Returning Home (1)
Na Kang-hae laid Ha Seok-jun down on the hotel bed.
He’d thought about taking him to a hospital, but meeting Miki Ho came first.
As soon as Ha Seok-jun fell asleep, Kang-hae headed for the casino VIP room where Seong Ha-yeong and Miki Ho were waiting.
“You’re really all right?”
Seong Ha-yeong greeted him with an expression that mixed worry and relief.
Kang-hae gave her a brief nod.
Miki Ho, meanwhile, watched the two of them with obvious interest.
“I need a favor.”
Kang-hae said it while looking at Miki Ho.
“Go ahead.”
Kang-hae took Byeon Dong-jin’s phone from his pocket.
“Could you trace the people who contacted this phone?”
“I know people for that.”
“Then I’d appreciate it.”
Kang-hae handed the phone over to Miki Ho.
“And one more thing.”
“……?”
“There’s a corpse in an abandoned building above Taipa Village. Could you take care of it?”
“You were the one who did it?”
“Yes.”
“Any witnesses?”
“There was one person there with us at the scene. On the way back, we didn’t run into anyone.”
“Give me the address.”
Kang-hae told Miki Ho the location of the warehouse where the dead Byeon Dong-jin lay.
Miki Ho took out his phone and called someone.
He spoke in Cantonese, sounding as though he were issuing orders to the person who answered.
“I’ve sent people there already.”
Miki Ho said this after ending the call.
“Thank you.”
Kang-hae dipped his head briefly in gratitude.
Miki Ho then looked at Seong Ha-yeong and asked, “When can I expect the materials you mentioned earlier?”
He meant the evidence showing that the former Triads who held shares in MS Holdings had been making secret deals with North Korea.
“I’ll organize them by tomorrow and give them to you.”
“Then let’s meet again tomorrow.”
After setting that appointment, Kang-hae and Seong Ha-yeong thanked Miki Ho and stood.
Miki Ho saw them all the way to the elevator.
After they parted ways with him, Seong Ha-yeong stole glances at Kang-hae as the elevator carried them downward.
She had a great many things she wanted to ask.
Did he really come back after killing someone...?
Who was it?
And for what reason?
“There won’t be any trouble.”
Kang-hae spoke first.
Seong Ha-yeong said nothing.
“By the way, that data you said you’d give Miki Ho—do you really have it?”
“Yes.”
“How did you...?”
“When I first joined the NSO, my job was to collect and sort through North Korea-related material coming up from the NIS. Ships traveling to and from the North, the owners of those ships, and even the people and cargo on board—I kept track of all of it.”
“If you give Miki Ho that data, won’t it cause problems later? Something like leaking classified information?”
“Well, if it becomes a problem later...”
“......?”
“I’ll worry about that when the time comes.”
Seong Ha-yeong’s answer was unexpected.
The Seong Ha-yeong Kang-hae had watched in Korea was the kind of civil servant who never crossed the line, never violated the rules.
But in Hong Kong and Macau, the version of her he kept seeing was always bolder—at times, almost reckless.
Kang-hae got the feeling he was discovering a side of Seong Ha-yeong he had never known.
Ding—
The elevator doors opened.
They walked down the hotel corridor side by side.
Their rooms were directly across from each other.
Originally, Kang-hae and Seong Ha-yeong had booked one room to make themselves look like a couple, while Ha Seok-jun had taken another room of his own. But now there was no need for that.
Kang-hae brought the card key to the door of the room where Ha Seok-jun was sleeping.
“Then I’ll head in.”
“You worked hard.”
They exchanged farewells and went into their respective rooms.
Once inside, Kang-hae went straight to the bathroom and started the shower.
Why was Byeon Dong-jin...?
Under the cold spray, Kang-hae thought of Byeon Dong-jin.
There was no way Byeon Dong-jin could have planned all this on his own.
Someone had clearly put him up to it.
And maybe this incident, too, was part of the same chain of suspicious events that had begun with Operation Gale.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The next morning, at the Venetian breakfast buffet.
“I’m telling you, seriously. That bastard was swinging a knife longer than a meter at Kang-hae, and he was dodging it with nothing but his bare body, just sidestepping and blocking. It was like a movie, I swear.”
