An unusually high-ranking devil with a level of 89 that had never appeared before in Korea.
Such a devil had appeared.
To make matters worse, during the operation, all security agents had fallen into a brief state of unconsciousness.
And then there was the devil’s sudden disappearance afterward. No matter how you look at it, this was an urgent and suspicious situation, right?
Na-yoon fully expected that intense interrogations would begin for the agents on site.
She imagined days of questioning in a dark interrogation room or even being strapped into strange machines for examination…
But to her surprise, Security Bureau Director Cha Soo-yeon left them with the following words and ordered them to go home.
– I detected a quick fading of magical power from afar, right here in this location. There was a clear sign of total eradication, so there’s no doubt about it; the devil is dead. You all worked hard, so let’s wrap it up for today and go home. And, starting tomorrow, you won’t need to report in for work.
And so they were granted two weeks of special leave!
Not only that, but they were provided with vacation funds to go traveling!
And on top of their regular salaries, a generous bonus too!
Na-yoon was utterly dazed by these unexpected benefits.
Now, if someone were to ask her if she had taken a full two weeks to rest and enjoy herself, the unfortunate answer would be… not exactly.
“Aagh, my body! It feels like it’s going to break into pieces!”
Na-yoon had been bedridden at home for almost two full weeks. She couldn’t move because of muscle pain and aches all over her body.
The reason for her condition was the aftereffects of Kang-joon using her body.
It was only later that Na-yoon learned from Kang-joon himself that he had used her body to defeat the Entertainment Devil.
As a result, every bit of the bonus she had received for the recent case vanished. It was spent entirely on delivery food for Kang-joon.
This feels more like robbery than anything else…
The fact that all her hard work had only left her with aches made Na-yoon feel like she could cry.
Finally, after two weeks of being confined to her house, the long-awaited return-to-work day arrived.
Na-yoon dawdled as much as she could to avoid going in and was practically pushed out of the door by Kang-joon.
But what awaited her wasn’t the usual empty office, but a locked office door.
“Security Division 2, Team B… this is the right place, isn’t it?”
Na-yoon double-checked the nameplate and tried the doorknob several times, but the door didn’t budge.
Could her team have disappeared? Or had she been fired?
Just as her mind began to go blank from the unsettling sense of déjà vu, she heard a voice calling her name.
“Hey, rookie. What’re you doing out here?”
“S-Senior?”
She turned at the familiar dialect and saw Park Seo-joon approaching with his usual carefree expression.
He looked back and forth between Na Yoon and the locked office, then smiled with the corners of his lips curled as if he understood what was going on.
“Aha, so that’s what happened. Rookie, you still haven’t seen the notice, huh?”
“Huh? Notice?”
“Come here and take a look.”
Park Seo-joon grabbed Na-yoon’s shoulder without hesitation and led her somewhere.
The confused Na-yoon let herself be guided down the hallway until they stopped in front of the company bulletin board.
Without a word, Park Seo-joon pointed to the board. Posted there was a personnel transfer notice.
[Personnel Transfer Notice]
[Security Division 2, Team B – Team Leader In Ha-young transferred to Team A]
[Security Division 2, Team B – Agent Shin Na-yoon transferred to Team A]
“Eh?”
“Didn’t you get a text about this? It should’ve been sent a few days ago.”
“Well… I get so much spam that if it’s not a call, I usually don’t check…”
Back in her student days, she had once been lured by the promise of a free Choco Pie and had eagerly agreed to a pointless survey, after which her personal information must have been leaked, because she still received a barrage of strange texts from all sorts of sources.
Park Seo-joon clicked his tongue and asked,
“What phone do you use?”
“Universe A8.”
“How many years old is that? Time to get a new one, especially since you got a bonus.”
“Haha…”
Na-yoon swallowed tears inside. If only that bonus hadn’t all vanished on chicken and pizza…
“Oh? So that means… I’m on the same team as you now?”
“Looks like it. You’re not upset about it, are you?”
“No, i-it’s not that…”
Deep down, if she had to admit whether she liked it or not, of course, she hated it.
After all, Team A was made up entirely of pure “Demon Slayers”, right?
Just the thought of joining such a team when she herself had made a contract with a devil filled her with unease about what might happen in the future.
But right now, something else was bothering her even more. The issue of the team leader.
In the last mission, because it was a joint operation, there had been two team leaders, but if the teams were now merging into one, who would be the leader?
Na-yoon’s question was quickly answered when she read the line written just below the transfer notice.
[Team A Leader Song Ji-hye of Security Division 2, promoted to Chief]
“S-Song Team Leader got promoted?”
“Yeah.”
Park Seo-joon gave her a bitter look.
“Just saying. Don’t go out of your way to congratulate her, alright? Just stay quiet.”
“Huh? Why? Isn’t a promotion a good thing?”
“Normally, sure, it’d be something to celebrate. But she’s furious right now because it wasn’t something she wanted. So, keep your head down and don’t catch any stray fire.”
“Uh…”
Whatever the reason was, to Na-yoon, it all just sounded like the complaints of someone with a full stomach.
Here she was, practically pushed to the edge by a devil’s knife to get a promotion, while someone else was actually upset about getting one they didn’t even want.
Isn’t a promotion obviously a good thing?
A higher salary and subordinates to manage.
Of course, she wanted to avoid taking on riskier missions if she could.
Na-yoon soon headed to Team A’s office with Park Seo-joon.
And she was taken aback by the entirely different atmosphere from Team B’s office.
