Chapter 242.1

Chapter 242.1

But…

How far are these bastards planning to go?

What are they going to do to test Seoryeong, who was promoted through special recruitment? When he heard that she would be sent as a collaborator for agents already dispatched to Russia, Lee Wooshin’s patience reached its limit.

He thought he had to turn this situation around. Everyone had lost their minds. Moreover, what about his pretty owl, who hasn’t said a word to him yet? She was planning to go to Russia for a month without her husband…

Lee Wooshin smiled scornfully. No matter how much of a capable agent Seoryeong was, there was no way she didn’t realize they were newlyweds. How could this love and peace be taken for granted?

So, Lee Wooshin decided to unravel the information network he had.

‘There are over 70 child detention facilities operated by Russia. Out of 19,546 kidnapped children, only 388 have successfully returned, resulting in an extremely low success rate. Given the nature of the re-education camps linked to Russia’s military facilities, infiltration difficulty increases. In this situation, hastily deploying new recruits to Russia as a “test” is unreasonable.’

He manipulated the report to the National Intelligence Service to reflect this opinion.

Fortunately, it wasn’t long before he heard the news that the mission had been canceled.

That day, Lee Wooshin personally went to the livestock wholesale market, meticulously selecting Hanwoo beef that was well-marbled and bright red but not too red, carrying it back on his shoulder.

He grilled steaks for his wife, who was feeling down after failing to find a job.

“Um, Instructor.”

And Seoryeong seemed to be somewhat disappointed that she hadn’t been tested after all.

“Actually, I was scouted by the National Intelligence Service.”

“….”

He hadn’t expected her to confess it like this.

“They’re asking if I want to go through the new recruit training properly.”

Lee Wooshin paused while chopping. The sound of the knife scraping against the plate was unpleasant to hear.

“Is it okay?”

The National Intelligence Service’s new recruit training usually takes a year. Perhaps she didn’t have the confidence to hide such a long period perfectly, as Seoryeong confessed readily.

‘I wonder how the new recruit training was back in my day…’

Lee Wooshin pressed his tongue against his molars. He tried to cut the steak again, but suddenly lost his appetite. He set down the knife and fork.

“There’s no need to become a NIS agent.”

“Is that so?”

Lee Wooshin barely managed to maintain a neutral expression. But if he was going to talk his wife out of this, now was the time.

“You don’t have to hide within the National Intelligence Service; your identity is already perfectly protected. Deputy Chief Joo Seolheon…”

He paused for a moment before continuing.

“She’s not someone so careless.”

“….”

“Any information about you that is over five years old will be automatically deleted and destroyed in a way that makes it unrecoverable. The identity stored in the data is triple-authenticated.”

“….”

“Moreover, the true origin and records of Han Seoryeong are extremely restricted in terms of disclosure. You are tied to Deputy Chief Joo Seolheon’s last mission, classified as top secret. Additionally, that record is managed in a separate system, isolated from the internal network. Access rights are hidden so that no one can view them, so there’s no need to be so anxious.”

The same applied to Lee Wooshin’s identity as a former black agent. Even if someone tried to dig into his past, nearly ten years of records would have been erased, and he would simply be recognized as the representative of a normal study abroad agency.

“Seoryeong, your anxiety is my burden and my responsibility.”

‘So, let’s try to live as normally as possible with the name we’ve regained.’

That’s the kind of life Joo Seolheon would want for her.

But for some reason, Seoryeong quietly chewed the remaining meat in her mouth without saying anything.

After slowly sipping a glass of wine, the words she finally spoke were unexpected.

“But I want to be like you.”