Chapter 662

Taeo was summoned by his team leader after returning to ICC headquarters.

“What the hell was that?”

“...”

“Tell me why.”

They had succeeded in killing Sergei, but Natalie was still alive. The operation had ended in partial failure.

Knowing Taeo’s skill—he could easily kill two or three people within a single second—the team leader began interrogating him.

But Taeo silently endured the reprimand.

Without giving a single answer. As though he could not even bring himself to utter Lia’s name.

And that night.

With his cap pulled low over his face, Taeo wandered alone beyond the crosswalk Lia had crossed. Even though he knew it was taboo for a sniper to return to the scene.

Across the red light, he could see the red terrace awning of the café where Lia had appeared.

Taeo lowered his mask and took a deep breath. His heart was beating so fast that it had become difficult to breathe.

White breath billowed from his lips. He stared at the darkened café for a long time.

Could it be?

Could it really be you...?

With those eyes.

Until the red traffic light changed, then changed again, and changed yet again. He did not move from the spot.

He merely stood there, gazing quietly with an impassive profile.

As the desolate Russian winter wind blew against him.

-WAAAAAAAAAAAH

-FUCK HE LOOKS LIKE AN ABANDONED PUPPY THAT GOT THROWN AWAY AND IT HURTS TO WATCH

?HOLY SHIT THAT'S EXACTLY IT...

-HAN YOHAN HAS HAD LIKE TWO LINES TOTAL SO FAR BUT HIS IMPACT IS INSANE

The next day. ICC headquarters.

“The project will now proceed according to Plan B.”

This time, the Asian man who had saved Taeo when he was a boy appeared. The conference room was packed with agents, with the exception of Taeo.

“Where’s Time?”

“He’s suspended for the time being. He let Natalie get away in the most ridiculous way possible... Ha, everything was going so well, and then this happens. But he’ll still be deployed when the project goes into the field, so don’t worry. The revised Plan B is as follows.”

Taeo was in the ICC software room with another man.

“It says there’s no information on this person.”

“That can’t be.”

Taeo rubbed both hands over his face and stared at the computer screen. Even when he searched using the name, age, and ethnicity he knew, nothing came up.

“We’re going to freeze Sergei’s cryptocurrency dump and backup servers. Natalie will close the accounts belonging to her shell companies and disappear. That’s how she always operates. If we freeze her hidden accounts at the same time, Natalie will have no choice but to show herself. She’ll either change her means of transportation or bring in another associate. We’ll catch her when she does.”

“Adjust the age. I don’t know her exact date of birth... She could be two or three years older, or younger.”

“This really is something. Never thought I’d see you asking for a personal favor like this.”

search??Maria...

“Prior to that, our ICC has decided to cooperate with Interpol.”

As the loading screen appeared, a flash of anxiety crossed Taeo’s eyes. But this attempt failed as well.

“Are you sure you don’t have something wrong?”

Taeo swallowed. His Adam’s apple bobbed visibly above his black turtleneck.

“I’m sure it’s her.”

Just then, a knock sounded on the door of the ICC project conference room.

“Come in.”

The door opened.

A woman wearing a badge on her chest bearing a sword resembling a sacred cross and an image of the Earth spoke.

“Hello, everyone at ICC. We’re from Interpol headquarters.”

-WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH LIA WAAAAAAAAAH

-AH FUCK FINALLY

-HOLY SHIT WHAT THE HELL IS JOEUN DAY DOING NEXT TO HER...?

-THIS MAKES NO SENSE

Two people had arrived at headquarters. Lia, whom Taeo had been desperately searching for, and—

“I’m Valkyrie. You can just call me V if you want. Like the V in Victory! Let’s all have a good time together.”

The man standing beside her looked familiar.

No matter how many times Taeo tried again, all he was met with was a window saying that no information existed.

“If you try any more than this, it’ll get reported to the higher-ups.”

“Just one more time.”

“Ha... Time. Think about this carefully.”

