“Ugh...”

I can’t see anything... It’s pitch black...

No matter how many times she blinked, no light reached her eyes. A familiar fear struck her chest with a thud, sending a cold chill through her gut.

She tried to make sense of her situation by shaking her body, stiff and sluggish. Clink, clink—the handcuffs rattled, and a dull ache throbbed from her shoulders all the way down to both wrists. Her limbs were bound to something like a hard wooden chair.

“Haa...”

As expected—liar. He said he’d be right next to me when I woke up. As she rapidly moved her eyelids, she felt her stiff eyelashes brush against something. Only then did she realize it wasn’t her eyes that were damaged—it was just a blindfold. Her blocked breath burst out in relief.

“You total scam artist...”

“You talking about me?”

Her head snapped up. The voice came from closer than expected, low and quiet. The sharp scent of fresh paint filled the air.

“You were... right there?”

“Don’t move your arms too much. You’ll get hurt.”

“Then take off the blindfold...!”

She yelled at him. Maybe she should’ve just pulled the trigger the moment she saw him. But the surge of emotion when she came face-to-face with Kim Hyun had exposed feelings she hadn’t even realized she still held.

The grueling sea voyage. The even more brutal training before that... And yet, seeing Kim Hyun’s face brought a sudden sense of release. Maybe now I can finally be free from all this pain. That bittersweet sense of loss came first. Not that it meant she was going to let him off easy.

“You said you'd stay next to me, and now you're playing word games...? What, are we blindfolding ourselves for some cozy childhood game?”

“I’ll take it off.”

Creeaak—an old chair groaned, followed by the clear sensation of someone moving nearby. He gently touched the back of Seoryeong’s hand.

“If you listen to your husband.”

In that moment, Seoryeong didn’t hold back—she slammed her forehead forward. A sharp crack rang out as their heads collided. She swung her entire body and chair together, slamming into him.

“—!”

The weak chair shattered, and Seoryeong freed her bound legs, then kicked Kim Hyun hard in the gut. But almost immediately, her ankle was grabbed and she was slammed down onto the table.

“Ugh...!”

A numbing pain rippled across her back. She knew in her head that Kim Hyun was a NIS agent, but getting into a physical fight with him like this felt jarring and surreal.

As Kim Hyun clicked his tongue and moved to help her up, Seoryeong didn’t hesitate—she rolled her body and dropped under the table. The chair crashed down and splintered beside her, and her limbs were finally free.

She reached up to tear off the blindfold—but suddenly, thud—a heavy weight pressed down on her. A large hand pinned her face while his hips mounted her.

“Babe, are you seriously not grasping the situation here?”

“Ugh...!”

“You made a much bigger mess than you realize, Seoryeong.”

She couldn’t move at all. His steel-thick thighs pinned down her lower body, and his massive hand clamped around her wrist. But even more than the physical restraint, the intimate nickname made her freeze.

While she was stunned, Kim Hyun shoved a broken chair leg between her lips like a gag.

“The «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» Chinese soldiers you wiped out—”

“Mmph...!”

“There’s a whole list of issues: gag order, medical costs, damages. And worst-case scenario? They could officially request your extradition.”

“......”

“If I hadn’t smuggled you out ahead of time, you’d either be shot dead on the spot or hit with a fatal dose of drugs in China. Their laws don’t give a damn. You almost dropped dead overseas, you get that now?”

Somehow, their bodies were locked together tight.

“How long are you going to keep rampaging around like a mare in heat?”

“Ngh...!”

Saliva dribbled out from the corner of her gagged mouth. Her vision was still completely black, her lips wouldn’t close properly, and her whole body was pinned. Heat rushed to the back of her neck in sheer humiliation. Yet Kim Hyun’s voice didn’t change in tone at all.

“Once the interrogation’s over, I’ll send you home early.”

“......!”

“Depending on how you answer, we could either charge you for violating the National Security Act... or cover it all up. So cooperate. Right now the NIS is busy cleaning up the shitstorm you left behind.”

“Mmm...!”

Suddenly, a throbbing sensation pulsed through the back of her head. As she twisted her body in a garbled grunt, Kim Hyun leaned in harder. Only then did it fully register: she was here to be interrogated by her own husband.