Ha Seok-jun, looking far better than he had the day before, was noisily recounting the scene he’d witnessed to Seong Ha-yeong.
Seong Ha-yeong sat across from him, quietly eating a salad and listening without comment.
“Shut up.”
That was when Kang-hae set down the plate of food he’d brought over.
Seong Ha-yeong couldn’t quite believe what Ha Seok-jun was saying, but seeing Kang-hae in the flesh made her think it might actually be true.
“Huh? That’s all you got...?”
Ha Seok-jun stared in disbelief at the food Kang-hae had piled onto his plate.
The Venetian breakfast buffet had more than a hundred dishes from around the world, yet all Kang-hae had taken was scrambled eggs, salmon, and three slices of orange.
“So the two of you knew each other back when you were in the Information Command?” Seong Ha-yeong asked, looking back and forth between Kang-hae and Ha Seok-jun.
“Of course. The people who worked together in the Information Command were practically brothers.”
“......”
Kang-hae was unnerved by the sense of intimacy Ha Seok-jun seemed to feel toward him.
How the hell did this happen...?
Kang-hae shook his head and silently picked up his chopsticks.
ZZZ-
At that moment, Kang-hae’s phone rang.
It was Joo Gwang-il calling.
Kang-hae answered at once.
“Talk.”
[I found Baek Kang.]
“......!”
[But there’s a problem.]
Kang-hae’s brows drew together.
“What problem?”
[The North’s Bureau 35 has Baek Kang.]
Bureau 35 referred to the North Korean Reconnaissance General Bureau’s foreign intelligence department, Joo Gwang-il’s own branch.
“You’re Bureau 35.”
[They’re people out of Pyongyang. They’re not mine.]
“Where is Baek Kang?”
[I don’t know right now.]
“What does that mean?”
[All I know is that tomorrow before dawn, he’s being loaded onto a cargo ship at Auma Harbor, Pier B-7, and sent into the Republic.]
“Is Baek Kang alive?”
[He’s alive. And I’m going back on that cargo ship with them. They seem to have noticed I wrote the manifest wrong. Help me.]
“I’ll call back.”
[Listen to me. I’m with Bureau 35 personnel right now. I only got out by pretending I was going to the bathroom. I can’t stay on the phone long. You have to help me.]
“Understood.”
Kang-hae ended the call.
Then he forced down the sigh rising from his chest.
Seong Ha-yeong and Ha Seok-jun could tell from his face that something bad had happened.
“What is it?”
“They found Baek Kang.”
“Then why...?”
“Bureau 35 has him. And tomorrow before dawn, he’s going into North Korea on a cargo ship.”
As soon as they heard that, both their faces hardened.
“Let’s go back to the room first and finish talking there.”
Kang-hae stood up without touching his food.
Seong Ha-yeong rose immediately as well.
Ha Seok-jun stuffed a few uneaten dim sum into his mouth and hurried after them.
“What about getting help from Miki Ho?”
As soon as they got back into the hotel room, Seong Ha-yeong spoke up.
Kang-hae shook his head.
“I’ve already asked him to do too much.”
“......”
She was right.
Miki Ho had already handled too much, and it felt as though asking for more would be impossible.
“Then why don’t we just report it to the police?” Ha Seok-jun suggested.
“No, if that Baek Kang guy crosses into North Korea, we won’t be able to get him back. We need to keep him pinned down in Macau first.”
“There are definitely people in the Macau police who’ll be covering for them. And Joo Gwang-il would be the first one they’d suspect.”
“What’s the big deal if one commie dies...?”
Ha Seok-jun couldn’t finish the sentence under the cold looks Kang-hae and Seong Ha-yeong shot at him.
“Hey, you piece of trash. Listen carefully. We made a promise to Joo Gwang-il. A promise is something you keep.”
“No, what I mean is...”
“Enough. Let’s think of another way.”
Seong Ha-yeong cut him off before he could start making excuses.
The three of them considered various possibilities in silence.
After a while, Kang-hae called to Seong Ha-yeong.
“The materials you were going to give Miki Ho—can you hand them over right now?”
“Yes. I already prepared everything I was going to give him last night.”
“Then let’s hand the materials over now and go back to Korea.”
