Chapter 78.2

Chapter 78.2

The ice cream container on his abs shook slightly. With a crooked smile, Lee Wooshin scooped up the half-melted ice cream.

Despite the grin, his eyes didn’t soften. His slovenly demeanor was unnerving. She raised an eyebrow and asked, “Do you know him? He doesn’t seem like someone with a memorable face.”

“Nope. Just another leech.”

“…”

“So, have you been keeping tabs on him?”

“Every now and then, in bulk. Surprisingly, the owl seems to have a knack for military training. She secured a spot in the Special Security Team right off the bat.”

Joo Seolheon idly fiddled with her earring as she murmured, “Wooshin, why did you interfere today?”

Their casual conversation came to an abrupt end. The two exchanged cold glances that clashed in the air.

Lee Wooshin twirled the spoon he was holding and stared intently at Joo Seolheon.

“What? Afraid I acted on my own without our deputy director’s orders?”

“…”

They had been working together for nearly ten years, yet whenever he smiled like that, it unsettled her.

Despite Lee Wooshin skills as an operative, there were times when it was hard to keep him in line with mere hierarchy. He was a drifter and a fugitive.

When Joo Seolheon first encountered him, he was just an empty shell of a boy. Although he inherited noble and cold blood, he had left Russia at fourteen and fallen into the hands of South African mercenaries known for their cruelty.

Instead of attending school, he wandered war zones. Instead of holding a pencil, he gripped a gun.

Though he received no formal education, he never missed any military training. Had he failed to do so, the young boy wouldn’t have survived.

Lee Wooshin fought as part of the Rhodesian government forces, Salvadoran rebels, Bosnian units, Guatemalan insurgents, UNITA rebels, and Contra guerillas. He also moved between armed groups in Laos, Azerbaijan, Nicaragua, and Congo.

He was both a drifter and a fugitive. His entire life had been like that.

At eighteen, he enlisted in the Korean military, and by the time Joo Seolheon found him for agent training, his eyes were those of a killer. His emotions had worn down to the point where he was nothing more than a sheathed sword barely holding onto its scabbard.

Things that are already broken are always scarier.

After scouting him, they labeled him as a “lost cause,” and that assessment hasn’t changed. He remained completely unaware of his addiction to danger.

Maybe it was because the battlefield was like home to him. They said his brain was as damaged as that of a drug addict. His mind, soaked in bad dopamine, kept pushing him toward life-threatening situations.

Lee Wooshin always volunteered for the most dangerous tasks, and even after completing his missions, he struggled to turn off his agent mindset.

Because of that, he couldn’t lead a normal life where nothing usually happened. Unless his adrenaline was constantly spiking, unless he was on the move with his gear on his back, he was endlessly anxious.

Eating off the ground and sleeping next to corpses—that was his version of “normal,” which is why he couldn’t stand quiet and comfortable surroundings.

It was as if he never had an “off switch” to begin with.

The first time he broke that routine was his first long-term assignment, an undercover marriage.

Living a boring, bland life. It was no wonder that Lee Wooshin took to this mission like a blister on his face.

“Today, I finally got a look inside the owl’s head.” At that moment, a strangely dense smile curled at his lips.

“Violations of the National Security Act, the Information and Communications Network Act, and the Electronic Financial Transactions Act? Those are nothing new. The owl has no intention of stopping these crimes until she finds Kim Hyun.”

“…”

“The real question is—what’s she going to do next?” He sucked on the spoon in his mouth, making his cheeks hollow.

“How is the body of Kim Hyun coming along?”

“I’ve gotten the report.”

“The owl won’t stop until she’s convinced. I pushed her hard during training camp, but she didn’t budge. So, externally, we need to kill Kim Hyun, and internally, we need to destroy his motive.”

Lee Wooshin licked the white ice cream off his lips and gave a sly grin.

“That’s why, starting tomorrow, I’m going to live with that bad owl.”

“…!”

“I agreed to become her accomplice.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“So, Deputy Director—”

Lee Wooshin placed the now soft and sagging container on the floor and stood up. He stepped on it, leaving sticky ice cream trailing beneath his shoe.

He walked a few steps closer to the Deputy Director and bent forward. As he gripped the back of the couch, the old leather crinkled under his hands.

“From now on, don’t rely on anyone else. Just give me the orders.”

“…”

“The owl I trained—only I can watch over her.”

His gaze darkened, sinking into an abyss.

“Therefore, I formally request that Han Seoryeong be registered as a potential terrorist, effective immediately.”