Chapter 262.2

Chapter 262.2

He adjusted his glasses again with a bored air and settled them back on the bridge of his nose.

“Though he is a bit late. Agent Joo Seoryeong’s husband.”

“…,”

“Oh. Not me. Your real husband.”

He lifted one wrist and glanced at his watch.

“I left the coordinates of this place inside your ring.”

Seoryeong stopped moving entirely. The word husband had barely left his mouth. She tilted her head, confusion flashing across her face.

“…Who?”

“There is something I personally want to see.”

“.…”

“I sent the invitation kindly enough, so do not worry.”

A cold, murderous chill settled over her pale face. Husband. That single word ignited her. Perhaps it was the faint scrape of the chair leg against the floor. Without warning, she lunged.

“!”

Even with her limbs bound, Seoryeong hurled her body forward as if she had been waiting for the moment. The chains snapped tight with a metallic rattle, but she reached him.

She threw her entire weight onto him and climbed onto his knees. Thud. She slammed her forehead into him, and he seized her by the throat at once. A second later, he shoved her back down, plunging the back of her head into the water.

Through the wavering surface, she saw Tae Mu-kyung roll up his sleeves without expression. He pinned her slender neck with one hand and checked his watch again with the other.

‘That bastard.’

Icy water flooded her vision, yet she did not blink. Instead, she bared her teeth.

Who do you think you are inviting? I am not even waiting for my husband, and you think you can summon Lee Wooshin here? Rage churned sickeningly in her gut.

‘Could it be… was Tae Mu-kyung’s real target… Lee Wooshin?’

Water burst violently from her mouth and nose. Watching her struggle, Tae Mu-kyung grabbed her collar and hauled her out of the tub.

Cough, cough!

Even as she hacked for breath, Seoryeong reset her stance. She prepared to slam her forehead into him again, ready to tear off his ear if she had to.

At that moment, Tae Mu-kyung flipped the generator’s switch.

A red warning light blinked ominously, the arrow trembling from side to side. It looked as if the current would surge through the water at any second and burn Seoryeong alive.

The timer attached to the generator mercilessly counted down. Only five minutes remained.

“To be honest, there was something I wanted to ask Agent Joo Seoryeong since your interview. When you learned that the husband you loved had been a government agent who deceived you perfectly throughout your entire marriage, why did you not give up?”

Seoryeong’s eyes widened.

“You must have trembled with betrayal. Yet you endured, tracked down your vanished husband, and married the same man again. No matter how I think about it, it is astonishing.”

“.…”

“What makes you different?”

What makes you different from the rest of them?

His voice carried no emotion, yet faint contempt lay suppressed beneath it.

Tae Mu-kyung pulled out an old mobile phone from his suit pocket and wrapped it around the back of her hand along with the wires.

His gaze slid over the false, full-term belly and then settled on her. His hollow eyes urged her toward the phone.

“You will call your husband and ask him to save you.”

“.…”

“If you do not call, the bathtub will turn into a microwave. If you do call…”

He loosened his tie and dropped back into the chair.

“The snipers will take that ringtone as authorization to fire and pull the trigger on your husband immediately. The same conditions apply to Lee Wooshin, so do not worry too much.”

Seoryeong stopped breathing. Every other sound faded, and only her heart pounded as if it hung over the edge of a cliff.

This was a trap.

A game Tae Mu-kyung had set up for reasons unknown, one that offered no outcome but defeat. Something slid down her skin, whether water or cold sweat she could not tell.

If I try to live, Lee Wooshin dies. If he tries to live, I die.

No matter what they chose, one of them would have to be sacrificed. Her teeth ground together.

“Everything is ready. Now beg your husband to save you. Call him.”

His command sounded cold, yet at the end of it she sensed something desperate. Was that only her imagination? Seoryeong shook her bound limbs again and demanded,

“Director, why… why are you doing this?”

“Who knows.”

He leaned back as if exhausted, resting an elbow on the chair. His body seemed to relax, yet his posture remained rigid and precise. He looked like someone whose habits had sunk so deeply into him that even if he wanted to collapse, he could never fully fall apart.

Between his fingers, his eyes stared into empty space without focus. Tae Mu-kyung let out a long, heavy sigh. Seoryeong felt as though she were glimpsing something that had dried out long ago.

“Obviously, the one who violated the National Intelligence Service code should suffer far more, should they not?”

“….”

“Someone has to restore order. An agent who swore allegiance to the nation in blood dares to covet something else? We are the ones who swore before the country that we would brush aside personal interests under any circumstances, that we would never yield to temptation or threat.”

Tae Mu-kyung gazed into the void as if he stood once more before a long-forgotten declaration. Yet in his arid eyes, only the scattered remnants of a collapsed conviction remained.

Even boredom had passed. Now he had sunk into the abyss of futility.

“In the end, none of us can escape, if one person walks away…”

His wandering gaze fell on Seoryeong, though he did not truly see her.

His eyes pierced through her as bait and burned toward a single man.

