Chapter 217.2

Chapter 217.2

From the start, she and the world had never gotten along.

“If he’s missing, that’s enough. Just missing, that’s all.”

Yes, that would do. Then she could handle the rest herself. He had to be missing. He could not possibly be dead. Seoryeong buried her forehead in her knees and muttered.

He was missing. That was all.

Lee Wooshin was a hardened agent, and there was water at the bottom of the gorge. That meant he could find a way to survive. His swimming skills needed no mention. He had plunged into freezing seas without hesitation.

She broke out in a cold sweat and, following Na Wonchang’s instructions, opened the storage cabinet.

Inside, in neat order, lay her passport, bundles of cash, a blank plane ticket ready for use, a pistol, an old cellphone, clothes and shoes in the exact right sizes, plain underwear, an emergency kit, tampons, emergency rations, painkillers and fever reducers, a cash card, a portable recorder, and a hat.

“….”

She could not help but know who had prepared it. Her vision blurred as her temperature rose, and her head felt like it was cooking.

She picked up the blank plane ticket that had no date or destination.

According to Na Wonchang, he had bought it from a friend whose family had run an airline for generations, paying a large sum. Seoryeong pushed the damp hair from her neck and let out a short, bitter laugh.

All that, just to obtain this…

Lee Wooshin had placed such supplies in safe houses across the country while searching for her, in case the unforeseeable happened, so that no one could predict everything.

That thought made her head sink heavier. She collapsed back onto the mattress and longed unbearably for his kind, cool hand.

Seoryeong gritted her teeth and endured the searing fever alone. Otherwise she would have moaned from the bone-deep pain. It felt as if someone were hammering her whole body without mercy.

“….”

As her mind hazed, Lee Wooshin’s final expression replayed in her head like a burst of photos.

Even while falling, he had focused only on killing the enemy, without sadness or regret. He had even thrown his gun to her and told her to take care of things.

That firm, faintly pained look in his eyes.

Seoryeong lay buried under the blanket, her teeth chattering, eyes wide open. Maybe what Lee Wooshin had given her wasn’t just a gun, it might have been his birthday.

Then she had to live.

‘I have to… live too…’

But her mind felt like it could snap at any moment. She reached for the portable recorder and turned it on. Familiar breathing came through the speaker.

Hoo…

That single sound made her heart drop.

“20XX. July 27th. Owl’s Nest Report.”

The deep voice pierced into her ears, making her pupils tremble.

“Owl’s insomnia symptoms have appeared. Tosses and turns through the night, barely sleeps after sunrise, then wakes after one or two hours to match Kim Hyun’s departure for work. After returning home from the newlywed house, immediately begins sleep analysis in the studio. Process omitted. Reporting improvement directions and results.”

What… what is this? The indifferent tone, like someone reading a textbook, was unmistakably Lee Wooshin’s. Even through her blurred vision, Seoryeong frowned.

“Request to replace nearby café menu with decaf. Purchase L-theanine, apigenin, and magnesium threonate for brain rest. Note Owl’s auditory hypersensitivity. Request to reduce early morning motorcycle noise. Restrict reckless drivers’ access. Request mood improvement measures on rainy days. Request event-winning text message. Request replacement with premium wind-free air conditioner. Request vacation during monsoon week. Request funding for five-star hotel stay. Request seasonal fruits…”

She listened to the incomprehensible report all night, feverish and restless. Her body was so hot her tongue and eyes felt like they were melting, but she endured it alone.

At last, when dawn broke, her body slumped to one side. Seoryeong realized then that the recording was one of Lee Wooshin’s Owl’s Nest reports, his secret newlywed logs.

The words I love you rose to her throat.

‘Had he always been crafting happiness for me from behind the scenes? Could this too be proof of us?’

Only in the midst of disbelief and despair that he might be dead, did a true confession hover on her lips.

‘I love you. I wanted to say it from the very beginning. I wanted to cry that I love you more than love itself…’

“20XX. October 27th. Owl’s Nest Report.”

Even in the endless dark hours, that low voice kept flowing, steady and alive. That night, Seoryeong dreamed of returning to their newlywed home.