Chapter 01
It was the kind of season where the sun felt like it was going to swallow the world whole.
“It’s so damn hot, seriously.”
The sky was an unreal shade of blue, and heatwaves were dancing maliciously over the asphalt.
Right on cue, Jimin’s cheeky voice buzzed through the in-ear monitor.
[Team Leader, seriously, just let me go. With the headquarters satellite’s performance, I can even see the number of eyelashes! By the way, Team Leader, is your left side one strand longer today?]
Going by just the tone, you’d think she was a loyal subject consumed by all the worries of the world.
The reality was just a armchair navigator stuck at home.
“Jimin, your mother thinks you’re a respectable trading company associate. If she hears that her precious daughter was carted off from heatstroke under the blazing sun, what would happen to me?”
[ā¦ā¦Ah, please. I go to Mandarin classes in tears every weekend just to maintain this trading company Associate Yoon persona!]
Jimin’s shuddering voice came through the in-ear vividly. A fresh, breezy smile of a victor finally bloomed on Yuju’s lips after casually stomping on the mental state of the subordinate who had just mocked her.
Right, this was why being a team leader was worth it.
Yuju kicked aside loose pebbles with the tip of her shoe as she climbed the hill.
Climbing a mountain on her own two feet in this heat made her seriously want to look back and figure out where her life had veered off course.
The answer was obvious.
The NIS. And that damn Team 5.
Only three days ago, her confrontation with Incheon Branch Chief Kwon Ihyeonāwhich had instantly frozen the office airāflashed before her eyes.
āTeam 3 is going to move together with Team 5 from now on.
The bomb had dropped without warning.
āDirector, am I finally supposed to awaken spiritual vision to see things that don’t exist? āNot funny. āMe neither. Since when does Team 5 exist in the Incheon branch?
An edge of frost coated Yuju’s voice.
Bringing up a team that didn’t exist meant one of two things: either Ihyeon had reshuffled the deck, or he was finally pulling out a hidden trump card. Neither option pleased her.
An joint operation was the prelude to tragedy.
Ever since that day when an internal traitor caused her to lose every single teammate who had eaten from the same pot, Yuju had shuddered at the thought of cooperating with another team. She knew down to her bones what it felt like to trust the sweet words of “we’re on the same side” only to have a cold gun barrel pressed against her back.
She didn’t care who those ghost-like bastards were.
There was only one thing that mattered: making sure no one stepped foot into her territory. That was all.
However, Ihyeon gave her no room to maneuver.
āIt was created yesterday. āDirector! āIt’s an order. No arguments accepted.
He stood up.
Just like that, the air changed in an instant. The weight carved into his body from rolling through rough field operations for a long time couldn’t be covered up by a single suit.
āIf you can’t handle it, leave this line of work. A single piece of paper is all it takes to finish it.
Yuju kept her mouth shut.
Ihyeon’s gaze pinned the deep depths of her pupils. This man already knew what was lurking in there.
The truth buried behind her father’s death. Her fierce, relentless obsession that had driven her to walk into this hellish NIS on her own two feet just to dig it up. Which meant she would never walk away on her own volition, either.
Ihyeon’s tactic of presenting the shield of an order and the sword of dismissal at the same time was cowardly, but effective.
āIf not that, stop talking back and move.
Click.
The door closed. Before the scent of cigarette smoke Ihyeon left behind had even faded, Ara asked with a pale face.
āTeam Leader, what do we do? āWhat do we do? A precious guest is coming, so we have to go out and welcome them.
Yuju slowly raised her head. A cold smile hung on her lips.
“Tsk.”
Shaking off the unpleasant recollection, Yuju quickened her pace again.
She would find out just how good-looking those bastards were once she saw them for herself.
At the end of the hill, the church finally revealed its appearance.
Red roof, gray stone walls, and a spire piercing the sky. Yuju stopped and looked up at it. She had heard it wasn’t large, but facing it in person, it felt quite heavy. It felt as serene and sacred as if it had been wedged somewhere between heaven and earth.
However, this place was no sanctuary to Yuju. It was a territory to defend and a battlefield to monitor.
“Do you need help?”
A voice came from behind. Low and composed.
Reacting reflexively, Yuju turned around to find an elderly priest with graying hair standing there.
“No, I’m just stopping by for some fresh air. It’s so beautiful.”
Yuju smiled.
“May I rest inside for a moment?”
Her fingertips subtly moved toward her waistline.
Her life had been too rough for her to let her guard down over a single benevolent impression.
“Of course. This place is always open.” [That’s the pastor of Gujong Cathedral. Face and voiceprint match at 96%.]
Two voices overlapped at the same time.
“Thank you.”
Yuju gave a short bow. Withdrawing her hand from her waist, she let out an internal scoff. It was an occupational hazard. Suspecting people first before anything else.
Creeeakā
When she reached out without hesitation for the church door, the old hinges groaned. The door opened very slowly, as if the aged wood was exhaling a deep breath. Breathing in the incense seeping through the crack in the door, Yuju found herself drawing in a slightly deeper breath.
The interior of the church relied solely on sunlight. Sunlight streaming down through the high ceiling passed through the stained glass, dyeing the interior.
Red, blue, and a yellow close to gold. Colors difficult to capture entirely in words settled quietly over the dust floating in the air.
[Woahā¦ā¦, it’s art even through a screen! If you pray in a place like this, it feels like any sin would get a free-pass forgiveness.]
Jimin, sharing the situation from behind her glasses, let out a low sigh of awe.
“The director is never going to forgive us. Even Satan would have to kneel and repent in front of that guy.” [Even so, looking for Satan in a church is a bit much, isn’t it? What if you actually get struck by lightning out of the blue?!]
Yuju sprawled out flat on the church pew. The hard wooden board felt sweeter than a five-star hotel latex mattress to a body that had missed sleep for several nights.
Jimin’s scream pierced her eardrum through the in-ear. But paying it no mind, Yuju rested her arms behind her head and laughed softly.
“Why? They say God forgives everything. He’ll take pity on a K-office worker’s sleep deprivation like me.” [Just look at that light on the ceilingā¦ā¦. It feels like God is going to throw a fast-ball straight at you shouting, ‘You satanic being!’!] “Well, then I wouldn’t have to look at the director’s face, so that’s nice. My life insurance is fully stocked, too, so please handle the worker’s compensation claim neatly.”
With Jimin’s horrified voice serving as background noise, Yuju fiddled with her in-ear.
“I’ll rest for a bit and look around. Turn off the radio.” [ā¦ā¦Right. See you later if you don’t get struck by lightning. And don’t forget to leave me a plate of sweet and sour pork out of my share when you cash out the insurance payout.]
The radio transmission, noisy until the very end, cut off, and the silence of the church filled the space.
The sunlight passing through the stained glass tickled her lap, and strangely, her tension began to unwind.
Yuju didn’t like that. Unwinding tension meant letting your guard down, and letting your guard down was a vulnerability. She knew all too painfully that a bullet could pierce through that vulnerability at any moment.
Yet, her heavy eyelids closed on their own accord.
How much time had passed?
Just as this peace began to feel awkward, an unfamiliar gaze latched onto her straight-set spine.
“Sister, do you need help?”
It was a low, composed voice. But it wasn’t holy.
Yuju snapped her eyes wide open.
A man was standing at the boundary between light and darkness.
