It was then that Kim Tae Rin moved.

The woman who had been quiet all along suddenly shuddered. She frowned and turned her body once. The soft hair brushed past and settled on the fingertips of Choi Yoon, who had stopped in mid-air unable to approach further.

After adjusting her posture like that, Kim Tae Rin exhaled a long breath. Then, between her densely lowered eyelashes, transparent moisture swelled up like a lie.

Compared to the single drop that had fallen like a dried-up fruit at the end of a branch, now it gently seeped out and wet her eyes, soon smoothly crossing her flushed cheeks.

While Choi Yoon watched holding his breath, Kim Tae Rin cried quietly. The back of her hand resting on her cheek, her wrist below, and the crumpled bed sheet pressed underneath became soaked with tears.

So Kim Tae Rin knows how to cry too.

Of course. Even an infiltrator must have times of sadness. The desire to run away in fear would be natural too. Nevertheless, there must be something more frightening than being caught and killed, which could make one turn back from long-prepared steps.

Why did I think this person didn’t know how to cry?

Choi Yoon raised his upper body.

As if hugging from behind, he reached around with his arm and put his hand in the opposite pocket of the cardigan Kim Tae Rin was wearing. The car key was immediately grasped. After pulling it out and gripping it, he unfolded the blanket that had been draped over the chair.

He gently covered Kim Tae Rin with it.

He left the hospital room. He carefully closed the door without making a sound.

The truck was at the back entrance of the hospital. It was parked haphazardly as if abandoned, causing considerable obstruction to passersby. To several angry people with folded arms, Choi Yoon repeatedly bowed his head and got into the truck.

After parking properly, Choi Yoon turned off the engine. Just as he was about to get out, he suddenly paused. Something felt familiar.

Although the interior was dirty with soil mixed with blood that he and Han Seo Jung had shed, a faint soft scent also lingered. It was Kim Tae Rin’s scent.

He looked around the car interior anew.

So she was going to escape in this.

Then there must be luggage. She would have tried to pack her most precious things.

Choi Yoon, holding onto the driver’s seat backrest, twisted his upper body to look behind. Sure enough, there was a travel bag dropped under the back seat.

The design looked familiar. It was indeed Kim Tae Rin’s bag. He had seen it when searching the second floor bedroom.

Choi Yoon reached out and grasped the bag handle. He pulled hard, expecting it to be heavy with many belongings, but was embarrassed when it came easily, unexpectedly light.

It’s light. Lighter than expected.

When he opened it, there weren’t many belongings either.

A few pieces of old and modest clothing. A book that Kim Tae Rin had read countless times until worn out, which had been on the guest room shelf. The knife she always kept close in the kitchen was contained in a crude case.

That was all.

Although he had already guessed from the bag’s weight, Choi Yoon felt somewhat deflated and took out all the clothing items to look. At the very bottom was a laptop. There was no need to look through what had already been searched once.

He stuffed the items back into the bag.

Again, there was no evidence of her being an infiltrator.

It was a strange sense of relief. Rather hoping it wouldn’t be noticeable. He knew that if it was just a hunch, even he couldn’t do anything about it.

It was when he zipped up the bag again. The side auxiliary pocket caught his eye. When he opened it and put his hand in, something touched. He pulled it out.

It was a handkerchief. Something was tightly wrapped and tied securely at the corners, as if it wasn’t enough to just wrap it. It was extremely light.

If one had to choose the most important thing in this bag right now, this would definitely be it.

However, Choi Yoon couldn’t immediately unwrap it. There was conflict.

It was ironic, considering he had thoroughly searched the restaurant and all of Kim Tae Rin’s belongings.

He took a deep breath. He unwrapped the handkerchief.

At first, Choi Yoon thought there was nothing inside. But when he gently tilted the handkerchief spread out on his palm, relying on the dim light inside the car in the dark night, small fragments of light rolled down the slope with a clatter. He hurriedly caught what was about to fall. Small objects touched with a rattle. There were two.

They were earrings, the ones Choi Yoon had given as a gift.

For a moment, his vision blurred. Choi Yoon reflexively squinted.

A car entered the parking lot, cutting through the pitch-dark night. It came in shining its headlights mercilessly, then soon disappeared. Choi Yoon quietly lowered his gaze and blinked. It had been too bright. His eyes stung.

Yoo Ji Ho is right.

From the moment I suspected Kim Tae Rin of being an infiltrator, I should have reported her to the Supernatural Management Center.

Before getting to know her more, before she decided to run away and then came back here, Choi Yoon should have moved according to common sense.

There was a sure way.

But Choi Yoon didn’t do that.

Why did I do that? Did I want to play detective? Did I want to punish that gumiho who killed my father by exposing Kim Tae Rin myself? Or did I, despite everything, secretly hope deep down that Kim Tae Rin wasn’t an infiltrator?

He wrapped the faintly shining earrings back in the handkerchief. He didn’t bother to tie the knot as it was originally. Instead, he carefully put it away in its original place.

Unless Kim Tae Rin is a fool, she will now know that Choi Yoon suspects her. All the questions she threw today supported this.

As he pushed the bag back under the back seat, Choi Yoon thought about how Kim Tae Rin would think of him. A person who stands on the side of supernatural beings but completely excludes infiltrators.

It was the first time. Looking at himself from Kim Tae Rin’s position.

But Choi Yoon had already rummaged through Kim Tae Rin’s life. Made a mess of it. It was irreversible.

Kim Tae Rin doesn’t have many options.

Now that Han Seo Jung has had successful surgery, she could sort out her feelings and leave again, or give up and stay here.

Either way, the possibility of her relationship with Choi Yoon growing in a different way seemed unlikely.

Now I really don’t know.

