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When Kang Chan and Kim Tae-Jin arrived at the athletics club room, Seok Kang-Ho was drying his wet hair with a towel.
“How can I help you? Huh? You’re here as well, Mr. President?” Seok Kang-Ho asked.
“We have good news,” Kang Chan said.
Kang Chan approached the water purifier and made coffee.
“What is it? Have we tracked Sharlan down or something?”
Kang Chan stirred the coffee with a teaspoon, then looked over his shoulder and smirked.
“Huh? What’s with that smile? Have you really found him?”
“We don’t know his exact location yet, but they’ve determined he should be around Geomban in Incheon. They said they’ll search the area and contact us as soon as they find where he is,” Kang Chan explained.
“Wow!”
Kang Chan sat down on a chair after he handed a coffee to Kim Tae-Jin and Seok Kang-Ho.
“Since we now know the agents are over there, the two of us should take the fight to our enemy, ” said Kang Chan.
“Alright,” Seok Kang-Ho answered while draping his towel on an empty chair.
“With only the two of you? What about me?” Kim Tae-Jin asked.
“But Wui Min-Gook isn’t in Geomban.”
“That’s right,” Kim Tae-Jin responded while looking dazed.
“Sharlan will do whatever it takes to contact Wui Min-Gook since his life is on the line here. Please remain on standby outside. We’ll proceed according to the outcome.”
“That’s a good plan.”
“Phuhu, we’ll get rid of Sharlan this time for sure. Let’s tie that fucking son of a bitch upside down,” Seok Kang-Ho said.
Kang Chan laughed.
The three of them decided to go to Geomdan and wait there.
It was around 4 pm.
They used Kim Tae-Jin’s car to go there. As soon as they were on the road, Seok Kang-Ho fell asleep in the back seat.
“I understand that he’s tired, but I didn’t expect anyone could sleep with a situation like this ahead of them,” Kim Tae-Jin said after glancing at Seok Kang-Ho through the rearview mirror.
It wasn’t like there was anything he could do about it since he had always been like that. Hence, Kang Chan didn’t really have anything to say back.
They left before rush hour, so there didn’t seem to be any traffic.
Buzz— Buzz—Buzz—. Buzz— Buzz—Buzz—. Buzz— Buzz—Buzz—.
Kang Chan picked up the phone when it rang. Oh Gwang-Tek was calling.
“Hello?”
- It’s me. Can you talk for a bit?
“Go for it.”
They were still far from Geomban, Incheon, so there was no reason for Kang Chan to decline.
- Did you break the arm of Kwon Sae-Jik’s fucking son?
“I don’t know who that is, but I did break the arm of a snake-eyed kid.”
- Did you do that in Kwon Sae-Jik’s building? It’s the one in front of Ulsan Park.
“That’s right.”
Kim Tae-Jin glanced at Kang Chan with eyes that asked, ‘what’s going on now?’
- Kwon Sae-Jik is the man that rallied the Yeong-dong gang members and formed the Shin Yeong-dong gang when the former disbanded. That fucker’s been looking for a reason to attack us, and now he has your name for that. I’m not scared of him, but you better be extra careful for the next few days just in case.
“Do gangsters really need a justification to fight?”
- Even in this field, if someone recklessly invades another person’s territory, gangs above and even below them will pressure them. They have to be far stronger than the rest to do that. Otherwise, others will pick a fight with them using their action as justification. Anyway, take extra precautions for now.
“Okay.”
Kang Chan hung up the phone, then explained the situation to Kim Tae-Jin, starting from him breaking the snake-eyed man’s arm earlier in the day to his call with Oh Gwang-Tek.
“I heard that guy Kwon Sae-Jik is more of a schemer than a gangster because of how sly he is. People don’t think highly of him either. As far as I know, a lot of kids still follow him because they’ll be given a store or a building if they stay under him.”
Based on Kim Tae-Jin’s words, even he seemed to dislike Kwon Sae-Jik.
“Nowadays, the richest gangsters are the strongest. I heard that no matter how good someone treats others, they’ll leave their side if they don’t have money. In that sense, Oh Gwang-Taek’s assessment is good. He doesn’t starve his people, and he also values the loyalty in their world,” Kim Tae-Jin commented.
“Even so, he’s still a gangster.”
“That’s right.”
They exited the highway to a narrower road, which was a lot more clogged.
“Geomdan is just past this industrial road, but we won’t find a decent restaurant there. Let’s have dinner somewhere around here while we wait instead,” Kim Tae-Jin suggested.
“Sure.”
Kim Tae-Jin parked the car in a Korean restaurant that had a wide parking lot.
After they woke up Seok Kang-Ho, who was sleeping deeply, and went into the restaurant, they made three orders of Kimchi-jjigae[1].
“About what we were talking about a moment ago,” Kang Chan quietly brought up the conversation while the side dishes were being served.
“I’ve actually been restless all day because the gangsters I fought were dumbfoundingly bad. As I expected, they were just hiding their real objective..”
Kim Tae-Jin listened intently as he drank water.
