When he arrived at the station, an announcement was being made to
announce the departure of KTX bound for Seoul. Chasing not a few people down to the platform.The train came early and was on standby. Enter the nearest door, check the seat number, and sit down. It was late at night, so the interior of the room was just still.
Drrrrr... Drrrrrrrrrrrrr.
As soon as he sat down, his cell phone rang from the inside of his jacket .It was used for private purposes other than work. As expected, the sender was the mother. After clearing his voice once, he answers the phone as usual.
"Yes, mother. I just got on the train. The cleaning up was later than I thought, so there was only the last train left. Even if I go without a delay, I won't arrive until dawn, so get some sleep."
He recite an obvious repertoire. The mother's barrage of questions began.
What time does it leave, when exactly does it arrive, how will it get home from the station, etc. He is a son who she see once or twice a year, so the day he stops by the house becomes more remarkable. He was able to finish the call only after he promised to go straight without leaking anywhere else.
When he hung up the phone, the fatigue that he had forgotten came in. He sighed on his own. Around that time, the train closed and left for Seoul. As he leaned back with his wet hair, he could feel the vibration of the train.
An announcement was made to announce the stopover in the quiet room.
There was no movement in the space where even the deputy director's voice died down after "Seoul."The lights seemed darker, too.
The heat of the heater soon made him feel drowsy. The eyelids soaked with water were also blurred. His eyelashes seemed to be exceptionally heavy because of the saltiness. He had nearly three hours to get to our destination.
He thinks it's better to sleep a little. He was about to close his eyes, compromising with himself.
Drrrrr... Drrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Suddenly, a vibration was detected in the pocket. The cell phone he used to talk to his mother was still in his hand. So it must have been for work that is ringing now. He tried to ignore it and go to sleep, but his cell phone kept shaking without getting tired. It was clear that it intended to ring until he
received it.
Other passengers are complaining at the subtle nerve-racking noise.
"Sigh..."
Eventually, he stood up and pressed the call button.
- Where are you?
It was Lim who asked so out of the blue. It never deviates from my expectations.
If Yoon Jong-woo was not buried in the sea, he would have been directly briefed on the results of the operation. But why is it a phone call? Manager Lim's contact has never been pleasant.
"Where am I going to be?"
- I'd like to see your face for a second.
As expected, it's a call. What could it be?
The only guess was the operation to wipe out the agents that had just finished.
It should have been handled quietly, but it has produced a large number of
witnesses. An innocent citizen was also taken hostage. It was worth jumping up and down at the top of the report. In addition, a report was filed with the maritime police. It was going to be a tough fix. Journalists may have already smelled it. The nagging that the secret organization is a secret organization for no reason remains to be guessed.
He tried to make an excuse even though he knew it would be useless.
"That was the best part of this operation. You know."
- Yeah, so let's come and talk.
If he doesn't come out like that, he's not the world's manager.
He nailed him again and again before he was put into action. Tomorrow is his mother's birthday when she can't sleep because she's worried about his only son. So he has to go home no matter what. What did Manager Lim say? Didn't he say he would definitely send him back to his mother's arms even if the Second Korean War broke out.
Kwon Taek-ju recalled the conversation at the time, asking if he had forgotten it.
"Give me a break, sir. Tomorrow is my mom's birthday."
- It won't last long.
It couldn't have worked. Lim was both brazen and persistent. He messed up
his wet hair with annoyance.Then, he made a final defense while looking at the scenery outside the car window that passed quickly.
"I've already left, so how am I supposed to go?"
It was around that time. KTX, which had been running well, stopped suddenly. Passengers who were listening to music or focusing on cell phone games looked around in surprise.
For a while, the KTX stopped inside the tunnel. No announcement was made in the car, and no crew passed by. It was common for KTX to cause minor breakdowns. Because of that, no passengers were very embarrassed.
With their heads out of the aisle, people who do something quickly become interested and go to sleep.
Yeah, it wouldn't be a big deal. He wanted to believe so. But the foreboding always fits like a ghost.
