“We’ve reviewed your resume. I see your reference is Intelligence Team Leader Jung Pilgyu?”

He spoke as if it were quite a surprise.

“Since it’s a referral, this is mostly a formality anyway.”

“Yes.”

“Says here you’ve been a full-time housewife since getting married.”

He tapped the résumé he was holding like knocking on a door, then asked,

“You good at dishes and laundry?”

“......”

Seoryeong simply looked at him in silence. But it seemed her answer didn’t matter. The interviewer quickly # Nоvеlight # changed the subject, mumbling more to himself than to her.

“Says you’ve been working as a caregiver since you were basically an adult... then you’d be good at taking care of patients, I guess.”

“Patients?”

“Well... lots of injuries, occasional tantrums, plenty of injections—figured it’s pretty much the same deal...”

The man spoke lazily, with no real enthusiasm.

“Since you’ve been a housewife, you must be good at cooking too...”

“I’m not terrible.”

It really was one of the only things she could do, so even his half-hearted questions didn’t bother her.

She had gotten in by blackmailing Jung Pilgyu, but from this point on, everything was up to her.

Even doing something bad required planning and preparation. Seoryeong simply needed to lie low, keep her head down, listen in, and watch. Then she could figure out how to bait her husband.

The moment of opportunity would come by instinct.

“All you really have to do is laundry, cooking, and dishes. Except for the ridiculous volume, it’s not all that different from doing it at home...”

“......”

“Machines will do most of the work anyway. We needed a younger pair of hands, so I’m glad you joined.”

Her brow twitched.

Of course, Blast Corp didn’t hire only elite combatants. Plenty of employees in admin and accounting had never even held a gun, much less fired one.

The logistics division—which handled driving, food, dishwashing, and laundry—was where Seoryeong would be working.

The man skimmed over a copy of her bank account, then closed the file.

“You’ll start officially on Monday. From now on, please take good care of our troops. Don’t let the training gear pile up—gather it on time so it doesn’t start stinking. We’re counting on you for meals too.”

“Yes.”

“Our company finally has a young housewife on staff...! Most women in their twenties don’t want this kind of job, so the rest of them are all fifty or sixty.”

Humming a tune, he turned his back to leave. Seoryeong asked softly as he began walking away.

“Since most of the staff here are soldiers, there must be all kinds of equipment too, right?”

“...Yeah, well. The gear team handles it securely. Why? You scared?”

The interviewer chuckled like he found her oddly endearing.

“That’s not it. I just think you should shut your mouth a little.”

“...Sorry?”

“Aren’t you even scared?”

Seoryeong stared at him with an icy expression. Her words, missing a subject, were intentionally vague, but something in her cold gaze made the man’s face suddenly flush red.

And that’s how Seoryeong, who wanted to become a criminal, took her first step—as the housemaid.

The road ahead was far, far too long.

***

“Fuck, this is fucking brutal. I feel like I’m gonna die...”

“Who the hell is this new commander to design a training program like this?”

“Shut up and go wash, your breath smells like bootcamp.”

The loud ruckus at the end of the hallway swelled like a crashing wave. Every sentence ended in curses, with groans of pain mixed in.

The locker room, which had been empty a moment ago, quickly filled with large-framed men.

It was the final group from the morning schedule. After finishing physical training, the Blast-affiliated operatives piled in, their pumped-up muscles bulging through their upper bodies.

Their sweat-drenched training uniforms arced through the air like parabola shots into the laundry bins.

Only once all the men had entered the shower room did the signal turn green—locker room clear. Seoryeong stared at the now-lit button and opened the door to step in.

The laundry bin was nearly overflowing from the morning’s relentless training. As she tugged on the handle, the wheels beneath clattered against the floor. Even with her thin white mask on, the stench of sweat was overpowering.

It had already been a month since she started working at Blast Corp.

Wearing a plain uniform and apron, Seoryeong had been moving nonstop. The work had kept her so busy, she barely had time to think.