A hand slipped under her arm and hauled her up. He dragged her to a new chair, sat her down, checked the handcuffs again, then picked up the entire chair and slammed it down in front of the table. She could feel him leaning forward, gripping the armrests.

“Were you trying to incite tension between nations, undermine regional peace and security, or spread disinformation for hostile purposes?”

He pulled the gag—broken chair leg—from her mouth like he expected an answer. This version of Kim Hyun felt nothing like the man she remembered. Seoryeong ran her tongue over her aching front teeth.

“Does it matter what I say?”

“Of course it matters. You embarrassed the entire country. And personally, I’m hoping I was wrong about you.”

“Then I’m sorry to disappoint.”

“......”

“I did it all knowing exactly what I was doing. You, the NIS—I probably hoped you'd all go to hell.”

Seoryeong replied with a mocking sneer.

“But since you’ve only come to arrest me now, I must’ve done a damn good job.”

“......”

“You probably can’t even imagine how hopeless it’s been all this time.”

She gave a strangely light smile, and Kim Hyun’s voice turned colder.

“You’re still full of hot air, huh.”

“......!”

“Maybe it’s because I always cleaned up your messes? Can’t even figure out what situation you’re in? If you get branded as taking orders from the North, it’s over. If some rat leaks that to the press—failed defection, quantum-encryption summit bombing, the deputy director’s kidnapping, this latest mess—just mix it all together.”

He pressed hard on her lower lip with a fingernail, sending a sting of pain.

“You’ll never get to play these games with me again.”

“—.”

Her face went stiff. But not because of him—because of the person those words reminded her of...

Her senses snapped back. She remembered the tracker. Sure, biting his face had been partly emotional—but mostly, it was to buy time and get close enough to attach the location tracker.

But even if she stuck it on his clothes or shoes, an agent like him would ditch them fast. She’d considered placing it near his neck, but she couldn’t tell where the mask ended and his real skin began.

She only had one chance. It had to be placed somewhere he couldn’t easily change. When she headbutted and knocked him down, she’d peeled the film from her sleeve and slapped it onto his sock. Shoes he might switch in a hurry—but socks?

Now came the real chase. She had to wrap up this interrogation fast if she wanted to track his safehouse or routes. Her hands trembled with the urge to contact Channa right this second. She just wanted to get out of here and confirm it had worked.

“From now on, the NIS is going to play dumb—no matter who makes a request. But that only works if you behave, keep your head down, and don’t cause any more trouble.”

“......”

“It’s simple. This is an agreement not to protest being under surveillance for a while. Sign here and you’re free to go.”

She still couldn’t see. The soft voice sounded just like the past, but her heart felt frozen.

A clipboard was placed on the table, followed by the click of a pen cap opening. As Seoryeong turned her head away in silence, he suddenly grabbed her chin and lifted it. As if trying to make eye contact.

“Don’t like it? Not satisfied with my terms?”

“......”

“Then should we get back together? Try a weekend marriage or something?”

He sounded like he was bargaining, and Seoryeong bit down hard. Bastard. That thing wearing Kim Hyun’s face—it was too fake. She was certain now: whatever mask he peeled off, it wouldn’t be a face she recognized. The moment she saw the real one, he’d vanish like smoke.

“There was a time... when I would've gone blind again, just to have you back. So even if I did something crazy, I didn’t regret it. But these days... I think I’d actually regret it a little.”

“......”

“Give me the pen.”

Her voice was steady.

“I’ll think of it as signing the divorce papers I never got to stamp back then.”

For now, she had to play along—to get out of here. Her face stayed blank, but inside her head, the clock hands were spinning non-stop.

Just thinking about the tracker made her heart pound and her mouth dry. She shook her arm, as if to say hurry and take these cuffs off.

“I don’t need to get back together—I won’t do anything dangerous anymore.”

“......”

“Actually... I have a new man.”

The breath she’d felt so close stopped cold. A chair scraped back. Her neck jerked sharply with the movement. At the same time, the blindfold pressing against her temples slid away, almost comically light.

“Who is it, if not me?”