Unlike the sparse Team B office, Team A’s was naturally packed with desks and equipment necessary for work, and somehow, the space looked much larger and more comfortable.
No, it wasn’t just her imagination. She had only seen the intact Team B office for a single day, but compared to then, the difference in resources here was unmistakable.
She couldn’t help but think that there was a reason Team Leader Song Ji-hye referred to Team B as the “leftover team”.
All of Team A’s members except Team Leader Song Ji Hye were gathered in the office.
Han Min-ho, as always, was quiet and didn’t offer any particular greeting.
But Seo Na-ri gave Na-yoon a small wave as she welcomed her.
“Unie, welcome!”
“Oh! Na-ri-ah! G-Good to see you!”
“Mhmm, you too.”
It was a little comforting to see a familiar face in the bleak office.
It felt like the relief of finding a friend in a strange new classroom after advancing to a higher grade.
Hopefully, I’m not the only one who thinks we’re friends this time…
In the past, a few people she had thought were friends hadn’t felt the same way, so Na-yoon was a little insecure.
The sight of a young person in a suit sitting at a desk was something she finally grew used to, so it didn’t bother her anymore.
“You don’t have much to move over, right? I noticed the office was pretty empty. Let’s see… rookie, you can use this desk.”
“Oh, thank you.”
It was her first desk of her own in quite some time.
Feeling a bit emotional, Na-yoon ran her hand over the desk.
Although the desk was empty, it bore signs of repeated use which made it feel familiar.
Just then, Park Seo-joon passed by and added a remark.
“Remember what I said before? That desk used to belong to the new recruit who ran away. Don’t you do the same now~”
“.…..”
“Well, from what I saw last time, you’ve got guts, so I doubt that’ll happen. Just saying, you never know. Haha!”
Saying things that were best left unsaid… Na-yoon cast a slightly cold glance at Park Seo-joon’s back.
Feeling her earlier sense of gratitude fade a bit, she slowly rose from the desk.
Right, what did the desk matter anyway? What mattered was the position itself.
Her goal was clear: to get promoted quickly, finish her contract quickly, and leave this security bureau quickly.
Beyond that, nothing else really mattered to her.
Just then, a raised voice came from inside the office. It sounded like an argument.
One of the voices belonged to a man she hadn’t heard before, but the other was familiar.
It was Team Leader Song Ji-hye. No, now she was Division Chief Song Ji-hye.
“What are you talking about, Ji-hye-ah? Do you know how hard I worked to get you promoted?”
“That’s exactly it. Who asked you to do that?”
“If you move up quickly, wouldn’t it be a big support to the Purist faction? The security bureau suffers if a talent like you stays stuck in the lower ranks for too long!”
“I never wanted that! And I could have risen just fine on my own skills!”
“Fine, but since you’re bound to rise anyway, what’s the harm in speeding it up a little? Everything I did was for you—”
“Oh, please, just get lost!”
After a moment, the office door swung open, and a middle-aged man came out. He was looking as though he’d been practically chased out.
His face was flushed red and he opened his mouth as if to say something, but perhaps realizing all eyes were on him, he cleared his throat awkwardly and hurried away.
The team members all turned their gazes toward the inside of the office.
Left alone in the office, Song Ji-hye met their stares with a sharp, cold look and snapped.
“What are you looking at?”
Na-yoon quickly turned her head away and started looking off in another direction.
Wow, she’s scary…
It had been two weeks since she had last seen her, but Song Ji-hye seemed just as intense as ever…no, maybe even harsher. Na-yoon broke into a cold sweat.
With someone like that as her future boss, the road ahead at the bureau felt even bleaker.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team seemed unfazed, as if they were well accustomed to scenes like this.
Just then, the office door opened again and someone else stepped in.
It was Team Leader In Ha-young.
“Oh, everyone’s here! Am I the last one?”
“Ah, Team Leader!”
She must have been organizing her office because she came in with a box of luggage and gave a quick glance to Na-yoon and her team members.
Finally, In Ha-young’s gaze met that of Division Chief Song Ji-hye.
A brief yet heavy silence passed between the two.
For some reason, Na-yoon felt tense and swallowed dryly.
It was Song Ji-hye who broke the silence first.
“Hey, you… do you remember me?”
Huh?
It was an incredibly out-of-the-blue question.
Given how tense things were between the two, Na-yoon had thought there would at least be some kind of provocation right from the start.
In response, In Ha-young blinked her eyes for a moment as if she was flustered, then opened her mouth with an extremely apologetic expression.
“I’m sorry, Chief Song Ji-hye. You already know, don’t you?”
“Haah…”
Chief Song Ji-hye let out a short sigh at her answer, roughly brushed her hair back, and then made an expression of deep resignation.
“Damn it… What on earth was I expecting…?”
Chief Song Ji-hye muttered briefly to herself and then left the office without another word.
Na-yoon stared at the empty spot where Chief Song Ji-hye had just been with a puzzled face.
What? What on earth was that all about?
Was she the only one who couldn’t follow the conversation?
At that moment, Team Leader In Ha-young approached Na-yoon and quietly set the box she was carrying down beside her.
Na-yoon asked her with a still bewildered expression,
“Uh…um, Team Leader… What were you and Chief Song just talking about?”
“Oh, Na-yoon-ssi, you didn’t know yet. It happens sometimes.”
In Ha-young gave a bitter smile and explained.
“Every time I use the power of the Binding Devil, I lose a memory of someone as the price.”
Na-yoon’s eyes widened upon hearing those words.
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