Chapter 66
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As soon as he arrived at work, Igeon was called by Instructor Kim. Sensing the unusual atmosphere, Igeon nervously swallowed. Instructor Kim, with a genuinely serious expression, patted Igeon’s shoulder and said:
“Starting today, we’re going to do practical training.”
“Practical training?”
“Yes.”
Igeon was about to say that he still had much to learn and it was too early, but he held back. After all, he was an athlete. He knew well that practical experience was the fastest way to learn.
“Yes, I understand. Please explain how it will proceed.”
Instructor Kim nodded and briefly explained the process. It was truly simple: ‘I can’t tell you anything.’ Just like real cockroaches, he couldn’t tell Igeon where or how they would appear, and everything would depend on Igeon’s instinct and judgment. Though called practical training, it was essentially a test. Igeon thought it would be ‘difficult’ but also ‘interesting.’ He looked at the other security guards training behind Instructor Kim.
“You won’t know who will attack you. Memorizing our faces won’t help.”
“Haha, you caught me.”
“Yes. And our attack patterns are similar to theirs. We’ve researched them for a long time.”
“I fought with them once when I was in college… they were truly terrifying people. Not a single movement showed any hesitation.”
“That’s right. They fear nothing. That’s what makes them scary. Human instinct makes you avoid when you think your arm might get cut off, but they charge toward their goal regardless. That’s why they’re even capable of suicide bombing.”
“Suicide bombing?”
“Yes, they once tried it. Fortunately, we caught them beforehand.”
“When…”
“A few years ago when Taekyung was returning to Korea. At the airport.”
“That’s insane. But isn’t their goal to capture Taekyung, not kill him?”
“They probably planned to take him even if they lost limbs. Or maybe they wanted to take advantage of the airport chaos to kidnap him. If you try hard enough, you can create reasons and directions. The problem is there’s no correct answer.”
“Why is that?”
“Because they committed suicide as soon as they were caught. So we couldn’t find out who ordered them or what they planned to do. The bomb was homemade, too. It was wrapped around their entire body—if it had exploded, it would have blown away about a third of Incheon Airport.”
Good heavens.
“The scale is getting bigger. And they’re starting to not care about people’s eyes. What does that mean?”
“It means they’re getting anxious.”
Instructor Kim seemed pleased with Igeon’s answer and showed a satisfied face.
“Yes, that’s correct. We call them cockroaches because if you see one, dozens are already breeding in its shadow. So we knock them down whenever we see them. We’ve wiped out even their egg sacs so they can’t reproduce. Although they’ve persistently survived, their numbers are decreasing, and at this point, even those loyal to them start to question: ‘Should we sacrifice our lives like this? What benefit do we get from this?'”
True… even from what Igeon knew, this had been an exhausting battle of obsession going on for over a decade. It was actually surprising that they had remained so united and fought together until now. The world had changed dozens of times, yet they remained stagnant.
“That’s why their leadership seems to be getting anxious. They’ve stopped caring about public attention.”
“That may be true… but there haven’t been any suspicious movements since I became Taekyung’s dedicated security guard.”
“Of course. That’s why Jae-woo placed you there. To draw people’s attention, to make you noticeable. That makes it harder for them to make rash moves.”
“Ah, I see.”
Igeon thought it was fortunate. He had believed he wasn’t doing much, but it turned out his fame from winning the gold medal was actually helping a little.
“Now, back to the practical training. You’ll go through it three times in total. You’ll be attacked three times this week, and you need to defend against them well.”
“Yes, I understand.”
With Instructor Kim’s encouragement, Igeon returned to where Han Taekyung was. Looking at Taekyung’s back as he worked, Igeon felt newly tense. He needed to do well without mistakes. That was how he could properly protect Han Taekyung. However, despite going outside multiple times after 4 PM, he received no attacks, and there was no news the following day either. At first, he was extremely nervous, but by now, he had adopted a “whatever happens, happens” attitude. Perhaps that’s what Instructor Kim wanted. After all, they wouldn’t attack when there was an advance warning that “an attack will come.”
“Executive Director, you have a meeting at 3:30.”
“On the 34th floor?”
“Yes.”