Uncharacteristically, Taeo was incapable of thinking deeply about it. He looked like someone who had completely discarded the very possibility that she might not be the same person.

“I don’t know when you last saw the person you remember, but anyone can change their name. And from what I hear, you don’t even know her real age.”

“...”

“If you want to find someone through a simplified search, the information has to be accurate. Someone at my rank can’t search using incorrect information. You know what our work is like. If you had DNA, that’d be one thing, but how am I supposed to find someone using nothing but a name that can be changed at any time?”

Taeo said nothing.

“Yikes. I’m getting a call. See you later!”

Startled by his buzzing smartwatch, the man hurried out of the software room. Taeo, now alone, also composed himself and opened the door.

“Hey, Time. Look at you, diligently showing up even while you’re suspended.”

The foreign team leader patted Taeo on the shoulder.

“Go to Room 8108. Of course, that doesn’t mean you’re allowed to start working again yet. Just pick up the general outline of Plan B and get acquainted with the Interpol guys.”

Barely listening as the man casually slung an arm around his shoulders, Taeo walked toward the elevator.

“If you screw up again, I really won’t let you off! I’ll lock you in that shooting range you love so damn much for a whole month.”

“...”

“Thanks to you, I’ve got a whole load of shit to deal with now. Damn it.”

Taeo answered by pressing the elevator’s close button.

The red numbers on the display changed, then changed again.

And finally, the eighth floor.

Taeo walked toward the place his team leader had mentioned. He could hear people talking.

“Great! Then how about we grab some donuts first?”

Someone’s cheerful voice rang out loudly.

“What about Lia?”

“Once she gets focused on something, she never leaves her seat.”

“Okay. Then we’ll bring some back. Sit tight, Interpol.”

Click.

The door opened.

“Oh, Time. You’re here?”

“Coffee and donuts? Or just coffee?”

Taeo shook his head.

“Okay. Then just go inside for now. We’ve got some new people from Interpol.”

And then Taeo saw her.

Through the open doorway.

A woman so focused on her laptop that she looked as though she might bury her nose in it.

“...”

The man beside her, who had been fooling around by rocking his chair back and forth while stretching, noticed Taeo and waved.

“Hi? I’ve heard a lot about you. ICC’s best sniper! You came to introduce yourself?”

“...”

“Why are you glaring like that? You’re scaring me, so come on in first.”

Taeo walked forward slowly.

Very slowly.

Without taking his eyes off her.

“...”

“I’m Valkyrie. The reason my codename is like this is because I came up with it when I was pretty young. Seriously, someone should’ve stopped me instead of just watching me do it.... Anyway, just call me V. You can probably get the general vibe from that. I’m the senior team leader and field operations officer for the Tactical Operations Response Team, and as you can see, I got the position at a pretty young age, right? Meaning I’m an elite.”

“...”

“You really don’t talk much, huh. All right, and this is the pride of our Interpol. She’s with the Digital Forensics and Virtual Asset Tracking Special Response Unit under the Cybercrime Response Center... but basically, you can think of her as an all-rounder. Chief Cyber Intelligence Analyst.”

“Her name.”

“Lia.”

Taeo stared at Lia. Tap! Lia struck the keyboard with a crisp keystroke and finally looked away from the screen.

Her gaze moved to the face of the man standing before her.

She tilted her head back and met his eyes.

“Lia.”

Taeo called her name.

The name he had called only within his heart for so many years.

“Who?”

And she no longer smiled at him.

As though she were no longer the person from back then.

-WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

-I'M LOSING MY MIND LIA PLEASE WAAAAAAAAAH

-I KNEW THIS WAS COMING FROM THE SYNOPSIS AND IT STILL FUCKING RIPS MY HEART APART

-BRING ME A FRYING PAN... MAYBE IF WE HIT HER ON THE HEAD SHE'LL REMEMBER...

“ICC sniper. Apparently he’s called Time.”

“Ohhh—that guy.”

