/
Kang Chan didn’t exactly like spicy foods, but the stir-fried octopus he was eating with Seok Kang-Ho put him in a good mood. He chuckled as the spiciness set his tongue on fire.
“Alright. Let’s grab some iced coffee and a cigarette,” Seok Kang-Ho said.
“Okay, okay. Let’s go.”
Kang Chan left the restaurant with Seok Kang-Ho feeling much better. They headed to the specialty coffee shop just across it.
“Your eyes look a bit like a human’s now,” Seok Kang-Ho commented.
“Was it that bad?”
“Those in the Foreign Legion noticed it, which should tell you something.”
“Tsk.”
“Phuhu, you had the same look in your eyes back in Africa. Phew! When was that? When I almost had my forearm chopped off just to stop you was the first time I thought you were scary. If that knife hadn't stabbed my arm, you would’ve been kicked out of the Foreign Legion. Do you remember that?”
Seok Kang-Ho suddenly brought out a memory that Kang Chan had barely managed to forget.
“Ah, right. It’s just a feeling, but don’t you think you’ve become much sharper than when we were in Africa? From what I’ve seen, you were even quicker than you were in your prime, especially when you were shooting while running from the guard post,” Seok Kang-Ho added.
“When building 4 was opened?”
“That’s right! You were famous even in the past for shooting on the move, but you actually pulled off perfect headshots this time. I was astonished.”
Did I do that?
“Phuhu, Before we left, one of the two Algerian members asked me to bring him along for the next operation. You remember the sniper who asked you when you would be participating in an operation again, right? He thought that we were part of the Korean specialized team.”
“At this rate, I feel like you’re going to go over to France behind my back.”
“Phuhu.” Seok Kang-Ho laughed and drank his coffee, then chewed on the leftover ice. “I was happy because I went there with you. I don’t know about others, but I bet that fucker GĂ©rard is terrified of going on an operation without you.”
“Forget about it. Let’s go home,” Kang Chan said.
“Let’s do that.”
Kang Chan and Seok Kang-Ho stood up. It was about time they headed back to their daily lives.
Kang Chan got in a taxi with Seok Kang-Ho and got off at the entrance of the apartment. All he cared about right now was seeing Yoo Hye-Sook before anything else.
He never imagined that he would live a life where he would feel this happy about his home and family.
Ding.
Upon getting out of the elevator, Kang Chan immediately opened the door and entered the house. He examined the living room and looked into the master bedroom, but Yoo Hye-Sook was nowhere to be found.
Did she go somewhere?
Her missing from home when there was someone looking for an opportunity to kill her was not a good sign. Just in case something had happened, Kang Chan found his mother’s number in his phone and pressed the call button.
Search bit.ly/3iBfjkV for the original.
The dial tone beeped a few times, but she didn’t answer.
As a cold glint appeared in Kang Chan’s eyes, the call connected.
- Hello? Is it you, Channy?
“Yes, Father. Is something wrong? Where’s Mother? And why do you sound like that?
- Nothing's wrong. I’m just happy to get a call from you. Are you sick or

Kang Dae-Hyung trailed off for a moment.
- You aren’t injured, right?
He almost whispered the question.
“Of course not. I’m at home right now.
- What? Really? Have you finished work?
“Yes. Why were you the one that answered Mother’s phone, though?”
- The Foundation office opened today, so your mom’s busy with the guests that came to visit.
Kang Chan felt Kang Dae-Kyung sounded different from usual.
“Is there really nothing going on, Father?”
- What would happen to me? I’m just happy to hear your voice.
“Should I go there? I should congratulate mom.”
- No.
Kang Dae-Kyung answered immediately.
- It’s going to end soon, and I’m going to go home early today anyway, so you should just rest. I’ll see you at home. You aren’t going anywhere, right?
“Yes. I’ll see you later, then.
- Okay. See you later.
Kang Chan hung up, still feeling as if something was off. He didn’t feel like his parents were in danger, however, or that they were in a crisis.
He went to his room, changed into comfortable clothes, then plopped onto the bed.
He didn’t care about anything else, but he had to quickly take care of the people behind the attack in Yongin.
***
The material that Lanok had handed over to Kang Chan about Yang Jin-Woo investigated the case in a different direction compared to the material the National Intelligence Service had given him.
In particular, there was a lot of information about the ways Yang Jin-Woo managed his slush fund and information about his bank account, the politicians connected to him, detailed personal information about his chief secretary, Cho Il-Kwon, and even information about the separate office and the personal organization that Cho Il-Kwon led. As Kang Chan read it, the massive amount of information made him feel as if he had Yang Jin-Woo right under a microscope.
“So this shows that fucker Cho Il-Kwon did all of the actual work. Tsk, he even secretly hoarded twenty billion won from Yang Jin-Woo’s slush fund. What a greedy fucking snake,” Kang Chan said to himself.
Cho Il-Kwon had indeed bought two apartments for women to stay in. However, he clearly had a beautiful wife in the attached family photo, not to mention a daughter in the first year of middle school.
“Well, well, would you look at these fuckers!”
