Perfect Mission Chapter 36 - White Tiger (3)

Chapter 36. White Tiger (3)

 

Hidden memories resurfaced as he gazed at the weapons on the wall. He remembered where he got them, what missions he used them on… He realized that the memories he had of Jo Gyeongcheol were less than half of the whole. How had he lost more than half of his memories? 

There was another small laptop in the secret armory. It was completely different from the one in the luxury villa in Cheongdam-dong, much thicker. He opened it and touched the motherboard, and it felt strangely familiar.

When he first entered this place, he had felt a mix of bewilderment, wonder, and excitement. But now, he was calm. He had accepted that this was his space.

He turned on the laptop. After a few moments, he saw a CCTV program on the desktop. He opened it, and the cameras monitoring the surrounding area came to life, showing him a clear view of the house. He had noticed the cameras before he entered, but he hadn’t cared. He couldn’t get in without being seen, and there was nothing he could do about it.

The recordings of the intruders must be on here. Junho divided the saved video files and uploaded them to a web hard drive. It would take too long to review them now, and even if he found something, he couldn’t do anything about it immediately. He would check them later.

Junho minimized the CCTV program and looked at the desktop. He saw a folder and unconsciously sat down.

[Taldon]

The moment he saw the folder name, a person came to mind.

‘We all went crazy. In one way or another.’

An old man with white hair and a slim build.

‘If you want revenge, you have to stop him.’

In that moment, Junho started to remember why Jo Gyeongcheol had been in Prague.

Operation Taldon, meaning “Escaping Pig”, was a mission to bring Kim Seokjin, a North Korean nuclear physicist staying in the Czech Republic, to South Korea.

Kim Seokjin, a former North Korean sleeper agent, had asked White Tiger, an agent he knew from North Korea, for help. White Tiger, realizing he couldn’t succeed alone, had asked Gorilla for help. But Gorilla refused missions that didn’t pay. Then White Tiger told him that the person chasing Kim Seokjin was Black Turtle, another former North Korean sleeper agent.

Jo Gyeongcheol, driven by revenge for his sister, joined the mission but failed to bring Kim Seokjin back. He only managed to escape with his daughter. In the process, Gorilla had asked the Korean NIS for help, but a series of misunderstandings led to a confrontation between Black Turtle, the NIS, and Gorilla. Jo Gyeongcheol was shot in the head and was treated with White Tiger’s help.

He hadn’t killed Black Turtle and he hadn’t brought back Kim Seokjin. The mission was a failure.

He had thought he was just lucky to have survived. But at some point, the memory of that time had faded, and he had forgotten.

But the thread of that mission was still connected to the present.

“Sigh… those idiots at the NIS.”

Suddenly, Junho felt a surge of hostility towards the NIS. If those idiots hadn’t interfered, he could have killed Black Turtle… And the person who had shot him in the head was from the NIS. He had later heard from White Tiger that it was a stray bullet, intended for an enemy behind him. How could he know if that was true? He might have deliberately shot him and then made up an excuse.

In any case, the gunshot wound had caused him to lose a significant portion of his memories, which were only now returning.

So why were they still chasing after him? Kim Seokjin had committed suicide, and his small modular reactor technology was gone. Did Kim Seokjin have something else of value?

“Come to think of it, it’s strange that they left Jo Gyeongcheol’s body.”

The industrial secrets from Daewon Chemicals were probably not that important to them. What were they looking for in Jo Gyeongcheol? Why did they ransack his house? All of Jo Gyeongcheol’s important possessions were here, but they were just weapons and a laptop. So, there must be something in this laptop…

This laptop only contained mission-related information, nothing else of importance. No, Gorilla had only ever focused on how to succeed in his missions, not on the value of the target. He had avoided overthinking things.

After a long time, Junho shook his head.

“I’ll think about it later.”

He got up from the chair and looked at the weapons again. He packed a few of the ones he needed into his bag. He already had a sniper rifle and C-4 in his officetel, so he didn’t need much.

And the most important thing. Junho took a car key from a small rack next to the weapons.

“Right, it doesn’t make sense for a spy not to have a car. What kind of spy takes a taxi?”

Junho smiled, put on his bag, and climbed the ladder. He closed the wardrobe door, left the messy room as it was, and went out. He picked up the chicken he had dropped on the floor, and as he was leaving, he tore off a loose thread from his bag and wedged it in the door. It was a way to check if anyone had been inside when he came back.

He carefully closed the gate and started the long walk back to the city. He walked, smelling the rich, sweet scent of the seasoned chicken, to a large building. It was a medical building, with clinics occupying the first five floors. Jo Gyeongcheol’s new car was parked in the basement.

His old car was parked in a public parking lot, but he couldn’t use it. They had probably put a tracker on it or were watching it.

