Hong Kong (3)
Kang-hae checked the car following behind him through the taxi’s rearview mirror.
It was the car carrying Seong Ha-yeong and Ha Seok-jun.
As soon as Kang-hae got out of the hotel, the two of them had climbed into the rental car they’d prepared in advance and followed him.
Trailing behind that rental car was a dark-gray Toyota Camry.
It was the same car he had seen from the first-floor lobby of the ICC.
Something about it seemed suspicious, but there was nothing he could do about it yet.
Swish—
At that moment, Ryan Huang’s hand slid across Kang-hae’s left knee.
It was an obvious touch.
His hand kept creeping higher.
Kang-hae caught Ryan Huang’s wrist.
He gripped so hard that a short gasp escaped Ryan Huang’s lips.
“Ahh….”
Oops.
Kang-hae loosened his grip and, with a slightly embarrassed look, said, “Later.”
Ryan Huang smiled in understanding and withdrew his hand.
Kang-hae said nothing, only looked out the window.
And in his head, he calculated what had to be done at Ryan Huang’s house.
Once they arrived, Seong Ha-yeong would immediately contact the National Security Office’s Cyber Security Bureau.
The Cyber Security Bureau would launch an attack on Bitcom’s main server.
Bitcom would detect the abnormal traffic spike.
Then Ryan Huang, the man ultimately responsible, would hear the news, open his laptop.
That was when Kang-hae had to plug the USB into Ryan Huang’s computer.
“Then I’ll knock him out as soon as we get inside.”
That was what he had told Seong Ha-yeong that morning when she handed him the USB.
Her plan was far too cumbersome.
Knock him out, or threaten him.
Simple.
Something Kang-hae was good at.
But Seong Ha-yeong had shaken her head.
“No. There could be problems later.”
“Then how am I supposed to connect the USB to the laptop?”
Seong Ha-yeong had said that knocking him out or threatening him should be a last resort.
She would find another way before they reached Ryan Huang’s house.
What is it…?
While Kang-hae wondered what other method she meant, the taxi finally arrived at Ryan Huang’s home.
It was a luxury mansion in Kowloon Tong.
From the living room, the entire Kowloon Peninsula spread out at a glance.
The sofa, table, and dining set inside were all clearly expensive at a glance as well.
As soon as Ryan Huang walked in, he wrapped his arms around Kang-hae’s waist and kissed the back of his neck.
His body was already running hot, and he made no attempt to hide it.
Kang-hae shyly pushed him away and sat down on the sofa.
[The hacking will start in a moment through the National Security Office. For now, try to keep him talking.]
Kang-hae looked at Ryan Huang, who was unbuttoning his dress shirt while watching him.
“Do you, by any chance, like mint chocolate…?”
“……?”
“Then what do you think about Hawaiian pizza?”
“……?”
“What’s your MBTI?”
Ryan Huang found it adorable that Kang-hae, out of nowhere, kept throwing odd questions at him.
And he thought to himself that Kang-hae was doing it because he wanted to know him more deeply.
Then Ryan Huang’s phone rang.
Buzz—
It was a call from Bitcom’s security team.
There was no way he could ignore it.
“Hello.”
It was not remotely a hello-worthy greeting.
To anyone sharp enough, there was a warning buried in that tone and voice: if you’re calling me at this hour over something trivial, you’re not going to enjoy the outcome.
The security team member told him in a frantic voice that an attack had been launched against Bitcom’s main server.
Months earlier, after an unknown hacker had leaked customer data, Bitcom had tightened security and revised its response manual.
The moment a hacker attack was detected, the final decision-maker had to confirm it personally.
“Something’s come up. Give me a minute.”
Ryan Huang apologized after hanging up.
Then he sat down at the dining table and opened his laptop.
All Kang-hae had to do now was plug the USB Seong Ha-yeong had given him into that powered-on laptop.
If it stayed connected for just one minute, the hacking program would install itself automatically.
The problem was how to plug it in without Ryan Huang noticing.
