“He wants you to handle his protocol and security detail.”

“Is it a woman, by any chance?”

“No, it’s not.”

So, it was a man. Typically, female bodyguards were assigned only when the client was also female, or when requested due to unavoidable circumstances—or sometimes to soften the vigilance of potential threats.

But assigning a female guard to a male client without any clear reason... Seoryeong looked at him with suspicion.

“Is there a specific reason I have to be the one assigned?”

“The requirements to care for him are extremely complicated.”

“......!”

“Unfortunately, the man has a mental condition.”

The more he spoke, the more her expression twisted, like she’d swallowed spoiled food. Something about this didn’t feel right. The shock of encountering Kiya in Sakhalin still hadn’t worn off.

After experiencing a threat capable of dismantling her entire team, it was hard to accept any company-issued mission without hesitation.

Kang Taegon sipped his amber liquor and hesitated, then looked her in the eye again. His voice, lower now, carried the weight of a secret.

“Everyone expected him to reshape the world order...”

He only swirled the liquor in silence, his face tense.

“That brilliant mind is completely broken now.”

“.......”

“If he’d wanted it, he could’ve had everything—money, power, all of it. But he was too fragile. I heard he tried to take his own life multiple times, heavily depressed.”

“......!”

The story of this mysterious client made Seoryeong sit straighter, tension crawling up her spine.

“The first thing he did was stop eating. Put him in solitary and he’d bash his head against the wall. Tie him to the bed and he’d bite his own tongue. He kept trying to die, again and again, and those who followed him threw everything they had into keeping him alive.”

Kang Taegon’s heavy gaze looked like it was retracing a long and painful road.

“But there was no improvement. Eventually, they resorted to electroconvulsive therapy.”

“......!”

Her brow furrowed. Back when she worked at a convalescent hospital, she’d heard that ECT—electroconvulsive therapy—was sometimes helpful for severe depression.

Especially for elderly patients with delirium, anorexia, or self-harming tendencies, it had shown positive results. But it also came with the risk of losing months of memory—side effects not to be taken lightly.

“The treatment didn’t go well.”

Kang Taegon sighed and leaned back deep into the sofa.

“He still wants to die. He’s become a fool who doesn’t even know his own name.”

“......!”

Seoryeong silently swallowed a sigh. Maybe it was the sense that this wasn’t voluntary treatment—or maybe it was the word “followers.” The more she heard about this so-called VIP client, the heavier her chest felt.

Something about bringing back a man who was already mentally gone made her feel deeply uneasy.

Were they really just trying to assign her to a simple protective detail? Or was there something more...?

“But this man... when anyone approaches, he has seizures, throws whatever’s in reach. And yet, strangely, he seems to calm down around young, strong women with black hair.”

“......!”

“No one knows why, but around those types, he apparently leaks bits of his memory like dribbling urine.”

A strange glint passed through Kang Taegon’s otherwise expressionless eyes.

“Stop him from self-harming, help him lower his guard. All you have to do, Agent Han Seoryeong, is pick up the scraps of what he says and pass them on to us. That information... is worth a fortune from our perspective.”

“Who exactly is this man?”

At her question, Kang Taegon downed his glass in one shot and raised the empty glass like a toast.

“A terrorist trapped in the past.”

It felt like her skull had just been struck. First drug lord security, then a cult priest—and now a brain-dead terrorist as her client?

But the shock passed quickly. Seoryeong had already grasped what Kang Taegon wanted. She opened her mouth without wavering. She wouldn’t be caught in another trap.

“There are plenty of female bodyguards besides me, aren’t there?”

“......”

But Kang Taegon only gave a faint smile and offered no answer.

***

How many calls had he made now?

No matter how many times he dialed, Han Seoryeong didn’t pick up.

Lee Wooshin sat propped against the bed, clutching his nearly drained phone with a fierce grip. The acrid scent of alcohol stung his nose as it was poured over his mangled foot.

“――.”

She’d said she was just going to the bathroom. Then she vanished without a word.

Logically, he understood she’d left in confusion. But the longer he waited and she didn’t come back, the more it felt like his blood was draining out of his body.

He knew he needed to give her time. But the restlessness was unbearable. Even a few seconds of silence dried his mouth and pushed him to the edge.

