The movement that dragged Lee Young-jin like livestock to the slaughterhouse stopped. The violent grip on his arms fell away like a lie. His helpless body collapsed and crumpled in place.
The hood fell off his head.
Light poured in.
Lee Young-jin, who had his cheeks pressed on the floor, could see the shiny shoe coming closer and closer. The shoe stopped in front of Lee Young-jin’s eyes. After a while, the man bent his knees and crouched down. He stared down at Lee Young-jin.
The man bent his knees and squatted down, staring down at Lee Young-jin. A smile crept across his lips.
“What are you going to say?”
“That code…”
Lee Young-jin desperately moved his hardened tongue.
“There’s another password hidden.”
The man tilted his head as he smiled.
He straightened his bent knee without hesitation.
Lee Young-jin watched from a distance as the man’s shoes turned in the opposite direction and his feet quickly moved away.
Did he get it wrong?
But the very next moment, his body was lifted.
His head turned upward and blood rushed, making his eyes spin. His staggering body was supported by four powerful arms on each side. The man’s back was visible in front of him. It was a straight back. The shoulder blades that stood out on the taut fabric rose and fell softly and gently with each step he took.
Four arms dragged Lee Young-jin and followed the man.
This time, Lee Young-jin could see everything around him.
A dark hallway followed. The floor was wooden and the walls were painted red. At each corner of the rectangular section of the ceiling, ceiling decorations were elaborately overlapped with red-painted wood. There were round windows with lattices inserted at regular intervals, but all the windows were closed from the outside and sealed tightly as if they had been painted with cement. Overall, it was Chinese-style, but the framed paintings and portraits that hung sparsely on the walls were ridiculously Western, so it was incongruous. The lights installed above the frames illuminated the hallway dimly.
The end of the hallway led to a stairway.
Even while being dragged, Lee Young-jin somehow looked around him and tried to find clues to understand the current situation, but failed. This strange hallway was a jumble of east and west, even the era, so he couldn’t figure out anything.
A meticulously woven wooden staircase rose. The stairs were oriental, but the carpet covering them was a relic of the old European monarchy.
The man put his foot up the incongruous step.
Lee Young-jin lifted his head and looked at his back.
Every time the man took a step, the supple twitching of his shoulder blades and muscles on his back could be seen vaguely over his clothes. It wouldn’t even be strange if a cloak was hanging down from that vertically falling shoulder.
Lee Young-jin guessed that it was quite late now. When he met the man two and a half hours ago, sunlight was shining through the window. It was neither too early nor too late. If he’s still in Eastern China.
They walked about ten meters through the corridors and stairs.
A large double door appeared. A perfectly symmetrical ornate latticework was fitted on either side of the maroon mahogany door, and it was painted alternating between gold and green. The doorknob in the form of a cow’s head and the elaborate relief engraved around it stood out.
The man casually pushed open the door and turned halfway.
The two figures who had been pressing down on Lee Young-jin from both sides let him go and pushed his back. Lee Young-jin stumbled forward about a couple of steps. The man stretched out his hand without hesitation and grabbed Lee Young-jin’s wrist. Lee Young-jin was then dragged inside.
The door closed behind their backs.
It was a long, rectangular room that looked like a large drawing room.
A thick curtain was drawn down the entire wall on one side. A stately sofa and table occupied the center of the room, with a very fancy bar at one end. The surface of the long wooden bar was decorated with vine-shaped gold ornaments, and various types of glasses hung from the top of the bar. The glass cabinet at the back was packed with bottles of wine.
There was a fireplace on one wall, and two large pottery pieces the height of Lee Young-jin stood on either side of it. The enormous chandeliers were adorned with thousands of crystals and reflected light in all directions.
As in other areas of the mansion, a tasteless room that seemed to have baroque furniture inserted into a Tang dynasty building.
Lee Young-jin didn’t even have time to look around this grotesque room.
He groaned and shrugged his shoulders.
He was out of breath.
Was it becaue of fear or suspense or both?
Then the man raised a hand towards him.
“Lee Young-jin.”
He called Lee Young-jin’s name in a very friendly way. He didn’t even think to ask when or how he knew that name. With his mind in a mess, Lee Young-jin just approached him when he flicked his finger.
The man’s finger pointed to the sofa again. Again, Lee Young-jin sat down on the single seater sofa, which seemed to be about 300 years old, but was cleanly maintained as if it had been made yesterday.
“Wrist.”
What for?
Suspicion and wariness ran through his mind at the same time.
Lee Young-jin looked at the man and the first aid kit in front of him, then hesitantly held out his wrist. The man opened the lid of the first aid kit. It might not be a first aid kit. A gun might come out from inside. Contrary to Lee Young-jin’s suspicion, the box contained ordinary first aid medicine.
The man took out rubbing alcohol and cotton balls.
Lee Young-jin just looked at him with confused eyes.
