A Woman Talking Back?
In the heart of the city, inside a quiet little café, Yoo Han-kyung ordered two drinks. One was an Americano for herself. The other was a hot chocolate—something any man would naturally enjoy.
“Here you go. Since you’re a man, I assumed you’d like hot chocolate, right?”
“Huh? Oh, yes…”
The stereotype that every man loved chocolate. But Shinwoo had heard it so many times by now that he simply let it slide.
Thanks to the National Intelligence Service renting out the entire café for the day using government funds, the place was completely empty except for the two of them. Of course, Shinwoo had no idea. This was all part of Yoo Han-kyung’s meticulous preparations to meet him in private.
No point in having unnecessary noise around us.
She had arranged this meeting under the pretense of counseling. In reality, it was closer to mental care. Her ultimate goal was to eliminate the root cause that had shaken the boy’s spirit.
No matter how outstanding he was, Shinwoo was still a man. And men were fundamentally fragile creatures. Without a woman’s care, they couldn’t survive even three days. At the same time, they were unbearably lovable beings—natural biochemical aphrodisiacs that could make any woman’s heart race just by existing. They were also the precious seed-bearers who would give birth to humanity’s future.
As the team leader of the NIS Male Development Department, Yoo Han-kyung had a duty to protect this precious man. Especially one like Shinwoo, who was easily in the top 0.1 percent.
“By the way, what’s with the sudden counseling session? Is something wrong?”
Shinwoo asked after taking a sip of his hot chocolate. A high-ranking official from a national agency had suddenly asked to meet him, yet she wasn’t saying anything. The silence itself made him nervous.
But from Yoo Han-kyung’s perspective, it looked like nothing more than a man’s pointless display of pride. Men were all weak, yet their egos were strangely strong—they lived off that pride alone. Even if they were wrong, they would beat a woman who spoke the truth until her correct answer became their incorrect one. It was so ridiculously tough that some women, despite being beaten unfairly, would fall for them and beg to be hit even harder.
He’s so cute I could die…
Still, Yoo Han-kyung was a team leader in the National Intelligence Service. She wasn’t about to lose control to such shallow female instincts.
Slap!
“?!”
She slapped her own cheek to snap herself back to reality.
“Y-Yoo Han-kyung? A-are you okay?”
“Ah, yes. I’m sorry. There was suddenly a mosquito on my cheek.”
It’s daytime and still spring, though?
Shinwoo stared at her in blank confusion while she smiled brightly back at him. As expected of a professional, she didn’t easily fall for the boy’s devilish charm.
“Lord Shinwoo. You don’t have to act strong in front of me.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“You must have something you want to talk about. Just tell me. I’ll do everything in my power to resolve it for you.”
“…? But I don’t have anything.”
No way.
By now, there had to be a massive scar in Lord Shinwoo’s heart. How embarrassing must it be for him to still be denying it? She was a professional, yet on one hand, she nearly shed tears out of sympathy.
To think he had been born a man, had even engaged in skinship with a woman (reading a book together), and yet had been rejected. This was no longer just Lord Shinwoo’s personal problem—it was a national disgrace that had trampled on the pride of the entire country.
What an insolent little brat.
She hadn’t told Shinwoo, but the incident had already been thoroughly investigated. The hand had already been played. That girl—Elena or whatever her name was—would be dead in a few minutes. More precisely, she was about to board the express train to hell.
“It’s fine. You can speak honestly.”
“So… about what, exactly?”
“The fact that you failed to become friends with your new desk mate yesterday. I thought you must be very upset about it, so I arranged this meeting.”
“…Ah! You mean what happened with Elena?”
Yes! That girl who had dared to ignore you—the unofficial Mr. Korea representing South Korea. A NIS agent disguised as a delivery person had already been sent to her family home. In a few moments, he would pretend to hand over a package, knock her unconscious, and sever both her Achilles tendons. After that, she would be shipped off to the disposal specialists in Yanbian. They were true professionals—experts at inflicting pain little by little before making someone disappear without a trace.
“Lord Shinwoo. Don’t worry. We’ll take care of everything.”
“…Take care of what?”
“I heard you’ve been having a hard time because of Elena Barbachof. So…”
“No, actually, I like Elena.”
She had been trying to find him a new desk mate…
Yoo Han-kyung sensed that something had gone terribly wrong right before the final puzzle piece clicked into place.
“You like her? A mere girl refused Lord Shinwoo’s proposal—a man! She rejected an offer to become friends! And you’re saying you’re fine with that?”
“…? Yes!”
She had clearly expected him to say something like, “If you’re going to take care of it, please let me kill her with my own hands.”
But he really hadn’t been hurt? Instead, Shinwoo only looked slightly disappointed.
“You can’t get close to someone right away. Still, she seems like a good kid. I really want to become friends with her.”
“……”
“Thank you for worrying about me, Team Leader Yoo Han-kyung. But I’ll handle this myself.”
