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Psst! We're moving!
The subordinate standing to Kwon Hyuk’s right took Yoon Tae-ha’s luggage. Feeling lighter, Yoon Tae-ha extended her hand to Kwon Hyuk.
“It’s my first time meeting you in person. I’m Yoon Tae-ha.”
“I’m Kwon Hyuk of Changcheon.”
They shook hands lightly.
“Thank you for coming all this way. We should have moved ourselves, but the situation wasn’t favorable, so we had to borrow someone else’s help.”
“It’s a time when no one is free. It’s alright.”
While the two conversed, the Changcheon agents stood at regular intervals, keeping watch on their surroundings. Standing on the slippery, damp floor, they showed no unsteadiness even on the swaying vessel.
“Let’s go.”
At Kwon Hyuk’s command, the boat slowly turned. Yoon Tae-ha already felt bloated at the thought of the uncomfortable and awkward time she would have to spend with the Changcheon agents on this small boat.
Would it have been better if Nox’s gruff face had been here? He had remained on Dawn’s ship and was scheduled to move near Nautilus first, so he hadn’t come with Yoon Tae-ha. It seemed best to keep quiet and pretend to doze off for at least a few hours.
Passing several boats illuminated and engaged in fishing, they sped towards land. Yoon Tae-ha sat curled on the small chair Kwon Hyuk had given her, lost in thought as she gazed at the gradually approaching lights of the harbor.
She would meet Cheon Geon-young in a few days. But it didn’t feel real. How had he been doing? From the nuances hinted at in Jin Ki-won’s words, it didn’t seem like he was doing particularly well even now, after all this time.
Then, a voice suddenly popped up in Yoon Tae-ha’s mind.
‘You abandoned him. You neglected him even though you knew he was looking for you.’
Now she was facing the consequences of her choice. No one knew what choice he would make.
Moreover, wasn’t Yoon Jung-hoon committing the insane evil act of taking over Chairman Cheon Seong-beom’s body? Yoon Tae-ha felt an unspoken apology towards Cheon Geon-young because of it, one that was difficult to even express in words. She wasn’t sure if he would see her the same way after everything was over.
A moment later, as the boat docked, she had to forcibly push away the gloomy thoughts that seemed endless. Kwon Hyuk approached and handed Yoon Tae-ha some pre-prepared clothes.
“We’ve arrived. Put on this hat and coat.”
The only illuminated boat in the sparsely populated harbor was the one they were on. The agents disembarked like ghosts, making no sound, not even a breath. Kwon Hyuk also had a tense expression, like a commander on a battlefield.
Yoon Tae-ha put on the clothes and hat they offered and disembarked. The agents surrounded her, walking in front and behind.
“You’ll ride with me.”
Kwon Hyuk said in a low voice upon arriving at the parking lot behind the covered market with its peeling roof. She nodded almost imperceptibly.
Arriving in front of the car they would take, Kwon Hyuk personally opened the door for Yoon Tae-ha to get into the passenger seat. Then he went around to the opposite side and got into the driver’s seat. Following that, one of Changcheon’s agents got into the back seat.
The three distinct cars left the parking lot at staggered intervals. Kwon Hyuk, concentrating on driving, glanced at the passenger seat once they reached the road leading outside.
“You must be tired, but it would be best to stay awake until we reach the safe house.”
“I will.”
Without even taking off her hat or coat, Yoon Tae-ha focused on the scenery visible through the specially treated window. As Korean traffic signs began to appear, her heart started beating faster and faster.
It was a sign that she had arrived home.
________________________________________
The safe house, a bunker converted to prepare for an Esper’s rampage, was like a windowless prison. Traces of fixed handcuffs, used to suppress someone, remained clearly on the walls.
Upon arriving at the safe house, Yoon Tae-ha opened the box containing the spear Chertan had given her, checked the weapon’s condition, and then immediately left the bedroom for the living room. Kwon Hyuk was waiting there alone.
Kwon Hyuk had turned on the television and was flipping through channels. His hand stopped on a news channel. A reporter was announcing that Chairman Cheon Seong-beom had returned to group management.
Yoon Tae-ha deliberately made a sound to indicate her presence. Kwon Hyuk turned around and immediately tried to turn off the television. Yoon Tae-ha, who wanted to watch the news for a moment, stopped him.
“I want to watch for a bit.”
“Certainly.”
The old man’s face on the screen, in a wheelchair, was distorted with sorrow at the loss of his eldest son, but his eyes, with their bright red hue, were clear. Soon, as Chairman Cheon’s image disappeared from the screen, Kwon Hyuk flicked the remote, asking for permission to turn off the power.
“Yes, you can turn it off.”
Kwon Hyuk sat on the old but cleanly maintained sofa and invited Yoon Tae-ha to sit opposite him.
“My subordinates are waiting in the next building. I instructed them to do so as I thought personal conversations might take place.”
Yoon Tae-ha sat down, unable to shake the feeling of being observed by the man. Although she hadn’t actually committed any crime, she found herself politely clasping her hands on her lap. It seemed that his position as the head of a government agency was exerting considerable pressure.
Kwon Hyuk, who had been observing Yoon Tae-ha intently, then slowly began to speak.
