Perfect Mission Chapter 29 - Warning (2)

Chapter 29 – Warning (2)

Late evening, a bustling restaurant.

A middle-aged man walked in just as they were about to close.

“Are you alone?”

“Yes. I’m here for some meat. Is that alright?”

“Of course.”

As much as she wanted to go home, how could she turn away a customer?

As Yoojung quickly set the table, the man said,

“Three servings of pork belly, please. And do you have Coke Zero?”

It was a bit unusual for a middle-aged man to order a zero-calorie drink, but Yoojung didn’t think much of it.

“Yes. Would you like that?”

“Yes.”

The man ate surprisingly fast. After devouring three servings of pork belly, he rang the bell.

Worrying that he might order more, she approached his table, and he said,

“Can we talk for a moment after you close?”

Yoojung was startled. He seemed like a decent person, but he was talking nonsense… She’d had customers like this before, but it was particularly annoying at closing time.

“I’m sorry. I’m married, and I have a husband…”

“It’s about your husband.”

Yoojung then took a closer look at the man’s face. His dark complexion, his thick beard, and his sharp eyes made her heart sink.

“Is… is something wrong with my husband?”

“It’s not about what he’s done, but what he’s going to do. We can’t talk here. See that bus stop?”

The man pointed to the bus stop across the street.

“Yes.”

“I’ll be waiting there. Don’t be too late. I don’t have much time either.”

“Okay.”

Yoojung only had to finish cleaning up. After the man paid and left, she explained the situation to her coworker and quickly left the restaurant. Seeing the man sitting at the bus stop, his arms crossed, bathed in the streetlight, she felt more anxious about what he had to say about her husband than afraid of him.

“Excuse me…”

“Sit down.”

The man said without looking at her, his gaze fixed straight ahead. Yoojung sat a little distance away, and the man began to speak.

“I know the general situation. You have a lot of debt, and you can’t contact your husband, right?”

“Yes. Is it because of the debt…”

“The debt has been taken care of.”

“What? What do you mean…”

Yoojung didn’t understand. The debt was huge, and her husband had disappeared. How could it have been taken care of?

But the man continued calmly.

“Just know that the debt is gone. And your husband will be sending you money from time to time.”

“I don’t understand… Is my husband involved in something… strange? If so, I don’t need the money.”

“Whether it’s strange or not is for your husband to decide, not me.”

“But…”

“Do you know how your husband has been living lately?”

She had no idea.

“No.”

“He’s been sleeping in a cardboard box at Seoul Station with the homeless, getting food from charities. Would you be at ease if he continued to live like that?”

Yoojung, shocked, covered her face with her hands.

“How… why…”

“Don’t ask what your husband does. Just live happily with your children from now on. That’s what he wants.”

“Can’t I just make one phone call?”

The man shook his head and stood up. Yoojung, in a panic, grabbed his sleeve, but he pulled away with a strong grip and said,

“Remember. Just live with gratitude for your husband. That’s what’s best for both of you. Otherwise, you’ll both be in danger.”

“…”

“And don’t work at night anymore. Your husband wouldn’t like it.”

Yoojung’s hands trembled. After her husband disappeared, she had been desperate for money and had been working as a karaoke hostess at night.

‘How…’

But she had no choice. She needed the money. If she were alone, it would be different, but she had children.

The man, as if reading her thoughts, said,

“I won’t tell your husband. You had to do what you had to do. But now that the debt is gone, you don’t have to work there anymore. Am I right?”

Yoojung nodded.

The middle-aged man said again,

“Good. I’ll be watching. Live a good life with your children.”

And with that warning, he disappeared.

 

***

 

Yoon Gyeongsik went to a department store for the first time in nearly ten years. He and his wife used to go on dates there, and they’d even bought luxury goods on rare occasions. But after getting married, he’d been so focused on making a living that he’d never even glanced at a place like this. But today, he was here on James’s orders.

[Luxury goods only. Don’t skimp and ruin the job. Three full suits, a wallet, glasses, shoes, and cufflinks. Ask for help from the staff if you’re not sure. And you must go to the barbershop in the department store.]

The text message had baffled him. He’d just sold his soul to this man, and his first task was to go on a luxury shopping spree… But he wasn’t complaining. It wasn’t his money.

James had deposited 50 million won into his company’s bank account, so Gyeongsik enjoyed his shopping trip. And he realized something. Shopping was amazing. He’d only ever known the joy of making money, but the joy of spending it was at least ten times better.

A 7-million-won suit, a 3-million-won pair of shoes, a 2-million-won wallet… His heart sank with each swipe of the card, but looking at the luxury goods in his hands, he felt like he owned the world. The feeling he had when he left the department store, after getting a haircut at the barbershop and loading his purchases into his car, was indescribable.

‘I should have bought something for my wife and kids…’

The thought crossed his mind, but after James told him that he had already explained everything to his wife and that he should just focus on sending her money from time to time, he just wished them well in his heart.

