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  “Team Leader.” Jin-woo shrugged his shoulders. “Logs running away aren’t worth tracking.”

  Team Leader Cha frowned. “What are you talking about.”

  Jin-woo smirked. “He’s a guy already logged out from the system, anyway.”

  And Jin-woo exhaled once and added. “By the way…” He scanned Team Leader Cha up and down. “Are you treating us to lunch today? Your face color earlier was exactly ‘the day to pull out the corporate card’.”

  Very small laughter burst out here and there in the office. Burst and stopped. Everyone was still checking ‘if it’s okay to laugh.’

  Assistant Manager Yoon Se-jin kicked away the hesitation first.

  “Wow, Team Leader! You have to treat us today!” Se-jin pointed to the hallway with her finger. “It’s the day the main contractor team leader ran away! This is almost a company anniversary!”

  Team Leader Cha opened his mouth saying “Hey…” then stopped, and sighed deeply. And… laughter leaked out without him realizing.

  “Crazy folks…” Team Leader Cha put the cigarettes in his pocket. “Okay. I’ll treat. Instead…” He pointed at Jin-woo. “Section Chief Kang, be really careful from today. It’s not a joke.”

  Jin-woo nodded. “If it were a joke, I wouldn’t have lasted this long.”

  At that moment, Da-yeon exhaled quietly. The hand sweeping down her chest trembled. Jin-woo didn’t miss that hand trembling.

  Jin-woo lowered his voice. Just enough for Da-yeon to hear.

  “Ms. Da-yeon.” “Yes…” “You okay?” “…Yes.” Da-yeon nodded small. “But… my heart is still…” “That’s normal.” Jin-woo spoke calmly. “The heart beating… means we are still alive.”

  Only then did Da-yeon smile very small. That smile was attached to tears.

  Lunch time.

  Usually, it’s a time of war over “what to eat today,” but today was strangely quiet.

  The cafeteria was crowded, but a strange silence was inserted in that crowd.

  Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  Someone was careful that someone might pop out again the moment they utter the word “main contractor team leader,” and someone looked at Jin-woo for no reason and turned their eyes away at the self-warning ‘don’t show it.’

  Team Leader Cha put the corporate card on the table tuk and said.

  “Here, eat. Today…” He trailed off. “Today just… eat.”

  Se-jin snatched the menu quickly and shouted. “Team Leader! ‘Just eat’ is the most dangerous phrase! Just eating leads to squandering company money!” “Hey, you really…” Team Leader Cha ground his teeth.

  Jin-woo stirred the soup with his spoon hwi-hwi. And checked his smartphone out of habit. It was then.

  Vibration.

  Short and sensitive vibration touched his palm. It was Min-su.

  Jin-woo raised his eyebrows very minutely as soon as he saw the screen.

  [Park Min-su]: Hey, your main contractor team leader became a star.

  [Park Min-su]: Ran away scared earlier, got picked up right on the street via phone location tracking.

  [Park Min-su]: Being escorted in handcuffs is popping up as breaking news.

  [Park Min-su]: They say they’re reopening the investigation on the incident 3 years ago.

  [Park Min-su]: Yuri… will be a bit at peace now.

  Video link below.

  Jin-woo didn’t click the link. His finger stopped.

  Just, flipped the smartphone over and put it face down on the table.

  Se-jin asked without tact. “Chief, who is it? Girlfriend?”

  Jin-woo lifted his head slowly and looked at Se-jin. “Ms. Se-jin.” “Yes!” “If there was a girlfriend in my life…” Jin-woo paused for a moment. “Would I be eating soup here right now?”

  Se-jin burst out laughing. Team Leader Cha also laughed “Pu-heu.”

  Da-yeon couldn’t laugh. Da-yeon looked at Jin-woo’s hand. Saw that Jin-woo’s fingertips trembled very slightly when flipping the smartphone over.

  Da-yeon moved carefully to sit next to Jin-woo. And spoke in a very small voice.

  “Chief… earlier, you were really… cool.” Jin-woo spooned up some soup. “Cool my foot. Just… tried not to die.”

  Da-yeon hesitated for a moment, then asked. “But… the name earlier…” “Hm?” “Yuri… was she… someone precious to you, Chief?”

