AGENT 50

The front of Hong Kong Island is filled with a splendor that feels as though it will never end, but its backside is so saturated with darkness that one cannot see anything without turning on car headlights. Yongnae was currently moving through one of the darkest and most dangerous parts of it—deep in the mountains, where the winding roads were enough to instill fear even if traveling in a group.

“Teacher, honestly, you’re terrified right now, aren’t you.”

“Yes.”

“Oh, I thought you’d say you weren’t.”

Leaving Lee Suji’s snickering behind, Yongnae stared out the window. Structures in the darkness—whether they were trees, rocks, or cliffs—passed by so quickly he couldn’t distinguish them, but that wasn’t what was frightening Yongnae.

“Please slow down a bit.”

“It’s fine. I can drive this road with my eyes closed.”

What was frightening was Lee Suji’s foot on the accelerator. To be flooring it at this speed on such a pitch-black, dangerous mountain path where wild animals might dart out at any moment. His two hands, gripping the seatbelt tightly, showed exactly how terrified Yongnae was. It wasn’t quite the level of fear he felt with the Gwancheon-si killer or in the warehouse, but it was at least half that intensity.

“I still have many things I want to try doing. Please slow down.”

“What are the things you want to do? I’ll listen and judge for myself.”

If I said I want to kiss your boss Seo Soo and have sex with him, would you stop the car? No, he might just jerk the steering wheel and plunge straight off the cliff.

“Please slow down.”

“Fine, fine—.”

At Yongnae’s serious tone, the snickering Lee Suji slowed down. Only then did the outside scenery, faintly visible through the car’s headlights, come into view.

Even for a mountain, it was clearly different from home; a place lined with massive, lush trees he was seeing for the first time. Seeing the leaves of the trees right at eye level, they seemed to be driving along a cliffside road. To go hurtling down a road like this at a crazy speed—Lee Suji deserved a scolding and then some.

“But Teacher, you’ve really got guts.”

“What do you mean.”

“Seeing you, it seems like you’re secretly fearless.”

“I’m not. I asked you to slow down because I’m scared, didn’t I.”

“No, it’s not that.”

Yongnae, who had been looking out the window, turned his head toward Lee Suji. Lee Suji was holding the steering wheel casually, looking much more relaxed than before. He had been speeding as if to show off, but he must have been nervous himself.

“If I were just an ordinary public official, I don’t think I could have done what you did, Teacher.”

“Like what.”

“Chasing and dealing with the scariest killer in Korea, acting calm even when kidnapped by gangsters, and escaping a burning warehouse.”

Chasing the killer was, in hindsight, a truly fearless act. No, so was coming to Hong Kong on his own two feet following gangsters. Going to a club in a place where he didn’t even speak the language to find drugs, and chasing after a drug courier only to get trapped in a warehouse and escape—all of it, come to think of it, was truly fearless behavior, just as Lee Suji said.

“And seeking out Susu on your own.”

“…”

“If it were me, I never could have done that. I would have run straight to the embassy as soon as I escaped that warehouse.”

If someone had simply told him to do it, he would have called them crazy and absolutely refused. On that day when all of this began, when he was dragged away by Detective Moon and forced to cooperate, it hadn’t been voluntary. The reason he could perform those fearless acts was all because of one person.

“What were you thinking, seeking out Susu from there?”

It wasn’t that he thought of seeking out Seo Soo from there; Seo Soo had been his goal from the very beginning. To meet him, he did all those things voluntarily.

“…Nothing else came to mind.”

Other than Seo Soo, truly nothing else came to mind.

“Well, when things like that happen in a row, it’s hard to judge things properly. You don’t know anyone right away, and the people you were with are dead. Seeking us out—people you know—must have seemed like a better option than going to the embassy.”

“…”

“But why did you decide to stay? Did Susu say he’d give you a lot of money again if you help with this? How much? Since you came all the way to Hong Kong this time, is he giving you, like, 500 million won? But 500 million won is a bit much…”

“…”

“Anyway, Teacher. If something like this happens next time, find a way to return to your family no matter what. Your family must be worried sick.”

His family… His mom, dad, and older brothers would be incredibly worried. The people at the research institute and Dawon must have been very shocked too. A person who had disappeared after being kidnapped had been kidnapped again not even a few months later. How far had the police finished their investigation to track him down? Had they moved into Hong Kong? Or had they requested cooperation from the local Hong Kong police.

