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“Can you make me a passport that matches the ID you gave me a while ago?” Kang Chan asked.
The room’s atmosphere was heavy.
Kang Chan didn’t look away from Kim Hyung-Jung even as he was wiping his hand with the tissue that Seok Kang-Ho had handed to him.
“You’re drawing international attention because of this event, and there’s also intel that you’re a secret agent that Ambassador Lanok and South Korea have raised, so the United States will be on high alert and closely monitor you the moment you enter their country.” Kim Hyung-Jung sighed deeply, then continued, “The people responsible for the attack are National Assembly Chairman Huh Ha-Soo, Chairperson Huh Sang-Soo, assistant Kwak Do-Young, and Yang-Jin-Woo. Yang Jin-Woo is in the United States, and the other three are in China. I’ll create a plan that would make them all go to South Korea.”
“What about Lee Ji-Yeon’s killer? I heard that two of Yang Jin-Woo’s private organizations are still around,” Kang Chan asked again.
Kim Hyung-Jung picked up a cigarette. “That’s currently under investigation.”
Kang Chan calmed down a little bit, but his eyes still glinted.
“We will give Lee Ji-Yeon’s hospitalized mother the full support that the country can provide her, so let’s suppress our anger a little until we can drag Yang Jin-Woo and Huh Ha-Soo here,” Kim Hyung-Jung said.
“Have you thought of a way?”
“We’re still looking into it from multiple angles.”
Having seen Kim Hyung-Jung’s will, Kang Chan didn’t complain. They were in a difficult situation, after all.
“Right! I left my phone in the hotel, but I came here because of the accident,” Kang Chan said.
“It will be there as you left it because the guest rooms are being restricted to preserve evidence. We’ll bring it over to you as soon as possible. Mr. Seok Kang-Ho’s phone will be there as well, right?”
“Yes.”
Kim Hyung-Jung looked at Kang Chan after exhaling smoke. “The Director and the Chief Officer of Security are also waiting for a chance to catch them. The problem is the diplomatic pressure from China and the United States, but we’re also determined to cope with that.”
“Why would China and the United States pressure us?” Seok Kang-Ho suddenly butted in.
“Yang Jin-Woo has American nationality, and Huh Sang-Soo is Chinese. South Korean citizenship always automatically disappears if people acquire citizenship from a foreign country, but we believe China gave him citizenship secretly.”
“So you’re saying that one of the National Assembly members is Chinese?” Seok Kang-Ho asked again.
“That’s correct.”
Seok Kang-Ho’s expression crumpled. “The man who has American citizenship despite earning all of his salary in South Korea is already a problem, but now we also have to worry about a politician fucker with Chinese citizenship.”
“They acquire South Korean nationality if they win in the election. Checking if they have another nationality is difficult since they don’t report it and revealing it would cause problems every time a legislative bill is passed, so we have just been leaving it alone and moving on while pretending not to notice.”
“I’ve noticed that these fuckers are patriots loyal to the United States and China,” Seok Kang-Ho commented.
Kang Chan laughed in a silly way, but he didn’t have anything else to say.
“If needed, we’re considering making them go to Southeast Asia. That would make it easier to do an operation because the influences of China and the United States aren’t immediately effective over there,” Kim Hyung-Jung added.
“Please have the section chief take care of that,” Kang Chan said.
“Alright.”
At lunch, the three ordered galbi-tang, but it tasted mediocre.
After eating, Kim Hyung-Jung soon stood up and left.
“What did you tell your family?” Kang Chan asked Seok Kang-Ho.
“I said that I’m on a business trip.”
“They believe that a teacher goes on business trips?”
“I’m usually very well-behaved, and the National Intelligence Service is paying me close to ten million won as my salary, so they repeatedly told me to take care of myself. Phuhu.”
***
Lanok’s assistant entered the room and urgently approached the desk. “We heard that the DGSE has killed two Serpent Venimeux underbosses.”
Lanok covered the document he was looking at and sat up straight. “We won’t compromise until they give us the information that I want. Kill their leader quickly as well. We have to use this opportunity to make the Serpent Venimeux bow down to us.”
“I’ll tell them that.”
“How’s Louis?” Lanok asked.
“I heard he’ll be discharged in a week, but…”
“Is Anne with him?”
“That’s correct.”
“That’s not a bad thing.” Lanok smiled a bit as he put his pen on top of the desk, disappointment flashing across his face.
“Track down WooYang Jeon-Woo[1], Huh Ha-Soo, and Huh Sang-Soo. Afterward, report to me about the movements of China, the United States, and the U.K. or whenever a Serpent Venimeux is killed.”