Only after exchanging those words with V beside her did Lia smile.

While looking at someone other than Taeo.

“Nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“...”

There were countless things he wanted to ask.

Had she been well?

Had she been sick?

Had she, by any chance... waited for him?

Out of all those countless words, Taeo chose and chose again before finally asking just one question.

His voice trembled.

“Is that your name?”

“It... is?”

“Your real name?”

“Huh? Of course not.”

Lia.

The Lia he had always wanted to meet again someday.

He had finally found her.

“Of course it’s a codename. This is ICC. Personal protection, security. Don’t you know about that kind of stuff...?”

“I think he worked up the courage to make a joke. Just play along, Lia.”

“Ah. So that’s what it was. Some kind of flirting?”

Lia did not know Taeo.

“Why would you talk to me first and then not answer? You’re a funny guy. Well, anyway. All right. Nice to meet you. My name is Lia... Maria.”

“...”

“Let’s get along while we’re working on the project.”

Lia smiled brightly at him, just as she had back then.

But Taeo could not smile.

Shim Juhwan clutched his chest and collapsed to the floor.

“No...!”

The two of them had barely even done anything, yet it felt as though his heart were being torn apart.

-WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

-SEARCH AND SEIZE GALDE COUNTRY

-IS THIS EVEN ALLOWED? CAN ONE MAN'S LIFE REALLY BE THIS FUCKING HARDCORE

-HER SMILE IS SO FUCKING PRETTY IT JUST MAKES THIS EVEN SADDER...

Shim Juhwan was not the only one suffering.

Groans and cries were escaping from the mouths of everyone watching Episode 2 of <Code Name: Time Seven>.

* * *

On the third floor of KBC’s main building in Yeouido, the head of the Drama Department clasped his hands together.

There was desperation in his eyes as he focused on the massive screen positioned in the center of his office. His gaze was fixed on the real-time data graph.

The screen displayed a real-time viewership trend graph updating every minute, along with minute-by-minute data from Nielsen Korea.

“It’s not dropping...!”

The viewer drop-off rate, which had fluctuated briefly during Episode 2, had been stopped once by Han Yohan’s shower scene, and after Han Yeoreum appeared, the ratings had continued their upward trend.

It was thanks to Han Yeoreum, who not only kept viewers from leaving but even grabbed ordinary people who had been channel surfing by the collar and dragged them along.

The audience share in the Seoul metropolitan area easily broke through 10%.

They had reached double-digit ratings in only two episodes, so the game could essentially be considered over.

Taeo wandered restlessly.

Because he had no way to properly investigate Lia.

“Every program is blocked.”

“Break through it.”

“There’s absolutely no way someone at my level can break through this. Do you have any idea how many layers of security there are? Ha... More importantly, you really think Interpol will leave ICC alone if we mess with this?”

Taeo was certain.

Even though Lia had grown so much, he could not possibly fail to recognize her.

There was a kind of desperate certainty that could only belong to someone who had spent a very long time thinking of just one person.

“What the hell? Why are they looking into my information...?”

And Lia was one of Interpol’s elite, among its very best agents. She immediately noticed that someone at ICC had attempted to access her personal information.

She effortlessly dug up the identity of the agent who had tried to access her information without leaving any traces.

As Lia came and went from ICC headquarters, she noticed Taeo’s gaze following her.

There was no way she couldn’t.

Because those two eyes followed only one woman.

“He really does seem interested in you.”

“Hard for him not to be. It’s not like he’s the first guy who’s been interested in me.”

“You said you hate men who work in the field, didn’t you? You can’t talk out of both sides of your mouth.”

“Of course. I like stable men.”

“Aaaaaah. But do you really hate guys who work in the field?”

As they headed to work at ICC headquarters, V and Lia bantered comfortably with each other. Apparently, he had confessed to Lia several times before and been rejected every time.

“Putting that aside, he’s not my type in the first place.”

“What about me?”

