NovelEnglishKang Chan had just finished having breakfast with Seok Kang-Ho when Yoo Hun-Woo entered the room to sterilize their wounds and change their bandages.
“When do you think I can be discharged?” Kang Chan asked.
“Well, it’s not like you’re going to stay in the hospital even if I tell you to,” Yoo Hun-Woo replied with a scoff as he bandaged Kang Chan’s wounds. “This is a gunshot wound.”
Looking up from the wound, he continued, “The wound on your shoulder is bad enough to consider surgery. If I wasn’t aware of your unique physical abilities, I would have put you on the operating table.”
Yoo Hun-Woo replaced his surgical gloves with a new pair. “Mr. Seok’s wounds are similar to yours, but the way it’s healing up is a bit different.”
While talking, he skillfully cut off Seok Kang-Ho’s bandages with scissors.
“I think I’ve already gotten the gist of what you do, Mr. Kang Chan, but if you push yourself any harder than this, you might never get to use your shoulder properly again. Not even surgery would be able to help you.”
Based on this sly snake’s facial expression and tone, Kang Chan would likely have to say goodbye to being discharged immediately.
“What about me?” Seok Kang-Ho questioned.
“You’re a perfect candidate for surgery,” Yoo Hun-Woo replied so firmly that Seok Kang-Ho immediately shut up. “Mr. Kang Chan.”
“Yes?”
“I know what a gunshot wound means. I also understand that there were probably unavoidable circumstances,” Yoo Hun-Woo said as he changed the bandages on Seok Kang-Ho’s shoulder. “Still, next time something like this happens, at least try to protect your body.”
He meticulously taped the bandages, then glanced at Kang Chan.
“I’m saying you shouldn’t leave a wound full of dirt. That goes for you too, Mr. Seok.”
Kang Chan and Seok Kang-Ho could only meekly reply, “Got it.”
“You can be discharged in three days,” Yoo Hun-Woo directed.
“Three days?” Kang Chan repeated.
“At the very least, you can’t leave until I’m sure your wounds have closed. You have to be considerate of the hospital’s income too. This is the first time you’ve come here in a while, you know.”
Kang Chan chuckled at the snarky comment.
Yoo Hun-Woo stood up. He then took off his gloves and tossed them into the bin.
“Don’t you dare lift anything heavy."
“Yes, sir,” Kang Chan responded.
When Yoo Hun-Woo left the room, Seok Kang-Ho turned to Kang Chan.“Your condition’s pretty serious, huh?”
“He said all those apply to you too,” Kang Chan countered.
“Well, you just got me caught in the crossfire. I bet your wounds worsened while you were holding onto Dong-Gyun in that pit.”
Seok Kang-Ho stood up and started making coffee. At the same time, Kim Hyung-Jung opened the door and walked in.
“Right on time. Coffee?” Seok Kang-Ho offered.
“Sure. I’ll make it,” Kim Hyung-Jung stated.
“Just take a seat. I can do this much. I’ve already got it started, see?”
“Well, it certainly has been a while since I last had coffee that you’ve made. I’ll take you up on that offer, then.”
Kim Hyung-Jung sat down at the table and pulled out two phones, setting one of them in front of Kang Chan.
Seok Kang-Ho brought four paper cups to the table on a small tray. One, of course, was a substitute ashtray, half full of water.
“You brought the phones! Nice!” Seok Kang-Ho exclaimed in excitement.
Kim Hyung-Jung peered into the paper cups and chuckled in disbelief.
They didn’t care what anyone said. To them, instant coffee should always be accompanied by cigarettes.
Kim Hyung-Jung quickly opened the window. The three then lit a cigarette each.
“Mr. Kang Chan, Kang Sunbae left Korea yesterday,” Kim Hyung-Jung began.
Seok Kang-Ho briefly peeked over at Kang Chan before nonchalantly taking another sip of his coffee.
“One of our agents has also reported that your father knows that you’ve been deployed to Africa. He has been informed of your return. At the very least, I believe you should tell your father that you’re in the hospital.”
