/
“I’m getting a shitty feeling right now,” Kang Chan said.
Kang Chan glanced around his surroundings before turning back to Choi Jong-Il.
“Do you have a gun on you?” he asked.
“All the guards have been given permission to keep weapons with them at all times since the attack a while back,” Choi Jong-Il replied.
Kang Chan checked his phone. He had two applications meant for tracking locations, which meant all he had to do was press a button to check the location he wanted.
“Geez, what is it?”
Kang Chan had secured the transmitters because he thought calling the people he was worried about would just make them more anxious. However, the problem was that he was concerned about too many people. He couldn’t account for all of them.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
Choi Jong-Il’s gaze shot to Kang Chan’s phone as quickly as Kang Chan moved.
“Yeah, it’s me. Cut straight to the point,” Kang Chan briskly asserted.
-Kang Chan.
A different, undesired voice came from Smithen’s side of the call.
-So you already knew something was amiss, hm?
“Don’t pull antics and just say what you want.”
-Good, as you wish.
Choi Jong-Il rapidly scanned the interior of the restaurant.
-The view from this guy’s house is absolutely brilliant. Come alone. Understood? Don’t try anything stupid. I’m prepared to die with this guy, and that would be the end of your chance. After him, another will—
“Motherfucker, do you not know what cutting to the point means? So you want me to come alone, is that it?” Kang Chan spoke coldly.
It felt as if the person on the other side of the line flinched at Kang Chan’s words.
“Traffic is heavy on Saturday, so it will take me at least two hours even if I rush over to that place.”
-Fine.
The other person seemed to be swallowing the words that they wanted to say.
“Damn it!” Kang Chan raged.
Choi Jong-Il glanced around their surroundings again.
“It’s the Korean branch manager for Gong Te automobile. You know Smithen, right?”
“Yes, I do.”
“That punk seems to have been taken captive. They want me to come alone.”
“We should wrap up the lunch first since it’s not safe.”
“It’s fine. The meal was almost over anyway. I’ll contact Ambassador Lanok and Seok Kang-Ho, so you get Director Kim Tae-Jin and Manager Kim Hyung-Jung.”
“Understood.”
The two pressed their phones against their ears and made the appropriate calls.
Louis answered in Ambassador Lanok’s stead, but he relayed the information to the ambassador right after. Seok Kang-Ho answered his phone right away.
“Smithen was captured.”
Kang Chan heard Seok Kang-Ho’s rough intake of breath over the call.
-Where are you? I’ll head over right away.
“I’m at lunch with my parents and the guards. It’ll be done in less than thirty minutes. You should be waiting in front of the apartment already when I call you again. How are you feeling?”
-I’ll be waiting with my dressings off.
“Got it.”
As Kang Chan finished making all the necessary calls, he noticed Choi Jong-Il was also done making his own rounds.
“I hear the both of them are safe. They said they want you to contact them so they can prepare special agents to standby as backup,” Choi Jong-Il relayed.
“Let’s go back inside for now.”
Kang Chan stressfully rubbed his eyelids with his fingers. When he entered the curtained area with Choi Jong-Il again, they found the table was full of fruits that were served as dessert.
An agent retorted something, causing laughter to ripple throughout the room.
“Are you feeling any better?” Kang Dae-Kyung asked with a smile on his face.
“Yes. I feel like I can finally breathe now.”
“Channy, are you okay?” Michelle asked this time.
“Yeah. Did you get to eat a lot?”
“Of course I did.”
Michelle patted her stomach in satisfaction.
“Well, are you both ready to leave?” Kang Chan asked Kang Dae-Kyung and Yoo Hye-Sook.
It appeared the agents read the look in Kang Chan and Choi Jong-Il’s eyes. They immediately got up while expressing their gratitude for the meal.
Kang Chan paid for the meal outside.
The agents who weren’t on duty left the restaurant first.
“Channy, do you have time to get some tea with me?” Michelle asked in front of Kang Dae-Kyung and Yoo Hye-sook, who were waiting for him.
“I have to go home and change clothes before heading somewhere. Sorry, Michelle. Let’s have tea together next time,” Kang Chan replied.
“Okay, Channy.”
