DATE: 20190128
LOCATION: first floor, main headquarters
TIME: 16:07
1. “where were you on the 28th of OCTOBER, 2018? do you have an alibi?”
even though yongjin isn’t nervous about the questions, knows himself has nothing to do with the murder that took place, — he is less than comfortable staring at a foreign face looking back at him, void of emotion, so much that it borders on accusing. he nods at the fist question, having asked this before, it isn’t hard to come up with an answer. “i was on a mission. you can find further details at the database, but i was in japan, with a team of people in my ear guiding me through the mission. i would like to think there is enough proof i wasn’t in seoul. furthermore, the mission was a success, but we had to stay there for one more week to tie up the loose ends.”
2. “what are your thoughts on park jaekwang? what are you thinking about the murder?”
this is the one that upsets him the most — if anything, yongjin has preferred not to dwell on it, pushing himself to his work — but ignoring the elephant in the room has been impossible over the last few months, the tragedy, the shock of losing a previous leader he had gotten to know in his own ways. "it's... tragic. he was a great director. i have been a part of nis for a long time now... and so has he. i met him only a handful of times, but that was enough for me to know he was a good man. his death was a shock, and i would like to find whoever is responsible for it. they have to pay for it, and you have my full cooperation." he ends it with finality, nodding before he looks down. even though he had little to no ties when it comes to personal relations with the man; nis is a huge part of who chae yongjin is, and park jaekwang was an essential part to his experience with the agency. no matter how the next director behaves, yongjin has a sense of unease at the thought of things changing, for better or for worse.
3. “is there anything that dissatisfies you within the agency?”
a little huff of breath leaves his mouth at that, this needs a little bit of thinking, a lot more than the previous questions asked to him. he knows he needs to tell the truth, but it's not like there is a blatant issue at the front of his mind about the agency, nothing that bothers him all the time. "i suppose..." he begins, trying not to avoid eye contact, knowing very well himself that would make it seem like he is lying. "there is that sense of the unknown when it comes to the administration. handlers change quite often, new faces rather than the ones i have gotten used to. it's not a problem anymore, however. i have been here for near ten years now."
4. “what do you now about your father’s whereabouts? what was the last time you were in contact with him? what did you speak about?”
if the last question threw him off rhytm, this did so tenfold, his breath hitching slightly at his throat, a frown fighting its way on his face. "i don't know about him." he lets out, perhaps with more emotion than he thought was suitable. it was the truth however, he knew that they could see it on their screens, the blaring truth that chae yongjin hasn't made contact with his father for near to a decade now. "last time i saw him was a year before graduation. when my aunt died and i was hospitalized. he was there for a few hours, but then he disappeared. i don't know where he left. we never even spoke about the agency before, i'm not sure if he knew anything about nis — or whether he was a part of it or not... i always suspected he did... secretive jobs behind our backs, but like i said, it's been ten years. i don't know where he is right now. i gave up searching for him years ago... he doesn't want to be found." he hardly manages not to spit that out, even the mere mention of his father is enough to get a rise out of him, he blames him, despises him for all the questions he has left unanswered. the thought of his father brings back the memories from that day, and there is nothing to do but mourn over the family yongjin has lost.
5. “have you witnessed anything unusual, both in the headquarters or during missions when it comes to the administration of the agency?”
yet another pause, yongjin purses his lips, leaning back against the chair. he is more at ease now that the question has changed from personal to professional, something he can handle a lot better than talking about himself. being an agent is such a core part of his personality that noticing things, observing his environment has become second nature at this point. he nods slightly, he doesn't have all the answers, but he has some that might help them even a little. "only slightly. new faces appearing is one of the biggest differences, i'd say. even some senior personnel has disappeared, and for someone who has been working for the agency for ten years now, i can say easily that it was a shock to lose some of the people that have been here for so long. when it comes to the administration... i suppose missions have unfolded as similarly as they always have been. even newer handlers have given me missions in the past couple of months with more urgency, but i simply thought it was because of all that's going down with the agency. i haven't seen any other changes, however." with that he finishes, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding when they tell him the interview was over. more like an interrogation, he would say, but he holds back, thanks them with a nod and wishes them good luck. he wants the culprit to be found, he really does.
