Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Closing In
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A bed that smelled musty.
A cramped room.
An old-looking mirror, a bulky, tube-style TV, and faded wallpaper with an intricate pattern that seemed a decade out of fashion.
*Sshhhhaaa.*
And the sound of someone showering from beyond the door.
On the bed, Kanghyeok kept his eyes fixed on the TV, where a sitcom was playing.
He was dressed in a white t-shirt and loose-fitting pants instead of his suit, and he reeked of the distinct, sharp alcohol smell of cheap aftershave.
His suit was now hanging on the wall.
Side by side with Leila's.
*Sshhhhaaa.*
The sound of the water abruptly stopped, followed by the sound of a towel drying off moisture.
Kanghyeok turned up the volume on the TV.
It wasn't because he found the sitcom particularly amusing.
He turned it up because the sound of the water felt like something he shouldn't be hearing, and because he felt he needed the forced laughter coming from the TV.
Kanghyeok and Leila had moved to another city.
The conditions were too unfavorable.
The car was conspicuously damaged, and driving around in it would have been a form of suicide.
Needing a place to rest and recover their strength immediately, they moved to the next town over and found the cheapest motel they could.
Why not a hotel?
As if a place like this would have one.
Kanghyeok picked up a cigarette from the pack he'd tossed beside the bed and put it in his mouth.
*Click.*
"Hooo!"
*"I love you so much, Mom!"*
*"You only say that when you're getting a birthday present."*
*"If you don't like it, you could just give me birthday presents all year round."*
Kanghyeok watched the sitcom on the TV and slowly exhaled a plume of smoke.
On the screen, a little boy held a gift box as big as his torso, standing with his mother.
*Crackle.*
As he drew on the filter, the tip of the cigarette glowed red and burned down quickly.
It felt like more than just the cigarette was burning away.
Why?
He was just a kid whose name I'd only just learned.
It felt like that boy, Yohan, was lodged in a corner of his heart, screaming.
Seeing the happy mother and son on the TV made it worse.
"Stupid kid."
Why did he have to be in a place like that?
Why did he have to come to the memorial service?
Why did he have to…
Kanghyeok stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray.
He had just put a new one to his lips when…
*Click.*
The bathroom door opened, and a casually dressed Leila emerged, a shower caddy in one hand and a towel in the other, drying her long hair.
"Were you resting?"
Kanghyeok glanced at Leila briefly before his eyes returned to the TV.
Leila moved about as if nothing were amiss.
*Screech.*
She slid the window open slightly to let the cigarette smoke out, then took a bottle of fabric freshener from her bag and meticulously sprayed their suits.
"Hmm."
Leila sniffed one of the suits, then sat down at the vanity with a satisfied expression. While drying her hair with a small fan, she put all her cosmetics into the drawer.
"Were you close with that boy?"
"Not at all."
Leila looked at Kanghyeok through the vanity mirror before averting her gaze.
"I see."
Her expression said she didn't believe him.
If he wasn't close to him and didn't care for him, he could have just ignored it.
But Kanghyeok's eyes held a look that suggested he had taken the boy who lost his mother deep into his heart.
"I have a younger brother about his age."
"You have a brother?"
It was the first Kanghyeok had heard of it.
They didn't exactly have the kind of relationship where they shared such things.
*Clatter.*
Having put away all her cosmetics, Leila looked for an outlet and continued speaking.
"Yes. I'm not just saying this because he's family, but my eyes are drawn to them. Boys that age."
Kanghyeok nodded silently.
In this line of work, the hardest age group to see is boys around Yohan's age.
You see younger ones on the battlefield often enough.
Kids with bombs strapped to their bodies and the smell of alcohol on their breath, or child soldiers with eyes that held all the world's venom, carrying rifles far too big for their frames.
New mercenaries or soldiers who hadn't even started shaving?
Even they were older than Yohan.
As a result, boys Yohan's age became the most unfamiliar and alien presence.
"Do you get along with your brother?"
At that, Leila's eyes narrowed as she looked at Kanghyeok.
She quickly looked away, but there was no mistaking the chilly glare she'd shot him—a look she rarely showed.
"There's no such thing as a brother and sister who get along."
Kanghyeok let out a short laugh, sensing an emotion close to disgust in her voice.
Well, so be it.
Having never had a sibling, Kanghyeok didn't know what that felt like.
*Click.*
Leila finally found an outlet, plugged in her laptop's power cable, and placed the device on the now-cleared vanity.
*Tappity-tap.*
As Leila typed in her password and unlocked the laptop with a fingerprint scan, Kanghyeok rubbed his face and spoke.
"How long will it take?"
"If we have enough keywords, it should be a quick job, but..."
Leila pursed her lips and launched a program.
The database sent from headquarters.
It was similar to the databases used by public officials who handle citizen-related affairs.
Just by entering a name and running a search, personal information and notable details would pop up.
But it couldn't be exactly the same as the ones used by government agencies.
Instead, it had features the government ones lacked and contained its own unique information.
Things like whether they'd had surgery, any ties to dangerous organizations, or any critical details one must know during a mission.
"It won't take long."
Leila began searching the database for the information they wanted, inputting several keywords.
Kanghyeok, still sitting on the bed, stared at the laptop screen.
They were looking for information on Nobody.
The more they knew about him, the easier it would be to predict his next move.
If they were lucky, they might even find his residence. Then all Kanghyeok would have to do is go there and pull the trigger, and this whole job would be over.
Revenge for the landlady.
Revenge for the boy who lost his mother.
Just as Kanghyeok's eyes narrowed…
*Tappity-tap.*
Apparently dissatisfied with the search results, Leila furrowed her brow and typed in different keywords.
