Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: A Bad Feeling
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“When does it take effect?”
“From the moment we get approval from the higher-ups. You'll be contacted separately.”
William took out a high-end fountain pen from his coat, then pulled a large black paper envelope from the briefcase he'd set beside his chair.
He placed the briefcase on his lap and laid the contract from the black envelope on top of it.
*Scratch!*
With a look of regret, William struck through the word “renewal” on the contract.
“Let's be clear about this.”
“About what?”
Without even glancing at Kanghyeok, William wrote a short phrase at the bottom of the contract.
“This won't end as a short-term contract. It will remain valid until the company decides otherwise.”
A contract wasn't a one-way street.
Since he had met Kanghyeok's demands, William had the right to ask for this much in return.
“As you wish.”
Having gotten what he wanted, Kanghyeok replied with ease.
“Hmm.”
William frowned and glanced at Kanghyeok.
It was because Kanghyeok had accepted the condition, one he had proposed after deep thought, far too easily.
*Scratch, scratch.*
Kanghyeok silently watched as the fountain pen amended the contract.
Wouldn't this mean he was tied to the company?
The contract was structured as a subcontract anyway.
Even if the company offered missions, he wasn't an employee, so he had the right to refuse. If he decided he needed to distance himself from the company, he could just keep turning down missions.
Kanghyeok got what he wanted, and William, in turn, got at least part of what he wanted.
At the same time, this arrangement allowed Kanghyeok to repay the help he'd received in getting his laptop back, which put his mind at ease.
“And your desired compensation?”
Kanghyeok gave a prepared answer to William's question as he continued to amend the contract.
“Whatever I desire.”
William's eyes shifted to look at Kanghyeok.
“Not money?”
William stared into Kanghyeok's eyes for a moment before returning his gaze to the contract.
“Then we'll decide on the compensation through mutual agreement when the results are satisfactory.”
The contract was drafted over a considerable amount of time.
Periodically, William would call the company's legal team on his phone to modify clauses, hashing out the details with Kanghyeok as they went.
This was a contract drafted by the company.
Once it officially took effect, it would wield more power than any other contract.
Power strong enough to demand astronomical penalties and, if necessary, even one's life.
“Let's add one more clause.”
The revisions to the contract were nearly complete.
William said this while carefully reviewing the document, and Kanghyeok looked at him.
“What kind of clause?”
William answered by writing a line directly onto the contract.
In the event of Kanghyeok's death, the company assumes no responsibility.
“Heh.”
Kanghyeok scoffed at the clause, and William, as if echoing him, chuckled and added another line below it.
However, in the event of kidnapping or capture, support will be provided if Kanghyeok is deemed beneficial to the company.
“This is what I need to persuade the higher-ups.”
“I know.”
Overall, the contract had been amended in Kanghyeok's favor.
Would the higher-ups readily accept such a contract?
But the clauses William added drastically increased the chances that they would.
“Who makes that determination?”
Kanghyeok asked, pointing to the last line, and William answered as he capped his fountain pen.
“I do.”
Just after Kanghyeok nodded.
“Now, let's talk business.”
William continued, placing the contract into the black paper envelope.
“Some of the executives doubt whether your skills have rusted. So, what should you do?”
It was a simple question that required no thought, so Kanghyeok answered immediately.
“Prove it.”
William nodded and cast his gaze out the window.
The weather was unusually hot and humid.
The sun and sky were surely the same as anywhere else, but strangely, the air here felt exceptionally hot and sticky.
Like the Amazon rainforest.
It was probably due to the ecosystem here.
Beasts less than human roamed day and night.
A jungle made of concrete.
This was the feeling William got whenever he visited this place, looked at the sky, and saw the children in rags and the corpses abandoned on the streets.
“We need a location suitable for a safe house.”
“Isn't that the management department's job?”
“Let's just call it an internal matter.”
Kanghyeok nodded silently.
Every company has its internal politics, and William was no exception.
It was impossible to know if it was an interdepartmental conflict or something else.
Perhaps William was trying to gain a greater presence within the company.
If so, it would explain why William was so desperate to have Kanghyeok on his side.
Kanghyeok looked at William's eyes as he stared out the window, took a sip of his drink, and spoke.
“I didn't realize you were thinking along those lines. The best place to hide a tree is in a forest.”
William planned to set up a safe house in this city.
But why?
In Kanghyeok's judgment, it was far better to establish a safe house near a military installation or a mercenary facility run by the company as a front.
“Sometimes it's better to hide a jewel in the mud.”
But William's thinking was a bit different, and Kanghyeok pursed his lips.
To establish a safe house here, they would have to drive out the rats.
The gangs.
The conditions for a safe house would only be met once the gang members polluting the area were driven out.
“I'll let you know when I'm ready.”
