Chapter 06.
The next morning.
Yuju turned off the bathroom faucet and raised her head.
Her reflection in the mirror stared back at her. The sharp eyes and tightly pressed lips were flawless. It was the exact same face she had worn yesterday in front of the arrogant Do Haesung.
Right, of course. Who does he think Chae Yuju is?
“……Ha.”
Yet, the mirror couldn’t lie. The tips of her ears burned as if they had been scorched by fire.
āIt’s cute, but dangerous.
It was as if Do Haesung’s low chuckle and that insulting voice were still lingering in her ears.
“Who calling who cute, anyway?”
At that voice ringing like auditory hallucinations, Yuju couldn’t help herself and wrenched the faucet back open.
Whoosh, the sound of rushing water rang out louder than the silence of the conference room.
It was cold water. Even though her fingertips grew ice-cold, the heat raging inside refused to subside. Yuju cupped water in both hands and splashed it over her face.
“Whew!”
Gritting her teeth, Yuju glared at the tips of her ears in the reflection and forced herself to calm down.
Wherever the human who uttered those words was right now and whatever he was doing, it had zero to do with her psychological well-being.
Her sleep quality last night had been normal, her appetite this morning was fine, and her current heart rate was completely tranquil.
Just as she steadied her mind, yesterday’s voice echoed in her ears once more.
āRoutes planned by a rear unit with no field experience are useless in the field.
And it didn’t end there.
āPeople who haven’t shed a single drop of blood want to.
The veins on the back of her hand bulged.
Let’s scratch that part about her heart rate.
Yuju lowered her head again and shoved her face back into the flowing water.
“The one whose neck is in danger isn’t me, it’s you.”
It seemed this heat wouldn’t cool down until she managed to bend that obnoxious smile right off his face. Roughing off her wet hands, she grabbed a towel.
She needed a punching bag. And the target to project her face onto was already chosen.
Her steps were faster than usual.
Basement Level 1. The moment she opened the door to the fitness room, what hit her nose wasn’t heat, but the scent of muscle-soothing patches.
“Ughh……, Team Leader, you’re here?”
Jimin, whose soul had been completely sucked out by barely thirty minutes of self-defense training, crawled over from a corner making a moaning sound.
To an intelligence agent, martial arts training was practically legal torture permitted by the state.
Silently looking down at that miserable sight, Yuju muttered low:
“……It’s amazing that this wreck of a state is legal, seriously.”
Jimin collapsed almost limply at Yuju’s feet. Raising her head with great difficulty, Jimin’s eyes harbored expectation.
“Did you think about it?” “About what?” “A way to make the other side tuck their tails.”
Instead of answering, Yuju rolled up the sleeves of her uniform.
Did she think about it?
Of course she had. All through last night under the covers, she had run through at least a dozen scenarios.
She imagined his arrogant chin being flattened from various anglesāthree of which were quite realistic, while the remaining nine could run afoul of the law. Having to abandon those nine was why Yuju had spent the whole night tossing and turning.
“……I haven’t thought about it.”
Yet Jimin narrowed her eyes as if not believing a word.
regardless. “Liar.” “Hey.” “Ah, my apologies. So you haven’t thought about it at all. Indeed, there’s no way our team leader would waste time on such petty thoughts.”
Jimin adjusted her headband and evasively looked away with a feigned innocent expression. Yuju stared down at Jimin for a moment before spitting out low:
Showing your vulnerabilities to a subordinate stops right there. The fact that she had spent last night drafting a ‘How to Crush Do Haesung’ scenario instead of sleeping was a secret she would take to her grave.
“We just need to prove it with results.”
It was only a matter of time before Do Haesung realized the weight of those words. She had told him he’d be disappointed, and Chae Yuju was a person who kept her word.
Flicking her wrists loosely, Yuju stepped up to the punching bag. Jimin awkwardly hauled herself up from the floor.
“I’m going to go grab some coffee. Want me to get you one too, Team Leader?” “I’m fine. Get an extra shot added to yours.” “Yeaaah.”
