#7. When You Keep Doing This to Me

Hyeon-sin’s slender fingertips trembled with a mix of humiliation and fury. She bit her lower lip hard to suppress a groan that threatened to burst out. The impulse to jump on her motorcycle and flee this place tore at her throat, but perhaps because of the overwhelming afterimage Gye-yeong had left behind, her toes felt glued to the ground, refusing to budge.

Seriously, who do these people think they are? Never in her life had she encountered a situation this absurd and unfair. Talk about an interloper pushing out the rightful owner; it was utterly staggering to be treated like an intruder on her own land.

Chief Ma Dong-hyeon idly twirled a pen, resting his chin on his hand as he stared at her.

"Hey, kid. Mind giving me your name and address?"

At his question, Hyeon-sin's eyebrows twitched. A cold sigh lingered at the edge of her lips, burning hot inside her throat. She briefly conflicted over whether she should give the name of an acquaintance—an identity she had already secured permission to use whenever she needed to pose as a boy for her missions.

"Mister, this is strictly personal information. Isn't it a crime to recklessly demand that from someone you just met?"

When Hyeon-sin snapped back sharply, Chief Ma, who was merely carrying out Gye-yeong’s orders, scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed look.

"Well, you've got a point there. Then should we bring the police in and have a formal chat? There are a lot of radical residents trying to block the redevelopment around here, and lately, people trying to interfere with those gentlemen's business have been causing a real scene."

Wait, the police? At that word, Hyeon-sin's eyes wavered. The authorities were the exact entity she, as an agent, needed to avoid at all costs. Her lips parted, but in the end, she let out an answer steeped in defeat.

The organization she belonged to, Hanbidan, was a non-profit group that championed the public interest, but it did not perfectly guarantee the personal protection of its agents' individual identities. Because they had to execute perilous missions that carved out corruption from the very heart of state power, they were required to remain entirely stateless shadows. While they occasionally collaborated with authorities during large-scale counter-terrorism operations and received massive bounties, it was the exhausting destiny of an agent to lay low and fend for themselves in minor accidents. After all, there were countless times when matters could only be resolved by walking right on the edge of the law.

"Ugh, fine. I'll tell you. My name is Lee Sin! My birthdate is ******. I'm from this orphanage... so I am a legitimate stakeholder. You'll see everything if you look it up."

"Really? Ah, so that's how it is. Thanks for cooperating."

As if his previous high-handed attitude had never existed, Chief Ma's demeanor flipped 180 degrees into something much softer the moment she claimed to be from the orphanage.

Hyeon-sin's heart felt heavy since an exposed identity meant the death of an agent's career, but she had no choice but to borrow the name of a younger brother who had grown up with her at the orphanage. After placing a call to verify the information, Chief Ma turned back to Hyeon-sin with a much calmer face.

"By the way, those gentlemen aren't bad people. Don't misunderstand."

"I get it, so please just let me leave quickly."

Even though it was a pre-approved identity, it weighed heavily on Hyeon-sin's conscience that she had used the name of the kid currently lying in a hospital bed. Why did she have to step foot in this place today of all days and suffer such humiliation?

As she stood with her head hung low, drowning in a mix of self-blame and regret, the three men who had been inspecting the orphanage emerged once more. Chief Ma immediately delivered his report to them.

"His name is Lee Sin. A 17-year-old minor. His last recorded address is this orphanage."

"Wait! Gye-yeong, Gang-mu. Then doesn't this brat know that holdout owner incredibly well?"

In an instant, the atmosphere flipped, and a taut tension flooded the courtyard. The moment Chief Ma finished his report, Han Gyoo-ryeon approached Hyeon-sin with a bright smile. She had a terrible feeling. Things were escalating in an entirely unexpected direction.

"Hey, kid. So you've been dropping by like it's your own home because you grew up here. Sorry about that, I get it now. But listen, you know the woman who owns this place, Hyeon-sin, right? If you know anything about her, why don't you share it with us?"

At Gyoo-ryeon’s question, Hyeon-sin felt a wave of dizziness wash over her.

She came dangerously close to letting her expression slip. As expected, these were men who would use any means necessary to persuade her and buy up the land. Hyeon-sin kept her head lowered, crushing her suffocating emotions as she answered as calmly as possible.

"I... I can't tell you anything."

"Why? If that woman gets a proper payout from us, she can change her fortune and live a good life."

"Because a fire broke out here... all the kids were scattered. If this place disappears... the older brothers and sisters who left won't have a spiritual home to return to anymore. That's why it can't happen."

Hyeon-sin murmured toward them with a hollow gaze, keeping her head buried deep.

The brutal reality was that she had to risk her life working as an agent to make money because of the nursing home fees and a mountain of skyrocketing debt. A life spent crossing the line between life and death every single day, driven solely by the determination to treat those who fell ill from the fire and to eventually rebuild this place just as it used to be. There was no way she could explain such a noble yet painful truth to these extravagant men.

"Is that so? Oh, by the way, Gye-yeong. Even while laying low somewhere, that woman has been paying off her debts with absolute precision. She's no ordinary character. Could she be drawing up some kind of big picture?"

At Gang-mu’s casual remark, a sudden chill ran down Hyeon-sin's spine.

Just how far did these people's information network reach?

All the strength drained from Hyeon-sin's body, making it difficult for her to even remain standing.

= = =

A small, roughly 15-pyeong apartment in Gaepo-dong, Gangnam.

The warmth of human life was pushing away the cold air of the narrow hallway. On the kitchen gas stove, a stew was bubbling away, releasing a savory aroma.

Lee Mu-hyool, a man in his early twenties with a kind, dependable impression and a sturdy build, placed the pot of stew onto the dining table and called out for his wife.

"Seo Si-on, come on out and eat."

"Lee Mu-hyool, you set the table already? My husband really is the best in the world!"

Seo Si-on, a woman with a slender figure and distinct, sharp features, rose from the bed and limped her way toward the dining table. Watching her precarious retreating figure, a distressed sigh leaked from Mu-hyool's lips.

Because the room was entirely packed with the cold, sharp gear they used for missions, they had placed the bed in the living room. Even in this cramped apartment, the distance to the dining table seemed impossibly far for Seo Si-on.

"Seo Si-on, you kept groaning in your sleep last night because of your leg... How are you feeling?"

"Oh, maybe it's because my husband held me so tight all night? When I woke up this morning, it felt like the pain completely vanished."

Unable to look at her directly out of a deep sense of guilt, Mu-hyool quickly pulled out a chair for her and clasped Seo Si-on's slender hand.

"By the way, there hasn't been a single peep from Hyeon-sin for a whole week now."

The two of them briefly held their tongues, staring and staring again at the calendar hanging on the wall.