PTT - 4

“Hey, what’s your name? You look completely spaced out, you must be really nervous. Looks like they’re a newbie too.”

As the silence lengthened, Mabel, who had been waiting, waved her hand. Siheon also silently looked at Raon.

Under everyone’s attention, she slowly closed and opened her eyes. The tips of her long, thin eyelashes trembled.

Finally, Yoo Raon parted her lips.

“Code name... Yeon.”

“Yeon? It’s elegant and suits you. But what does it mean?”

“...It doesn’t mean anything special. I just chose it because it’s easy to pronounce.”

At her answer, Mabel and Rock nodded as if they understood. Ray, across from them, was typing on his laptop as if he was in his own world.

Baek Siheon’s expression was unreadable. It was because she was desperately avoiding his gaze. It felt like someone was stabbing her heart with a dagger.

The throbbing sensation felt like it was being converted into sound and ringing in her ears. A low auditory hallucination was added on top of it.

<Yeon-ah.>

<Yeon.>

At her one sentence that she hated the name Sayeon, he had called her so affectionately. How could she forget that voice?

She had endlessly repeated self-hypnosis that she had to erase him from her life now, that she didn’t want to see him again, but the final result was the same. Rather, her longing only deepened.

She had tried to shake off the past of Sayeon and live anew as Yoo Raon. But in the end, the code name she chose was the name that man had called her.

Did she want to remember five years ago even by doing that? In the end, Yoo Raon couldn’t escape the swamp called longing. She felt a sense of guilt even though she had done nothing wrong.

‘...How foolish.’

Raon, sitting next to Rock, took a long breath and ran her tongue over her dry lips. She wanted to leave right away, but she couldn’t act on her own without the team leader’s order.

After a moment of silence, Baek Siheon spoke.

“Shall we end the self-introductions here? As you all know, there’s no need to be curious about each other’s real names and identities, and you shouldn’t be curious. That’s our company’s rule.”

“Ah, that’s basic, of course... Hey, can we go now? Do we come back here tomorrow morning?”

“Almost done. Let’s just give a brief briefing on the first mission.”

Raon, chewing on the soft flesh inside her cheek, slowly raised her head and stared at Siheon and Ray. Had they not noticed? Or had they just let it go because it was a public setting?

Various thoughts blurred her mind like a hazy fog. Whether he knew Yoo Raon’s heart or not, Siheon was simply continuing the briefing as the team leader.

“The operation start date is exactly fifteen days from today. The target is Cheon Seong-won, the head of headquarters and the only son of Takwon Construction’s Chairman Cheon Byeong-cheol.”

“Cheon Seong-won? Ah, I know him. Isn’t he quite famous among the third-generation chaebols?”

“As Mabel said. He’s quite known for his womanizing and connections. We’ve gathered information that this Cheon Seong-won has been laundering slush funds through artwork for the past few years.”

“...Isn’t money laundering not under our company’s jurisdiction?”

Rock, who had been listening silently, asked a weighty question. At his words, Baek Siheon nodded and stroked his chin.

“If that was all, the police would have investigated, but the problem is the use of those slush funds. We don’t have concrete evidence yet, but there was a tip that Cheon Seong-won is laundering company funds and providing funds to a Russian mafia organization.”

“Oh my... That’s definitely serious.”

Everyone wore expressions as if they understood at Siheon’s answer. It was the role of the National Intelligence Service to prevent international crime from infiltrating the country.

“Currently, Cheon Seong-won is on a business trip to Russia, and his return is scheduled for fifteen days from now. The period is excessively long for a company business trip. During that time, we will build teamwork, train, and gather additional information.”

“Looks like only my fingers will be burning again...”

Ray hunched over the table, muttering to himself. Siheon, patting him on the back, checked his wristwatch once more.

“It’s late, so let’s wrap it up here for today and meet again tomorrow morning. You all worked hard.”

“Ugh, my whole body is stiff. You guys worked hard too. I’m going to crash as soon as I get home.”

“...See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, you too.”

Raon, who had been listening to the briefing as if she wasn’t really there, got up from her seat. It was difficult to make eye contact with Siheon. She bowed to everyone and headed for the conference room door first.

‘I feel like I’m going to throw up.’

The moment she was about to open the door, a low-pitched voice pierced Raon’s ear.

“...Yeon. Let’s stay and talk.”

“I should go home early. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

It was Baek Siheon. She couldn’t see his expression as her back was completely turned, but his voice was filled with complexity. Yoo Raon, who had opened and then closed her hand, turned the doorknob down.

