Chapter 95.2

Chapter 95.2

Seoyeong’s heart thundered, pounding faster and faster as if it would burst. Dizzy from the rush, she felt her breath hitch.

To actually see Kim Hyun. To meet that person, to see him with her own eyes.

Finally, it felt like she was reaching the finish line.

As she stood there, stunned, Lee Wooshin approached and led Chief Joo away. His hand, briefly brushing hers, was cold enough to be unsettling.

Instinctively, she searched his face. His eyes, deeply shadowed, held an aura sharp as a blade.

He seemed about to say something, his lips parting for a moment, but then he pressed them shut, and his back turned in silence, leaving her throat dry.

“….”

Seoryeong bit her lip, unable to conceal her nervousness.

The two of them grew further and further away, but there was still no sign of anyone resembling Kim Hyun. The men at a distance were clearly not him.

When they reached the designated point, Joo Seolheon’s subordinates helped untie her bound hands.

At that moment, the trunk flew open, and something large and elongated—resembling a sports bag but bigger—fell at Lee Wooshin’s feet.

At the same instant, Chief Joo raised her hand and struck Lee Wooshin across the face. Once, twice, three times, four!

“――!”

The harsh sound echoed so vividly it was audible even from here. Five strikes, six, seven, eight! Though her small body swayed and her breaths came out in angry huffs, Chief Joo didn’t stop venting her anger.

What on earth! Seoryeong’s legs twitched. Nine strikes, ten! After hitting him exactly ten times, the woman slammed the car door shut and got back inside.

His once fair, smooth skin was visibly bruised and swollen, but Lee Wooshin only spat blood on the ground without any other reaction.

With a body that seemed weighed down, he hefted the bag and began to walk towards Seoryeong.

Step by step, his expression changed with each stride, as though making a decision, but then his gaze wavered, like the seasons shifting. He walked slowly, more like a shadow than a man, until he suddenly stopped altogether.

“――.”

He swept a hand over his face as if lost. Another cold wind blew, sending the reeds into a frenzy like a flock of birds. Lee Wooshin stood alone amidst the swaying reeds.

What is happening right now? Where is Kim Hyun, and what’s in that bag? Everything felt like a confusing maze. An unbearable feeling rose within her, and she shouted out.

“Instructor!”

And in the blink of an eye, Lee Wooshin was gone from sight.

“…!”

What? Where, where did he go? Seoryeong immediately ran, pushing through the reeds. Her lips, pale and chapped, parted as she panted for air.

Then she spotted him striding towards the river and widened her eyes.

Without slowing down, she ran down the sloping field and stumbled, her blouse stained and her skin scraped, but she got back up immediately.

“Han Seoryeong, don’t move!”

That rough, booming shout—she hadn’t heard it in so long. Her legs froze involuntarily.

“Instructor, where is Kim Hyun? Where is my husband?”

Her voice trembled, the dread apparent.

The NIS vehicle had already left, but Kim Hyun wasn’t there. She didn’t understand.

Was it a ruse?

Had Chief Joo deceived them?

Where did things go wrong? What had she overlooked?

Her thoughts tangled as she tried to make sense of it.

Meanwhile, Lee Wooshin, his face drained of color, seemed ready to throw the bag he had retrieved into the river.

“What are you…?”

The bag looked heavy. The veins bulged visibly in his clenched hands, and she found the sight unsettling.

This can’t be right… Why would Lee Wooshin be struggling with something as simple as a bag?

What’s inside that?

Before she could finish the thought, Seoryeong pounced like an animal, clutching the bag and yanking the zipper down. Whoever gasped first, she couldn’t tell.

“――.”

A squared forehead, thin eyebrows, long, single-lidded eyes, a straight nose, and tanned skin.

It was the face she’d once traced so carefully, afraid to wake her sleeping husband. The face her greedy fingers had always held back from painting too freely, always hesitant.

Seoryeong’s gaze landed on the face, now rapidly decaying. Lee Wooshin reached out quickly to cover her eyes, but she swatted his hand away fiercely.

A shrill ringing filled her ears.

“Ah”

Her hands trembled beyond control. Despite this, she clung to the bag and slowly traced the stranger’s unfamiliar features.

What is this? Even as her mind faded into darkness, she obsessively examined the corpse, unable to stop.

Past the ear, down to the chin, the throat, and the broad shoulders. Her fingertips recognized the contours, and her heart shuddered as though in a spasm, joy flooding through her at finally finding her missing piece.

She pulled the zipper down further and finally faced a man’s brutally mutilated corpse.

“Hyun! Is it you?”

Her voice asking that was blank, lost, and childlike.