The coat he threw landed squarely on the vomit Seoryeong had left unattended.

She didn’t know what to feel first—humiliation from what he’d just said, or the shame of having her filth exposed.

“When I tell you not to disobey, you panic. But when your husband’s spewing bullshit, you eat it right up?”

Lee Wooshin said, giving her shoulder a shove. The back of her knee caught on the sofa arm, and she toppled backward. Like a beast, the man climbed on top of her, grabbing her by the chin.

His body pressed down against hers—heavy, hard, and unyielding. Before she could even raise a fist from this vulnerable position, he pinned her pelvis and both thighs beneath his weight.

His emotionless face was twisted out of shape.

“If you’re so damn submissive, try showing that to me too.”

Her chin throbbed as if it were about to shatter in his grip. When she struggled to wriggle free, he suddenly shoved his fingers into her mouth.

Her lips were forced open, and she blinked in stunned confusion. Oil-slicked fingers pressed her tongue, sliding along the roof of her mouth. As they rubbed against the bumpy mucous membrane, Seoryeong instinctively tilted her head back.

“Ugh...!”

Would his next target be her eyes? She remembered the agent he’d tortured with oil. Glaring up at him with all her strength, she scratched at his forearm and the back of his hand. But as if to restrain her thrashing, his hot palm pressed down firmly on her belly.

She bit down hard, intending to snap his fingers off—but the man didn’t flinch. He merely furrowed his brow briefly, then gripped her by the nape and slowly stroked her skin.

Like a man bitten by a puppy—unbothered.

“Mmgh...!”

His fingers kept grazing ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) the tender tissue, making her salivate uncontrollably. She fought the urge to gasp, and her lips fell open helplessly.

A strange, obscene sensation flowed in. Each time his thick fingers tugged her tongue or tapped behind her teeth, her breath grew warmer.

Wooshin looked down at her face, now a mess of saliva, with a lofty, indifferent gaze.

Their eyes met—and hers swirled with every possible emotion. For a second, Seoryeong forgot to breathe.

“Ugh... In...struc...!”

The fingers rummaging through every corner of her mouth pushed deeper. When they brushed her soft, bright-red uvula, she recoiled and grimaced.

Her stomach churned. Bile rose. But all he said, in a calm voice, was, “Swollen.”

“What are you even planning to suck with a mouth like this?”

Suddenly, he stopped all movement and examined her swollen gums and torn inner flesh.

Then, as if snapping back to reality and slipping into his instructor persona, he sprang to his feet.

“Where’s your first aid kit.”

Panting, Seoryeong stared holes into his back. The tension he’d forcefully cut only made the heat worse. Her heart fluttered in frantic confusion.

“I don’t... want to be entangled with you like this... not like some love affair...”

“Too late.”

“I hate tangled bloodlines.”

“What kind of dumb equation is that? You include your boss in your family tree?”

“No, I just... I have a household to maintain...”

Aaah—Wooshin let out a deep, dismissive rumble. He stared at his fingers, still wet with saliva, then calmly grabbed a rag and started wiping up the vomit. The way he moved—fluid and unhurried—felt unnaturally seamless.

Watching him kneel and quietly clean the floor made her mouth dry up.

If it were him...

He’d probably clean up blood just as well.

The thought of losing him began to flood her head. Overwhelmingly.

To be able to expose the inside of her mouth without shame like this—she’d never even done that with her husband. She was always pretending.

And now, her hips and abdomen tingled, and her heart beat shallow and tight.

Ah... so this is what they call battlefield camaraderie.

Or maybe...

She jolted and shook her head violently.

“You make me look like a woman cheating on her husband—and you think wiping the floor fixes that?”

“I recall it was Recruit Han Seoryeong who tried to cheat first.”

“......!”

“You don’t remember that filthy little note?”

Even as he said that, Wooshin refused to meet her gaze.

“You wipe oil spills in the kitchen with paper towels or newspaper first. If it’s still slippery, use dish soap. Sigh... Can you manage that by yourself?”

He sighed mid-lecture, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Recruit Han Seoryeong, you are exhausting. Do you even know that?”

