‘Your nerve was impressive—almost too much so…’

It was already too late, but Jeong Taeui regretted it. You never know how things might turn out, and what if, by some strange twist of fate, they ran into each other somewhere? 

What if, by some cruel stroke of bad luck, he happens to be caught by him somewhere? If only there was a way to make Ilay believe that he was dead. Just thinking about a day when he was leisurely walking down the street and turning into a small alley, suddenly seeing him waiting in that hidden corner? His heart would probably jump out. Unless he stays far away, otherwise if he is still within his sight, he has no confidence he could escape from Ilay’s dangerous clutches. Because Ilay wasn’t the type to let his target slip away once he had them in his sights.

But deep in his mind, Jeong Taeui still clings to a small ray of hope, even though he knows it’s useless.

Anyway, on that day, as a human being, he tried his best to protect his dignity.

Originally, from the beginning, he planned to leave as planned and leave him in a state of unconsciousness due to chloroform. But when he turned around and looked at the figure in front of him, he was very kind and put clothes back on him, leaving only the handcuffs. 

(Actually, it’s because he’s worried that someone will discover him in such a naked situation, he will probably faint from that ‘ugly big thing’ of his. So he did it completely for the sake of the person who would witness that scene.)

Of course, it would still be embarrassing if someone knew that a monster like this could be controlled like this and humiliated it, even if it was just two handcuffs. Anyway, it’s not comfortable at all.

Jeong Taeui had already calculated that if he had the misfortune to meet him again in life, he would calculate all the sincerity and good things he had done for him in the hope that he could spare his life, or at least let him die without pain…., …. But there’s no way that springs with that defective personality of his.

“The only way is not to get caught. Just absolutely avoid meeting face-to-face, no matter what…”

Jeong Taeui immersed himself in his thoughts and muttered to himself without realizing it.

“Exactly, that’s what I’m saying!”

Suddenly, a loud noise interrupted his memories, he looked up and met the man in front of him. Anton sat across from his table, pointing a finger and waving his hand incessantly.

‘Hey you, in Korea, pointing at someone’s face like that is really rude…. ‘

Even so, he had no intention of discussing cultural differences with a foreigner. The fact is, he didn’t feel offended by just a finger like that, if living in dissatisfaction just because of such trivial things, his ashes would have been in the urn long ago.

“Anyway, as long as we don’t meet face to face, it’s fine! The phone in the room is unplugged!”

Anton continued to speak loudly, regardless of whether Taeui understood or not. He stopped thinking for a moment and looked at him. Could this guy also be hunted?

This mansion has many different guests. To put it more precisely, it seems that day after day it witnesses guests coming and going endlessly. It has been five days since Taeui came here, and he has seen new faces five times during this time. In other words, it changes guests like changing lovers. Even if they just met for the first time, it seems that the owner of this house is very hospitable.

Jeong Taeui also enjoys meeting and talking to others, but inviting them to his house is not. He wondered if it was really okay to let strangers into his house so carelessly, what to do if someone suspicious came. But luckily, the owner of this house seems to have no worries because everything seems to be under the control of the old housekeeper, who is as shrewd and firm as an iron wall. She has been in this house even before the owner and his siblings were born and grew up here.

Even now, she is still using her scrutinizing gaze to look at the people at the banquet table as she takes a plate of chicken from the kitchen. It’s like sweeping for potential dangers to see if anyone can harm the owner of this place.

The old lady doesn’t like Jeong Taeui very much.

To be precise, he feels like she doesn’t like Asians. This is not the first time he has met someone like this, and it is not the first time he has received such looks.

“Haha, that way we can avoid anyone.”

Anton said with an excited face. Jeong Taeui took a spoon and listened to him say more.

“Yes, of course, anyway the owner of this place will not give me a room if I want to leave here. Anyway, if I have been avoiding meeting and rejecting phone calls, there is no way to contact all of them.””

Jeong Taeui politely laughed at his boring story and buried his face in the soup bowl.

He also knows someone he can’t contact now.

“Kim, I heard you went to the National Library yesterday, did you find anything interesting?”

When he finished eating the soup and put the spoon down, the owner of the house sitting across from him suddenly asked. Jeong Taeui looked at him and hesitated for a moment.

“I also researched it carefully, but I don’t think there’s anything special about it, I don’t remember clearly anymore.”

Taeui shook his head and replied, and the owner smiled calmly.

“If you need anything, I will get it for you, so don’t worry about it anymore, Kim.”

“Thank you.”

Taeui smiled and said. And then thoughts crossed his mind, it was not difficult to adapt to anything, even if he changed the name he had been attached to for decades, he could get used to it in just a few days.

Although still a bit unfamiliar, at least it was better than the first time he heard that name pressed against him, he couldn’t immediately answer but froze or could only answer vaguely.

