He took another sip of his coffee, this time savoring the taste for a good while before speaking again.
“A hitman who could quietly take care of Jung-hoon and Park Eun-young, out of the government’s sight.”
Lee Young-jin thought he was in shock. His lips trembled, and his eyelids drooped. It felt as though ice had been placed on the tips of his fingers and toes, freezing the veins all the way to his heart.
“As you know, after the Shanghai incident, it was chaotic for a while. Eventually, even Interpol got involved, so probably before Jung-hoon and Park Eun-young could spill anything to the government, they wanted to take care of it beforehand.”
“Teacher.”
Lee Young-jin barely managed to murmur.
“So, Yoon-seok, you…”
“No, no, no, no. Wait. You should listen to the whole story in Korean. I’m not just any acquaintance to you, right? Hmm? We’ve been quite close.”
Choi Yoon-seok winked at Lee Young-jin and stealthily placed his hand over Lee Young-jin’s hand resting on the table.
“I know you’re close with Jung-hoon, and I’ve worked with Jung-hoon a few times before. Park Eun-young, well, let’s leave her aside. Anyway, it felt too dodgy, you know?”
Then, Choi Yoon-seok blinked his eyes coquettishly and lightly lifted and lowered his hands.
“So, I pulled out. You see me hiding here, don’t you? Originally, I planned to flee to places like Cebu or Da Nang to lay low for a while, but things got bigger than expected. You know? Park Eun-young got caught. How could I rashly flee overseas…”
Choi Yoon-seok lowered his voice.
“The prosecution is sweeping through pretty much all the passports. Be careful, Young-jin. Hm? Did you handle the Shanghai trip okay?”
“Uh-huh.”
Lee Young-jin responded with a voice that seemed to have lost its soul. Choi Yoon-seok, not noticing, grinned.
“Haha. Well, I guess you handled it yourself as always.”
He reached out again and took Lee Young-jin’s hand.
“You… you’ve lost weight? Huh? Have you eaten? The sandwiches here are amazing. Do you have plans after this? My place is just around here, and the view is incredible. You can see the lake perfectly from the first and second floors. Obviously, from the bedroom too. You can see an amazing sunset lying on the bed. It’s a friend’s villa, but I borrowed it for a bit. How about it? Have a barbecue for lunch, and take a short break until sunset, hm?”
“No…”
Lee Young-jin absent-mindedly shook his head.
“I have… something to do afterward. Next time.”
He slowly extracted his hand from under Choi Yoon-seok’s palm and stood up. Choi Yoon-seok also stood up, wrapping his arm around Lee Young-jin’s waist.
“You look tired. How did you get here? Don’t tell me you drove all the way from Seoul? Take a break, won’t you?”
“I have urgent matters… Sorry, Yoon-seok. Next time…”
“Ah, yes, yes. If it’s urgent, there’s nothing you can do.”
Choi Yoon-seok followed Lee Young-jin out to the cafe’s exterior.
“By the way, Young-jin, did you come here because Teacher…”
He asked the same question Park Eun-young had. Lee Young-jin turned to look at him intently. Choi Yoon-seok made an awkward face, crinkling his eyes and eyebrows together. The corners of his mouth were raised awkwardly. Lee Young-jin watched him for a moment before shaking his head.
“No. I came here on my own. Nobody knows. Not even Teacher.”
“Ah! That’s right. Uh-huh. You know my situation, right? After all, I rejected Teacher’s request, and I was involved in the Shanghai incident.”
Lee Young-jin nodded a few times, then limped towards his car. Choi Yoon-seok quickly opened the car door for him.
“Thanks…”
“Between us, what’s there to thank for. So, are you heading straight back to Seoul now?”
Lee Young-jin emitted an ambiguous “Hmm,” neither affirming nor denying. Choi Yoon-seok shrugged and exhaled sharply, his hand reaching up to caress Lee Young-jin’s shoulder as he sat in the driver’s seat, eventually wrapping around his nape.
“Are you sure you don’t need to rest?”
“It’s okay.”
Lee Young-jin declined Choi Yoon-seok’s repeated offers of hospitality, even adding, “Next time…” to express his apologies.
“Alright. Next time, for sure?”
After receiving several confirmations, Choi Yoon-seok finally stepped back, allowing Lee Young-jin to start the car and accelerate. The gray hatchback kicked up gravel as it left the parking lot.
He gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands, focusing straight ahead.
The road leading to Mokak-ro was deserted, with few cars or pedestrians in sight. Only a traffic light blinking with an orange glow stood tall. His gaze lingered on the empty road ahead, while his brain and biological circuits flashed busily inside his small head.
Uncertain about what to believe or what he wanted to believe, Lee Young-jin decided to think more objectively and future-oriented.
Jung-hoon and Park Eun-young were professionals. Both had extensive experience in this line of work. Jung-hoon had significant connections in North and Southwest China, while Park Eun-young was influential in the Kanto region of Japan. If they wanted to hide from someone, tracking them down would undoubtedly be challenging.
How?
Where to start?
Both Jung-hoon’s disappearance and Park Eun-young’s arrest were in China, around the time Lee Young-jin had returned from Shanghai. [Interpol arrests duo of Korean nationality in Shanghai H Bank intrusion. Linked to international terrorist organization… Expected to be extradited to domestic law enforcement this month.] A snippet of news he had come across by chance in a penthouse overlooking the Han River. Considering the time lag between the news broadcast and their actual arrest, it’s likely that Jung-hoon and Park Eun-young had been targeted for tracking much earlier. Almost simultaneously with, or even before, Lee Young-jin’s return to Korea.
Perhaps from the moment Seo Seung-hyun had let them go.
At that time, Seo Seung-hyun had taken the trouble to choose an absurd route to return to Seoul, enduring a twelve-hour voyage from Shanghai to Ningbo, and then flying privately from there to Gimpo, just to return to Seoul.
Seo Seung-hyun’s taunting voice came to mind.
‘Pudong would be ideal. Ningbo is the next best thing if you can get a limousine. Unfortunately, even that’s not possible, so what can you do? As long as you get to Seoul.’
He knew that Seo Seung-hyun, aware of the limited time for the second item, had chosen such an inconvenient schedule because he was certain he couldn’t safely exit through Pudong Airport with the item. He knew that all eyes of the national intelligence agencies were on him, and he sought ways to secretly return to the country, evading their surveillance and tracking.
If Seo Seung-hyun had released Jung-hoon and Park Eun-young in that situation, the intelligence agencies’ attention would naturally have shifted towards them.
Park Eun-young’s eventual detention by Interpol was an inevitable consequence.
His grip on the steering wheel tightened. His knuckles turned white, and blue veins bulged on the back of his hand.
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