To that, Seoryeong replied with a chill:

“Yes. I was exhausting.”

“......”

“That one moment you ruined—it was precious to me. Heavy. I’d spent my whole life trying to make that one moment happen.”

His eyes, which had always avoided hers, now locked onto her with a sharp focus.

“I won’t ask you to compensate me. But if you have any shred of conscience... please don’t fire me from the Special Security Team no matter what I do from now on.”

Wooshin sensed something off and his expression hardened.

“To recreate the opportunity I lost today... I’ll have to do something even riskier.”

“......!”

“Every time I fail, I’ll have to try something worse. More dangerous. That’s the cliff I’m hanging from.”

Her voice was steady, but desperation clung to it.

“I’m not asking you to save my life like before. If there’s any sliver of sympathy left in you, just don’t interfere.”

Only then did Wooshin seem to understand what was happening. He let out a crooked laugh, sobered, then laughed again—his expression shifting back and forth before he wiped a hand across his face.

“So that’s why you joined Blast Corp.”

He muttered like he’d finally solved the puzzle.

“So that’s why you endured military training to the end. Why you latched onto the Special Security Team.”

“.......”

“To learn bad things. So you could use them. Right?”

She didn’t answer. She just stared him down.

“So you could bait the NIS, like you did today. Just to catch that black operative husband who won’t show himself no matter what. You crossed a national intel agency for that one guy.”

“.......”

“And now you want me to keep my mouth shut and be your accomplice.”

Wooshin clenched and unclenched his fists as he stared at the wrecked kitchen floor, catching his breath. Then, in a cold, low voice:

“But Recruit Han Seoryeong.”

She braced her trembling lashes.

“Sorry. I can’t accept those terms.”

“......!”

“You’re not dumb. You know you’re asking for something impossible. If you’re going to negotiate, it has to be mutual.”

“What do you mean...”

“Look at the situation.”

Wooshin leaned crookedly against the table like a perfect instructor.

“The moment you got connected to that call, your objective disappeared. Meanwhile, the NIS kept prodding your psychological weak points to manipulate your behavior. The balance of power was already decided.”

Seoryeong’s gaze wavered.

“And those were foreign bank account numbers, right? No way you did that alone. You’ve clearly got someone skilled backing you. My guess? Either Hur Channa or Jeong Pilgyu, the intel team lead.”

She instinctively looked away. Wooshin nodded like he expected it.

“And judging by the intruders in your house, I’d bet you made one hell of a mess. You launched a major preemptive strike—and all you got out of it was your husband’s voice? Why did you back off at the end?”

His words made her shoulders flinch. His expression grew colder.

Why did it suddenly feel like she was back at training camp? She’d been in control—wasn’t she?

“It’s because... I couldn’t reach Channa. I thought maybe she was hurt again, like last time.”

“Hur Channa isn’t even scratched.”

“......!”

“Got a text on the way here. Blast Corp’s comms were briefly jammed. Gee, wonder who caused that.”

She bit her lower lip.

“Do you get it now? I didn’t ruin this plan. You were already sinking. From psychology to strategy to dirty tricks—you lost on every front.”

“.......”

“You should’ve cut Hur Channa loose when you had the chance.”

She felt humiliated, but guilt would come later. A deep, gnawing impatience crept in as she realized she couldn’t persuade him. She bit her lip again—until he tapped her forehead with an almost scolding gesture.

“Fine. I’ll be your accomplice.”

“......!”

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

“I’ll accept. But you’re accepting my condition, too.”

“...What is it?”

Wooshin glanced around her apartment like he was suddenly seeing it for the first time. Seoryeong clutched at his sleeve, swallowing hard.

He stared at the place like a renovation contractor, surveying every inch. And then—his eyes landed on the empty frame.

Seoryeong rubbed her sweaty palms on her clothes. If he asked about it, what was she supposed to say?

Wooshin kept staring at it. He already looked at her like she was a fool. If he found out that empty frame had held their wedding photo... would he make her do pushups in her own home?

She prayed he wouldn’t ask. Thankfully, he didn’t. But instead:

“I need to move into this house.”

And her mind went completely blank.