“What if they're leading our attention, including Lanok's, to Geomdan for the same reason? What is it that they really want?”
“Are you saying we should think of Geomdan as bait?”
“That’s right.”
The older lady that placed the jjigae on the table turned off the gas flame, then left.
Kang Chan thought about the different reasons he and the two of them could have.
Seok Kang-Ho was the first to speak again.
“Lanok has been those fuckers’ target all this time, right?”
“Yeah.”
Kim Tae-Jin seemed to agree with Kang Chan’s answer. When the two people waited for what Seok Kang-Ho would say next, Seok Kang-Ho stirred the jjigae with his utensil.
“I’m just stating what’s been happening.”
Why did he even expect more from Seok Kang-Ho, considering this matter required him to use his brains?
Kim Tae-Jin tilted his head, then made a phone call.
“Yeah, good work out there. Where is he now?”
Seok Kang-Ho concentrated on Kim Tae-Jin’s call while turning down the heat.
“Paju?[2] Is there an industrial complex there? Yeah, yeah. Okay, I understand.”
After Kim Tae-Jin hung up the phone, he told them Wui Min-Gook was in Paju.
“They said Wui Min-Gook visited the outlet mall and just went into a restaurant on the outskirts. Why don’t you call Lanok?”
The jjigae was now boiling deliciously, but no one could begin eating.
Kang Chan quickly picked up his phone.
- The ambassador is currently doing an interview.
“It’s Kang Chan.”
- I’m aware of that, Monsieur Kang.
“Is the ambassador at the embassy right now?”
There was a momentary pause. It seemed like the person had asked if it was okay to disclose Lanok’s location to Kang Chan.
- Lyon[3] and Paju have set up a sister-city agreement[4] with each other. The ambassador is attending that event. He plans to leave after he finishes dinner and another event here.
Kang Chan mouthed the word ‘Paju’ to Kim Tae-Jin and Seok Kang-Ho.
“Please listen carefully. The ambassador is in danger. There’s a high possibility that the special agents from North Korea are there. I’ll be heading there right now, so please tell me his exact location.”
- That’s quite the shocking revelation, Monsieur Kang. Unfortunately, I can only tell you about the ambassador’s location with his permission.
“Understood. Then we’ll be leaving for Paju for now. Please do what you have to do for me to get on a call with the ambassador as soon as possible. How many agents are nearby?”
- That’s classified information as well. I’m sorry, Monsieur Kang.
“I understand. But please take measures to get the ambassador to call me immediately. His situation can get very dangerous.”
It hadn’t even been 5 minutes since Kang Chan ended the call when all three of them finished eating and got up at the same time.
“I was told that Lanok is at Paju and Lyon’s sister-city agreement event,” said Kang Chan.
As soon as they hit the road, Kang Chan felt conflicted.
If Kang Chan were to make the wrong judgment here, then they had to stop looking for Sharlan. Otherwise, Kang Chan would also be the one who meddled recklessly and messed up their entire plan for nothing.
‘Still, we should go. Our priority is saving Lanok.’
He could kill someone who had escaped his grasp later, but he couldn’t revive a dead person.
As Kang Chan hardened his resolve, Seok Kang-Ho handed over his phone from the back seat.
“This is the venue for the sister-city event with Lyon today, and at night there’s also a festival at night where people catch trout while holding a torch.”
Kim Tae-Jin parked the car to the side and checked the location.
“It’s hard to guess how Wui Min-Gook will attack Lanok,” Kim Min-Gook told Kang Chan.
“I heard Lanok’s car is a bulletproof Benz. Wouldn’t he be okay in it?”
“He would be if he was escaping. If they attack him while he’s parked, surviving for even just ten minutes would prove difficult. They’d rip through the layers of bulletproof glass.”
After familiarizing himself with the location, they hit the road again.
“Why don’t we attack Wui Min-Gook first?” Kang Chan asked.
Kim Tae-Jin quickly turned his gaze from the driver’s seat.
“Cleaning up the mess wouldn’t be a problem, would it?” Kang Chan asked again.
“That’s not a bad plan. If nothing happens today, then let’s take the fight to Wui Min-Gook.” Kim Tae-Jin answered firmly. They didn’t have any notable conversation afterward. Since Kim Tae-Jin knew the national road and even the old roads in detail, they easily reached their destination.
“That seems to be the ambassador’s car,” Kim Tae-Jin commented.
“They most likely can’t cause trouble here, so they’re waiting for him to leave.”
“That’s probably it.”
They parked the car quite a distance away from the venue and popped its trunk open. They then took the bayonets and hid them behind their backs.
“What about body armor?” asked Kim Tae-Jin.
“They’re too eye-catching.”
Kim Tae-Jin thought about it for a moment, then closed the trunk.
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1. Also known as Kimchi Stew, Kimchi-jjigae is a popular stew-like Korean dish made up of Kimchi and other ingredients ☜
2. Paju is a city in South Korea ☜
3. Lyon is a city in France ☜
4. sister-city agreement is when two cities form a ‘sisterhood’ or a close relationship between two politically and geographically different localities, to help each other and promote commercial and cultural ties ☜