Chapter 174.1: An Eye For an Eye (1)
Kang Chan called Kang Dae-Kyung as soon as the van started moving.
The way the operation ended was flabbergasting.
Kang Chan looked out the window and recalled the situation during the explosion. Putting himself in the enemy’s shoes, he guessed what happened.
There were likely only two to three enemies in the building. If there were more than that, they would have waited longer and tried to take more of the special forces down with them instead of sacrificing themselves without gaining anything in return. They clearly prepared a timed bomb because of how wary they were of being ambushed.
That meant Wui Min-Gook was still alive.
Uneasiness and discomfort kept on poking at Kang Chan. It was as if he accidentally stepped in shit and the pungent smell kept wafting up to his nose.
***
“Director Wui, is Kang Chan really that strong?” a North Korean soldier asked.
Wui Min-Gook twisted his upper lip in a snarl.
“South Korea is certainly a strange country. For every traitorous bastard like Huh Ha-Soo, there are warriors like the king of the DMZ, Jeon Dae-Geuk, and Kim Tae-Jin,” he responded.
It was a strange answer to a question about Kang Chan.
“Kim Tae-Jin? Didn’t that man surrender after losing to you?” the soldier questioned.
“Nonsense. Kim Tae-Jin was a real man. After I killed that bastard’s subordinates, he destroyed seven of our guard posts, killing everyone stationed in them with a bullet straight through their heart. It’s just not that well known because everything was kept under the table, but he even assassinated the head of security.”
Wui Min-Gook sighed before continuing.
“I was rendered helpless when I was fighting Kang Chan. On the way back home, I also suddenly felt fear for the first time in my entire life. Never forget. Those two South Korean men have to be eliminated at all costs,” Wui Min-Gook declared with sharp, glinting eyes. It was as if Kang Chan was sitting right in front of him. “Until now, every time South Korea gives birth to a warrior, we have always had someone who could stand against them on equal grounds. But this is a whole different story. That’s why you have to make sure you shake them up no matter what happens. Get to the people they care about and shift their focus if you have to. Once you succeed, we’ll be able to get rid of them all at once. There are only a few of them, but you better keep your head in the game. We’ll begin the operation tomorrow.”
The soldier sitting next to Wui Min-Gook didn’t seem to believe what he was saying.
***
Having arrived at the hotel, Kang Chan parted ways with Seok Kang-Ho and headed up to his room. Although he had a key card, he still rang the doorbell.
Click.?
Kang Dae-Kyung opened the door and raised his finger to his lips.
“Your mom is sleeping. She went to the sauna after working out at the fitness center, but she insisted on staying up after she was done. She fell asleep right away only after you called,” Kang Dae-Kyung said. His eyes were also redshot.
Kang Chan could hear the quiet murmur of the TV in the background.
“Are you hurt anywhere?” Kang Dae-Kyung asked out of concern.
“I’m fine,” Kang Chan replied.
Kang Dae-Kyung sat down on the sofa and examined Kang Chan.
“Have you made up your mind, then?” Kang Dae-Kyung asked.
Kang Chan just looked at him silently.
“About what you said when you came to my workplace last time. You asked me what I think you should do. That matter was similar to this one, wasn’t it?”
“I actually still don’t know what I’m going to do. This morning, the ambassador suggested I go and observe in a few European countries, but I haven’t reached a decision yet,” Kang Chan answered.
“Is what you do the type of thing that comes out in movies?” Kang Dae-Kyung looked so serious that Kang Chan couldn’t help but chuckle in response.
“I know you have to go through intense training and more to do something like that, but I doubt someone as young as you would be asked to charge straight into danger just because you’re friends with the ambassador. Based on what happened in Yongin and the incident in the underground parking lot yesterday, though, what you do doesn’t seem like ordinary business even to a civilian’s eyes like mine. You learned all this through the Internet, much like how you learned French, huh?” Kang Dae-Kyung wryly commented.
“I’m sorry,” Kang Chan apologized.
Kang Dae-Kyung chuckled dismally. “Every parent in the world wants their children to be incredible. When someone on TV gets a gold medal, they hope their children do as well, and when a soccer player scores a goal in the World Cup, they hope such a large audience applauds their children too. When you were at the conference, a lot of people told me I was lucky to have a son like you.”
“What about you, Father? What kind of person do you hope I turn out to be?” Kang Chan asked.
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“I want you to be ordinary,” Kang Dae-Kyung sorrowfully replied. He looked as if he pitied Kang Chan. “I don’t mind if you don’t go to a good college or grow up smart. I just want you to live the life that you want and enjoy the things that kids your age do.”
Kang Dae-Kyung seemed to feel apologetic about what he said, seeing as how he leaned forward to ruffle Kang Chan’s hair.
“I assume your talent shines in something dangerous, but remember what I told you before? Even if that’s the case, if that’s what you want to do, I’ll be supportive of you.”
Did Kang Dae-Kyung and Yoo Hye-Sook figure out that his work involved killing people?
“Your mom and I decided to go to France,” Kang Dae-Kyung added.
“What? France?” Kang Chan echoed.
“We don’t want you to be stressed about protecting us. Your mom made a big decision, but I’m actually excited about going since I’ll get to visit Gong Te automobile.”
Kang Chan dropped his gaze to the table, not knowing what to say in reply. Just then, the bedroom door opened, and Yoo Hye-Sook walked out into the living room.
“You’re up, Mother?” Kang Chan greeted.
Yoo Hye-Sook rubbed her eyes tiredly, but she still smiled at Kang Chan.
“You should’ve woken me up,” she scolded.