“Ah, I see…”
By the time Shinwoo had finished his hot chocolate and stood up, Yoo Han-kyung was completely dazed. He bowed politely to her, then left the café. To think a man like this truly existed. She had thought he was merely outstanding, but at this level, he might be an evolved form of the men currently on Earth.
Yoo Han-kyung decided she needed to raise her evaluation of Shinwoo even higher.
But that wasn’t the real problem right now.
“…! Oh no! Alpha Team! Alpha Team! Do you copy?! Alpha Team!”
Alpha Team. The NIS assassination squad she had sent to Elena’s house. Lord Shinwoo had said he really wanted to become friends with that girl. For the sake of the boy’s dream, Yoo Han-kyung desperately tried to reach them via radio.
But these Alpha Team members were battle-crazed maniacs who, once a mission began, turned off all external communications so they wouldn’t be disturbed.
“National Intelligence Service. Can you hear me? Hack into Alpha Team’s radio right now and connect me to them!”
Yoo Han-kyung shot up from her seat and immediately contacted the NIS to take extreme measures. She had to reach them as quickly as possible if she was going to save that girl.
Ten minutes later.
In front of a single-family home located about twenty minutes from a prestigious high school. It looked large enough for an entire family, but the NIS had already investigated and confirmed that only Elena, who was studying abroad, lived there alone.
The NIS Male Development Department’s Alpha Team—commonly known as the Chunsik Team. They were a unit that primarily handled foreign women who posed a threat to Korean men. Well, “handled” was a nicer way of saying they made them disappear.
“I’ll turn you into a complete wreck.”
The delivery van naturally came to a stop in front of the house. One agent stepped out from the driver’s seat and headed to the back to get the package. When the rear door opened, there were no piles of delivery boxes. Instead, it revealed a creepy operating room lit with dark blue lights. The other agents waiting to work on the girl were already inside.
One of them handed an empty box to the agent disguised as a delivery driver. The plan was simple: the moment Elena approached to receive it, they would stun her with an electric shock baton through the hole in the bottom of the box.
“Just knock her out quietly and bring her in.”
“Once she’s inside, I’ll make sure she can never run again by starting with her legs.”
“Leave it to me.”
A total of five members of the Chunsik Team were participating in this operation. On the surface they looked like villains, but in truth, they were patriots more devoted to their country than anyone else. Even if they had to do dirty work, if it gave Korea’s representative man—Lord Shinwoo—the strength and courage to return to school, they would gladly send the girl off to Russia, the Soviet Union, or Yanbian. Flames of distorted patriotism burned fiercely in their eyes.
Ding-dong.
Right on schedule. When they pressed the intercom, Elena’s voice soon came through.
[Who is it?]
“Delivery.”
[Delivery? I don’t think I ordered anything…]
“It’s cash-on-delivery. Could you come out for a moment to confirm?”
[Confirm? Hmm…]
Elena seemed to be hesitating on the other side of the intercom. But just as expected, she came outside without much suspicion. A Korean person might have thought about it a bit longer, but as a foreigner, she believed packages had to be received immediately. In Korea, people wouldn’t touch a package on the ground unless it was theirs, but abroad, package thieves were apparently common.
Soon, the door opened slowly, and Elena stood face to face with the agent disguised as a delivery driver.
“Where is it from?”
“Ah, well…”
The delivery agent naturally moved closer. He planned to show her the box, knock her out, and drag her into the cargo area of the van.
That was when it happened.
Ring ring ring.
“Ah, just a moment.”
At such a critical moment, a phone call interrupted them right before the final piece. The delivery agent, irritated, glanced at the screen—only to turn deathly pale. He quietly answered the call, turned away from Elena, and spoke in a low voice.
“T-Team Leader?! …How did you get my personal number?”
“Ah, that… I’ll explain later. Cancel the operation immediately.”
“……What?!”
They were the proud Chunsik Team of the NIS, yet their leader was canceling the mission like it was just a taxi ride. If she was going to say that, she should have called a little sooner!
“Excuse me?”
“Y-yes?”
“The package, please. I need to check it.”
The team leader had hung up after only saying her piece. The girl was now asking for the empty box even though the operation had been completely canceled. The situation was getting horribly tangled. Cold sweat trickled down the delivery agent’s forehead.
But the crisis wasn’t over yet.
Worried that their colleague was taking too long, the deeply loyal comrades stepped out of the cargo area.
“Why is it taking so long?”
“Is there a problem?”
There was no one else around at the moment. They had already hacked the CCTV, and if necessary, they were ready to start the job right there. This left the completely clueless girl standing between them and the colleagues who hadn’t yet received the cancellation order.
The delivery agent felt like he was going insane trying to figure out what to do.
But again, the crisis wasn’t over yet.
“Elena?”
“…Shinwoo?”
Everyone turned around. A third party had appeared. He looked dazed for a moment, but seemed to have quickly grasped the situation. Shinwoo extended one hand toward Elena.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but come with me for now. Elena.”