Chapter 200.1

Chapter 200.1

“You… your chest…”

As he let go of the hug, he groaned as if struck by a heavy hammer. Just from the brief contact, her n!pples had hardened sharply, and Seoryeong couldn’t help but avert her gaze. Still, why did she press her chest against him? She must have lost herself for a moment. Her cheeks flushed as shame washed over her.

The moment she stepped back, he suddenly grabbed her underarm. “Ugh…!” His grip was so strong it made even her shoulder blades ache.

“Who touched you?”

His bandaged face looked terrifying, his voice low and strained. His expression had hardened noticeably.

Unable to bring himself to grab her br*asts directly, Lee Wooshin seized her underarm instead, shaking her body. Her pulse quickened each time his thumbs sensed the jiggling softness.

With skilled hands, he avoided her br*asts and instead traced the underwire of her bra that supported the lower part of her chest. With his other hand, he popped the buttons, one by one, and quickly yanked out the silicone inserts.

Seoryeong trembled from the sudden touch and slapped his arm away with all her strength. The silicone hit the floor like a lump of dough. Clutching her disheveled blouse, she glared at the man soaked to the back.

“And you’re the one who stuck on fake chest hair, what a thing to say.”

“…!”

“Who cares if I have three or four boobs?! And what about you, Instructor? How many times have you been having fun?”

“What?”

“How the hell did you do undercover missions, knowing every single damn thing?”

She kicked him squarely in the groin, making him stumble and drop to his knees.

“Unlike Kim Hyun, I didn’t give my best at every moment.”

He confessed quietly, but Seoryeong still looked at him with suspicion.

“Did you want revenge on me?”

“No. I should’ve loved you more.”

“…”

“But back then, I was looking for something too.”

Her brows furrowed at this new confession. She wanted to ask what it was, or whether it was a woman, but a sliver of reason and pride stopped her from making such a pathetic scene.

Leaning toward her lower abdomen, Lee Wooshin panted, flushed with heat.

“I was searching for Winter Castle’s documents.”

“…!”

“I had no idea you’d be there. I was just a clueless idiot…”

Suddenly, like a drunken man, he slumped forward. A man who used to react to the slightest cold was now moving sluggishly, shaking only his head.

I regret it. Every moment. I regret everything except you… Fuck, I’m such a moron. He mumbled endlessly, his pronunciation slowing.

Seoryeong grabbed the front of his hair and pulled his face up. A sudden urge struck her, to yank off his bandages and look him in the eyes.

“When did you find out I was the mouse of Winter Castle?”

“…After I lost you in Azerbaijan.”

His voice oozed like pus. Looking at his face, twisted with lust and despair, Seoryeong gave a dry laugh.

“We were a cursed connection. You know that, right?”

“…”

Lee Wooshin stayed kneeling, not even flinching.

“You might pity me and love me. But I can’t return it. You know that too, right?”

“I don’t.”

“You should know. After everything I went through at Winter Castle.”

“Seoryeong.”

“Leave Russia.”

“…”

“Don’t open the annex door again. Don’t be a target again… Do what you’re best at-”

She paused, then leaned forward.

“-Just disappear.”

Lee Wooshin’s lips, which had been about to move, went still. His fists clenched, trembling with the weight of emotion he could no longer contain, and his head dropped low. The back of his neck, pale and tense, looked defeated. Seoryeong hid her trembling heart and brushed his hair aside, lifting it gently.

“Please.”

Her lips hovered near the bandages covering his eyes. As her breath brushed against them, his shoulders stiffened.

The loss of her husband had carved a wound in her that never healed, yet now she found herself wanting him gone all over again.

Maybe the NIS’s withdrawal order had been right. Maybe separating back then had been the right choice. Her obsession had destroyed everything and ruined them both.

The mouse of Winter Castle was never meant to love Solzhenitsyn. To love him despite the blood between them was unforgivable.

So if he disappeared again, just as he had before, maybe this time she could let him go, pretend she didn’t know him at all.

“You’re the best at disappearing, aren’t you? There’s no time for this. Don’t risk yourself again. Just go!”

“Don’t say that, Seoryeong.”