she glanced over, and each time, she made eye contact with one of the team members walking in.

They were all familiar faces, but not the one she was waiting for. Each time she confirmed that, she scratched at her nape. When she offered a sheepish nod, she was invariably scolded:

“What’s with that face? You look like shit.”

Even Gitaemin, crunching into an apple as he passed by, muttered under his breath, “Didn’t sleep at all, huh.” Suddenly, the red marks scattered across her body started itching uncontrollably.

This morning, she’d arrived at work side by side with Lee Wooshin, her hair still damp from not drying it completely.

He’d passed her a fresh towel from the back seat. She’d turned on the heater. The rhythm of it all felt so natural, so practiced, that it was almost unsettling.

Wooshin had told her she should just take sick leave, but lying in bed wasn’t going to fix her aching muscles. And besides, collapsing from sex was a little too humiliating for someone who was supposed to be a combat operative.

Being utterly destroyed once was enough—for yesterday. She’d rather move her body and think about what came next.

Her hands trembled as she squeezed the grip tighter. Just thinking about Deputy Director Ju Seolheon made her grit her teeth. She wanted to do something, anything, to keep herself from stewing.

“Hey, Operative Han Seoryeong...”

It was Jin Hoje, approaching with a serious expression. He glanced around the room before speaking.

“I overheard something weird on my way up just now...”

“.......”

“I mean, it didn’t make much sense, but still.”

Seoryeong stopped fiddling with the grip and looked at him. He tilted his head, wearing a vaguely troubled expression.

“Some guy said he saw you at the Grand Hotel.”

“......!”

“I told him not to spout bullshit—why would one of our Special Security Team operatives be there? But he kept yelling, practically spitting, swearing he’d seen you clear as day.”

From the sofa, Gitaemin muttered, “What a nutjob...”

“You’ve got a pretty distinct face. Not the kind of person people mistake easily. So I figured I’d ask the person involved—do you know what the hell that was about?”

Seoryeong blinked innocently and shook her head as if she had no idea. Jin Hoje, who had leaned in close, swallowed hard and opened his mouth again—only for the office door to suddenly burst open.

Lee Wooshin entered.

The scattered team members gathered at once. Seoryeong quickly put the hand grip down and straightened her posture. Wooshin walked in with heavy steps, his face stiff, briefly glancing at the two of them standing close together.

His hand was visibly bruised—several knuckles on the back of his hand were raw and red, as if he’d been punching something. The tension radiating from him made the other operatives start glancing at each other, uneasy.

“Team Leader, is something wrong?”

But Wooshin merely checked his watch and gave a flat, emotionless command.

“You have one hour. Pack your gear.”

“......!”

Seoryeong blinked in surprise and looked around, but the others didn’t even flinch. It was obvious they were used to this kind of sudden deployment.

“We’ve got an urgent assignment. I’ll explain in detail on the move. Dawit, you’re in charge of essential gear. Gitaemin, you’ll need to secure firearms on-site—confirm the vendors and the route. Jin Hoje, wake Hur Channa and have her establish GPS and comms with Sakhalin Monastery. Help the rookie pack. Actually, never mind—I’ll handle her. Everyone else, assemble in one hour.”

As he issued his orders, Wooshin’s cold gaze landed on Seoryeong, still sitting frozen, before sliding away just as quickly. The team immediately dropped what they were doing and moved like clockwork.

The moment everyone cleared out, Seoryeong felt her wrist grabbed, and her body was yanked forward. In an instant, her temple slammed into a broad, solid chest. Wooshin pulled her into a crushing hug and buried his face in the nape of her neck.

“Sir, what are you—”

“Promise me. Promise you won’t leave my side.”

His hot breath landed directly on her skin. Finally, it sounded like he could breathe again; he let out a long, exhausted exhale.

Clueless, Seoryeong gave him a couple of weak pats on the back. That earned her a quiet laugh, falling against her collarbone.

“This is your first real mission, Operative Han Seoryeong.”

“.......”

“You’re not going to perform even half as well as you did in training. You’ll probably screw up. You might get hurt. But I’m going to keep you with me and teach you myself. If there’s something about that you don’t like, say so now.”

“No, I understand. Thank you for looking out for me.”

She nodded as she patted his arm. It was her way of telling him to let go. But he just pressed his face in deeper and tightened his arms around her. His thick arms wrapped around her back like roots, squeezing her so hard she thought her ribs might crack.

“You don’t want to see anything else, huh... I get it.”

“Pardon?”

His voice was half-muttered, and she wasn’t sure she heard him right. When she asked, he didn’t respond. He just rubbed his high, sharp nose insistently against her shoulder.

