ITSN 27

Chapter 27

Before dawn, Taejo had already been running on the treadmill.

After running nonstop for an hour, he turned off the machine while watching the sky gradually lighten.

From his room on the third floor of the main house, he could see the Inno Group mansion.

Because the neighborhood had extremely tight security, it wasn’t easy to peek into other houses—but by chance, only from this spot, he could see Yoo Hae-in’s house.

Of course, he couldn’t see the interior in detail; he could only tell whether the lights were on or off.

And Yoo Hae-in’s room had had its light on continuously since last night.

“Stayed up all night?”

At that moment, his phone rang.

Taejo grabbed a water bottle, twisted the cap, took a sip, and answered.

It was Director Yeom.

• Hey!

He started the call by shouting, even at this early hour.

• You crazy bastard. Is that you? It’s you, right?

It seemed he was talking about the incident yesterday at the library, when he had snatched the phone from that slick-faced guy.

“Yes, that’s me. I was with Yoo Hae-in and the others in the library.”

• Have you ever seen such a crazy bastard? You messed up a carefully planned operation. “It’s me”?

Taejo let out a scoffing laugh at Director Yeom’s words.

“The ‘careful plan’ didn’t look very impressive. The honey trap wasn’t effective, and the target barely even glanced your way.”

• Yeah!

Director Yeom yelled loudly and then cleared his throat, speaking more calmly.

• You see his face every day. Do you think you’d be satisfied looking at someone else’s face? Not only that, every morning you look in the mirror, don’t you teach yourself a proper lesson with your eyes?

Having seemingly given up on his face, he switched to another “weapon.”

• But in bed, he’s amazing. Once the bed operation succeeds, it’s game over. A guy who can’t… you can’t compare.

“Can’t…”

That referred to Taejo.

Back when he was an NIS agent, it was an excuse thrown out while refusing a honey trap.

“Don’t put a guy who can’t in bed. Don’t do it. Even if you try, it won’t work.”

Director Yeom had said something like this… Ah…

“You’re impotent, and yet you still have such a remarkable… impotent.”

Those words echoed, and Taejo frowned at the memory, opening his mouth to clarify.

“I don’t just not get it up for anyone. It’s not that I can’t at all.”

To be precise, it’s not that it won’t get up; it’s that he doesn’t make it. Once it does… it becomes a problem because it doesn’t die easily.

• You don’t get it up for your fiancée.

He had no reason to do so for her…

“Anyway, that guy won’t work. Use another agent.”

His voice was resolute.

• Why?

“Don’t you know he’s notorious for bad bedroom manners? Where did you get the info that he’s amazing in bed?”

• Well, the honey trap operations always went well…

“Always went well, my foot.”

“And bring someone who looks intelligent even without glasses, someone smarter.”

Walking from the window toward the bathroom, Taejo continued.

“After all, she’s my ex-fiancée from Seohyun Group. If it gets out that she’s involved with a weird guy, my reputation will be ruined. Instead…”

He paused, thinking deeply about the problem he’d been pondering since yesterday. Then he finally spoke it aloud.

“I’ll cover it temporarily until we find the right person.”

• What?

“I’ll monitor Yoo Hae-in myself.”

• You?

Director Yeom’s voice sounded somewhat bewildered, so Taejo explained kindly.

“The phone already has a location tracking chip, so don’t worry. Take your time searching. Seok Il-du will follow 24 hours a day.”

• Why the sudden change?

“Curiosity.”

• About what?

“Director, do you know what’s the very first thing they teach you in undercover training?”

This was his specialty.

Infiltrating enemy territory under a false identity to disrupt the enemy and gather intel.

Deceiving the enemy cleverly to target them.

“It’s not about how to deceive the opponent well. It’s about how to identify if the opponent is fake.”

So, you can’t miss it.

“Whether through disguise or surgery, once you infiltrate undercover, you must become the perfect person. But no matter how perfectly you prepare, since you’re not the real person, even a minor detail will give you away.”

That tiny mistake could reveal your identity and ruin the mission.

“That’s why we learn. How not to give away even the smallest hint.”

There was silence on the other end of the line. Only Director Yeom’s breathing could be heard.

After a while, a low, quiet voice finally spoke.

• So you’re saying Yoo Hae-in… is fake?

“Yes.”

This much was certain. It was just that they couldn’t yet pinpoint who it really was.

So he had pondered all night, replaying every moment he met Yoo Hae-in since the incident, checking if he had missed any detail. Gradually, what was unclear became clear, and all the information pointed to one thing.

His heart, which had been dormant, now thumped heavily.

<Yoo Hae-in is Ju-hong. Ju-hong is Yoo Hae-in.>

His senses, almost animalistic, told him so.

Now he just needed to confirm it. Of course, there was no need to reveal that to Director Yeom.

“Yes, my feeling is that… that’s not Yoo Hae-in.”

Silence again.

The only sounds were occasional sniffles and lip-smacking, swallowing words repeatedly.

“Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?”

• Uh-huh.

Taejo chuckled at Director Yeom’s response.

“Anyway, I’m not taking this on officially. I’ll just use my vacation to check briefly.”

• Is that really necessary?

It felt like it was.

“Yes.”

• Could it become an official collaboration anytime?

“Hope not. You won’t be able to handle my price.”

Silence returned, then a long sigh followed.

• If you’re not officially taking it, I can’t give you much time. A week? I’ll buy a little time. Just confirm briefly.

That should be enough.

“Yes, I will.”

And so he hung up.

[This morning, the ally has fully awakened.]

Even without being called, Silseon was fussing since early morning.

She had said you’d naturally know who the ally is, and it was impossible not to.

Her ally was Seo Taejo.

The person who showed the most noticeable change in attitude the moment the “wake the ally” quest succeeded was Seo Taejo.

Looking back, the answer had been there from the start. He was never a Mafia candidate, just a man with a 50% chance of being an ally. Unfortunately, Seo Jung-wook had been on the Mafia candidate list of 26, so it was ambiguous from the start.

[Aren’t you happy?]

Happy, yes.

‘Not happy.’

The more she thought about Yoo Dong-hyuk’s words from last night, the stranger she felt.

“Seo Taejo must attend with you.”

A party attended to demonstrate Yoo Hae-in’s presence—Taejo had to be brought along?

It wasn’t Yoo Hae-in’s presence, but to show the engagement’s continuity.

For Seo Taejo, who wanted the engagement broken, this would be an untouchable topic.

“Why must I bring Seo Taejo? You know how he… basically dislikes me…”

“Dislikes you? I know.”

Yoo Dong-hyuk smiled wryly.

“Do you think only you dislike him? I do too. We both dislike him.”

“But?”

“But we need him.”

“We?”

This time, Yoo Dong-hyuk included both her and himself in “we.”

“You heard what he said, right? If you need something, don’t whine. Beg.”

True. There wasn’t a single mistake in that.

“So go and beg. Ask him to come to the party with you.”

“No.”

She didn’t understand why Taejo was needed, and she wasn’t willing to comply.

A proper refusal.

“The person who’s needed should do it. You don’t need to. It’s for your brother or Taejo, not me.”

“I told you it’s for you.”

“If it’s for me, I can handle it myself. Let me manage my own affairs.”

Until now, Yoo Dong-hyuk had controlled his sister completely, so such rebellion likely didn’t sit well with him. His voice thundered.

“Yoo Hae-in!”