“Understood.”
When the assistant left the room, Lanok exhaled loudly.
“I introduced a tiger, but you got your heart stolen by a wolf[2],” Lanok spoke to himself. He shook his head slightly, then laid out the document again.
***
Rattle.
While Kang Chan was having small talk with Seok Kang-Ho, four men in black suits entered the room.
Although they were Asians, they looked like Europeans. They also had a tattoo on their left thumb.
After Kang Chan broke the arm of a man in the Namsan Hotel a while ago, the man told him that a total of five people came into the country. The other four men were now in front of him.
Kang Chan, who was sitting on the chair in front of the bed with Seok Kang-Ho, smirked. In response, the man standing at the front raised his hands and showed his palms.
“We don’t want any misunderstandings,” the man spoke in Korean.
“Tell me what you want,” Kang Chan said.
“Is it alright if we take a seat?”
Kang Chan nodded, and the man brought over a chair and sat across from Kang Chan.
The other three men stood with their hands clasped in front of them in front of the door.
“I’m Xavier. Can we smoke here?”
“Tell those men behind you to make coffee so we can all have a cup,” Kang Chan said.
When Xavier turned his head and issued an order, one of them immediately walked toward the water heater. However, he hesitated.
“Pour out all of the coffee bits in the bag into the cup,” Kang Chan told him in French, and the man finally started to make coffee properly.
The three men bit on a cigarette that Seok Kang-Ho had handed over.
“We have a favor to ask you,” Xavier said.
One of the subordinates awkwardly put the coffee down, then walked toward the door.
Ask me a favor? Are these fuckers out of their minds?
Kang Chan stole a glance at Xavier and the three men standing at the back.
“Lanok has ordered his men to kill all of the heads of the Serpent Venimeux. They have taken down two underbosses and five regional executives already. Our leader hopes that the God of Blackfield will arbitrate this issue,” Xavier continued.
This was Kang Chan’s first time hearing this.
“At this rate, we will also lay everything in our organization on the line and start assassinating Lanok and those around him,” Xavier added.
A quick look at tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w will leave you more fulfilled.
After sipping on his coffee, Kang Chan smirked. “Xavier, I have neither the power nor the desire to tell Lanok what to do, so drink your coffee and leave.”
However, Xavier, who was looking at the paper cup that Kang Chan had put down, didn’t back off.
“There will be a reward for arbitrating this. Please say what the God of Blackfield wants.”
“I don’t want anything. Your relationship with me ended with you doing business with Yang Jin-Woo.”
“What if we catch Yang Jin-Woo for you?”
What’s he saying?
Kang Chan blankly stared at Xavier due to the unexpected offer.
“One of Yang Jin-Woo’s sons is in France, and his daughter and his other sons are in the United States. We’ll kill them, their spouses, and their children, and we’ll catch Yang Jin-Woo. How does that sound?” Xavier continued.
It was a shocking condition, but it was difficult to willingly accept it.
Kang Chan took out another cigarette.
“Yang Jin-Woo also fooled us. If we kill his children and spread rumors, Yang Jin-Woo will inevitably run away to South Korea. When he does, we’ll catch him. However, in return, we ask that you arbitrate so we can establish friendly relations with Lanok.”
Chk chk.
Kang Chan thought about it while lighting up his cigarette.
Lanok wasn’t simple-minded. He even ordered his men to kill all of the Serpent Venimeux executives just because they sold weapons.
“Why is Lanok attacking you guys?” Kang Chan asked.
“We don’t exactly know why either. It would be best to meet Lanok and find out what he wants.”
The fucker had great Korean pronunciation, but the way he spoke was so awkward.
Kang Chan suddenly thought of the man whose arm he broke. “Why are you still in South Korea? Were you the ones who killed Lee Ji-Yeon?”
The moment Kang Chan’s eyes glinted, Seok Kang-Ho straightened his back and frowned.
“That wasn’t us. We’re still here to…” Xavier urgently responded to Kang Chan, “Receive the data that Yang Jin-Woo was supposed to give us.”
Xavier hesitated for a moment when the look in Kang Chan’s eyes didn’t change. “Huh Sang-Soo is a member of the National Assembly that’s in charge of national defense, so Yang Jin-Woo was supposed to get information about the arrangement of the South Korean military from Huh Sang-Soo and relay it to us.”
“Is that what Yang Jin-Woo deceived you all about?”
“That’s the biggest matter.”
“Sons of bitches,” Seok Kang-Ho took out a cigarette while swearing.