Beep-beep-beep—
Just then, there was the sound of someone entering the front door code.
A moment later, the door opened.
And a white man in his early twenties stepped into Ryan Huang’s home.
His name was James Sturridge.
He had graduated with honors from Central Saint Martins in London with a degree in fashion design.
After building his career in London, he came to Hong Kong with his colleagues and founded a fashion brand.
He was a designer praised for his original expression of East and West in a cultural fusion, and he was also Ryan Huang’s lover.
“Who the fuck are you?!”
James said, staring at Kang-hae sitting on the sofa.
And Ryan Huang, who had been expecting his lover to be in Lan Kwai Fong, went rigid all over.
“Honey….”
“Animal…!”
“Listen.”
Just a little earlier, James had been drinking with coworkers in Lan Kwai Fong when he received a photo from an anonymous number.
It showed Ryan Huang and Kang-hae getting into a taxi together at the ICC, looking very affectionate.
Seong Ha-yeong had sent it.
James immediately took a taxi to Ryan Huang’s house.
And before long, he was witnessing his lover cheating in real time.
James, out of his mind with rage, rushed at Kang-hae.
Ryan Huang stepped in front of him.
Kang-hae felt no threat whatsoever, but he pretended to be frightened and stumbled backward toward the dining table where Ryan Huang’s laptop sat.
“You bastard, I’ll kill you.”
“Take it easy, sweetheart.”
“How could you….”
James slapped Ryan Huang across the face.
Smack—
In that instant, Kang-hae plugged the USB in his hand into the laptop.
Click—
Fortunately, the sound was audible only to Kang-hae.
Sixty seconds. That was all that remained.
Sixty seconds passed in an instant.
James buried himself against Ryan Huang’s chest, crying, then punched him in the chest again.
Ryan Huang pulled James into an embrace and kissed his forehead.
[It’s installed. You can come out now.]
Seong Ha-yeong’s voice sounded in Kang-hae’s ear.
Kang-hae pulled out the USB he had left plugged in.
Then he left the house, leaving the two men to each other, neither of whom had the slightest concern for him.
Once he was outside, he saw the car Seong Ha-yeong and Ha Seok-jun were in.
Kang-hae checked his surroundings.
The dark-gray Toyota Camry was gone.
“You worked hard.”
As Kang-hae got into the car, Seong Ha-yeong, seated in the passenger seat, spoke.
“Are we going back to the hotel now?”
“Yes.”
“Not the hotel. A bar. Let’s go to a bar.”
Kang-hae needed a drink.
It had been an exhausting day.
* * *
The next day.
U.S. Consulate General, Hong Kong and Macau.
CIA Asia Division chief John Smith was watching the scene from Ryan Huang’s house the previous night on his laptop.
That was rather cute of him.
The moment John Smith saw Kang-hae leaving Ryan Huang’s house, he closed the laptop.
Then he looked at Daniel Parker standing in front of him.
Daniel Parker.
Born in Oklahoma, he had graduated from the United States Air Force Academy and served in the Middle East and Asia.
He was later recruited into the CIA’s overseas operations team for his outstanding abilities.
During his military years, Daniel Parker’s final posting had been Osan Air Base in the Republic of Korea, and thanks to that, he had been assigned to the East Asia desk.
“Do you think he noticed?”
The “he” John referred to was Kang-hae, and Daniel understood that perfectly.
“I don’t think he has noticed yet.”
“Why do you think that?”
“If he knew, he wouldn’t waste time on something this trivial.”
“Hmm….”
It was a fair point.
But they still couldn’t be certain.
“Wouldn’t it be better to leak a little information?”
“How much should we leak?”
“Up to Macau should be fine.”
“Macau….”
It sounded like a pretty good idea.
* * *
Hong Kong Disneyxland.
Ha Seok-jun, who had just gotten off a roller coaster, shook his head, complaining of dizziness.
Kang-hae, Seong Ha-yeong, and Ha Seok-jun had come to Hong Kong Disneyxland.