Back at the goshiwon, he tried on his new, tailored suit. The smooth, luxurious fabric fell perfectly, and when he looked in the mirror, he saw a sophisticated middle-aged man. Until recently, he had been wandering the cold, smelly subway station… The fact that he was wearing such nice clothes, even though he still had nightmares about the man with the shattered head, made him feel both good and guilty, like he was becoming a bad person.

Gyeongsik packed his clothes into a suitcase, put on his new shoes, and left the goshiwon, heading straight for the hotel in Incheon. Since the room cost over 3 million won a night, it wasn’t difficult to book. It would be strange if a room like that was always full.

He entered the grand hotel and checked in. A bellboy immediately came to take his luggage. The suitcase was light, containing only clothes, but Gyeongsik didn’t refuse.

[At the hotel, never act poor. The moment you step inside, you are on par with a chaebol. Remember that.]

Gyeongsik was starting to realize that working with James, despite the danger and horror, was also… fun. It felt like he was the protagonist of a movie.

“Please enjoy your stay.”

“Thank you.”

Gyeongsik tipped the bellboy 50,000 won and sent him on his way. He wasn’t a fool; he’d seen enough movies and dramas to know how the rich acted.

“Wow~”

He opened the blinds, and the stunning view of the golf course and the distant sea took his breath away. The hotel wasn’t very tall, so he couldn’t see too far, but the view from the lower floor was still magnificent. The room itself was so luxurious and beautiful that it felt unreal.

“When did he say he was coming?”

Gyeongsik checked the time. As much as he was enjoying himself, work came first. Now all he had to do was wait. Gyeongsik grinned and threw himself onto the bed.

“Ah~ this is nice.”

He wished time would stop as he savored the softness of the bed.

 

***

 

What did the note about the 4:20 arrival mean? He considered several possibilities, but the most likely was that it was his arrival time. If the person in charge of ASA’s operations in Korea was traveling between Korea and China, he would be at that hotel.

Jo Gyeongcheol didn’t know him very well. He was a former member of the Chinese intelligence service, and his codename was Evil Ghost (惡鬼). His codename alone was ominous. He was known to have killed many people during his time as an agent and was rumored to be cruel and merciless.

But after he joined ASA, stories about him gradually faded, and Jo Gyeongcheol later learned that he had retired from the field. He’d heard about him again when he came to Korea. He was living like a chaebol, apparently. That must be why he had gotten complacent. Why else would a former agent use the same hotel room every time?

Junho, like Gyeongsik, changed into a nice suit at his officetel and headed to Incheon late in the evening. Of course, he had told his mother he was sleeping over at Daeseong’s house. People’s perceptions were so narrow that a pair of sunglasses and a wig were enough to make him unrecognizable. His own mother probably wouldn’t recognize him if she passed him on the street.

Dressed to the nines, Junho arrived at the hotel, went to room 2502, and knocked on the door. A moment later, the door opened. Junho bowed slightly to Gyeongsik and entered.

Gyeongsik, who had bowed back unconsciously, was immediately reprimanded.

“Why would you greet me like that? What if someone was behind me?”

“I’m sorry. I did it without thinking…”

“Acting without thinking means you’re not prepared. You haven’t thought through all the possible scenarios and practiced for them. That’s why you acted that way.”

Gyeongsik had no excuses.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Junho placed the bag he was carrying on the table and took something out. Gyeongsik watched as he spread a clay-like substance on a small, palm-sized device and asked,

“What’s that?”

“A bug.”

Gyeongsik wondered if he should be privy to this information, but since Junho was answering his questions, he asked another one.

“That’s a strange-looking bug.”

“It sticks to the wall.”

Junho attached the device to the wall shared with the next room. Gyeongsik stared at it, surprised that it stuck so well. Junho pressed a small button on the device, and a red light started blinking.

“You know what to do, right?”

“Huh? Oh, yes.”

“Someone might come to the room next door after 5 p.m. tomorrow.”

“Might…?”

“They might not come.”

The 4:20 arrival might not be Evil Ghost after all. If so, he would have wasted his money, but it couldn’t be helped. At least Gyeongsik got a nice shopping trip out of it.

“So… if someone comes, I should turn this on?”

“Yes. It can record for 12 hours, so keep it charged with this spare battery.”

“How long should I do this for?”

“Until I tell you to stop.”

A question popped into Gyeongsik’s mind.

“Then what should I do in the meantime?”

The device did all the work. Pressing a button and charging a battery was something a kindergartener could do.

“That’s an important question.”

“It is?”

“Leave the room while it’s recording. To be precise, leave here at 8 a.m., drive to the Songdo Convensia, and work at a cafe or watch YouTube or something. Then come back at 5 p.m. The key is to act like you’re doing something important.”

“Ah~”

“Not too difficult, right?”

It was so easy that he was surprised. Compared to cleaning up a crime scene after watching two men get their heads blown off.

“Yes, I can do it.”

“Good.”

Junho smiled at Gyeongsik and looked out the window. He saw the golf course in the distance and muttered, “A golf course at a hotel… So nice. So nice.”

Gyeongsik had no idea what James found so nice about it.