Chapter 265.2

Chapter 265.2

His once immaculate hair had fallen loose over his brows.

“I was the one who followed the NIS orders to the end. I upheld the code. So why does the bastard who threw everything away and went into hiding get to live smiling? He lost nothing. He faced no discipline. But every time I see you, I remember what I gave up. So you–”

Tae Mu-kyung ground his teeth.

“You are a thorn in my eye.”

Each word came out heavy, thick with something like sludge.

“Was everything I believed was right just an illusion? I did not commit a single shameful act before the nation—!”

Their harsh breathing clashed in the air. Lee Wooshin let out a short, derisive laugh and cut him off cleanly.

“That is not it.”

He rested the back of his head casually against the hard wall and spoke.

“There is one thing you are mistaken about, Director. I was not afraid of the code. I was afraid of that damn love. Somewhere deep down, I knew it would kill me one day. Even when I left my household and my wife behind to withdraw, the back of my neck felt cold as hell.”

“…!”

“You think I never felt like tearing my ears off the way you did? Do you have any idea what state my dick was in? For your information, I shoved actual needles into it,” Lee Wooshin twisted his lips into a crooked smile.

“So even if no one else understands, I do. I hope you understand this too, Director. I did not quit because I threw everything away. I quit because I wanted to have all of it.”

“..…”

“Untie her too.”

He jerked his chin coldly toward Seoryeong’s bathtub. Tae Mu-kyung did not move. He only kept staring at the false mask that still had not broken.

At that moment, Asha, wounded, shouted irritably in front of the generator, “Damn it! Why won’t this thing stop?!”

Lee Wooshin flicked a stiff glance in that direction and spoke again. He did not show a trace of impatience. Even so, his insides burned fast.

“You wanted to see this face that badly? Then watch to the very end, you bastard.”

He grabbed Tae Mu-kyung, who looked like nothing more than a rubber shell, and spat the words out as if chewing him apart.

“Even if I turn into a cripple, I will save her with my own hands. So watch all you want. This is what you really wanted to see.”

“…!”

Tae Mu-kyung’s gaze dulled. “No. You were wrong, and I was right. You will soon realize that you cannot help becoming like me—!”

“Fuck you, Tae Mu-kyung. Even if I die and come back to life, I will never become someone like you.”

I told you. Love is the scariest thing in the world. Bigger than death to me. Lee Wooshin lunged forward.

Tae Mu-kyung stumbled, thrown off balance by the rough shove. Left standing alone, he looked like a crude imitation molded in the shape of a man.

As Lee Wooshin ran toward the bathtub, Tae Mu-kyung picked up the gun from the floor and clicked in a new magazine.

He pulled back the slide and aimed at Lee Wooshin’s exposed back. But his palm felt slick, and his lips had stiffened unnaturally.

“―”

How are you going to save a wife who is about to be electrocuted and burned to death?

The timer had already started. Even if they smashed the generator, it would not stop. Saving one and losing one was the fate of an agent. You would end up like me soon enough. Yes. You would….

“You wanted to see this face that badly? Then watch to the very end, you bastard. Even if I turn into a cripple, I will save her with my own hands. So watch all you want. This is what you really wanted to see.”

Tae Mu-kyung clenched his teeth and forced the invading voice away.

‘Three minutes and twenty seconds until the timer stopped. After that, the time it would take for the current to reach your wife’s heart.’

“Zero point five seconds.”

There is nothing you can do.

All you can do is struggle.