Chapter 118.1

Chapter 118.1

“You can stay here with me, just like this.”

“Come with me. Let’s leave this place together.”

Lee Wooshin’s chilling voice overlapped momentarily with Kia’s in her mind. Surprisingly, the rage swelling in her eyes seemed to subside.

Hoo… Seoryeong took a deep breath, steadying her frayed nerves. Anxiety only bred more anxiety. If she knew anything about the special security team members, and especially Lee Wooshin, it was that they would make it here.

They wouldn’t go down so easily.

In that case, she would stay composed. Seoryeong began crafting a rough plan of action. Rather than recklessly exhausting herself in anger, it was better to conserve energy and seize control of the situation.

When the team finally arrived, it would be pathetic if she couldn’t even stand on her own. Wouldn’t this confinement, then, be an opportunity rather than a crisis?

“…”

After days of relentless activity, a glint of resolve passed through Seoryeong’s eyes. From abducting Deputy Manager Joo at the Grand Hotel, receiving the fake Kim Hyun, and ending up in bed with Lee Wooshin, she hadn’t had a proper rest before being dragged all the way to Sakhalin.

‘Hmm… Rest first.’

Her deliberation was brief. Letting go of the tension in her body, she collapsed onto the bed with startling ease. Kia’s startled reaction to her sudden movement was almost amusing.

Exhaling the breath she had been holding, Seoryeong closed her eyes and allowed herself to feel the soft mattress supporting her.

“Do you have ramen by any chance?”

“What?”

“You said you had a lot to talk about. Don’t you have any snacks or something?”

“Snacks?”

“Then how about a sleep mask?”

“…”

“Netflix?”

“…”

“Or a book, anything I can read?”

When Kia remained silent, she opened her eyes, fixing him with a sharp, wordless gaze of reproach.

“How is this supposed to be proper confinement when you don’t even cover the basics?”

“Ah!”

As Seoryeong sighed and muttered to herself, Kia simply blinked in confusion.

“Go make something, Priest.”

Kia’s eyes wavered, clearly unsure how to react.

***

Slurp, slurp. Seoryeong busied herself with the plump noodles, treating the clinking chains as if they were merely long sleeves in the way. She blew on the steaming cup noodle broth before sipping it, occasionally glancing at Kia, who had been standing with an awkward expression for some time.

“These noodles are a bit soggy.”

Kia fidgeted, extending and retracting his arms, visibly uncomfortable.

“You’re good at bad deeds, but it seems you’re not familiar with instant food. The broth is bland, and there’s no kimchi to pair it with. Next time, maybe consider creating an environment more accommodating to that Sonya person, don’t you think?”

“…”

“Personally, I think effort matters in situations like this.”

She shrugged, taking a large bite of noodles. Her eyes swept over everything, from her handcuffs to the room’s square footage, the lightbulb, wallpaper, floor, heating, and even the makeshift bathroom.

“This scratches my skin. The space is too small. It’s too dark, cold, and unsanitary.”

Her complaints came out like a meticulous customer leaving a scathing review.

Kia’s narrowed eyes twitched as he sat down on the edge of the bed across from her.

“I don’t think we’re communicating very well,” Frustrated, he grabbed hold of the chains with a firm grip.

“Sonya, listen carefully. You have a problem with your memory. To be specific, you don’t remember anything before the age of ten. Your real name isn’t Han Seoryeong—it’s Sonya.”

“…!”

“You’re from Sakhalin. You grew up here in this monastery with other siblings.”

“What kind of nonsense.”

“Listen until the end!”

His voice suddenly turned sharp, his face devoid of expression.

“If you don’t accept this truth, you’ll never understand! Why the NIS did what they did to you, why that bastard Kim Hyun did what he did—not even a little!”

“…!”

Seoryeong froze at the unexpected mention of her husband’s name.

“From a very young age, we were beaten and trained in circus tricks. The cult leader sent us out to perform and earn money, just like they used to hand over Goryeo kids to Russia in the old days.”

“…”

“Do you know the verses we memorized while getting beaten every day?”

Kia’s seemingly indifferent eyes narrowed sharply. His story was completely unfamiliar, each word alien to her ears.

Memories before the age of ten? For someone like me, who grew up in an orphanage, childhood memories hardly exist. But as she tried to recall anything before the orphanage, her thoughts hit a dead end.

What… What’s happening?

It felt like running into an invisible glass wall. She wasn’t sleepy, yet her mind drifted again, disoriented, as if dissociating.

Startled by herself, Seoryeong pinched her cheek hard. Kia clasped her hands gently, almost like a prayer, and closed his eyes.

“‘It forced all people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark…’ Revelation 13:14—”

She couldn’t understand a word of what sounded like a foreign language, but his expression spoke volumes.

“I can’t, for the life of me, erase that memory, Sonya.”