Killer (1)
Inside a ferry sailing between Macau and Hong Kong, Kelvin Chow, a man in his sixties who made his living renting out property in Hong Kong, stared out the window.
It was well past midnight, yet the lights that bathed Hong Kong Island in brilliance still burned on.
Last week, Kelvin Chow had won a three-story commercial building at auction.
The building stood on Sheung Wan Street in Hong Kong, and the hammer price had been US$9 million.
Starting next month, US$200,000 would be deposited into his account every month.
So the moment Friday night arrived, Kelvin Chow headed for Macau.
Over the weekend, he had lost US$300,000 at the Grand Lisboa, and now he was on his way back to Hong Kong.
The thought of his losses made him crave a cigarette.
Kelvin Chow looked around.
He couldn’t see a single crew member, and the other passengers had their heads bowed, dozing off.
I’ll just smoke one.
The ferry was a nonsmoking area, but on the deck, it should be fine.
He got up and went out onto the deck.
Then he took out a cigarette, put it between his lips, and struck a match.
The fierce night wind kept the match from catching.
Using matches instead of a lighter had been one of his old habits for years.
Just then, someone approached Kelvin Chow and lit the cigarette for him with a lighter.
“Thank you.”
Kelvin Chow turned and looked at the man who had lit his cigarette.
He was in his late twenties, give or take.
He wore a scruffy beard, but he didn’t quite have the air of a Chinese man.
“Coming from Macau?”
“That’s right.”
“Did you win much?”
“I didn’t go there to gamble.”
“Then you went there for love.”
Kelvin Chow gave a lecherous grin.
In Macau, nothing was as famous as gambling—except pleasure.
Saunas and KTVs.
And, most of all, the women known as squirrel girls.
Down in the basement of the Lisboa Hotel, women of various nationalities would line up like runway models, and the men who came there would pick the one they liked, bargain over the price, and take her back to their hotel room.
Kelvin Chow himself had taken a blue-eyed blonde back to his room the night before.
“No. I went there for work.”
“Work? What kind of work is there in Macau?”
“I kill people.”
“……?”
It was a foul joke.
Kelvin Chow studied his face again.
And looking at him, he felt a strange, cold shiver run through him.
The man looked down at him and smiled.
Kelvin Chow tossed the cigarette, barely smoked, into the sea.
Then he turned to go back inside the ferry.
But the unpleasant man stepped into his path.
“W-what is it?”
“My work isn’t finished yet.”
“Y-your work?”
“I told you already.”
Then he pulled a syringe from his pocket and drove it into Kelvin Chow’s neck.
Kelvin Chow lost consciousness and collapsed toward him.
The man caught him as though embracing him, then threw Kelvin Chow and the syringe into the sea.
Splash-
But the roar of the ferry’s engine swallowed the sound, and the splash never reached the cabin.
He smiled with satisfaction and went back inside.
Thirty minutes later.
After arriving in Hong Kong, he boarded a late-night bus.
Then he sat down, took out his phone, and opened Telegram.
He sent a message marked O to the name stored as X.
It meant the job was done.
A moment later, the read receipt appeared.
After the bus passed three stops, he got off.
Then he transferred to another bus.
He didn’t really have a destination.
It was a precaution in case something unexpected happened.
If he changed buses several times and wandered around Hong Kong for about an hour, even if the police launched an investigation, he wouldn’t be easy to track.
It had been three months.
It had been a long time since he last took money to kill someone.
Maybe that was why he still couldn’t calm down.
Should I go to Fuji Tower?
Fuji Tower was the most famous prostitution district in Hong Kong.
One girl probably won’t be enough.
He decided to cool the blood burning hot in his veins at Fuji Tower.
Bzzzz-
Just then, the phone in his pocket rang.
His clients never replied unless the job had failed.
Which meant a new assignment had come in.
He took out his phone again.
Then he checked the message sent by the client.
His eyes widened when he saw it.
……?!
A familiar face appeared in the photo, and the profile written beneath it proved that the familiarity was no illusion.
Na Kang-hae / 25 years old / Republic of Korea
Current location: Macau Venetian
He sent the client a reply: 1.
It meant he accepted the job.
“This’ll be fun.”
Korean slipped from his mouth.
He got off the bus at once and waited for the one bound for Hong Kong International Airport.
He was going to take the bus from Hong Kong International Airport to Macau.
He wanted to get to Macau as fast as possible.
* * *
Kang-hae and Seong Ha-yeong headed to the casino VIP room to keep their appointment with Miki Ho.
Tony Jeong was waiting for them in front of the elevator.
He led them to the room where Miki Ho was waiting.
Miki Ho was already seated at the table, waiting for them, and no one else was there.
It had been his private instruction.
“Then I hope you have a pleasant time.”
After Tony Jeong left the room, Kang-hae and Seong Ha-yeong took their seats.
A moment later, the dealer dealt the cards.
Kang-hae received cards too, but following Seong Ha-yeong’s advice, he stayed in while the bet was small and folded once the amount got larger.
Before long, only Seong Ha-yeong and Miki Ho were really playing.
The conversation, too, was mostly between the two of them.
“It seems the others aren’t here today.”
Seong Ha-yeong asked, glancing at the empty seats.
“Honestly, I wanted to get to know the two of you better, so I didn’t invite anyone else.”