“How do I contact you?” Kang Chan asked again.
“We’ll give you our phone number before we go.”
“Alright. Now leave.”
“We ask that you take care of this quickly.”
When Kang Chan glared at him sharply, Xavier quickly placed his business card on the table and stood up.
Tsk!
“Ugh! Why did those fuckers work with those kinds of gangsters? Didn’t they have anyone else to work with? Is it possible for the National Intelligence Service to not know about this?” Seok Kang-Ho asked.
“Tell me about it.”
“Manager Kim said he’s coming later, so let’s ask him then. Unfortunately, of all things, both of us left our phones at the hotel.”
Things were a bit chaotic, but Kang Chan didn’t want to butt into this kind of fight.
***
Having left the hospital, Xavier called someone while getting in the car.
“I have just finished meeting with Kang Chan. I don’t know how it’ll go since it seems like he doesn’t like us very much.”
- You have to hurry. Lanok is already full of spite, and our organization is faltering because of that crazy fucker Yang Jin-Woo. Lanok ordering the DGSE to kill us is surprising, but nobody complaining about his order is even more so. He has some kind of power that we’re not aware of. Anyway, we’ll start by hanging the necks of Yang Jin-Woo’s son, his wife, and his child at the apartment back in France. Use that in the negotiation.
“Understood.”
- Don’t go against the God of Blackfield. He’s the key. Don’t forget about the meaning behind the smile Lanok showed on TV and the time that his daughter started to act when she met the God of Blackfield. Hurry.
“I won’t let my guard down.”
- You know why I’m insisting on sending you, my adopted son, to South Korea right?
“That’s right.”
After Xavier ended the call, he put his phone in his inner chest pocket.
“Where is that stupid fucker Philip?” Xavier asked someone.
“We have him in a hotel on the outskirts of Seoul.”
“He’s no better than trash. His arm broke as soon as he came to South Korea, and he couldn’t even fulfill one mission. Slit his neck open today and bury him near the hotel.”
“Understood.”
Xavier tightly gritted his teeth, then looked outside the window.
***
Rattle.
Seok Kang-Ho and Kang Chan stiffened in surprise when the door opened.
“Mr. Seok Kang-Ho!”
It was Kim Mi-Young.
Shouldn’t she still be in class?
Fortunately, Kang Chan wasn’t smoking right now.
“What brings you here?” Seok Kang-Ho asked.
“I came here to see Channy. Why are you wearing a hospital gown?”
Kim Mi-Young’s eyes weren’t as swollen now, but they were still pretty bad.
“I got a bit injured when I went to the countryside. Anyway, don’t you have classes?”
“School ended early because we had mock exams today.”
“I see.”
Kim Mi-Young approached them and looked surprised upon seeing the paper cup on the table. “Was it you who smoked, Mr. Seok Kang-Ho?”
“Huh? Huh?” Seok Kang-Ho discretely picked up the cigarettes and lighter on the table. “I’m in pain, so I’ll go back to my room now. I’ll see you later.”
As Kang Chan sighed quietly, Seok Kang-Ho awkwardly went out.
“Mr. Seok Kang-Ho is too much.”
Kim Mi-Young stacked the paper cups and threw them away in the trash can. She then tried hard to open the window a bit more.
“Leave it—that’s the best that we could do. Did you do well on your test?” Kang Chan asked.
Kim Mi-Young nodded, smiling brightly.
She was commendable.
“Good job.”
If her grades dropped because she came to the hospital crying and screaming yesterday… Kang Chan suddenly remembered the cold expression of Kim Mi-Young’s mother.
“Um, my father asked me a lot of questions after we went home yesterday,” Kim Mi-Young said.
“About what?”
“He asked me if I liked you.”
Kang Chan couldn’t even guess what she could have said.
“You’re curious, right?” Kim Mi-Young asked.
“Yeah.”
“So I told him everything—that I was planning on studying abroad with you, and that we decided to go to a university in Seoul again.”
‘I’m going to go crazy.’
Kang Chan couldn’t help but laugh.
“Why are you laughing?” Kim Mi-Young asked again.
“It’s nothing—I was just happy that you were honest with him.”
“Really? My dad was also happy.”
He was happy with that stern face? Kang Chan listened to what Kim Mi-Young was saying while trying hard to not show his expression.
Was it because of the gap between her mental age and her body?
Kim Mi-Young looked so much more mature since the break ended.
She had dark eyebrows and long eyelashes. Her eyes had always been large, so that wasn’t new. However, now that her baby fat had disappeared, she looked more mature. Since she always had large breasts and a good body shape, people could mistake her to be older than a high schooler at first glance.