...Was this guy really under the impression he could just shove that giant frame into her arms? Seoryeong exhaled sharply. She was starting to get pushed backward from the pressure.

Wooshin buried his face in her neck again, breathing in her scent like an addict. Then, suddenly, he grabbed the back of her head and yanked it back.

“Mm—mph...”

His hot tongue parted her lips and pushed past them in an instant. His ragged breath crashed into her mouth.

Supporting her head, he drove his kiss deep, sweeping his tongue into her mouth with desperate, restless movements. It was a kiss full of anxious tension.

The heat from the night before stirred again. Her lower body pulsed with ache. His desperate breath washed over her, and her lips quickly dampened.

Haah... She couldn’t match his breathing pace, so instead of pushing him away, she pulled him closer. Her fingertips found the jut of his shoulder blade.

Their bodies, pressed together in that fierce embrace, beat with one rhythm. After a short, intense exchange of tongues, Wooshin finally pulled back and said with grim finality:

“You promised me.”

Seoryeong couldn’t tell if that promise was personal or professional.

***

“I called him for personal reasons. Just wanted to play.”

The accent was a little clumsy, but still perfectly understandable. The priest who mumbled that statement fiddled with the cross around his neck, slowly blinking and unblinking. His gaze didn’t meet the camera, lost in some internal reverie.

Blast Corp Chairman’s Office.

This wasn’t the usual kind of job where Kang Taegon sent female bodyguards to Russia. The fact that the Special Security Team was being specifically summoned made the request feel sudden and suspicious.

But Blast Corp had grown fat on Russian investment. Refusing their orders was never an option.

“How is he doing?”

“Same as always.”

The answer came with complete disinterest. It probably meant he wasn’t improving in the slightest.

At some point, Kiya’s chair had started to spin. She had a husband. She had a husband... he hummed faintly.

As the chair turned, sometimes hiding his face behind its backrest, something violent flickered across his otherwise blank expression. She had a husband.

Was that a song lyric? He kept humming, muttering Russian curses between bars. His eyes remained far off, never once looking into the lens.

They said he’d grown up in the monastery since he was a child. Maybe because of that, Kiya felt fundamentally different from worldly people. He carried the emptiness of a cloister, but sometimes that hollowness gave way to such explosive energy it made people backpedal.

They’d received the request from Kiya, who represented the Sakhalin branch, some time ago. But no one had truly figured the young man out yet.

At the very least, one thing was clear: that pale, delicate-looking face was deceiving. He wasn’t just devout—he was fanatical, sometimes violently so.

“Блять!”

Another vicious curse. The chair spun faster and faster.

Then suddenly, Kiya’s eyes snapped toward the camera.

“If she was married, then obviously she fucked, right?”

“......!”

He moved so fast Kang Taegon flinched. The chaotic chair ground to a stop. His features, distorted by the camera lens, looked monstrous.

“So what, people around here take sex seriously too?”

“.......” 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

“As seriously as I do?”

Was he drunk? For someone supposedly devout, he was acting shockingly unhinged...

“Это пиздец!”

Fuckin’ hell, or this is fucked. Kang Taegon cleared his throat and hurriedly cut to the point.

“There’s no need to worry about operations here. The succession ceremony for the second prophet is proceeding as planned. But is it really true that he will come to Korea in person? If so, perhaps we should send the black-haired girl ahead of time—”

Kiya ignored him.

“Oh—!”

Kang rubbed his chin thoughtfully and added:

“The female operative we were planning to use for that is actually the new recruit on the Special Security Team headed to Sakhalin...”

“Han Seoryeong?”

Kiya’s expression twisted sharply.

“Yes, that girl is indeed Han Seoryeong, but how did you—”

“Don’t call Sonya that.”

“Excuse me?”

“That name doesn’t suit her.”

His lips pouted slightly. Kang Taegon hesitated. But Kiya only smiled and bowed his head.

So it’s fate after all. You were always going to meet your father, Sonya. He muttered the words and made the sign of the cross with one hand. Then, still smiling, he added:

“Just letting you know now—rebuild your Special Security Team.”

“...What?”

“Didn’t want you getting sad if you lost too much money.”

Kang Taegon stared hard at the monitor, eyebrows furrowed. But Kiya only [N O V E L I G H T] pressed a kiss to the cross.

“From God’s perspective, humans are just mist that exists today and vanishes tomorrow.”

Then he slammed the tip of the cross into the lens, shattering it with a sharp crack.

The screen buzzed, then went dark.