Chapter 69
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Our Way
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Scene.69
Our Way
Back at the pension, Elizabeth hugged a cushion, her expression thoughtful for a long while.
“Sam.”
“Yes? Yes, ma'am.”
Sam, who had been dozing off with a weary look on his face, quickly lifted his head at Elizabeth's call.
“I need information.”
“…Information? What kind?”
“Who is sabotaging the drama production, and why.”
Sam blinked, as if asking what she meant.
“That's completely out of the blue. What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“I know it is, but that's all I have.”
“...”
“Can you look into it?”
“So, you're saying there's a problem with the drama you're currently filming?”
“Yes. I don't know who, but someone hired people to cause trouble on the set.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“I almost died.”
“What? What do you mean?”
Elizabeth had once again dropped the bombshell without any context, but Sam shot up as if he'd been struck by lightning.
“Could it be, during today's action scene...”
Elizabeth gave a short nod and asked again.
“Can you look into it?”
“Leave it to me. I don't know who did such a crazy thing, but they will pay the price!”
Seeing Sam about to fly off the handle, Elizabeth quickly drew a line.
“Just the information for now. Who did this, and why. Retribution comes later.”
“Right away. I'll contact the family.”
*
Marcos was less shocked by Yu-hyeon's demand for the list within a day and more by the fact that headquarters already had the list for the borderless consortium.
This was a matter related to the Professor, of all people.
It would have been one thing if they didn't know the enemy's identity. But the fact that they had confirmed the consortium's identity and kept it hidden left him confused.
The next day, Marcos went to see Yu-hyeon, hiding his complex feelings. Yu-hyeon's reaction made him realize the source of his own confusion and sense of unease.
“So the CIA already knew who they were.”
Marcos swallowed dryly at Yu-hyeon's words.
He realized that Yu-hyeon's demand for the list within the short span of a day wasn't just because he was angry.
*The CIA can't be trusted.*
Where did it all go wrong?
When the project information was leaked?
Or even before that?
Seeing Marcos's complicated expression, Yu-hyeon let out a smirk.
“Judging by your face, you didn't know either, Marcos. And it seems you've also figured out why I gave you a one-day deadline for the list.”
“...”
He couldn't decide what to say.
Yu-hyeon leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh.
From Yu-hyeon's gesture, Marcos could sense his deep disappointment in the CIA and the United States.
“Professor...”
“I have no intention of getting angry with you, Marcos.”
“Professor. Headquarters...”
“That's enough.”
Yu-hyeon raised a hand, cutting Marcos off.
Yu-hyeon scanned the names on the list once before tossing it onto the desk.
“May I say something?”
Yu-hyeon's gaze turned to Marcos.
“The people on that list are not to be trifled with, not even by the CIA.”
Yu-hyeon nodded, gesturing for him to continue.
“The CIA's mistake is inexcusable. I admit that if we had followed your advice, Professor, their attention wouldn't have reached this far.”
“Marcos.”
“Yes.”
“I believe I told you not to state the obvious.”
“...These are not people an individual can handle. Headquarters is preparing countermeasures, so for now...”
“For now? You're telling me to do nothing and just keep taking hits?”
“By adding more agents and reinforcing our forces...”
“Nonsense!”
Yu-hyeon mercilessly shook his head at Marcos's words.
“The tighter our security, the fiercer and more persistent their attacks will become. Do you plan on turning this farm into a warzone?”
“We'll thoroughly vet everyone entering the country...”
“Look, Marcos.”
“Yes, Professor.”
“Enough with the foolish talk.”
“If you react, Professor, they'll become certain. Then something worse than a war will break out here.”
Yu-hyeon clicked his tongue at Marcos's words.
“As of this moment, our cooperation with the CIA is terminated.”
“Professor!”
“How can I trust and work with people who spout such idiotic nonsense?”
“...”
“Don't meddle and make things worse. Just watch quietly. I'll handle this myself.”
Yu-hyeon looked at Marcos with pity.
“It's dangerous.”
“That's not something the CIA should be saying. None of the alternatives you've proposed are any good.”