“No need to rush. We have to get the contract approved first.”
William said it like a joke, and Kanghyeok responded with a hearty laugh.
“Well, I'll be on my way.”
William picked up the briefcase containing the contract, brushed the wrinkles from his suit, and stood up.
“Aren't you taking the scotch?”
William said, looking at the scotch bottle, which was only two glasses lighter.
“It's a gift to celebrate the contract.”
It was a fine scotch, not a bad celebratory gift at all.
“Hmm-hmm-hmm.”
The supermarket where Kanghyeok worked.
The owner, an old woman, was humming as she dusted the shelves. She was in an unusually good mood.
‘I feel as cheerful as if it were springtime.’
For some reason, her spirits were strangely high.
Did something good happen?
Racking her brain, she couldn't think of anything that would make her feel this happy.
Still, she felt as if she'd heard wonderful news from someone close to her.
So much so that limping around the supermarket on her bad leg didn't feel difficult at all.
The owner wiped the shelves with the rag in her hand, occasionally straightening misplaced products.
“Oof, I'm tired.”
Rubbing her stiff back and hips, she raised her head and looked around the supermarket.
She had originally managed the supermarket all by herself.
For a very long time.
The place, steeped in enough history for any local to remember, hadn't always been this clean.
The change had come exactly one year ago.
Kanghyeok, an Asian man—a rare sight in these parts—had shown up out of the blue and asked for a job.
Truthfully, she couldn't afford to hire anyone.
But his expression and the look in his eyes were unsettling; his face was etched with a despair that seemed to have seen the end of the world, and she couldn't bring herself to turn him away.
‘If I'd said no back then, I would have deeply regretted it.’
Kanghyeok, whom she had hired out of a desire to help someone in need, had transformed the supermarket into this spotless state within a year.
The rag she used to wipe the shelves was now barely dirtier than when it was freshly washed.
“That boy. So needlessly diligent.”
She could clearly picture Kanghyeok, silently gripping a mop and cleaning every corner of the floor.
The floor, the shelves, the stockroom, and the parking lot out front.
Not even the ceiling had escaped his touch.
‘I really made the right choice.’
Hiring Kanghyeok.
But she knew that Kanghyeok couldn't keep working here forever.
It was an old woman's intuition, a sense honed by experience.
The skill with which Kanghyeok had subdued the drunkard.
The polite Caucasian woman who had come looking for him.
Her suit and the intense gaze characteristic of someone in a dangerous line of work.
She and Kanghyeok were similar in some way.
As if they were in the same business.
“Phew.”
The owner let out a sigh, leaning halfway against a shelf.
Kanghyeok wasn't the kind of person to just be cleaning a place like this.
He was meant for much greater things, and the world doesn't leave such people alone.
Soon, Kanghyeok might quit his job here.
Very soon, at that.
The owner's eyelids twitched.
She closed her eyes tightly, opening her wrinkled lids only after a long moment.
She didn't know when Kanghyeok would leave, but when that time came, she would let him go without any lingering attachment.
But she would ask him to stop by and show his face every now and then.
Just as the owner was collecting her thoughts and feelings.
*Ting-a-ling!*
‘At this hour?’
The somehow ominous chime of the door bell caught the owner's attention.
“Ah.”
Her face immediately hardened.
A man she had never seen before was staring at her with emotionless eyes, a large military knife, like a machete, in one hand.
*Thud, thud.*
He began to walk into the Kanghyeok-less supermarket, his feet treading on the floor that Kanghyeok had cleaned so spotlessly.
“Wh-who are you?”
The owner asked, stumbling backward on her limping leg.
*Thump-thump-thump.*
He suddenly dashed forward, swinging the knife back over his shoulder.
The knife, gleaming menacingly under the store lights, swung in a wide arc.
*THWACK!*
The sound of a large knife striking a slab of meat.
And then,
*Splat.*
Gushing blood.
Dark red blood spread across the once-clean floor.
*CRASH.*
The sound of breaking glass drew Kanghyeok's attention.
His gaze fell upon the scotch bottle lying on the floor, which was pouring out scotch like blood from its mouth and cracks.
“Damn it.”
Was it the wind?
But the window is almost closed.
Puzzled, Kanghyeok approached the bottle and picked it up as it spilled its contents as if crying for help.
He felt a sting in his finger, and a drop of blood spread across his scotch-soaked skin.
Kanghyeok looked down at his bleeding finger.
The broken bottle and the bleeding finger.
Whether it was from experiencing a ruined world or from his long life as an agent, his sharp senses picked up a chilling premonition.
With a hardened expression, Kanghyeok turned toward the window.
Scotch was spilling onto the floor, and blood from his finger was dripping down, but his mind was entirely elsewhere.
Something had happened.
Something had occurred that left him with no other conclusion.