In early March, the night air was chilly. A slow breeze fluttered the faux raccoon fur on the hood and Lee Young-jin’s eyelashes.
He waited at the bus stop. After 15 minutes, the bus with the number he needed arrived. He rolled the coins in his pocket, boarded the bus, and dropped them into the fare box. It was just short of rush hour, and there were a few empty seats on the bus. He found a corner seat and sat down. The bus swayed left and right as it moved forward. The scenery outside the window gradually became familiar. A five-story dormitory building, an old community center, a frayed church sign with Bible verses on a second-story window, and flashing telecom company dealerships on each corner of the intersection…
The bus stopped at a station under an overpass.
The old apartments, designated for reconstruction but left as they were because the size of the complex was too small to be profitable for developers, stood tightly packed together.
Lee Young-jin got off the bus.
Further on, a neighborhood of villas and row houses stretched out. He walked down a familiar alley. There was a chicken shop in the middle of a three-way intersection next to a small supermarket and a dollar store. A young man, holding a child’s hand in one and tapping on his phone with the other, was waiting in front of the store for chicken.
He knew this was dangerous.
Having failed a mission and even been a prisoner for a while, he could be caught at any time, anywhere.
That Teacher had disposed of Lee Young-jin’s previous house was probably for the same reason.
Lee Young-jin himself couldn’t explain why he wanted to come here.
Over the counter, a young part-time worker handed a man a plastic bag with chicken in it.
“Your chicken is ready!”
It was a stranger’s voice.
Not the college student whom Choi Yoon-seok had found as a substitute.
Lee Young-jin stood in front of the dollar store, silently watching the scene.
Clearly, the grueling part-time job wasn’t suitable for the college student after all. Seeing a new employee indicated a change.
He hesitated for a moment, then turned away.
On his way back home, he bought a chicken from a small dakgangjeong shop. He sat at his desk, nibbled on a chicken leg, then tossed it aside and brushed his teeth for over thirty minutes. Lying in bed, he stared at the ceiling all night, then looked up the fastest flight to Jeju Island.
He hardly slept.
The bus to Gimpo Airport was stuck in morning rush hour traffic. After an hour and a half on the road, he arrived at Gimpo Airport. During that time, Lee Young-jin sat in the back seat of the bus, his slim laptop open on his lap, working on several tasks. It was a preparation to leave no trace. He spent 27 minutes checking routes, enhancing a fake identity, and accessing the reservation system of a lodging facility to change the name. The rest of the time was spent convincing himself of the reason for going to Jeju Island. It was a productive hour and a half.
On the flight, he couldn’t do much except clutch the seat belt. The plane rocked as it entered cumulonimbus clouds, alternating between downdrafts and updrafts shaking the aircraft.
The sky over Jeju Island was overcast. Pointed palm leaves fluttered under a sky filled with pale, dense clouds.
“Mr. Kang Seung-soo, your reservation has been confirmed. Please come this way.”
A smiling staff member led Lee Young-jin to a spacious parking lot and showed him a round electric car. The interior was neither spacious nor cramped, and smelled of synthetic apple fragrance. Lee Young-jin got into the car.
He drove through the inner roads to Seogwipo City. Another hour and a half. The roads were quiet. The electric car veered off the well-maintained road onto a gentle uphill slope. The road became more winding and narrow. Buildings started to appear. It was the city center. He passed an electric car charging station. A building that looked like the city hall also went by. He drove past low and old apartments tightly packed together, then stopped.
Lee Young-jin parked his car two blocks away from the nondescript three-story villa located between a chicken shop and a convenience store. It was 9:18 AM. After waiting for 12 minutes, he stepped out. Despite it being March, the sea breeze was cold. A couple of raindrops fell from the overcast, milky sky. Lee Young-jin pulled his scarf up over his chin and put on a hat. He walked the two blocks. The blind CCTV camera at the villa’s entrance blinked in vain. He looked up at its blind eye for a few seconds before stepping inside the entrance.
He climbed one and a half floors and stood in front of the left one of two facing doors. He pressed the bell.
Ding dong.
There was a sound inside, almost like the air moving rather than footsteps.
Lee Young-jin momentarily drifted into old memories.
The first day in Shanghai. Jung-hoon knocking on the worn front door, the door swinging open, Park Eun-young appearing, and Lee Young-jin peeking inside from behind Jung-hoon…
“Didn’t I tell you not to ring the bell so many times…”
The gruff voice suddenly stopped.
Lee Young-jin swallowed hard.
Perhaps he had hoped it wasn’t her.
“…you’re alive.”
Park Eun-young whispered in a low voice from behind the door. Lee Young-jin looked at her and then quietly nodded.
She stepped aside at the door, gesturing for Lee Young-jin to come in.
The interior was nothing special: two rooms, a small living room, and a kitchen cum dining area. Park Eun-young brought two cans of cider for Lee Young-jin, who sat on the living room sofa.
“There’s not much to drink. It’s a bit early for alcohol.”
She shrugged and sat on the sofa a seat away from him.
“So, what brings you here?”
“It’s about Mr. Jung-hoon.”
Click. The lid of her cider can crumpled under her fingers.
“Jung-hoon?”
Park Eun-young’s expression didn’t change much. She took a few sips of cider and put the can down on the table. Then she leaned back deeply into the sofa, crossing her legs wrapped in tight jeans.
“I don’t know. After escaping from Shanghai like that and being tracked down…”
She twirled the short hair above her ear with her fingertips.
“We split up right before being caught. And as you see, I got caught, and I don’t know anything after that.”
“What about Mr. Jung-hoon, then?”
“I don’t know.”
At that answer, Lee Young-jin’s eyelids lifted halfway. His eyelashes fluttered, and the corners of his eyes crinkled slightly. A clear tear welled up under his slightly folded eye ends. His eyes were moist.
Park Eun-young slightly raised her chin and then cast her gaze out the window of the living room.
“If he’s alive, he’ll take care of himself. If not, well…”
She trailed off.
“If not…”
Lee Young-jin quietly echoed.
If not.
“Then…”
His mouth was dry. Lee Young-jin wanted to ask something else but didn’t know what to ask, knowing that finding the answers himself would be the fastest way.
“Then…”
“Then there’s no ‘then.’”
Park Eun-young cut him off.
She looked at him quietly. His dense eyelashes, moist black eyes, and the pupil that twitched slightly inside.
“Ah, shit.”
She scratched the back of her head. The short hair fluttered.
“I wasn’t going to go this far.”
A low curse followed.
“Young-jin.”
Her voice carried a certain tenderness, reminiscent of how Jung-hoon might have called him, yet it left a bittersweet trace.
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