#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 the groan rising in her throat. Every instinct screamed at her to jump on her motorcycle and flee, but under Gye-yeong’s lingering, heavy gaze, her feet felt glued to the frozen ground.

Who on earth did these people think they were? Never in her life had she encountered a situation this absurd. It was staggering enough that trespassers were pushing out the rightful owner, but being treated like an intruder on her own land was utterly infuriating.

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

"Hey, kid. Name and address?"

Hyeon-sin's eyebrows twitched at his dry demand. A cold sigh burned hot in her throat. She briefly debated whether she should use the fake identity she had prepared—an alias she secured permission to use whenever a mission required her to pose as a boy.

"Mister, that's personal information. Isn't it a crime to recklessly demand that from a stranger?"

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

"Well, you've got a point. But should we bring the police in and have a formal chat instead? There are a lot of radical residents trying to block the redevelopment around here, and lately, anyone interfering with those gentlemen's business has been causing real trouble."

The police?

Hyeon-sin's eyes wavered at the word. The authorities were the one entity she, as an undercover agent, had to avoid at all costs. Her lips parted, but in the end, only a defeated answer escaped.

The organization she belonged to, Hanbidan, was a non-profit group that championed the public interest, but it could not guarantee the personal protection of its agents' real identities. Because they executed perilous missions that carved out corruption from the heart of state power, they had to remain entirely stateless shadows. While they occasionally collaborated with authorities during large-scale operations, it was an agent's exhausting destiny to lay low and fend for themselves when minor accidents happened. After all, survival often meant walking right on the edge of the law.

"Fine. I'll tell you. My name is Lee Sin. Born April 12, 2009. I'm from this orphanage, so I am a legitimate stakeholder. You can look it up yourself."

"Really? Ah, I see. Thanks for cooperating."

As if his previous high-handed attitude had never existed, Chief Ma's demeanor instantly softened the moment she claimed to be from the orphanage.

Hyeon-sin's heart grew heavy. An exposed identity meant the death of an agent's career, but she had no choice but to borrow the name of the younger brother who had grown up with her here. After placing a quick call to verify the details, Chief Ma turned back to Hyeon-sin with a much calmer expression.

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

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

Even though it was a pre-approved identity, using the name of the sick kid currently lying in a hospital bed weighed heavily on her conscience. 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 self-blame, the three men who had been inspecting the ruined building emerged once more. Chief Ma immediately delivered his report.

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

"Wait. Gye-yeong, Gang-mu. If that's true, doesn't this brat know the holdout owner incredibly well?"

In an instant, the atmosphere shifted, and a taut tension flooded the courtyard. The moment Chief Ma finished speaking, Han Gyoo-ryeon approached Hyeon-sin with a bright, knowing smile. A terrible premonition hit her. 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 earlier, 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?"

Hyeon-sin felt a wave of dizziness wash over her.

She came dangerously close to letting her expression slip. As expected, these men would use any leverage to force a buyout of 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 she gets a proper payout from us, she can change her fortune and live a good life."

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

Hyeon-sin murmured, keeping her head buried deep to hide her hollow gaze.

The brutal reality was that she had to risk her life working as an agent to pay for nursing home fees and a mountain of skyrocketing debt. She lived a life 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. There was no way she could explain such a 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, modest apartment in Gaepo-dong, Gangnam.

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

Lee Mu-hyool, a sturdy man in his early twenties with a kind, dependable face, placed the hot pot onto the dining table and called out.

"Si-on, come and eat."

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

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

Because their room was packed with the cold, sharp tactical gear they used for missions, they had been forced to place the bed in the living room. Even in this cramped space, the short distance to the table seemed impossibly far for her.

"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, the pain was completely gone."

Unable to look at her directly out of a deep sense of guilt, Mu-hyool quickly pulled out a chair and clasped 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 fell silent, staring anxiously at the calendar hanging on the wall.