“You must have quite a bit of influence.”
“It’s less that I have influence and more that the casino has been kind enough to accommodate me, haha.”
“That’s interesting.”
“Is it? I do come here often.”
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
“Then……?”
“The Venetian is a casino owned by the Sandx Group, and yet they’re going so far as to extend this kind of courtesy to the son of Stephen Ho. That’s what I find interesting.”
Miki Ho smiled without saying a word.
But the smile was clearly different from the one he had worn before.
Seong Ha-yeong and Kang-hae noticed it too.
It was only after a long silence that Miki Ho finally spoke.
“Did you approach me because you knew who I was?”
“No. I heard your name yesterday and looked you up, just in case. I didn’t know before then.”
“Then did you come here today for a different reason than yesterday?”
“Yes.”
“This has been a pleasure.”
Miki Ho set down his cards.
It was his way of telling them to leave, but Seong Ha-yeong didn’t get up.
“Will your father really approve of you teaming up with Sandx, a group he had a poor relationship with when he was alive, and fighting your half sisters?”
“Please leave.”
“Even if you take back the casino your sisters stole from you with Sandx at your side, Sandx will eventually take that casino away from you.”
“……”
“We can help you.”
“I don’t like bluffing.”
“What if it’s not a bluff, but a checkmate?”
Miki Ho stared at Seong Ha-yeong’s face.
She didn’t seem to be lying.
And if she wasn’t lying, then her words were genuinely intriguing.
* * *
While Kang-hae and Seong Ha-yeong were talking with Miki Ho.
Ha Seok-jun, left alone in the hotel, rolled aimlessly across the bed.
He was itching all over.
Above all, he wanted to play baccarat.
Kang-hae had told him not to do anything and stay in the room.
But……
“Just one round……!”
In the end, Ha Seok-jun got up from the bed and went down to the first floor, where the casino was.
Then he withdrew 100,000 won from the ATM.
“Just 100,000 won, Seok-jun. That’s all.”
Ha Seok-jun voiced a promise he had no chance of keeping.
At that moment, his phone rang.
Bzzzz-
It was an unknown number.
Who’s this……
Ha Seok-jun tilted his head and answered.
“Hello?”
[This is Ko Jeong-un.]
“Huh? Who?”
[The Director of the National Security Office.]
“At ease! Major Ha Seok-jun reporting! No abnormalities during duty!”
Ha Seok-jun barked out his name and rank like a fresh recruit, and the people nearby turned to stare at him.
[Are you still in Macau?]
“Yes, sir!”
[Are you alone?]
“Yes, sir!”
[Lower your voice, will you?]
Only then did Ha Seok-jun notice the looks the people around him were giving him.
“Yes, sir. Understood.”
[Any special developments?]
“Yesterday in Macau, there was a minor physical altercation with a soldier from the North Korean Reconnaissance General Bureau who was operating an illegal gambling den and loan-sharking business.”
[I’ve already been briefed on that.]
“Aside from that, there have been no special incidents so far.”
[If, by chance, something special does happen from here on out.]
“You mean special, sir……?”
[If someone attacks you, or anything like that.]
“Then I’ll swiftly and accurately neutralize the enemy.”
[No, that is not what you will do.]
“Then……?”
[What you will do is nothing at all. That is the only way you can survive.]
“……”
[Are you listening?]
“Yes, sir, I’m listening.”
[Your job is to survive.]
“I’m not sure what you mean……”
[Exactly as I said. Even if something bad happens to those two, you must never interfere.]
“Something bad, sir……?”
[Such as death.]
“……!”
Ha Seok-jun swallowed hard.
Ko Jeong-un’s voice continued through the receiver.
[Even if they die, you must survive no matter what. And the moment it happens, begin your investigation there. You must not miss a single piece of evidence or a single witness.]
“Yes, sir…… understood.”
[Remember my words. Above all else.]
The call ended after that.
Ha Seok-jun stood still, listening to the sound of his own heart pounding.
He had forgotten all about baccarat.
And inwardly, he began to think.
Maybe Kang-hae and Seong Ha-yeong were bait.
Maybe the reason he had come with them was to investigate whatever happened to them if something bad did occur.
“What the hell is it with every single one of those Military Intelligence people…… why are they all so terrifying……?”
Ha Seok-jun shook his head.
Goose bumps covered his body.
He was scared.
“Captain Ha Seok-jun……?”
Then he heard someone calling his name.
Half out of his mind, Ha Seok-jun thought it was just an hallucination.
But the voice called him again.
Only then did he realize it wasn’t.
Ha Seok-jun turned his head.
Someone was walking toward him, calling his name.
He looked to be in his mid-to-late twenties.
He wore a scruffy beard, but somehow he looked familiar.
“Who……?”
“You’re Captain Ha Seok-jun from Military Intelligence, right?”
“Yes, but…… who are you……?”
“Don’t you remember me? I was a trainee there once. My name is Byeon Dong-jin.”
“Byeon Dong-jin……?”
Ha Seok-jun searched his memory.
About five seconds later, he remembered who the man was.
He had been a trainee during Ha Seok-jun’s Military Intelligence days, and had been forced to leave after slashing a line across Kang-hae’s face with a knife.
Byeon Dong-jin had arrived in Macau this morning after taking a bus from Hong Kong.