Chapter 59
“Oh, you’re here?”
I dragged my tired body to the gym. After debating whether to go home or stay at the gym, I chose the gym since it was closer to Han Taekyung’s place than my house. As always, Instructor Jin welcomed me warmly. As soon as I arrived, I greeted the instructor, changed my clothes, and looked in the mirror while brushing my teeth in the bathroom. It really had been a strangely draining day. No, thinking about it, it made sense that I was drained. More than anything, my stomach was so full right now. Although I hadn’t requested it, I thought I should finish everything since he’d gone to the trouble of making it. So despite not being particularly hungry, I scraped up every last bit of the pasta, and now my stomach felt bloated. Still, it was delicious. I don’t usually like Western food, and I’ve never eaten much pasta in particular, so whenever I eat it, I usually just think, “What kind of flavor is this? It just tastes strongly of the main ingredient?” But today, I actually thought, “This is delicious.”
Come to think of it, Han Taekyung was a good cook. The ramen he made in the dorm was delicious, and all the dishes he made during our brief time in the officetel were good too. In a way, it’s fortunate. It seems like there’s at least some overlap between the Han Taekyung from the past and the Han Taekyung now.
“So, how was your first day at work?”
When I came out of the bathroom and entered the room, Instructor Jin asked me while laying out the bedding, as if he’d been waiting. I skipped sitting down and went straight to lying on the blanket, letting out a deep sigh.
“Instructor, I met Instructor Kim today. Did he contact you?”
“Huh? Uh…”
Huh? I thought he’d be surprised, but his reaction was completely flat.
“Wait, have you been in contact with him?”
When I suddenly sat up and asked Instructor Jin, he cleared his throat a couple of times and nodded.
“What? So all that complaining about not being able to contact him was just an act??”
“No. It’s true we didn’t have contact for several years. We got in touch after he came back to Korea. It’s been about two years. But even then, we haven’t met. He’s been so busy that he only contacts me once every six months or so just to let me know he’s alive.”
“Didn’t you tell him about Han Taekyung then? Even if you’ve only been in contact for two years, you could have said something when I was badmouthing Han Taekyung.”
“Igeon, calm down first. I don’t know anything about what happened to Han Taekyung. I didn’t have a chance to ask. Like I said, Instructor Kim was too busy. And it felt like Instructor Kim couldn’t talk about it either, so I just pretended not to know.”
“Haa…”
“So, is Instructor Kim doing well?”
“Yes.”
I told Instructor Jin in detail about meeting Instructor Kim today, how he was doing, and what kind of work he was doing these days. After listening quietly, Instructor Jin patted me on the shoulder.
“You must be having a hard time.”
“Pardon? Me?”
“Yes. If Instructor Kim created a security company for Han Taekyung and gathered only elites but still found it difficult, it means Han Taekyung is in more danger than we thought. And now you’ve stepped into that position. So be careful. Of course, you should protect Han Taekyung, but you also need to protect yourself. Understand?”
“…Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”
“I should call Instructor Kim tomorrow. Maybe he’ll actually answer the phone now.”
“He asked me to have a meal with him earlier. Let’s set a date and have some grilled intestines with soju sometime.”
“Sure, let’s do that. I’d like to have a drink with that guy after so long.”
When Instructor Jin suggested having a drink tonight as well, I told him I had to go to work early in the morning and quickly lay down and closed my eyes. Usually, I have trouble falling asleep and toss and turn for at least 30 minutes, but I must have been really tired because my eyelids closed automatically. I wonder what will happen when I open my eyes. I hope nothing happens…
â—†
I woke up at 5 AM. I quickly washed up, had a quick cup of milk, and alternated between subway and bus rides, wondering if I should buy a car, until I arrived at Han Taekyung’s place.
I took out the NI phone and held it up to the door lock, and soon the AI recognized me and opened the door. As I got into the elevator and checked my phone, I noticed another unfamiliar app had been installed. After fingerprint and body recognition, the opened app showed a detailed blueprint of the house where Han Taekyung was staying, along with emergency exits and methods to use power and electricity in emergencies, as well as their locations. What surprised me more was that the floor directly below Han Taekyung was the CCTV control room, and there were 5 people working there with 20 security guards, all of whom lived in this villa. In other words, Han Taekyung was using this entire villa. I remembered the officetel where he briefly stayed. That actually made sense; it was the safest. There were certainly fewer incidents back then, and I’d heard the security guards saying it was a bit easier to protect.
