At my question, Choi Seo-jun caught his breath for a moment and avoided my gaze.

The deep wrinkles between his brows and his fingers placed on his knees moved as if he were anxious.

“What is the matter?”

When I asked again calmly, Choi Seo-jun opened his mouth as if he could no longer hesitate.

“Elina is being extradited to the UK.”

That one sentence froze the air in the hospital room in an instant.

I fell into silence for a while.

Choi Seo-jun continued while watching my mood.

“The official announcement is being delayed, but this is information obtained through Samir. An official announcement will be a matter of time.”

I slowly clenched my hands, which had been placed neatly on the blanket.

My complexion gradually turned gloomy.

“…It is faster than expected.”

Choi Seo-jun nodded his head.

Even he, who usually judged any matter clearly and coolly, could not hide his embarrassment this time.

“As you know well, Representative, once Elina is extradited to her home country, we will not be able to obtain any information from her. Including who the person behind it is and through what route they are connected.”

Choi Seo-jun’s voice was full of regret.

It was the same as the clue he had barely captured while staying up for many sleepless nights evaporating before his eyes.

I stared into space for a while and fell into thought, and soon turned my head to look at Choi Seo-jun.

“So that is why you came now.”

“To speak honestly, that is so.”

Choi Seo-jun closed and opened his eyes, then rubbed the corners of his eyes that looked full of fatigue.

After that, he asked me as if harboring a sliver of hope.

“By any chance, what do you plan to do?”

My expression turned firm.

“Now, I must step out directly.”

“Are you still hospitalized?”

A bitter smile spread across my mouth.

However, that smile was full of indomitable will.

“I absolutely cannot let Elina go just like that. At least until she vomits out the truth we need.”

At those words, Choi Seo-jun gave a small nod and showed a smile of relief.

“I will prepare a really big coffee mix for you. But will discharge be possible?”

I tilted my head back and stared at the ceiling, then answered in a determined voice.

“I’ll have to say that I’m receiving outpatient treatment for the time being.”

After Choi Seo-jun left the hospital room, I asked the nurse for the discharge procedure.

The medical staff’s dissuasion toward me was as fierce as expected, but I firmly stated my intention.

The next morning, my parents visited my hospital room.

“Hyunjun, what is this about? Why the sudden discharge?”

Worry was deeply buried in Mrs. Kang Ji-yeon’s voice.

Vice Chairman Lim Do-kyung also looked at his son’s face without a word and then opened his mouth.

“What do you plan to do if your body hasn't fully healed yet and it gets worse because you overexert yourself?”

I kicked off the blanket and sat up.

I was already in a state of having changed my clothes.

“I also fully understand your hearts, Mother and Father. But if we let Elina go like this, we will never know who the culprit is.”

I raised my body, straightened my waist, and fixed my gaze toward my parents.

“If we don’t catch the person behind this now, they will target us again next time.”

Mrs. Kang Ji-yeon said with a gaze full of worry while looking at her son.

“Still, your body is still….”

“It has recovered a lot. I will move as carefully as possible, so do not worry too much.”

Lim Do-kyung firmly closed his lips and then slowly nodded his head.

“Do not overdo anything. If something goes wrong with you, all of us will collapse.”

“Yes, Dad.”

I wore a gentle smile.

My parents organized the luggage and returned home.

Even until they returned, they were full of worry, but they knew well that they could not stop their son who had already made up his mind.

They merely hoped that nothing more would happen.

In the afternoon, I visited the hospital room where Moon Jong-beom was with Choi Seo-jun.

Only after asking how he was doing as he was still living while lying down without being able to move, and even requesting him to receive treatment well, did I leave the hospital room.

Next, I visited Manager Jeong Jin-woo’s hospital room.

There was Jeong Jin-woo, who still had bandages tightly wrapped around his head and chest.

He opened his closed eyes as soon as I and Choi Seo-jun entered the hospital room.

“Are you already being discharged?”

“That is how it became.”

Even though it was not yet time to be discharged, if it was a matter that I had to step out for, there was definitely something going on.

Jeong Jin-woo forced his body up from the bed and crumpled his face.

Seeing that, I said with a serious face.

“What are you doing now? What do you plan to do if a wound opens up while moving!”

“I will go with you. Since you are moving, Representative, I cannot be left out.”

My expression hardened.

“Manager Jeong. Lie back down on the bed!”

I was someone who never got angry at anyone.

But for the first time, I spoke with a fierce gaze.

“If you insist on being discharged now, do not even dream of seeing my face at HJ Partners in the future. I will never see you again.”

At those words, Jeong Jin-woo flinched and closed his mouth.

He also did not not know what kind of person I was.

I was a person who unconditionally kept a word once spoken.

I would truly never see Jeong Jin-woo again.

Jeong Jin-woo kept silent for a moment and then soon raised his head.

“I understand. I will stay hospitalized quietly.”

After saying that, he took out his phone and made a call somewhere.

“Yeah, it’s me. I need to ask a favor. Help me out.”

After a short phone call, he sent a phone number to me via message.

I asked while looking at the contact information.

“Who is it?”

“It is someone I know well. He is currently a civilian, but he is a person who previously served as a black agent in the NIS. His name is Hong Jang-gun.”

My brow furrowed slightly.

It was a very unfamiliar name.

