The Unexpected Talent of the "Dimwit" (2)
"You can't seem to wipe that smile off your face, can you?" At Yoon-gi's remark, Ryu Geun-tae's already wide grin stretched even further, and a soft chuckle escaped his lips. "To be honest, I'm truly happy."
Inside the reception room of Yoon-gi's hotel suite, Ryu Geun-tae was having tea with Yoon-gi, beginning to share stories about his new married life.
"What makes you so happy, exactly?"
"The fact that when I come home after work, there's someone waiting for me. In the past, there was no one, so I’d just linger at the office and wouldn't get home until 11 PM. But these days, no matter how late it gets, I try to leave by 9 PM. Usually, I'm out by 8."
"And since you're home by 8, Hana is there?"
Ryu Geun-tae nodded. "It makes me so... so happy to see the lights on when I walk in. And to have a warm meal waiting. I used to skip breakfast or just grab a roll of gimbap from the lady nearby on my way to work, but I don't have to do that anymore. My wife takes care of everything."
"For people living alone, food is definitely a problem."
In the 2010s, it would be strange to find a home without a refrigerator, and with 24-hour restaurants everywhere, even bachelors didn't go hungry. But this was 1984. Refrigerators had only just begun to be distributed, and they were so expensive that most people couldn't even dream of owning one. You could say that even pulling cold side dishes out of a fridge was a luxury. Of course, Ryu Geun-tae could afford such luxuries, but eating cold food wasn't exactly pleasant. Freshly made stir-fried pork versus pork that had been sitting in a fridge—the former was clearly the winner.
"Come to think of it, didn't Hana come along?"
"Of course she did." Yoon-gi smiled as he watched Ryu Geun-tae beam.
"Is Secretary Jung staying at the house?"
"Yes. I plan to wait at my father-in-law's place as well." Since they were now in-laws, Ryu Geun-tae no longer felt any discomfort about the fact that Jung Dong-yoon had become his secretary.
"Is Hana enjoying her life as a housewife?"
"Of course. She’d been itching to quit the magazine company once she got married, so she's thrilled to finally be done with it."
"She doesn't get bored?"
"Actually, thanks to President Choi, that's been resolved. She was introduced to the Chairman's relatives, including President Choi's wife. It seems they've integrated well and meet up quite often."
"I'm glad to hear they're getting along. Secretary Ryu, make sure you don't lose the family you've built, even if it is a bit late. Professional success is important, but it means nothing if it comes at the cost of your family."
"I will keep that in mind." Ryu Geun-tae, who had been steeling his resolve, suddenly looked puzzled and asked cautiously, "Come to think of it, the Chairman's words just now sound remarkably mature. You’ve always been mature, but today it feels even more so. It’s as if you have a firm philosophy regarding family life...?"
Yoon-gi was genuinely taken aback by the question that hit the nail on the head. The advice he had just given could only come from someone who had vague hopes for a happy marriage or someone who had lost their family while chasing only work. Since he had envied the idea of a family so much during his days as a laborer, the words had slipped out naturally. Yoon-gi hurriedly offered an excuse.
"Ah, I saw my parents' happy marriage, you know. I’m just saying this because I watched my father prioritize his family even when he was incredibly busy."
This time, it was Ryu Geun-tae who looked flustered. "No, I didn't mean anything by it. I'm truly sorry if I offended you."
"No, no. It’s quite alright."
A brief, awkward silence passed before Yoon-gi spoke again. "Anyway, did you bring Section Chief Im?"
"Yes. Just in case, I have him waiting quite far from my father-in-law's house. I’ve also arranged a meeting point that has absolutely no connection to us."
"Well done. Did you only bring Section Chief Im?"
"No. I brought a few people he recommended as well."
"Good. Then, spend about a week teaching Section Chief Im how to use a 'computer'."
"A computer?"
"Yes. I need to extract a specific document from it."
Although computers were barely in use at this time, Ryu Geun-tae understood quickly because he had some exposure to them through Jung Hana. "May I ask what model it is? I think I could prepare more efficiently."
"Ah, I've already prepared everything." Yoon-gi provided the type of computer Kitamura used, its operating system, and even the password, all verified through Choi Deok-bae.
"With this, I think I can teach him sufficiently within a week."
"Use funds from Japan Commodity for the expenses."
At Yoon-gi's strangely grave tone, Ryu Geun-tae immediately understood the subtext. "I will be sure to keep my public and private affairs strictly separate."
Yoon-gi smiled at the quick-witted response, and before long, Im Si-chan and his team were sweating bullets as they learned the ropes of computing.
It was 2:00 AM, and the lights in every house nearby were extinguished. On a night when even the moon was a mere sliver, making visibility extremely low, Im Si-chan and his team decided this was the D-day for infiltrating Kitamura's house.
Four figures, including Im Si-chan, gathered around the wall. Clad in tight black clothing, black beanies, and black masks, they looked no different from shadows. 'Is this... why does this feel like I'm doing something patriotic?' Im Si-chan's heart raced with an unexpected sense of anticipation. Dressed in such perfect gear, sneaking into a Japanese man's house to steal important information—he felt like an elite operative of an intelligence agency, and with a flutter of excitement, he climbed over Kitamura's wall.
[Everyone, to your positions.]
