Chapter 59.1

Chapter 59.1

The hand that had been pressing down on her shoulders lifted.

Slowly rising and stepping down from the bed, the man straightened his clothes neatly. His calm and cold gaze told her he was leaving all choices to her.

Wait, what did I just hear? Seoryeong looked up at him with a somewhat bewildered expression, propping herself up with her elbow. With the physical distance between them, she could finally speak comfortably.

“You’re really… you’re going to find my husband?”

Her voice was cautious as she asked again to confirm what she had heard. The unexpected offer was both dubious and startling, but her eyes, like jewels, were already mixed with half suspicion and half joy, swirling as if she were dizzy.

Did he know Kim Hyun?

He’s a black agent hidden so tightly that even the director of the National Intelligence Service personally called to halt her interrogation immediately. It was impossible for Lee Wooshin to know such a fact, but he was the first to speak to her with such certainty.

Her heart, which had been hanging limp, started pounding violently. Her head, which had been dulled by a heavy headache, and the pit of her stomach, which had been pricked by loneliness, seemed to clear up in an instant.

Quiet joy wrapped around her.

But…

“You say you want to work for me, and if so, you’ll have to take my orders without question, but apart from that, I’m asking you to follow my instructions even when you’re not in the field.”

“…”

“I will find your husband.”

He extended a large hand, as if to help her up.

The sunrise shining through the window bathed him in light, and his firm words were like a beacon to her tired body and mind. Seoryeong took a quick breath, as if swallowing long-held sorrow.

But…

She still couldn’t bring herself to take his hand.

“In return, Agent Han Seoryeong must give up entangling herself with other affairs and stop her ridiculous plan.”

Give up?

No, not even once?

As she hesitated to take the offered hand and just stared, he frowned slightly and stepped closer. Seoryeong quickly covered her face and spoke.

“Wai! I haven’t washed. I’m dirty, so please step back a bit!”

Her request, shouted to maintain the minimum decorum, was simply ignored by Lee Wooshin.

With a shameless expression, he said, “What’s dirty?” and roughly grabbed her hand. The forcibly imposed contract made her hand ache as if it was being wrenched.

As a result, Seoryeong had no choice but to start a sudden struggle to free her hand. However, the more she resisted, the tighter Lee Wooshin’s grip became. She was like an animal caught in a trap, unable to move because of his unreasonable strength.

“I’m sorry to say this… but I don’t want to be monitored by you, Instructor!”

Even in the midst of this, her voice flowed out calmly, causing his brows to furrow deeply. He clearly hadn’t anticipated that she would reject his offer, judging by his arrogant expression of disbelief.

“How can I take your hand without knowing what orders you’ll give next? It feels like a leash, and I don’t like it. I don’t want my actions to be restricted, nor do I want to be burdened with keeping promises.”

“…”

“And whether it’s hard or not, I can find my husband on my own. If I didn’t have that determination or certainty, I wouldn’t have even started looking for a needle in a haystack.”

Though her heart was still pounding at the extremely tempting offer, she gritted her teeth and refused.

Then Lee Wooshin swallowed his annoyance roughly. “Does it feel so unreasonable to only focus on a few important things?”

“When someone tells me not to do something, I want to do it even more.”

“…”

“Don’t misunderstand, Instructor. It’s not just with you, I’ve been like this since I was young.”

Lee Wooshin looked up at the ceiling and closed his eyes at the casual confession. After a moment, he spoke quietly.

“Agent Han Seoryeong, you may not realize this, but I also made this decision with great difficulty.”

His words seemed truthful, as an exhaustion not seen even during hellish weeks of training washed over his face. A man who could sleep soundly in front of agents on the brink of death now looked as if he was suffering from insomnia, with sunken eyes.

“By the way, Instructor.”

Seoryeong asked with a blank expression.

“If I were a male agent, would you have done the same?”

“…!”

“Would you have reprimanded, scolded, and pushed me down for writing inappropriate notes and having lewd thoughts? Would you have interfered, meddled, and controlled my private life the same way if I were a male agent?”

Lee Wooshin frowned, and Seoryeong did not miss that moment.

“What if Instructor Jin Hojae had a new lover every night?”

“You were making a good point, so why bring up his name now?”

“It’s just an example.”

“Have you two introduced yourselves formally?” He asked her bitterly.

“It’s just an example.”