Pressing the button for the headquarters elevator and descending deep underground for a while, she reaches the place she frequents whenever she feels depressed.

At the end of the corridor, purposely designed like a maze to prevent escape, similar sounds could always be heard coming from the iron door.

Huh? Why is it so quiet today? Seol-ah tilted her head in puzzlement when the usual agonizing screams, which used to overflow outside, were absent.

Eventually, as soon as she entered through the door, she was even more surprised to confirm that someone had arrived before her.

“Oh my. What brings you here…”

Pushing past the personnel who bowed politely to her, she walked to the center of the room and approached a figure visible through the hazy cigarette smoke, but abruptly stopped.

Jae-kyung, who always liked things tidy, had his neat semi-formal outfit stained with sticky bloodstains. With his shirt disheveled, he stood there expressionlessly extinguishing a cigarette.

The ashtray was the tongue of the man tied up and sitting in front of him.

The man, already convulsing from excessive pain, had his eyes rolled back, unaware that his own tongue was being seared by the cigarette.

Personnel on standby around them were administering emergency treatment to avoid killing the man, but the body that had already been tortured beyond a certain point could not easily return to its original state.

Eventually, after convulsing a few more times, the man’s breath was cut off lifelessly, and those around began to take care of the corpse.

Seol-ah frowned at the sight.

While it was fine for executives to execute traitors who had harmed the organization according to their own tastes, it was more questionable because Jae-kyung, who had never visited this basement first unless necessary, did so.

Jae-kyung was someone who disliked torture except when needed.

He said he hated getting blood splattered on his clothes and the other person screaming because it was noisy.

Though he was the best at anything when he actually did it, his personality favored only neat things.

Seol-ah stared blankly at Jae-kyung’s back as he had specifically come to this basement and ended up taking a life.

She had come to enjoy herself, but the guest who arrived first had snatched all the delicious things. As she scratched her cheek and pouted, Seol-ah noticed a liquor bottle and empty glass on the makeshift shelf behind Jae-kyung and widened her eyes in surprise.

“Did you drink alcohol?”

Jae-kyung rarely showed himself drinking, though he didn’t mind cigarettes.

Imagining Jae-kyung downing several glasses of that strong liquor, smoking cigarettes, and torturing the traitor, Seol-ah felt tears welling up.

Han Jae-kyung…

“Did something happen with Yoon Na-eun?”

Excluding the boss, currently only Yoon Na-eun could shake up Jae-kyung to this extent, who always maintained his composure.

Jae-kyung, who had been ignoring Seol-ah even when she spoke to him, turned his head towards her. Seol-ah flinched as her eyes met Jae-kyung’s.

“Sorry. I’ll shut up. I’ll just leave, okay?”

She carefully observed his reaction, pleading for him not to get angry and that she would quickly get lost.

Fortunately, Jae-kyung lost interest in her again, and Seol-ah quickly moved her legs to escape the situation.

Leaving through the iron door and entering the corridor, she asked in a small voice to one of the staff members waiting outside.

How long has Han Jae-kyung been like this? The staff member, making an awkward expression at her question, carefully replied that it had been since early this morning.

Seol-ah’s expression grew even sadder at the answer. It was evening now, meaning he had been like this all day.

What kind of pain must he have suffered. Seol-ah felt more sorrow than anger towards Jae-kyung, who had almost killed her in a fit of rage.

This must be because of something Yoon Na-eun did to him.

Seol-ah gritted her teeth. Han Jae-kyung was a friend and colleague she had been with since childhood.

They were close in age and had worked together as a team for over a decade. If asked to name her closest acquaintance within the organization, Seol-ah would mention Jae-kyung’s name without hesitation.

Of course, even if Jae-kyung didn’t feel the same way.

Seol-ah really disliked Yoon Na-eun for hurting her friend and driving him to such misery.

She had felt that way since Na-eun hung around K, but now her favorability had hit rock bottom.

How dare she live so carefree like this. Seol-ah clicked her tongue as she walked down the corridor.

She remembered Han Jae-kyung kneeling and banging his head on the floor in front of the boss for the first time three years ago on that day.

