After the hotel terror incident last year, her parents were less keen on having Na Eun participate in official events, but this was an exception.

Though it was a distant dream, for the sake of his daughter who aspired to enter politics someday, her father Seok Hoon took her to a charity event hosted by a figure known for his wide connections in political circles.

It was said that all proceeds from the art auction would be donated, but for Na Eun, who was ignorant about such things, all she could do at the venue was follow her dad around and introduce herself to important figures.

Forgetting the unfamiliar heels hurting her ankles, she darted around here and there. Then she spotted a figure standing in a corner slightly away from the central hall and sighed.

It must be hard to run into each other this often. That person really is living life to the fullest.

Dressed in an all-white suit and standing slightly askew, Hee Won looked just like a model out of a fashion magazine.

Sure enough, she now clearly noticed young women around him stealing glances at him.

Looking back, it’s rather surprising that she only just learned about this person who is not only the son of her mother’s friend, but also frequently attends such events and has such striking looks.

However, that was just an objective observation. Her opinion of that delinquent remained rock bottom, so Na Eun didn’t particularly want to acknowledge him and turned her head away.

Fortunately, even though Hee Won noticed Na Eun, he didn’t approach or speak to her first.

I’d be grateful if you keep pretending not to know me.

Na Eun deliberately widened the distance, hoping he would continue to ignore her like this when they ran into each other in the future.

“Oh, you must be Na Eun.”

The main reason her father Seok Hoon brought her here – Assemblyman Kang, the host of this event – approached her with a friendly smile.

As the busiest person at the event, he hadn’t had time for even a brief greeting, but luckily an opportunity arose.

Seok Hoon, standing next to Na Eun, gently pushed her forward and introduced his daughter.

Assemblyman Kang, who had known Seok Hoon for years and treated him like a friend, regarded Na Eun with the same familiarity as his own daughter and offered a handshake.

Na Eun quickly accepted the handshake with both hands and bowed.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Assemblyman.”

“Haha. What honor?”

“I’m not just saying that. What you said in the debate before the last general election, I took every word to heart. It’s my dream to become someone like you, Assemblyman.”

In truth, it was a bit of flattery.

While Na Eun dreamed of becoming a politician, she didn’t want to be part of the same party as Assemblyman Kang.

But following her father’s words that connections are the lifeblood of politics, Na Eun brazenly spoke these polite words.

Beside her, Seok Hoon watched his daughter’s grown-up social skills with pride.

“Even if it’s flattery, it makes me feel good. To be the dream of a young person like you.”

Fortunately, the flattery seemed to work as Assemblyman Kang appeared quite pleased.

He looked around for a moment, then lowered his voice slightly and spoke.

“After the auction is over, stay a while longer.”

“Pardon?”

“Oh my. Are you really saying this?”

“Haha. This much is fine for a young dreamer. It’s alright.”

Na Eun tilted her head at the puzzling words, while Seok Hoon seemed rather surprised.

In response to Seok Hoon’s question of whether he was serious, Assemblyman Kang let out a hearty laugh, saying this much was fine. Then, not hiding his busy demeanor, he moved on to another place following his aide.

After confirming Assemblyman Kang had moved quite far away, Na Eun asked Seok Hoon in a small voice.

“What did he mean by what he just said?”

“You’ll find out later. I think he took a liking to our Na Eun.”

Seok Hoon gently patted his young daughter’s head, careful not to mess up her hair, and smiled contentedly.

Was it because she drank too much of the non-alcoholic beverages circulating at the venue?

Suddenly feeling the need to use the restroom, Na Eun briefly left Seok Hoon’s side. After finishing her business and drying her wet hands with paper towels, she exited the bathroom.

And at that moment, someone grabbed her wrist and pulled her.

A hand ghostly covered her mouth, preventing her from even letting out a scream. It roughly dragged her to a deserted emergency exit.

Even though she tried to resist, the arm pulling her from behind was abnormally strong, and Na Eun’s resistance was completely ineffective.

Dragged helplessly to the emergency staircase, Na Eun’s eyes widened as she recognized who had pushed her against the wall.

At the same time, all the struggling she had been doing until just now ceased completely.

“Shh. Shh. It’s me. Be quiet!”

Is this a dream? No, it can’t be. Am I hallucinating because I miss her?

Right before her eyes was her friend who she hadn’t heard from for several months, covering her mouth and pinning her against the wall.

Although only her eyes were visible between her pulled-down hat and mask, Na Eun recognized her at first glance, just as she always had.

Additionally, Na Eun stared alternately with wide eyes at the tall man standing behind Seung Joo.

The man behind Seung Joo was also a familiar face.

Just moments ago, he had been dressed in a suit, receiving the attention of women with his sly smile. Now, like Seung Joo, he was disguised from head to toe in black military uniform.

She could roughly guess what they were up to just by looking.

What would a hero do after transforming? Of course, they’d be saving the world or stopping villains from doing bad things.