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20190125
INCOMING MESSAGE: BRIEFING TO ALL OPERATIVES
STATUS: URGENT
in order to discuss the future of the agency, LEE KIYOUNG will give an important speech alongside a briefing at the CONFERENCE HALL in the MAIN HEADQUARTERS, on 20190126, at 10 AM. it is mandatory for operatives of all branches to be present during the speech, and those who are out of the city will be provided with private and secure links from the data centre to watch the speech LIVE. it has utmost importance that everyone attends and listens to what our director has to say. no questions will be taken, those who have inquiries will need to reach the office through mail.
the message is clear, sent to everyone both through text and email. it is more than enough to put people on the edge, and even to those who weren’t paying attention, it’s clear that things are going to change from tomorrow on. a careful eye might have noticed the shift of the administrative staff; a new head-secretary is at the lobby instead of the old lady who has been working for the past ten years; new faces have been joining the staff whilst some familiar faces disappeared into thin air. and perhaps when you walk into the conference hall the morning after, you’ll see some faces missing. you’ll see new recruits instead, people you haven’t seen before. before there is time to contemplate, at 10 o'clock sharp, footsteps fill the room and the entire hall grows quiet. LEE KIYOUNG steps foot in front of the podium, turning all eyes on him, and him only.
20190126
LOCATION: CONFERENCE HALL, MAIN HQ
TIME: 10:00
“i’m sure you’re all wondering about the future — your future. the agency’s future. our country’s future too. and of course, all of those are interconnected. and now… here i am, standing in front of you”
a wide smile spreads across his face, his eyes travel around the room, seemingly making eye contact with everyone if that were possible. with everyone’s attention on him, the man in front of the podium takes a more somber façade before he continues.
“i know i haven’t had the chance to meet as many of you as i would like… the devastating news took its toll on all of us, but i want to begin with promising that we will get to the bottom of the tragedy that struck too soon. he was a beloved man to us all, and if anything, his memory will never fade — i promise to make the NIS an even better place to make our late-director proud.”
a curt nod, one hand on his chest with his eyes closed for a few seconds as if he’s taking an oath. his words are theatrical, yet his tone and choice of words pull the attention to him back again. it’s about him, it’s all about what he’s going to say seconds from now on, and he wants every person in the room to know just that.
“and so, i must continue my speech with a briefing for you all — confidential investigations concerning our late director’s death concluded that there is more to it than what meets the eye. as upsetting as it is, i’m sure some of you have realized some operatives and staff are missing today. a thorough investigation in the past few months showed us that the death of dear park jaekwang might be… a part of a bigger picture.”
and if people weren’t paying attention before, he is sure they all do now, some staring straight at him, while the others take a more frantic stance, trying to look around without being noticed, worried about what his next words are going to be. in the midst of all of this, he is as calm as ever as he continues.
“i cannot say any other further remarks on that particular investigation, but i would hate to leave you in the complete dark about your colleagues. all i can say is that some of them had to be… apprehended. but believe me, our investigations were thorough and rigorous, and it saddens me also that we had to do that to the people who were once part of nis.”
the air in the room turns heavy, the realization setting into every single person in the room. perhaps you were close to those people, people you worked side to side with — and now, they are taken in by the police and put behind bars — a dire solution to a problem you didn’t know existed. and lee kiyoung’s face hardens even more, his words grow heavy, they seem to offer comfort behind a thinly veiled warning.
“however, disloyalty is not something we can forgive. with so much on the line, your loyalty to the NIS, loyalty to our country, is more important than ever. we all know that the work we do has the utmost secrecy and importance. and ‘anonymous dedication to truth and freedom’ — that requires your hard work and loyalty. i thank you all for doing such good work for the nis to this day, and i want you all to keep it up during these difficult days. i promise that you will have your answers soon, that change will be coming soon. polygraph tests and evaluations will be more frequent in order to take precautions, and during all of this, i expect full cooperation from you — in order to take our agency as high as possible… thank you.”
with that and a slight bow, lee kiyoung leaves the podium, followed by a flock of men.
the audience is left in silence.
「 OOC EXPLANATION 」
this is not a timed event. without a deadline, you can make threads or solos about your characters discussing the director’s speech and its consequences. after this speech, it is encouraged that you expect your characters to go through stricter security protocols, physical and psychological evaluations. alongside those, a detailed polygraph test about PARK JAEKWANG will be taken by every operative as a security precaution. expect questions such as the operative’s thoughts about the previous director, their whereabouts on OCTOBER 28th, 2018, and if they were close to those operatives who were apprehended. you are free to assume connections, but bare in mind that any signs of disloyalty to the agency will not be tolerated. a previous polygraph test had been taken by those close to him after his death, but this time, it’s an agency wide investigation given by foreign operatives your characters aren’t familiar with. it is up to you what to make of it, and if you have any questions at all, let us know.
