Chapter 166: Dark Shadow (1)
Haejin quickly removed the earbud and the microphone. He couldn’t let Wang Mingwan hear the conversation.
“What? What do you mean?” Haejin asked in a shaky voice. He couldn’t help it.
“What? Who is it?” Eunhae was surprised to see Haejin’s tone change like that. She looked at him worriedly.
“She said they will soon show themselves. If you reveal yourself, you should be careful. Cover your tracks. Kill them or erase their memories,” Mat replied.
“What the… anyway, what is going on? I don’t understand how you could deliver her message,”
Haejin doubted him.
“She couldn’t believe anyone. Of course, she believed her own people including Saliyah… but it was a mistake.”
“And she trusted you? Why?” Haejin asked.
“Because I taught her. I taught her everything. About the organization, and about vestigiums.”
“And you couldn’t stop her death?”
“…” Mat was speechless.
“Hey!”
“You cannot die. Remember her words. And… she said she will come to you at the right time,” Mat said.
Haejin’s heart sank. She was alive?
“She, she…” he wanted to ask if she was alive, but Mat hung up. Haejin called back, but the number Mat had called with was dead.
“What was that about? And who is ‘she’?” Eunhae asked.
“Oh, it’s…” what was he supposed to say? That she was a princess from the Middle East? What would Eunahe think if he said Hassena wanted to marry him?
Haejin had thought Hassena was dead, but if she was alive… it would be too confusing.
“Oppa!” Eunhae grabbed Haejin’s sleeve and shouted.
Haejin came back to himself then grabbed her wrist and started to walk fast.
“Let’s get out of here first. I’ll explain everything. Although you may not believe it…”
Haejin thought he had to get out of there first. He couldn’t encounter the other man with magic as he himself didn’t know what to do with the young man.
Even if Hassena was alive, she must have come close to death because of the organization. If the sorcerer was one of them, Haejin couldn’t let him go.
However, he wasn’t ready for it yet. Right now, he just wanted to leave.
Haejin quickly went to the lobby with Eunhae. He didn’t wait for the valet. He went straight to the parking lot and got his car. But then, he received another call.
Buzz….
It was from Wang Mingwan.
“Shouldn’t you take that?”
Haejin just stared at the buzzing phone dazed. Then, he finally woke up when he heard Eunhae’s question.
“Yes, I should.” Haejin took the call and switched it to the speaker. “Hello?”
“What happened? Why did you remove your earbud and microphone?” Wang Mingwan asked.
“I thought today’s job was finished,” Haejin replied. Wang Mingwan then said, “Yes, but… they might get suspicious because you left in a hurry.”
Eunhae explained instead, “By now, Hyoyeon would be busy scheduling date appointments. No one cares about us. And her employees must not know that we left. They are busy taking care of the money.”
“Hmm…. okay. Well, we got all the porcelains.”
It couldn’t have gone wrong as Haejin had sent the money and passed the porcelains to Wang Mingwan, who was waiting downstairs, as quickly as he could.
Wang Mingwan had just called because she was surprised to see Haejin run away like that without saying goodbye.
“That’s good. But what are you going to do the artifacts we couldn’t retrieve?” Haejin asked.
“There’s no way to get them back. Buying with money is the cleanest and easiest way, but as we couldn’t buy them, there’s nothing we can do. I was going to have dinner with you, but why did you leave in such a hurry? Is your home on fire? Do you need my help? Do you need money? I can loan you a few billion won, as it is none other than you.”
Haejin was glad to hear that, but right now, he didn’t need money at all.
“Thank you, but it isn’t about money. I am content with the fee I will get, as it is big enough,” Haejin replied.
“Hmm… okay. Actually, our experts were confused because of those artifacts mixed within reals and fakes. If you hadn’t helped us, it wouldn’t have been easy. Anyway, thank you for today, and make some time after we send the porcelains back to China.”
But wasn’t it all over now?
“Oh, we never got to have that dinner,” Haejin guessed. Wang Mingwan then explained, “Yes, and… this isn’t over yet. We have retrieved the porcelains, but there’s still that matter about SH Global.”
“Really? I thought you let Korean prosecutors handle it.”
She then continued, “We cannot interfere in the investigation, but I have some doubts… I have to find out how they made those merchants sell real artifacts while making them believe that they were fakes. If we don’t know that, we will be fooled by the same trick again. We have lost huge money, but they can take tens and hundreds of times that money at any time. I must know how.”
Haejin couldn’t tell her that there had been a sorcerer who enchanted people, but he wished he could.
Therefore, he said, “Yes, you are right. You must know more about them to be on guard.”
“Then meet me the day after tomorrow. Let’s have dinner together.”
“Okay, I will see you then.”
Actually, Haejin didn’t know what would happen from now on, but he couldn’t carry on the conversation that couldn’t end with a conclusion on the phone, so he just said yes and hung up.
Eunhae was still worried. She looked at Haejin and asked, “Can’t you tell me now? We’re in a car now. No one can hear us.”