- Get off, come on.
Manager Lim slyly ordered. What is this? It was the moment he tried to argue. An announcement came out of the speaker.
It stopped for a while due to an abnormality in the track, and asked for their understanding as they will depart as soon as the problem is resolved. As soon as the problem is solved. It meant that if Kwon Taek-ju did not obey the call, the train would not move as it was.
- Aren't you going to get off?
There was a heavy press.The softness of the voice seemed to enjoy the current situation. When it came out like that, he didn't want to follow it anymore. He didn't care about the circumstances of the other passengers.
However, unless the train moved, Kwon Taek-ju himself had no way to go home.
He tilted his head nervously. He hung up the phone in a minute. The phone didn't ring again. Of course, KTX also showed no sign of departing.
After holding out for a long time, he took a long sigh and stood up. As he strode out of the aisle, the door opened as if he had been waiting. He went down the stairs shaking his head. The gravel on the track was stepped on the sole of the shoe.
Walking to the rear of the train, he called somewhere. Just as he came out of
the tunnel, the stationary KTX began to move again. At that time, he heard
a reply from the other side of the cell phone saying hello. It was a mother.
Her voice was quieter than before. She was worried that his son, who said he would go, would ask for an appointment under the pretext of an urgent matter.
"Mother, it's me. I think I'll be a little late because there's a problem with
the train. No, I will definitely go this time. It's just a little late."
He made a request, taking the steps that had stopped.
"So don't light the cake and wait."
It was the NIS that arrived in the prepared helicopter. An employee waiting at the heliport guided Kwon Taek-ju to the first garage room. He tilted his head as he followed silently. It was the Manager Lim who wanted to see him for a moment, but he didn't know why the place was the first garage room, not the manager's office.
The three deputy chiefs, who are the top officials of the National Intelligence Service, are in charge of independent affairs. Each deputy director is not involved in matters beyond his authority. It was an unwritten
rule for subordinate departments, which were divided into dozens, to follow the direct deputy director. Therefore, Kwon Taek-ju and Lim, who conduct counterintelligence and intelligence activities under the third deputy director, did not have to meet in the first chief's office.
Did something go wrong? While questioning repeatedly, the employee of Ye-ye knocked on the door of the conductor's office. Soon, permission was given to come inside. It was not Lim's voice.The employee opened the door and let Kwon Taek-ju in.
Kwon Taek-ju forgot to say hello and looked at the first deputy manager across from him. Is there another natural sight as the first deputy director occupies the first parking lot. Nevertheless, the current situation facing him was ironic.
Manager Lim, who brought in Kwon Taek-ju, was sitting next to him. He stared at him as if to ask for an explanation. Lim only smiled strangely.
The atmosphere was unusual. He looked at the first deputy manager and the manager Lim by rolling his eyes silently. As if to soften his guard, the first deputy director started to rhyme with a gentle face.
"I heard that you just finished your mission in Busan."
"Yes. I did my best."
As soon as the first deputy director's words were finished, he protested. It may have been a bit of a disturbance, but it was a serious abuse of authority for him to reprimand Kwon Taek-ju, the first chairman. Looking at Kwon Taek-ju, who was very defensive, the first deputy manager and the manager Lim smiled strangely. He didn't feel very happy.
"That's not why I called you this far. So you don't have to be mad at yourself.
Although there was more disturbance than necessary during the operation, it is a weak point compared to the leakage of state secrets. Don't you think so, Manager Lim?"
His sarcastic remarks seemed like a thick-skinned executive. Kwon Taek-ju kept an eye on Lim without resolving his doubts. Manager Lim only shook his head with a smile. As Kwon Taek-ju, it was bound to be more confusing. If it's not because of the incident in Busan, why did he call him
at this late hour. He has been thinking about it all along, but he hasn't come to any conclusions.
Manager Lim did not worry Kwon Taek-ju more. Put down the tablet you were holding on the table.
"What is it?"
"Let's see."