— you can use the tag NISCHANGES to post threads / solos regarding this plot drop.
DATE: 20190128
LOCATION: first floor, main headquarters
TIME: 11:13
He walks into the office with a confused expression on his face, and quickly makes his way towards the chair right in front of the interviewer. He remembers seeing those people around the HQ quite a few times, but never talked to them — he actually thought they didn’t even know about his existence, once he tends to always be locked in the data centre, with his eyes glued to the screen of his computer.
It feels weird, being stared at by someone he doesn’t know, even more with a camera pointing at him.
The people that brought him into the room attach the polygraph to his body and then walk to the door, standing on the way out as if they were supposed to stop Minjae if he tried to sneak out — which he wouldn’t do, he’s not that stupid. He just looks stupid most of the time, but he’s far from that.
The interviewer asks some simple questions at first, like his name and branch and length of service, and he answers to them calmly, but what he really wants is the real deal: the actual questions, the ones they need to make, the ones that could vaporize him if he said anything they didn’t like. But Minjae’s life is an open book: he has nothing to hide, nothing to say about what he assumes they want to know thanks to the rumors he’s heard after the director’s speech.
“Where were you on the 28th of OCTOBER, 2018? Do you have an alibi?”
He looks straight into the interviewer’s eyes when he speaks, doing his best to exhale confidence and tranquility when he answers. “I was with my friends, Hajoon and Hansol, intelligence and clandestine agents. We were at the karaoke on the night before, and since we go out of there late Hansol and I slept over at Hajoon’s place.”
His expression is serious and indifferent the entire time when he speaks, and his voice sounds calm and still firm. “We have photos and receipts on that date if you need them.”
“What are your thoughts on Park Jaekwang? What are you thinking about the murder?”
Minjae nods a few times after that question, he looks away at the polygraph and presses his lips together into a thin line as he thinks about the subject: the death of Park Jaekwang.
“I didn’t really know much about him, but I think he had some connections with my father. You know, my father is somehow influential because of his job and the greatness of his hospital so… They knew each other, and that’s all I knew about Mr. Park.” He nods again, taking a deep breath before he speaks again. “And about his death… I don’t know what to think. It’s very strange how nothing was discovered yet, once he was probably surrounded by security guards. I’m just sorry for his family, I hope they’re doing alright.”
“Is there anything that dissatisfies you within the agency?”
He squints when he looks back at the person across of him, blinking a few times. What is something that dissatisfies him… other than the disgusting tea from the HQ’s canteen?
“I feel like… We don’t know enough. And that’s all I have to say, I think you understand me. Or I’m just being paranoid, wouldn’t be the first time!” And he shrugs, flashing a small and petty smile to the interviewer.
“Have you been in touch with your family lately? How did your mother feel about you not following in your father’s footsteps?”
This time he frowns hard, tilting his head slightly to the side after he hears that question. What the actual fuck, he thought. Why would they ask about his family, about his mother — when he made it very clear from the start that he has no connection with her, or his brother. That hasn’t changed, and he doesn’t plan on changing it anytime soon. Never, to be more exact.
“Why is that relevant?” He asks, with a raised eyebrow. “I am in touch with my father very often, obviously. But I have no connections to my mother. The way she feels about my major doesn’t matter, it’s not important and it doesn’t change anything in my performance doing my job. I don’t see why you need to ask me something like that, but since you did, write this in capitals on your record: JUNG MINJAE HAS NO CONTACT WITH HIS MOTHER. Period.”
“As an analytic methodologist, have you realized any unusual situations or occasions in the past couple of months? Anything different with the administration since the change of directors?”
After calming himself down from the annoyance the previous question caused in him, Minjae takes a deep breath and brushes his fingers through his hair, looking away from the interviewer to avoid further irritation.
“I haven’t noticed anything weird with the administration, I tend to focus on my work only. And speaking of that, I did notice an increase in the stress level in the agents. It’s very clear actually, all you have to do is look at their faces but I don’t think that’s something you guys should pay more attention to. But then again, I could be wrong, I don’t know.”
