Chapter 6.2

Chapter 6.2

Who was behind him? Could it be… the President?

But why would the President?

Unlikely thoughts haphazardly flickered in and out of her mind. Through her ringing ears, she heard a humming sound. It was the sound of rapidly spinning propellers.

A drone nearby?

Haewon raised her head and looked around. A small drone with a blinking red light was approaching her.

“…!”

She was quite flustered, not having expected a civilian to be tracked and fired upon in a cornfield with no civilian houses. But she aimed her pistol at the drone without hesitation.

Bang—!

Her bullet found its mark. The drone seemed to break apart after being hit, then exploded with a sudden bang—!

“…!”

It must have had a self-destruct mechanism. In the split second she reflexively raised her arm to cover her head, a wave of intense heat washed over her.

“Ugh!”

She barely managed to roll aside, dodging the flying embers and large shrapnel fragments. But shards she couldn’t avoid landed on her body, burning through her clothes and tearing at her skin.

It was excruciatingly hot. Haewon gritted her teeth and rubbed the areas where embers had landed against the dirt ground. It stung terribly, but there was no other way right now.

Just as the embers on her body hissed and died out, another deafening roar shook the earth—Bang!

Haewon instinctively recoiled. A high-pitched ringing pierced her ears.

“Haa, haa…”

She had experienced many shootouts as an agent, but this was her first time facing such a large-scale air raid. Faced with the mercilessly falling shells, Haewon felt powerless for the first time.

Her ears were ringing, so she repeatedly closed and opened her eyes. Then she stood up and looked beyond the Mui River. Her destination was still far, but her body was already a wreck.

“This is bullshit.”

Haewon cursed under her breath and slapped her cheek. She couldn’t breathe properly, making her mind feel dull, as if shrouded in fog.

“Snap out of it, Lee Haewon!”

She slapped her cheeks a few more times, rousing her senses, then stood up. Her limbs ached and stung, but she ignored it.

If she collapsed from the pain, this place would become her tomb.

However, before she could take a few determined steps, her knees buckled. It was from inhaling too much smoke. Breathing through her constricted airways, she collapsed where she stood.

“Hah…”

The night sky, which should have been filled with countless stars, was now covered in smoke and embers. It was as bright as day, even though it was night.

“…”

Suddenly, Ha Gyohu’s gray hair came to mind. That stiff, bleached hairstyle, always getting him scolded by Team Leader Min to dye it back, was Ha Gyohu’s trademark. He had stubbornly stuck to it, his voice echoing in her memory as he’d argue with Team Leader Min, saying, “Who knows when I’ll die? Can’t I even have the hairstyle I want?”

A life where you never knew when you would die.

Yes. This was life as a Black agent.

There had never been a single mission that didn’t put their lives on the line. They always stood at the crossroads of life and death, and like their name, the Black agents always lived in pitch-black darkness. They willingly embraced evil to eradicate it and achieve a greater good, sometimes even committing evil themselves.

It was indeed a hypocritical profession. But Haewon didn’t dislike this work.

Because she could save someone in some form, and because she could die meaningfully at any time.

Beyond her blurred vision, she saw a fighter jet moving through the hazy air. Haewon forced open her eyelids, which kept trying to close.

It had been clear arrogance to rush out of the bunker believing she could save her colleagues. She thought of the man who had become her last mission. Kwon Yeonwoo.

But even that strange man… he would survive this hell, wouldn’t he? He had to.

The self-reproach of not being able to save anyone properly weighed heavily on her. The past five years of living as a Black agent flashed before her eyes like a revolving lantern.

It was then—

Footsteps sounded from somewhere. Footsteps crunching through grass and walking on muddy ground. At first, she thought she had misheard, but she hadn’t. Haewon focused on her hearing.

Bang. Bang. Beyond the distant, vibrating sounds of shelling, someone was truly walking towards her.

Who is it…?

Just as she prayed the person wasn’t a soldier, she felt the footsteps stop right in front of her.

“…You really don’t listen.”

She thought she heard a familiar voice, and at the same time, her body was lifted. The next moment, Haewon was thrown straight into the muddy river water.

Splash—!

“Ugh…!”

Haewon, who had been completely submerged and then surfaced, instinctively struggled. Opening her closed eyes, she saw the figure standing against the backdrop of the flashing night sky.

A large build, a delicate face unfitting his physique, but a man who acted unpredictably and spoke with a casual swagger.

“Hello?”

It was Kwon Yeonwoo.