“I’ll give him a call,” Kang Chan replied.
“On another note, we have finished organizing the team that’ll be taking charge of the Eurasian Rail. Why don’t you meet them? I’ll set up the meeting.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
After replying to Kim Hyung-Jung, Kang Chan finally decided to ask what he had been curious about.
“Manager Kim.”
“Yes?”
“There’s a hidden story behind this deployment, isn’t there? Do you know anything about it?”
Kang Chan didn’t pose the question as suspicion or accusation. He genuinely just wanted to know what happened.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“Before and after the deployment, the National Intelligence Service was flooded with information,” Kim Hyung-Jung immediately replied. He sounded as if it was only proper that he answered the question. “We concluded that there had to be more to it, but we couldn’t figure out what it was. That aside…”
Kim Hyung-Jung proceeded to tell them about Vasili’s visit and the offer from Saudi Arabia.
“To be honest, the Director feels very apologetic toward you, Mr. Kang Chan. As Director Vasili said, you’re at the very center of the world of intelligence right now, struggling to bear its entire weight, and the current National Intelligence Service can’t even support you.”
Kang Chan hadn’t known Vasili had come by.
Russia helping South Korea with no strings attached? Bullshit. A passing polar bear would scoff as he drank his Pepsi if he heard that.
“What did you decide to do?” Kang Chan asked.
“We’ve informed both Russia and Saudi Arabia that we’re going to delay our decision,” Kim Hyung-Jung replied.
It was the only sensible option they had.
He continued, “Even if you didn’t ask, I was already planning to tell you all about this today. You’re the only one who can get to the bottom of this deployment and why the joint oil venture was proposed.”
“So we’re in a race against time?” Kang Chan asked.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Kim Hyung-Jung replied, his tone heavy.
He seemed to be feeling down because of the National Intelligence Service’s inadequacies, which he had just acknowledged, and for putting such a heavy burden on Kang Chan even though he had just returned from Africa.
“What about Mongolia?” Kang Chan inquired.
“Things are going pretty well there. The Mongolian border patrol has taken over the security. Everyone requires President Oh’s permission to pass through the area now.”
Kang Chan and Seok Kang-Ho chuckled, lightening the mood.
“Manager Kim, I would like to start attending to business this afternoon. Can you provide me a vehicle?” Kang Chan asked.
“Of course. There’s already one waiting outside.”
Kang Chan nodded. He planned to call Lanok before getting to work.
“I also need some clothes,” he added.
“We already have some prepared for you and Mr. Seok,” Kim Hyung-Jung stated.
He was definitely meticulous about whatever he did.
A few moments later, a thought crossed Kang Chan’s mind.
“Oh, right! We received letters while we were in Africa. How was that possible?”
“Ah, that.” Kim Hyung-Jung smiled at Kang Chan.
“While your mother was talking to the Prime Minister’s office about the foundation, she asked if we could deliver a letter to you. Kim Mi-Young sent hers through her father, and Lee Yoo-Seul through the unit in Jeungpyeong.”
Kang Chan looked at Kim Hyung-Jung with a dazed expression. He understood how Yoo Hye-Sook and Lee Yoo-Seul had done it, but the way Kim Mi-Young did it made no sense to him.
“Is this about Kim Mi-Young’s letter?” Kim Hyung-Jung knowingly asked.
“Yes. I don’t understand how she managed to send me one.”
Seok Kang-Ho looked at Kim Hyung-Jung, suddenly growing curious as well.
“The legal overseer of the Eurasian Rail is Judge Kim Kwan-Sik, Kim Mi-Young’s father,” Kim Hyung-Jung answered.
Kang Chan had heard about this from Kim Mi-Young. If he were being honest, he had a lot of uncertainties about it. It wasn’t like her father was the only judge in all of Korea, after all.
This wasn’t right. If he had known about this before her father was appointed, he would have done whatever it took to prevent it from happening.
“What a small world…” Seok Kang-Ho mused in amazement, speaking for Kang Chan’s feelings too.