Yu-hyeon waved his hand dismissively, but Marcos showed no intention of leaving.
“What are you doing?”
“If you have another plan, please explain it.”
“Why? So you can throw a wrench in my plans again?”
“...”
“Marcos.”
“Yes, Professor.”
“Regarding this matter, what would you do if I told you to listen to me instead of the CIA?”
“What?”
Marcos blinked at Yu-hyeon's question, as if he didn't understand its meaning.
“I'm saying I will control the flow of information.”
“Controlling the flow of information means...”
“Report the CIA's intel to me, but as for my intel, could you either feed them a processed version or pretend you don't know?”
“Professor... that's...”
“Think about it. I clearly told you it wouldn't help, yet the CIA across the ocean keeps insisting on their office mindset and messing things up.”
“Professor. I am CIA.”
“I know. But your loyalty as a CIA agent is for the benefit of the United States, isn't it?”
“That's true, but...”
“Let's look at the results so far. Is the CIA acting in a way that aligns with the American interests you desire?”
“...Nothing can be perfect.”
“True. Nothing can be perfect. But things around me have become too dangerous to just nod along with such excuses. Besides, my trust in you is at rock bottom.”
Yu-hyeon tapped the list on his desk.
“Are you really planning to fight them? As I said before, it's too dangerous...”
“In movies and novels, the CIA is portrayed as a highly competent organization.”
“...”
“But sometimes, they're just so damn stupid. Ah, don't take offense, I'm not disparaging the entire organization.”
“Are you saying there's another way?”
“We won't know if it'll work until we try. Like you said, Marcos, there's no such thing as a perfect plan. But regardless of success, I don't want my methods getting back to the CIA. Seeing as they don't listen to a word I say, they'll probably judge and act on their own again, repeating the same stupid mistakes.”
Yu-hyeon looked at Marcos, as if asking what he would do.
“Are you telling me to just watch quietly?”
“What else? Are you going to interfere and cause more problems?”
“Professor, the CIA is more... than any other intelligence agency...”
“Vast, powerful, and competent. Except for when they make mistakes a child wouldn't.”
“...”
“But isn't it strange? Why are there so many mistakes when it comes to my affairs?”
“A fifth column...”
“Not a fifth column. If my information had been passed to their mole, they would have launched a concentrated strike on Malta, not random attacks.”
“Then...”
“Incompetence. So much so that I hate to say it twice.”
Either that, or they're feigning incompetence while having other ideas.
“And information has already leaked once. If they're cornered, they'll try to get information using means worse than a fifth column. Anyone can figure that much out.”
“...”
“In this situation, you want me to keep sharing my thoughts, information, and actions with the CIA? That would just make me a fool, too.”
“...”
“The first time is a mistake, the second is incompetence. If it happens a third time, it's intentional. I don't know if there will be a third time or if it'll end with the second.”
Yu-hyeon clasped his hands and looked up at Marcos.
“There's no reason to risk a third time. By then, if not me, someone around me will surely have been hurt.”
“What exactly do you want?”
“Get my approval before you report.”
“Professor... that's...”
“If you don't like it, then get out. You and the agents you brought with you can go back to the States right now.”
Marcos hesitated, unable to answer readily.
“Don't overthink it. Just remember that you're working for the interests of the United States. Loyalty to the organization is fine, but the CIA isn't the United States itself, is it? Sometimes, the judgment of the field commander is more important than that of an ignorant command.”
Yu-hyeon's final words quickly cleared Marcos's complicated thoughts.
“Alright. This one time, I will follow your lead, Professor. Will you tell me what you plan to do?”
“We'll do it our way.”
“What? What do you mean by that?”
Yu-hyeon immediately made a phone call.
“This is Camu. Yes. Is everyone doing well? Haha. Yes. My father is the same as ever.”
Marcos looked curious about who he was talking to but watched the call quietly.
“I'm not sure if you've heard the news. Yes. That's right. I'm filming a drama.”
Yu-hyeon picked up the list and continued the call.
“There are people trying to tarnish your assets. That's right. Yes. So there's a small favor I'd like to ask for your nephew's sake.”
