Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator : M.N 1391
Chapter: 59
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"Then how much did you stuff your face?"
"I never did that! It's a misunderstanding!"
Lee Gwan-young shouted in panic. The prison guard’s stare felt prickly. He hadn’t expected the warden’s claim that Lee Kyung-wan was such a dangerous, heinous criminal that a guard had to be present for monitoring…
But Kyung-wan didn’t blame him. Instead, he said this.
"But what about me?"
".. What?"
"Sure, they say the bear does the tricks while the tamer takes the money, but our deputy chief isn’t some damn Chinaman, right? Naturally you'll give me my cut too, yes?"
"Within our authority we can provide plenty of conveniences, "
"Half. Let's split it fifty–fifty."
"...."
Cut off mid-nonsense, hearing that demand froze Lee Gwan-young’s mind.
Something was wrong. Wasn’t this guy, Lee Kyung-wan, the type who didn’t care much about money? That’s why he’d cooperated so well in prison: in exchange for various conveniences, he was known for behaving very cooperatively.
Sure, he occasionally used violence on certain inmates, but he never threatened or assaulted guards, and certainly never fixated on money.
While his mind was still blank, Kyung-wan continued with a line that snapped him back to reality.
"You know I’ve got a friend in the U.S. FBI, right? If you try anything funny, it'll get very unfunny for you."
"S-still, half is…"
"For reference, I'm not talking about your personal cut. I mean half of the total amount Japan paid for this whole thing."
How would he know who got what?
At Kyung-wan’s words, Lee Gwan-young’s expression collapsed.
= = = = =
As a result, Kyung-wan was dispatched to Japan to investigate the so-called Zainichi Villain. And because Lee Gwan-young was the core figure in that affair, he used the special activities budget to prepare the payout for Kyung-wan.
Maybe because it was the same slush fund they used when kicking money up to the Blue House, he didn’t seem burdened. Or maybe having to cough up bribes Japan had slipped directly into their pockets had twisted his guts. Whatever the case, he spent the people’s tax money.
Once the special activities budget was used, sending Kyung-wan to Japan was essentially a done deal from the NIS’s perspective, and two NIS agents were attached to him.
One was a standard-build man, the other a plain-looking woman.
"My name is Oh Doo-gwan."
"I'm Hong Young-hye."
"Nice to meet you. My name, you already know, right?"
At Kyung-wan’s greeting, they nodded with businesslike expressions and took him to the airport.
Upon arrival at Tokyo International Airport, a young Japanese man holding a placard was waiting.
His name was Takatsuki, a detective from the Metropolitan Police Department.
He approached the three, greeted them, and exchanged names. Then he glanced at Kyung-wan and whispered in Japanese with Oh Doo-gwan and Hong Young-hye.
"Haai!"
"So desu ka?"
"Wakarimashita."
It was natural for Kyung-wan, who didn’t speak Japanese, to be excluded from conversation, but something about the atmosphere felt off. Whether they were hiding something or flaunting it on purpose, Kyung-wan repeatedly caught Takatsuki shooting him looks of contempt and ridicule on the way to their destination.
And whenever their eyes met, instead of flinching or looking away, Takatsuki would hmph! and snort dismissively before turning his head.
But Kyung-wan stayed quiet. Stayed calm. He wasn’t the type whose discipline faltered at childish provocations. In fact, reacting would be exactly what they wanted.
Soon the four arrived at the MPD headquarters. Kyung-wan immediately saw the people who had gathered to meet him.
A few middle-aged men.
Seeing their faces, Kyung-wan instantly knew they were Takatsuki’s superiors and fairly high-ranking officials in the MPD. You know that expression high-ranking Japanese bureaucrats have, dripping with snobbish elitism?
It was plastered all over their faces. Hard to miss.
"Please greet them. This is Director Iyamoto from the MPD Counterterrorism Division, and this is Counselor Omura."
At Hong Young-hye’s explanation, Kyung-wan asked:
"Which one of the two is higher?"
"The one on the left, Director Iyamoto."
"Thank you for telling me."
Kyung-wan thanked her, then walked straight up to the man who looked about twice his age,
and slapped him across the face without warning.
Smack!
"Ugh!"
Iyamoto’s cheek whipped sideways. The atmosphere instantly froze.
The first to speak was Oh Doo-gwan, who had turned completely pale.
"W-w-w-w-what do you think you’re doing!"
A shrill, birdlike scream burst from him.
Kyung-wan replied:
"Your hospitality sucks ass."
And his eyes drifted toward Takatsuki. Even without words, it was clear exactly why he had done this. Faced with the undeniable implication, Takatsuki darted his eyes left and right like he wanted to run and hide somewhere, anywhere.
But before he could find so much as a mouse hole, Counselor Omura shouted:
"Nandesu ka!"
"Sumimasen! Sumimasen!"
Oh Doo-gwan and Hong Young-hye bowed repeatedly, apologizing, then glared at Kyung-wan. Their silent pressure was obvious: Bow and apologize right now!
But did he ever buckle to that?
