While preparing for the wedding, Seol discovered something astonishing.
Both of them were rich!!!
She always assumed that, as government employees, their salaries had limits, even if they outranked her. But during the wedding preparations, they revealed their assets, and the amount was beyond anything she could have imagined.
"W-What’s going on? Even if you saved your entire lives, this amount would be impossible!"
"Stocks."
Leon answered as if it were nothing, then grinned and gestured toward Jean.
"If you compare me to him, I’m just an amateur. He’s the real heir, it's all inheritance."
"Inheritance?"
Jean quietly explained that he had inherited land rich in rare earth minerals, which he later sold.
Even if he was born into wealth, wasn’t it sad that his parents had passed away and left it behind?
"I'm sorry for your loss."
At Seol's words, Jean gave a faint smile and shook his head.
"It was a long time ago."
"Still..."
Even just imagining losing her own family made her lower her head, deep in thought, until Jean spoke again.
"Speaking of which, do you think your father will be convinced?"
"Hmm… He seemed really angry. I’ll have to win over my mom first."
At that, Seol's ears perked up, and her face flushed.
"I'm sorry! It's just that… Dad is really against it..."
The moment she returned home saying she wanted to marry two towering males, her father had widened his eyes and vehemently opposed it.
"Well, of course. He raised his daughter with care. But I must say, your father really does look a lot like you."
At Leon’s remark, Jean nodded in agreement.
Seol had always suspected she had Turkish Angora lineage, but seeing her father confirmed exactly where it came from. Her mother, on the other hand, had a wilder energy, like a fierce little rabbit. And for some reason, her younger brother reminded everyone of a Shiba Inu.
"I'm just relieved that Leon's parents gave their blessing so easily..."
Seol sighed, and Leon waved his hand dismissively.
"They’re just happy that their useless son is finally getting married."
"Useless?! That’s not true at all! Leon, you’re amazing!"
Seol frowned, correcting him with complete sincerity. Leon's amber eyes widened in surprise before he chuckled, a little flustered.
"Yeah, you’re right. I am amazing."
But his words carried zero embarrassment. Seol simply nodded in agreement.
"You are. Do you know how much my friends freaked out?"
She looked off into the distance, recalling the memory.
The moment she introduced her two partners, her friends’ eyes had gone wide, mouths dropping open in shock, so much so that Seol had felt a little embarrassed.
Like her, her friends were all computer geeks. Seol was the odd one out, having joined the military, while the rest went on to work at research institutes, places that paid several times her salary.
But the moment Jean and Leon politely excused themselves, the room exploded with screams and cheers.
"Who needs a high salary?!"
"Introduce me to one of their friends!"
"Such high-quality males!!!"
"My eyes have been blessed after only seeing lab rats for years!"
Her friends banged on the table, their voices overlapping in a chaotic mess. Seol had broken into a cold sweat trying to calm them down, but she couldn’t help the proud, beaming smile that spread across her face.
"Oh, right. Speaking of friends, does this mean Alpha Team is really being disbanded?"
As the thought suddenly occurred to Seol, she asked the question. Leon, who had been looking at a floating screen, swiped it aside before responding.
"Hmm? I already left, so I wouldn’t know. What’s going on?"
"The entire team is on leave for now, but it sounds like they’re going to be reassigned. And apparently, the name Blue Fang is going to be changed to something more official. Even though we were a special forces unit, Blue Fang was specifically for covert operations, right? Now that there’s a peace treaty, they probably just want to cover things up."
"They’re just slapping a new label on it?"
Jean asked, and Seol nodded. Leon rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought.
"That explains why scouting’s been going so well."
"Wait. You’re recruiting people?"
Seol leaned forward, surprised. Leon grinned.
"Sorry, but if you’re the only one left, that means I’ve managed to snatch up the entire rest of Alpha Team."
He began counting on his fingers: Junky, Fold, Phantom, Wise Sage.
"That’s everyone!"
Seol’s jaw dropped. Leon chuckled.
"Yeah. The Ministry of Defense is probably grinding their teeth at me. That’s why I asked them to make good use of our new company, Team Alpha."
"Team Alpha?"
"That’s what we named it."
Seol slumped onto the table.
"You really did hijack the whole team. No wonder they kept asking me whether I was staying. It felt like they were about to make me sign a permanent contract or something..."
"...Did you?"
Jean’s voice was cautious. Seol lifted her head. Both Leon and Jean were staring at her with uneasy expressions.
Slowly, she said,"Well... it’s not like I’ll be doing anything dangerous. As a hacker, I’ll be working from the back lines."
With every excuse she added, the two men’s faces darkened. Leon started to feel like this was a trick: A military tactic.
If they kept Seol tied to the military, wouldn’t it pressure him and Jin into re-enlisting?
Seol would be in dangerous situations, and they wouldn’t even know about it. They wouldn’t be able to protect her.
If they were still part of the same team, maybe it would be different. But they weren’t anymore.
To be honest, they wanted Seol to quit and work with them instead.
But they also didn’t want to force her to abandon the dream she had built.
"Just… don’t sign a lifetime contract."
In the end, Leon pleaded, his voice almost desperate.
"A lifetime commitment is never a good idea."
Jean nodded deeply in agreement.
"But, um—"
Seol hesitated, then stood up, pulling a document from her briefcase. Even in an era where everything was digital, contracts were still printed on paper for formality.
"I... already signed it…"
"...What?"
"A lifetime contract?"
"Wait, shouldn’t you have at least talked to us about this first?!"
"Let’s just look at the contract first."
Seol quickly placed the document on the table.
Discharge Papers.
The words written at the top of the document made both of them fall silent.
Seol smiled and plopped back into her seat.
"I quit. So now I’m unemployed… Is there an open spot in Team Alpha?"
Leon grinned widely and answered,
"For our lady? There’s always a spot available."
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