Only Seol-ah knew that he had thrown away all his pride and begged just to save the life of a mere twenty-year-old girl.

Yoon Na-eun didn’t know. She didn’t know what kind of person Han Jae-kyung really was and how far he had gone for her sake.

It’s so unfair. She’s not even the Little Mermaid.

Being in the same position of unrequited love made her even more tearful.

Seol-ah took out a handkerchief from her bag, dabbed at the moisture gathered in the corners of her eyes, and quickly left the corridor.

She felt like she couldn’t bear it if she didn’t do anything about this situation.

“Stop treating Jae-kyung so badly.”

Is it a trend these days for villains to barge into a bright cafe in broad daylight and start talking?

Na-eun stared blankly at the person who had plopped down in the seat in front of her without consent and was babbling about what she wanted to say while Na-eun had been concentrating on studying.

Although the face she encountered after nearly three years brought back terrible memories, Na-eun was able to remain unshaken thanks to having experienced all sorts of things with Jae-kyung.

Pretending to be annoyed, she brushed her hair back and let her fingertips graze her earrings.

Na-eun spoke as she put down the pen she had been holding in her other hand for writing, in a somewhat irritated manner.

“I’ll let it slide that you showed up out of the blue and are spouting nonsense. But aren’t you villains strutting around too confidently?”

Clenching her fists so that her fingers weren’t visible, hating her tense self, she tried to act nonchalant.

She didn’t like how Han Jae-kyung and this brown-haired woman in front of her appeared in a bright cafe in broad daylight without hesitation, just like ordinary citizens.

The world felt a bit unfair.

The sharp-eyed Seol-ah noticed Na-eun’s tension and clicked her tongue, raising her left hand to show it.

It was fine now, but she dangled the wrist bone that had once been crushed, as if to show it off, and said:

“I broke your cute little pinky once, and I almost had my hand cut off by our K. Let’s say the revenge ended there.”

She only sees what she wants to see and interprets the situation however she likes. It must be a monopoly of villains.

Na-eun didn’t have any ridiculous expectations of the other person sincerely apologizing anyway, so she let it slide.

However, she couldn’t ignore the fact that this woman, not Han Jae-kyung, had suddenly appeared in front of her, so she had no choice but to ask:

“So, why did you come to see me?”

“I told you. Stop hurting Han Jae-kyung.”

They say laughter comes out when things are too absurd. Na-eun let out a hollow laugh, dumbfounded.

“Who’s the one pestering and harassing someone minding their own business? The one who keeps bothering me by coming to my workplace is your great friend. Go tell him to stop annoying me.”

You know everything about my surroundings and my current situation anyway, right? She casually raised her cell phone.

The caller was Seo Hee-won.

Through the communication device, Hee-won, who had identified that the contacted person was Lee Seol-ah, was giving her instructions on how to respond in real-time.

The best course of action was to avoid contact with the crazy person that even Hee-won acknowledged.

Na-eun showed the screen of the phone with an ongoing call and spoke nonchalantly.

“Should I answer this and tell them you’re here, or are you going to leave right now?”

“…You’ve grown some guts, haven’t you?”

I thought you could only tremble in fear the last time I saw you. Seol-ah muttered, chewing on her red-painted lips.

She glared at Na-eun with an undisguised look of displeasure and crossed her arms.

“Anyway, I hate it. Why are our K and Han Jae-kyung so obsessed with the likes of you?”

“At least they like me more than you.”

“You’re pathetic.”

She seemed to have trouble controlling her emotions when it came to topics related to Seung-joo, even if she didn’t know about Jae-kyung.

Na-eun, who roughly knew about this woman’s obsession with her friend, frowned in genuine incomprehension.

“Do you really like Seung-joo?”

“You think I’m pretending to like him? Watch your mouth. The only reason I’m holding back and letting you off with your limbs intact is because of Jae-kyung, not because I find you pretty.”

She doesn’t even know who she’s alive thanks to. The stupid girl.

Towards Seol-ah, who was spewing curses like a waterfall without any intention of pretending anymore, Na-eun furrowed her brows.

“You do those things even though you really like him?”

