PAHO 64

As soon as Nam Gyeonhwa saw Na Taebeom grinning in front of the entryway, he pushed the doorknob he was holding forward. At his attempt to close the door, Na Taebeom forced the door wide open and pulled Nam Gyeonhwa.

“You’re late. Very fucking late, at that.”

“Then you must be late too, Mr. Director. Not even at work after ten.”

“I know, right? Ah, being late wasn’t on my list of screw-ups, but thanks to someone, I’m experiencing tardiness for the first time.”

Leaning his elbow on the doorframe, Na Taebeom retorted unabashedly. Nam Gyeonhwa, who had been staring at him, walked past him into the entryway as if it were nothing.

The living room, with not even the television on, was quiet and dark. After looking around, Nam Gyeonhwa cautiously opened the bedroom door and checked inside. Nam Haejin was nowhere to be found.

“Haejin? Where did you take him?”

“You look for the kid first, and I’m just an afterthought after I waited with bated breath for you.”

“I asked where he is.”

“I sent him to the hospital.”

Na Taebeom, who had been leaning against the entryway, straightened up. He slowly walked over and stopped right in front of Nam Gyeonhwa.

“Choi Jiyu is out sick today, apparently. So I was wondering what to do, and the kid said he’d go to the medical center first, so I sent him with Jongdae.”

“…”

“I watched over the empty house in place of the runaway dog, and I even took care of the kid he left behind. At this rate, who’s the dog?”

Na Taebeom was the only one reflected in his eyes, which were filled with a murky anxiety. He tapped Nam Gyeonhwa’s neat forehead with his index finger and chuckled.

“Didn’t you buy anything tasty on your way here?”

“Tasty…?”

Nam Gyeonhwa stared at Na Taebeom’s outstretched palm and then placed the business card he was holding in his hand. Na Taebeom, who had been grinning, frowned upon seeing the business card.

“What’s this?”

“Not tasty, but pretty important.”

At those words, Na Taebeom flipped the business card over to check it and then grabbed Nam Gyeonhwa’s shoulder.

“You met Won Hyeonseong? Where?”

His gaze was as fierce as the powerful grip that seemed ready to crush him at any moment. Nam Gyeonhwa, who had drawn in a breath, grabbed Na Taebeom’s arm and pulled it down.

“…At the logistics center. From the feel of it, it didn’t seem like a coincidence. He’s probably not idle enough to be inspecting some logistics center in the morning.”

It was absurd that a businessman representing a country would allow such easy access. Therefore, it could never be dismissed as a coincidence.

Perhaps because his nerves had been on edge all day, a dull headache crept up the back of his head. Nam Gyeonhwa walked to the refrigerator and took out a bottle of water. Na Taebeom, who had impatiently followed him as he poured and drank the water, continued.

“What did you do with him?”

“He asked to talk for a moment about the confidential information leak, so I followed him, and he bought me a meal, so I ate. He wanted to exchange names, but I didn’t. He did, though. That’s why I got the business card.”

Nam Gyeonhwa, who had gulped down the cold water, wiped the water trickling down his chin. He met Na Taebeom’s eyes, which were still on him, and opened his mouth.

“…He said he knew nothing about this Nakdo commission. He said it was probably all the unilateral act of an individual.”

“You don’t believe that, do you?”

“No.”

Nam Gyeonhwa recalled Won Hyeonseong, whom he had observed at the restaurant earlier. He had said it was an old restaurant he frequented, but until Nam Gyeonhwa left first, the amount of soup and rice in front of him had barely decreased. He hadn’t even had a sip of water. Rather than having a small appetite or being focused on the conversation, it was clear that he was disinclined toward everything, including the food.

And yet, Won Hyeonseong had deliberately chosen a restaurant in a rather secluded alley even for the underground, and pretended to be familiar with the old and shabby atmosphere. It was a consideration and a pretense at the same time, an attitude from which he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was meant to lower his guard.

“Last time, you said Samwon was clearly aware of me, Mr. Director, but according to the Director, there’s no record of any history related to me on the internal investigation list. He might be deliberately feigning ignorance, but it felt like he really didn’t know.”

Therefore, if there was information he wanted to obtain, including the leaked confidential files, he should have dragged him above ground instead of taking him to a secluded restaurant to talk. But Won Hyeonseong didn’t do that. On the contrary, he willingly and unreservedly revealed what he knew to Nam Gyeonhwa. Especially the story he left at the end about Na Taebeom sounded like his real purpose.

‘Nakdo is a place that was separated as a special district because of the head of Wuiyeonggwan. He’s dangerous and uncontrollable, so he’s like a beast that we had no choice but to lock in a cage.’

His voice, which did not hide its pity, was strangely eerie. The words he had dropped to slander Na Taebeom might have been intended to cause a disturbance, but if so, what gain was he hoping for from that disturbance?

A warning, or a consolation.

“…Did you ever hit someone in a car accident?”

“Did Won Hyeonseong say that?”

A sneer was mixed in his questioning voice. Na Taebeom, who had been looking at Nam Gyeonhwa’s taciturn face, tore up the business card in his hand. After tossing the pieces of paper into the trash can, he turned around.

“Let’s say I let other things slide, but let me point out just one thing. Don’t believe a word that guy says. He’s been sweet-talking the old folks in his family since he was a kid, so his lies are no joke. He would have succeeded even if he’d become a con man. Ah, since he’s a businessman, I guess he’s half a con man already.”

