Chapter 244.2

Chapter 244.2

“Need…?”

The doctor’s voice lowered. Lee Wooshin spoke with a vacant expression.

“If something happens to my wife…”

His throat trembled as if he were choking. Just the thought of such a scenario twisted Lee Wooshin’s face in horror.

As he clenched his fists until his fingertips turned white, his eyes gradually lost focus. Even in this moment, it felt as if he were being sucked into that terrible imagination.

“So if she were to die leaving me behind…”

Just those words made the blood in his body run cold.

“I would have to follow her immediately. If there’s a child, they would hold me back.”

“…!”

The doctor’s face stiffened. The words he had just heard were so shocking that he doubted his own ears. Yet, Lee Wooshin spoke as if discussing the weather, his gaze checking his wristwatch with an unsettling calmness.

“I don’t want to struggle to survive in a world without my wife. But if there’s a child, that would become difficult. I need to be able to follow Seoryeong at any time. That’s all there is to it.”

He spoke as if stating something that had already been decided, his tone consistently dry. The doctor’s pen had come to a halt, lost for direction in the face of such an answer that strayed far from the norm. The man’s detachment felt chilling.

After a brief silence, the doctor responded with conviction.

“It seems the one in danger is… you, the husband.”

And the director quickly added,

“It would be best for you to come in regularly for the time being.”

*

“Breathe, regularly! One, two! One, two!”

At the instructor’s shout, Seoryeong’s back straightened. Her thighs burned as if on fire, and every muscle in her body screamed in agony.

Her arms, which had been pulling the handles repeatedly, were trembling, and sweat dripped from her clothes.

“Last spurt! Lift it up!”

Seoryeong squeezed out the remaining strength. Her muscles had already surpassed their limits, so now she had to endure with sheer willpower.

This was the underground training facility, flooded with fluorescent light. The enclosed space, surrounded by gray concrete walls, was lined with dozens of rowing machines.

Her blurred focus suddenly shifted to the digital clock attached to the wall. 5:47 PM.

Had Lee Wooshin finished the grocery shopping in the morning? What was he doing now? Seoryeong’s mind was entirely consumed with thoughts of her husband left at home.

Especially when her stamina hit its limit, she unconsciously thought of him even more. Like drawing water from a well, she had to think of Lee Wooshin to feel rejuvenated.

“Haah… ugh… haah…”

‘The apron he wore last night was navy blue.’ Seoryeong shook her head to shake off the sweat. Lee Wooshin, who had been wearing the apron and cooking stew, kept appearing in front of her eyes.

“Pick up the pace!”

‘But why does Lee Wooshin still flinch when I try to take off his pants? Even though I offer to do it first, he still makes a fuss.’

Seoryeong pulled the rowing machine again until her knuckles turned white. It hurt as if her back were tearing apart, but at the same time, a smile crept onto her face.

Just thinking of Lee Wooshin inevitably made her face soften. Because of that, the cold gazes of her rookie colleagues, who thought, “Here we go again with Agent 15,” pierced through her.

“Those who reach the target distance get a 5-minute break!”

At the instructor’s command, everyone crawled out of the machines and collapsed as if it were a promise. The industrial fans kept running, but the smell of sweat from the agents showed no signs of dissipating.

Staring blankly at the ceiling made her vision swirl dizzily. Her shriveled lungs made it difficult just to catch her breath.

“….”

The honeymoon was short, and the training was long.

It was surprising that Lee Wooshin had given her permission, but more than that, her husband’s unwavering support made her heart grow even more.

‘How can he be so mature? Can I become someone like that too? …I still don’t know.’

But as long as that man is by my side, I feel like I can accomplish anything. That was a perfect belief that transcended mere self-confidence.

‘A hundred faces, masks… If I say I want to see them all, he probably won’t show them to me, right?’