Im Si-chan signaled his subordinates to move silently and began walking toward the study, recalling the layout of the house that Ryu Geun-tae had described. The house was deathly quiet. His subordinates waited in the spots Im Si-chan had designated, waiting for him to emerge from the study. If any of Kitamura's family members woke up during the operation, they might need to respond accordingly. That was why there were four of them, and Im Si-chan, trusting his men, turned on the computer.
'Whew, I'm actually nervous.' He had performed the simple, repetitive tasks countless times over the past week, but the real thing was different. Yet, surprisingly, the work went incredibly smoothly. The reason was none other than the 'Dimwit' by his side. Thanks to the Dimwit, he was able to type the password quickly and quietly despite the darkness and the typewriter-like keyboard, and he soon succeeded in accessing Kitamura's secret ledger.
Normally, this would have required searching through every corner of the computer, but thanks to the Dimwit, Im Si-chan was able to proceed as easily as splitting a pair of wooden chopsticks. 'Now, insert the diskette...'
The 5.25-inch floppy disk, the USB of the 80s. As he inserted the thin, large square diskette, he was able to transfer a massive 1 megabyte of data from the computer to the floppy disk. 'Whew, it's done.'
Having finished the task, Im Si-chan quietly slipped out of the study, and his subordinates, seeing him, followed him out of Kitamura's house. After a short 2-kilometer march, they changed their clothes in a parked car and enjoyed a late-night drive, completely distancing themselves from Kitamura's residence.
"If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn't have shaved my body hair." One of the subordinates smacked his lips.
"Huh? You shaved your hair?"
"Yes. I read in a book that if you leave hair behind, they can narrow down the investigation."
"Pwahahaha!" Im Si-chan burst into laughter, and the subordinate who had spoken looked puzzled. "Why?"
"Hey, hey. We're in a foreign country. Even in Korea, the police need a suspect to investigate, you think they can do that here? This kid, now that I look at him, he's incredibly pure."
"Ugh!" The rest of the subordinates burst into laughter as well, and the man who had shaved his hair became the butt of the joke for a while.
"If you were fat, I'd call you a white pig, but should I call you a white man? No, I can't think of a proper nickname." Im Si-chan kept giggling, and the subordinate looked slightly annoyed, but in a group with such clear hierarchy, it was impossible for a subordinate to show anger. Of course, Im Si-chan was good at keeping his distance, too.
"Anyway, since this job is done, there will be more good things to come. You guys saw that my son is doing well at his job, right?"
Im Si-chan's son was currently working diligently at YK Department Store. He was still too young for a promotion, but the word was that with time, he would easily rise higher than the average employee. This fact was a significant incentive for Im Si-chan's subordinates. It meant that if they played their cards right, their own children could get jobs at companies where YK had influence.
"When I worked at the CIA, I couldn't even tell my family what I did, but now, at least I can be very proud in front of them. Do you know how grateful my son is to me?"
Watching Im Si-chan with a smile on his face, the other subordinates looked on with envy. "We'll get an opportunity like that too, right?"
"Of course." Just like Im Si-chan's confident words, the vehicle they were in sped coolly down the midnight road.
Choi Deok-bae nodded as he informed Yoon-gi of what Im Si-chan's team had done.
"Roughly guessing, would it be something like, 'they are interested in a computer that holds important information for us,' and 'someone we sent is helping them extract that information'?"
"I think so, too."
In fact, the Dimwit had followed Choi Deok-bae's instructions as soon as Im Si-chan's team started extracting the information. The fact that the Dimwit was now next to Choi Deok-bae was proof of that. Even though there were two computers prepared just in case, the Dimwit hadn't shown much interest in them. Of course, that didn't mean it had no interest at all.
"Yes." At Yoon-gi's unhesitating reply, Choi Deok-bae asked as if he were intrigued.
"It's a sure-fire way to elicit loyalty. And it's also optimal for controlling information."
"Yes. For example, if Section Chief Im Si-chan had been caught today, what do you think he would have done?"
"Exactly. He would have taken all the responsibility himself, if only for the sake of his son. Of course, I would have provided additional compensation separately, but the cost-effectiveness is truly incredible."
"Then, we should just set up a subsidiary exclusively for those guys. For parents with a wayward child, that would be enough to satisfy them."
"Grandfather, you're the one who gave them that bloodline, aren't you?"
"Who knows?" Choi Deok-bae clutched his chest at Yoon-gi's mysterious smile, but there was no way for him to make Yoon-gi open his mouth if he didn't want to.
Kitamura had had an opportunity to sell his shares in Nintendo with a 15 percent premium, but it had flown away, and he could have sold them to the major shareholder of the Golden Mask with a 20 percent premium, but he had missed that opportunity as well, so Kitamura's mood had been extremely foul lately. It was a situation like a bomb that would explode if touched. Even his family had to walk on eggshells around him, so it went without saying.
Kitamura, who had shouted at his wife this morning because the soybean paste soup was too salty, was staying at home even though his family had all left, reading the newspaper nervously. 'Damn it, damn it all to hell!'
As Kitamura kept cursing to himself, the phone rang, and he picked up the receiver with an irritated hand.
"Hello!"
He answered almost at a shout. However, an unexpected voice came from the other side of the line.
[Ah, Mr. Kitamura? This is 'Yoon'.]
For a moment, the thought, 'Is he offering the premium again?' crossed Kitamura's mind, and an uncontrollable smile began to bloom on his face.