Seoryeong swallowed dryly and stared at the pitch-black phone screen. The moment the NIS agreed to the deal, she had seated the bound men at the dining table and started waiting for Kim Hyeon’s call.

If she gave up the casino account too easily, there was a chance he might hang up right away, so they’d agreed in advance to go through the numbers one at a time during the call.

While she waited, she rinsed out her mouth and wiped the blood away. She tried calling Channa too, but couldn’t get through. Same with Jeong Pilgyu. Her stomach burned with frustration, and before she knew it, she was biting her fingernails.

She could no longer put Channa at the forefront. What she needed was someone who, even if held as a hostage, wouldn’t be a liability. Someone who wouldn’t flinch from being beaten or threatened. A seasoned person for whom those things didn’t matter.

Yeah... someone like the instructor...

Ddiriri. Ddiriri.

Just then, the old smartphone on the table began to ring.

『Caller ID Restricted』

Her shoulders twitched from tension, out of place for her. Her heartbeat slammed wildly against her ribcage like it meant to break free.

Her hand trembled as she picked up the phone.

“...Hello?”

The night her husband didn’t come home. The night it all began. She’d clung to the phone just like this. That unanswered call from back then had stretched across those horrifying months, all the way to today.

There were so many things she wanted to ask, so many things she wanted to say... too many...

—“Seoryeong.”

Ah...

Her lips, which had been about to hurl resentment, froze in place. That husky voice, rough just enough to scrape against her eardrums, and the gentle rise and fall... it was Kim Hyeon. That man. Her husband’s voice.

—“It’s been a while.”

The moment those three words hit her ears, her throat constricted.

—“Are you hurt anywhere?”

She needed to say something, anything, but her tongue felt like it had frozen.

To disappear without a trace and then say that... This shameless, ruthless bastard. Rage she could never forgive surged in her chest.

But she didn’t lash out. She simply shut her eyes tight. Her throat tightened.

With her eyes closed like this, it felt like she’d slipped back into the past. Back to that absurdly happy time.

Had she really been the only one who changed? Kim Hyeon’s voice and manner were completely unscathed, intact as ever. Just like her memories.

—“So tell me, Seoryeong. Why’d you do it?”

That same gentle voice flowed out, unwavering.

—“I heard you tried to defect north, and emptied the accounts too. What the hell is going on?”

“...Then why did you do what you did to me, Hyeon?”

—“......”

“What more was I supposed to do in that situation? You disappeared. Left me behind. Left just me in this house, in this place... and vanished. I’m still here, you know...”

Seoryeong wiped away the tears that fell silently with a deadpan expression. Even as she bit down on her lips, she began writing down the foreign bank account on a sheet of paper.

Her hand shook so badly the numbers curled like worms. The men across the table didn’t even blink—just stared at that paper like they meant to burn a hole through it.

—“You already know I’m a black operative with the NIS, right?”

“Yes...”

—“Then you understand my situation.”

“......”

—“I can’t see you again, Seoryeong.”

“......”

—“I’m sorry, but we can’t ever meet again. I can’t let that happen.”

His tone was kind, but the words weren’t. More than the face that had been beaten by an intruder, Kim Hyeon’s roundabout rejection slammed into her like a blunt weapon.

“Don’t make me laugh.”

Seoryeong’s lips trembled as she bit back.

“Show yourself. Right now. If you don’t, I don’t know what I’ll end up doing.”

—“Seoryeong.”

“A voice like this isn’t enough. It’s nowhere near enough. I don’t want anything less than everything.”

She glared at the agents in front of her like they were substitutes for the target of her fury.

“What is it you’re loyal to, huh? This country? Your boss? Whatever it is—if you don’t show up in front of me, I’ll destroy all of it.”

—“......”

“Everything you’ve protected and cherished for all those years—I’ll ruin it all.”

No... this isn’t right. She wanted to show him only the prettiest, softest parts of herself. She knew that in her head. But the words that came out of her mouth were like a child screaming because she couldn’t have what she wanted. That bare desperation made her feel pathetic.

And yet... she still wanted to patch this broken thread together. Whether they killed each other or saved each other—she had to feel that lost warmth again, or the gaping hole inside her would never close.

She was choking on the thirst and hate when—

—“Then listen carefully, Seoryeong.”

Kim Hyeon’s voice sighed across the line.

—“That’s the only way I can come to you.”

Her hand, mid-writing, froze.

—“I miss you too. I really... really miss you, Seoryeong. Don’t you remember how good I was to you? Have you completely forgotten? I loved you with everything I had.”

“......!”

—“Once all of this is over... I’ll come home. To the house we used to live in.”

