EPISODE 83 – The Scent of Danger
The hum of the servers was a low, insidious drone in the clandestine data center. Micha stared at the screen, her mind racing. The image was undeniable: Han-sol, the Midnight Thief, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with a shadowed figure, their faces illuminated by a flickering, sinister light. Behind them, a symbol. It was the same one Kevin had shown them, the one from the black feather, a symbol of an organization far older and more dangerous than they had ever imagined.
"It's a trap," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the server fans.
Minjae, however, was unphased. He moved closer, his eyes scanning the image with cold, analytical precision. The blood on his forehead, a dark testament to their last encounter, felt like a silent threat in the sterile air. He looked at the symbol, and for a fleeting moment, a flicker of something unreadable—recognition? concern?—crossed his face, only to be replaced by his usual apathetic mask.
"It's not a trap," he said, his voice a low growl. "It's a message. They want us to see this. They want us to know they're behind it."
He grabbed Micha's arm, his grip hard and unforgiving. "We have to move," he commanded. "We need to get this information back to HQ."
Micha flinched, pulling away from his touch. "We can just send the image," she protested, her fear of him battling her professional duty. "We need to get out of here."
Minjae laughed, a short, humorless sound. "And let them know we're here? No. This whole system is a network of decoys. If we send the image, the whole thing will go dark. We have to download the original file, the one they don't know we've seen." He pulled out a small, encrypted drive and plugged it into the main server. "Now," he said, his voice a low, dangerous whisper, "we wait."
The five minutes they had to wait felt like an eternity. The silence between them was an oppressive weight, a physical manifestation of their personal war. Minjae stood over her, his presence a suffocating reminder of his power.
"Don't even think about it," he said, reading the fear in her eyes. "Don't think about running. The second you leave this room, you are my responsibility. And you'll do exactly as I say." He leaned in closer, his lips brushing against her ear. "Just like you did last night."
The words were a brutal punch to the gut, a cold, casual reminder of his cruelty. Micha felt a fresh wave of humiliation and rage, but she bit her tongue, forcing herself to focus on the mission. She was a CHIPER agent. She would not break.
Suddenly, a red light flashed on the main server. The file had been downloaded.
"Let's go," Minjae said, his voice all business. He unplugged the drive and shoved it in his pocket. They moved towards the exit, their movements a silent, deadly ballet. But just as they reached the door, the alarms began to blare. A squad of armed guards stormed in, their guns drawn, their eyes fixed on them.
"You're not going anywhere," a voice said from the shadows. A man emerged, his face half-hidden by a black mask, but the symbol of the organization was emblazoned on his chest. He was the man from the picture.
Micha's eyes widened in recognition. It was a face she knew, a face she had seen on the news, a face that had once belonged to a trusted figure in their society. The man was none other than Mr. Kwon, the owner of the very gallery they had infiltrated.
Now that they've been discovered, how will Minjae and Micha escape from the clutches of Mr. Kwon and his security team?