And it seemed that was happening right here at the charity event she had come to today.

Only after Na Eun nodded, signaling she wouldn’t scream, did Seung Joo remove the hand covering her mouth.

Na Eun coughed and cleared her throat for a moment. She had known before, but Seung Joo really was strong.

“How’s your body?”

“Are you all better now?” As soon as she could speak after her coughing fit, that was the first thing she asked, but sadly, she couldn’t get an answer.

Seung Joo, with an unusually anxious expression rarely seen on her face, grabbed both of Na Eun’s hands.

“Na Eun, I’m really sorry, but could you help us out?”

“What?”

After getting injured and cutting off contact for months, suddenly showing up like this and asking for help out of nowhere.

Na Eun’s expression turned bewildered, but Seung Joo quickly spilled out what she had to say. She really seemed to be in a hurry.

“You got permission from Kang Jung Man to enter the VIP floor earlier, right?”

Kang Jung Man referred to Assemblyman Kang, the host of this event whom her father had introduced her to earlier.

Her friend, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time, had such an urgent yet serious look in her eyes that Na Eun couldn’t voice the worry and resentment she had been holding back. She simply nodded obediently.

“He did say something about staying a bit longer after the event ended… I guess that’s what it was about.”

“Yeah. Kang Jung Man has a floor that he opens only to his close acquaintances after events like this. He shows off his personal art collection there. If you go a bit further in, there’s another room that you can enter separately. You’re not supposed to be able to go in there, so you’ll have to sneak in. And when you see it, in the center…”

“Wait, wait!”

Though she roughly understood what she was being asked to do from the rapid-fire instructions, the sudden request made her head hurt.

Despite being friends with Seung Joo for all three years of high school, this kind of unreasonable request was a first.

“If it’s something like that, can’t that person do it? He must have been invited today too.”

“Ah, that damned bastard.”

When Na Eun pointed at Hee Won, who was standing behind Seung Joo like a wooden post without saying a word, Seung Joo’s response was a coarse curse that Na Eun had almost missed hearing.

Seung Joo turned to look at Hee Won with a murderous expression and gritted her teeth.

“It was originally this bastard’s job, but apparently he did something utterly stupid while dating Assemblyman Kang’s daughter before, and it seems he’s been thoroughly blacklisted. Assemblyman Kang remembers it and has pretty much banned him from approaching. Forget the VIP floor, he’s lucky he wasn’t kicked out of the event entirely.”

“…”

And he calls himself a team leader… I swear…

While Seung Joo was gritting her teeth and muttering, Hee Won behind her, seemingly aware of his wrongdoing, was just staring into space without offering any rebuttal.

It seemed he had completely forgotten that he had left such a bad impression on the father of the girl he was dating, to the point where he was remembered like this.

Na Eun’s expression turned as cold as Seung Joo’s.

So that’s why he couldn’t even approach Assemblyman Kang’s side and was just hanging around in the corner earlier.

She felt no sympathy. He brought this upon himself.

“Anyway, that’s why… I really didn’t want to drag you into something like this, but… we have no other choice. Please help us just this once.”

“…What do I need to do once I get into that inner room?”

“There should be a book there. I’ll tell you the title, so find it and bring it out.”

“What?”

She had asked, but the answer was serious. Are they asking her to steal now? Na Eun’s face turned pale.

“I want to help, but that’s a bit…”

“If not that, you can just tear out the last two pages and bring them. Without damaging the content.”

“No, that’s still damaging cultural property!”

She didn’t know much, but if it was part of Assemblyman Kang’s collection, who was known to enjoy collecting artworks, it must be an item of considerable cultural value.

“We’ll take care of the aftermath. Just bring it out.”

Hee Won, who had been standing like a dead tree behind Seung Joo, chimed in. Na Eun glared at him, now exasperated.

“What? Don’t try to understand? Don’t dig deeper? Who’s the one messing with someone living a peaceful life here?”

Seeming to realize his own embarrassment, Hee Won turned his head away. Seung Joo, saying they were out of time, grabbed Na Eun’s shoulders and pushed her towards the emergency exit door.

“Anyway Na Eun, I’m really sorry. I’m asking just this once, just once!”

“Hey, hey, wait a minute!”

She wasn’t curious about what the book was or why they needed it. She didn’t want to know either.

She guessed that in situations like this, the less a civilian like her knew, the better.

But this forceful request was almost like being given a mission.

Na Eun frowned at Seung Joo’s rough hands as she shoved something into her ear. What’s this now?

“It’s a communicator. You can talk to us with it. If anything happens, just tell us through this.”

“Wait, I never said I’d do it−!”

“Please, my friend!”

Before she could finish her protest, she was shoved through the wide-open emergency exit door. Bang.

And as if there was nothing more to see, the door slammed shut. Na Eun hurriedly tried to open it again, but to no avail.

Partly to vent her frustration, she kicked the bottom of the door and then stamped her feet.

Why are you guys doing this to me!