He let go of the door handle and took a step back. Seo Seung-hyun stepped into the room following him. Lee Young-jin’s feet came to a halt. The rough texture of Seo Seung-hyun’s index finger touched Lee Young-jin’s cheek lightly. Then, the fingerprint part of that index finger pressed gently against his lower lip before retreating. It was an odd contact. Seo Seung-hyun’s lips slightly curved upwards. He looked down at Lee Young-jin with eyes and mouth both gently curved, as if that brief contact was merely a figment of Lee Young-jin’s imagination. Then, without hesitation, he turned his body away.
Seo Seung-hyun moved agilely across the spacious room and settled deeply onto the couch by the window overlooking the eastern courtyard. He leaned on the armrest, tilting his body slightly, resting his chin on his palm as he gazed at Lee Young-jin.
“Bring the laptop over here.”
Lee Young-jin, who had been frozen in place, snapped back to attention at those words.
He hurriedly unplugged the cable connected to the monitor and carried the laptop over.
“Display the data.”
Lee Young-jin followed the command calmly.
The laptop was placed diagonally on the table. Seo Seung-hyun quickly scrolled down, glancing through neatly organized documents spanning over a hundred pages, complete with tables and graphs.
“Ayadema has debts amounting to around a billion dollars?”
“About six months ago, he borrowed some dollars from HSBC to purchase Bulgarian government bonds, but due to the Lev’s exchange rate surging by 0.17 dollars, he incurred foreign exchange losses.”
“Hmm, that must have been a significant loss. Okay, what about Cabore?”
“He was about to sign an MOU with Danny Faure Group worth three billion dollars, so they won’t participate in this auction.”
“Danny Faure Group?”
“Yes.”
“Are there related documents?”
“I have internal documents with the CEO’s signature.”
“Good. Organize them separately and send them to Young-hee. How about Pamfilova?”
“Politically, her position isn’t great. She’ll soon step down from her chairmanship due to her daughter’s extramarital affair. Prime Minister Nazarbayeva found out about it and contacted the Russian media.”
“Haha, if that’s the case, they should worry about their own lives first. That’s good. They might need some help to transfer their asylum funds overseas. When will the article be published?”
“Hmm… If the journalist doesn’t die halfway through, it should be out within a week.”
“Send the journalist’s profile to Young-hee.”
After that, Seo Seung-hyun swiftly tapped on the smartphone screen, sending messages to several people with specific instructions. He kept his gaze fixed on the liquid crystal surface as he spoke.
“Murray, Slater, Yorios, Tan, that’s okay. But why is Gerbandi on the absent list?”
“Oh, about that, I was going to mention him.”
Lee Young-jin’s hand reached for the keyboard.
His nimble fingertips tapped a few keys, and a different document appeared on the screen.
“Four days ago, Gerbandi visited Singapore. Three assistants accompanied him, and they stayed at the Capella Hotel. During this time, he met with someone…”
The screen changed again.
A zoomed-in photo cropped from a group picture appeared.
An East Asian man in his mid-twenties, with a few top buttons of his white shirt loosely undone, and rolling up his sleeves. Slightly prominent double eyelids and an innocent, beaming face with eyes and eyebrows forming a big smile. His lips were parted slightly, revealing his upper front teeth.
Seo Seung-hyun’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“This is…”
“That’s the man Gerbandi met, Xi Xiping. He’s a mid-level official of the Macau-based Triad and also the adopted son of the Su Bang godfather.”
“No need to explain.”
Seo Seung-hyun interrupted Lee Young-jin’s words with a smile.
“I know the guy.”
He tilted his head and smiled as if finding it very amusing. The noon sunlight poured in through the elongated window, making his slender irises appear bright blue.
“Then Xi Xiping will come instead of Gerbandi.”
“Yeah…”
“Is he already in Bogota?”
“Yes. He arrived at El Dorado Airport yesterday and is currently staying at the Four Seasons Casa Medina. If he’s someone you know, should I remove him from the list?”
Lee Young-jin looked at Seo Seung-hyun’s perfectly crafted smile, which was almost too perfect, resembling a mask.
Seo Seung-hyun shook his head.
“No need. You focus on investigating the other five.”
“Will you handle Xi Xiping?”
“Of course.”
His charming and convincing smile rose flawlessly above his well-defined facial features.
“I know him very well.”
With those words, Seo Seung-hyun unexpectedly reached out and lightly tapped Lee Young-jin’s shoulder before pulling away. Lee Young-jin’s shoulders twitched in response.
“Good job.”
It wasn’t overly affectionate, sweet, or even tender. Rather, his voice felt dry, a simple word. It was the same one Seo Seung-hyun occasionally used towards Jang Young-hee or other employees.
Lee Young-jin’s mouth slightly opened as he looked up at him.
Seo Seung-hyun stood up from his chair, adjusting the cufflinks that held his sleeves in place, and gazed at Lee Young-jin.
“How about eating? You didn’t have lunch, right?”
Instead of answering, Lee Young-jin just nodded, his mouth still slightly agape. Suddenly, a mischievous smile played on Seo Seung-hyun’s lips.
“Why so surprised?”
His hand reached out towards Lee Young-jin again, and this time, his fingertips gently touched Lee Young-jin’s cheek. It was a tender touch, as if caressing. Lee Young-jin finally realized that his cheek felt warm, as if it had been burned. The redness gradually spread from the tip of his nose to his neck. Seo Seung-hyun’s hand didn’t move away, and Lee Young-jin’s body remained frozen, unable to step back or avoid the touch.
Seo Seung-hyun’s eyes narrowed, and a rich smile filled his thin eye creases. Every time Lee Young-jin saw that smile, he was surprised at how such a sweet expression could appear on Seo Seung-hyun’s perfectly angular face. And once again, it was the same this time.
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