Yu-hyeon glanced at the list and read off a few names and company names.
“I don't know why they did it, but we can't just sit back and take it. Yes. I'd like you to make it clear to them who they've messed with. Of course. A warning in the name of the Commission should be enough for them to understand, don't you think? Yes. I'm counting on you.”
When Yu-hyeon finished the call, Marcos looked anxious.
Who was he talking to? What did he ask for? And what was this about a commission?
“La Cosa Nostra.”
When Yu-hyeon revealed who he had called, Marcos flinched.
“The Italian Mafia in the U.S....”
Yu-hyeon nodded.
“But... how are you connected with them?”
“And the Cosa Nostra.”
The Cosa Nostra are the Sicilian and mainland Italian Mafia.
“I manage some of their assets.”
“You're managing Mafia money, Professor?”
Marcos's expression grew even more bewildered.
“They're shareholders in MK Investment.”
MK Investment was essentially the holding company for the energy project Yu-hyeon was leading. But he had never heard anything about Mafia money being involved in the project.
“Could it be... the Vatican?”
Yu-hyeon nodded as if to say he was correct.
“That's right. Part of the Vatican's operating funds includes money entrusted by the Cosa Nostra.”
“But... of all people, their money!”
Marcos looked completely baffled.
MK Investment's shares were divided among Yu-hyeon, the U.S., the Vatican, and Saudi Arabia. It wasn't a project that some mere mafia could get involved in.
No, regardless of the scale, why use criminals' money!
“You have a look that says you don't understand.”
“I don't. Professor, the Mafia are...”
“Think of it this way: just as the U.S. has the CIA, the Vatican has those who follow and protect their faith.”
“The... the Mafia?”
“Is everyone in the CIA competent and just?”
The comparison to the CIA left Marcos speechless for a moment. Was he really putting the Mafia and the CIA on the same level, as if there were no other comparison to be made?
Seeing Marcos's reluctant face, Yu-hyeon spoke again.
“If the CIA gets involved in this situation, what happens?”
“...”
“It's an admission of idiocy. And it's as good as admitting I'm involved in the project.”
“...”
“But if the Mafia gets involved, what will they think?”
“...”
“Think simply. Out of baseless suspicion, they messed with a writer and a drama that the Mafia invested in and manages.”
“...Ah!”
Marcos finally understood what was happening.
“So...”
“It means the ones guarding the set and keeping outsiders away weren't the CIA, but the Mafia's enforcers. And our opponents were foolish and disrespectful enough to meddle in Mafia business.”
“Th-then...”
“The suspicions caused by the heavy security will take a new turn. A warning from the Cosa Nostra will land on their beds.”
“But they aren't trained agents. Can they really handle this properly?”
“Sometimes, an ordinary neighbor is more terrifying than a trained agent.”
*
A day after Yu-hyeon's request.
Mafia enforcers spread across the globe began to take action.
Coleman Stein, chairman of the board at AE Electric Industries, finished his workday as usual and returned home.
But the atmosphere in the house felt unusually heavy and subdued.
“Irina?”
Coleman called his wife's name as he entered the bedroom.
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
Finding Irina on the floor, bound and gagged, Coleman rushed over in shock.
“Irina!”
He quickly removed the gag, and Irina frantically cried out their youngest daughter's name.
“Soren. It's Soren!”
“What about Soren?”
Coleman's expression hardened when he heard his youngest daughter's name from Irina's lips.
“Quickly!”
Irina seemed to be in deep shock, unable to form proper sentences and only shouting out words.
“Damn it!”
Coleman quickly pulled out his phone to call the police, but Irina snatched it away with a look of horror.
“Irina!”
“No police! They'll kill Soren!”
“...”
“The phone on the table. The phone!”
Irina pointed to the nightstand. On it was a manila envelope and an ordinary-looking cell phone.
He approached the nightstand and looked inside the envelope. It was filled with pictures of Soren, who was studying abroad at Oxford. As Coleman examined the photos with a grim expression, the cell phone on the table began to vibrate.