V abruptly leaned his face closer.

-FUCK I LOVE THIS SO MUCH

-THANK YOU... THANK YOU...

-WHAT ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO SAY BUT YES FUCK WAAAAAAAAH

-WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THAT FACE???????

“I care quite a bit about the body too.”

“Perfect. Take a good look.”

V lifted the hem of his black T-shirt. Pale skin and the defined muscles of his lower abdomen came into view.

-AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

-WOW

-FUCK HE'S TURNING PEOPLE INTO PATRIOTS WAAAAAAAAH

-JOEUN DAY!!!!!!!

“For the record, I hate frivolous men most of all.”

“Okay. I’ll only show you when we’re alone. Since that’s what you want, it’ll be exclusively for you.”

Aetami covered her mouth with one hand.

“I seriously wasn’t expecting anything from Joeun Day...?”

First of all, setting aside the face he had inherited from Eun Baekhap’s bloodline, he could actually act.

The way he joked around with Han Yeoreum felt natural.

Valkyrie’s character, constantly throwing out flirtatious remarks, was absolutely perfect for the second male lead in a romance.

And then there was Taeo, watching the relationship between the two of them.

It was a perfect triangle.

“Are you interested in me? Or are you investigating me because ICC wants to see if there’s anything you can use against these Interpol bastards?”

“...”

“Either way, the intention seems pretty questionable, so I’m asking.”

Before the first project began, Lia had been preparing to make a move on the accounts belonging to Natalie’s shell companies. She snapped shut the file she had been reading.

“Well. Either way, we’re only involved because of work, so let’s just do our jobs.”

“...”

Taeo silently watched Lia approach him.

As though he were desperately trying to take in every inch of the person he had longed to see for so many years.

“I absolutely hate men who work in the field. Because it’s way too dangerous. But don’t get too discouraged by that. I’m saying that has nothing to do with how attractive you are. Okay? Ah! And just because I don’t work in the field, don’t even think about looking down on me. I’ve been on the elite track my entire career.”

Lia pressed the edge of the file in her hand firmly against Taeo’s chest.

Lowering his head, Taeo said nothing as his gaze moved along Lia’s wrist, as though examining it.

“When someone talks to you, you should answer.”

“When did you get the scar on your wrist?”

“Dunno. I don’t remember.”

The scar on her wrist had come from a wild dog.

There was no way Taeo could have forgotten. Even while his own arm was bleeding, he had tended to Lia’s wrist first and stopped the bleeding.

There’s ?? (Original source) no way you don’t remember me.

“Excuse me.”

Taeo reached out and pulled Lia closer by the wrist.

Her slender wrist was caught easily within his grip.

Their bodies were close.

Before they knew it, each had entered the other’s striking range.

The distance between them felt precarious, as though the slightest movement would make them touch.

Lia’s breathing seemed slightly elevated from the tension.

She raised her chin and looked up at Taeo, and there was nothing entirely gentle about her gaze.

Taeo held that gaze as he ran his rough, callused thumb over Lia’s skin as though testing its texture.

Her pulse beat beneath his fingers.

Thump, thump, thump.

But Lia truly did not remember.

The pulse he could feel beneath his hand told him that she was not lying.

Her blinking, her body language—everything confirmed that what Lia had said was the truth.

Her cheeks turning red, Lia irritably yanked her wrist free.

“Looks like you have a habit of testing people. But we know alllll about that stuff too. Who do you think Interpol is?”

If you aren’t Lia.

“No touching! No small talk! And absolutely no attempts to read me!”

Then....

“...”

Did Lia die that day?

A possibility Taeo could hardly bear to imagine flashed through his mind, and his gaze darkened.

Something stirred in Lia’s heart as she looked at his face.

Rubbing the wrist he had held, Lia opened the door and walked straight out.

The camera followed her.

“What the hell, seriously. What a weird guy....”

The inside of her wrist, where the man’s thumb had brushed over it, burned as though it had been scorched.