Chapter 6

6. Shin Woohyun

Jiseul had spent nine years working for the Ghost Team of the National Intelligence Service Cyber Security Bureau, which she referred to simply as “the company.”

She had been secretly recruited at the age of twenty when she entered university and had lived a relentlessly busy life until three months ago.

Most of her work involved combating international cybercrime and developing information security programs.

She was skilled enough to be called the ace of the team, but everything came crashing down after Prosecutor Shin Junghyeon’s death three months ago.

No.

Looking back, her world had begun falling apart much earlier.

Two years ago, when she discovered that a program she’d poured her life into creating was being misused.

“There are personal circumstances involved, so it’s difficult for me to talk about it. But it’s true that I spent those years studying programming extensively.”

In the end, that was how Jiseul brushed the question aside.

Until she learned more about Shin Woohyun, she felt it was better to keep the truth hidden.

Woohyun didn’t react much.

He merely smiled faintly as his sharp eyes gleamed.

“I understand. I don’t really have any reason to know something that personal. But why did you suddenly apply to our company? It seems you’ve been working as a freelancer all this time.”

“My income wasn’t very stable. And I wanted to experience working at a company at least once.”

Jiseul answered smoothly.

But Woohyun didn’t seem convinced.

She couldn’t read what was going on inside his head, but she could tell he still found her suspicious.

“Why our company specifically? With your skills, you could’ve gotten into almost any company.”

“I chose a company with innovation and vision. And WS Soft’s job posting happened to catch my eye.”

“Innovation and vision, huh? Not exactly unpleasant words to hear. Which department were you assigned to in the New Technology Team?”

“WinCare.”

At that moment, Woohyun let out a short laugh.

“Looks like you’ve hit the jackpot when it comes to workload. WinCare is currently our most urgent project. We’re only a few months away from launch.”

“I know.”

“Do you also know that the programming needs to be integrated with smartwatches?”

“No. I hadn’t considered that.”

Jiseul looked slightly surprised.

She had only been thinking about smartphone apps and hadn’t even considered smartwatches.

Then again, a smartwatch would be far more efficient than a phone when it came to collecting biometric data for healthcare purposes.

“We’re going to release a smartwatch unlike anything that’s ever existed before. Naturally, it’ll be called WinWatch.”

The expression on Woohyun’s face as he spoke about his ambitions was almost mesmerizing.

His smile was relaxed, and his deep eyes sparkled with absolute confidence.

For a moment, Jiseul felt her heart skip a beat.

Was this the charisma of a successful person?

His certainty and confidence seemed to pull people in.

She felt like even someone with no interest in smartwatches would be won over immediately.

Woohyun continued speaking confidently.

“We’ve already proven that our prototype significantly outperforms existing smartwatches. We’ve also added several new features.”

“In what way is the performance better?”

“The accuracy of the biometric data is far beyond that of current smartwatches. And we’ll be the first company to include blood glucose monitoring.”

“You can measure blood glucose with a smartwatch?”

Jiseul was genuinely surprised.

Wasn’t blood glucose something that required a blood sample?

“We developed a technology that can measure blood glucose without drawing blood. We have more than thirty related patents. Other companies have developed similar technologies, but none have successfully commercialized them. We’re the first.”

“Ah, I see. That’s incredible.”

Jiseul nodded sincerely in admiration.

There was a reason behind his confidence.

It truly was an innovative feature.

“Then what other features did you add?”

“There are several, but the most representative one is the automatic SOS function. If you’re in a dangerous situation and unable to move properly, shaking your wrist more than five times automatically sends an emergency alert.”

“Ah. That’s amazing.”

Jiseul nodded in agreement.

Even if younger people didn’t need it, it seemed like an essential feature for the elderly.

Then again, younger people could benefit from it too in case of accidents.

“Give me your wrist.”

Suddenly, Woohyun spoke with a faint smile.

There was even a trace of playfulness around his eyes.

So he could smile like that too.

The moment she thought his smile was incredibly attractive, her heart began beating faster.

When Jiseul obediently extended her wrist, he removed the watch from his own wrist.

Then he carefully fastened it around hers.

“This is the third WinWatch prototype. The fourth prototype will be ready soon. For now, keep this one and test it. It might help you come up with new ideas.”

“…Okay.”

Jiseul looked down at the watch now wrapped around her wrist.

The design was simple, yet modern and sophisticated.

Remembering what Woohyun had said, she curiously shook her wrist.

He’d said an emergency alert would be sent if she shook it more than five times.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

A sharp beep rang out.

The watch screen lit up.

A message reading “Emergency Call in Progress” flashed repeatedly.

Jiseul became flustered.

It looked like an actual emergency call was being sent.

She immediately regretted trying it.

“Who does this contact? It’s not calling emergency services, is it?”

Woohyun simply smiled.

His expression was impossible to read.

A moment later, the office door burst open with a loud bang.

“Hyun! What happened? What do you mean there’s an emergency?”

A tall man with a gentle appearance rushed in, shouting anxiously.

His long eyes gave him a kind impression, but his face was filled with tension.

Jiseul felt awkward.

Apparently, the emergency alert from the watch had been sent to him.

But who was he again?

She was certain she’d seen him during the recruitment test.

She just couldn’t remember his position or name.

“It’s nothing. We were just testing it.”

Woohyun chuckled lazily.

Then he gestured toward the watch on Jiseul’s wrist.

“Ah. I thought it was something serious.”

Only then did the man understand.

He shook his head in disbelief before approaching Jiseul and introducing himself.

“You’re Senior Han Jiseul, right? I’m Jo Namgil. The CTO.”

“Ah… Yes. Nice to meet you, CTO.”

Jiseul quickly bowed her head.

The CTO was essentially the second-highest-ranking person in the company.

She felt guilty for having dragged someone important into this over a moment of curiosity.

“I heard you’re joining the WinCare department.”

“Yes.”

“I look forward to working with you. We have high expectations.”

Namgil spoke cheerfully as he offered his hand.

When Jiseul shook it, he smiled.

“I heard you’re also an expert in security. I’d love to see your skills someday.”

“I think that’ll be difficult. It’s been a long time since I worked in that field.”

“Ah, is that so? That’s a shame.”

Namgil released her hand with genuine disappointment on his face.

“I’m sorry for troubling you. I didn’t think the SOS function would actually contact someone.”

“Haha. No need to apologize. It was a good opportunity to test it.”

“I’m glad you see it that way. Then I’ll be going now.”

Picking up the bottle of apple juice Woohyun had given her, Jiseul bowed politely to both men.

Then she quickly left the CEO’s office.

She hadn’t actually done anything difficult, but the entire time her nerves had been stretched tight.

The moment she stepped into the hallway, she let out a long sigh.

Then she fell into thought.

‘What do I do now?’

Judging from the layout of the CEO’s office, there seemed to be no direct way for her to access Woohyun’s desktop computer.

The office entrance had double-layered security.

Even if she somehow got through that, three secretaries were stationed near the entrance.

She could wait for Woohyun to leave his office.

But she had no excuse that would get her past the secretaries.

Even if she managed to enter the office under some pretext, touching Woohyun’s computer would likely get her caught immediately.

In the end, Jiseul decided to target the server room.

Through the company’s internal network, she could gain access to the computers inside the CEO’s office.

Security there wouldn’t be easy either, but it seemed more accessible than the office itself.

No matter what method she used, she needed to access Woohyun’s desktop and laptop as soon as possible.

She had to install at least a minimal defensive barrier before infiltrated them.