“Hong Jang-gun? Is it his real name?”

Jeong Jin-woo nodded with a soft smile.

“No one knows his real name. Publicly, he is in a state of being processed as deceased…. The government does not know of his existence either. But I guarantee his skill. Originally, he is a person who is proficient in information collection, survival, infiltration, and even psychological warfare, so he will have many uses. And everything I have said now is top secret.”

“A person like that became a civilian?”

Jeong Jin-woo hesitated for a moment and continued.

“In the past, his team was annihilated due to an accident during an operation. He left the NIS after that incident. But I guarantee his skill.”

Jeong Jin-woo quietly added.

“If it is that person, he will be of help in securing what is needed before Elina leaves.”

I soon nodded and answered.

“Thank you.”

Jeong Jin-woo smiled faintly and said.

“Be careful, Representative.”

I spoke while gently placing my hand on his shoulder.

“I will surely reveal who the culprit is.”

***

I first headed to HJ Partners with Choi Seo-jun.

I did not know the air of the office I entered after a long time would be this welcoming.

As I sat on a soft sofa and slowly exhaled, it felt as if my stifled heart was opening up.

When the internal phone rang then, Choi Seo-jun answered instead.

“Representative, they say a strange person has come to the lobby right now.”

“A strange person?”

“That is likely the person Manager Jeong Jin-woo spoke of. I will go down.”

Instead of me, whose body was uncomfortable, Choi Seo-jun headed to the lobby.

There was a truly suspicious-looking figure waiting for him.

A man sitting loosely on a corner of a sofa placed in the lobby.

Hair that grew strangely long covered his eyes and hid his face.

The sleeve ends of a torn green tracksuit were tattered.

His sneakers were so shabby that they were beyond being worn out, with the heels torn off.

Even his beard had grown long, covering half of his chin, and as he approached, the smell of alcohol vibrated.

Those who encountered the man in the lobby were whispering and acting wary of him.

Choi Seo-jun swallowed dry saliva and opened his mouth.

“Are you perhaps Mr. Hong Jang-gun?”

The man raised his head and chuckled.

“I came after receiving a contact from Jin-woo hyung. It is because I do not have an ID. They said at the lobby that I cannot go up if I do not have an ID.”

“Ah…. I am sorry. I did not think that far. Please follow me.”

Choi Seo-jun thought.

He doubted whether a person like this would be of help.

Looking only at his appearance, he was no different from a beggar.

A moment later, Choi Seo-jun opened the conference room door.

I had already come down from the office and was sitting in the conference room.

I also looked somewhat surprised, but I did not show it.

I moved more carefully than usual when I stood up.

Inside my clothes, there was something like a compression belly band, so movement was not easy.

I held out my hand to Hong Jang-gun.

He shook my hand and sat on a chair.

Choi Seo-jun tried to hold my arm, but I refused.

Hong Jang-gun saw such a sight as if scanning me.

“It has not been long since you had surgery.”

At Hong Jang-gun’s words, the air in the conference room was submerged in silence.

Choi Seo-jun and I looked at him.

At that moment, Hong Jang-gun’s gaze slowly scanned my upper body.

His gaze seemed to pierce through a person sharply while being seemingly indifferent.

“Abdominal incision… it is not deep, but you were injured in a quite dangerous place. The bleeding must have been severe. Pain still rises every time you breathe, right?”

He tilted his head and soon continued.

“On the chest side, several ribs must have gone out, and there must have been damage to the lungs as well. So it is not easy to straighten your waist even now. It is not yet time to be discharged, so why are you here?”

The corners of my mouth rose. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

I found it so interesting that I got goosebumps hearing Hong Jang-gun’s words.

“Besides that, how much else can you know?”

“The belly band is a double-compression type. Instead of Velcro, it must be a built-in strap…. It’s used a lot these days, and while the compression is good, if you wear it for a long time, the skin gets rubbed and it’s a bit stinging.”

Hong Jang-gun tilted his body back and leaned leisurely against the chair.

He looked like a person who had finished a trivial task.

I spoke while finding it interesting.

“If I had not known your identity, I would have thought you were a skilled shaman by now.”

Choi Seo-jun laughed a little.

I continued without caring.

“The nickname Hong Jang-gun was not attached for nothing.”

At those words, Hong Jang-gun dropped his head.

“There are not many people who know my name. Most people who know it are already not in this world.”

“Not in this world….”

I narrowed my gaze while ruminating on those words.

A cool way of speaking, unlike his appearance.

The man before my eyes was a person who had experienced actual combat that could absolutely not be hidden by a shabby appearance.

I made a decision.

My voice settled low.

“Fine. Then let us get to the main point. I need you. Will you join hands with me?”

The gaze flashing between the strands of hair met mine.

The fierce gaze like a beast softened, and he spat out his submerged inner thoughts.

“Everyone who was with me died. You will be the same.”

“I will not die. Of course, the same goes for my people.”

At my words full of confidence, Hong Jang-gun’s eyes narrowed.

He had lost everyone he kept by his side until now.

Because he hated that, he abandoned the organization and even abandoned the world.

But the young man before his eyes tells him to believe in him.

‘Until when will he be able to keep those words?’

His inner heart repeatedly told him not to believe him.

But for some reason, he wanted to believe when he met my gaze.

He reached out his hand unconsciously.

I shook his hand.