“Having excellent school grades doesn’t necessarily mean competence.

Kijoo scrutinized the newly hired employee, whose complexion was close to pale and had a towering stature like a scarecrow. The glasses they wore had a high prescription, making their eyes look like small buttonholes.

“Hello! I am…! Cough, cough, cough.”

Watching the newcomer who couldn’t even complete a simple greeting and kept coughing, Kijoo clicked his tongue in disapproval.

I heard they’re also assigned to the field. Is that possible?

It wasn’t a joke; the rookie’s level of worry was genuinely concerning. Even Ikwhan Lee, who had been delighted with the long-awaited staffing, had a grim expression.

“Apparently, this newcomer had the highest scores in both physical and intellectual categories… they said they were ranked first.”

While saying this, Ikwhan urgently handed over the evaluation report to Kijoo. Digging through nearly ten pages of the evaluation report, Ikwhan’s expression quickly turned puzzled.

“First is first. But, being first from behind…”

Hearing Ikwhan’s helpless voice, Kijoo suppressed his laughter.

“HR team, these swindlers!”

Ikwhan was truly miserable. It felt like a nightmare from three years and seven months ago was replaying. Of course, the details were a bit different, but still.

Back then, they promised to send the best ace from the HR department.

A guy who was mostly active overseas, unfamiliar with domestic affairs, but promised to complete a task. They slyly negotiated with a cunning tongue.

The one deployed was none other than Kwon Kijoo.

Yeah. As promised, the guy really excelled at his job. He even found work for himself.

The problem was his stubborn my-way approach. He lacked any sense of trust and camaraderie, behaving like a completely self-centered individual.

For missions where teamwork was crucial, it was frightening to involve him. He would openly call his colleagues incompetent garbage in front of them or deliberately make mistakes, leading to their elimination in high-risk situations.

The process of the Nightingale Project was painful to mention.

One day, he suddenly claimed he couldn’t do it, wrote a resignation letter, then begged to be reinstated, claiming to have a solution to make the project a success. All the while, he took revenge and had love affairs in the midst of it.

Looking back, it was quite a tribulation.

But this time, the new recruit seemed unbearable.

They sent a suspiciously feeble body to the field. Could there be a corpse if deployed there? They should be at least good at acting, but even that seemed too much to expect. On the other hand, if they were good with computers, then…

“I’m confident in hacking. But, the target is a bit boring.”

Hearing the newcomer fixing their glasses and saying this, Ikwhan seemed like he was about to faint.

“Hey, Kwangil.”

“Yes.”

“We need to grab Kwon Kijoo tightly.”

In a quiet voice, Ogreunseok, who had been silently observing the situation, muttered. Ikwhan sneakily glanced at him.
Kwon Kijoo seemed unusually busy today. Throughout the morning, they stared at the monitor, manipulating the mouse and keyboard with a gloomy demeanor.

During lunch, instead of eating, they lowered their eyelids like a camera shutter and took a short nap.

After lunchtime, they brought out the phone they had been using and spent time handling it.

That seemed to be the end of it. Unfortunately, the next was the tablet, which they invested even less time in. Ikwhan approached Kijoo with a skeptical look.

Yeah. No matter what, it’s hard to find someone as useful as Kwon Kijoo.

People aren’t usually fixed, but this guy is worth fixing a bit.

“Kwon Gi… No. Kwon Eunho.”

“It’s not Kwon Eunho.”

If it’s not Kwon Eunho?

Ikwhan looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.

“I applied for a name change. Back to my original name.”

Upon hearing this, Ikwhan nodded without any suspicion. In fact, the name Kwon Kijoo was more comfortable.

Even though he was undercover, it had been several years since he was called by that name. Thinking about it, memories of the hardships they endured together suddenly came to mind, making him feel bitter.

Yeah. This one isn’t a bad guy either.

Ikwhan said with a perplexed expression.

“Hey, you. You may not have been disciplined, but be careful. Your weaknesses are clearly exposed.”

“…”

“It’s going to be tough from now on.”

It was the worst situation for a black agent. One shouldn’t entertain the thought that it would be forgotten in a few years; humans have a way of remembering others’ weaknesses better than expected.

“It’s easy to solve.”

“What is it?”

Ikwhan, considering him to be an exceptionally clever guy, expected a plausible solution. That was one reason why he anticipated an answer, but Kijoo, checking his wristwatch, spoke with a nonchalant tone.

“I have to catch a flight. I’ll go first.”

Saying that, he picked up his luggage and walked away. Ikwhan clicked his tongue, finding the guy uncontrollable.