“I’m sure you’re tired. You should get more sleep,” Kang Chan suggested.
“No. That short nap did the trick. I’m feeling well-rested already,” Yoo Hye-Sook refuted.
Kang Dae-Kyung smiled in amusement, then turned to Kang Chan.
“I’m starting to feel a little hungry. Can we go down to the first floor?” Kang Dae-Kyung asked.
“Yes, that should be fine,” Kang Chan replied.
As long as they stay inside the hotel.?
“Honey, let’s go buy some bread,” Kang Dae-Kyung declared.
“Dear! I can’t go anywhere looking like this!” Yoo Hye-Sook exclaimed, frantically stroking back her hair.
“We’re just going to buy bread—it’s fine. Let’s go,” Kang Dae-Kyung said resolutely. He seemed so set on going downstairs that he would just go with Kang Chan if he had to.
“You coming, Channy?” Yoo Hye-Sook asked.
“Of course. We should all go together,” Kang Chan responded.
Hearing Kang Chan’s response, Yoo Hye-Sook returned to the room, brushed her hair, and put on her cardigan. She only put on lipstick afterward, but it took a whopping ten minutes.
Kang Chan only hoped Joo Chul-Bum wouldn’t appear out of thin air and make a scene.
***
Standing around, Jeon Dae-Geuk wearily rubbed his face with his palm as if he was washing his face.
“Isn’t this what you hoped for, sir?” Kim Hyung-Jung asked.
“Yes, but I feel like we’re taking Kang Chan for granted too much. I should be the one to step up and protect him, but he’s the one helping me instead,” Jeon Dae-Geuk replied, his voice filled with regret.
Kim Hyung-Jung nodded in agreement.
“It’s obviously hard to predict that a bomb is going to explode through gut feeling alone. The boy is tailor-made for special operations and bodyguard duties. Still, he is too good to be restricted to these kinds of things now. I even heard that the National Intelligence Service has recently received a lot of requests for information exchanges,” Jeon Dae-Geuk remarked.
“That’s correct,” Kim Hyung-Jung confirmed.
“That’s not all. Special forces teams from other countries keep sending us requests to conduct joint training. Some countries are even willing to pay large sums for commissioned training. Kang Chan singlehandedly made all of that possible,” Jeon Dae-Geuk added.
“I agree. We owe everything to Kang Chan.”
The National Intelligence Service and the special forces existed way before Kang Chan came onto the scene. However, the difference between before and after he did was like night and day.
“We still haven’t even properly compensated him. All we did was take care of his tax issues and have him stay at a hotel. In sports, what we’re doing would be no different from providing a few free meals to a player who has raised Korea's status worldwide.” Jeon Dae-Geuk couldn’t help but sigh. “It would be shameless of me to ask him to handle security on top of that. If only it was just an event held by the Blue House. I would have been able to take care of it then…”
“Chairperson Huh was the one who suggested this event, so something about it seems fishy. In addition, the location he chose doesn’t seem to fit the occasion, considering the chief justice, the prime minister, and embassy officials will be attending the event,” Kim Hyung-Jung said, expressing his doubts.
“Well, since we already asked him, we might as well accept his help just this one time,” Jeon Dae-Geuk said in resignation.
“I think that’s the best course of action as well.”
Jeon Dae-Geuk and Kim Hyung-Jung both looked slightly more relieved.
***
“I didn’t know this was so expensive,” Yoo Hye-Sook exclaimed, leaning down to look at a cake. After a while, she stood back up.
It was Sunday. People dressed in nice clothes glanced at Yoo Hye-Sook as they bought their own slice of cake.
“Would you like to try some?” Kang Chan asked.
Yoo Hye-Sook seemed as if she wanted to eat it but couldn’t because it was far more expensive than she expected. She looked like someone’s daughter wanting to eat some chips but couldn’t bring herself to ask her parents because she was aware of their household’s financial situation.
“We came all the way here, so we might as well have a taste. I’ll buy it for you, so don’t worry and pick what you want to eat,” Kang Dae-Kyung said.
“I feel so sorry for the children, Honey. I didn’t know it was so expensive…” Yoo Hye-Sook trailed off.
“It’s been a while since we went on an outing with Channy, you know. I’ll earn more money so the kids can try these too, so let’s just enjoy this today. What do you say? I’m hungry,” Kang Dae-Kyung reassured her.
Just as Yoo Hye-Sook seemed to have reached a decision, however, the customer in front of them ordered the last three slices of the cake.
Yoo Hye-Sook made an apologetic face.
“Mother, there are some in the other display window too,” Kang Chan told her.
Half of the items on display were already gone.
Kang Chan went with Yoo Hye-Sook to where the walnut pies were. However, Kang Dae-Kyung and Yoo Hye-Sook didn’t seem too interested in pies.
It was understandable. After choosing between the cakes topped with blueberries, Kang Chan also felt as if his throat was becoming dry from looking at the walnut pies.
“How about some red bean paste bread?” Kang Dae-Kyung suggested. He turned around to find an empty basket that was labeled “Red Bean.”
“Sorry, Honey,” Yoo Hye-Sook apologized.
“We just got here late, so it’s not your fault. You don’t have to apologize for anything. The bread here is really popular, huh?” Kang Dae-Kyung responded.
Kang Chan felt bad that Yoo Hye-Sook was sorry.
Is there nothing I can do?
Kang Chan glanced around.
“Chan, do you want to buy a pie and take it back up?” Kang Dae-Kyung asked, turning around.
It was already past four in the afternoon. They would have to have dinner soon, so Kang Chan agreed and ordered a walnut pie instead. They had the employee charge the room, so they only had to sign to pay.
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