.
Dong-hae briefly stared at the cups piling up on the table and smiled in victory. He would soon be free of his troubles; at least he would pay well enough to make that happen.
He had gotten drunk while he waited for his last appointment of the night, but he was tired of sitting there.
He looked at his wristwatch, and the hands seemed to move in slow motion; time didn't even seem to want to run its natural course.
10 p.m.
He would tirelessly tap his feet on the floor and think to himself, 'OK, I'll just wait ten minutes.' As the seconds passed, he found himself staring at his hand, specifically at his ring, the family ring.
He stared at his ring and wondered if he'd ever have fingers left to keep wearing it .
Traitors were supposed to lose their fingers, right?!
"I got stuck in traffic," the man said with a smile . He picked up the menu that was on the table and began to leaf through it.
Kim Dong-hae sighed tiredly, feeling dizzy from too much alcohol.
"How can I help?"
Dong-hae took a deep breath and took another swig of his whiskey. "I want you to look up everything you can about my adoption process, search through everything from conversations to registry offices and hospital files. I don't care how, but find out who my birth parents are."
The man, who previously didn't care to look at him while listening, was taken aback by the request and was forced to meet Dong-hae's gaze . His look was one of surprise.
He sighed. "I can get this, but Miss Eun-ji must not know, right?"
He nodded in agreement, and his companion laughed in disbelief. After all, was it even possible to hide something from Eun-ji?! "Yes. I know she's already cut me out of business…."
Jun-seo was someone who, for many years, worked for loan sharks and private investigators and he really understood when it came to getting information. This became a problem when he started asking for loans and decided to get a formal job at Kim Companies; his debts were too big to ignore.
Dong-hae twirled her glass as she watched the ice gently play with the alcohol. "...I'll pay you, but this needs to stay between us, Jun-seo."
Jun-seo had no intention of betraying Eun-ji anytime soon, but he had so much debt that he desperately needed some money.
As a result: he needed money and Dong-hae certainly had it.
"It's okay, I'll keep it a secret."
"Jun-seo, I'm leaving right now..."
Dong-hae tossed some bills on the table and got up to leave. She didn't even make an effort to look at the amount she threw. She took the last sip of her drink and draped her suit over her shoulder.
Jun-seo just nodded as he stared at the menu.
He sighed in his heart; perhaps he was more angry than desperate.
He was more afraid of Eun-ji than Dong-hae, but one thing he was sure of: that family was very troubled.
The night passed in a peaceful and pleasant way.
The day soon dawned, and Hye-jin was ready to start her killing spree .
Hye-jin walked calmly down the street.
It had been exactly 12 hours since she found Dong-hae, but time was money and she had to put her plan into action soon.
After the first rays of sunlight appeared, she was already smiling in the middle of the street for her morning walk, and of course, a special stop for coffee was mandatory.
Three months wasn't long for what she had in mind, but she would make it happen.
Her job involved spying on the target and killing her.
The next three months would be spent getting to know Eun-ji as thoroughly as possible and then finally getting her to see God up close.
Some targets have easy-to-understand routines, and the work didn't usually take more than a few weeks, but the higher the security, the more complicated it was to find loopholes and get the perfect time to complete the plan.
In any case, she couldn't waste a second with trifles and was already preparing for the grand finale.
"Good morning," Hye-jin greeted right after the light chime of the bell rang with the door of the small diner opening.
"Hye-jin! Come in," the smiling receptionist said.
"How can I help you?"
"I need coffee and an egg salad to go, and a bonus service."
The man knew what that meant. That little diner wasn't just concerned with buying coffee beans or sugar for its recipes; it also focused on money laundering and selling weapons. Of course, that place belonged to Hye-jin herself, but that was a secret, so not even the employees knew about it.
"Another big service? This is good," he said, putting in a few spoons of freshly ground coffee.
She smiled in agreement. "I'm not going to complain if people are killing each other. As long as money comes in, it's okay."
"What's the name this time?"
"Eun-ji."
"Eun-ji… That name is familiar to me," he said more to himself than to Hye-jin. 'Eun-ji' actually sounded more than familiar to him, and that was no wonder. After all, young Kim probably had one of the most cited names in the newspapers along with that of Dong-hae.
"How many?"
"I only want five, all marked with her name."
Hye-jin had a little quirk of engraving her target's name on her ammo. This was a simple reminder that she was the one who performed the service; that was her trademark.
A person dying with her name engraved on the bullet that killed her was poetic to Hye-jin, to say the least .
"Okay, just Eun-ji?" He handed a small coffee to Hye-jin to drink while she waited for her salad to be ready.
That coffee was just wonderful. She smiled with satisfaction.
"Maybe it'll be better to specify 'Kim Eun-ji'..." she mused . She took a quick sip of her coffee while the hot steam warmed her face.
She seemed to decide which name to choose. "K. Eun-ji. That will be fine."
The man agreed and quickly wrote it down on his order pad. "K. Eun-ji, right."
Anyone looking from a distance would never think that Hye-jin was ordering ammunition for a future murder; it could easily be mistaken for an ordinary order for cookies and hot chocolate.
The man, when he finished writing, seemed to understand the whole situation and laughed a little fearfully at what she was willing to do. "That's not that businesswoman, right?!"
Hye-jin quickly looked into the face of the man in front of her and quickly ignored that terrified look and simply placed her empty cup on the counter. "Yes, it is her."
He wore a worried look on his face. He knew well that the Kim family was one of the wealthiest and most influential in the country, and messing with any of them was likely a death sentence.
"I hope she really dies. If she or anyone in that family knows you're after her, the whole town will be after yours."
Hye-jin laughed scornfully. "That's a risk I'm willing to take."
"Is the money that good?"
"Yes."
"Well, they will be ready in a week." He said, handing over a small packet of salad and a sealed cup of more coffee.
Hye-jin took her food and even turned to leave. But she turned back; she had one more thing she needed. "On second thought, make an extra unit, but under a different name."
"Sure, what's the name?"
"Kim Dong-hae."