He shrugged his shoulders and gently picked up the tablet. Turn over the
first page with a bored face. The gaze of looking through the lines in a languid manner gradually accelerated. Scroll down. He read the text silently, but breathlessly, and quickly checked the next page. Manager Lim,
who was watching the scene, spoke.
"It's a special intelligence recently obtained. Related rumors have been circulating for a long time, but this is the first time that evidence has been obtained to find out the truth. As you can see now, the main content is that North Korea and Russia have joined hands to develop new weapons since
three years ago. The weapon boasts a firepower that has never been shown
in any other country in the world?He said that if completed, the game of global hegemony will change the so-called Anastasia. It is not known exactly whether it refers to the name of the weapon, to the secret agreement between North Korea and Russia to make the weapon, or to the design or designer of the weapon. I don't know if the weapon is completed at the moment."
It was only at first that he knew what the combination of the first deputy manager and the manager Lim meant. Who would be in trouble if North Korea and Russia had joined hands to make the unprecedented weapons of destruction. It would have been South Korea and the U.S. without much
consideration.
"We need to know what the weapon is. Lack of information leads to an imbalance of power. If Anastasia isn't finished yet, and if possible, we should stop it from coming to the fore."
"What can you do for the peace of the world and mankind? Stealing is not a bad thing if it is a small evil to prevent a great evil."
Therefore, he asked him to find out the identity of the weapon that North Korea and Russia collaborated on. This means that if he can't do so, he should take out the design or related secrets, and if he can't, destroy them so that he can't see the light forever. Who? Kwon Taek-ju himself.
Since he started his career as an agent with enemies in the National Intelligence Service, overseas dispatch work has been common. Rather, there were more days when he went abroad than when he stayed in Korea.
For that reason, the business trip order was not new. However, it was caught that Russia was the area where the mission was carried out. During the operation, it was a land that had no history of stepping on it personally.
Of course, the conditions were not a big problem. Kwon Taek-ju has been receiving Chinese, Persian, and Russian education since he joined the company.
Even if he fell to Moscow right away, he would not have difficulty speaking the language.
But that was it. Kwon Taek-ju had no local experience, the most important thing. What else is more important to the agent than the actual battle. In this mission, Kwon Taek-ju was not told to jump into the middle of the
battlefield without a gun. In the first place, he also wondered why this mission was assigned to him.
He stared at Lim with a discontented look. He nodded as if he understood everything.
"Technically, you are not qualified for this operation."
"Then you have to find the right person."
"Of course, I found it. I sent it."
"But?"
"...."
He scratches his eyebrows without saying a word. The first deputy director also smiled awkwardly. He couldn't help but know what the answer they swallowed without spitting out.
"I guess it didn't work out."
Manager Lim nodded again and spread three pictures on the table. The first
photo showed someone's hand with ten fingers clumped off. The bloodless skin had swollen in the water.
Another photo showed the forehead of the body covered in white cloth. An unidentified pattern was engraved in the center. Soon he could see that it was a tattoo. Judging from the skin condition of the body, it did not seem to have been engraved for a long time.
The last one was a neat proof shot. Presumably from a series of circumstances, it was the original appearance of the mutilated body. He knew the person in the picture.
"Dominic Morgan. It's an elite agent who was dispatched to Russia by the U.S.
intelligence agency. Four days ago, he was found dead near Nara. At that time, he was in charge of identifying Anastasia. He was a friend who was good at collecting Russian intelligence, but it was unfortunate. Russia
treated him as an unidentified person. Plus, it's a natural move since he went in disguised himself.
It is doubtful whether he really saw him as a simple unidentified person."
"Is that what you're telling us to do, because Russia's surveillance has become strict?"
"You understand the nuance of words very well. But let's not call it a day to-Let's not say that. Since North Korea is involved, Korea can also be said to be a party. You can't just watch with your hands behind your back. Yeah, you've known the dead agent Morgan since the last South Korea-U.S. joint
drill, right?"
"To be exact, we only knew each other then.It's about a month at the most. I happened to be assigned a room."
