Chapter 261.2

Chapter 261.2

Lee Wooshin fell silent and let out a breath.

It was a short, thick sound that could have been a laugh or a sob.

His shoulders trembled faintly. He stepped back and drew in a deep breath, covering his eyes.

“Fuck… not yet…”

A hollow laugh spilled from his mouth. Lee Wooshin pulled the fragment of his wife from against his neck and let out a string of dry chuckles.

The low, quiet sound gradually grew louder and echoed through the entire morgue. With a distorted smile spread across his face, he strode up the stairs two or three at a time.

He took out his phone and immediately placed a call. The ringing dragged on, dull and repetitive, before it abruptly cut off. Lee Wooshin rolled his stiff neck from side to side. His gaze flashed fiercely through the dim corridor.

“Wonchang. From this moment on, you answer me as if you are ready to get fired from the NIS.”

“…Excuse me?”

Even at the frozen voice on the other end, Lee Wooshin’s expression slowly relaxed.

“Do not mention classified information in front of me. Not that kind of bullshit.”

“That is… what do you mean all of a sudden…”

“Is Director Tae Mu-kyung a capable man?”

“Pardon?”

Lee Wooshin’s smile deepened.

“He was the youngest to get promoted, right? That means he had political backing. But I am asking if he is actually competent. He came up through field operations, did he not?”

“Ah… yes, yes! Director Tae Mu-kyung is well known on our side for participating in numerous Hong Kong and China linked operations. He also headed the Asia Intelligence Division. I heard he infiltrated Hong Kong for quite a long time. It was for intelligence gathering on how extensively the Chinese Communist Party had taken control of pro democracy groups…”

“Not that kind of achievement.”

“…Pardon?”

“I told you to be ready for disciplinary action. Dig up something dirty. Just one thing.”

His icy eyes dropped to the fragment wrapped in his coat. Rage threatened to burst his insides apart and pressed heavily against his lungs. The boiling heat climbed up his throat and gathered at his lips.

“I just came back from the brink of death. I do not care what I see right now.”

“That… that…”

Wonchang’s voice faltered.

“To be honest… as you said, Team Leader, I would have to hack into internal NIS records to know the full details. But when Director Tae withdrew from Hong Kong… there was a strange rumor. It slipped out during a drinking session with the NIS Director and Deputy Director. It sounded like a careless remark…”

Lee Wooshin slipped the ring from the finger that had protruded from the coat. As he turned it, he noticed a scratch along the inside.

“They said that up until now, only two agents had ever been deployed on a marriage mission within the NIS.”

His steps halted. Others might not know, but the person involved would. One had been himself, Masukaмаска or masked.

“And Director Tae Mu-kyung apparently completed something like a Bird Box operation in the past as well. But…”

At Wonchang’s cautious tone, Lee Wooshin dropped the ring he had been rolling in his hand.

“After he withdrew… it seems his wife committed suicide.”