PAHO 20

Last time he had come down to the underground special district, he had been too busy hiding for the sake of the job to have a chance to look around. He hadn’t been interested, and he had thought that the underground arena alone was enough to give him a general idea of the underground scenery.

The street stretching out under the sign that read Hyullaedong was like an old glass bottle filled to the brim with colorful, cheap beads. Amidst the tourists swarming under the densely packed lights, touts diligently handed out flyers. The neon signs of the haphazardly hung signboards, lacking any standard, were tiring on the eyes, yet the lights themselves inevitably drew one’s gaze, making him feel like a moth to a flame.

Among the numerous restaurants, the one Na Taebeom chose was a Hong Kong-style dumpling specialty restaurant. The interior of the restaurant, which plausibly imitated what one might see in an old Hong Kong movie, was excessively glamorous yet quite a sight to behold. In particular, the purple hydrangeas placed in the middle of the lobby caught the eye.

The moment he sat down at the table they were guided to, Na Taebeom grabbed the menu and then a passing waiter, and ordered whatever caught his eye. Just from the number of dishes he heard, it seemed to be at least eight.

“You eat dim sum, right?”

Na Taebeom asked belatedly, in the middle of wiping his hands with a wet towel. What was the point of asking now when they had already come in? However, Nam Gyeonhwa swallowed all his complaints and silently sipped the jasmine tea that was served before the meal.

He couldn’t understand the attitude of calling him out so nonchalantly, let alone sitting across from him to eat dim sum or dumplings or whatever, after having beaten him mercilessly.

If he had to guess, he probably wanted to dig up more about S-One, that is, the Samwon Group’s unofficial security team, but as for Nam Gyeonhwa, there was nothing he knew even if he tried to squeeze it out.

Soon, a man with a portly build, who appeared to be the head chef, approached the table where the two men were sitting, pushing a three-tiered cart. With each plate he set down, he explained what was inside and what flavors it had. A whole chicken baked in clay, fried eggplant with pork, and dumplings with softly cooked black garlic and lamb.

“There are a lot of tourists who come this way, so the restaurants are pretty good. The dim sum is probably even better than at the hotel Chinese restaurants.”

As soon as the chef left, Na Taebeom, who had been placing one of each dish on a plate with his chopsticks, offered the plate to Nam Gyeonhwa instead of putting it in front of himself.

“Yours.”

For some reason, the voice sounded strangely proud.

“If it’s not enough, pick what you want.”

“I’m fine, so don’t worry about me and just eat.”

“I’m going to eat anyway, even if you don’t tell me to. I just separated some for you in case you couldn’t keep up.”

Nam Gyeonhwa, who had been looking up at him with a dumbfounded face at the preposterous remark, finally accepted the plate with a sigh. Since he had come all the way to the restaurant, he couldn’t just run out anyway, so it was better to just go along with the situation.

The dim sum on the plate were all as dainty as flowers. He hadn’t even had dim sum when he was in Yanggang, where all sorts of Chinese restaurants lined the streets, and he had never dreamed he would get to taste it like this.

Haejin would have liked this. Nam Gyeonhwa poked at a colorful steamed bun shaped like a small crocodile. He felt a pang of regret thinking that if he had just checked with Min Chanyoung two or three times to make sure there were no problems, Nam Haejin wouldn’t have been dragged into this.

Judging by Na Taebeom’s attitude so far, smuggling out the data chip was not a matter to be taken lightly. He didn’t know what was inside, but it was clear that it was something quite important.

However, on the other hand, considering that the security team of that great conglomerate hadn’t been able to analyze a single data chip and had said nothing for over a month, it could simply be Na Taebeom’s whim.

One thing was certain: either way, he was a person Nam Gyeonhwa did not want to join hands with.

Now that Na Taebeom knew his residence, he would no longer be able to stay in Mangmae. But he was hesitant to settle down just anywhere. First, as soon as he got out of here, he had to send Haejin to Seoul, no matter what it took. That was the only goal Nam Gyeonhwa considered important right now.

He glanced up and saw Na Taebeom devouring the dim sum at a rapid pace. His use of chopsticks and his eating posture were so proper that it was the kind of table etiquette one would see in a textbook. Perhaps because of that, even though he had finished half the plates in a little over ten minutes, the impression was not of gluttony, but of someone eating heartily and without hesitation.

“What are you staring at.”

Na Taebeom’s eyes, who had suddenly spoken, turned to the plate that was still full of food. Nam Gyeonhwa put down his chopsticks as if it were no big deal.

“Thanks to a certain someone, I don’t have much of an appetite.”

“Oh? That’s quite disappointing and sad.”

“I can’t eat even if I force myself, so don’t push me.”

“I didn’t push you.”

Is staring intently not pushing? Na Taebeom, who was watching the silent Nam Gyeonhwa, rang the bell left on the table. A waiter soon appeared in a hurry and stood politely in front of Na Taebeom.

