Chapter 95.1

Chapter 95.1

Before Seoryeong could answer, the ambulance pulled over on the shoulder of the road.

Without a word, he unbuckled his seatbelt, slammed the driver’s door shut, and quickly came around to the back door.

When Lee Wooshin pulled down the mask hooked over his ear, Chief Joo’s expression visibly hardened. The woman, who had been spewing venom, now glared at him as if she were ready to kill.

“This bastard!”

Her fiery gaze fixed directly on him.

Sure, Instructor’s appearance tended to stand out, but did she really have to stare that intensely? Seoryeong turned Chief Joo’s head toward herself, trying to distract her.

But the woman, her face flushed red, looked like she’d break through anything obstructing her line of sight.

“Why go to these lengths?!”

Her words, ground out through gritted teeth, cracked as she spoke.

Ah! Seoryeong could completely understand Chief Joo’s reaction. In a situation filled with interrogation and threats, anyone would tense up if a burly man suddenly entered.

Just then, a gentle smile formed on Lee Wooshin’s face.

“To take it away.”

He sat on the auxiliary chair and gave the oxygen tank a light tap.

“So you can know what it’s like to lose something.”

“…!”

“Let’s see how long you can handle it,” He murmured, placing the oxygen mask close to Chief Joo’s mouth.

With his back turned, it was impossible to see his expression, but Chief Joo’s eyes twisted in rage.

He opened the valve on the cylindrical tank and adjusted various controls. To her, it was a process impossible to follow. The pressure gauge shook wildly, and then a loud hiss of air escaped.

Chief Joo began slapping the seat frantically. Her breath misted the mask’s plastic, and as though malfunctioning, her face gradually turned pale.

Ah, he was cutting off her oxygen.

“This… this is enough!”

Chief Joo shouted, scraping her hands across the emergency bed in pain. But her voice, trapped beneath the clear mask, came out muffled and stifled.

“Kim Hyun, I can bring him! Don’t you understand?! Stop this madness!” The woman wriggled to no avail.

“What kind of accomplice listens obediently to their hostage?”

“You… damn!”

“Still able to breathe?” Lee Wooshin tilted his head, a faint, unreadable smile on his face, “That won’t do.”

“Urgh!”

“Even you, Chief, should know what this feels like.”

He continued fiddling with the oxygen tank, cutting off even more air.

“Some people never even knew what this felt like.”

“…”

“Some people have to pretend they don’t know until the day they die.”

“You bastard!”

Chief Joo squeezed out her words, even as her breaths faltered.

Then Lee Wooshin calmly looked over at Seoryeong. His silent gaze seemed to ask, what will you do?

His composed expression promised that he would get Kim Hyun if that’s what she wanted or the truth if that’s what she sought.

For some reason, the weight in her chest began to melt, and the lingering resentment softened. Seoryeong held onto the back of his hand.

“――!”

Chief Joo’s question lingered like a thorny wall, refusing to disappear. But even so…

What did it matter if, growing up without parents, she had yet another gap in her life she couldn’t fill?

She could live without knowing. She had lived without knowing. She was proof of that. But, unfairly, some things are hard to live without. Hadn’t they said that the truth was made up of countless pieces? Seoryeong only needed one.

Her choice had always been singular. Always.

“That person. I just want to see that person as soon as possible.”

The hand that brushed her shoulder felt strangely icy as it withdrew. The sound of the woman’s labored breathing seemed almost like laughter.

***

The ambulance sped endlessly before finally stopping in a vast reed field in a remote area of Gyeonggi Province.

Was I nervous?

Watching three black vehicles approaching from the opposite direction, Seoryeong wetted her dry lips with her tongue.

Standing behind Joo Seolheon with her hands bound, she gazed at the expanse of reeds in the distance. Each time the cold wind brushed her cheek, a rustling sound echoed around her like waves crashing on the shore.

The hostage exchange was straightforward.

Hand over Chief Joo, and they would get Kim Hyun in return.

They’d activated Chief Joo’s phone en route, and to prevent any risk of execution, they had chosen an open field without cover as the exchange site.

No more than three people. If this condition were not met, Chief Joo would not be handed over. It was decided that Lee Wooshin would escort Chief Joo to the meeting point.

“What does Kim Hyun look like?”

From up close, she met Chief Joo’s gaze. Though her appearance was disheveled, her posture remained stiffly upright.

“Ugly and pathetic in my eyes.”

She sneered, but it didn’t bother Seoryeong. But Lee Wooshin’s face, which she glimpsed briefly, looked strange—its darkness around the eyes made it hard to tell if it was from exhaustion or something else.

The sight unsettled her in turn.

That person… for me… for… 

She bit her lip and turned her head to block out the thought.

At that moment, a luxury sedan halted in the middle of the reed field. The thick car door opened, and three men dressed in black suits stepped out precisely.