Taekyung got up at the secretary’s schedule reminder. Meetings were usually held on the 34th or 54th floor, with the 34th floor being used when regular employees, rather than directors or executives, participated. The downside was that the private elevator didn’t go to the 34th floor, so they had to transfer to a regular elevator. Since regular elevators could be used by the general public, an additional security guard was assigned. Sure enough, a security guard was waiting at the transfer point to the regular elevator, and they boarded together. The elevator carried five people in total: Han Taekyung, two secretaries, Seo Igeon, and the security guard. Everyone waited in silence, watching the numbers decrease until they reached the 34th floor. When they arrived and the doors opened, the security guard who had boarded for protection pressed the close button and then the emergency button, stopping the elevator. The secretaries screamed in surprise, and Igeon stood in front of Taekyung. The security guard was holding a dagger.
‘Of course, this kind of situation could happen.’
Igeon understood and quickly tried to subdue the man, but as expected from a veteran, it wasn’t easy. Above all, the distance between the man and Taekyung was too close. The man could injure Taekyung’s face or body with just a stretch of his hand, so Igeon had to attack while holding the man to prevent him from getting any closer to Taekyung. Igeon struck the man’s stomach and glanced at Taekyung. He was leaning against the elevator wall with his arms crossed, enjoying the fight. He knew this was “training.” Still, couldn’t he at least pretend to tremble to help Igeon focus? How could he concentrate when Taekyung looked so amused?
As the blade swung, Igeon grabbed the man’s arm and twisted it. He struck the hand holding the knife to make him drop it and kicked it into the corner. The man then pulled out another knife from his chest with his other hand and swung it at Igeon. As Igeon dodged slightly, the man took a step closer to Taekyung to stab him, so Igeon quickly tripped him, hit his waist and back, knocked him down, and grabbed both his arms. Sweat streamed down as his breathing became rough. Under the name of training, they were engaged in a real fight. After completely subduing him, Igeon looked at the secretary.
“Please press the elevator emergency button again.”
The secretary nodded and quickly pressed the emergency button, and the elevator started moving again. Then it arrived at the 33rd floor and the doors opened.
“Aaaaah!!”
The people waiting for the elevator all stepped back in shock at the scene when the doors opened. Igeon quickly raised his hand.
“Ah, everyone, please calm down. This is training.”
“It’s… training. Sorry for causing a disturbance!!”
The man restrained by Igeon, the security guard, also explained the situation briefly with a laugh.
“T-training?”
But the faces of the people were full of doubt.
“Yes.”
When Igeon released his arms, the security guard stood up, dusted off his clothes, and bowed to Han Taekyung.
“Executive Director, I’m sorry for the inconvenience.”
“Not at all. I enjoyed the show. It’s reassuring to have such skilled security guards around me.”
Taekyung patted the man’s shoulders in encouragement, but his eyes were on Igeon. With the executive director stepping in to clarify the situation, the tension finally left the shoulders of the doubtful and anxious onlookers.
“Oh? Athlete Seo Igeon!”
“Ah, that’s right! They said athlete Seo Igeon is Executive Director Han’s security guard!”
“What? Is that really athlete Seo Igeon?”
Huh? This wasn’t supposed to happen. Igeon laughed at the people who recognized him.
“I’m sorry. I’m currently on duty. I’ll greet you properly next time.”
He quickly followed Executive Director Han out of the elevator, staying close behind him. The security guard who had just participated in the drill also stood beside Igeon, wiping away his sweat.
“Seo Igeon, you did well.”
“Thank you for your guidance.”
“No, you really handled it well without panicking. I’ll put in a good word for you with Instructor Kim.”
“Thank you.”
The man bowed to Taekyung again and left. While waiting for the elevator to go up to the 34th floor, Igeon looked at his hands. They were trembling slightly. It seemed he had been tense without realizing it.
“If it had been them for real,”
Taekyung, who had been quietly waiting for the elevator in front of Igeon, said.
“They wouldn’t have attacked so clumsily. So don’t look so proud of yourself for accomplishing just that much.”
Well… that’s true. The senior security guard who helped with the training probably held back somewhat. But was there a need to be so cold and hit him where it hurt? The old Han Taekyung would have encouraged him first.
No. Don’t think such weak thoughts. Igeon nodded.
“Yes, I’ll stay sharp. Don’t worry, Executive Director, I’ll protect you.”
At Igeon’s bold and confident words, Taekyung boarded the elevator with an incredulous laugh.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
