Chapter 665

“Ah, please, please let Jo Eunnara become the male lead!”

Ppojunsu, who had said she was out for a short walk, clasped her hands together and shouted with complete sincerity.

For reference, it was exam season right now.

But that meant absolutely nothing to her.

“Forget the narrative or whatever, you have to look at what’s happening right now....”

They looked good just standing next to each other, and V had a kind of charm that was hard to find in characters she had encountered before.

Watching Jo Eunnara together with Han Yeoreum, Ppojunsu curled her toes.

“Keep it down.”

“The gun?”

“Inside... I packed it properly.”

V, looking as though his head might explode just from imagining it, wrapped an arm around Lia’s shoulders and moved a few steps away from the other agents.

“You remember, right? If you’re so nervous you forgot how to release the safety, ask me now.”

“Don’t underestimate my instantaneous memory. You’re starting to sound like ICC too, you know?”

“I’m just saying, just in case. Of course, if anything happens, I’ll go protect you even if I have to risk my life—”

“Watch your mouth, I said watch your mouth!”

Lia smacked V across the mouth several times.

Even as she did, she glanced sideways at the man nearby.

Taeo, standing with his hands behind his back as he listened to the tactical briefing.

V brought Lia over to the ICC operations officer. Gripping her shoulders and pushing her in front of him, V let out a mournful cry.

“It’s not too late to change it!”

“What is it?”

“Please change it so the two of us are the married couple! We look better together. I’m seriously not joking. I’m making a formal suggestion.”

All the invitations were under other people’s names.

Taeo and Lia had to pretend to be husband and wife.

-This is seriously the first time I’ve seen such a cheerful second male lead

-Fucking hilarious ah T_T LMAOO He isn’t hurt at all, he’s just trying to win the husband position

-He’s so fucking cute, and it’s even better because it’s Jo Eunnara’s face

“No.”

“Why!”

“This. Face. Stands out too much. Why attract attention for no reason?”

The ICC operations officer pointed at V’s face.

V pretended to cry, saying being too handsome was exhausting too.

“Then this is the real thing now.”

“....”

“Lia. If you feel like you can’t do it, retreat immediately. Rule number one of this plan is safety. Rule number two is to follow rule number one unconditionally. And rule number three is to complete the operation.”

“....”

Lia looked at the operations officer with tension in her eyes.

It was nothing like when she could freely show off her skills in front of a laptop screen.

Taeo looked down at Lia’s profile.

* * *

A magnificent cruise ship floated off the beach.

Its door opened, the vessel shining pure white over the blue waves.

Security personnel, food supplies, and materials had to be brought aboard.

People in casual clothes began boarding.

And the ship was being displayed on a laptop screen inside a nearby hotel room.

Lia in a dress, Taeo in a tuxedo, the ICC operations officer, and Interpol’s White agents watched it closely.

-Viper. Entry complete.

-Raven. Entry complete.

The agents dressed as waiters entered first.

Before the guests arrived, they would confirm the locations of the internal CCTV cameras and create an escape route for Lia.

“Viper. There may be a hidden emergency exit reserved for VIPs. Sweep along the walls first.”

-Roger.

“Raven. Check the order receiver on the wall of the materials storage room. How many are there, including spares for the jammer?”

Lia relayed the plan she had organized.

“Haze, let me know once you’re inside the large food storage room on the third floor. And don’t forget to attach a bug to the cart near the entrance.”

-Ughhh...

For now, while the cruise ship was still docked, they could use the normal satellite communication network.

“CCTV secured.”

“First-floor CCTV complete.”

“Second-floor CCTV complete.”

The inside of the ship appeared one after another across the White agents’ laptop screens.

The ICC operations officer clicked his tongue.

“Damn thing is filthy rich....”

The staff had finished boarding.

Using the body cams attached to the agents, they checked even the small details that CCTV couldn’t capture in real time.

“Haze. Get a little closer over there.”

The ICC operations officer gave directions with practiced ease.

