Chapter 661

‘Senior Han Yohan really is insanely strong.’

I was genuinely startled. I’d noticed it before when he pulled someone toward him with one hand, but apparently it really wasn’t a lie that he’d beaten Senior Kwak Cheolsik at arm wrestling.

“Sit here and watch.”

Senior Han Yohan pulled a chair over beside Director Galdaeguk for me. I monitored the scene we had just filmed.

Thanks to his thighs pressing down on me as if he were genuinely restraining and overpowering me instead of merely holding me in place, the angle had come out nicely.

[Everything is fine, but weren’t you hitting him far too gently!!!]

“Wasn’t that hard enough?”

[You have to do it viciously!!!]

“Daeguk’s right. Her pride as an elite has been crushed, and while Lia still has limited information about Taeo, even the secret she wanted to hide has been exposed. Compared to having her desire to be with him completely rejected, you hit him far too softly.”

As expected of a Ja Sokhwan kid. She caught it immediately.

I had hit him more gently than I’d planned during rehearsal. I couldn’t help it. The strength had gone out of my hand.

[Why did you do that!!!]

“No. It’s just... Senior was way stronger than I expected, so I got startled.”

“Sorry if I surprised you. I’ll go easier next time.”

“No, it’s fine. I was just flustered for a second.”

For a moment, I imagined what it would have been like if I really were Lia, alone in that space with Taeo.

There was even something frightening about Time, who had been completely different from everything he had shown until then.

It was because of his strength, as though they weren’t even the same species.

“Then you should hit him even harder. Somewhere in her subconscious, she must know that a man with that much strength is incapable of doing anything to her.”

“Ah....”

“Remember it again. The blind devotion and the childishness.”

So I had unconsciously been scared.

I had stood in front of the camera as Han Yeoreum instead of Lia.

I nodded at Ma Eungyo’s words and looked at Han Yohan.

“You heard her, right? I’m going to hit you a little harder this time. Don’t be surprised.”

“Yes. That shouldn’t be difficult....”

“But if I mess up controlling my strength, it might hurt quite a bit.”

“I can just have them put new ones in if it comes to that.”

“No, I’m not going to hit you that hard!”

“Is that so....”

Han Yohan, with his utterly calm face, really did live with an extraordinary level of resolve.

To think he was prepared to casually sacrifice a few teeth to a junior.

Though normally, people didn’t lose teeth just from getting slapped.

‘Ah... he’s using himself as the standard....’

I should be nice to Senior Han Yohan.

Come to think of it, while filming and even while monitoring, I had been so focused on the full-body two-shot that I hadn’t checked how Senior Han Yohan was doing.

“I think I almost grazed your eye earlier when I hit you. Are you okay?”

“Yes. I managed to avoid it somehow.”

I brushed my fingers over the side of Han Yohan’s cheek that I had slapped earlier. Fortunately, it wasn’t swollen. But it was still a little warm.

If I hit him with the amount of force Galdaeguk wanted, we’d probably have to finish the facial close-up in two takes at most...

“Hm?”

My eyes met Jo Eunnara’s, who had been watching us from nearby.

‘Does he want to monitor with us, but he’s too shy to come over?’

While I hesitated, Jo Eunnara quickly turned his back and left the set.

‘Even though we’re one team, he’s still that shy around us.’

It seemed that during the early part of filming, he had forced himself to stay between Senior Han Yohan and me.

Obviously because he wanted his face to appear in front of the making-of camera.

‘Somehow, I feel a little sorry for him....’

My chest prickled because I felt like I could understand Jo Eunnara’s anxiety, having been brought in as a last-minute replacement after a sudden scandal left the role vacant.

Right.

From now on, I should make sure I’m there whenever Jo Eunnara films his scenes.

‘And while I’m at it, the viewers who ship V-Lia can boost the making-of views too.’

I pressed down on Han Yohan’s cheek, which he was still obediently offering me.

“Senior. Then let’s finish it.”

* * *

Jo Eunnara opened the door and stepped into his van.

“That just now was seriously no joke, right? Nara, now I get why the director told you to stay and watch.”

“...”

“Han Yohan really is an incredible actor. He was pressuring her so hard she could barely breathe, and yet that was also... haaah... Our Nara’s character just doesn’t have much weight this time, but if you had a scene where you got to pressure someone like that too, imagine how well you’d—”

“I wouldn’t do it like that.”

Jo Eunnara spat the words out as though expelling something irritating.

Even after saying it once, something still felt unresolved, so he repeated it as though chewing it over.

“If it were me, I wouldn’t do it like that.”

“Why? Isn’t that basically the maximum you can get out of a scene like that? Viewers are definitely going to pick it as one of the legendary scenes! Even if it’s not a kiss scene, there’s just something more, more....”

“She said she was startled.”

Jo Eunnara didn’t even know what he was saying anymore.

