When Jeong Taeui was here a long time ago, the Administrator Supervisor was Xinlu. A faint mix of nostalgia and apology arose suddenly. However, these feelings quickly faded into something akin to relief.
Unlike Jeong Taeui, who had changed in the number at the beginning of his age, Xinlu was still the same age as before, and since their parting in Johannesburg, Jeong Taeui hadn't seen him even once. He had only occasionally heard news through Kyle-more precisely, through Gable, an old subordinate of Kyle's who ended up working there after dropping off the injured Xinlu at his home about his well-being.
Then, last year, he received a letter just once. It was shortly after being pardoned by Rahman and being released from international wanted status, following a nightmare of a night in Frankfurt.
"Congratulations on regaining your freedom. p.s. It seems that the loss of inhumanity is still a distant prospect. Keep it up."
The same material paper that came out of a neat and beautiful envelope had only those words.
Seeing the playful note, Jeong Taeui couldn't help but laugh.
He hadn't forgotten. You were doing well too. Free from the emotions that troubled you.
Thinking this, Jeong Taeui spent a long time fondling the paper and laughing happily.
(After that, Ilay snatched the paper and raised one eyebrow, muttering meaningfully, "Loss of humanity, huh? That's an interesting way to put it," and then persistently cornered Jeong Taeui. The result was not at all pleasant.)
"...."
Jeong Taeui slowed his steps.
When he thought of Xinlu, memories that followed naturally like potato vines inevitably
included Ilay. And in those memories, Ilay created some truly...unforgettable moments, even when reminisced upon after many years.
Well, it's fortunate that I'm still alive and able to walk around like this.
"Besides, he's somewhat less inhumane now, at least to me. Probably."
These days, Jeong Taeui still occasionally disposed of bloodstained gloves-though most were discarded before returning home, so it was only "occasionally." With a sigh, he tried to reassure himself.
"Come on, let's only think good thoughts, good thoughts. After all, I won't be seeing him until I go to Seoul next month, so there's no need to dwell on dark memories."
As Jeong Taeui lightly tapped his chest and tried to bury the gloomy memories, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Come to think of it, he hadn't told that guy he was stopping by Hong Kong-let alone that he was stuck there because his uncle had detained him. Well, he couldn't have said anything anyway. Up until three or four hours ago, Jeong Taeui himself hadn't known he'd end up here.
"....Whatever. That guy said his work would last until next month anyway, and I'll be
heading to Seoul in about two weeks."
As long as the situation didn't arise where the guy returned to Korea only to find that Jeong Taeui had wandered off somewhere else in the meantime, everything should be fine.
If by chance they got in touch before then, he'd tell him he was staying in Hong Kong for a bit, and if not, they'd meet in Korea as planned.
Jeong Taeui, feeling lighter, hummed a tune as he entered his uncle's room, which was now right in front of him.
He had wondered if his uncle might have already returned, but apparently not. The room was empty.
Like everything else, the room hadn't changed. The familiar smell of books greeted him as he opened the door, and when he turned on the light, the familiar layout of the room was revealed.
Jeong Taeui looked around the room, which seemed to have erased the passage of several years, as if time had not passed at all. He casually tossed a Mickey Mouse keychain onto the desk and stretched out on the bed.
As he buried his face in a pillow that smelled like his uncle and lay on his stomach, the
feeling of fatigue suddenly washed over him like a wave. Perhaps he had been more tense than he had realized.
Thinking back, it was no wonder he was tired. After flying for many hours and arriving at a stopover point, he was suddenly stranded, panicked, and ran around for a long time before finally being unceremoniously chased out of the gate with his luggage. After meeting his
uncle who had been waiting for him, and after going through this and that until now, he hadn't had a moment to rest.
"My goodness, he's still like a surprise box... He could have contacted me before I left..."
Jeong Taeui muttered drowsily, complaining to his absent uncle as he closed his eyes. As he did, his heart seemed to relax, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
The feeling of familiarity brings about 10% boredom, 20% nostalgia, and 70% relief. Now, it was time for the relief to set in.
Rocking, rocking.
It wasn't a waterbed, but his body felt as though it was gently swaying.
He might have dozed off. In a half-dream, half-awake state, he sank into the soft bedding, half in a dream, half in a drowsy consciousness. It felt as if his body was sinking deep into it, but even that felt good.
Then, at some point, a warm thought crossed his mind, even in his sleep. This is nice, really nice.
And simultaneously, an unexpected thought crept in.
But is it okay for my life to stay this peaceful for so long?
"..."
The moment that thought crossed his mind, Jeong Taeui suddenly snapped awake as if cold water had been thrown on him. He bolted upright on the bed.
"Hey, no, that's not right. Of course, it's okay. What are you talking about?"
He hurriedly muttered to himself, hugging his body as if to ward off a chill.
"What's wrong with you? Snap out of it. You're thinking something really wrong right now,"
he muttered, shaking his head vigorously.
He must have gotten too used to misfortune.
To feel uneasy about a peaceful life—that's not right.
Jeong Taeui shuddered, pushing away the thoughts that had crept into his mind, and shivered at the thought of the battered-wife syndrome that suddenly came to mind.
The subconscious really is scary. I was just about to fall asleep nicely, and now look at this.
All the sleepiness has evaporated in an instant.
Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue bitterly and looked around aimlessly. It seemed like he had slept well, but not much time had passed.
His uncle still showed no signs of returning.
"...."
As he scratched his head, Jeong Taeui suddenly noticed something on the bedside table. It was a few sheets of paper, seemingly left there in the middle of being read. They appeared to be some kind of list.
