The British Woman (1)
I looked at the British woman's face—still smiling, still holding out her hand, even after I'd said something she couldn't possibly have misunderstood—and seriously considered slapping her across it.
But I clenched my fist and held back. Hannah, who'd been hurt not by some random accident but by this crazy woman's deliberate stunt, was still sitting in the Toyota we'd arrived in, right behind me. There was no obvious trauma, nothing that looked like it was bleeding, but getting Hannah to a hospital came first.
Hold it together...
Just this once. Hold it.
"I won't forget what just happened. And it won't just be me."
"When you say it with such burning eyes, it actually makes my heart race."
This bitch is actually insane.
Heart race, my ass.
"Then I'll sort out the accident and come find you at the originally scheduled time, Seonghun."
"No. Because of this accident, I need to go to the hospital. I don't think I'll have time for you."
And after all this she still wants to meet later? I'd rather die.
"So let's reschedule, Miss British Woman."
Whether that's even possible, I don't know.
I didn't want to talk anymore. I said what I needed to say, left the crazy woman behind, and went back to Hannah.
Really... whether she'd lucked out meeting a man or been cursed with one—Hannah kept getting dragged into incidents because of me lately. The more I thought about it, the sorrier I felt.
"Honey, are you okay? What are they saying over there? Is she badly hurt?"
Even though she must have been shaken herself, she was worrying about my body and about someone else. Hearing those kind words just made it worse.
Ha...
"Uh... I don't think you need to worry about that."
"What? There was a traffic accident. How can I not worry?"
You don't have to.
"She wasn't hurt at all. And... I'm sorry."
"What?"
I matched her eye level, looked into her eyes, and took her hand.
"I think this accident happened because of me. So don't worry—let's just get you to the hospital."
"Huh?"
"I'll take care of everything else. You just go to the hospital and get checked out."
The accident site was close enough that the hotel was visible to the naked eye, so things got resolved quickly. I called Lin—the one they'd assigned to me for situations like this—had her send people, and got Hannah to the hospital first. Then, with Ayane's help, we handled the scene according to Japanese traffic law. If this had been Korea, I would have done it myself. But this was Japan, so I took the help of a local.
Then I returned to the hotel.
Fortunately, word came that Hannah didn't have any major issues. Even in that call, her voice trembled with worry about me for not coming to the hospital with her, so I told her I was fine and that she should stay admitted today, get fully treated for any aftereffects that might show up later, and then come back. My body really was fine. My mind, maybe not so much.
Anyway, that's why I voluntarily drank for the first time in a long while. Jack Daniel's, to blow this mess out of my head. When I'd first arrived at the hotel and seen it, I'd thought it was just room décor—something I'd never actually drink.
Fuck.
I grabbed the glass and ice that had been sitting out in plain sight and started drinking. The whiskey's distinctive amber color and powerful aroma. The high proof. I kept going, feeling the whiskey's intense path down my esophagus, tracking exactly where it went. One glass at a time. One glass at a time.
Drinking like that, focused on the Jack Daniel's in the quiet room, I eventually found a person standing in front of me. Someone I didn't want to see now or ever—the woman who'd caused me to start drinking in the first place.
Who the hell let her in.
"I distinctly remember turning you down."
The alcohol that had crept up on me was making my tongue feel thick, but I didn't want to look sloppy in front of this woman, so I paid enormous attention to my pronunciation.
"I thought I'd come by just in case, and wouldn't you know it—nobody stopped me."
She said something absurd with a brazen little performance, then grabbed the half-empty bottle of Jack Daniel's.
"You don't mind if I drink with you, do you?"
And then she chugged from the bottle.
Fucking hell.
"Kh..."
Crazy bitch.
"These days even liquor that used to be this common is hard to come by, so drinking it really is nice."
The destructive impulse I'd been suppressing with the alcohol I'd drunk alone surged up, and I felt like I might smash her over the head with the Jack Daniel's bottle she'd just set down.
"If you want it that badly, take it and get out. So... Ollie..."
"Ollie Darel Cannut. Please just call me the British woman. Or, more familiarly, Ollie is fine too."
That's actually insane. Familiar? Freeze to death.
"Familiar? You really think we're going to have that kind of relationship? After you deliberately rammed us with a car?"