Michelle instantly realized Kang Chan’s eyes and expression were different than normal. She didn’t grab onto him any longer.
“Why not? You should go and drink some tea before leaving.”
“Some stuff came up, so there’s someplace I have to be,” Kang Chan explained.
“That’s a shame.”
Yoo Hye-Sook seemed most upset about the fact that Kang Chan wouldn’t be drinking tea with Michelle.
“Why don’t we drink together then, Mrs. Yoo?” Michelle asked.
“That sounds wonderful. Honey, let’s have a cup of tea first before heading back home.”
Kang Dae-Kyung seemed to welcome the idea as well.
Kang Chan felt better knowing the guards would protect them.
“Then I’ll go home first, Father, Mother. I apologize for cutting things short even though it’s been a while since we last ate outside together.”
“Don’t worry about it. Go take care of whatever it is that needs you,” Kang Dae-Kyung voiced.
“See you later, son,” Yoo Hye-Sook added.
“Channy, let’s call soon,” Michelle finished.
Parting ways from the three, Kang Chan climbed into the car Lee Doo-Hee brought and hurried home.
“Mr. Kang Chan, Manager Kim asked me to tell you to give him a call.”
Kang Chan felt more urgent now that they were on the move. He pulled out his phone to check the time. It was 3 p.m. He pressed the call button next.
-Mr. Kang Chan, we’ve deployed agents from the special team around Mr. Smithen’s home. We’ve been monitoring suspicious individuals, but no one has come up yet. There were no suspicious traces in Mr. Smithen’s call records either.
“I’m heading home to change, then I’ll be going straight to Smithen’s home with Seok Kang-Ho. They’ll be able to see us from the entrance, so what should we do? The caller threatened me saying I had to come alone, and he seemed prepared to take his own life with Smithen’s if he discovered anything suspicious.”
-That’s strange. With Yang Jin-Woo taken care of, there should be a shortage of available channels for illegal entry. Their motive could be to eliminate you, Mr. Kang Chan.
“Please check if there is a way to get inside aside from the front door. The caller probably won’t be alone, so they could be watching us from the rooftop. Please have our snipers positioned in the vicinity.”
-Understood.
Getting off in front of the entrance of the apartment complex, Kang Chan immediately headed up and changed out of his clothes to a formal suit.
As he left his house and dashed down the stairs, he made another call.
-I’m in front of the complex. Choi Jong-Il is with me.
“Got it.”
The moment he ran out of the apartment building, he was greeted by Seok Kang-Ho.
“I’m going in that car, so follow behind. You know where Smithen’s house is, right?”
“I do, sir,” Choi Jong-Il replied.
“Oh, right. Call Manager Kim and ask for two pistols and two bayonets.”
“They’re already in the car,” Choi Jong-Il assured.
Kang Chan nodded gratefully to Choi Jong-Il and signaled with his eyes for Seok Kang-Ho to get in the Chiffre with him.
Vroom.
“Don’t you think the kidnappers are giving you too much time?” Seok Kang-Ho asked.
“You also think so?”
Kang Chan had been wondering about it. Sure enough, Seok Kang-Ho considered it strange as well.
“The reason they’re holding Smithen hostage is because of you, Captain.”
“The caller was blabbering about how he would make himself explode immediately if he saw I wasn’t alone at the entrance.”
“Doesn’t that mean he could still detonate the bomb even if you go inside?”
Kang Chan pursed his lips and focused ahead.
“Do you have a cigarette?”
Seok Kang-Ho wrinkled his face as he reached out into his pants pocket to take out a cigarette and lighter. It seemed as if his injury throbbed.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
Having put the cigarette in his mouth, Kang Chan made eye contact with Seok Kang-Ho. The caller was Smithen.
Kang Chan placed the phone in front of the rearview mirror and pressed the speaker button.
“Hello?”
-Tell me your estimated time of arrival.
Seok Kang-Ho raised his index finger to show Kang Chan.
“I’ll arrive within an hour. What are your demands?”
-For you to come in alone.
“Switch the phone to Smithen.”
Kang Chan’s eyes flashed because there was no answer. However, not long after, Smithen exhaustedly spoke into the phone.