Nam Gyeonhwa, who had been silently watching the chuckling Na Taebeom, opened his mouth.

“Then, is it also a lie that you hit Director Won Hyeonseong in a car accident?”

“…Well. Hmm, I guess that’s one fact I can’t deny.”

“Why did you hit him?”

“Because I wanted to kill him with my own hands.”

“…”

Contrary to the cruel answer, his self-deprecating eyes were somehow more sunken than usual. Na Taebeom, shrugging his shoulders as if to shake off the silence, pulled Nam Gyeonhwa.

“Anyway, are you going to wash up now?”

“…Why?”

“I want to watch you take off your clothes.”

“What?”

“You showed me last time, too. I was turned on then.”

“You crazy bastard, are you insane?”

Nam Gyeonhwa, who pushed him away as he clung to him, glared without hiding his bewilderment. As if he quite liked the annoyed attitude, Na Taebeom laughed loudly.

The inside of the Special Guard headquarters was noisy with the shouts of the members in training.

With training mattresses laid out here and there on the floor, the gazes of the Special Guard members were all fixed on one spot. Two men, wearing blue and orange vests respectively over their white uniforms, faced each other, exchanged bows, and got into their stances. As soon as the whistle blew, the two men attacked each other using their arms and legs. The power struggle did not last long. Nam Gyeonhwa, who had tripped his opponent with an inner leg reap, flipped him over. Whoosh, the whistle blew. The referee, who declared a win for blue, raised Nam Gyeonhwa’s arm.

“Thank you for the match.”

Nam Gyeonhwa, who extended a hand to help up his opponent who had fallen on the mattress, bowed politely. The other man, scratching the back of his head, accepted the greeting awkwardly and turned to go back to his comrades, who were throwing playful jeers.

“Wow, he’s strong, unlike how he looks. That’s three wins in a row, right?”

“I heard he was a mercenary from over by the border. Ma Jaewan, you were in a mercenary group before you came to Nakdo, weren’t you? Have you seen him before?”

At the subtle question, Ma Jaewan, who was gulping down water, frowned.

“There’s more than one or two mercenary groups at the border. Besides, I’m not from the border, so I wouldn’t know.”

“Still, you must have heard things.”

“All I know is that the enlistment age is different from the capital region. It’s probably possible from eighteen.”

“Crazy, eighteen? Isn’t that, like, a violation of international law?”

“How would I know? And with things being a total mess, you think the higher-ups care about international law or anything? They probably just want to get it over with quickly and build a golf course near Mount Baekdu.”

Ma Jaewan shrugged his shoulders and gazed at Nam Gyeonhwa, who was shaking hands with his sparring partner in the center. Even if it was a temporary position, the fact that he had been recommended for the Special Guard—where one had to pass an enlistment screening that required a certain level of martial arts like Jiu-Jitsu or Hapkido, in addition to physical fitness tests like running and sit-ups—was quite unconventional.

Contrary to the expectation that he would be rugged, the face that appeared, introduced as a temporary member, was so handsome and delicate that it was questionable whether he had ever even been in a fistfight, let alone possessed mercenary skills. However, as soon as training began, the evaluation changed drastically as three people in a row were helplessly defeated by his shoulder throws and inner leg reaps without being able to put up a fight. Bolstered by this, even rumors of him being a mercenary were brought up, and everyone seemed intrigued.

He, too, was intrigued, but in a slightly different way. A sense of déjà vu. It was definitely the first time he had seen the face, but he felt like he had heard the name somewhere. Was he perhaps a famous mercenary? But he was too young for that.

The instructor blew a whistle at the members who were whispering in a corner while stretching. Silenced by the sharp warning, they each focused on their exercises as if they had never been chatting.

Nam Gyeonhwa, sitting alone in the diagonally opposite direction, wiped his sweat with a towel. A cool breeze poured down over his head as he massaged his stiff shoulders.

It was Gil Useong, the commander-in-chief, who had recommended that he train at the Special Guard training facility. To be precise, he had received the recommendation through Gwon Jongdae, but since matters related to the Special Guard required Gil Useong’s approval, it was not an exaggeration to say that Gil Useong had recommended it.

The reason for recommending the training was simple. It was a matter of policy that Nam Gyeonhwa, as a temporary member, must also follow the basic training, as the Special Guard was in training to prepare for the tens of thousands of tourists who would flock for the upcoming autumn festival. He fully understood the training itself, but the problem was the time.

Because of the training, which took place for about four hours from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m., he couldn’t find time for his night shift at the logistics center. Looking at the members who were yawning, unable to overcome their sleepiness, it felt very much like the training time had been deliberately moved up to the early morning.

“Squads that have finished stretching and basic movements will each engage in ten rounds of sparring. Begin.”

“Begin!”

The members, having received the order from the instructor, lined up on the mattresses. Nam Gyeonhwa, who had cooled off his sweat for a bit under the air conditioner, also hurried to take his place. As it happened, the member standing opposite him was one of the group that had been whispering a little while ago. Nam Gyeonhwa looked at him and bowed his head.

“Please take care of me.”

“Ah, yes, please take care of me.”

Unlike the neat greeting, a strangely attractive face. Ma Jaewan, unaware that his ears had turned red, hurriedly bowed his head back. The sound of the whistle signaling the start of training was heard. Nam Gyeonhwa, who had gathered his breath, crouched down and took his stance. Thud, the sound of bodies hitting the mattress here and there rang out loudly.