“Who is this! Who dares!”
-You sent a contractor after the drama we invested in. An attack without any questions asked. We can take that as a declaration of war, can't we?
“...”
-Mr. Stein. This is a light warning.
“What do you mean...”
-I don't know what you were thinking, but it would be wise to lose interest in the Cosa Nostra's business. Next time, you won't be seeing pictures, but the limbs of your pretty little daughter.
The call ended abruptly. Coleman tried calling back, but a message said the number did not exist.
“Damn it! What? What the hell is going on...”
As Coleman muttered in confusion, his own cell phone began to vibrate.
It was Anton Boris, a fellow consortium member and the CFO of a Russian gas company.
Coleman answered the phone, a look of disbelief on his face.
-Coleman.
“What is it? I thought we agreed not to call each other like this.”
-Do you remember the drama writer on the list?
Anton cut straight to the chase, bringing up the drama writer without any other explanation.
“Did you get a warning, too?”
-Damn it!
Anton immediately snapped at Coleman's response.
-Didn't I tell you we should avoid random assassinations!
“...”
-Of all things, a drama invested in by the damn Mafia... I was almost blown up in the sky.
“Blown up? What are you talking...”
-They duct-taped a rock to the engine's air intake and left a friendly note. Those damn Mafiosos! Of all the mafias in the world, it had to be the Cosa Nostra!
Coleman was silent for a moment before speaking.
“How did they find out about us...”
-Who do you think took the contract you put out?
“The Mafia took the contract?”
-They took the job, only to realize it was a request to set fire to their own investment. I hear they were furious. They traced it back immediately.
“The report said security was tight...”
-Turns out the Mafia was handling security for the drama they invested in. The surveillance team should have done their homework before reporting.
“Damn it.”
-That's not all. Have you heard of the Veil family in the U.S.?
“The Veil family? They're big players in the entertainment and film industry. Why do you ask?”
-I heard the contractors even shot at the head of the Veil family. The problem's about to get a lot bigger because of it. It's secondhand information, but I heard the Veil family is tight with the New York Mafia. Did you know that, Coleman?
Coleman's expression hardened at Anton's explanation.
He'd been wondering why the Mafia suddenly appeared, but now he saw that the Veil family's involvement had blown the situation wide open.
“Let's hang up for now. I need to look into this more.”
-Please, I'm begging you. Let's properly vet our targets before we make a move!
Anton spat out a few more angry words before hanging up.
But as soon as he hung up, another call came from a different member.
“Yes, this is Coleman.”
-How the hell do you handle things! Starting a job without even properly identifying the target! Why did you put some irrelevant drama writer on the list? I have enough headaches as it is, and now the Mafia? The Ma-fi-a? Why did you mess with those crazy bastards! My son and his wife were almost killed in a car accident!
Coleman finally caught his breath after a series of dizzying phone calls.
“Damn it! Those goddamn Mafiosos! They should've just stuck to quietly selling booze. What the hell are they doing investing in a drama all of a sudden!”
Coleman threw the phone in his hand to the floor.
“Coleman... our Soren is alright, isn't she?”
While he was shouting in agitation, Irina looked at him with a worried expression.
“She'll be fine. It was just a small misunderstanding.”
After calming Irina down, Coleman rushed to his study and contacted the subordinate handling the current mission.
“Cancel all contracts on the drama writer! Yes! That's not our target. Damn it, and tell the surveillance team to do their job properly! Yes! What? It can't be canceled? Hey! What do you mean!”
-Well, there's this one killer who specializes in natural deaths. Once he takes a contract, he can't be contacted until the job is done...
“Damn it! Find a way, now!”
Having already received a warning, they definitely wouldn't let it slide if another problem occurred with the drama they invested in.
“I don't care who he is, tell him to cancel the contract!”
-Yes, Chairman!
*
Jaden dug a shallow trench, covered himself with a camouflage sheet, and persistently watched the farm.
He didn't need many chances. Just one was enough.
As the sun set, stars appeared, and the sound of insects filled the air, Jaden began to move, slowly, slowly, at a speed no one would notice.