Taeui cut a few pieces of chicken and put them on his plate, then looked at the owner of the house. He was over 40 but looked younger, as if he was only about 30. And he kept talking and laughing with the people around him.

“…..”

Is this lucky or unlucky.

Jeong Taeui remembered the first time he met this man in Austria, it was a village near the border with Italy.

By chance, he passed by there.

He rented a car as soon as he set foot in Europe and started traveling. Although he told his uncle that he didn’t want to operate as a member of UNHRDO anymore, he still insisted on giving him a bank card. His uncle said that if he used his card for transactions, it would be easy to leave traces, so it was best to use this card to not leave any information, anyway, this money had been laundered in the Bahamas* several times. Don’t worry because he had legitimized this money at UNHRDO as expenses for a ‘special security’ mission, so he could use as much as he wanted and if it wasn’t enough, just message him.

(*Bahamas: An archipelago/ Tax haven and money laundering paradise. The Bahamas is an English-speaking country in the Caribbean. It is an archipelago of 700 islands, dunes and islets.)

But sir, isn’t that doing something disadvantageous to that organization. Saying that is too strange.

“But the benefits I bring to this organization are tens or hundreds of times more than that small amount of money.”

After saying that, he laughed loudly: “Don’t worry, write down any number you want on paper.”

“I guess you don’t have any reason to refuse anymore.” – Jeong Taeui said indifferently and followed what he said. He secretly thought that he would stay in the most luxurious hotels, travel across continents, and change cars constantly wherever he went, etc….

However, the personality nurtured from childhood to adulthood prevented him from doing so. Despite trying to spend money, he still couldn’t bring himself to do it. So the most luxurious thing he spent on was renting an old, cramped car.

When he arrived, he got lost a bit, so he decided to buy another map and had to spend the whole day getting to know the village. Although there weren’t many things Taeui liked here, this place was a small, peaceful and quiet village, so he decided to stay here for a week or maybe even longer. When he decided to leave, he met this man at an old bookstore.

But in fact, that was not the first time he met him. From the first time he saw him, he recognized him.

He had met this man in Hong Kong, although he didn’t formally greet him, he just glanced at him. Perhaps he came there to meet the arms broker. At that time, the man sitting right next to his table was him. There were two reasons why Taeui remembered this man, there was nothing unusual and the feeling of non-existence, first because he had a quite impressive face. Although the appearance seemed normal, it was still very impressive in its own way. Once you have seen it, it is hard to forget. Perhaps because of the extremely sharp and serious gaze attached to an ordinary appearance like that. Those weaklings who touched that gaze must have felt chills.

And another more important reason was that at that time he was looking at a design drawing with a bunch of jumbled numbers. In fact, it was because of that that he couldn’t forget this man. Because Jeong Taeui had also seen similar rows of numbers and drawings that he was holding in his hand.

“…..”

And now he understood why he had it.

Taeui’s taste suddenly turned bitter. Despite not wanting to blame the food, he still lifted the glass of water and took a sip.

Contrary to his sharp gaze, his personality had nothing to do with his appearance. He was slightly concerned that this man could easily smile friendly and approach strangers around him, but the man’s behavior in the old bookstore still made him laugh.

At that time, he thought, maybe if he didn’t give him the book he had always dreamed of, this big man would hug him like a child and cry for it. Jeong Taeui knew how interesting that book about race was, and his uncle would definitely want to read it right away, so he planned to buy it and send it to him after reading it so that he wouldn’t have to leave UNHRDO.

But this man immediately threw away his face and ran towards him.

He said he would return the 50 euros he borrowed from him, but he also had no intention of taking back that money. Giving and receiving was natural, but he never thought that he should receive something just because he gave something. Wasn’t his uncle the same? His uncle said that even beggars on the street, he would not hesitate to give them money.

He thought so, and with his compassionate heart, he decided to give that person a ride to Berlin.

But a problem arose immediately after.

In response to his invitation, the man politely nodded and said his house was in Berlin. After starting the car and beginning the journey to Berlin, the two talked to each other along the way.

No matter how you look at it, this man looked older than him, so he said to stop talking in a formal manner and just talk comfortably, and then he became more comfortable, but his words still remained within bounds. And when he laughed bitterly, he asked a question that he should have asked from the beginning.

“By the way, I don’t know your name. Your name is…?”

“Ah…. —I’m Kim Youngsoo.”

Taeui muttered a strange name while looking at the man through the rearview mirror.

There was no reason for him to do that, he just felt a little uncomfortable saying that name. He deliberately chose the most common Korean name for his passport and other documents, but later he realized that he should have chosen a name that was easier to pronounce. Once again, the man tilted his head at unfamiliar words and opened his mouth.

“Kim Yongsoo…—?”

“Haha, it’s a bit difficult to pronounce, just call me Kim.”

Taeui laughed and said. The man nodded and repeated: “Kim.”

“Are you of Korean descent?”