“Suddenly?”
“We seize the cargo ship carrying Baek Kang on the high seas.”
That, too, seemed like it might work.
Of course, the ship would have to pass through the East China Sea and into Korea’s EEZ, and they would need to present grounds strong enough to persuade the Foreign Ministry and the other relevant agencies.
But with time this short, it was their best option.
“All right. I’ll go see Miki Ho right now.”
Seong Ha-yeong left the hotel room to deliver the materials to Miki Ho.
Meanwhile, Kang-hae and Ha Seok-jun packed their bags.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Macau International Airport.
The flight back to Korea was scheduled for 12:25.
If it landed on time, they’d make it before evening.
But there was no time to spare.
So Seong Ha-yeong couldn’t put her phone down even after arriving at the airport.
The first thing she did was report everything to Ko Jeong-un.
After that, she instructed an NSO staff member to search for cases in which a foreign cargo ship had been seized in Korea’s EEZ.
And she told them to find every piece of international law related to it as well.
Even after ending the calls, Seong Ha-yeong’s brain kept working.
It’s definitely going to be reported to the president, too...
Seizing a cargo ship of another nationality was surely something that required presidential approval.
Is this even possible...?
Worry filled Seong Ha-yeong’s mind.
That was why she only realized Kang-hae was missing after she’d already gone through departure screening.
“Where’s Kang-hae?”
She asked while looking at Ha Seok-jun, who had been following behind her.
“Ah, well, he said he was buying something at the duty-free shop.”
“Kang-hae?”
“Yes.”
Seong Ha-yeong couldn’t believe it.
Kang-hae wasn’t the kind of man who would go to the duty-free shop in a situation like this.
And Ha Seok-jun’s uneasy expression only confirmed her suspicion.
“Where did he go, Seok-jun?”
“Ah, well...”
“Tell me now!”
Under Seong Ha-yeong’s pressing stare, Ha Seok-jun finally opened his mouth.
“Macau Auma Harbor.”
“What are you talking about right now?”
“I was going to tell you once we got on the plane, originally, but...”
“Tell me already!”
In the end, Ha Seok-jun spilled everything.
Again, Seong Ha-yeong couldn’t believe a word he said.
And at that same moment, after slipping beyond her field of view, Kang-hae had already left the airport and was riding a taxi back to the Venetian Hotel.
Kang-hae’s plan was to board the cargo ship carrying Joo Gwang-il and Baek Kang to North Korea.
With a GPS device on him.
For all he knew, another cargo ship might appear on the high seas and transfer Baek Kang and Joo Gwang-il to a different vessel.
Giving the GPS device to Joo Gwang-il would have been the best option, but he was with Bureau 35 personnel.
“So Kang-hae is planning to get on that ship right now?”
“Yes.”
“Did the major know?!”
Ha Seok-jun answered by nodding.
When Seong Ha-yeong had left the hotel room to meet Miki Ho, Kang-hae had told him in advance.
And he’d given Ha Seok-jun an order.
No matter what happened, he was to return to Korea with Seong Ha-yeong.
“And you knew that and didn’t stop him?!”
“Have you ever seen that guy listen to what I say...?”
“Even so...”
Seong Ha-yeong hurriedly pulled out her phone.
Then she called Kang-hae at once.
But Kang-hae didn’t answer.
So she had no choice but to send him a text.
Come back right now!
Five minutes later, a reply came from Kang-hae.
This is the best option available right now.
Best option? What best option? Come back right this second.
Once you return to Korea, make sure you seize the cargo ship.
What if the ship enters North Korea before then?
Then I’ll come back again.
Reading his reply, Seong Ha-yeong was left speechless.
It was reckless beyond belief.
“Don’t worry too much. Kang-hae, that bastard—he’s really, truly strong.”
“......”
Ha Seok-jun tried to comfort her.
At that moment, the airport speakers announced that the flight to Korea would be departing soon and that passengers should board.
“Let’s go.”
“......”
Seong Ha-yeong’s feet felt nailed to the floor, but in the end, she boarded the plane.
And she made up her mind.
No matter what it took, she would seize that cargo ship and bring back Baek Kang—no, the cargo ship Kang-hae himself was now on board.