Since they had completed the mission, Ha Seok-jun argued they should be allowed to have some fun for a day.
Of course, it had taken a great deal of courage to bring it up.
He might get scolded—no, beaten—by Kang-hae for it.
But Kang-hae agreed without argument.
He had something he wanted to confirm.
Is it really a coincidence that we keep running into the same white couple in different places every day after coming to Hong Kong?
Ever since that day with Ryan Huang, Kang-hae had kept encountering the white couple he had brushed past at the ICC O2 Bar.
At the hotel restaurant where he had breakfast.
At the rental car agency where he had gone to return the car.
At the local telecom shop where he had gone to buy a SIM card.
At the convenience store where he had stopped to buy bottled water.
There was always that white couple around Kang-hae.
This time was no different.
They were eating ice cream at a table in front of the carousel.
Are they following us?
But if they were, their behavior was strange.
They didn’t look like an affectionate couple.
And they weren’t hiding themselves either.
They seemed more like people waiting to be recognized.
He needed to check.
So Kang-hae walked over to them.
Ha Seok-jun and Seong Ha-yeong followed behind.
“Hi.”
“I speak Korean.”
Daniel, who had been eating ice cream, answered with a smile.
“We keep running into each other.”
“So it seems.”
“Coincidence?”
“No.”
“Then are you following us?”
“The CIA doesn’t tail people like this.”
“……?”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Daniel Parker, from the CIA Asia Division. Just call me Daniel.”
Seong Ha-yeong, standing behind Kang-hae, cut in.
“I’m from the National Security Office of the Republic of Korea.”
“I know. And the man beside you must be from the Defense Counterintelligence Command.”
“Why is the CIA following us?”
“A few days ago, you hacked Ryan Huang’s laptop, didn’t you?”
“…….”
“Bitcom is an exchange valued at eighty billion dollars. You didn’t honestly think hacking the security chief’s laptop would get you any useful information, did you?”
“…….”
“The only thing you’d have gotten from that would be Ryan Huang’s favorite gay porn sites.”
“…….”
Seong Ha-yeong’s mind began to reel.
It was bad enough that the CIA had shown up out of nowhere, but they knew everything they had done.
“I asked why you’re following us.”
This time Kang-hae spoke again, stepping in for the overwhelmed Seong Ha-yeong.
“Because Ryan Huang was under CIA surveillance. Level C.”
“C?”
“C-level isn’t much. Just where he goes, who he talks to, what he buys. But a month ago, his surveillance level was raised to A. We watched him around the clock. We even installed cameras in his home. One of our agents is still monitoring Ryan Huang right now.”
“…….”
“Don’t worry too much. Ryan and James made up after you left the house last night, Mr. Na Kang-hae. In fact, Ryan cheating on him wasn’t exactly a one-time thing.”
“Why was his surveillance level changed?”
“Because a cryptocurrency called Magnolia was listed a month ago.”
“Why are you telling us this?”
“Well, let’s call it curiosity for now.”
“Does the world’s best intelligence agency really change surveillance levels because of something as flimsy as curiosity?”
“That won’t work. That kind of clumsy provocation.”
“…….”
Daniel smiled as he said it.
Kang-hae wanted to punch the smiling look right off his face.
Daniel spoke again.
“We haven’t found anyone connected to our government among the people tied to Magnolia. Not yet, anyway. So we’re only monitoring for now. At least for the moment. But if it’s Korea, the story could be a little different.”
Then Daniel stood up from his seat.
Alex White, who had been sitting beside him, also rose and followed.
“Since I’ve given you information already, let me give you one more thing. The man who developed the cryptocurrency Magnolia is in Macau right now. His name is Baek Kang. Korean-Chinese, or Joseonjok, as some call him. We estimate his age to be somewhere between the late twenties and early thirties. Ah, and the ice cream here is quite good. You should try it.”
After that, Daniel and Alex moved into the stream of tourists visiting Disneyxland.
Soon they disappeared from sight.
It was the opposite of how they had revealed themselves just days earlier.