“Mi-Young’s father will be coming to the meeting as well, then?” Kang Chan asked.
“That is correct,” Kim Hyung-Jung replied.
Kang Chan laughed in disbelief.
“And he knows what my current line of work is?”
“He probably already has a gist of everything up to Mongolia.”
Kang Chan couldn’t help but scoff in disbelief again.
“Does it make you uncomfortable? We had a meeting about it, but he’s a very reputable judge, and he volunteered for the job, so we saw no problem in approving him.”
“He didn’t know that I was in charge of the Eurasian Rail when he signed up, did he?” Kang Chan asked.
“He had his suspicions.”
That meant Kim Mi-Young’s father volunteered despite knowing that Kang Chan was the Eurasian Rail’s primary coordinator.
Kang Chan tried to raise his arm to scratch his head, but when the pain from his shoulders stopped him, he scowled instead.
“Let’s think about it over some cigarettes,” Seok Kang-Ho suggested.
Kim Hyung-Jung lit another cigarette using Seok Kang-Ho’s.
“I heard you were ambushed in Africa,” Kim Hyung-Jung said, finally delving into his curiosity.
“It was the Quds,” Kang Chan replied.
“Are you sure?”
“Very.”
Although Kim Hyung-Jung would probably get a report from the Jeungpyeong agents anyway, Kang Chan still told him about what happened in Africa and what the atmosphere had been like. Of course, he left out the part about the Blackhead, which everyone involved agreed to keep a secret.
“It did seem like the UN was working with someone,” Kim Hyung-Jung agreed.
By the time he had finished asking questions, it was already around lunchtime.
The three ordered some stir-fried octopus. After lunch and some tea, Kim Hyung-Jung left the room.
“I wonder why Mi-Young’s father did that. Got any guesses, Cap? Maybe…” Seok Kang-Ho trailed off.
“Maybe what?” Kang Chan repeated.
“Do you think he has his eye on you as his son-in-law?”
“Shut up. Would you give me your daughter if you were him?”
Seok Kang-Ho tilted his head and looked back at Kang Chan, clearly deep in thought.
Kang Chan shook his head and brushed aside thoughts about Kim Mi-Young’s father. It wasn’t important right now.
“I’ll go make some calls,” Kang Chan said.
He dialed Lanok’s number first.
- Mr. Kang Chan.
“Mr. Ambassador, it’s me. I arrived at the hospital yesterday, but I just got my phone back today, which is why I haven’t been able to call you.”
- Don’t worry about it. How are your injuries?
Now that Kang Chan could talk to Lanok with such crystal-clear sound quality, he felt more like he was finally back in Korea.
“I’m feeling good enough to go see you in the afternoon or the evening if you’re available.”
- Why don’t we have dinner together, then?
“Sounds like a plan. Where should we meet?”
- Six at the embassy would be nice.
“Understood, Mr. Ambassador. I’ll see you then.”
After hanging up, Kang Chan told Seok Kang-Ho about their conversation.
“About the Blackhead. I’m thinking of giving it to the ambassador,” Kang Chan hesitantly said.
“Do what you want,” Seok Kang-Ho responded so quickly it seemed as though he didn’t even want to think about it. “Why are you telling me this?”
“We worked hard together to get it. Don’t you want it for your efforts?”
“Nobody who was there that day would covet something like that. Having an office with you is good enough for me. You also took care of them last time. To be honest, we have Ambassador Lanok to thank for all the freedom we’re enjoying. Nobody would be upset if you gave the Blackhead to him.”
“All right. Since it’s a gift, we should at least wrap it up a bit.”
“Good idea.”
Seok Kang-Ho stood up and told an agent outside to bring them a gift box, some wrapping paper, and a paper bag.
“That’s strange,” Seok Kang-Ho mused when he returned.
“What?” Kang Chan asked.
Seok Kang-Ho closed the door and walked over to the table. He then tilted his head.
“There are too many of them outside. This level of security is the same as when we had to stay in a hotel before.”
“Really?”
Kang Chan glanced at the door. It wasn’t like he could see anything, though.