Drawing out the end of her words, Jimin dragged herself out of the fitness room.
Click.
The moment the heavy iron door slammed shut, a cool silence settled in as if waiting for it. Yuju struck the punching bag lightly. Thud, thud-thud. A rhythmic sound filled the empty space.
Once more, this time putting a bit more force into it. Just as the rhythm was about to catch, the closed iron door swung open again.
“Already? Did you teleportā.”
Yuju’s words cut off mid-sentence as she turned her head.
Recognizing the face of an uninvited guest who lacked the slightest shred of manners, a dry chuckle escaped her lips.
Of all people.
“When someone’s already inside, I suppose there’s no need to ask them to come in.”
It was Do Haesung again.
He was leaning against the doorway in casual attire. Only after sweeping her gaze across the shoulder muscles revealed through his training wear did her gaze stop at the corners of his mouth.
Annoyingly, that infuriating, laid-back relaxation still hung there.
Without taking her hands off the punching bag, Yuju opened her mouth.
“Do you have business here?”
She tossed the words out as indifferently as possible. Instead of answering, Haesung slowly lowered his gaze and unbuckled his watch with familiar movements.
Click.
The fact that there was barely a sound made it all the more irritating.
Watching that scene, Yuju narrowed her brow.
That meant he had no intentions of clearing out easily.
This bastard, uninvited and already plotting to move in.
“By any chance, is this your first time seeing the fitness room scheduling system?” “……” “It should’ve shown that Team 3 is currently using it.”
Yuju bristled like a cat whose territory had been invaded.
However, whether he heard Yuju or not, Haesung put down his watch without a single reply and rolled his shoulders once. That was the entirety of his reaction.
An involuntary scoff slipped out of Yuju.
She spoke to a man, and all she got back was the sound of fabric brushing against fabric. Was this deliberate ignoring, or did that man simply lack ears to begin with?
Wham!
Striking the punching bag hard as if taking out her frustration, Yuju spat out:
“What is your deal?”
Perhaps because her tone was quite sharp, Haesung’s hands paused in mid-air for a second. But that too lasted only a moment as he indifferently dropped a single phrase:
“……Didn’t you hear me?” “No, I didn’t. I might be an agent who can catch the meaning even if you speak gibberish, but if you don’t speak up in the first place, even a god wouldn’t understand.” “You’ll be doing it with me today.” “So, doing what, exactly?”
A sharp edge laced Yuju’s counter-question.
Is the direct object really that heavy? You’d think uttering a single word was top-secret state intelligence. Would it kill him to speak clearly?
Right before Yuju reached her breaking point, a crisp, clear word slipped past Haesung’s lips.
“Krav Maga.”
For a split second, Yuju doubted her own ears.
Krav Maga.
The essence was clear. Fancy kicks and synchronized routines were thrown out the window; it was a combat art where only the one who survived won.
To agents who had to return alive from weaponless fields by turning every part of their human body into a weapon, this wasn’t a techniqueāit was survival itself. Which meant it was the exclusive domain of field agents. At least until Kwon Ihyeon arrived as the Incheon branch chief.
It didn’t matter what your physical fitness, age, or gender was.
āHand them a single ballpoint pen and I’ll make them pull their own weight. That’s my goal.
At first, she thought it was a ridiculous joke. But Ihyeon was dead serious, and thanks to him, this training ground had abruptly turned into a forced survival camp for all employeesāfield agents, office staff, and analysts alike.
The five years of accumulated experience of rolling together whispered to her. Hidden beneath that brutal training was a heavy sense of responsibility and a deep affection, vowing not to let anyone be lost in vain.
Yuju had hit the dirt without complaint because she understood that damn-hard-to-ignore sincerity, never because she actually liked burning physical energy.
However.
“You’re an entertaining person.”
Yuju pulled her hands away from the punching bag and looked straight at Haesung.
“The door out is that way.”
Ihyeon was one thing, but this man? Absolutely not.