-Captain.
Like an idiot, Smithen clearly sounded terrified.
“Smithen, I’m on my way. Just stay alive, alright?”
Kang Chan heard Smithen gulp.
“Don’t forget who I am. Endure it. Got it?”
-Yes, Mr. Captain.
As Kang Chan smirked, the call abruptly ended. He lit two cigarettes and handed one to Seok Kang-Ho.
“How long do you think it will take?”
“Since it’s Saturday, it’ll take 30 minutes at most.”
Kang Chan felt himself calm down a bit after smoking with the window rolled down.
“Captain, let’s not head inside.”
Kang Chan puffed out a breath of smoke out the window, then glanced at Seok Kang-Ho.
“What if they planted a bomb?” Seok Kang-Ho asked worriedly.
“Smithen, that punk, seemed pretty scared, huh?"
Kang Chan opened the cup of coffee in between the driver and passenger seats and tapped the cigarette ash into it.
“That bastard lost an eye after getting beat up by me, and he can’t move properly either. You know he lost his bravado ever since,” Kang Chan said.
“Let’s go in together.”
“He sounded serious when he said he would set off a bomb immediately if I didn’t come alone.”
There was no other solution they could immediately come up with.
“Son of a bitch! I knew I was worried for a good reason!” Seok Kang-Ho grumbled.
Listening to Seok Kang-Ho’s complaints, Kang Chan extinguished the cigarette and closed the coffee lid.
Buzz.
He received another call.
“Manager Kim, we’ll arrive in another ten minutes.”
-Mr. Kang Chan, we’ve parked a black van near the place where we ate last time across the Hannam Bridge. We’re currently waiting on standby, but one of their people is standing on guard on the rooftop, so it’s hard to deploy our snipers.
“I’ll stop by the black van first.”
After hanging up, Kang Chan told Seok Kang-Ho what Kim Hyung-Jung told him.
Fortunately, the stop light turned green as soon as they crossed the Hannam Bridge, so they weren’t late.
There were two sedans parked in front and behind the black van.
After parking the car, Kang Chan and Seok Kang-Ho approached the van, and the doors slid open.
“You come in too,” Kang Chan told Choi Jong-Il before climbing in.
Kim Hyung-Jung was wearing a large shirt, but his upper body was still bandaged. Kang Chan felt apologetic for involving an injured person in the situation, but he had little time to get Smithen to safety to say anything.
“We have no idea what the kidnapper looks like.”
An agent next to Kim Hyung-Jung handed them coffee and cigarettes from a specialty shop that they had prepared in advance.
“There is one person on the rooftop who appears to be an enemy lookout. There are no places for snipers to infiltrate behind the building, and we couldn’t find any spots to hide at the front entrance. Mr. Smithen’s villa is the tallest building in the area as well, so it isn’t easy to deploy our agents.”
“Tsk!”
Kang Chan tilted his head. He didn’t even meet Smithen that often. Even if the enemies had done background checks, it wouldn’t have been easy for them to create a plan to kidnap Smithen.
“Mr. Kang Chan, do you have communication with the kidnapper?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“Then give him a call and say you want to secure Smithen’s safety. Deal with him firmly.”
Kim Hyung-Jung gestured with his eyes, and an agent handed Kang Chan a cord.
“Please plug it into your phone.”
It looked just like a phone charger, so it wasn’t difficult to plug in.
When Kang Chan pressed the call button, the dials sounded throughout the van.
Kim Hyung-Jung swirled his finger.
Click.
The call was answered, but the other party remained silent.
“It’s Kang Chan. I’m nearby.”
-Come in.
“How will my safety be insured?”
-How disappointing. I gave you enough time. If you don’t show up at the entrance within the next 10 minutes, know that you’ll never see Smithen again.
The call was disconnected.
“How long will it take to get to Smithen’s house?”
“Five minutes should be enough.”
Kang Chan let out a low breath.
“Alright. Let’s head over there for now.”
Kim Hyung-Jung ordered the driver of the van to start for the road, and the van immediately departed.
“Here, take this.”
Kim Hyung-Jung didn’t think Kang Chan could be convinced not to go in, so he pulled out and gave Kang Chan pistols and bayonets.