He was the second male lead anyway, and scenes like that weren’t permitted to him.

At some suitable moment, Jo Eunnara’s role was to step aside.

“Exactly! It’s a scene that’s supposed to startle her! It was perfect, wasn’t it? That’s Han Yohan for you. No wonder he’s every action director’s dream.”

“Ah, I don’t know... Get out. I want to be alone.”

“Right! Our Nara should get some rest! Hyung’s going to keep watching the filming. Haa, seriously, Han Yohan. I want to call him hyung.”

Jo Eunnara’s manager shut the van door and left.

Back toward the set where Han Yohan and Han Yeoreum would currently be embracing each other.

Jo Eunnara messed up his carefully styled hair.

* * *

Aetami settled into place with a reverent body and mind to watch Episode 4 of <Code Name: Time Seven>.

[?Code Name: Time Seven Episode 4 Live Thread? Gather round, you heretics, it’s time to drink poison]

-I’m the real legend for sprinting home like a lunatic just to see a man ffs

-KBC please release this on OTT TT_TT

-Watched last week’s rerun and immediately decided to watch live from now on, you bastards were eating something this delicious all by yourselves ??????

-T_T hurry up and give us our Nara please hurry

?Why the fuck does this look so pitiful... like some independence activist

?LMAO Are you insane

Several live threads had already exploded before the broadcast even began.

People were flooding the comments with trembling hands.

Input: fuck the ads just start already

Aetami was also pounding away at the keyboard like a madwoman.

Her heart was trembling from how much she had been looking forward to Episode 4 of <Code Name: Time Seven> after getting a taste of it through the preview.

At last, the screen changed.

-TT___TT

-it’s starting it’s starting

-please give us our Nara

?Independence activist get out

?Anyone who disrespects our Nara will be regarded as a pro-Japanese collaborator

?Han Yohan is the male lead ffs the Taeo-Lia faction will purge you

All that had happened was the screen changing to indicate the start of the broadcast, yet dozens of comments appeared within seconds.

Feeling the buzz all over again, Aetami focused on the screen.

ICC Headquarters.

Agents gathered in the operations briefing room.

Beep, beep, beep.

Because entry required fingerprint and iris recognition at the outer door, the steady sound of the machine continued.

Taeo and Lia sat facing V across the table.

Interpol and ICC.

Because they belonged to different organizations, Taeo and Lia sat opposite each other.

Feeling strangely awkward without knowing why, Lia adjusted her posture, and the toe of her shoe bumped against Taeo’s dress shoe.

She quickly pulled back.

“Why? Leg cramp? Pins and needles?”

“No.”

“Want me to meow for you? Our Lia—.”

“Stop doing things like that!”

The ICC operations officer opened the door and entered.

Everyone stood.

“Sit.”

The operations officer, the only one left standing, looked at Lia.

“Start the presentation.”

Lia shared the laptop screen in front of her with the beam projector.

Data appeared on the wall screen.

“From Natalie’s USB, we found records of successful dark-web auction bids and evidence of shell-company operations. Among the entities closely connected to those shell companies, there’s one company intended for export. Luca Shipping.”

Click.

When Lia pressed Enter, the company information appeared on the screen.

Lia continued the presentation without stumbling.

“They were planning to transport Phenyl-2-propanone through Luca Shipping.”

“P2P? I heard the DEA recently seized a large quantity.”

“Yes, exactly. Which means the price has gone up even further, so they’re now in a situation where they need to move it as quickly as possible. If they avoid DEA enforcement and manufacture a new precursor, the price freezes. And they need to deliver the contracted quantity without disruption.”

V, who had been rocking his chair playfully, chimed in from the side.

“Then that ship should have a Lanthanide-Based Chiral Catalyst too.”

“Right. According to the intelligence we obtained.”

A lanthanide-based chiral catalyst.

A perfect guide that eliminated the bad molecular types that caused side effects during synthesis and selectively produced only safe molecular forms with therapeutic effects.

They were using this catalyst to manufacture drugs of extremely high purity.

Minimizing toxicity to the human body while maximizing hallucinogenic effects to levels dozens of times stronger than ordinary narcotics.

It was something capable of producing the illusion that God Himself had descended upon you.

The materials displayed during the presentation helped viewers understand.

“Right. Just as Lia said, Luca Shipping was planning to move P2P oil and a small amount of catalyst onto one of its cruise ships. Since it’s a cruise party rather than an ordinary export vessel, it’s also useful for fooling the coast guard.”

“Natalie’s accomplice will probably be inside too. The ship was already docked at the harbor before the cruise party began.”