“Once guests start coming in, attach transparent sensor-interference tape to the magnetic sensor on the doorframe. Viper! Look closely at the wall. If you see any signs of recent refinishing, knock on it a couple of times. Pretend you suddenly got dizzy and bump it with your shoulder. Yeah. Raven....”

Beside the ICC operations officer, Lia stared at the screen with her jaw clenched.

Her entire body was stiff.

She seemed extremely nervous.

But there was no turning back now.

It had already begun.

“Then go, V.”

As always, the first one to enter with an invitation was Valkyrie, the close-combat specialist.

A cheerful brass melody played, the trombone moving quickly through it.

“Hi, nice sunglasses.”

Holding his invitation, V casually struck up a conversation with the guard conducting the body search.

When such a perfectly handsome man spoke to him, even another man couldn’t help smiling shyly.

“Can I try them on once? I realized in the car that I forgot my sunglasses.”

“You’ll definitely need them on deck. The sunlight gets strong.”

“Exactly. But what can you do? I’ll just have to buy another pair. Women seem to like designs like this these days. You must be popular with women, huh?”

At V’s compliment, not only that guard but even the surrounding guards began to loosen up.

“And you ask how I’m supposed to give him the husband role.”

Watching the situation unfold in real time, the ICC operations officer covered his forehead.

-What’s wrong with having a clown husband, fuck

-How could you not love a guy who looks like he’d call his mother-in-law ‘Noona’

-How did Jo Eunnara end up taking a role like this LMAO It suits her so fucking well, god-tier casting T_T

-When I imagine Kim Jisang doing this instead, I suddenly get chills all over my body

?Holy shit; that forgotten name

V returned the sunglasses he had borrowed from the guard.

“Hmm. I guess those sunglasses only looked cool because you were wearing them. They don’t really suit me.”

“What are you talking about!”

V pressed down the hair at his temple that had lifted slightly when he took off the sunglasses, then winked.

“So I can go in now, right? My eyes are really starting to sting without sunglasses.”

“Yes. Have a pleasant trip.”

“Thank you. You have a good day too!”

To leave the other man with absolutely no room for suspicion, V was the first to offer a handshake.

He reached out with a sly smile, and the guard politely clasped his hand.

Having entered without issue, V walked down the red carpet.

At the same time, pretending to make a phone call, he reported to the command team through the microphone on his collar.

“Jammer attached to the guest-list pad.”

Something had been stuck to the edge of the guest-list pad the guard was holding.

Unless someone looked closely, they would never notice it.

It looked just like a corner-protection sticker.

“Beginning load.”

After confirming the jammer was functioning normally, the agents quickly accessed the internal information.

Everything was going smoothly.

“Then it’s your turn.”

The ICC operations officer looked at Taeo and Lia.

“Go.”

The two of them appeared in the same frame.

Taeo’s usual unreadable, expressionless face beside Lia’s visibly tense one.

The two entered the quiet elevator together.

Neither spoke.

Taeo walked ahead toward the parked car first, then noticed that the footsteps behind him were unusually slow.

He stopped where he was and turned his head, just as he had the night before.

Lia, wearing heels, seemed uncomfortable on one foot.

“What is it?”

“....”

“If you’re going to open your mouth just to tell me again, after we’ve already come this far, that field agents belong in the field and I don’t even understand common sense, then don’t.”

Lia stubbornly kept walking toward the parked car.

“There’s nothing wrong. It’s just that the shoes are a little... uncomfortable because they’re new. Once we get onto the cruise ship, I’ll walk properly.”

Without a word, Taeo opened the passenger-side door for her.

Then he did not go around to the driver’s seat.

He knelt down in front of the still-open passenger door.

“Huh?”

Then he took hold of Lia’s leg and pulled off one of the shoes she was wearing.

Lia was flustered at suddenly being barefoot, but Taeo remained perfectly calm.

He carefully supported the foot that fit into one hand, then rubbed her ankle with his right hand as though checking it.

“Ah, what are you doing! That’s someone else’s foot!”

Startled, Lia tried to pull her ankle away, but he ignored her.