DATE: 20190128
LOCATION: first floor, main headquarters
TIME: 12:04
He sighs when his name is called, knowing very well what is going to happen after seeing his colleagues go and then come back with bothered expressions on their faces. He knows he’s going to be the next soon, and his name had never sounded gloomier like it did when those strangers called for him.
Seojun rises from his seat calmly, with a blank and emotionless expression on his face and hands were stuffed into his jacket’s pockets. He walks next to them in silence, there’s nothing to be talked about between them — plus, he wants this whole thing to end as fast as possible, which is why his steps were wider and faster when he walked to the first floor, following those people.
You may be wondering why they were strangers, right? That was one of the first things Seojun noticed after coming back to NIS: the unknown faces, the unknown names on certain desks that once used to be owned by people he knew very well. It made him feel even more out of place, like he was the foreigner even after being a part of the agency for so long.
He walks into the office room still in silence, but greets the interviewer with a nod of his head, taking a seat by the polygraph like hw is told to. They attach the machine to his body, sending an uncomfortable, almost claustrophobic, feeling down his throat into his chest. But he doesn’t say a thing, just stares at the person across of him and answer to the first questions — a protocol to be follwed, those are only for identification. But doesn’t take long for them to start asking the real questions.
“Where were you on the 28th of OCTOBER, 2018? Do you have an alibi?”
And Seojun is still expressionless, figuring that question was probably made to every single agent in the building. He’s relaxed, though, he doesn’t have anything to do with the death of their previous director — even though he hates the fact he wasn’t around to attend to his funeral. He was a good man, he had all of Seojun’s respect.
Rest in Peace, Park Jaekwang, he thought.
“I was doing military service, you can ask for and check their records.” He says simplistic, without hesitating. It was the truth, after all, Seojun hadn’t left the army not even once during the whole twenty-one months he was in there — he didn’t want to distract himself with the outside world, he wanted to focus on what he had to do back then ( even if it meant doing smaller tasks, like cleaning the dorms or the gym area ).
“I wasn’t around.”
“And what are your thoughts on Park Jaekwang? What are you thinking about the murder?”
This time he stays silent for a moment, but his body doesn’t move an inch. He’s never been good at dealing with death: even the death of someone that wasn’t close to him made Seojun feel emotional. It always made him wonder what was the purpose of life, ‘what are we truly supposed to do here?’, he would always question himself whenever the topic would cross his mind.
“I feel sad for the loss. He had a family, and I’m sure losing someone like him was tragic for them.” He speaks basing himself on his own experience — losing someone you love is the worst detail of life, but isn’t that a crucial element of what love actually is?
“But other than that, I don’t know what to think. All I want is the murderer found and arrested, paying for what they’ve done. I’m sure director Park didn’t deserve that.” And he makes another pause before he looks directly at the person right in front of him. “Count on me, if necessary. I’m willing to help find the guilty person.”
“Is there anything that dissatisfies you within the agency?”
That question makes Seojun squint, thinking about an answer that wouldn’t mention the frustration he feels every time he has to visit the medical bay, because yes, if there is one thing that has been bothering him ever since he came back is the treatment he is receiving from a certain doctor. But he’s sure that’s not what they wanna hear.
He takes a deep breath and frowns a little bit, looking at the ceiling for a moment when he speaks. “You know, it’s very weird to come back after almost two years and barely recognize the place you used to work at. Things have changed, it’s pretty obvious, and it didn’t affect only the administration but the whole atmosphere of the place as well. It’s pretty easy to notice when you’ve been away for so long. I was surprised to see so many new faces… It gave me a strange discomfort. But I don’t think there’s nothing to be done about that — it’s my own fault for exiling myself.”
He thought about mentioning the whole situation about the missing agents, how it made the discomfort feel even worse, but changed his mind immediately. He didn’t want to burn himself.
“Have you been in contact with any of your previous military contacts recently? Has there been any exchange of information about the agency?”
Seojun can’t help the eyebrow that has arched itself involuntarily after he hears that question in particular, and once he notices that that spontaneous action of his could cause a problem, his facial expression quickly went back to its blankness. But he lets a quiet and almost imperceptible sigh escape from his lips before he answers the question.
“No, I don’t.” He shakes his head, quite firmly. “I don’t have any sort of contact with any of the soldiers, that’s not what I was in the army for. I didn’t make friends, I didn’t make connections, I didn’t mention NIS at any moment. I signed a contract when I got recruited here and I follow its rules strictly, and confidentiality was an essential part of it.”
