Chapter 259.2

Chapter 259.2

“If you sense anything strange during the operation, contact me immediately. Got it? Tell your superior to handle the rest and get yourself out. The most important thing for an agent is to come back alive. The goal for us as a married couple is your return. That is all.”

He had told her this…

Lee Wooshin grabbed the steering wheel again, desperation tightening his grip. Missing? That was absurd. He was sorry, but he would not believe that kind of nonsense. At that moment, he made the decision not to accept those words.

His wife’s confident smile flashed through his mind, and her voice lingered in his ears, but he had no room to drown in emotion. He forced himself to hold back the heart that threatened to collapse.

‘Somewhere, you are waiting. If it is you… you must have left something behind. A clue. I believe that.’

Lee Wooshin slowly opened his eyes and fixed his gaze forward. The coldness that had settled there sharpened and regained its focus.

…

“Since the founding of the nation, the largest intelligence breach has occurred. A civilian employee from the Defense Intelligence Agency’s overseas operations division leaked the identities of National Intelligence Service black agents to a Chinese Korean individual. Authorities confirmed that military secrets were compromised, including real names of black agents, their cover occupations, cover company names, and operational codes related to North Korea. Upon confirming the situation, our authorities immediately ordered emergency returns for agents operating not only in China, but also in Russia, Mongolia, Cambodia, and other regions. However, as signs emerge that the identities of confidential informants were leaked in full, concerns are rising that our intelligence network has suffered a catastrophic breach…”

The airport terminal was filled with tension unlike usual days. Monitors installed throughout the hall repeatedly played the breaking news. Bold red captions flickered nonstop, switching to new headlines.

One by one, people gathered in front of the screens. Travelers pulling luggage and passengers sipping coffee stopped in their tracks and stared.

Lee Wooshin lowered his gaze to the phone resting in his palm and scrolled through the screen. He had sent his wife to a place where even the country could not protect her. That single, stark reality clawed through his chest like frost.

“Military employee arrested for ‘classified leak’… Agents in Russia and Southeast Asia urgently recalled.”

“One crow, injured, flies from Shanghai to Beijing… Code used by a suspect who leaked black agent identities.”

“Defense Intelligence civilian employee recruited by Chinese intelligence officer in ‘black agent leak,’ received hundreds of millions of won.”

“Black agents face threats to safety… Dozens recalled as overseas spy network suffers ‘devastating blow.’”

He said nothing.

Half a day. In just half a day, a disaster like this had erupted.

Emergency recall.

In a situation that struck like a bolt from the blue, how much time had she been given?

“He Channa. There is bullshit noise everywhere. Did you check our GPS?”

He dragged his suitcase roughly and pressed his in-ear device. A stiff, strained voice came through with difficulty.

“We confirmed her arrival at the camp this morning, but communication was cut off before she even left work. Unless unnie deliberately severed it, someone else interfered… or else it malfunctioned badly enough to break completely. So…”

She took a deep breath before continuing. He Channa did not ask whether the news exploding everywhere was true. She had likely already confirmed it herself. As if her throat had tightened, her voice grew thinner and more unstable.

“Our security team extracted one video from the CCTV we installed in advance…”

At the same time, a video file arrived.