“Stay here for a bit. I’ll get some fresh air outside and call my Father too,” Kang Chan said.
“It’s cold out there,” Seok Kang-Ho warned him.
Kang Chan nodded. He then left.
Seok Kang-Ho was right. Agents were standing with sharp gazes in the hallways, elevators, and even the stairwells. Something was definitely up with the security.
“Do you have any orders for us, sir?” an agent asked.
“No. Is the room next to ours empty?” Kang Chan asked.
“Yes, sir.”
Kang Chan slid open the door that was labeled “Seok Kang-Ho” and walked inside.
He spent a moment thinking about where to sit. Liking the sunlight coming in through the window, he sat on the bed by the window and looked at his phone.
He knew he should just say he was fine and honestly answer the questions he would be asked, but he kept thinking about how Kang Dae-Kyung learned about his deployment to Africa.
Kang Chan finally pressed the call button. The dial tone rang twice before the call was picked up.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm- Hello? Is this Channy?
“Yes, Father.”
- Where are you?
“I’m at a hospital. I returned yesterday, but I just got my phone back today, so I only got to call you now.”
Kang Dae-Kyung sounded unexpectedly casual.
- Did you call Mom too?
“I called you first.”
- Good. Your mom still thinks you're in Mongolia, so tell her that. When are you getting discharged?”
“They said I can leave in three days.”
- How’s your condition?
Kang Dae-Kyung was feigning nonchalance, but the worry and concern in his voice were delivered as warmly as the sunlight sipping in through the window.
“I’ve healed up enough to have dinner with Ambassador Lanok later. The doctor just wants me to stay until the results are in, so you don’t have to worry.”
- Are you coming home once you’re out of the hospital?
“That’s the plan.”
- Do you want me to get you some sushi?
Kang Chan didn’t realize sushi could be such a heartwarming food.
“Yes.”
- Why are you being so quiet today? Are you sure you’re okay?
“I really am, Father,” Kang Chan reassured him. He then heard a low sigh from across the line.
- Can I visit during lunch tomorrow?
“Father, there are a lot of people here,” Kang Chan said worriedly.
- I said the same thing last time, but if my son wants to eat, who cares about the number of people present? How many are there anyway?
“About twenty people, I think.”
Kang Dae-Kyung pleasantly chuckled into the phone.
- I’ll come by during lunch tomorrow, so don’t eat and just wait for me.
“Will do.”
- Chan.
“Yes?” Kang Chan nervously answered, not knowing what Kang Dae-Kyung was going to say.
- Thanks for giving me a call. Now hurry and call your mom too, okay? I’ll see you tomorrow.
“Yes, Father. See you tomorrow.”
After hanging up, Kang Chan looked outside the window for a moment.
Even though he had to fight battles he didn’t necessarily want to fight, it still wasn’t so bad. After all, he had such amazing parents now.
Kang Chan called another number.
This time, the phone didn’t even ring twice.
- Channy!
Yoo Hye-Sook already sounded both delighted and teary.
“Mother! It’s me!”
- Channy! Are you okay? Are you doing well? Are you eating well?
“Yes. I’m doing well. What about you, Mother?”
- I am too. Except for missing you so much, I’m doing just fine. You’re not hurt or sick, are you?
“Nope. I really am doing well.”
They didn’t have much to talk about. Even so, their conversation still lasted almost twenty minutes.
- I finally feel like I can breathe now. I was worried, you know. You looked unwell in my dreams the past few days. Anyway, keep safe until you come home, okay? Should I go to the airport?
“I heard other people will be coming to get me. I’ll say hello to them and go straight home.”
- All right. Be careful, okay?
Kang Chan hung up with a warm feeling in his heart.
Now, all he had to do was return to his room, wrap the Blackhead, then idle around with Seok Kang-Ho until he had to go see Lanok.
Kang Chan looked down at his phone and flipped through his contacts list in search of Kim Mi-Young’s number.
Kang Chan fiddled with the call button.
His phone began to ring, receiving an unexpected call.
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