Instead, he said this:
"Japan didn't bring a Korean-speaking interpreter? How cozy are you with the NIS that you didn’t bring even one person who can speak Korean?"
Watching their baffled expressions, Kyung-wan continued shamelessly:
"If no one here speaks Korean, how would you even know if the Koreans teamed up to fake an interrogation and lie to your faces? How does a security-hole-ridden organization like this conduct investigations?"
Iyamoto, curious what Kyung-wan was saying, asked Oh Doo-gwan and Hong Young-hye. They were sweating bullets but didn’t dare lie, not when the purse strings were held by the Japanese.
After hearing their very diplomatic, extremely sugar-coated explanation, that it was perhaps slightly lacking to prepare no Japanese who knew Korean when hosting a Korean intelligence agent, Iyamoto shot a knife-sharp glare at Kyung-wan and then said something to Hong Young-hye.
She relayed the question:
"He asks why you slapped him out of nowhere."
"Let me ask him something. Am I necessary or unnecessary?"
"Why are you, "
"As an interpreter, please just relay the question."
"This won’t end well for your personal record."
Oh Doo-gwan warned darkly. So Kyung-wan lay flat on the ground.
Oh Doo-gwan panicked, instantly dropping the threatening expression he had just worn.
"Mr. Kyung-wan! Get up right now!"
"Ask him if I’m really necessary."
"If I ask, will you get up?"
"Should I just take off my clothes too?"
"I’ll ask! I’ll ask, so please!"
Determined to disgrace the nation single-handedly, Kyung-wan left Hong Young-hye pale as she finally relayed the question to the Japanese.
Iyamoto and Omura agonized over how to answer. As high officials of glorious Japan, they wanted to confidently declare his presence unnecessary. But that wouldn’t work on a madman rolled onto the floor.
Iyamoto frowned. If this were under his authority, he’d have said, “Get lost, Chosenjin!” and kicked him out. But his superiors wanted the Zainichi Villain caught fast.
Even if that lunatic’s ability weren’t needed, there was no guarantee they could do it quickly…
Iyamoto swallowed the humiliation of being slapped.
Finally, Hong Young-hye relayed their answer: that his ability was indeed needed.
Kyung-wan raised his upper body and asked:
"Then why is your hospitality such dogshit?"
"They ask what exactly they did wrong."
"That bastard. That bastard right there. He keeps glaring at me with that sneering expression."
Before translating that, Hong Young-hye exchanged looks with Oh Doo-gwan.
Seeing her plea, Oh Doo-gwan stepped in.
"Isn't that a bit too much of an assumption?"
"I’m saying it happened, and how would you know? When a woman’s stared at, it’s sexual harassment, but when a man’s stared at, it’s just oversensitivity?"
But Oh Doo-gwan couldn’t back down. If the reason for this tantrum came out, it would be another international embarrassment.
As their back-and-forth dragged on, the Japanese side demanded to know what they were discussing.
Cornered by sharp Japanese gazes, Hong Young-hye translated Kyung-wan’s words exactly. Iyamoto and Omura’s eyes shifted to Takatsuki, then back to Hong Young-hye and Kyung-wan.
"Is that really why you slapped him, they ask."
Kyung-wan nodded firmly.
"Of course."
Takatsuki’s face went corpse-white. Upon seeing Iyamoto flick his finger sharply at him, essentially “Get lost”, Takatsuki bowed deeply, face ashen.
It wasn’t “slide to unlock,” but “slide to be reassigned.”
He was miserable, but he had no defense. In Japan’s social structure, dumping responsibility downward was effortless.
Blame the subordinate, fire the subordinate, that was the Japanese way. Even political scandals often ended with a secretary taking the fall and “committing suicide.”
"Now that the matter is resolved, shall we proceed?"
"Then let’s go interrogate."
Hearing Hong Young-hye’s words, Kyung-wan jumped to his feet. Everyone looked stunned, but since he was at least willing to move quickly, they didn’t reprimand him. Work came first; grievances could be settled later.
The first interrogation target was the convenience store owner who had been the first to be involved in the case. Naturally, as a victim of the anti-Korean esper terrorist, he was a Zainichi Korean. His name was Kim Myunghwan.
"Hello, Mr. Kim Myunghwan."
His eyes were sunken as if he’d been tortured under the guise of interrogation. Torture? In 21st-century Japan? Well, remember how even Carlos Ghosn escaped Japan by hiding in an instrument case?
If they could do that to the savior of Nissan, then applying “legal torture” to a powerless Zainichi Korean was nothing. Just deprive him of sleep, drag him in day and night, shine burning lights into his eyes, and keep repeating the same questions.
Yet Koreans really were sturdy. The average man would have confessed to everything, real or not. But he held out until today, the day the Korean NIS agent, specially invited, sat in front of him.
Hearing fluent Korean, Kim Myunghwan, despite his exhaustion, asked:
"You seem Korean. Why are you here…?"
"You look tired. Don’t worry about it and relax. You don’t have to answer anything if you don’t want to."
At Oh Doo-gwan’s words, Kim Myunghwan’s expression eased.
"Let’s begin."