“I need a smartphone.”

“A smartphone? Why a smartphone?”

“Can you live without a smartphone?”

“Ah… right. Can’t live without one. Got it, I’ll get one for you.”

Lee Suji, flustered by Yongnae’s question as if it were a given, finished his answer just as a grand mansion, twenty times brighter than the car’s headlights, revealed itself before Yongnae’s eyes.

Is it a fortress? Or an ancient castle? The exterior of this place, which was called the Yiwon lodging, was far too wasted to be used merely as a residence for gangsters. It had a serene beauty exceeding any building Yongnae had ever visited, enough that it inevitably should have been used as a movie set.

“Cool, isn’t it? The surroundings are all mountains, so it’s very quiet, and it looks even cooler when you wake up in the morning.”

“The company benefits are quite good.”

“What? Pffft—!”

Lee Suji burst into laughter, apparently thinking Yongnae’s remark was a joke, but for Yongnae, it was a statement from the heart.

What company in the world would provide such a grand mansion as a dormitory? The training center where Yongnae had stayed for two weeks when he first became a public official was a gray building so scary with its peeling white paint that it was frightening, and even the bathroom water didn’t run well.

“Why go so fast. You’ll die like that.”

Clack— Behind Yongnae, who was busy admiring the building’s exterior, Weizhen—who had been arriving as the follow-up—got out of the driver’s seat and launched a verbal attack at Lee Suji.

“Why are you so late? Are you a turtle?”

“You slowed down because you were scared too.”

“It wasn’t me! The Teacher told me to slow down!”

The two men, who had snarled at each other in Korea, were no different here in Hong Kong. Leaving the bickering duo behind, Yongnae stepped inside first as the large main gate opened.

“Wow…”

However, the interior past the gate was even more magnificent, to the point where simple admiration wasn’t enough. The first thing visible was a massive garden; the sprawling garden was so well-maintained that the flowers and grass harmonized perfectly, and clean water flowed from a circular fountain in the center, making the view even more beautiful. And beyond that, the main building that looked like the actual lodging resembled a grand mansion seen in American dramas; the long, rectangular beige marble building had lights on in every window, representing the absolute peak of luxury.

But was everyone awake? It wasn’t that late yet, but they had every single light on to this extent? Surely it wasn’t some old-fashioned hierarchical culture where they had all the lights on and were waiting just because Weizhen and Lee Suji were coming? Yongnae’s eyebrows furrowed slightly in suspicion.

“The lights… are all on.”

He then turned to Lee Suji with a questioning look, wondering if they really turned all the lights on just because they were arriving.

“Ah, the lights are never turned off here, 365 days a year.”

“Why?”

“Ah, that’s…”

“We dislike the dark.”

Lee Suji was about to say something, but in that moment, Weizhen cut in and answered instead.

“…”

Dislike the dark? Gangsters? Don’t they usually operate in pitch-black darkness.

Yongnae gave a small nod while looking at Weizhen.

“Teacher, you use this room for now. Sorry, this is the only place left right now.”

“It’s okay… thank you.”

Having entered the building, Yongnae followed Lee Suji straight up to the second floor. He was then guided to the room on the right at the end of the second floor; Lee Suji looked quite apologetic as he guided him. Yongnae had wondered if they were giving him a warehouse or something, but when a room appeared that was clean and spacious—beyond comparison to the Tsim Sha Tsui lodging he’d gotten from the Black Horse Gang—he was flustered as he expressed his thanks.

“Until Susu comes, you can stay comfortably here for about five days.”

“Yes.”

“The cafeteria, gym, and pool are all on the first floor. The bathroom is inside the room.”

“Yes.”

“Ah, and… I’m saying this just in case, but don’t go toward the rooms in the left hallway. Weizhen will throw a fit.”

“…Yes.”

“I’ll come back with a phone tomorrow, get some rest.”

After Lee Suji left, Yongnae sat on the double bed and stared quietly at the closed door.

‘Weizhen will throw a fit.’

Everything was related to Seo Soo. The reason all the lights were on in this mansion, and that one room in the left hallway, were all related to Seo Soo.