Boss wiped her eyes as the coldness spread through her fingertips. She became confused at her tears and could still see Kim Hajin beyond her hands. He had already died, but it didn’t feel real because it happened so quickly. However, she knew it had actually happened because she experienced this feeling before when the previous boss died.

“…”

Suddenly, regret overcame her.

It didn’t have to be today. It could’ve been tomorrow or the day after, but I insisted on today. I pulled Kim Hajin into the Chameleon Troupe and thought of him as nothing but a tool to avenge the previous boss. Is this my punishment?

Something inside her crumbled. The emotions she held back finally burst. She could no longer hold back the torrent. She buried her face in his cold chest as dried blood touched her forehead. Scenes that couldn’t return flashed before her.

Times Kim Hajin joked with me, his affectionate combing, the words he said as he gave me a ring, the days his intellect and maturity calmed me… He protected me, but I couldn’t protect him. I, his boss, couldn’t do anything to help him.

She closed her eyes and cried in a pitch-black world, trembling without a sound.

“Mmm.”

A strange voice rang out in her...