Chatter chatter.
Kang Chan, who was annoyed because of Yang Jin-Woo, Huh Ha-Soo, and Xavier, slowly calmed down while listening to Kim Mi-Young talk.
The first time this happened was when she held his hand at the student cafeteria even though he was full of spite.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Kim Mi-Young asked, perplexed, when she noticed Kang Chan staring at her.
“Just because. Looking at you makes me happy.”
“Huhuhuhu.”
This laugh also seemed to be a part of her charm perhaps because he had gotten used to it now.
Rattle.
At some point, the door opened, and Eun So-Yeon walked inside. Stopping in her tracks, her gaze alternated between Kang Chan and Kim Mi-Young.
“Come in.”
Kang Chan looked behind her, but it seemed Eun So-Yeon came alone since she immediately closed the door.
Kim Mi-Young stood up from her seat and greeted Eun So-Yeon, “Hello.”
“Hello,” Eun So-Yeon said.
After exchanging awkward greetings, Eun So-Yeon placed fruits on the table next to the coffee cups.
Kim Mi-Young had clearly seen Eun So-Yeon on TV.
“Aren’t you busy?” Kang Chan asked Eun So-Yeon.
“I’m free until the afternoon. I dropped by on my way to the company because Director Michelle said that you were here yesterday.”
“Have a seat. Right! This is my friend, Kim Mi-Young. Kim Mi-Young, this is Eun So-Yeon,” Kang Chan introduced them.
The two awkwardly and slowly nodded.
“I saw you on TV. This is fascinating,” Kim Mi-Young commented.
Eun So-Yeon smiled pleasantly at Kim Mi-Young.
Her aura had changed a lot, and she seemed a lot more sophisticated than before. Kang Chan also thought that her eyes became somewhat deeper. It was weird to compare, but Kang Chan thought it wouldn’t be wrong to say that her aura was similar to Gerard’s.
“Have a seat,” Kang Chan told Eun So-Yeon.
“Please sit, unnie.”
When Eun So-Yeon was about to sit down, Kim Mi-Young quickly went to the water heater and made coffee.
“I’ll do it,” Eun So-Yeon offered.
“It’s okay, unnie. Let me do it. I already started.”
Eun So-Yeon hesitantly sat down, then examined Kang Chan. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Yeah. It’s not like I’m severely wounded. How’s the drama going? Is it doable?”
“Even now, I still can’t believe that I’m in it. I’m also feeling anxious and having trouble sleeping perhaps because it’s going to premiere next week. All of the actors feel this way.”
“Why do you all feel that way? You guys worked hard.”
“It’s all thanks to you.”
Kim Mi-Young brought over two cups of coffee, then placed them in front of Kang Chan and Eun So-Yeon.
“You’re not drinking coffee, Ms. Mi-Young?” Eun So-Yeon asked.
“I can’t handle coffee that well—I tried a couple of times, but I ended up being unable to sleep properly.”
“You’re pretty.”
Kim Mi-Young timidly smiled and blushed in response.
Smiling brightly, which she hadn’t done in a long time, Eun So-Yeon looked at Kim Mi-Young.
“But you appear on TV. I’m really jealous. Ugh, just thinking about it makes me nervous,” Kim Mi-Young commented.
“I also get nervous.”
“You do? The last time I saw you, you weren’t nervous at all.”
“That’s not it—I get really nervous in the bathroom before I shoot something like that. There are times when I can’t even go outside because my hands are shaking too much.”
“But how do you appear like you’re completely fine on TV?”
“I also find that weird. When the time to shoot comes and the camera lights come on, my nervousness just completely disappears.”
“Wow! That’s fascinating.”
“Right? I think so as well.”
Kang Chan just watched the two for a moment, finding the sight of them talking to each other quite fun.
After about five minutes had passed…
“I’ll get going now,” Eun So-Yeon stood up, seemingly disappointed.
Kim Mi-Young also looked as if she felt the same way.
“Ms. Mi-Young, let’s see each other again next time,” Eun So-Yeon said.
“Sure, unnie. I’ve actually always wished to have an unnie like you and brag to my friends about her. Everyone’s going to stare if I go out with you.”
“I’ll go and see you whenever. Just call me.”
“Really?”
The two even exchanged numbers.
For some reason, Kang Chan felt as if he was being swept into something complicated.
1. Lanok pronounces his name incorrectly here ☜
2. Here, the ‘tiger’ is Kang Chan, and the ‘wolf’ is Louis ☜