Jeong Taeui, with nothing better to do, casually pulled the papers toward him and blinked at the list, which included names, ages, affiliations, and nationalities. After staring at the list of what appeared to be dozens of names, he soon nodded in understanding.
It seemed to be a list of outsiders who were supposed to come to this branch next week. The dates in the far-right column suggested as much. Most of them had a date from next week, with only one or two marked for a day or two earlier or later.
"They said they sent a notice to the Asian branch, and sure enough, most of the nationalities are from Asia...But am I supposed to be looking at this document?"
He tilted his head but didn't ponder for long.
If it were an important document, there was no way Uncle would have left it lying around carelessly, knowing that Jeong Taeui would come and go from this room. Besides, they would all be facing each other next week anyway.
The contents of the list were not exactly a secret—just things like age and nationality.
"Forty-five people in total, huh? Well, we received half of the branch's personnel during joint training too. Seems like that hasn't changed. Let's see, how many are coming from my home country...?"
Jeong Taeui's finger skimmed down the list categorized by nationality and stopped at the section starting with 'Korea (Rep of)." (It was almost pointless to write "Rep of," since there wasn't a single person coming from North Korea.)
Five people were coming from South Korea. The name at the top, listed with an English
name and marked with 'U.S.A.' in the remarks column, seemed to be the person Jeong Taeui was supposed to protect.
"Ronald Hogan...So, most of the others are military personnel... Sang-rock Kim, Chang-oh Yoon, Ho-jin Park, Jeong-pil Kim...Hmm?"
Jeong Taeui's finger, which had been running down the list, suddenly stopped. It wasn't just his finger that paused; his expression also became peculiar.
...He thought he saw a familiar name just now. Not just familiar, but a name that was
extremely irritating and unsettling.
"...Kim Jeong-pil...?"
Jeong Taeui's brows furrowed as he double-checked the spelling. He stared at the name
intently for a few seconds before he started to move his finger sideways to check the
affiliation. At that moment, the phone on the desk rang quietly, breaking the silence.
Jeong Taeui looked at the phone with an annoyed gaze. He briefly lowered his eyes to the paper in his hand, but soon set it down as if tossing it aside and walked over to the desk.
However, as he instinctively stood up in response to the ringing phone, he realized two things: one, there might be an issue with answering someone else's call without permission, and two, judging by the long, drawn-out ring, it was an external call.
"Hm—."
Though he quickly reached the desk just a few steps away, he hesitated, unsure whether he should answer the call. The phone eventually switched to the answering machine after several rings. At the same time, the LCD screen lit up.
"Not there....—?
A low, cool voice came from the other end of the line.
The moment he heard that voice, and the moment he saw the image on the screen, Jeong Taeui froze, as if time had stopped.
Apparently, when the call was forwarded to the answering machine, the other side could see this side's image as well. The voice, which had been casually murmuring, paused midway, and an unnatural silence ensued.
"...."
[....]
It was obvious that the person on the other end was watching him, judging by the silence that hung in the air without the call being disconnected. Just as Jeong Taeui was looking at the image on the screen, the person on the other end was doing the same.
Well, not exactly-only a part of the person was visible on the screen. What was clearly
visible was a beautifully shaped white hand.
Suddenly, a sense of déjà vu struck him. As if he had seen this somewhere before...<<
...Enough with the denial. It wasn't just that it seemed familiar, he had seen it before. In fact, he had seen this exact image in this very room, on this very screen.
There was no need for things to be identical to the past in this way.
With that thought, Jeong Taeui slowly reached out and pressed the button to cancel the answering machine.
"...Uncle isn't here yet."
[I see. It seems so.]
"If you I have a message, should I write it down for you?"
[No, it's not that urgent.]
"Okay. I'll let him know you called when he returns."
[Thanks for that. I appreciate it. But, Taeui?]
The moment he heard the voice call his name, Jeong Taeui had a sense that the brief conversation was over. With a suddenly somber tone, he muttered, "Yeah, why?"
[What are you doing there? You should already be in Seoul by now, checked into the Club Residence at the Grand Intercontinental.]
"....."
The reason he didn't immediately respond wasn't just because he wasn't at the expected location.
"Was the hotel reservation made like that? I didn't know that. Thanks for letting me know,
Ilay."
Yes, Ilay Riegrow—that's who this man was.
Had he really told this man, "I'll give you my address so you can find me easily," at some
point? He could laugh at himself now for that.
Jeong Taeui pressed his temple lightly as it started to throb.
"A little incident came up. Or rather, a trouble....But your timing is impeccable. I was going
to tell you that I'm stuck in Hong Kong for a while anyway, even though I'll still be going to
Korea in about two weeks as planned."
[.....Two weeks?]
"Yeah. My uncle asked me to do something."
Jeong Taeui sighed lightly.
Although he had frozen up at the unexpected call, in hindsight, it was actually a good thing.
He could use this chance to let him know about his brief stay in Hong Kong.
[Two weeks...Something your uncle, Instructor Jeong, asked you to do...?]
Ilay muttered slowly.
"Yeah, it's nothing too difficult. He asked me to protect someone coming in for the joint
training next week."
[…...]
As Jeong Taeui casually explained, slumping down into the chair by the desk, there was an odd silence from the other end of the line.
"Ilay?"
[Yes, I'm listening.]
On the screen, a finger lightly tapped the table. It seemed like the person was deep in thought, but whether it was out of interest or displeasure, it was impossible to tell without seeing his face.
[Two weeks, you say...]
Jeong Taeui responded simply, "Yeah," to the vaguely trailing words. Another silence
followed, but it was brief this time.
[Well, that works out.]
A voice came back, sounding as if something had been neatly resolved.
"Huh? What does?"
[I'll be seeing you sooner than planned, Taeui.]