“You have porridge, right? Bring me whatever is easy to eat.”

“Would crab meat porridge be alright?”

When the waiter asked again about his preference, Na Taebeom abruptly pointed at Nam Gyeonhwa with the hand holding the chopsticks. The waiter, who understood the signal to ask the other person instead of him, smiled brightly and turned to Nam Gyeonhwa.

“Sir, would crab meat porridge be alright for you?”

“Ah, no. I’m fine.”

“In that case, shall I bring you vegetable porridge?”

“What I mean is, I don’t need it.”

At that, the waiter looked on with a troubled face, then lowered his voice so that Nam Gyeonhwa could barely hear.

“I’m really sorry, but could you please just order anything? I don’t want to get chewed out by the owner later.”

“The owner?”

“The person, behind you.”

Nam Gyeonhwa, at a loss for words, glared at Na Taebeom, who was leisurely savoring his dim sum on the opposite side. However, he couldn’t openly show his anger, so in the end, he requested the crab meat porridge that was first recommended. At that, the waiter, who had been looking crestfallen, beamed and headed to the kitchen like an arrow.

“You can eat porridge, at least, I assume.”

Na Taebeom snickered. At this point, a suspicion arose that perhaps there was no real business, and his intention was simply to wear him out.

Before long, the porridge, beautifully arranged in a black ceramic bowl, arrived. With a feeling of “whatever happens, happens,” he picked up his spoon and had about three spoonfuls of the porridge when Na Taebeom, who had been watching silently, opened his mouth.

“A call came to your cell phone while you were laid up in the hospital room. A number with a blocked caller ID, and it came twice, so it was unlikely to be a mistake.”

At those words, the spoon stirring the porridge stopped. Na Taebeom, who clicked his tongue, pointed at the hand holding the spoon.

“Keep eating.”

“Just finish what you were saying.”

“If you want to hear it, then eat.”

At that, Nam Gyeonhwa held the bowl with one hand and forced himself to gulp down the porridge. Showing the empty bowl, Nam Gyeonhwa licked his lips.

“Tell me.”

“You’re quite impatient, unlike how you look.”

“Cut the crap. So, that blocked caller ID, what about the call.”

“I didn’t answer the phone.”

“…So the one thing you wanted to say after dragging me all the way here is that a missed call came to my cell phone?”

“I’m not done talking.”

Na Taebeom stood up from his chair and approached where Nam Gyeonhwa was sitting. He draped an arm over the back of the chair and nonchalantly reached his hand towards Nam Gyeonhwa’s face. The finger, which lightly brushed past the chin that tried to reflexively pull away, gently wiped his moist lower lip.

“It seems the calls are a signal instead. After exactly two calls, a text message came.”

“What did it say.”

At that, Na Taebeom licked the grain of rice on his finger. A suggestive gaze looked down at Nam Gyeonhwa steadily.

“They said they wanted to meet about the job. To see you.”

“What…?”

At the absurd news, Nam Gyeonhwa couldn’t even properly question it and just swallowed a gasp. Na Taebeom, who wiped the remaining moisture on his hand with a napkin, grinned.

“In that case, I guess you and I will have to keep seeing each other for a while, right?”

Nam Gyeonhwa, sitting in the car, fiddled with the cell phone in his hand.

The returned cell phone’s screen was half-broken, so only the top part was barely legible, but there was no problem in reading the text message.

No Caller ID

This Friday. 20:00. There is something to convey regarding the last job. The promised final payment is also included.

The text from the number with no caller ID was undoubtedly from Min Chanyoung. It was very strange that he was contacting him now after nearly a month of silence. It was odd to be contacting him after belatedly grasping the situation, and the timing was too perfect for him to have sent the text without knowing anything.

I should have just let it get smashed to pieces. Hesitating in case he had no way to contact someone while searching for Nam Haejin had turned out to be completely meaningless.

Thinking about it calmly, he couldn’t completely avoid Min Chanyoung. As long as he was supposed to receive the remaining fee in cash as per the contract, he had to face him at least once. Besides, there were more than a few things he had to ask him. For instance, what important role he held in Samwon Group, and whether the job offer was simply a favor.

“What are you thinking so hard about.”

A blunt voice cut through Nam Gyeonhwa’s preoccupied thoughts. When he turned his eyes slightly, Na Taebeom was staring intently at Nam Gyeonhwa.

“I wasn’t thinking about anything in particular.”

“Your expression was too serious for someone who wasn’t thinking about anything in particular.”

Na Taebeom, who had turned his body completely towards Nam Gyeonhwa, continued.

“Is the one who sent that message the mercenary you said you knew, or something?”

“…My supervising instructor.”

“A man?”

“A man.”

Although he had no idea why he was curious about such things, Nam Gyeonhwa answered appropriately to the questions. Every time the orange light reflected in his gray eyes, they sparkled like a small light bulb turned on in a dark room. Nam Gyeonhwa turned his gaze out the window at the strangely burdensome stare.