“Korea… I don’t really look like a Korean, do I? How did you guess so well? Usually Europeans find it difficult to distinguish the nationality of Asians even after hearing our names.”

“I have many Korean friends, and especially a close Korean friend of mine who also loves collecting old books. So his hobby matches mine very well. That’s why I want to be able to keep in touch with you.”

The man said proudly. Jeong Taeui listened and nodded while driving.

In Europe, the quality of the roads was well maintained and there were not many vehicles on the road, so it was easy to drive. He felt that even if he closed his eyes now, the chances of an accident happening were much lower than driving in a big city in Korea. A Korean friend also likes old books. Why is this world so small? Maybe even his uncle knows him.

Jeong Taeui nodded coldly.

“Sure. But I only picked up a few old books and I don’t know much about them, but my uncle is extremely knowledgeable. If you want to find a certain book, I will introduce you to him. It would be better to be able to exchange such rare books with each other…..”

The man fell silent at his words and sighed and shook his head.

“No. Rare books cannot be borrowed, who knows if that person will take those books to sell or exchange with others. Especially old books need to be carefully preserved.”

“Oh, I see…”

He didn’t think this man was a bad person. But he was definitely crazy. He was crazy about anything related to books. Fortunately, his uncle wasn’t so sick.

And then he quickly turned back with a smile.

“But it’s great to meet someone with the same interests. If there were more opportunities to meet people like your uncle, that would be great.”

“That’s right, I understand that feeling.” – Jeong Taeui replied to his words.

It seems like your uncle also has many friends who like old books, huh? If you all could gather and talk about those books, it would be amazing.

Then he smiled and added: “Oh, right.”

“Even though I’m doing a different job now, I used to work in a job related to old books, and that job helped me meet many people with the same interest. We still keep in touch until now, it’s easy to talk to people with the same interest.”

“Doing a job you like must be very enjoyable. Is a job related to old books something like opening a used book store?”

“Oh no, I was planning to open a used book store when I get old. But when I was young, I founded a company to reprint rare old books, but because the demand was much smaller than the supply, it was very difficult to continue operating the company.”

“Ha….. yes…..”

Jeong Taeui bit his lip and answered vaguely as if he was about to sigh, feeling like a heavy stone rolling over his chest. What is this, a terrible feeling of unease passed through his mind. If his vague thoughts were correct, then this was definitely a fatal misfortune.

“Oh, now I remember that I don’t even know your name. What’s your name….?”

After the man finished his story, Jeong Taeui asked softly. He seemed surprised for a moment and then exclaimed: “Oh”, and shook his head with a bitter smile.

“Such a basic thing and I forgot. I’m sorry, Kim. Just call me Kyle.”

“Oh, okay. Kyle….., that’s a good name.”

Jeong Taeui heard that name and smiled, the heavy stone weighing on his chest also disappeared. Alright, even though there is still some vagueness, he couldn’t possibly be ‘unlucky’ to that extent.

“People must often mistake it for a first name. Usually, when you hear ‘Kyle’, it’s more commonly used as a first name.”

Jeong Taeui continued, adding: “But I do know someone who uses ‘Kyle’ as their last name.”

Then, the man calmly replied.

“Oh. That’s my first name. Although I still write my last name on my business card. When I talk, I introduce myself as Kyle, whether it’s with someone I’m meeting for the first time or someone I’ve met a few times. Because my younger brother already uses the last name.”

“Ha…..”

“It’s because my younger brother really hates it when someone calls him by his name. If someone accidentally calls my younger brother by his name without permission, they will get into big trouble. His temperament is not very good, so I also hesitate to tell others… So in my family, only he is allowed to be called by his last name, and outsiders are not allowed to call him by his name anymore. So even in social events, I still use the name Kyle like now.”

“…..”

For some reason, Taeui’s mind felt dizzy, a bad omen crept into his mind, and the vague pieces fit together just as he had feared, one by one. Taeui couldn’t even speak and dared not ask anything more. But whatever he didn’t want to hear, the heavens would surely make it happen. When he didn’t want to hear anything more, those words from him became clearer and clearer in his ears.

“So I’ve never been called by my last name. Like Mr. Riegrow or something like that.”

Damn it.

Jeong Taeui gripped the steering wheel unconsciously and unintentionally stepped on the accelerator, causing the car to speed up suddenly. The man looked at him with a puzzled expression, and he could only quickly release the accelerator.

“Oh…. —so…. —you’re Kyle Riegrow?”

“Yes, that’s right, but it’s rare for them to be called in full. Haha, just call me Kyle, that’s fine, everyone still calls me that. Besides, if you call me Riegrow, people might be confused because that’s how my younger brother is called at home.”

“Ah, okay then.”

Jeong Taeui nodded, his mind becoming empty. Suddenly, everything in front of him turned blank. Fortunately, the straight road ahead had almost no traffic.

If he drove in such a state in a big city, he would definitely cause an accident.