The only thoughts blazing through him were violent: to crush her in his arms, to kiss her forever, to strip her completely and make her his.

“Haa...”

His sigh came out like a suppressed growl, startling the nurse who had been changing his sterile gauze.

“Are you in a lot of pain, sir?”

“At this rate, I might die.”

“Pardon?!”

“Just tie me down so I can’t take a single step.”

Lee Wooshin shut his eyes tight and banged the back of his head against the wall. The tension was so palpable the nurse’s hands trembled. He hurled his phone aside, like he was severing a vein. She quietly continued the dressing and began listing the precautions.

“If this gets infected, it’ll be a serious problem... The wound is deep and wide, so there’s a high risk. Starting tomorrow, we’ll include an antibiotic cream and keep dressing it regularly. If infection sets in, early treatment is crucial. You need daily changes or it won’t heal properly.”

“......”

“Leaving it alone, even if it hurts, is the worst option...! We’ll take care of it every day.”

“......”

Wasn’t he the one who said he’d bury the past and stay by her side? That he’d erase her father, her mission, all of it? Suddenly, every promise he’d made felt disgusting.

After her rant, the nurse fixed the new bandages in place with binding tape and swiftly disposed of the blood- and pus-soaked gauze.

As he looked at the thin single layer of gauze, he let out a bitter exhale.

What was that flimsy thing supposed to protect, anyway? It wasn’t even impressive...

He’d married Han Seoryeong with a mix of cold calculation, hostility, and scorn. He hadn’t even felt guilty about deceiving her. The house reduced to ash had made it all easier. The explosion he still saw when he closed his eyes had thoroughly numbed him.

Marrying the Owl was supposed to mean nothing. Lying to one woman, making her miserable—what of it? That belief had propped him up like armor. He’d had his reasons...

That crusted, filthy gauze would soon be tossed into the trash. Watching the stainless cart fill with dirtied dressings, Lee Wooshin showed only a twisted smile.

Fuck, it really isn’t much, is it...?

If that gauze had to be replaced every single day, then every single day he would have to scrape away all the rationalizations he’d built up until now.

Like someone whose illness had returned full-force, Lee Wooshin reached out with trembling arms and searched for his phone. He wanted to see her. He missed her like he was losing his mind.

Just then—ding—a message alert lit up the screen, and his darkened eyes brightened for a moment. His heart leapt in hope, but the moment he saw the display, his expression turned ice-cold.

“――.”

An unknown international number.

It could’ve been dismissed as spam, but he saw something—at the top of the message, the word “Kiya.”

With a thumb as stiff as stone, he tapped the screen. A cryptic file had been sent inside the message.

audio 001.m4a

Lee Wooshin furrowed his brows deeply. Only after the nurse left the room with her cart did he raise the phone to his ear. The voice that came through was...

—Sonia... needed an anchor. Someone named Kim Hyeon.

The moment he heard that familiar voice, Lee Wooshin froze like he’d been punched in the gut.

—Even if she met Ligai, she wouldn’t be swept away. That hook lodged into her life—

—That was her husband?

—Yeah. That’s why I didn’t want to kill him right away.

A stifled giggle followed. That laugh... It was Kiya.

—I figured disappearing would drive Sonia crazier than dying. And I was right. Even now, her whole life still revolves around Kim Hyeon.

—Hmph...

—The more I killed and revived Kim Hyeon, the deeper Sonia got pulled in. That shattered obsession is the only thing keeping her mind intact. Even that great Ligai won’t be able to get past Kim Hyeon...!

—.......

—So tell me, what makes you think you can steal Sonia now, huh—

Suddenly, the sound of something shattering rang out violently. A faint groan was heard, followed by chaotic clatter that crashed in waves.

—Shut the hell up...! Sonia was mine from the start. You’re the one who stole her—like a damn dog—!

Why were those two... why were they talking?

His hand trembled uncontrollably as he clutched the phone. The conversation made no sense. The relationship made no sense. The names made no sense.

Jo-ya. Jo-ya.

—If you hadn’t stolen my Sonia from Winter Castle...!

Something like a claw scraped the back of his neck. The name Jo Seolheon pierced into his temple like a blade. A shock he couldn’t even begin to explain rippled outward.