After treeting the wounds left by the plastic handcuffs, the man closed the lid of the first aid kit with a click. Lee Young-jin’s eyes followed his movements. The man who noticed his gaze turned his head. Their eyes met briefly.
The light reflected from the chandelier hovered around the man’s eyebrows. There was a glistening glow around his forehead and it made the man look like a statue fashioned from some hard transparent metal. Lee Young-jin tilted his head and looked at the floor, avoiding his gaze.
“Why…”
A hesitant whisper leaked out.
The man who sensitively caught the whisper glanced down at Lee Young-jin.
“Why?”
“Why did you treat my wounds?”
“The Geneva Convention clearly stipulates the treatment of prisoners of war. I’m a person who adheres to international norms.”
“According to the Geneva Convention, it is forbidden to force prisoners to work for the enemy.”
When Lee Young-jin pointed it out, the man narrowly closed one eye.
“Precisely, the act of forcing people to serve is prohibited. You only provided a little help.”
“…you forced me.”
“It was a deal.”
Where did he get the courage to continue that argument? Lee Young-jin was surprised and closed his lips.
But at this very moment, he felt a strange sense of relief that this man wouldn’t kill him. If he was going to do that, what would be the point of treating his wounds?
It’s never a bad sign.
Lee Young-jin swallowed his dry saliva and cleared his throat.
“I…I solved the code, so my colleagues are safe, right?”
“Shouldn’t you be more concerned about yourself and not your colleagues?”
The man asked with a smile on his face.
“…what are you going to do with me?”
“Not sure.”
At that ambiguous answer, Lee Young’jin’s gaze wavered. A few seconds passed. The corners of the man’s lips lifted gently.
“I am contemplating whether to hand you over to Interpol or to the Yeocheong Division. International crimes are dealt with by Interpol, but if the target is a Korean citizen or a minor, I wondered if it’d be appropriate for the Yeocheong Department to be in charge.”
“…I’m not a minor.”
“Then? 20? 22?”
Lee Young-jin shook his head without answering. The man didn’t seem to expect a clear answer either.
Unable to endure the awkward silence, Lee Young-jin tilted his head first and glanced sideways at the man. Their eyes met right away. The man was smiling. His eyes narrowed and the corners of his mouth turned slightly upward. The twinkling light of the chanderlier still hovered near his forehead. For no reason, starting from the top of Lee Young-jin’s forehead to the nape of his neck, all at once turned red. His whole face was hot. He was being teased. He realized that only after he couldn’t hide his flushed face.
The man let out a short laugh as if he was having fun.
The atmosphere rose and fell rapidly like waves.
The man had the strength and ability to wield it.
“My colleagues…”
“Well. I don’t think I have the will to tell you that.”
“But I cracked the code.”
“Ah, right. Thank you for your help. It was very, very helpful.”
The man thanked him in an exaggerated voice. In response, Lee Young-jin wriggled his fingers, not knowing what to do.
At that time, the man pressed his back deeply against the back of the sofa and crossed his legs to form a relaxed posture.
“A password that’s said to be hidden in the code. Let’s talk about it.”
It was the sudden start of a conversation.
Lee Young-jin blankly looked up, then mustered the courage to open his mouth.
“First, tell me about my colleagues. You said it was a deal, so pay me properly.”
The man tilted his head slightly to the side. It was a strange movement whose meaning wasn’t known, with the addition of a thin eye smile.
“I don’t think you’re talking about the code.”
“My colleagues come first.”
He was terrified, but he didn’t avert his eyes. Last chance not to run away. That was right now.
The man laughed again. The corners of his eyes creased and his eyes folded into round semicircles. It was the same as an expressionless smile, but it was more effective than having no expression.
He gazed at Lee Young-jin with long, narrow eyes. His calm and tenacious gaze stabbing Lee Young-jin with a sense of tension, as if the surface of his skin was burning. The tension resembled the pain of poking a pore with a sharp needle.
The man broke the silence with a calm voice.
“Will that be enough?”
“W-what?”
“You want to know whether your comrades are alive or dead, not about your safety or any other demands, in exchange for cracking the code in two and a half hours that my men couldn’t solve in 48 hours?”
“That…that…”
Lee Young-jin stuttered before he could speak then closed his mouth again in resentment. The option the man gave was blackmail. A deal. The man said it was a deal, but what did Lee Young-jin get from the deal?
Anger and resentment mixed all at once and rose to the top of his head. His lungs swelled up rapidly and shrank in an instant. His spine stiffened and his shoulder blades twitched.
Lee Young-jin mumbled with his head down, trying not to look him in the eyes.
“You said you would help me. All three of us including me. In exchange for opening the vault door…”
“I did.”
The man cut off Lee Young-jin’s words with a cold-hearted resoluteness and immediately asked back.
“Do you trust me to keep my promise?”
“I remember you saying you keep your promises.”
“Yes. Do you believe that too?”
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