Where should I start to clean up? Jeon Min Seok plotting dirty tricks and Lee Kang Woo making careful use of them were problems, but thinking of Kim Tae Rin made his chest constrict differently.

There was a vibration. It was Kim Tae Rin’s phone that Choi Yoon had brought down to communicate about parking. The screen lit up briefly and the caller ID appeared.

/M Plastic Surgery/

It’s Dr. Park Jae Sun.

While Choi Yoon stared intently without blinking, the phone rang a few more times and then stopped. It rang again.

Watching the phone move slightly with the vibration, Choi Yoon wondered if he could just let this go without prying into anything more about Kim Tae Rin.

The answer was clear.

He didn’t want to approach in a way that directly harmed Kim Tae Rin. He had given up trying to find reasons why he didn’t want to. He just didn’t want to.

But he didn’t want to just cover it up and move on either. He wanted to make things clear.

Then there was only one way to find out without confronting Kim Tae Rin. Someone who knows Kim Tae Rin well. An accomplice.

Choi Yoon pressed the call button.

− Kim Tae Rin, are you out of your mind? Why aren’t you answering the phone, why!

The angry voice was sharp. Park Jae Sun was always irritable, but Choi Yoon had never heard him lose his temper like this.

− It’s not about money now, you’ve missed the opportunity! I told you, how many times did I tell you! You absolutely must not be late…!

Park Jae Sun stopped speaking abruptly.

− Who is this?

Choi Yoon raised his eyes.

“Doctor, this is Choi Yoon.”

He had to ask. Whether Kim Tae Rin was an infiltrator. What on earth are you two up to?

But the question came out in a completely different tone.

“What kind of relationship do you have with Kim Tae Rin?”

Kim Tae Rin was slowly pulled from sleep.

Someone was gently stroking her head. They kept pushing back her loose hair and combing it down with a hand comb.

She thought she wanted to stay like this for a long time because it was so comfortable. When she opened her eyes as if complaining, Kim Tae Rin’s eyes met with Han Seo Jung’s.

Kim Tae Rin hurriedly raised her upper body.

“Seo Jung.”

Han Seo Jung smiled softly. He said quietly.

“I thought you wouldn’t come.”

When Han Seo Jung said that, Kim Tae Rin almost burst into tears for a moment. She tried to respond lightly as if joking.

“Why did you think that? Of course I’d come.”

Han Seo Jung didn’t answer. He just stared blankly at her.

“They say the surgery went well. Let’s stay in the hospital for about a month. I’ll stay with you the whole time.”

“Together?”

“Yes. Together.”

Somehow Han Seo Jung seemed more mature, she thought. Maybe it was because he had endured the surgery well.

Kim Tae Rin pulled up a chair to sit down and patted Han Seo Jung’s arm.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner. It must have hurt a lot.”

“It always feels like you might suddenly leave someday, noona. Without saying anything.”

Her words got stuck. Han Seo Jung didn’t seem to be joking at all. He spoke maturely.

“It’s okay. Go if you want to. You shouldn’t be here, noona. You should become more famous, rise higher. I can’t do that anyway. My life is already ruined.”

“Why are you saying such awful things?”

Han Seo Jung looked at his own legs. He spoke as if making a trivial joke.

“Look at this. I got hurt again where I was already injured.”

“It’s okay. They said it will heal quickly. The bullet didn’t even get lodged. It just grazed you.”

Saying the person who shot him had no skills, Han Seo Jung giggled emptily and then blurted out.

“Oh, you know what, noona? I was almost hit by two bullets originally.”

Kim Tae Rin’s hand that had been gently stroking Han Seo Jung’s arm stopped abruptly.

“What?”

“The first bullet hit the lunchbox. When Choi Yoon hugged me like this, it hit the lunchbox and ricocheted off. So you saved me, noona.”

For a moment, she couldn’t hear. Something hot welled up from the bottom of her stomach and choked her throat. She tried to ask casually.

“Is that true? Choi Yoon also said the police shot you on purpose.”

Hmm, Han Seo Jung frowned.

“It was a direction that would only be possible if aimed deliberately. Because the infiltrator was running away in the opposite direction from us. Noona, it hurts.”

Kim Tae Rin was startled and let go of Han Seo Jung’s hand. On the back of Han Seo Jung’s hand, Kim Tae Rin’s red handprint remained.

“I’m sorry. I squeezed too hard.”

“You were always so careful about my lunchbox. I guess it was all to save me.”

At Han Seo Jung’s silly words, Kim Tae Rin finally smiled a little.

“It wasn’t me who saved you. It was Choi Yoon.”

Han Seo Jung didn’t answer. His expression was strange.

Kim Tae Rin stood up and poured a glass of water from the side table.

Come to think of it, where had Choi Yoon gone, leaving only his phone on the side table? She helped Han Seo Jung sit up and watched as he gulped down the water.

Holding the slightly unfinished glass of water with both hands, Han Seo Jung asked.

“What about Choi Yoon? Was he badly hurt?”

More than the torn shoulder, his pale breathing came to mind first. It looked similar to a panic attack. It seemed like past trauma had been triggered in Han Seo Jung, overlapping with the present.

“Just. A little on the shoulder. Not enough to be hospitalized.”

“He hugged me tightly and wouldn’t let go.”

Kim Tae Rin somehow felt choked up.

“Did he?”

“Yeah. Isn’t it really strange? We’re not even that close. But he protected me like his life depended on it. As if it was okay for him to get hurt.”

The glass turned slowly in Han Seo Jung’s hands. The little water left followed, leaving a mark. With a pensive look, Han Seo Jung muttered.

“There was someone else like that besides you, noona.”

Then he raised his head. He grinned.

“Odd people keep doing what our parents should have done.”