EPISODE 72 – The Dawn of a New Case
The city of Seoul awoke, but for the members of CHIPER, the morning was anything but normal. The victory party's aftermath had left a trail of chaos, hangovers, and emotional fallout that now dominated their every thought.
Dohee lay in her bed, the curtains drawn to block out the morning light. Her head throbbed, but the physical pain was nothing compared to the cold, heavy dread that had settled in her heart. She couldn't shake the images of the night before: the blur of laughter, the sudden touch, and the terrifying, shameful clarity of the morning. Tears welled in her eyes, a quiet, mournful ache filling her chest. She had called in sick, telling her family she had a fever, and now she was left alone with the crushing weight of her regret. Every memory was a fresh knife to the heart, a stark reminder of a moment she couldn't take back.
Across town, Alex sat in his office, the sterile environment a stark contrast to the emotional mess he felt. The clean, minimalist lines of his desk and computer monitors did nothing to calm the storm raging inside him. He stared at a line of code on his screen, but his mind kept replaying the scene in the HQ meeting room. Dohee's tears, her heartbroken face, her accusation. The guilt was a physical weight, a suffocating blanket that made it impossible to breathe, let alone work. He felt like a monster, a man who had betrayed a trust and taken advantage of a vulnerable person. He ached to apologize, to fix it, but he knew there was no fixing this.
The Unspoken Bonds
Micha, at her usual job, was in a strange haze. The events of the night were a blur, but she clearly remembered the morning. The strange, half-naked Minjae, her frantic panic, his mischievous teases, and the unexpected kindness of the new clothes and sandwich. Her mind kept replaying his devilish smile, the feel of his strong hands on her waist, and the strange, quiet moment of him almost kissing her. She found herself smiling to herself, then scolding herself for smiling. It was all so confusing, so unlike him, and yet it was all she could think about.
Meanwhile, at his sprawling company office, Minjae was a picture of perfect composure, but his mind was far from the quarterly reports in front of him. He found himself thinking about the little "chemical girl," wondering if she was okay, if she had enjoyed the sandwich, if she was still mad at him. He knew what had happened last night could have been a disaster, but he had made a choice not to be that kind of man. The thought brought him a quiet satisfaction, a feeling of self-respect that he had rarely allowed himself to indulge in.
Guen was at her home, nursing a raging hangover. She sat with a mug of herbal tea, her head in her hands, her mind constantly replaying the drunken argument with Kevin—and the moment he had teased her about "that other accident," his intense gaze making her heart skip a beat. She was still furious with him for being so infuriatingly arrogant, but a part of her couldn't deny the strange, thrilling tension that hummed between them. She wanted to yell at him, to punch him, and yet... there was a part of her that wanted to see that look in his eyes again.
At the same time, Kevin sat in his own apartment, a faint smile on his face as he remembered Guen's furious face, the way she had tried to hit him, and her momentary silence when he had threatened to kiss her again. He knew he had pushed her buttons, but he couldn't help himself. Her fire, her passion, her sheer, stubborn will was a challenge he found himself utterly captivated by.
A New Case: The Midnight Thief
The quiet, reflective morning was shattered by a single, urgent call. All of their personal phones buzzed simultaneously, an encrypted message appearing on each screen. It was from their liaison, their code name for the head of their operation.
The message was simple, stark, and terrifying:
Case 72: High-ranking military intel has been breached. Project Nightfall, a top-secret counterintelligence program, has been compromised. The leak has been traced to a phantom digital footprint, a signature that matches no known hacker or agency. A new player has entered the game. The thief leaves no trace except for a calling card: a single, black feather.
All hands on deck. Get to HQ. This is not a drill.
The message was a lightning bolt, cutting through the haze of hangovers and emotional turmoil. In an instant, the personal dramas, the hangovers, and the unspoken tensions melted away. The CHIPER members, scattered across the city, suddenly remembered who they were. They weren't just individuals with messy lives; they were a team, a hidden force of justice, and a new threat was on the horizon. The dawn of a new case had begun, and they were the only ones who could solve it.
How will the CHIPER team navigate their new mission while dealing with the fallout of the party, and who is the mysterious "Midnight Thief" who leaves a black feather as a calling card?