* * *

* * *

Hyeonyul sat on a chair near the scene, gazing blankly at the sky. Despite the commotion of White Sparrows coming and going, their voices, and the lights switched on here and there to illuminate the darkness, even that felt strangely quiet.

'Can I go home now?'

He shoved his hands into his coat pockets and blinked. His part was over. He had done everything he could as a member of the advance team. The remaining villains were now the responsibility of the reinforcements who would arrive next.

With no prospect of additional work, he let out a long yawn. He was even sleepier, perhaps because of the emergency injection he had given himself when his body began falling apart earlier. The medication had deliberately been made to have that effect, so he was straining to keep his eyes open.

Hyeonyul turned his head. Sinu ambled toward him. When he tried to slip into the seat beside him, Hyeonyul moved over. Sinu chuckled.

"How is it?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's the first one."

Sinu left a great deal unsaid. There were too many eyes and ears around.

Ah. Only then did Hyeonyul understand what he meant. This faction was connected to him, and it was also the first such faction he had annihilated.

"Are you asking how I feel?"

"That's right."

"I don't feel anything."

"Because you can't believe it?"

"No. I simply don't feel anything."

At his answer, Sinu hesitated a little, needlessly fiddling with his hair.

"Then can I tell you how I feel?"

"Yes. Please do."

"I'm happy, but it's bittersweet knowing how far we still have to go. I want to dig deeper, uncover more, and I also want things to get easier for you."

"Those are complicated feelings."

"You probably felt even more than I did."

"Did I?"

"I'm sure you did."

Sinu had thought so when he saw Hyeonyul quietly close his eyes in the moonlight. Behind that calm, he had glimpsed profound sorrow. It might have been nothing more than his own interpretation, but that was how it had seemed then.

"Are you afraid?"

Hyeonyul's question came out of nowhere. What did he mean? Sinu considered it for a moment, then laughed as though asking what he was talking about.

"No. Not at all."

"Really?"

"You have no reason to turn your daggers on me—or any of us—do you?"

Faced with the certainty in his eyes, Hyeonyul blinked briefly, then looked ahead.

"I have no reason to do that."

"Then why would I be afraid?"

"By the standards here, I'm not normal."

"You rescued the hostages, removed the bombs, and prevented harm. I don't see what's abnormal about that."

"I killed people."

Hyeonyul answered matter-of-factly.

Even if the law permitted it, killing was still killing. People harbored many negative feelings about it. He could tell from the countless books he had read and the way others looked at him. He was abnormal, and he had no intention of denying it.

"Today was thanks to you."

But Sinu saw it differently.

"I saw a lot. I learned things I hadn't known and started seeing further ahead. I guess it feels like I discovered another side of us, too. Anyway, I feel really good."

He looked ready to shout at any moment.

"I only did what I could."

"Then keep doing that. If something seems wrong, I'll stop you. Oh, I should've asked this first. If I try to stop you, will you listen?"

"Yes. You're my Senior, after all."

Senior. It sounded better than Sinu had expected, and he laughed loudly.

"But you're more stubborn than I thought, Hyeonyul."

"Am I?"

"What would it take to stop you?"

"Must you stop me?"

"Something like that could happen. Give me a hint, at least. ... Oh, would mentioning Doctor Jeongmin work?"

"Sometimes I don't listen to the Doctor, either."

"... Wow."

To think he would admit that himself. Sinu couldn't hide his surprise. It felt rather like watching a model student suddenly turn rebellious.

"If you want to stop me, you can grab me and subdue me."

"No, let's use words. Words."

"I don't know. Perhaps you could say something shocking?"

"... That's a tough one."

"I've never stopped before, so I don't know."

"I suppose you wouldn't."

Sinu gave a deflated smile. How could he stop? Even Sinu felt as though everything would collapse the moment he stopped. How much worse must it be for Hyeonyul?

"Sis Chu Nayun is coming."

"... What? Why?"

"I don't know. Did you do something wrong?"

"Hey!"

Sinu's shoulders jolted at the booming voice.

