Chapter 178.2: No different from back then (1)
A bit into the discussion, Kim Hyung-Jung called, “Mr. Kang Chan.”
Hearing his name, Kang Chan lifted his gaze from the map.
“Given the sudden nature of this operation, there’s no guarantee that Jang Gwang-Taek will be at Sinpyeong County. Moreover, if this operation is exposed, our government intends to deny any involvement in the mission,” Kim Hyung-Jung stated gravely.
Well, obviously. Why is he bringing this up when we all know about that already?
“The moment our government denies this operation, China and Russia may dispatch their special forces teams,” Kim Hyung-Jung added.
Kang Chan already expected that as well. Although he wasn’t exactly sure what Yang Bum had in mind, he knew Vasili was more than capable of switching sides.
“The National Intelligence Service is keeping a close watch on Chairperson Huh Ha-Soo. Once you take care of Jang Gwang-Taek, the North Korean leadership has agreed to provide evidence related to the collaboration between Chairperson Huh Ha-Soo and Wui Min-Gook. It’s suspected that Chairperson Huh Ha-Soo directly made some kind of arrangement with the North Korean regime,” Kim Hyung-Jung explained.
“That bastard! How many people is that traitor involved with? He was playing on all sides of the fence for sure,” Seok Kang-Ho griped.
“We have leads that he was involved in the terrorist incident at the golf course and the press conference attack,” Kim Hyung-Jung responded.
“And what if we fail?” Kang Chan asked.
Kim Hyung-Jung let out a deep sigh.
“To be completely honest, the chances of success for this operation are less than ten percent, which is why we are focusing on what will happen if we fail. To begin with, we plan to arrest Chairperson Huh with the evidence we collected. Of course, we will have to bear with the allegations that it’s political maneuvering,” Kim Hyung-Jung said grimly.
“Well, none of the missions we’ve been on so far had high success rates anyway. Anyway, what you’re saying is that things will become complicated if we fail, right?” Kang Chan confirmed.
“That’s correct,” Kim Hyung-Jung responded with a nod.
Kang Chan’s goal was to prevent anybody from messing with his people ever again, and the National Intelligence Service wanted to arrest Huh Ha-Soo and hold him responsible for his crimes. Although they had different objectives, both parties wanted the same man dead: Jang Gwang-Taek.
“Mr. Kang Chan,” Kim Hyung-Jung began as he glanced at Seok Kang-Ho and turned back to Kang Chan again. “If the operation fails, head to Dokgeom-ri here.”
What’s this now?
Kang Chan tilted his head.
“Kim Tae-Jin, Suh Sang-Hyun, and I will be behind the iron fences of Dokgeom-ri. I’m confident that you, Mr. Seok, and the rest of our soldiers are capable enough to break through to this location. If the operation fails, for seventy-two hours, I won’t let anything stop me from waiting for you here. Just get to the unarmed zone of Dokgeom-ri and you will be set,” Kim Hyung-Jung ordered him.
In other words, they were preparing for the worst: the deaths of the soldiers joining this operation.
“At least with these orders, our nation won’t abandon our men until the very end. We devised this plan in line with that directive. I hope you two can keep this to yourselves for the time being,” Kim Hyung-Jung emphasized.
“Understood,” Kang Chan replied.
No one mentioned whose orders and plan this was from.
With their conversation done, Kim Hyung-Jung pulled out two small maps and handed them to Kang Chan.
“What’s good to eat around here?” Kang Chan asked, changing subjects.
“Everything, to be honest. Nothing’s spectacularly tasty, though,” Kim Hyung-Jung answered.
“Oh, right! I got a menu here. Can you pick something out for us, Manager Kim?” Seok Kang-Ho requested as he extended his arm to pick up the menu and hand it to Kim Hyung-Jung.
“Should we have a warm bowl of galbi tang, then?” Kim Hyung-Jung suggested.
“Sure, sounds great,” Kang Chan replied.
Seok Kang-Ho ordered. Afterward, an awkward silence filled the room.
