Perfect Mission Chapter 12 - Lee Hongshin (1)

Chapter 12 – Lee Hongshin (1)

 

What is the most important thing for an agent? Exceptional combat skills? Unbelievable disguises? Or perhaps the irresistible charm that captivates women in an instant?

None of the above.

Manners maketh man.

A line from the movie Kingsman, familiar to almost everyone. However, what was most memorable about Kingsman wasn’t that line, but the agents’ impeccable suits.

That’s right. For an agent, a suit was essential, a mark of identity, the finishing touch.

A suit doesn’t suit a mere high school student? It didn’t suit him because he hadn’t finished his diet yet, not because he was young. Of course, this opinion differed slightly (or significantly) from Jo Gyeongcheol’s pre-death beliefs.

But for Junho, looking good was a crucial element in boosting his self-esteem, so he couldn’t give it up entirely. He’d wear urine-soaked clothes if the situation demanded it, but he’d dress to impress whenever possible. That was his philosophy.

“Not bad.”

Junho nodded, examining himself in the full-length mirror. With some light makeup to accentuate his T-zone and eyebrows, and a few strategically placed red dots to mimic acne scars, his appearance had changed drastically. He styled his hair neatly with wax, put on gold-rimmed glasses, and completed the look with a black suit. A completely different person stood before him. All he needed was to lose another 15kg, and he’d be perfect.

“Sigh… 15? Or 10? No, I think I still need to lose 15kg.”

A suit looked its best when tailored to fit the body. So, Junho went to a bespoke tailor for the first time, but he didn’t understand any of the jargon about fabrics and whatnot. He just nodded along and said, “I’ll take that one.” He felt like he was being ripped off, but he was curious about the result, so he splurged 500,000 won. It wasn’t bad.

He still looked a bit like a gangster in a suit due to his physique, but that could be fixed with more weight loss and another tailored suit. This was the pre-lottery-win win.

“Phew…”

He was rambling, but it was to calm his nerves. Junho put a knife in his briefcase and took a taxi to Yangju, Gyeonggi Province. He had told his mother he was sleeping over at a friend’s house, buying himself time until he returned to school tomorrow morning.

According to Jo Gyeongcheol’s memories, Lee Hongshin had retired from the field seven years ago and was now living in the countryside, sculpting stones. But this world wasn’t a martial arts novel where grudges and debts disappeared with a symbolic face-washing. Real life demanded money, and sometimes, when funds were low, Lee Hongshin would take on odd jobs to make ends meet. He was the type who retired from the field, disgusted with it, but occasionally returned for the money.

He wasn’t an agent or a civilian; in this world, they called such people “one-eyed.” Half-blind. Perhaps they were called that because one eye saw reality, and the other saw the darkness. The reason was unclear, but Lee Hongshin was one-eyed, and that meant he could be in grave danger if threatened. One-eyed people usually had things to protect.

After getting out of the taxi, Junho bought a box of vitamin drinks at a nearby convenience store and started walking. If anyone saw him, they might wonder what he was muttering to himself, but he was practicing his lines. He didn’t know what situation awaited him, so he rehearsed to ensure a smooth performance.

After about ten minutes of walking, he saw a sign that read “Yeonjin Stoneworks” and a large open space with numerous stone sculptures. Entering the area, filled with everything from small carvings to large Buddha statues, Junho exhaled and smiled. He walked towards a small building within the Yeonjin Stoneworks compound.

Knock, knock.

“Hello!”

Silence. Junho, maintaining his composure, knocked again, raising his voice.

“Hello!”

Still no response, but Junho waited. After shouting a couple more times,

“Who is it?”

A man peeked out through the glass door. It wasn’t Lee Hongshin. He looked to be in his mid-forties, with a scruffy beard and a wrinkled face. But his gleaming eyes seemed devoid of fear. The eyes of a predator.

But Junho couldn’t be intimidated by such a look; he wasn’t worthy of being called Gorilla, an A-class agent, if he was.

“Hello. I’m Won Haeseong from Nuri Life Insurance. We spoke on the phone about a consultation after I sent you a catalog. Don’t you remember?”

“What…”

“Oh, sir. I got permission from my team leader to come all the way here from Seoul headquarters for our appointment. Surely, you’re not busy, are you? Haha. I’ll come in and explain.”

Junho tried to push the glass door open, but the man blocked him. Normally, he’d be flustered, but this was a scenario he had prepared for.

“Oh? Are you busy?”

“I’m sorry, but please leave. I’m busy and can’t talk right now.”

“Oh dear… I understand. Then you take care of your business, and I’ll speak with your wife. I can consult with her here. If there’s no cafe nearby, we can talk in my car parked over there. You can just come out and sign the papers later…”

At Junho’s words, a flicker of panic appeared in the man’s eyes for the first time.

“What is this, really…”

“Sir, you must be too busy to remember the details, so I’ll explain again… but it’s not convenient to talk here, can I come in for a moment?”

The man hesitated, then removed his hand from the glass door. Junho smiled and opened the door, sitting on the sofa in the reception area.

“Whew, it’s hot. Do you have any water, sir?”

