03: Shanghai (3)
***
It could only be said that it was through luck that the deal that was tantamount to gambling was concluded. Lee Young-jin recalled the momentary embarrassment that had passed over Seo Seung-hyun’s face as he said those words out loud, so brief and blurry that he would never have been able to detect it if he hadn’t looked.
Lee Young-jin knew very little information about him.
His pronunciation. Speech. Attitude. Attire. Behavior. Gait.
Seo Seung-hyun visited Shanghai directly for the auction. He took care of all eight other bidders, not only personally marched to Lee Young-jin and his colleague’s safe house, but also did not hesitate to show Lee Young-jin his face. It was an act he would never have done unless he had the confidence that no one would recognize him.
How many people knew the man’s face and name?
How many people were after him?
The fact that the sex video could be a weakness for him in a different sense than Lee Young-jin was a fortune for Lee Young-jin.
Lee Young-jin looked down at the smartphone in his hand.
As he held in his hand the SIM card and the newest machine with some features removed, what Seo Seung-hyun had said came to mind.
‘Now the video is only in your hand. Wherever you plant it, it’s up to you. Of course, your colleague’s lives still depend on me.’
A smile floated over the statue-like face that was squarely angled.
‘Doesn’t it seem like our trading relationship has become a bit more equal now?’
His cheeks burned as he thought about the video on the smartphone.
It was the first time he had sex like that.
Even a defective omega like him was an omega. It was the first time he swore he had an erection while having sex. The fact that it spilled something so profusely, the way his body struggled against his will.
Not only the cheeks, but the nape on the back felt hot. No one was watching, but Lee Young-jin covered his face with one hand to hide his expression.
His lower body still hurt and his body throbbed.
The heat of that love affair did not go away and relentlessly circulated in his body.
It wasn’t easy just holding on so as not to faint. Moreso with the reward or favor that followed after the affair.
Seo Seung-hyun gave Lee Young-jin a wonderful bath. After that, a simple snack was given. After the meal, he was ushered into a small room. It wasn’t the room they called the “utility room” but somewhere else. It was fortunate. The utility room had no heater, so it was damp and cold, and the walls and floor smelled strange. On the other hand, the newly introduced room was, at first glance, luxurious to be given to a prisoner.
The only furniture in the room was a bed but that’s fine. Lee Young-jin was satisfied enough with the fact that there’s heating in this room.
He fell asleep and woke up about morning.
He could tell it’s morning thanks to the dim light streaming in from the small flat windows high in the ceiling.
An alpha, big and blunt like an inflated balloon, brought Lee Young-jin a meal. On a square tray, puffy bread, grape jam, and a plastic bottle of water were placed. There was no tableware, as if they’re wary of Lee Young-jin making a foolish trick. Lee Young-jin was just grateful for the meal and reached for the bread. The crust was hard, but when he opened it with force, the inside was soft like cotton candy. He spread grape jam thickly and stuffed it in his mouth. When he was thirsty, he drank the water. The jam was sweet and the bread was soft. After this, he was in a situation where he might not be able to eat, so he crammed food until his stomach was full.
About an hour after the meal, the inflated balloon alpha from earlier returned. He loudly knocked on the door. Lee Young-jin slapped his face a couple of times then stood up, stretching his legs that were squatting on the bed.
After a couple of knocks, the door lock rattled, followed by the door sliding open.
“Come out.”
A blunt voice commanded in Korean.
Lee Young-jin stared at the doorway with a blurry vision. The alpha, who had brought him food, stood imposingly on the narrow doorway with his balloon-like shoulders.
The man forcefully said again.
“Come out.”
Lee Young-jin obediently followed him.
The inflated balloon man didn’t hide his wariness, but he didn’t particularly touch or bind him.
They walked down the aisle. They passed by a portrait of someone on the wall. The camera lens on the portrait’s eyes glanced at them.
They walked for about five minutes, taking several turns in the hallway then up and down the stairs. A familiar door appeared. The inflated balloon man pushed Lee Young-jin into the room. And closed the door behind him.
There was the sundried tomato man in the room.
He glanced at Lee Young-jin with his arms crossed and with a disapproving face, then extended his hand, pointing to a chair.