-I don’t understand a single fucking thing they’re saying

-I know carrot-root oil.. what the hell kind of oil is that

-these cult bastards really do give everything cool-ass names lol Luca Shipping actually sounds awesome LMAO

-Han Yeoreum’s diction is so fucking good please make her say difficult shit like this every day T_T

“This plan is simple. Interpol and the ICC infiltrate the cruise party. Inside, you locate and secure the P2P oil and catalyst, then get out.”

“You sure make it sound easy—.”

“Making it easy is your job.”

The operations officer shrugged casually.

“Of course, we can’t deploy many agents. The invitations have already all been sent, and there are only four vacancies. Even if we add people disguised as waitresses and cleaners... fewer than ten can get inside.”

Taeo’s face appeared on screen, his arms folded in silence.

“The leader is Time. And we can’t leave out a former Navy SEAL, can we? V.”

“Roger. I’m a man who can breathe underwater.”

“Ghost and Rain will provide backup. Viper and Raven will handle disguises. Haze! Stop avoiding my eyes. You’re going too. And finally, Zero.”

Taeo’s feet appeared beneath the table.

His legs were still stretched out.

In contrast, Lia had tucked her small feet directly beneath her chair.

Like a woman whose entire attention was focused on her feet because she was worried they might touch the man opposite her again.

“Lia will handle all the passwords and CCTV manipulation. Let’s do this right.”

Their eyes met.

Taeo walked alone down an alley.

Once to the right, once to the left, then down a flight of stairs into an even narrower alley.

A black cat passed along the top of the wall, its tail swaying lazily.

Taeo entered a narrow café.

One, two, three, and finally four.

He sat in the fourth booth.

A man was already sitting behind him, drinking coffee.

“What’s inside it?”

“I didn’t touch it, so I don’t know.”

“Haha. Right. Pointless question. The moment I plug in the USB, Lia will start tracing it.”

The man in the fedora did not turn around.

Neither did Taeo.

“The only thing missing from the material that girl collected was the list of export countries.”

“...”

“If they find out you stole information like that, the ICC won’t let it slide.”

“I don’t care.”

“Bold. Any chance you’d consider joining us at Interpol?”

Taeo did not answer.

The man in the fedora spoke again.

“For the record, the information I can give you is limited. Only a handful of people can access files concerning that girl. I don’t even have authorization to view the details. I’d appreciate it if you understood that this was the best I could do.”

“...”

“Even I don’t want to make an enemy of Time from the ICC.”

He stood.

Then, pretending to straighten the hem of his long coat, he dropped a document envelope beside Taeo.

Taeo likewise slipped a USB into the man’s pocket.

After leaving the café, Taeo entered the darker part of the alley.

With no one around, he relied on the flickering light of an old streetlamp and pulled out the documents.

[CLASSIFIED FILE: INTERPOL - SUBJECT CARDIA]

Subject Name: Lia (Real Name Undisclosed / Management Codename: Maria)

Affiliation/Position: Interpol Cybercrime Response Center, Digital Forensics and Virtual Asset Tracking Special Response Unit / Senior Cyber Intelligence Analyst

Security Clearance: Level 5 (Restricted Access)

“She was searching for Project Cardia.”

A familiar word caught his eye.

“Cardia....”

Even without turning to the next page, Taeo knew instinctively.

His eyes changed.

It was you.

Lia had been alive right in front of me.

His gaze softened with the joy of finally approaching the truth.

But only for a moment.

The brief light that had entered his eyes soon clouded over again.

1. Major Incident Connection History

Incident: Eden Orphanage Explosion and Fire Disaster (Former Eden Foundation Facility)

Status: Surviving victim omitted from official death list — rescued by ICC and subsequently adopted —

Special Notes: Diagnosed with severe Dissociative Amnesia due to extreme blast trauma sustained during the incident. Most personal identity information and childhood memories from before the accident have been lost.

2. Medical and Physical Records

Traces of Surgical Procedures:

Evidence of previous liver resection and suturing detected below the upper right abdominal ribs.

Due to indications that treatment was performed through an abnormal route (illegal private medical facility or covert surgical procedure within the Foundation), detailed forensic assessment remains pending.

Taeo’s expression changed as he continued reading while carefully clutching the mere two sheets of paper.

It was unmistakable killing intent.

Very slowly, Taeo tilted his head back.

His gaze rested in empty space.

He raised his eyes.

The white beneath his left iris stood out sharply.

The turtleneck he always wore had become disheveled, exposing a glimpse of skin underneath.

His Adam’s apple moved visibly.

-Where did the abandoned puppy go why the fuck is he a fighting dog now T_T

-that face saying he’s fucking pissed is just... ah it’s just too much.. ha

-Yohan we made it we fucking made it

-TT____TT ahhh I love this

“Ah....”

A white breath escaped through his teeth.

-rescued by ICC and subsequently adopted-

That day, the ICC had known where Lia was.

They had deliberately taken her away from Taeo.

All while knowing that he would spend his entire life pouring his time into longing for her.