"... She doesn't have her gun, does she?"

"She is carrying it."

"You can't dodge it. Seriously, it hurts!"

"That much?"

When Hyeonyul showed interest, Sinu grimaced.

"You'll be horrified if you get hit. Don't even get curious, Hyeonyul."

"My gun exists for moments like this. Who said I'd shoot our Hyeonyul? Feeling guilty, Baek Sinu? That's what you get for slacking off."

Nayun strode over and stood in front of Sinu. They were running around working themselves to death, and here he was resting.

Under her gaze, Sinu lowered his head and muttered.

"... I wasn't slacking off, okay? I was passing by and saw Hyeonyul. He looked really lonely."

"Jihwan is voluntarily helping with the repairs right now."

"I'll help as—"

"You stay here, Hyeonyul. You need to rest."

Nayun looked at him gently, her eyes quite different from when she had looked at Sinu.

'Is that really all right?'

Hyeonyul searched their faces.

"... Oh!"

As Nayun seemed to remember something, Hyeonyul tensed. She looked at him.

"Hyeonyul."

"... Yes."

"While I was wandering around inside that building, I noticed a symbol that caught my eye. Could you check whether you recognize it?"

"A symbol?"

His interest was immediate. There had been no such symbol when he looked. But he trusted Nayun.

"Yes. You mentioned before that you could identify them by certain symbols or logos, right? Hopefully I'm worrying over nothing, but I thought we should check."

"I'll take a look."

"Then follow me, Hyeonyul. Baek Sinu, go help Jihwan."

"Just a moment ago, I was carrying equipment with everyone and loading it—"

"Baek Sinu."

"... All right. Fine."

Sinu rose very slowly. Anyone could see he didn't want to get up. He had barely escaped from work, only to get caught like this. Regret was written all over his face.

"But why aren't we heading straight back today?"

This was different from the missions Hyeonyul had experienced so far, so he had to ask.

"Normally, we'd leave things to the managers and return to the Nest. But the area involved turned out to be larger than expected, so we're helping until the other managers arrive."

At Nayun's explanation, he nodded, then pointed to himself.

"Then why did you tell me to stay put?"

She was the one who had told him to sit there. If they were so busy, couldn't they put him to work, too?

'Is it because of my body? Did it bother her that much?'

Before his thoughts could go any further, Nayun answered.

"Normally, we should teach you all this, too. That's how I learned, and how Baek Sinu and Jihwan learned. But today... I just couldn't."

Handling the aftermath was the White Sparrows' specialty, and among the Black Eagles, it was usually the mages who helped with that work. Today, they had taken the White Sparrows' place, bringing out the hostages, reassuring them, checking their condition, and identifying them one by one. Hyeonyul guessed Sinu had been put in charge of supplies for the repairs. It was obvious where Jihwan had been dragged off to: repair work. Since everyone was scattered and likely unable to keep an eye on him, Hyeonyul had sat here for the time being.

"... Have you been waiting long? You're not upset because you had to wait here alone, are you?"

When Nayun asked, wondering if that might be the case, Sinu stopped in his tracks and immediately turned around.

"That's why I sat beside him, I told you!"

"... So that's what happened."

As her expression darkened, Hyeonyul answered firmly.

"No."

At that, Sinu broke off studying Nayun's expression and bolted in alarm. Nayun whipped out her handgun and fired without hesitation.

THWACK!

The shot struck the back of his head dead center with an audible smack. Sinu lost his balance and lurched forward.

"Do you have a death wish? Seriously?"

"I'm going to get killed for making a joke! Seriously!"

He fled, shouting.

Hyeonyul watched until Nayun put her gun away. She was even faster than he had expected.

"Let's go, Hyeonyul."

Only then did she look satisfied and start walking.

Following her, Hyeonyul considered several things. Since he would be at a greater disadvantage the farther away he was, he had thought closing the distance would solve the problem. He had been wrong. Allowing even one hit could prove fatal.

'This is difficult.'

