Chapter 5.1

Chapter 5.1

Even in this situation, Yeonwoo was spouting absurdities. Haewon’s expression hardened as she watched him.

It wasn’t worth responding to. How long had he even known her to claim he wanted to be alone with her?

As if he’d read the chill in Haewon’s gaze, Yeonwoo raised a palm and his eyes crinkled in a faint smile.

“You’re looking at me so menacingly with those pretty eyes.”

“Just tell me the truth. Where are we? Why did you drag me here?”

According to the photos Jung-in had sent, the man before her was indeed Kwon Yeonwoo. But how could a young master, raised so carefully in a good family, know about a secret place like this, deep in an isolated forest in Myanmar?

Could Jung-in have missed some vital information?

Haewon narrowed her eyes, assessing him. Yeonwoo then spoke.

“I have a bit of a condition.”

“A condition?”

“It’s a lack of trust. What if you ‘protect’ me by taking me somewhere strange?”

“I told you I’m an agent. If you can’t trust Black, who can you trust?”

Yeonwoo snorted softly at Haewon’s words. Beneath the dim light, Haewon stared at Yeonwoo’s heavily shadowed face.

She had just saved him from almost dying. What was with this attitude?

“Well. I tend not to trust anyone but myself.”

The moment he said that, Kwon Yeonwoo, who had been consistently lighthearted, suddenly wiped the smile from his face.

At the same time, a suffocating silence fell over the space. Even the sound of rain was absent here.

Haewon met Yeonwoo’s gaze, who was now looking at her with an impassive face, and spoke.

“Then why did you bring me along? You could have just hidden by yourself.”

“You got me out of there, so I did you a favor.”

“What?”

Kwon Yeonwoo let out a short laugh, then stood up.

“If you’d gone on like that, you would have died.”

“Died? Who? Me?”

Haewon stared at him with a bewildered expression, as if he were talking in his sleep. She had successfully shaken off the government rebels who were following them, and the safe house wasn’t far. Why on earth would she have died?

“What’s your basis for that?”

“If I tell you, will you believe me?”

“…”

“You won’t believe it anyway.”

His tone became light once more. He let out a short laugh, stood up, and dusted off his hands.

“Wherrrre’s theee towelll~”

He rummaged through a rattan basket placed next to the chair, muttering a strange tune that was neither speaking nor singing. Apparently finding the towel, he straightened up and strode towards Haewon.

“I went out of my way for you. Why don’t you relax? You’d look prettier if you smiled.”

“Hah…”

Haewon kept her gun aimed, only raising her eyes to Kwon Yeonwoo. She had talked with him quite a bit, but the fact that she hadn’t gained any real information was irritating. On top of that, Yeonwoo kept acting as if he was teasing her.

As she silently glared at him, Yeonwoo unfurled what he held in his hand.

“It’s a towel. You need to dry off, right? Though, I don’t mind you completely soaked either…”

For a moment, she felt an impulse to pull the trigger. Every single word out of this man’s mouth irritated her.

Echo One or an eco-bag, what was the difference? Should she just shoot him here and escape? If she left him here and went out alone, no one would ever find him.

Just as she was holding her breath, seriously contemplating abandoning her professional duty, Yeonwoo stretched out his long arm and placed the towel over Haewon’s head.

“Oh, come on now. You look like you’re having bad thoughts. You shouldn’t. You need to bring me back safely. Otherwise, Angel won’t keep her neck, right?”

His large hands began to gently towel her wet hair. The touch was rough yet playful. Haewon, instantly repulsed by another’s touch on her body, lowered her gun. She took a step back and snatched the towel from him.

“Don’t touch me.”

She murmured it low, and to her surprise, he easily backed away. Haewon dried her hair while looking around. She saw the armchair Kwon Yeonwoo had been sitting in just moments before, a narrow bed next to it, and a crudely fashioned desk.

Everything bore the clear marks of time. The only things gleaming brightly in this space were the metal laptop on the desk and Kwon Yeonwoo himself.

She held her breath, watching Yeonwoo’s back. He stretched his long neck from side to side, easing his stiff body.

“My vision’s finally coming back. Damn them. What kind of fucking drug did they use?”

She remembered the syringes scattered around Kwon Yeonwoo when she first found him.

There weren’t just one or two. Despite that immense dose, he hadn’t lost consciousness like others would, had fired a gun without issue, and had run all the way here perfectly fine. The thought of Kwon Yeonwoo made a shiver run down her spine.

Was that even possible? Was he even human?