2; prologue
Kwon Taek-joo watched intently as Ri Cheol-jin finally reached the railing. A dissuading voice crackled over the communicator, but Kwon Taek-noo promptly shut it off. As a result, only Ri Cheol-jin and Kwon Taek-joo remained on the deck, buffeted by the brisk wind.
Ri Cheol-jin's grip on the railing tightened as he peered down at the distant sea, looking back and forth. Meanwhile, Kwon Taek-joo steadily closed the gap between them.
Ri Cheol-jin, feeling cornered, waved his knife in the air in a futile attempt to scare me, but it held no meaning. The moment fear gripped him, the threat lost its power.
"D-Don't come any closer!"
Ignoring the desperate pleas, Kwon Taekjoo hurriedly approached Ri Cheol-jin. Kwon Taek-joo closed in rapidly, and Ri Cheol-jin, alternating between watching the dark sea and Kwon Taekju, trembled with his whole body.
"I t-told you not to come! I'm gonna strike you with t-this! I swear!"
He shouted, with a mixture of embarrassment and ferocity. Kwon Taekjoo
drew his colt. That moment, Ri Cheol-jin's sword turned into a useless lump of metal.
Ri Cheol-jin abruptly turned away from Kwon Taek-joo, his eyes locked on something behind him.
In an instant, a deafening bang echoed as flames erupted from Kwon Taek-joo's glock. The bullet found its mark with chilling precision. However, it wasn't Ri Cheol-jin who collapsed, screaming. It was Kim Young-hee, the woman had silently approached Kwon Taek-joo.
Younghee Kim's once-ivory coat was now stained with her own blood. She slumped down, clutching her mangled right hand, and her colt slipped from her grasp, shooting a shot into the air. It was unclear whether the
intended target of the woman was Kwon Taek-joo or Ri Cheol-jin, who had been exposed.
Kwon Taek-joo turned his gaze forward once more. Ri Cheol-jin dropped his knife and stood with his back turned, taking a deep breath as he clung to the railing, his shoulders squared.
He was in an odd position, which caused him to slip off the railing and fall into the darkness of that night. Fuck.
"...!"
Kwon Taek-joo sprinted to the railing, but before he could reach it, the sound of a splash echoed in his ears. Looking down, he saw the dark sea briefly churn white.
I scanned the area for Ri Cheol-jin, but he was nowhere to be found. I waited a few minutes. Then, Ri Cheol-jin's head emerged amidst the frothy waves.
He jumped from such a height that you would think he was committing suicide.
Suddenly a little ship came out of nowhere. This vessel, shrouded in darkness and advancing with all lights off, was an old wooden fishing boat.
Perhaps it had managed to evade the surveillance of the investigative agency.
Just now I realized. The ferry was used just as a dead drop site. So that boat was acctually the real escape route?
(* a secret location for passing items of information between two individuals)
I opened fire immediately, but hitting the invisible ship proved challenging. There was clearly a target, but the difficulty increased when it came to actually hitting it in darkness.
If I had been granted permission to kill from the start, things might not have been like this...
The objective of this operation was to unearth the South Korean operatives who had infiltrated the country for an extended period, occupying influential positions in society while stealing state secrets.
There were likelymany individuals who colluded with them and provided protection. Cutting off the roots before exposing the branches was impossible.
The big ferry continued to move, steadily increasing the distance from the fishing boat. A man from the fishing boat's wheelhouse hauled Ri Cheol-jin aboard. Ri Cheol-jin looked at me and smirked.
"Fuck you." He mouthed.
I just stared back, thinking what to do next. I was always the winner and would always be.
I wouldn't lose.
Never.
I strapped a tracking device on his arm earlier at the vending machine. I looked at my watch, locating Ri Cheoljin. Now we'll see who's fucked, idiot.
On the receding ship, Ri Cheol-jin raised his arm in a triumphant gesture, his face radiating confidence.
I chuckled softly. Then, my smile suddenly vanished from my face. Kwon Taek-joo turned and approached the fallen woman, Kim Young-hee.
Kim Young-hee trembled in agony from the searing pain of her severed hand. Nonetheless, she struggled to retrieve something.
'!'
Kwon Taek-joo intervened, swiftly striking the back of her neck with the blade of his hand as she attempted to take her own life with a pill.
Kim Young-hee released a muffled cry, and Kwon Taek-joo stuffed a handkerchief into her mouth to prevent her from talking.
Then, he twisted her left arm behind her back. On her ring finger hung an expensive ring, seemingly bought recently, with barely a scratch.
"Did you get yourself a pretty ring? I'll complete the collection, here are the bracelets!"