Lee Young-jin hesitantly looked at him, then walked to where the finger pointed and sat down with his butt pressed against the chair. A computer was placed in front of the chair. Ah. The moment he saw it, Lee Young-jin nodded his head. Seo Seung-hyun offered collateral according to Lee Young-jin’s condition, so now it was Lee Young-jin’s turn. As soon as he understood the situation, the tension was relieved to some extent.
Lee Young-jin quietly put his hands together and sat in the chair, waiting for instructions to start or some other instruction.
Sundried tomato man, with his arms crossed, began to thump the hell out of his shoes. The wrinkles deepened horizontally and vertically between his forehead. A sigh escaped from his flushed face, and his eyes glared at Lee Young-jin.
“I heard you have an easter egg.”
Lee Young-jin obediently nodded his head.
Tomato man’s eyes teared up and his face reddened even more. The sound of his shoe hitting the floor became faster.
“…start.”
Sundried tomato man glared at Lee Young-jin with red eyes and ordered so. Lee Young-jin was a little nervous that he seemed to be in a bad mood, but he nodded his head anyway and put his hands over the keyboard.
Through the Papets circuit, he groped for the memories he had crumpled into his hippocampus with his fingertips and vomited them back out. A weird passphrase. Two items. An unknown piece of code. Please, I hope this easter egg is of value.
32 digits into binary numbers, binary into alphabet, alphabet back to phonetic text, arrange in order…
1 〈- above sea
2 〈- athens of new world
“What’s this?”
Tomato man’s voice slid like scratching a glass window.
“It’s just bullshit, fuck it. That’s it. What Easter egg…”
The grumbling voice died down and stopped.
“Wait, this.”
His hand rested on the monitor.
“This. It’s familiar. [Above sea], above the sea. The item was traded in Shanghai the first time, so the second one…”
It seemed that this person also graduated from college. College students were people who had studied for a long time, so they must know what those English words refer to, which seemed like riddles to Lee Young-jin. Please, this should be something valuable to Seo Seung-hyun, in other words, valuable enough to save Lee Young-jin’s life.
He listened in silence to the chatter of the sundried tomato man.
“Athens, Athens, new world…”
Sundried tomato man pulled out his smartphone and frantically swiped down the screen to find something.
“Crazy, this is it.”
The hand of the sundried tomato man stopped.
He urgently called somewhere.
“Yes, Chief Secretary Jang. No, that’s it. Yes, yes. This seems correct. I’m not sure. This idiot won’t play with us… no, no. No! Not even a password! Just a riddle, a riddle! Chief Secretary, I don’t understand at all, what kind of idiot would hide such a stupid riddle in such an important code…”
At that time, sundried tomato glanced at Lee Young-jin and noticed him watching. Then, the call suddenly changed to Chinese. The man continued to speak quickly in Mandarin which Lee Young-jin couldn’t understand.
Meanwhile, the door burst open from the outside.
The alpha with the inflated balloon-like shoulder reappeared. Lee Young-jin got up on his own before the man could even speak or gesture.
From the other side of the closing door, tomato man’s voice continued to chatter, then cut off as the door closed.
Now, all that was left for Lee Young-jin was the smartphone in his hand.
The palms that held the smartphone like a lifeline were slightly sweaty. Some functions were removed from the smartphone, but it was still possible to communicate with the outside world with some tricks. He might be able to prepare for an emergency by sending the video to Choi Yoon-seok. But still, still. The deal wasn’t over yet. Until he confirmed that Ji Jung-hoon and Park Eun-young were safely released, he couldn’t make any hasty moves.
Lee Young-jin’s gaze traced the floor.
Long shadows were cast by the lashes beneath the thick, gloomy eyelids.
In the first place, the condition of the deal was the lives of his colleagues. Lee Young-jin’s own life was not included in it. After Seo Seung-hyun fulfilled the deal as promised…
“Go in.”
An unfamiliar voice interrupted Lee Young-jin’s thoughts.
Lee Young-jin lifted his head.
The inflated balloon man avoided his gaze and instead knocked the open door once.
“Ah.”
Only then did Lee Young-jin discover the door that was open in front of his eyes. He hurriedly nodded his head and entered the door. The gaze followed him intently. After a few seconds of delay, the alpha reached out and grabbed the door, slowly closing it. Through the narrowing crack in teh door, a deep gaze swept over Lee Young-jin as if watching him. Lee Young-jin took three or four steps back then ran away. The crack in the door was as thin as a thread before the door closed with a thump.
***
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