Chapter 6.1

Chapter 6.1

“Amen.”

Kwon Yeonwoo snickered after uttering a devout “Amen,” and Haewon’s tension immediately drained away.

A halo? Rainbow-colored light? Didn’t that just mean he was high and seeing things?

Yeonwoo grinned, noting Haewon’s bewildered expression. It was an unnecessarily bright smile.

“Let go, you crazy bastard!”

Haewon pushed his shoulder with all her might, enduring the pain. Yeonwoo unexpectedly backed away obediently, then whined as if she had been unfair.

“Let’s stop and rest. Huh? There’s nothing but trouble waiting for you out there anyway.”

“What trouble?”

His attitude had been puzzling all along, confidently stating that she would die if she went out, or that she’d face trouble. Did he have solid information?

Haewon stared at him intently, demanding a straight answer. Yeonwoo sighed briefly, as if annoyed, then fumbled on the side table and picked something up. It was an old 2G flip phone. The same model as Haewon’s phone, which he had just broken.

He opened the phone, pressed a few buttons, and then showed Haewon the screen.

A concise message was displayed there.

[Engagement started near Myawaddy border. Large-scale government shelling anticipated.]

The sender was “S” in all caps. Haewon’s eyes widened slightly as she read the message.

Anticipated shelling…?

“Is that accurate information?”

“Of course. That’s why I’m holed up here.”

Ha Gyohu flashed into her mind. Before they parted ways earlier, they had agreed to meet at a safe house after shaking off the government rebel forces. And that safe house was located in the border region between Thailand and Myanmar.

Moreover, the support team deployed to rescue Echo One was likely waiting near the Myawaddy border.

If that message was true, many lives were in danger.

Haewon glanced at the shattered earpiece on the floor, clenching her fist. Without any means of communication, there was no way to inform headquarters.

What if I went out now and warned them?

She replayed the path she had taken, chasing Kwon Yeonwoo from the Mui River. It wasn’t perfectly clear, but she had memorized distinct landmarks along the way, so returning wouldn’t be impossible.

Just then, Kwon Yeonwoo, who had been watching, calmly spoke.

“The sun has set.”

“…”

“If you go out now, it’s a dog’s death. You’ll die before you can save anyone.”

Haewon bit her lip hard. If the engagement had really started, he wasn’t wrong.

But she couldn’t hide here and save only herself, knowing that people were in danger. That wasn’t Haewon’s way.

She had become a Black agent to save even one more life with the power she possessed.

She turned her head slightly to look at Kwon Yeonwoo. His wet hair curled down over his pale forehead. Just by looking at that face, he seemed like an innocent college student. Though his true nature remained completely unknown.

Haewon opened her mouth with an expressionless face.

“You can get back safely even without me, can’t you?”

Kwon Yeonwoo didn’t answer, only stared at Haewon. His eyes seemed to flicker for a moment, but he remained silent. Haewon gave a slight nod.

“Then I hope you return safely.”

With that, she turned her body and headed for the exit.

Throughout her time as a Black agent, she had never clung much to her life. She had lived on the boundary of life and death, always believing she could die at any moment.

So now, leaving was the right thing to do.

“Agh!”

Haewon stumbled forward. Less than 30 minutes had passed since she left the shack.

Attack drones and fighter jets streaked across the sky in formation. The village beyond the Mui River was already engulfed in flames.

A deafening roar shook the earth. An irritating ringing echoed in her ears, and the acrid smell made it hard to breathe.

“Haa…”

It wasn’t her first time in a war zone, but it was her first time being in the middle of an active combat zone like this.

What had happened to Ha Gyohu? Was the safe house still in one piece?

Haewon crawled on her arms, moving forward in a low crawl. Her whole body felt scorching hot, as if she had been burned by embers. She panted, looking at the flames that adorned the black sky.

This was hell.

Bang! Thud, bang, bang!

Loud noises followed one after another. The night sky would brighten as if struck by lightning, then flare red again, repeatedly. It was a dreadful sight.

Had Ha Gyohu survived that hell?

“If only I had my earpiece…”

Haewon bit back a curse. Kwon Yeonwoo’s face, so casually breaking her phone, came to mind.

“Bastard.”

From what Haewon had observed, he didn’t need the agency’s protection in the first place.

He might have escaped safely even without the agents, or perhaps the agents themselves were part of his plan. Maybe even getting captured by the rebel forces was intentional.

There was no definite evidence, of course, but it was apparent from Kwon Yeonwoo’s relaxed demeanor. To have even an underground bunker in this remote forest shack meant his support was probably not ordinary.