Kwon Taek-joo held handcuffs out with a sardonic grin and secured them with a resounding click. The other end was affixed to the railing. With everything settled, I reactivated the communicator on my ear.
"Hey you, head this way in 8 seconds."
As if my partner had misheard, he hesitated before responding with a puzzled, "Wait what? Right now? Are you done already?"
I just ignored him.
My consciousness had already shifted to my watch. With a determined press on the reset button on the watch's side, the familiar time display vanished, replaced by a map with a big red dot.
I chuckled.
I had planted a tracker on Ri Chul-jin during our brief encounter, and now, the crimson dot representing his location was steadily slipping away from me.
There was no room for hesitation.
Summoning a deep breath, I sprinted towards the ferry's stern.
As I reached the end of the deck, without a second thought, I launched myself from the railing. In an instant, the world went black, the wind howling past me.
The descent seemed endless. Cold, hollow and dangerous.
My breathing was heavy.
'Ugh!'
The water swallowed me up. Just now I landed in the water with a loud dive that sent a shock wave through my entire body. It felt like every muscle was torn apart.
Seawater invaded every pore and bubbles burst around me. I allowed myself to float for a moment, letting the shock subside.
Gradually, I began to move my limbs, struggling to regain control against the relentless current. My muscles were frozen, but I felt better than just now.
Shit, where is he?
I opened my eyes but found only darkness in the water, devoid of any glimmer of light. With all my strength, I surged upward towards the surface, battling the unyielding waves.
I'm gonna kill him.
With great effort, I managed to reach my wrist and pressed the watch's reset button again.
From a distance, a familiar mechanical sound echoed—a motorboat engine. It grew louder before suddenly fading as white waves collided with the boat's propeller, striking my skin.
"I swear, you'll become a water ghost like this."
Yoon Jong-woo, who had hurried to my aid, extended his hand, helping me onto the boat. My drenched body shivered in the biting cold. Despite the frigid conditions, I removed my watch and tossed it to Yoon Jong-woo, who followed the red dot on the bearing chart without question, steering the boat.
Meanwhile, Kwon Taek-ju discarded his soaked coat and took a moment to catch his breath. He didn't mind him coming later than expected anymore, he was too tired anyways.
The motorboat rode the tumultuous black waves, the entire vessel bouncing wildly in the undulating waters. The nearly-lost red dot slowly drew closer.
Pip, pip, pip, pip, pip, pipipipipi.
As the wooden ship came into view, the distinctive mechanical noise intensified. The leisurely boat ahead had surely noticed its relentlesspursuer.
"Drive faster."
"This is the fastest it can g-... hey!"
I pushed Yoon Jong-woo away and gripped the steering wheel. By making sharp turns Kwon Taekju was getting closer.
A man emerged from the wheelhouse, holding a rifle. Clenching my teeth, I steered sharply, causing a powerful current to surge. Bullets flew through the air.
Most of the bullets missed their mark, but one lodged itself in the boat's corner, narrowly avoiding disaster.
In the inky darkness, there were no lights to aid me in confrontation. As we got closer, bullets rained down relentlessly.
'S-sir! Please let's stop this! I'm too young to die!' My partner cried.
It was an absurd situation—trying to catch armed individuals who showed no signs of surrender in the middle of the night on the sea.
We swerved to dodge their fire, closed in again, only to pull back as bullets whizzed past. 'Stop! Shit!' Yoon Jong-woo cursed in frustration as he gripped my arm and tried pulling me back.
I was in the driver's seat, steering towards the fishing boat, not minding him.
"We're gonna collide, damn it! It's too dangerous!" Yoon Jong-woo shouted in desperation, but Kwon Taek-joo only accelerated further.
The volley of bullets from the wooden boat intensified, but Kwon Taek-joo tilted the boat, drenching the opposing deck with a massive splash.
Finally, their attack ceased, and they fell behind. Unexpectedly, we turned back sharply, nearly capsizing in the process.Yoon Jong-woo, now pallid and trembling, attempted to flee but tumbled again.
I pushed the boat to its limit. When it reappeared from the darkness, even the wooden boat seemed bewilderd. Anxiety was palpable as the relentless hail of bullets continued, leaving us no room for rest.
We got closer and closet to the little boat, ready to collide. Yoon Jong-Woo was yelling to stop. I didn't even know what I was doing, but I knew that I would never lose.
I must win.
Always.
I couldn't help but think of my parents back in the countryside. Tears welled in my eyes as memories of my mother's struggle to make ends meet flooded my mind. Her message, calling me a "rotten bastard," echoed painfully in my heart. Ah, mother. I'm so sorry....
Because I lied to you.