“What do you think about coming back to the agency after two years? Why did you leave?”
That one leaves him silent for a longer period of time, and a deep breath is taken before he can say anything — it was simple to notice some wounds were still open, taking their time to heal even after all the time that has passed.
“Coming back feels strange. I’ve been away for such a long time, it felt extremely nostalgic to be back— seeing my colleagues again, my desk… the few people I could call my friends. Nostalgic and yet unknown, because of the changes and the new people. But still familiar.” He makes yet another pause, looking down at his hands and eventually at the machine that captures every change in his body. His mouth tastes bitter.
“I left because I needed some time for myself, some time to think about what happened, about what’s going to happen. Time to heal after the death of my fiancée. I needed time for myself.”
while he is indeed a caffeine addict to the extreme, jihae still knows when to call it quits and get the sleep he needs even if he'd rather streamline any and all caffeine sources into his veins and keep going. gone are the days he would push himself to stay up for twenty-four straight hours, pressurization making his eyeballs feel close to bulging out of his head, muscles tense, and mind replaying the same coding over and over until he passed out at his desk. he's all too happy to lose familiarization with the side effects of sleep deprivation and leave them in the dust. nis training had straightened him up in his habits and even if he is a workaholic to his very core, he's tried bettering himself the best he can.
stress is a cruel, cold-hearted bastard, however, and his mistress is insomnia, a bitch that jihae only consider a frenemy at best.
since the announcement from lee kiyoung, he's been pushing himself to do better, to make himself seem as valuable an asset and as loyal to the agency as possible. logically speaking, he shouldn't have anything to worry about, but logicistics aren't helping him. his head feels as if it's on the chopping block, especially with a polygraph around the corner at some point for him. he's trying to ready himself for it and for any other questionings he might have ahead of him, constantly wracking his brain for anything he may have done that might work against him. when he thinks of none, however, he just repeats the process.
he pays for this mentality. any dreams he has quickly become nightmares about being locked up in a cage, hand reaching for the people he's grown close to who represent just one of many reasons he values his freedom now. his usual escape to the tub in his bathroom doesn't help, too restless by then to get proper rest, so he spends all of his time on his computer. looking through files of cases he's helped on to make sure everything is on the up and up would look too suspicious so to resist the temptation he finds other things to do. he winds up building a second computer from spare parts, downloads the appropriate software and customizes it for gaming even though his other computer is perfectly capable of handling whatever he chooses to do on it. when he finishes that, he dismantles it and starts again.
his tunnel vision gives him a strange sense of time. he loses track of it but his habits of the last year and a half as an agent and the two and a half of the training before that have him operating on instinct. he clocks in like he should and operates the best he can even though he feels more like he's drunk at work than anything. a co-worker notices this and pushes him to eat proper food and to drink something other than coffee or energy drinks. he's not too happu about that and his words are biting when he responds even if it is in agreement.
jihae feels himself pushing up and away from his chair rather roughly, fists clenched at his side in frustration. he feels himself taking a step away from the desk in the direction that will lead him to the cafeteria, the sensation of his head swimming, his knees buckling under his weight. he feels them caving, hears a shout, sees the office around him shift in height, and then all is black.
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jihae can’t escape faster from the nis main building. lee kiyoung’s speech has been over for some time, a long time, and yet the words still echo inside of his bones almost. the changes and investigational upheaval to be arriving in the coming months has him on edge just thinking about and as much as he wishes he could forget about it, he can’t. some of those changes have already taken place, familiar faces gone and replaced, and while those actions aren’t taken lightly and while it’s been done as subtly as possible, things seem all the more off kilter for it. he feels off for certain and in need of some air and some time to just let everything settle in his head.
the settling can come later, however, because what he really needs is a distraction.
his feet seem to get the memo before the rest of him can catch up, a destination already set and he’s just along for the ride. the path becomes instantly familiar as he follows it, his frazzled mind slowly piecing together more cognitive thought until he realizes where he’s going, a place he’d lived until only a few months ago himself. the dormitories. he knows specifically where he’s going once he’s inside, not headed to his old room but in the opposite direction, down the hallways to a different door.
minji.
he’s not surprised that quartermaster has entered his thoughts. she’s like a younger sister to him, the two of them having grown close little by little since they’d been paired together during her specialized training. if he’s feeling uneasy, he can’t begin to fathom what must be on her mind with the death of park jaekwang and all that’s followed since. especially after today’s announcement.
he knocks gently on her door, waiting a beat before calling out, remembering that she might not even be here, but he wants to first anyway. “chipmunk? it’s me, jihae… are you there?”