If we'd met as originally scheduled, like normal people, I would have treated her kindly. But after putting my woman in danger, I had no desire to be kind at all. Even if the way I was acting right now was a little foolish.
"Hmm... so you did figure it out. Still, thanks to that we got such an intense first meeting. Isn't that a good thing?"
Hearing that, I actually almost reached for the bottle.
Intense? Fuck. She's British, right? What is she, a Frenchwoman who thinks life isn't life without some dramatic twist?
She said something so ridiculous so naturally that I silently cursed her out with my eyes—every swear word I could think of.
"...I'm sorry, Seonghun. We acted wrongly."
"Then quietly leave the room. Don't piss me off any further."
"I can't do that. Do you know how hard it was to make this opportunity?"
Ha... fuck. If I'd put it nicely, she should have understood, waited, and looked for the next chance.
"Fine. I'll give you until this bottle of Jack Daniel's is empty. In that time, you have to make me find a reason to talk to you. There won't be any more mercy after that."
I tossed back the Jack remaining in my glass and poured another. About half the bottle left.
"Alright."
"So what is it you want to talk about."
"Just one thing. Come to Britain. All of you, together with the others."
Aigoo. Fuck, this again? Right. Of course this is the only interest they have in us. What else would there be.
"Yeah? And the terms?"
"Everything Britain can offer. Starting with a mansion in an upscale London neighborhood, a knighthood, and so on."
As she said it, she casually undid the top button of her shirt.
"We'll do everything for you."
Nice terms. Sex with a blonde beauty in a mansion that looks like it belongs in a movie. Plus a knighthood—does that mean I'd become a noble?
"Yeah? Then what would we have to do?"
"It'll be easier than what you've been doing in Korea. Four sessions of Duty Sex a day. That's all we'd need from you."
Same terms as the British guys.
"Hmm.... But why would we have to go to Britain? We're not on bad terms with the Korean government. The government gives us what we need, and we grant the government's requests. A symbiotic relationship. That's why we came here as a peace diplomatic mission to an allied country. You know this is an enormous diplomatic insult, right?"
"Of course. We know that you and your party have a good relationship with the Korean government. However... looking at the incidents you experienced recently, it seems your relationship with ordinary citizens isn't so good?"
Wow... the rumors have already spread. They've spread everywhere. What, every country we've met since coming to Japan knows about it. National embarrassment. You know that? You four-letter-named dumbass.
"To think five hundred of humanity's treasures are in such a dangerous country... Come to safe Britain."
"Britain is stable in every field—politics, economy, society."
"So those things you experienced recently would never happen."
"And even if they did, unlike the Korean government, we could protect you perfectly."
Wow... look at her throwing around blank checks.
"How many men does Britain have again?"
"Four hundred ninety-six as of now."
Huh? Wasn't it four hundred ninety-two?
"That's more than I knew about."
"Yes! We're truly honored that a few gentlemen chose Britain."
So besides us, they'd already taken a few men. But even that wasn't enough, so they wanted to snatch us—a premium product. Well... every country in the world was like that.
"And... I don't know if I should say this, but it seemed you weren't on good terms with the military either?"
"....."
How the hell did they find that out. Which bastard talked?
"Britain is aware of the recent incident."
Then I should play dumb. I said it while drinking whiskey, putting on a brazen act.
"Huh? No. We're good."
"Pardon?"
"We're on great terms with the military. If you ask our guys what they want to do most after this peace diplomatic mission is over, they'd say go on a blind date with Kim Eunjung. So what are you talking about? I'm not following."
At my words, mixed with a bit of truth, her smiling expression cracked.
Ah, that felt good.
"...There may have been a slight problem with our information. I apologize if I offended you."
"Yeah, yeah. You should say things that make sense. No matter how much you want to take us, you can't just invent things that didn't happen."
As we talked and I kept drinking, the Jack Daniel's was already sloshing at the bottom of the bottle. I set the nearly empty bottle in the middle of the table.
"Alright... well, I get it, so if something big happens, I'll consider you as one of the countries I could take refuge in."
"Should I drink it? Or will you?"
"My personality, in this kind of situation, is the type that drinks it."
At my words, the British woman put on the same smile I'd first seen, drained the remaining Jack Daniel's, and left the room.
Ah, that was hard to hold back. I almost caved in a foreign diplomat's skull.