‘I don’t think I’m needed,’ I thought, given how perfect the villa’s security was. Even at this moment, a CCTV camera was following and monitoring me. I felt their gaze and suddenly felt uncomfortable, but what could I do? I just had to get used to it.
When I opened the door to Han Taekyung’s penthouse, he was sitting on the sofa drinking coffee and looking at a tablet. He seemed to be checking the news articles as he said he did every morning.
“Good morning.”
After debating how to greet him, I chose a slightly more friendly greeting than “Hello.” But he just glanced at me once and kept his focus on the tablet.
“I received an app today. Would it be okay if I look around the house while checking the floor plan?”
“Go ahead. That’s why I called you in early today. You have about 30 minutes.”
Ah… so that was it. So originally it would have been 6:30. I laughed and slowly looked around the house while checking the app. Most of the doors to the rooms were open. It seemed they were left open to check for anyone hiding or any strange movements.
‘Even the bedroom is open.’
I debated whether to look at the bedroom or not, but feeling it wouldn’t be right to enter, I peeked inside from the doorway. Thankfully(?), there was no one inside, and it was clean. It was beyond clean—it was austere. Then, looking at the CCTV in that room with nothing but a bed, I suddenly felt very sorry for Han Taekyung. This leaves no privacy. How can anyone live like this? It must be really uncomfortable… Looking at the app, it seemed Han Taekyung could control turning the CCTV in the bedroom on and off. But it was impossible for the other cameras installed in the house. My previous thought that Sunbae might be here yesterday seemed ridiculous now. This is not a place where people can live. It’s a prison.
“Have you seen everything?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Then I have something to tell you.”
By now he was washed, dressed perfectly, and sitting on the sofa as he called for Seo Igeon. As I approached him, he handed me the tablet he had been looking at earlier.
There was an article displayed.
“This will be in the news around 8 o’clock.”
[Gold Medalist Seo Igeon Appointed as Head of Security for NI Executive Director Han Taekyung]
“Head of Security?”
“…You didn’t bother to read the contract properly at all, did you? Do you even know how much your salary is?”
I did read it yesterday… but I only looked at the tracking part and then closed the window. Remembering this, I just laughed.
Well, that can happen.
I read the article carefully. This part wasn’t surprising since Han Jae-woo had already talked about it, and I had agreed to it. I was just surprised that he showed it to me beforehand.
“You’ll be involved in more activities that expose your face for the time being. Please understand, even if it’s uncomfortable.”
“Yes, I understand. But…”
“But?”
“While it’s fine for me to be involved in activities that expose my face, won’t that be dangerous for you, Executive Director?”
“Ah… Even if it’s dangerous, I have to do what I need to do as an executive director, don’t I? I’m not just sitting in that position doing nothing, you know.”
Han Taekyung said as he took the tablet back. Somehow, Seo Igeon felt like he had misspoken.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way. I’m just worried about you.”
“I’m sure you are. You have to be.”
Han Taekyung, who got up from his seat first, straightened his tie and put on his shoes. Igeon quickly followed behind him. Fortunately, Han Taekyung didn’t seem upset. They started their first day at work by getting into the car that was waiting in the underground parking lot.
A few hours later, Igeon understood why Han Taekyung had said, “Please understand, even if it’s uncomfortable.” After the article was published, when Seo Igeon arrived at the company cafeteria for his first lunch break, people who recognized him came flooding over, causing quite a commotion. Having been forced out of the cafeteria, Seo Igeon bought a lunchbox from the convenience store in the building and waited for the elevator to the executive office.
“Seo Igeon?”
Hearing someone call his name, Igeon turned away from the elevator door to look behind him.
“Oh…”
“It is you.”
The softly smiling, still beautiful face. Someone he could never forget no matter how hard he tried.
“Sunbae Yuhan.”
It was Kang Yuhan.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