  Jin-woo stopped his spoon.

  Felt the noise of the cafeteria receding. People’s voices, plates clashing, all receded.

  Jin-woo said nothing for a moment.

  The moment Da-yeon tried to say “I’m sorry, I…”, Jin-woo opened his mouth first.

  “Yeah.” Shortly. “Was precious.”

  Da-yeon swallowed a breath. Jin-woo nodded very slightly and continued.

  “In my system…” He stirred the soup one more time. “She was like the most important backup file.”

  Da-yeon asked quietly. “…Backup file?”

  Jin-woo smiled bitterly. “Yeah. Even if the system breaks, something that allows you to revive it again.”

  He lowered his gaze briefly. “But now…” The end of his sentence cracked very slightly. “It became a record that can’t be recovered.”

  Da-yeon couldn’t say anything. Instead… put down her chopsticks slowly.

  And said very quietly. “Then…” Da-yeon’s voice was wet. “Yuri-nim… must have felt unfair.”

  Jin-woo nodded. “She did.”

  Team Leader Cha noticed this conversation from afar and coughed in vain for no reason. Se-jin also read the atmosphere only then and became quiet.

  Jin-woo looked at the overturned smartphone again.

  Even without clicking the link, the scene was drawn.

  Choi Kang-seok in handcuffs, frowning at camera flashes, being pushed through people.

  Jin-woo said only inwardly.

  ‘Yuri-ya.’ ‘Did you see.’

  Afternoon.

  The office… pretended to return to ‘normal’ strangely enough.

  The printer ran stuttering tuk-tuk again, keyboard sounds continued tadak-tadak, and someone made mix coffee in the break room saying things like “Two sugars is the national rule.”

  But that normal was thin.

  Thinness that seemed like it would break with a ‘beep—’ if pressed just a little with a finger.

  Team Leader Cha came out of his office and looked toward Jin-woo twice but went back to his seat without being able to say anything.

  Se-jin paced around Jin-woo all day and eventually couldn’t hold back and asked.

  “Chief.” “Hm?” “That… the main contractor bullying our company is over now, right?” Jin-woo said moving the mouse. “Ms. Se-jin.” “Yes!” “In the world, the word ‘ended’…” Jin-woo paused for a moment. “Is mostly a spell calling for a start.”

  Se-jin shut her mouth. Da-yeon heard those words and strength entered her fingertips.

  Jin-woo knew it too. That the board didn’t end just because Choi Kang-seok collapsed.

  He opened his mailbox and slowly scanned the mails that came in since morning.

  HQ Audit Office. Legal Team. Internal Server Management Team.

  ‘Reception Complete’

  ‘Additional Data Request Scheduled’

  ‘Security Check Plan Notification’

  They looked like normal work mails, but to Jin-woo, they were all ‘follow-up patches.’

  And—

  At that time.

  Beep.

  New mail arrival notification.

  It was Jin-woo’s dedicated account. No one can know that account. No, they shouldn’t be able to know.

  The sender was encrypted with random numbers. The domain was also strangely empty somewhere. Just looking at it, it’s not a “normal path.”

  Jin-woo didn’t click, read the subject first.

  [Subject: A new version of the algorithm has been updated.]

  Jin-woo’s eyes became sharp again, very slowly. The face that was like “what to eat for lunch” until just now switched to ‘Administrator Mode’ in an instant.

  ‘Update.’ Someone sees this board as a ‘game.’

  Jin-woo moved the mouse slowly. And click.

  The mail body was short. A single short sentence filled the screen.

  ‘Administrator privileges are not eternal. See you soon. - S -’

  Goosebumps rose on Jin-woo’s back.

  The office air conditioner breeze suddenly felt cold. A feeling like someone brushed the back of his neck with a finger.

  Jin-woo stared at the screen quietly, then muttered in a very small voice.

  “Administrator privileges…?” He smirked. “Ah… I really like that phrase.”

  Da-yeon noticed and approached. “Chief… what’s wrong?”

  Jin-woo turned off the screen immediately. Before Da-yeon saw. If Da-yeon knows, ‘noise’ enters Da-yeon again.

  Jin-woo lifted his head and looked out the window.

  Main contractor building. High, sparkling, glass wall calculating people only as numbers.

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