The line was clearly drawn. Manager Lim smiled. He skillfully attacked Kwon Taek-ju, who did not want to show any gaps.
"That's why I chose you. Emotions that obscure reason make things worse."
He is nothing but a sly fellow. As soon as he tried to protest in a fit of rage, a vibration. It was the cell phone of the first deputy director. He asked for understanding and passed Kwon Taek-ju outside.The door that opened closed again. Manager Lim ordered as if he had been waiting.
"Find 'Anastasia' on agent Morgan's behalf."
The lightness until earlier was out of nowhere, in a very serious tone.Kwon Taekju stared at him without replying. Is this really the best? There may be someone more suitable for this operation than Kwon Taek-ju himself. He's sure there's one such agent somewhere on the floor... Even if there's only one... None. He tried to squeeze his head as it was, but there was no one that came to mind.
Manager Lim looked calm as if it was something to be so embarrassed about.
Yeah, it won't be a big deal. It's only that dangerous enough for an elite agent to be found dead overnight. He wanted to be sarcastic, but he would rather shut up.
He learned how to work under Manager Lim right after he joined the company.
Now they're close enough to exchange jokes, but by all means he was a superior. When he is on duty, Kwon Taek-ju must obey. It was not a subject to protest.
Manager Lim smiled satisfactorily at the appearance of resignation.
"I promise full support. The team members will also take care of it as you want."
"It's convenient to do it alone in many ways."
"It won't be easy this time? It's going to be pretty rough."
"You don't have to drive more people to buy and buy, knowing that clearly."
He retorted indifferently. Manager Lim thought he would say that while smirking, he did. They present thick paper envelopes one after another. He snatched it up. Inside the unsealed envelope were various documents and forged passports. When he opened his passport, he saw a strange face.
"Hiro Sakamoto?"
"I heard that an LNG facility construction contract has been signed between a Japanese energy company and Gazprom, a Russian state-run gas company. The expected revenue alone amounts to tens of trillion won. It seems that Russia invited officials from large banks and international companies who were in charge of cooperative loans with the energy companies to celebrate the signing of the bilateral contract and to visit the planned construction site. Major officials under the prime ministers of both countries and business leaders will all attend the event. It is heard that an international trading firm called 'Itochu' played a big role in getting the deal done. Furthermore, Hiro Sakamoto is an employee of the European region there."I'm proudly on the list of plans to visit Russia."
He infiltrates Russia under the guise of Hiro Sakamoto. It wasn't a bad plan.If it is true that North Korea and Russia developed weapons, very few would have been involved in it or known related secrets, those in one of Russia's leading positions.It's not that easy to approach them. However, Hiro Sakamoto had a different story. They'll meet on their own even if they don't try.
Of course, it was a case where the identity was not revealed. In addition to Hiro Sakamoto, numerous other officials were invited. If any of them noticed that Hiro Sakamoto was different from usual, the whole plan would have gone down the drain. Agent Morgan's end crossed my mind even though he imagined it for a moment.
Manager Lim soothed Kwon Taek-ju, who was in a state of disarray.
"Relax. Unless another Hiro Sakamoto appears, your identity will not be
revealed. Hiro Sakamoto is scheduled to leave the country a day before the visiting group. Of course, a Tokyo agent will help him not to leave the country."
Our camouflage is good enough to deceive his mother, he does. There was no need to worry that the Japanese were relatively short. Hiro Sakamoto is 180 centimetres tall. Kwon Taek-ju was two or three centimetres taller than him,
but the general public would not have realized the difference. When someone suspected, it was enough to surround themselves with insoles.
Normally, he wouldn't have thought about it for a long time. He had no right to refuse orders from his superiors, unless he took off his clothes.
Nevertheless, there was no word of willingness to know. For some reason, he kept feeling reluctant.
Agent Morgan, who was on the first mission, died? It would be a lie if it wasn't affected at all, but it wasn't just for that. Instinct was feeling vague anxiety about something that had not yet happened.
"It's about re-establishing the landscape of global hegemony. If this happens safely, your position will change a lot."