A moment later, Leila tilted her head.
"It seems he's not in here."
Leila said it as if it were no big deal.
"I'll request support from headquarters. He'll definitely be in their database."
The headquarters' database.
The nexus of all information.
If an individual or group was deemed dangerous, a key political figure, or even remotely connected to the military, their information would invariably be collected there.
It was only natural.
They were all potential clients or related to their business, after all.
In any case, information on Nobody would be with the company too.
Leila had no doubt that Nobody's identity would soon be revealed. Kanghyeok rubbed his lips.
Could they find information on Nobody in time from that vast sea of data?
They needed to narrow the scope.
Otherwise, it would be like finding a needle in a haystack.
Lost in thought, Kanghyeok muttered.
"Military."
"The military?"
Kanghyeok gave a small nod.
"Tell them to set the category to military for the search."
"Should I have them check the mercenary side as well?"
"No, he's not a mercenary. He might have attended a mercenary training camp, but he was born a soldier."
He had a feeling.
"Narrow the nationality to French and the age to late thirties to mid-forties."
Leila's eyes shifted as she recalled Nobody's voice and the men they had fought in the parking garage.
They certainly had a trained feel to them.
Proper, formal training, at that.
"Understood. Any other requests?"
It didn't have to be related to Nobody.
Anything he might need personally.
Kanghyeok wasn't oblivious to the underlying meaning of her question, but he simply shook his head in response.
He didn't need anything.
Not unless it was related to Nobody.
"Then I'll put in a request for what I think is needed."
Leila placed her fingers on the laptop keyboard and began to type.
*Click, clack.*
The rapid sound of keys being pressed and the chime of messages being sent continued for a while.
"It will arrive soon. Both the information and the other items requested."
They had a moment of respite.
Until nightfall, that is.
Kanghyeok and Leila were more comfortable moving at night.
The city's gangs and Nobody would be the same.
The sun was still up, and there was a good amount of time left before the moon would rise.
There wasn't much they could do in the meantime.
They needed to sleep to regain at least some strength, treat their injuries, or get some nutrition.
"What would you like to do for food?"
"I'll just have whatever's in the fridge."
Leila's expression became extremely dubious.
"There were only drinks."
"That's enough."
The fridge was full of energy drinks, their intended purpose quite obvious. They had caffeine and a decent amount of calories, so as a meal substitute…
"I'll go buy some."
"You'll go buy some?"
"We're not in the field right now."
This was a place where people lived, and as long as they had money, they could get food anywhere.
Kanghyeok started to get up, but Leila shook her head.
"Please rest. I can go alone."
"Will you be okay?"
"Of course. This is also part of a support's duties."
Kanghyeok glanced out the window.
The security here was better than where Kanghyeok lived, but you couldn't call it good.
There just weren't gangs carrying guns in broad daylight, but there were still thugs, gangsters, and creeps looking to take advantage of a woman walking alone.
As if reading Kanghyeok's mind, Leila took a small pistol from the weapons bag.
*Click, clack.*
After loading bullets into the pistol that fit snugly in her palm, she took a coat from her bag, put it on, and even wore a pair of thick-rimmed glasses.
Her aura changed completely from when she wore a suit.
To the point that even someone who knew Leila would have trouble recognizing her.
"Do you have any favorite foods?"
"Not really."
"I'll get something I think you'll like."
*So please rest until then.*
*Don't think about anything.*
Leila conveyed her thoughts with an explicit look and expression, then moved toward the door.
"I'll take my time."
*Click.*
After the door closed, Kanghyeok dropped his gaze to the floor.
*"Mommy's the best in the whole wide world."*
Kanghyeok scowled at the sitcom playing on the TV he'd left on and picked up the remote.
*Beep!*
Staring at his reflection in the dark screen, Kanghyeok took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.
He felt lousy, both for receiving Leila's consideration and for the fact that his expression was so poorly managed that he needed it.
*Rustle.*
Leila walked down the street, carrying a large brown paper bag full of bread.
*Whistle!*
"Hey, gorgeous! Nice ass."
Leila frowned but didn't spare them a glance.
Since the moment she left the motel, she'd been pestered by persistent whistles and lewd comments.
Her head throbbed from the pathetic fools showing off what could be either fat or muscle.
*'What kind of neighborhood is this…'*
Leila checked the time on her wristwatch and sighed.
It was too soon to go back now.
So little time had passed that she wondered if she'd made a mistake saying she'd take her time. Leila scanned the street for a nearby café as she walked.
*Beep, beep.*
While doing so, she operated her phone, checking for a message from headquarters.
The database search results.
Leila opened the file sent to her email, then put the phone in her pocket.
Aware of the eyes on her, she kept her expression neutral, but her mind was in turmoil.
The desired results weren't in the headquarters' database either.
*'How can this be?'*
Did this guy just pop out of another world?
Or was he just some guy who drifted through private training grounds and suddenly became a gang leader?
Both ideas were ridiculous. Leila creased her brow slightly as she continued walking.
Then, her eyes fell on the side mirror of a car parked on the street.
A tall man.
About 6'3", perhaps?
A man, his face obscured by a low-pulled hat and a lowered head, was approaching with his hands in his pockets.
*'Is it just my imagination?'*
Or…
Leila tore her gaze from the side mirror and turned a corner.
All the while, she focused her hearing.
*Thud, thud.*
The sound of following footsteps.
Leila turned another corner, pretending to look for a café, glancing at the side mirrors of parked cars whenever she passed one.
And then she was sure.
*'I'm being followed.'*
*Thud, thud.*
The footsteps of the man from before were gradually getting closer.