Among the people that Cho Il-Kwon controlled, the most noticeable one was Yoon Bong-Sup, the fixer[1] that used to be in a gang. He had a substantial criminal record—three convictions for violent crimes, making threats, labor law and Foreign Exchange Act violations, , and more. The material even recorded the fact that he was acquitted in two cases of instigating murder.
Kang Chan couldn’t help but smirk as he looked at Yoon Bong-Sup’s face, which was glaring at him from the PC screen.
‘So you’re the guy who actually did the dirty work, huh?’
The material was recorded in great detail. It even had personal information about Yoon Bong-Sup, his place of residence, and the places that he frequented.
“Let me take a look at you first.”
Kang Chan would get the answer to whether Yoon Bong-Sup was involved if he checked things from the bottom up. If Yoon Bong-Sup received orders from Cho Il-Kwon and was paid a sizable amount of money, then there was a high chance that he was connected to the attack in Yongin.
As Kang Chan was glaring at the photo of Yoon Bong-Sup, he heard the front door opening.
Kang Chan closed the material that he was looking at on the computer, then immediately went out of his room.
“Channy!”
“Welcome home. Congratulations on the Foundation, Mother.”
Yoo Hye-Sook hugged Kang Chan as soon as she took off her shoes.
It was nice. Being hugged by Yoo Hye-Sook was really nice.
Kang Dae-Kyung looked relieved as he examined Kang Chan’s expression.
“Did something go wrong at the retreat, Channy?” Yoo Hye-Sook asked.
“No. I was told that I didn’t have to do more work since I completed the tasks that were prepared for me better than people expected.”
Yoo Hye-Sook nodded. She looked as if she had no idea what Kang Chan was saying.
“Did something good happen?” she asked.
“I probably just look happy because I got to see the two of you early.”
Kang Dae-Kyung laughed cheerfully.
“Honey
 You’re the one who told me that I’m doting on our son too much, but look at you now!” Yoo Hye-Sook said.
“Yup. I really enjoy seeing my son these days.”
Kang Dae-Kyung remained firm even after seeing Yoo Hye-Sook’s dumbfounded expression.
After the couple got changed and came out to the living room, the three of them sat on the sofa. They told Kang Chan about the event, starting with the people that visited. They also mentioned that the President had visited them in person, but Kang Chan had no idea about that.
“Maybe he dropped by on his way somewhere because the Prime Minister told him about the Foundation?”
He actually had no clue why that had happened.
For dinner, they had bibimbap[2], which Yoo Hye-Sook had made with vegetables, kimchi, and fried eggs.
As Kang Chan enjoyed the delicious rice bowl, he suddenly thought of GĂ©rard.
No—rather than appreciate the food, that fucker was the type to look at others weirdly and start ranting.
At any rate, they enjoyed dinner and whiled away the time while watching TV together.
***
In the morning, Kang Chan ran a bit faster than usual, wanting to shake his depressing thoughts off.
They had saved Kim Hyung-Jung, and aside from GĂ©rard, nobody was injured.
Seok Kang-Ho was given five hundred million won, and Kang Chan heard that fifty billion won was going to be deposited into his bank account.
Fifty billion won? In his previous life, Kang Chan had received three to five million won monthly for shooting things every day in Africa. He got slightly annoyed because he wondered how many awful tasks they were going to pile on him to get their money’s worth.
Of course, people had very different ways of counting money, depending on how important it was to them. If the ‘Unicorn’ project earned profits in the trillions, as he had been told, then it wasn’t unusual for him to be paid fifty billion won.
However, no matter how much money they gave him, that wouldn’t guarantee Kang Dae-Kyung and Yoo Hye-Sook’s safety.
Huff. Huff.
Breathing heavily, Kang Chan arrived at the bench in front of the apartment.
Even though he hadn’t been able to do anything when Kang Dae-Kyung had gotten attacked, he wasn’t going to let anyone mess with Yoo Hye-Sook.
Who do those sons of bitches think they’re messing with?
The spite that he had barely suppressed suddenly surged. However, he was now in a much better condition.
“Why don’t you rest for just a day?” Kang Dae-Kyung asked when Kang Chan entered the apartment.
“I like doing this, father.”
“Wash up quickly and let’s have breakfast, Channy” Yoo Hye-Sook said.
“Alright.”
He took a good look at Kang Dae-Kyung’s content expression and Yoo Hye-Sook, who was preparing breakfast. He then went into the shower.
After breakfast, Kang Chan sent off Kang Dae-Kyung. He then went into his room, called Kim Tae-Jin, and told him that he had arrived home earlier than he had promised and to set up an appointment with him at 9:30 am at Yoo Bi-Corp.
Kang Chan wore a plain shirt with a suit jacket. Yoo Hye-Sook had now grown accustomed to him wearing these kinds of clothes.
“Mother, I’m going out.”
The word ‘mother’ now came out very naturally from his mouth. He really liked that.
“Have fun, Channy!”
“I will.”
Is this what they call happiness?
Kang Chan took a taxi to Kim Tae-Jin’s office.
1. someone who solves problems and gets things done ☜
2. Bibimbap is a Korean rice bowl topped with vegetables, kimchi, eggs, etc. The term literally means ‘mixed rice.’ It’s enjoyed after mixing all the ingredients together ☜