Chapter 216.2

Chapter 216.2

On the wall, a line of monitors blinked with red dots. Then one of them went pop, and disappeared. The capsule tracker’s 72 hours had expired.

Na Wonchang tore off his headset in frustration and pressed his forehead to the desk. He could no longer locate the Owl, and Lee Wooshin had vanished.

He rubbed at his blurred eyes with the heel of his palm, struggling to steady his breathing. If Wooshin were alive, his wristwatch would still be transmitting data; heartbeat, blood pressure, body temperature… something.

But everything was dead. Either the device had been destroyed.

―Wonchang, listen carefully. This will probably be my last order.

He replayed the final voice message Wooshin had left before the crash.

―Bring the Owl back to Korea. No matter what.

‘Wait, Team Leader…!’

—You’re the only one I can trust right now. Don’t ever leave the Owl alone.

‘Huh? W-what? How am I supposed to…!’

—Carry out the rest exactly as I prepared it. I’m counting on you… damn it…! Hold still…!

Through the earpiece, the sounds of someone grappling with Kia came through vividly. Harsh curses exploded, someone’s strangled breathing mixed in, then short screams and groans overlapped before a sickening thud against something hard ended the transmission.

“Ah… Team Leader, please…”

Every time Na Wonchang replayed the last recording, his fists clenched tighter. He chewed at his nails as he entered his superior’s biometric code over and over. There was nothing else he could do. He was just helpless.

“I can’t do this alone. I can’t even find the Owl anymore…”

Covering his eyes with both hands, Na Wonchang glanced at the empty seat next to him. His expression hardened as he remembered He Channa, the one who had boldly hacked into the Russian network to stop the TX-1 train.

He’d known she was skilled, but not this skilled. Even after defecting seven years ago, there had been people hunting her down.

At that moment, he understood North Korea’s resolve to send an assassin rather than let her fall into another country’s hands.

He could still see it clearly, how the always-combative Channa had kept her mouth shut while tearing down the opponent’s firewalls one after another. But the opposing side’s speed at restoring their security protocols had been just as quick.

For every breach she made, they patched another, leaving her no time to catch her breath. The relentless push-and-pull ended with the accident.

Na Wonchang looked at the keyboard Channa had smashed against the wall and sighed. She seemed deeply shaken by the uncertainty surrounding Lee Wooshin and the Owl’s survival.

He splashed his face with his hands and leaned back his exhausted head.

Truth is, I’m the worst one here…

The operation had failed, and he’d lost the only Black Agent he’d ever served under. The most pathetic thing of all was himself.

“—”

As his sore nose wrinkled, Channa’s phone rang loudly where it had fallen on the floor.

Wonchang flinched and turned his head as if to ignore it, but he’d already caught a glimpse of the number. It was an international call.

810822… His eyes widened.

‘Wait, this is Russia? That’s… awkward. No, still, how could I touch someone else’s phone? Especially a girl in her early twenties, the type who guards her privacy like her life depends on it…’

“Hello!”

Crash! 

Na Wonchang tumbled out of his chair and scrambled to answer the call. On the other end, there was only silence for a while before a hoarse, scraped voice finally came through—careful, uncertain.

—…Who’s this? Her boyfriend?

“Huh?”

—Isn’t this He Channa’s number?

“Oh! Ah…! Yes, yes, that’s right, but she stepped out for a moment, so I’m just answering for her.”

Wonchang froze mid-sentence. That voice. Even with a ruined throat, he couldn’t mistake it. The emotions he’d barely been holding back crashed down all at once. His jaw trembled pathetically. How could I not recognize the Owl? How could I not recognize Madam?!

—…Sorry to ask out of the blue, but do you have any money?

It wasn’t a threat or a scam. The casual tone that followed left no doubt.

It was the Owl.