How can you commit villainous acts without any qualms while the person you like is in the business of saving people? She shook her head at the mindset that was incomprehensible for a sane person.

Contrary to her expectation of Seol-ah erupting in anger and hurling curses again, the other woman was strangely quiet.

Na-eun eyed Seol-ah, who seemed to be pondering for a moment, with a questioning gaze.

As if she had finished thinking, Seol-ah hesitantly opened her mouth.

“…Then, what should I do to be loved by K?”

“…”

Admittedly, she was objectively a beauty, and that bashful, hesitant expression was genuine.

Na-eun felt chills down her spine at the fact that the emotion was real, rather than the other way around, and rubbed her left arm with her right hand in the sufficiently heated cafe.

Although she didn’t expect the other person to understand, she still stated the common sense of a normal person.

“You shouldn’t do things he hates. How is it any different from violence to keep doing only the things the other person dislikes and then whine, ‘Why don’t you like me?'”

Ah, you don’t know that because violence is your job? Na-eun was about to tilt her head and answer her own question when Seol-ah suddenly asked after a moment of thought.

Her expression was as pitiful as a movie heroine in love.

“…Then from now on, if I only do things K likes and avoid what he hates, will he come to like me?”

Seol-ah, who couldn’t stand the recent fly sticking around Seung-joo, wanted to seek advice even from Yoon Na-eun, whom she despised so much if it meant getting a proper answer.

However, upon hearing Seol-ah’s question, Na-eun laughed.

She rested her elbows on the table across from her and leaned her upper body towards Seol-ah as if sharing a secret, whispering in a rather gentle tone.

“That’s impossible. You’re already too late.”

Seol-ah’s expression turned venomous at the answer.

Na-eun, already aware that Hee-won had arrived and was waiting outside, felt more at ease and kindly informed her.

“Considering all the things you’ve done so far, shouldn’t you be rotting in prison for life? And you’re talking about love in that state. Stop bothering my friend with your delusional thoughts and just get lost.”

“…”

“What I’m saying is that the point of no return passed a long time ago.”

You have some nerve, don’t you?

The eyes that had been full of pathos for unrequited love quickly turned to madness.

Seol-ah, who was about to reach out to Na-eun as if she would kill her at any moment, stopped her movement just before her fingertips touched Na-eun.

Although she wanted to strangle her right away, gritting her teeth, she couldn’t predict what kind of retaliation she would face from Jae-kyung if she laid a hand on Yoon Na-eun.

Like a naive villain specialized in survival, Seol-ah neatly put away her emotions and gave up on killing Yoon Na-eun.

Na-eun bit her lip to avoid showing Seol-ah that she was scared.

She was just holding out with pride, not wanting to show weakness, but she couldn’t ignore what Seol-ah said while fiercely glaring at her.

“You can’t do that to Jae-kyung. Do you know who you owe your life and limbs to?”

She seemed to have said something similar mixed with curses earlier, but Na-eun frowned, not understanding.

“What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said.”

Seol-ah took out a lipstick from her bag to reapply the color that had been erased from biting her lips in anger earlier.

She nonchalantly touched up her lipstick while looking at a small hand mirror and rubbed her upper and lower lips together, continuing to speak casually.

“Do you still think you went through that ordeal because you were friends with K and L?”

“…”

Na-eun closed her mouth. Seol-ah smiled as she saw the expression disappear from Na-eun’s face in real-time.

Putting the finished lipstick and hand mirror back into her bag, she said:

“Han Jae-kyung is a high-level asset among us. Do you think they would have assigned him to your side for over a year for such a petty reason?”

“…”

“If you want to resent the tragedy that happened to you, direct it at your dead father. Not us.”

What? Na-eun’s face contorted in anger at the unbearable words. But Seol-ah didn’t care.

“Originally, on that day three years ago, not only your father but also your mother and you. All of you were supposed to die.”

“…”

“You don’t understand?”

Of course, you wouldn’t. Snickering, she rested her elbows on the table as Na-eun had done earlier.

Seol-ah leaned her upper body towards Na-eun as if taking revenge and whispered the truth in a gentle voice.

“On that day, the original plan was to massacre your entire family.”