Vows and Bullets
Chapter 95: Speculation

Chapter 95: Speculation

"Ye-Ji’ya?" she asked from behind the door and hurried to open it for me.

Good thing her voice sounded lively. That meant she was feeling okay, right?

As soon as the door opened, I ran towards her and embraced her.

"I-I got a notice that... sniff... you were in a possible d-danger, so I..."

Alas, I cried again. My voice trembled with each word I tried to utter.

"Aww... don’t cry. I’m so sorry for worrying you."

"No, you have nothing to be sorry about! Where are those jerks?! I’m gonna kill them!"

"Hey, calm down, okay? I’m fine. Someone saved me before anything happened."

"A Mythos agent? Good thing they arrived on time."

"Oh... actually, I did see the Mythos agent, but someone arrived earlier than them—a passerby and also happened to be one of our customers."

"... What?"

Yoon-Ah then told me everything that happened and about that kind Mr. Seo-Hyuk who happened to be passing by at that moment and helped her. How horrified I was to know that it wasn’t a Mythos agent who saved her. That only meant they were slow to respond during an emergency which wasn’t very like them!

’What Agent Helios told me earlier—about his speculation—what if he was right? There was no way Mythos would be that slow. One or two minutes was enough for anyone to respond. If the area were secluded, it would take a little more time due to travel—five to ten minutes at max since they have helicopters ready to be dispatched anytime. But Yoon-Ah’s place was near one of the bases. They could have sent someone as soon as possible, but there was a delay.’

Was I just reading a little too much into it because of what Agent Helios said? Or was he right to think that way? Was it a mere coincidence, or a well-thought plan? And most importantly... who could it be from Mythos? Who would dare do such a thing? Did anyone know about our mission except us and the three chiefs? If yes, then whoever that was must have worked with those thugs who harassed Yoon-Ah, setting her as bait for us. And if so, what was their motive?

’Could they be related to Kraken? How in the world could they have figured out that we—us, specifically—are on them? And if so, were they trying to protect the syndicate group by doing this? But there’s no way something as simple as this would protect them. Unless... it’s a warning... to us.’

Thinking that, I felt shivers run down my spine.

That’s right. Kraken was a very well-organized group that had existed for several years. They were not just a simple syndicate group who didn’t think and could easily be trapped. That’s why Mythos’ years of intel and chasing them had been barely fruitful all these years. And now that they know we’re targeting them, this scenario might as well be a warning to us—the agents tasked with capturing them. It’s their way of saying...

"Fight us, and we will fight you back."

I clenched my fist tight at the sudden realization.

Yoon-Ah, her family, and my mother... they could all be in danger. They could be watching all of us from afar and might have already planted their people around us, and we don’t even know it!

’Haah... This is truly one heck of an S-rank mission. Even our families and loved ones could be put in danger because of this. And for what cause? For my revenge? So I could be the top agent and gain access to the information I need as a reward, then avenge my father?’

At times like these, I couldn’t help but think that everything I was doing was in vain.

Chasing towards the ghost of my past in exchange for the present...

But still, I couldn’t let go of the hatred.

I couldn’t let go of the pain.

’Appa... what should I do?’

"Ye-Ji’ya, are you alright?" Yoon-Ah asked, breaking me from my thoughts.

Her eyebrows furrowed, and her eyes looked at me with such worry. I should be the one worrying about her after what happened, but now it’s the other way around.

With a heavy sigh, I replied, "Yes. I’m good. Sorry, I just remembered something."

"What did you remember?"

"Nothing much—work-related stuff," I replied, trying to derail her. Peeking at the tea set on her table, I said, "Nice tea, by the way. It smells nice and relaxing."

Yoon-Ah’s worry-filled face immediately lit up.

"Yes, it does, right?! It’s chamomile, and I got it from Mr. Nice Guy. Before he went home, he gave it to me saying, in case I find it hard to sleep tonight because of what happened."

"Oh wow. How thoughtful, huh?" I teased. "Maybe he likes you. He’s going really extra for someone he just met."

"What? Noooo way. He’s just one of those few specimens of people who still have kindness in their hearts," she denied it, but her hand spanked my shoulder a little hard.