The tips of Lia’s small toes were red, as though flushed.

After carefully running his thumb all the way over her heel, Taeo reached toward the glove compartment while still kneeling.

Click.

Inside were simple first-aid supplies.

With practiced hands, Taeo took out a roll of taping bandage.

“Filthy, filthy....”

He skillfully began taping from her heel.

His hands fixed the tape into a cross shape.

The tape brushed her sole, making it tickle.

His rough hands were covered in calluses, but his movements were careful.

Sitting quietly inside the car and looking down at the head of the man kneeling before her, Lia wriggled her toes.

Each time his hands moved, his broad shoulders moved with them.

After wrapping tape firmly over the protruding bone beside her big toe as well, Taeo reached for her other foot.

“I can do that one myself... I’ll do it.”

But despite Lia’s protest, Taeo silently removed the shoe from her left foot and continued taping, as though simply finishing the rest of his work.

As though kneeling on the ground and touching someone else’s feet were the most natural thing in the world.

As though it had been his responsibility from the beginning.

Taeo put her shoes back on, closed the passenger door, and went around to the driver’s seat.

Gripping the steering wheel, he gave an order without looking at her.

“Seat belt.”

Lia, who had been sitting frozen with tension, finally fumbled to fasten her seat belt.

As the car moved forward, Lia tightly held the single strap crossing her chest and repeated the same thought inwardly.

What a strange man.

Seriously...

What a strange man.

* * *

Apocalypse, who ran a Han Yohan fan account, squeezed both eyes shut.

“Yohan....”

She didn’t know how to express the emotion swelling inside her.

So she replaced it with a magic phrase.

“It’s done....”

What exactly was done?

Whatever.

Something was done.

Everything was done.

Only people who understood the subtle context of those words would feel that Han Yohan had become something.

“Our baby is so cute. So adorable.”

And at some point, she had also become a member of the Han Yeoreum Love Squad.

Because in her heart, she had already accepted Han Yeoreum as her daughter-in-law.

Apocalypse was confused, caught between wondering whether she was Han Yeoreum’s mother-in-law or Han Yohan’s mother-in-law.

“The baby is doing so well.”

She could say this with certainty.

The person currently bringing Han Yohan’s charm to its absolute maximum was Han Yeoreum.

No matter who stood in that spot, they wouldn’t be able to create this kind of atmosphere.

Lia, practically screaming with her entire body that she couldn’t stop worrying about him.

Unaware of the future waiting to drop her into hell if she took even one wrong step, she still forced herself into the field despite her fear of guns.

Because she wanted to stay beside a man who was probably far too accustomed to enduring everything alone.

Lia and Taeo boarded the docked cruise ship with their arms linked so they would look like a married couple.

Lia couldn’t say anything in case the sound of her heartbeat could somehow be heard through her chest pressed against his arm.

Her pulse only seemed to grow faster, making even where she looked and how she moved feel awkward.

“Is your wife all right, sir?”

The guard looked at Lia as he asked.

Unaccustomed to the field, Lia froze for a moment, but her husband answered for her.

“My wife was looking forward to the cruise all night.”

“So she couldn’t sleep last night.”

As though that were obviously the case, Taeo lifted one corner of his mouth.

-He said wife... he said wife... he said wife... ah fuck, I seriously can’t take this

-TT__TT Han Yohan seriously has marriage as his personal color, for real

-Ah...... aaaaaaaa please don’t do this to us, you’re not even going to marry her

-Guys, they’re entering enemy territory and could literally die, this is not the time for marriage delusions, fuck LOLOLOL

V passed by from the opposite direction and saw Lia with her arm linked through Taeo’s.

But as though completely unaffected, he focused on the operation for now.

An announcement rang out through the speakers.

-Honored guests. Our cruise will soon conclude boarding and....

If Lia’s objective was to reach the software room, V’s objective was to locate the goods.

He greeted the women staring at him with his eyes while scanning the walls.

He needed to figure out where the false wall was.

A loud signal announced the ship’s departure.