She walked out into the chilly winter air. It took considerable effort to walk straight without looking back.

The destination after leaving the NIS was a villa located at the edge of Seoul. It was over 40 years old, but it had the advantage of having two rooms besides the living room.

‘Still, this much space for this price in Seoul is a good deal.’ Raon consoled herself every time she entered the front door.

Although more than half of it belonged to the bank, the fact that she had a house in her name was very important to Raon. Having grown up moving from one rented house to another since she was young, she thought she had nothing more to wish for as long as she wasn’t forced out by the landlord.

Squeak. A familiar noise echoed from the old, rusty hinges of the front door. It was already midnight, so her only housemate would be asleep. She took off her loafers in the shoe rack and entered the living room, muffling her footsteps.

At that moment, a thin, unsteady voice was heard from the darkness.

“Who is it...?”

Raon, who was going straight to the bathroom without turning on the lights, stopped. Swallowing a sigh that rose from deep within her chest, she pressed the living room light switch.

With a snap, the space became bright. As the light suddenly turned on, the other person covered their face with their palm as if they were dazzled.

“Grandmother, it’s me. Sayeon. Why are you awake?”

“Sayeon who...? Is young lady’s name Sayeon?”

“...Yes. My grandmother’s granddaughter. Yoo Sayeon.”

“Our granddaughter... said she was going to work, but why hasn’t she come back yet?”

Soon-ae wiped her dry cheeks with her wrinkled hand and looked around. The light in the old woman’s sunken eyes was gone.

She had passed seventy without showing any signs of dementia, and they had considered it a blessing, but heaven had cruelly taken away her memory from the eighty-year-old grandmother.

The day Soon-ae was diagnosed with dementia, Raon cried so much that she lost consciousness, feeling like all the moisture had been drained from her body.

“...Grandmother, she said she’d be back soon, your granddaughter. What did you do with the helper today?”

“Mmm, we played matching cards. Matching similar pictures like this... Shall I show you?”

“No, it’s alright. Grandmother, you should really go to sleep now. I’ll wake you up when your granddaughter comes.”

Raon, hugging Soon-ae tightly in her arms, bit her lower lip. Tears threatened to burst out, but she lived a life where she couldn’t cry freely.

The burden on her shoulders was too heavy to let out all the pent-up emotions.

“Grandma will sleep... Make sure to tell our granddaughter when she comes.”

“Yes. Sleep well, Grandmother.”

Soon-ae, giving a faint smile, slowly moved her feet. As soon as the door closed firmly, Raon slumped down on the living room floor.

<Sayeon-ah, what kind of story do you have that your fate is so unfortunate?>

Her grandmother’s voice from 20 years ago lingered in her ears like an auditory hallucination. Leaning her head against the corner of the sofa, she closed her eyes weakly.

Terribly, misfortune breeds endlessly like musty mold.

An abandoned child on a particularly chilly day in April. That was Yoo Raon. The blood clot wrapped in a white cloth was frozen, unable to even make a sound.

If she had cried a heartrending cry that echoed throughout the neighborhood, someone would have noticed sooner.

But unfortunately, the child didn’t have the strength to cry loudly.

It was a miracle that Soon-ae, who had come out to throw away the trash before preparing dinner, found her. Oh my goodness! It was obvious how surprised and faint she must have been.

<How pitiful this story is... Where did you come from, baby? Huh? Where did your parents go and leave you alone like this?>

The old woman rescued the blood clot the size of her forearm and nursed it for three days and nights. She wiped and wiped the small body with a warm, damp towel, wondering about the story.

Soon-ae roughly gave the child her last name and the name ‘Sayeon’. Since they met like this, it was fate, and even if she went hungry, she would raise her with care.

So, even though reality was harsh, she tried to raise the child preciously. It was when she was only thirteen that she discovered her adopted granddaughter’s talent.

<Hello, Grandmother. I’m Sayeon’s homeroom teacher.>

<Oh my, teacher. You’re a busy person, why did you call? Did our child cause any trouble? She’s not that kind of child...>

<Ah, it’s nothing like that at all. Sayeon is such a lovely child. The reason I called today is...>

It was news that she had received a near-perfect score at a shooting range she visited for a group field trip.

Since she seemed to have a talent, how about she received some training? At the teacher’s constant recommendation, Soon-ae blinked her eyes.

That her Sayeon had a talent, she felt a strange feeling, but a smile crept onto her face.

After talking with the teacher for nearly twenty minutes, Soon-ae sat Sayeon down when she came home from school and brought up the story of shooting.

Without even guessing that she would regret that day’s choice for the rest of her life.