However, when Kang Chan lifted the gun, Kim Hyung-Jung eventually shook his head.
“Mr. Kang Chan, you can’t go inside like this.”
It would all be over if a bomb went off as soon as Kang Chan opened the door.
I know. I know, but if I don’t, Smithen dies.
Kim Hyung-Jung sighed and proceeded to speak through gritted teeth.
“We can use a signal disruptor. It will prevent the use of any remote controls and wireless phones among other items within a 500-meter radius.”
To access the premium content, go to [ pawread dot com ].
There were truly a lot of interesting contraptions in this world.
“When you give us the signal, we will instantly cut off power. Afterward, we will begin the operation,” Kim Hyung-Jung said.
“We’ve arrived.”
At the end of Kim Hyung-Jung’s words, the van came to a stop ahead.
“This is the house opposite Mr. Smithen’s. The moment you give us the signal, we will cut off power and immediately eliminate the enemy on the rooftop. After that, we will deploy our agents to the balcony.”
Kim Hyung-Jung handed Kang Chan a watch with a black strap.
“We will listen in to your conversation through this watch. If the situation seems to be heading in the wrong direction, we will use the signal disruptor, but that means we won’t be able to hear what’s happening inside anymore.”
“How do I give the signal?”
“Give us a code word before you go in.”
Nothing immediately came to mind.
“Let’s go with ‘unconditionally.’”
Kang Chan nodded at Seok Kang-Ho’s abrupt remark. When Kang Chan turned his gaze to Seok Kang-Ho, he saw Seok Kang-Ho’s eyes glinting.
“Daye, if I die, shoot all those bastards for me.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll not only kill those motherfuckers, but also their parents, children, and acquaintances. I’m going to kill anyone connected to those sons of bitches.”
“I’m off then.”
“Captain.”
Kang Chan glanced at Seok Kang-Ho from where he was holding the van door handle.
“Don't turn me into a killer.”
“Got it.”
Kang Chan met eyes with Kim Hyung-Jung and Choi Jong-Il one last time before getting out of the van and heading straight for Smithen’s house.
As he entered the alley, he recognized the buildings from when he had come here before.
Kang Chan remembered thinking the balcony was pretty nice, but it was actually getting in the way now.
The alley was short.
When he sharply looked up, he found it hard to see inside because of the curtains. He entered the front door and went up the stairs.
Although he was carrying a gun at his waist, it would definitely be taken from him the moment he entered.
Finally, Kang Chan stood in front of the main door.
He kept his gun as it was, but he subtly removed the bayonet holstered to his leg and placed it between the door and the wall.
Ding.
When he pressed the bell, he heard the sound of the door being unlatched. The front door opened with a click.
Inside, a man wearing a bandana on his head nodded at Kang Chan.
Kang Chan saw a gun in the man’s hand. When Kang Chan stepped in further, he saw two more enemies.
Smithen was tied to a chair at the dining table. It looked as if he had taken a beating in the struggle because his eyes, mouth, and white shirt were covered in blood.
The enemy who examined Kang Chan pulled out the gun at his waist, then pointed at the chair in front of the balcony.
Kang Chan walked over with his shoes still on and sat down.
One enemy approached him and held a gun behind Kang Chan’s right ear.
“Can I have a smoke?”
Nobody answered, but Kang Chan slowly pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth anyway.
There was an enemy in front of the door, another next to Smithen, and another holding a gun to Kang Chan’s ear.
Kang Chan lit up his cigarette with a click of his lighter.
It didn’t seem like anything inside would change immediately even if these bastards lost power.
“Let me give Smithen a cigarette too.”
Why aren’t they answering? Did these guys really just come to blow themselves up?
Kang Chan pretended to observe the living room as his eyes met Smithen’s. Just then, the guy next to Smithen opened his jacket.
“Haah!”
Kang Chan sighed as if he was exhaling the smoke.
The enemy had a palm-sized C-4 hanging on his upper body. If that exploded, no one in this living room would get out alive.
“What is it you want?”
Click.
The sound of a trigger being pulled echoed behind Kang Chan’s ear.