“They must pay the proper price.”Chapter 262.2

He adjusted his glasses again with a bored air and settled them back on the bridge of his nose.

“Though he is a bit late. Agent Joo Seoryeong’s husband.”

“…,”

“Oh. Not me. Your real husband.”

He lifted one wrist and glanced at his watch.

“I left the coordinates of this place inside your ring.”

Seoryeong stopped moving entirely. The word husband had barely left his mouth. She tilted her head, confusion flashing across her face.

“…Who?”

“There is something I personally want to see.”

“.…”

“I sent the invitation kindly enough, so do not worry.”

A cold, murderous chill settled over her pale face. Husband. That single word ignited her. Perhaps it was the faint scrape of the chair leg against the floor. Without warning, she lunged.

“!”

Even with her limbs bound, Seoryeong hurled her body forward as if she had been waiting for the moment. The chains snapped tight with a metallic rattle, but she reached him.

She threw her entire weight onto him and climbed onto his knees. Thud. She slammed her forehead into him, and he seized her by the throat at once. A second later, he shoved her back down, plunging the back of her head into the water.

Through the wavering surface, she saw Tae Mu-kyung roll up his sleeves without expression. He pinned her slender neck with one hand and checked his watch again with the other.

‘That bastard.’

Icy water flooded her vision, yet she did not blink. Instead, she bared her teeth.

Who do you think you are inviting? I am not even waiting for my husband, and you think you can summon Lee Wooshin here? Rage churned sickeningly in her gut.

‘Could it be… was Tae Mu-kyung’s real target… Lee Wooshin?’

Water burst violently from her mouth and nose. Watching her struggle, Tae Mu-kyung grabbed her collar and hauled her out of the tub.

Cough, cough!

Even as she hacked for breath, Seoryeong reset her stance. She prepared to slam her forehead into him again, ready to tear off his ear if she had to.

At that moment, Tae Mu-kyung flipped the generator’s switch.

A red warning light blinked ominously, the arrow trembling from side to side. It looked as if the current would surge through the water at any second and burn Seoryeong alive.

The timer attached to the generator mercilessly counted down. Only five minutes remained.

“To be honest, there was something I wanted to ask Agent Joo Seoryeong since your interview. When you learned that the husband you loved had been a government agent who deceived you perfectly throughout your entire marriage, why did you not give up?”

Seoryeong’s eyes widened.

“You must have trembled with betrayal. Yet you endured, tracked down your vanished husband, and married the same man again. No matter how I think about it, it is astonishing.”

“.…”

“What makes you different?”

What makes you different from the rest of them?

His voice carried no emotion, yet faint contempt lay suppressed beneath it.

Tae Mu-kyung pulled out an old mobile phone from his suit pocket and wrapped it around the back of her hand along with the wires.

His gaze slid over the false, full-term belly and then settled on her. His hollow eyes urged her toward the phone.

“You will call your husband and ask him to save you.”

“.…”

“If you do not call, the bathtub will turn into a microwave. If you do call…”

He loosened his tie and dropped back into the chair.

“The snipers will take that ringtone as authorization to fire and pull the trigger on your husband immediately. The same conditions apply to Lee Wooshin, so do not worry too much.”

Seoryeong stopped breathing. Every other sound faded, and only her heart pounded as if it hung over the edge of a cliff.

This was a trap.

A game Tae Mu-kyung had set up for reasons unknown, one that offered no outcome but defeat. Something slid down her skin, whether water or cold sweat she could not tell.

If I try to live, Lee Wooshin dies. If he tries to live, I die.

No matter what they chose, one of them would have to be sacrificed. Her teeth ground together.

“Everything is ready. Now beg your husband to save you. Call him.”

His command sounded cold, yet at the end of it she sensed something desperate. Was that only her imagination? Seoryeong shook her bound limbs again and demanded,

“Director, why… why are you doing this?”

“Who knows.”

He leaned back as if exhausted, resting an elbow on the chair. His body seemed to relax, yet his posture remained rigid and precise. He looked like someone whose habits had sunk so deeply into him that even if he wanted to collapse, he could never fully fall apart.

Between his fingers, his eyes stared into empty space without focus. Tae Mu-kyung let out a long, heavy sigh. Seoryeong felt as though she were glimpsing something that had dried out long ago.

“Obviously, the one who violated the National Intelligence Service code should suffer far more, should they not?”

“….”

“Someone has to restore order. An agent who swore allegiance to the nation in blood dares to covet something else? We are the ones who swore before the country that we would brush aside personal interests under any circumstances, that we would never yield to temptation or threat.”

Tae Mu-kyung gazed into the void as if he stood once more before a long-forgotten declaration. Yet in his arid eyes, only the scattered remnants of a collapsed conviction remained.

Even boredom had passed. Now he had sunk into the abyss of futility.

“In the end, none of us can escape, if one person walks away…”

His wandering gaze fell on Seoryeong, though he did not truly see her.

His eyes pierced through her as bait and burned toward a single man.

“They must pay the proper price.”