He could use this car without worry because it wasn’t registered under any of Jo Gyeongcheol’s fake identities. It was a burner car that belonged to someone Jo Gyeongcheol had dealt with shortly before he died. It had changed hands several times, and the license plate had been changed multiple times, so it was difficult to trace the original owner. If Jo Gyeongcheol had ever driven it, he would have been hesitant, but since he hadn’t, Junho was the first to use it.

The black sedan, parked in a corner of the parking garage, looked beautiful. Junho nodded. The charismatic trident on the hood suited him.

“A spy and a Maserati. A good combination.”

Jo Gyeongcheol had disliked Maseratis, thinking they were unreliable, but for Junho, the emotional appeal was more important than performance. So what if it broke down a lot and the ride was a bit rough? The elegant design, the powerful V8 twin-turbo engine, and the unique engine and exhaust sounds were unparalleled.

Of course, he could say that because he hadn’t bought it with his own money.

“Heh… hehehe…”

He got in the car, put his hands on the steering wheel, and felt a thrill. The smell of seasoned chicken would linger for a while, but it would disappear after a car wash.

Even though he didn’t have a driver’s license, Junho wasn’t worried. He had Jo Gyeongcheol’s memories. He had even fought an agent with a knife with those memories; driving was a piece of cake.

As he smoothly drove out of the building, his burner phone vibrated. An email from the NIS. Junho pulled over and checked it. They had sent him the addresses of the thirty numbers surprisingly quickly. Of course, there was a note attached.

[We helped you this once, considering our past relationship. But no innocent people should be harmed. We are watching.]

Of course, he understood their concerns, but—

“Hmph! That’s rich.”

Remembering the bullet in his head, Junho scoffed at the NIS. If he had remembered this sooner, he wouldn’t have given them the Daewon Chemicals data, even for money.

Anyway, he looked at the location of the number he wanted, but it was listed as ‘information unavailable.’

“Are these bastards lying?”

Or had they changed the number? He thought it was a crucial clue, but it had led to a dead end. It couldn’t be helped. But it was too early to give up.

The fact that the organization that tried to kill Goblin knew about Jo Gyeongcheol’s real home meant that they had investigated him extensively. If they knew Gorilla’s true identity and his secret hideout, it was likely that they knew about all of his close associates, including White Tiger and Goblin.

So, how did they find out about his hideout?

‘White Tiger…’

He was the only agent who knew its location.

“I never thought he was that kind of person…”

Junho decided to wait. If they couldn’t find what they were looking for and heard from Evil Ghost that Gorilla was still alive, they would definitely make another move.

 

***

 

“Yawn…”

“Sleepy again?”

Junho, who had had a restless night at his officetel due to nightmares, was dozing off at school.

“I don’t know.”

“What are you doing that you’re so sleepy? Did you play ‘Peacemaker’ all night?”

Peacemaker, a popular Steam game, was a classic RPG that was even being played by some famous streamers.

“I haven’t even touched it. It’s been a while since I played any games. I’ve been working out and studying.”

His grades had improved enough to make that excuse plausible. Even his homeroom teacher had told him not to overdo it with his diet and studies.

“You’ve really lost a lot of weight. How much do you weigh now?”

“I’m at 82.”

“Whoa!”

“If I lose just 5kg more, I’ll be perfect…”

Actually, he needed to lose another 10kg for the perfect suit fit, but 5kg was a start. And if he lost another 10kg this year, he would have to buy another school uniform. Buying a new uniform twice in his senior year was crossing a line, so he was aiming for 78kg by the end of the year.

“Hey, Hae-rin was badly injured. Aren’t you even curious?”

Junho had been completely ignoring Hae-rin since she arrived, which had aroused the curiosity of his classmates. Even Hae-rin, with her bandaged hand, would occasionally glance at him.

“Well…”

Just then, the back door burst open, and a group of people in suits stormed in.

“Who’s Seo Hae-rin?”

Junho recognized the woman who was asking, her eyes bloodshot.

“Is that Hyeonuk’s mom?”

Before Daeseong could answer, Hae-rin stood up.

“That would be me.”

“You… you!”

As Hyeonuk’s mom charged at Haerin like a bull, about to slap her.

“If you hit me, I’ll hit you back. It’ll be mutual assault, but one of us is a minor. Are you okay with that? I don’t hold back.”

At Haerin’s warning, Hyeonuk’s mom, her hand halfway up, managed to regain her composure.

Hae-rin had even stabbed Hyeonuk, a top bully. If she hit a middle-aged woman, she’d probably get at least an eight-week diagnosis. Of course, there were people trying to stop her.

“Lawyer, let me go! I’ll… that bitch…”

“Calm down, ma’am!”

“Look at that uneducated brat’s attitude!”

Junho felt a chill. He could have been in Hae-rin’s place. He had sensed it before, but they seemed to be a powerful family. They had brought at least three or four lawyers with them. He was watching with interest when his homeroom teacher came in through the front door, accompanied by a man and a woman in their early thirties. They stood next to Hae-rin, and Junho immediately knew who they were.

‘A top future prospect, huh?’

The NIS sending people to protect her was definitely top-tier treatment.