Ding-dong—

The doorbell rang, and for a second, it felt like her husband had come home from work. Maybe this was all a delusion cooked up by her scrambled brain. Memories of a once-normal life flickered before her eyes.

—“Just wait quietly until then.”

But it was strange... she felt lonelier now, talking to him like this, than when she’d been yearning for his formless presence. Something felt... off.

—“If you keep screwing around with the NIS and causing trouble for the country, all it does is delay my return. Is that what you want? By the way... did you finish writing down the account?”

It was an odd sensation. He still spoke the way he used to, still sounded exactly the same—but it felt... different. Wrong. Like he wasn’t really him anymore.

Maybe this is his real self as an NIS agent... But still...

“...You’re seriously deluded if you think...”

Seoryeong turned her stiff neck slowly and chose her words carefully.

“You think I’ll just cook for you if you come back? Sure, I’ll serve it up warm. But from then on, you won’t get to see a shred of light. Just like I didn’t.”

—“......!”

“Rot beside me for the rest of your life.”

Ding-dong, ding-dong, dididing-dong—!

Suddenly, the doorbell rang like mad. Seoryeong’s head snapped toward the sound, startled out of her skin.

Wait a second... that doorbell—wasn’t that just in my head?

Bang bang bang, bang bang bang—!

Heavy, aggressive pounding followed. What kind of lunatic bangs on someone’s door at this hour, well past midnight...?

“Is someone else supposed to come?” she asked, frowning at the agents. But their confused expressions said they didn’t know either.

In the middle of this life-or-death call with Kim Hyeon—who the hell could it be?! Suppressing her rising irritation, Seoryeong finally got to her feet.

And then she saw the face on the intercom screen—and her mind went blank. Her head, already about to explode, emptied out like a light switched off. For a moment, she couldn’t even register her husband’s voice anymore.

“...Instructor?”

Lee Wooshin was kicking her front door with a murderous look on his face.

What the hell...? How did he even know this address? She stared °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° at him in shock when, suddenly, the door lock cover flipped up.

Wooshin started pressing the keypad slowly but without hesitation.

“Is he insane?!”

He was staring straight into the intercom camera, punching in numbers one by one. His pupils were rolled back so far he looked possessed.

Snapping out of it, Seoryeong rushed forward and flung the front door open. She couldn’t just let someone mess with her own lock.

“Instructor...! What the hell are you—!”

She was about to yell, breathing hard, when suddenly someone grabbed her by the back of the head. “Ugh...!” A groan escaped as his gaze hardened. But instead of letting go, his grip only tightened.

His eyes swept over every bruise—her split lips, swollen eyes, the fresh bruise forming on her cheekbone. His eyes didn’t miss a single mark.

“Don’t go around saying you trained under me.”

“......!”

“You couldn’t even think to call your instructor in a situation like this?”

A sharp grinding sound came from between his clenched teeth.

“Move.”

And then, without asking a single question, he strode into her apartment.

“Wait—! Instructor—!”

She reached out after him, stunned, as he looked around the wrecked living room like it was no big deal. It was like the wild beast who’d just been kicking her door had never existed. The sudden stillness was overwhelming.

He looked coldly at the unconscious agent and the others nursing their wounds, then raised an eyebrow. Whether it was in praise or contempt, she couldn’t tell.

Finally remembering the call, Seoryeong hastily brought the phone back to her ear. But Wooshin snatched it and switched it to speaker in a flash.

—“...I’m sorry for leaving like that, I really am. But Seoryeong... what we had, it wasn’t fake. I really did love you. I can still see your skin so clearly...”

At that, Wooshin suddenly burst out laughing and started slapping his own neck.

Seoryeong flinched at the sound. His pale skin turned red in an instant.

Embarrassed by everything, she tried to push him out. But he didn’t budge. Instead, he calmly walked to the fridge, grabbed a bottle of water, and drank.

She stared at him in disbelief. He moved around her apartment like he lived there. She’d lost her phone, and now this lunatic was making it impossible to concentrate on the call.

Then he opened a lower cabinet in the kitchen, pulled out a bottle of cooking oil, and stomped toward the wary agent.

He grabbed the man by the throat and began pouring the oil into every open hole.

“Guh, guh...!”

The agent convulsed, retching as oil flooded into his eyes, nose, and mouth. Wooshin’s eyes remained cast downward, cold and detached.

—“...It was all just a misunderstanding between us. I love you too, Seoryeong... Just do what I say. You know you’ll never get love like this from anyone but me.”

“Like hell I know that, you fucking bastard.”

Wooshin hurled the oil bottle at the wall with a deafening crash.

“Shut that mouth of yours before I come find you myself.”