“Not yet… let’s get in first.”
Haejin still didn’t know how he should explain. He drove while thinking, then he recalled the riverside of the Hangang River. He decided to change his destination.
“My dress isn’t for a park…”
“Oh… right.”
Haejin went to the riverside, but Eunhae was still wearing her party dress.
So, he decided to talk in the car and started to explain.
“Actually, when I was in America…”
It took some time to tell her everything. Eunhae was so shocked to hear that the princess was alive.
She couldn’t believe it. She looked into Haejin’s eyes and asked, “What is that organization? And why are you the chosen one? Is it… is it some kind of strange religion?”
“It’s not a religion. It’s magic.”
“Magic… ha…” Eunhae’s expression showed how shocked she was.
“I know it’s hard to believe, but…”
“Of course, it’s hard to believe! Unless you can show…” Eunhae couldn’t finish the sentence. There was a small orb of light floating above Haejin’s hand.
Haejin dismissed it quickly. It was one of the spells he had learned from the vestigium brooch, and he didn’t want someone to see the light through the car’s window.
“I know me using magic is enough to surprise you, but right now it doesn’t matter. Do you remember the man with the ear piercing? He was with Hyoyeon at the auction.”
“What? Who?” It was still hard for her to accept all of that.
“The young man with the ear piercing and the tattoo on his neck. He was carrying one of the porcelains. Don’t you remember?”
“Oh, yes, I do.”
Haejin then explained, “He was using magic. He made everyone believe fake artifacts as real. That is why all the other appraisers were fooled. But you were okay because I broke the spell on you.”
“Oh, then is that why I suddenly felt so dizzy?”
“Yes, I forcefully broke the spell. Can you understand why those appraisers couldn’t discern fakes from reals?”
“Oh… I thought it was strange, but… but can you do that, too?”
“I don’t know that specific spell, but I have other spells. Anyway, what matters is that they can come to Korea to find me.”
“And that princess is still alive?” Eunhae asked.
“I don’t know for sure yet. Is she going to come to me in person, or did she leave more messages for me…” although Haejin said that, he knew the former guess was probably right. He just couldn’t believe that Hassena was alive.
“Hu… then I should hire bodyguards for you.”
“No, it will be worse. It might draw more attention, and I won’t be able to move around freely or use magic… we should, instead, get you more bodyguards. They might go after you if they think getting me is not easy,” Haejin replied.
“Well, you are right. Okay.”
Haejin had thought she might insist that she didn’t need any bodyguards, but thankfully, she agreed.
“Tomorrow, you go back to work as if nothing happened. Okay? Like nothing happened.”
“Ha… I don’t know if I will be able to do that, but I’ll try. Is there anything I can do to help? I can’t just sit by,” Eunhae then said.
“Oh, find out more about that sorcerer in secret. No one can know that you are looking into him… you know what I mean, right?”
“Okay. I will hire someone who will hire someone else to look into him. Even I won’t be able to know who is looking into him, and that person will not know whom he is ultimately working for. Ha… this is what my uncle’s closest employees do. I never thought I will get to do this.”
“From whom you learn it form, it doesn’t matter as you can use it for good. But you can’t hire someone who has ties with Hwajin.”
“Don’t worry, I know.” Eunhae was smart, she was going to take care of it well.
“Okay, I trust you.”
“But… why is she insisting on marrying you? Can’t she help without getting married?”
“Huh? Oh, it’s… khmm… let’s go now.”
When Haejin went to his museum the next day, he heard a piece of good news before going down to the restoration room.
Governor Howard Jones of New York had already convinced some people. In addition, it had already been decided that a few of the Korean artifacts in Harvard’s Henderson Collection would be returned.
An official of the Cultural Heritage Administration personally came to thank Haejin, and the prime minister was going to invite Haejin soon.
As Henderson Collection consisted of artifacts which the original owners had willingly given to Henderson, the artifacts were supposed to be sent to the National Museum. However, all this happened only thanks to Haejin. Therefore, the prime minister was going to let his museum exhibit them.
Haejin’s museum had already been exhibiting porcelains from the West Sea and other artifacts, which he had brought from abroad, in special exhibitions with an interval of two weeks, so its reputation kept soaring with time.
Additionally, after Haejin retrieved and revealed the Double Dragon Sword, the museum had been picked as one of the museums you had to visit when you are in Seoul.
After getting the artifacts from the Henderson Collection, it would become a first-rank museum.
9:50, before the museum’s opening time, someone ran in and interrupted the celebration.
“Park Haejin! Where are you?”
Haejin wondered who that lunatic was, and it turned out to be Hyoyeon. Her face was pale, and she was shaking terribly with some paper in her hands.
“What, what is wrong?” Eunhae came to her in surprise but was ignored. Hyoyeon went to Haejin, grasped his sleeve, and shakily asked, “Were, were there fakes among the things I sold yesterday?”
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