“…”

The man poured him a glass of water from the water dispenser. While the man was briefly turned away, Junho quickly scanned the room.

“I’m busy, so make it quick.”

“Of course. I’ll explain briefly. As you know, sir, when you have a family, you need to prepare for the unfortunate possibility of your absence from this world due to an accident, right? So, what we offer is…”

Junho opened his bag and took out a stack of documents. He placed the open bag next to him and continued,

“It’s called the Lifetime Family Love Plan. For your family, it guarantees a death benefit of 60 million won with a monthly premium of 120,000 won…”

The laptop, printer, and Photoshop software in his officetel allowed him to do many things. Especially the insurance brochures from the insurance agent who had visited his home, which served as excellent references. He just had to scan the brochures and change the names using Photoshop to create convincing new ones.

Look at him. He kept checking his watch while listening to the product details, anxious to get rid of Junho quickly. That’s why he noticed Junho’s sweating a little late.

“Why are you sweating so much?”

“Ah, as you can see, I’m a bit… large. I can’t live in Korea without air conditioning.”

He had to do it. He’d practiced hundreds of times and imagined countless times what his mindset should be in this situation, but his hand wouldn’t reach into his bag. Stabbing someone with a knife. He was good at other acts, but this was different.

Even with Jo Gyeongcheol’s memories of countless battles, Kang Junho’s personality, which had feared violence and blood for 19 years, was clearly rejecting the act of murder.

“It’s still chilly, though.”

“Haha, I have a high body temperature.”

Sweating profusely because there was no air conditioning when the temperature outside was only 18 degrees Celsius? Even for a larger person, that was strange.

“Let me see your business card.”

A sharp, scrutinizing gaze. Junho smiled and met his eyes without flinching.

“Oh dear, I’m all out of business cards. I requested more yesterday. I’ll send you one as soon as I get back to headquarters.”

Their eyes locked, unwavering, the man’s hand twitching slightly.

A drop of sweat trickled down Junho’s forehead and into his eye—

Whoosh!

The hesitation was long, but Junho moved first. By the time the man’s hand held a knife, Junho had already drawn his own from his bag.

As the man lunged, his military knife flashing, Junho’s bag blocked his view.

“You son of a…!”

The moment the man cleared the bag from his sight, a dark blade plunged into his chest, sinking about a third of the way in. It was a shame. A little deeper, and it would have pierced his heart, but it only grazed it.

The man desperately tried to stop Junho from pushing the knife deeper. He gritted his teeth, his eyes locked on Junho’s, and said,

“You’re… not Gorilla…”

“I am.”

Junho’s sweating and hesitant demeanor clearly marked him as an amateur. He regretted his actions, unsure if he could wield a knife again without hesitation, even in the same situation. If the man hadn’t been suspicious, Junho might have left without ever drawing his knife.

“Fuck!”

The man, not particularly large, kicked Junho, sending his nearly 90kg body flying.

Crash!

Junho slammed into the desk behind the sofa, scattering objects everywhere. He quickly got up and took a defensive stance. But even that looked clumsy, and a smirk appeared on the man’s face, despite having just had a knife pulled from his chest.

“What the… Who sent a kid like you?”

“What’s it to you, you dying bastard? Worry about stopping the bleeding if you want to live.”

Blood gushed from his chest, but the man pressed his left hand against the wound and slowly approached Junho.

“You little shit… I won’t make this easy for you.”

“I’ll make it easy for you to die.”

Now facing a life-or-death situation, Junho’s previous hesitation vanished. He had become Jo Gyeongcheol. But while his mind was Jo Gyeongcheol’s, his body was still Kang Junho’s. That was the problem.

The man’s knife flashed like lightning, too fast for Jo Gyeongcheol’s reflexes, untrained in real combat, to follow.

Swish!

Junho could barely dodge, let alone block. The blade grazed his arms and chest.

“Keep talking, you little shit!”

Distracted by dodging the knife attacks, Junho didn’t notice the dark figure rising from below.

Wham!

A jarring impact sent him flying backward. The man lunged again, aiming for his chest.

In that split second of disorientation, Junho managed to block the man’s hand.

But—

Bang!

A powerful impact from behind sent Junho tumbling backward. He managed to regain his balance and stand up.

The office door was shattered, revealing the scene inside. A pool of blood filled Junho’s vision.

“Gurk…”

A middle-aged man lay on the floor, foaming at the mouth. His body was so mangled, perhaps from torture, that it was hard to recognize.

On the other side of the room, a young girl in a school uniform was tied to a chair, her face frozen in terror.

“Hongshin…?”

“I’ll do the same to you.”

The man, like a demon, approached Junho, pressing his bleeding chest.

The image of Lee Hongshin from Jo Gyeongcheol’s memories surfaced, and Junho felt something hot boiling inside him. The memory of Lee Hongshin saving Jo Gyeongcheol on the battlefield felt like he had been saved himself, and the last thread of his reason snapped.

Tears streamed down Junho’s face.

“What the hell, are you his son or something?”

“You made a mistake.”

Junho’s hand, tightly gripping the knife, shifted, reversing his grip. The atmosphere subtly changed.

The moment the man sensed something was amiss, Junho lunged.