"Really? But your spank obviously says otherwise. You like him, don’t you?"

"Huh? That’s not true. I don’t fall that easily, you know," she replied, flipping her hair. "I’m grateful for him, but I’m not someone with Stockholm syndrome. So it’s a no for me. Only when I get to know him better, then maybe I can say if I do like him that way or not."

"If you say so, Ms. Romance Expert—despite not having experience with it."

"Hey! That’s rude."

"Ha-ha-ha!"

And so, we bickered for a few moments until Agent Helios knocked on the door of her bedroom to check on me.

"Ye-Ji’ya, how’s it going?"

"She’s fine, thankfully," I responded and let him inside the room. "Someone saved her at the nick of time, and she’s good. Feeling better."

"Yup! I’m A-Okay," Yoon-Ah said enthusiastically. "Thank you both so much for dropping by. And I’m really sorry for worrying you, Ye-Ji’ya. I love you so much!" She acted cutely and hugged me. "Don’t worry. Next time, I’ll be more careful."

"You should! And tell your brother to do errands at night instead of you. Why in the world are you outside at night?"

"Well, actually, it’s partly my fault. I took too long doing groceries and overlooked the time, so..."

"Yoon-Ah..." I glared at her.

"I’m really sorry! I won’t do it again, I promise!"

"You better!"

Agent Helios chuckled, seeing us bicker.

"You should have a bodyguard, Ms. Yoon-Ah—you and your family."

"That’s right! You should!"

"Well, I’d love to, but we don’t have that much money to hire them. Besides, there is nothing that thieves can rob from us. What happened is just a once-in-a-blue-moon scenario. Those thugs are just drunk, and oh well. I’m fine. We’re good."

"Then, I’ll hire them for you!"

"Ye-Ji’ya, No! Do you know how much bodyguards cost? Just one person is like—I don’t know—one thousand worth of coffees? Or more!"

"I can earn that," I pressed on, but Yoon-Ah scowled at me and shook her head.

"—OR," Agent Helios butted in, "I can send my people instead. I have many bodyguards at my disposal, and they’re all professionals."

Yoon-Ah’s face paled up.

"No, please, no! You don’t have to go that far! Ye-Ji’ya... stop your husband!"

But I didn’t and instead asked further.

"Really? Is that ok?"

"Of course, my dear wife," he replied, smiling sweetly at me and caressing my face.

"I can share in the payment."

"There’s no need to. I told you, right?"

"Hm? Told me what?"

"What’s mine is yours, and what’s yours is mine. That’s what a husband is, my dear wife."

What the—but that’s a facade! Was this part of his act? But yeah, he DID tell me that earlier... and in private.

Feeling embarrassed, I averted my eyes off him. Ugh. Now my cheeks felt hot, too.

"Awwww... so sweet!" Yoon-Ah screamed like a fangirl. "Oh my goodness! This feels like I’m watching a rom-com drama right before my eyes. Come on, you two, get a room! Oh wait, you’re already inside a room. How about I leave you two alone? Yeah, at times like these, I should leave, right?"

"Yoon-Ah’ya, stop it."

She teased me more, but soon enough, she stopped, and we bid our goodbyes to each other and to Mr. And Mrs. Lee as well. After that, we headed toward my mother’s house to check on her before going home. Agent Helios called his people and selected bodyguards to stealthily guard my mother, Yoon-Ah, and her family from that point on.

Feeling grateful for his help, I thanked him repeatedly during the trip back home.

"My dear wife, if you really want to thank me, why not instead of using words, use your mouth instead?"

I grimaced as soon as I heard that. But of course, he would find a way to tease me again and act mischievous. I’m not sure if that was his way of asking me to stop or if he was just deliberately doing it.

"I AM using my mouth to thank you."

"Ehhh... Not like that. I meant a kiss. This doting husband of yours only requires something simple from you. It’s not that hard, right?"

"You’ve been kissing me the entire time earlier! Don’t you get tired of it?"

With a wide grin, he shook his head.

"No. Never."

And so, he kissed me again.

"You know what? I just realized something," he said.

"And what is that?"

"I’m very touchy and physical with people I like."

"Tsk. You really are."