Manager Lim secretly encouraged the decision. Kwon Taek-ju looked at him in silence. His eyes were straight and upright. Manager Lim faced him with a distinctive smile. There was no word between the two for a while.
Kwon Taek-ju soon crumpled the prepared paper envelope into his jacket.
He also said something as if he was trying to make it clear.
"I'm not interested in it because it's a position, power. There are unnecessarily fierce points, they are."
"But why are you accepting this operation because you are not interested in it?"
"It's a high-ranking manager's order, but does a subordinate have the right to
refuse?"
"There are other reasons, right?"
"If I reject this case, my career, which has achieved 100% unconditionally, will collapse."
"Of course, it is."
"May I go now?"
"Oh, before that, I have one thing to keep in mind."
What is it? with a vexing look, he asked. Lim's face was stiff. The eyes staring at Kwon Taek-ju seemed quite cautious. The voice that followed soon seemed to have subsided a little.
"Psikh Bogdanov."
"Psikh Bogdanov? I don't think it's a person's name."
He frowned and tilted. "Bogdanov" would be a Russian surname, but
"Psikh"
was not a person's name in any way. What kind of parents would name their
children "crazy " or "naughty ".
Lim added as if he had not misheard it.
"In general, it's called that rather than a name."
A name is used more often by others than by that party. Therefore, the name
or nickname that replaced it served as the basis for reputation. The fact that the Russian mentioned by Lim was referred to as "crazy" Bogdanov instead of my real name meant that he was such a great man. He doesn't know what kind of person it is even mentioned in this faraway country.
"In Russia, he's like a hack."
"If it's a nucleus, is it the nucleus that means center?"
He asked without conviction. It was due to the ambiguity of the language.
In addition to the definition of core and center, there was one more meaning that was completely different. Don't compare a person to such a lethal weapon.
He smiled again when he saw Manager Lim with a hasty conclusion.
"Yes, that's what it means."
It seemed closer to the "nuclear" referring to nuclear weapons. He twisted his face without realizing it. What kind of man is he more often referred to as a "crazy" than my name, and even symbolized as a "nuclear bomb".
The idea of "Psikh Bogdanov" raised another question.Why is he mentioned in this operation, which aims to find "Anastasia".
"Does he have anything to do with Morgan's death?"
"I'm not sure. I don't have physical evidence, I'm just sharing my feelings. If you want to approach the Russian giants, you'll have to face him. There's a reason why "hack" is "hack". So possible damage. Don't try to confront each other even if you run into each other."
There was a burst of laughter. The more he received the warning, the more he became curious about the crazy person.
Then he heard a knock outside the door. When manager Lim said yes, the employee who guided Kwon Taek-ju to this place came inside. He had a large bouquet of flowers and a trunk in each of his hands. As if to pass them on to Kwon Taek-ju, he quietly saluted and went outside.
"I've got everything I need. It saves time, and you don't have to worry about packing. Good is good, right?Especially, I bought the underwear two months ago and haven't bought it since, so I've put it all in new ones considering your taste. You don't have to thank me."
"You know more about my underwear than I do"
"That's not so much. And take the flowers home. You said it was your
mother's birthday, right?"
I'm telling you, you are a rascal.
He answered bluntly, swallowing what he couldn't say.
"I won't tell her that it's a gift from the manager. She'll only feel bad on a good day if she knows it's a man who's taking his son to her birthday."
"Thank you for thinking about it."
Manager Lim smiled brazenly.
"Don't die."
He's going to turn around and go out, but he said out of the blue. Kwon Taek-ju paused and nodded half-heartedly.
When he came out, the hallway was empty. He trudged toward the door.
Sensors came in everywhere Kwon Taek-ju's steps reached, and then turned off one after another from far behind. As the lights dissipated, the darkness that had fallen gradually approached him, as if to devour him.
"...."
He stopped suddenly and turned around. While not moving, Kwon Taek-ju's appearance disappeared in deep darkness as even the last ceiling went out.