It was different now, navigating her own busy schedule after Lee Kiyoung’s speech. The guy really knew how to cause a cloak of paranoia to descend upon an entire agency of government operatives, she’d give him that much--- the speech had done nothing less than imply that every active agent was to be treated as a suspect as administration cracked down on Park Jaekwang’s case. And with that came the paranoia. Noticing suspicious things about coworkers you would’ve never given thought to. Overthinking every conversation, every brush of an elbow in the hallway. Of course it didn’t help, in Haewon’s case, that her anxiety disorder would blow everything out of proportion anyway, but she was keeping up on her medication to hopefully reduce those effects. She had to be logical about this, no jumping to conclusions--- she could only hope that administration would extend the same courtesy.
Which was why she felt a bit of a knot in her chest now, taking the familiar route to the data center, all of her helpful notes tucked into the stack of files she held by her side. Haewon had come to know most of her coworkers that she interacted with on the daily, trusted them. And she knew Lee Hansol--- had known him for quite a while, actually. But that didn’t mean that she knew him well. Hansol was much like herself, she’d observed--- didn’t talk about himself much, not enough to get a grip on his values or alignments. Though while Haewon herself at least pretended to be open, tried to make friends despite keeping most of her past experiences to herself, Hansol didn’t care much to be outwardly friendly. And that made Haewon nervous.
Threading her way through the hustle of the data center, Hewon made her way toward the back where the private cubicles were, knocking politely against the numbered cubicle she’d been told to meet at before stepping inside. She met Hansol’s eyes for only a brief moment, polite smile flashing across her face before she occupied the empty chair beside him. “Hey--- coordinator said you have a few language-based codes for me to crack?”
jihae stands among the crowd of his fellow agents, gaze focused ahead on the form of one lee kiyoung as he stands at the podium. he thinks he can count on one hand how many times he’s seen him since his initiation into his position. still, he has to hand it to the man for being capturing the attention of his fellow peers so easily, charisma flowing from him in waves, and he’d admire it more if the circumstances were better. as it is, he doesn’t, focus instead on the words that leave him and another reminder of the tensions that have recently befallen the agency. the fact that it’s worse than people once would have thought leave him more rigid in the place he stands.
and jihae has noticed some changes in the presences surrounding him. he may be primarily absorbed in his computer or laptop or phone ninety-nine point nine percent of the time he’s at work but he notices things. he has since he was little and even onward after he was wrapped in a blanket of safety, when a simple hobby deviated to something criminal. looking over your shoulder, being aware of your surroundings, and suspicious of the people you associate with comes in handy-- paranoia serves one well if used correctly. so he’s picked up on the new faces and hasn’t missed how kang myungsoo, a loving, proud father of his son (pictures of him everywhere) and a man who’s worked as a security guard since he first joined, is now gone and there’s not a trace of him left behind. he can’t even begin to comprehend what part he might’ve played in the death of lee kiyoung’s predecessor and to be honest, he doesn’t want to.
(some part of him, a tiny part that attempts to be optimistic in spite of the neverending sharp cynical edge to his psyche, hopes that the man just fucked up and talked himself into unemployment.)
the tension in the room slowly develops into something almost suffocating, the warning disguised but no less palpable. his palms become clammy with sweat, stomach giving a lurch as the words ‘polygraph’ and ‘evaluation’ and ‘frequent’ roam freely inside of his head, taunting him with their presence. he’s never done well with the pressure of evaluations, always feeling as if he’s atlas carrying the world (his world but a world nonetheless) on his shoulders whenever they’re lingering in the distance. logically, he knows he has nothing to be concerned over because the idea of murdering someone in cold blood sickens him and the last person in the world he’d want to do that to would be park jaekwang when the man had ‘okay’ed his acceptance into nis in the first place. that matters little right now when the agency is in disarray and everyone is on watch for the next sign of disloyalty, his own mind questioning if his criminal background will single him out as one for extra scrutiny, for someone to wonder if he’s fallen off the proverbial horse.
changes are coming, tests of loyalty are coming, and though he has done nothing worthy of suspicion, knows this without a doubt, seo jihae is worried and terrified nonetheless.