“In three days, a charitable organization managed by the Blackwood Foundation will host an event at a hotel in Busan. Invitations have been issued to prominent domestic figures, and most have expressed their intention to participate. That event can virtually be seen as one arranged by Director-General Geum Gang-seop.”
He took out a long-folded piece of paper from inside his coat and handed it to Yoon Tae-ha. It was a list of key figures who would participate in the Charity Gala.
“Most of those invited there have also been invited to the exposition to be held in Nautilus. The evening after the Charity Gala, they plan to leave directly for the aquatic city on a large cruise provided by Ark. There are no other stopovers.”
“Will everyone invited use the cruise?”
“No, that’s not the case. If everyone moves together, there’s a risk that the entire family of the chairman could die in a disaster, isn’t there? Only the representative figures will use the cruise. For example, the person who was scheduled to board the cruise from CH was Vice Chairman Cheon Beom-jun and his family.”
“I heard the Vice Chairman died.”
“Cheon Beom-jun jumped from a bridge. However, the autopsy revealed that some of his organs had melted. Two days after his death, a bodyguard who had usually been unfairly treated by the Vice Chairman went to the police and confessed that he had done it. He said it was retaliation for the inhumane treatment he received.”
Yoon Tae-ha’s eyes grew wider and wider as she listened to the story. It felt as if a magnifying glass of ugly truth was unfolding before her. The voice of a man who felt no remorse for distorting and corrupting a person’s death in such a way echoed in her mind. Even the face of that old man who had coldly stepped over his dead daughter’s corpse.
“It’s Yoon Jung-hoon.”
She blurted out. Kwon Hyuk waited for the woman, who couldn’t hide her disgusted expression, to finish speaking.
“It’s not the bodyguard, it’s Yoon Jung-hoon, who borrowed Chairman Cheon Seong-beom’s body. Did you thoroughly check that bodyguard? Someone might be controlling the shell of an already dead person, just like at school.”
“We’ve accounted for that possibility and are monitoring the bodyguard. We’ve also controlled the media so his identity isn’t mentioned.”
A strange silence lingered for a moment. Hearing stories she hadn’t known before made Yoon Tae-ha uneasy.
While she found her mother’s flower garden and reunited with her father, Cheon Geon-young was going through the hardest time of his life. She hadn’t been by his side when he needed help the most.
Meanwhile, Kwon Hyuk returned to the initial topic.
“The person who will board the cruise instead of the deceased Cheon Beom-jun is Cheon Geon-young. Chairman Cheon stated that he was too old for a long voyage and expressed his intention to send his grandson instead.”
“Are you going to proceed with the swap operation just before boarding the cruise? Once on the ship, it would be difficult to approach that place with any means of transportation. They would have prepared for teleportation first.”
Kwon Hyuk nodded briefly, as if her deduction was correct.
“We’re setting the Charity Gala as the operation start date. If we don’t carry out the swap while our control is still alive, the risk will double.”
On a night for those in need, she would reclaim her place. Yoon Tae-ha clenched her fists tightly, feeling a strange thrill. It still felt awkward to be wearing only one ring, but for the safety of the person she loved, she could face her enemies bare-handed.
“The news of your survival will be delivered to Cheon Geon-young tomorrow.”
At the name that suddenly popped out, she stared at Kwon Hyuk, forgetting to even blink.
“Until recently, he has been close to Chairman Cheon, monitoring his every move. That’s why we didn’t immediately convey the news of Ms. Yoon Tae-ha’s survival.”
“Is it because of the variable named Kali?”
“Kali has been confirmed to be in Nautilus currently. And what I was worried about wasn’t the Outsider’s ability, but Cheon Geon-young’s heart.”
This man seems to know Cheon Geon-young well. Suddenly, a scene of Kwon Hyuk coldly telling her he couldn’t give her someone as important as Cheon Geon-young flashed in her mind. If she had to be precise, she thought Oh Ki-cheol was the one who acted as Cheon Geon-young’s guardian, but was this man also a mountain she had to overcome? She felt complicated.
“Yeo Soo-min and Oliver Cornet confessed. It was a very important confession that they initiated the attack, not that you attacked them first. Can you guess who received that confession?”
“...Cheon Geon-young?”
“At least the Cheon Geon-young I saw was someone who fit well with soldiers. He knew his duties, was faithful in carrying out orders, and perfectly embodied the concept of dedicating himself to a greater cause more than anyone. He was a cadet who never acted based on emotion, even in the academy that intentionally cultivated aggression.”
Yoon Tae-ha’s fingertips rapidly grew cold. In contrast, Kwon Hyuk’s voice had softened compared to when they first met on the boat.
“That Cheon Geon-young showed murderous intent first for the first time. Thanks to that, Yeo Soo-min, who had undergone intense training, spoke up, but those who witnessed it are still reluctant to work with Cheon Geon-young.”
Yoon Tae-ha, not knowing what to do with her distant emotions, merely clasped her hands together as if in prayer.
“He thinks of you more importantly than you realize. That’s why I made the judgment that if Cheon Geon-young found out Ms. Yoon Tae-ha was alive, smooth operation execution might become impossible. It wasn’t because I doubted the veracity of your testimony and wanted to verify it separately.”
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