* * *

Nayun led him to Linda's building. On their way up, the White Sparrows gave them plenty of looks, but even more greetings. How did they know it was Nayun, even though her face had changed?

The endless barrage of greetings was more exhausting than the mission. How many times did he have to nod? All Hyeonyul could think about was home. Surely this fatigue would go away if he could somehow lie down in bed.

"This way."

After waving to another White Sparrow, Nayun pointed to a room. It appeared to be one of the offices.

As soon as he entered, Hyeonyul removed his helmet and examined his surroundings. There was a framed picture on the wall, but no particularly distinctive symbol. Having already examined Linda's logo, he looked at Nayun.

"Could you tell me what you saw?"

"I didn't notice it at first, either. I was just walking around the room, deliberately looking for things like symbols. You know at least some of the villains' logos and symbols, right?"

Nayun slowly walked to a spot and stopped. Turning around, she looked at him and pointed down. A pillar stood in front of her, and she was positioned so that more than half her body extended past it.

"Stand here and look."

At her suggestion, Hyeonyul approached, wondering if it could really be so. He stopped where she had been standing. When he looked ahead, his gaze focused on a single spot.

"You see it, right?"

"Yes, I do."

He had thought the marks on the pillar were scratches, but they weren't. The framed picture and the scratches on the pillar aligned to form a single symbol: a snake coiled around an apple. Hyeonyul studied it intently.

'To think they're connected like this.'

Even after realizing the truth, he remained composed.

"Have you seen this symbol before, by any chance?"

"Yes," Hyeonyul answered. "Do you remember Shin Daeho?"

"He's the reason you were able to join us."

"That's right."

As he answered, he thought of Shin Daeho. He had offered up that bastard's head and become a Black Eagle. Without it, that would have been impossible.

"Among the documents I gave the Team Leader about companies connected to Shin Daeho, there was a company with that symbol."

He remembered because he had organized the documents before giving them to Haeryeon. He had thought it was merely another villain faction. He hadn't imagined it would be this one.

"It seems Shin Daeho was dealing with a much larger organization than I thought."

Hyeonyul narrowed his eyes. He had changed jobs several times, but had stayed at Shin Daeho's company the longest—long enough to become a Team Leader. Things he hadn't known were beginning to surface.

* * *

"... I'm so glad you all came back safely."

Haeryeon looked at her returning teammates. Since they had gone out as the advance team, she couldn't help worrying. This time, even getting updates in real time had been difficult, and her anxiety had made it hard to get any work done.

"But, everyone."

Her warm smile changed, the corners of her mouth rising far too high.

"Do you remember what I said before the mission?"

"I remember."

When Hyeonyul answered, the other three looked at him simultaneously. No. Don't say it. Their eyes pleaded with him, but he failed to read the signal.

"Would you tell us, Hyeonyul?"

Haeryeon's eyes gently closed, too.

["Good. As I said, you need to confirm whether the place you're going to is the real thing. Whether you confirm that it is or conclude that it isn't, withdraw once you know. You can report afterward. Understood?"]

Recalling her words, Hyeonyul spoke.

"You told us to withdraw... whether we confirmed it was the real thing or concluded it wasn't. You said we could report afterward."

He faltered in the middle of speaking. This had been a mission where they were supposed to withdraw.

"You did well. You truly did. But we can't have this. There are only four of you. No matter how strong you are, you can be overwhelmed by numbers. At the very least, you should have reported in."

Haeryeon kept the corners of her mouth raised as she suppressed her rising anger. But she could feel them trembling.

"Next time you disobey an order like this, I'll have no choice but to resort to docking your pay."

She knew it was mean, but she had to say it. If that improved her teammates' chances of survival, then she had to.

Just as everyone's faces stiffened, Haeryeon called out the magic words.

"Anyway, you all worked hard. Let's clock out!"

They needed time to shake off their exhaustion.

While everyone rejoiced, Haeryeon suddenly remembered something. She stole a glance at Hyeonyul, her eyes exceedingly cautious. Her palms already seemed to be sweating.

"... Our team has to work this weekend."

Her voice grew quieter and quieter.