Three times a day, she assisted the chef in preparing mass meals, washed the training uniforms, and sorted the dried clothes by name tag to return to each soldier.

The logistics department skewed older in age and was severely understaffed. Barely a dozen people were responsible for managing the civilian unit’s entire domestic operations.

At this rate, how was she supposed to kidnap the Deputy Director and find her husband...? A faint sigh escaped behind her mask.

Rolling her stiff shoulders, Seoryeong made her way to the cafeteria. As she entered the kitchen, a matronly staff member wearing a hygiene cap and mask greeted her.

“Seoryeong, you haven’t eaten yet, right?”

“I was just about to.”

“Then wait a sec. Let me drop this off and we’ll eat together.”

She gestured toward a container of food waste left outside. Seoryeong, who had been about to sit down, replied, “I’ll clean it up,” and stepped back out of the kitchen.

She slipped on her rubber gloves and began tidying up the spilled leftovers when—

“Heard there’s an opening on the Special Security Team.”

Seoryeong glanced over indifferently toward the voice.

Special Security Team. Lately, it had been a hot topic among the soldiers.

When she’d run into Channa not long after joining Blast Corp—almost telling her that she’d blackmailed Jung Pilgyu to get in—she’d stopped herself.

Instead, Channa had muttered to herself, “With a face like yours, of course you’ve got one of those comrades...” When Seoryeong asked where she was currently stationed, Channa stiffened and clammed up.

“...I’ll just say the new team lead is a fucking asshole...” she’d said, eyes darting around before she quickly disappeared. Seoryeong hadn’t seen her since.

“What kind of job pays one hundred million won each even without the hazard pay?”

“Must be worth it, then.”

“No, come on. That’s more than the guys getting deployed to Africa. Even the ones sent to Ukraine and Myanmar didn’t get paid that much. Where the hell are they going, seriously...? They show up all slick and shiny, and for all we know they’re just sucking dick somewhere. Eating up the budget all for themselves...!”

It was something Seoryeong had been hearing often these days. But the Special Security Team’s operations were never shared. It was an elite unit staffed only through scouting.

Maybe that’s why, whenever staff gossiped about it, there was always a mixture of curiosity and envy.

“If you’re that curious, why don’t you apply?”

“Are you mocking me?”

“No, who knows? Maybe you’re on the scout list too. Stop whining and eat your damn food. You twist everything.”

Whatever nerve that hit, the guy eating suddenly flung his spoon. The clatter as it hit his tray and bounced to the floor was sharp.

“Whine... what did you say?”

His face flushed red to his collar, and he glared daggers at the other man.

Seoryeong paused mid-movement as she dumped food waste into a bin and turned to glance at them again.

The trays... she wished they’d just return them already.

The minor conversation escalated quickly. Voices grew louder, until they grabbed each other’s collars.

“—I’m just sick of you talking shit about the Special Ops Team every time it comes up. Listening to you makes me feel like a loser too, and it fucking pisses me off...!”

“You calling me jealous now, you fucking prick?” 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

As the two large men grappled, the long dining table shook with their weight. The admin workers who remained scrambled out of their seats, and Seoryeong flinched, blinking.

Again. They’re at it again. The women peeking their heads out from the kitchen didn’t even look surprised.

At that moment, a stack of metal trays clattered toward their side.

“You’re the one who loses it every time someone mentions the Special Ops Team!”

“You arrogant fuck, acting all high and mighty because of me. Who do you think got you in here after your medical discharge? Without me, you’d still be scrounging deliveries for some app company!”

“It’s not just once or twice—it’s fucking exhausting! Don’t project your sour grapes all over the place, it’s pathetic!”

“You think pretending to be clean makes you righteous?”

“You think flapping your gums makes up for your tiny dick?”

“You son of a bitch!”

“If you’re jealous, just say so instead of being a bitter asshole...!”

Suddenly—thwack!—one man’s head snapped to the side. Thus began the full-blown dogfight.