“I’m sorry for asking you to do something like this,” Kim Hyung-Jung suddenly apologized.
Kang Chan lifted his gaze to look back at Kim Hyung-Jung. For things like this, a smile was the best response.
He was never the type to be stopped by fear. In the first place, the mission wasn’t scary to him in the slightest. However, he couldn’t help but be worried about Kang Dae-Kyung and Yoo Hye-Sook. He was concerned about how they would feel—the shock and pain they would struggle with—when they learned he was dead or if he went missing in action.
Their meal arrived after some time. They talked about various topics as they enjoyed the galbitang.
The ribs were large and meaty, but considering the price, Kang Chan still couldn’t help but feel like it was a rip-off.
“Please take care of my parents while I’m away,” Kang Chan abruptly said.
“I will,” Kim Hyung-Jung replied resolutely.
They pushed the bowls to the side and shared the small remainder of their coffee. After brushing his teeth in the bathroom, Kang Chan was ready.
“Well then, shall we go?”
In response to Kang Chan’s suggestion, the two men with him stood up. They left the room and headed to the elevator. Before getting in it, Kang Chan turned around to look at the room where Kang Dae-Kyung and Yoo Hye-Sook were staying.
A once-ordinary couple living in peace suddenly found their lives turned upside down when their son survived a fall from a rooftop only to frequently come home with injuries, participate in knife fights, and kill people in front of their eyes. They even almost got shot in an underground parking lot.
Nevertheless, the two made every effort to understand and trust their son. In what felt like a prison of a hotel, they forced themselves to exercise and refrained from questioning what he was doing.
Kang Chan sincerely wanted to put an end to this turmoil.
He managed to stop the terrorist attacks on the golf course and press conference and even got revenge for those by destroying a section of the Chinese airport. He also stopped the Japanese agents who attacked Yoo Hye-Sook’s office by twisting their necks.
Now, however, his enemies tried to shoot down Kang Dae-Kyung and Yoo Hye-Sook and even killed Choi Seong-Geon.
Since they had a straightforward way to apprehend Huh Ha-Soo and Wui Min-Gook, who was the one giving orders, there was no need to take the long way.
When the three reached the underground parking lot, they found a van waiting at the exit. They promptly hopped into it, and it immediately departed. It was already one in the afternoon, so the sunlight streaming through the window made the weather seem pleasant.
‘How long do I have to live like this?’
He felt as if a lightning bolt suddenly struck him after reincarnating and spending a busy life. From school bullies and gangsters to Sharlan and Lanok, time flew by so fast that everything seemed like a dream.
He definitely wasn’t living this kind of life because he wanted to. But at the same time, it wasn’t in his nature to bow down to school bullies or gangsters.
‘Is my temper the problem?’
Kang Chan chuckled to himself and looked outside the window.
He used to see Kim Mi-Young before going on other operations, but this time, things took a strange turn.
Damn it! So annoying!
In the end, there seemed to be no other solution than to go and visit the foreign intelligence bureaus as Lanok suggested.
He would become stronger. In the world of intelligence, he would become as powerful as Vasili or Lanok. He would make people think that it was better to request his help than provoke him into a fight.
The van passed by Misari and entered the highway.
“I should go to Gapyeong and have some boiled chicken someday,” Seok Kang-Ho murmured to himself. His words broke Kang Chan away from his train of thought.
When Kim Hyung-Jung asked what Seok Kang-Ho was talking about, Seok Kang-Ho began to tell the story about him eating some chicken a while back.
.
Bored and nervous, trivial things started to sound funny to Kang Chan. He chuckled as he looked at Seok Kang-Ho.
Seok Kang-Ho, with his eyes glinting from nervousness, was talking about splitting the stomach and ripping the legs apart, making it sound a lot more gruesome than the topic should be. Around forty minutes later, they found a resting area on the roadside.
“Let’s have a cup of coffee before we continue,” Kim Hyung-Jung suggested. The car drove into the resting area, and sedans parked on either side of the van. An agent quickly stepped out before the others could.
The three opened the doors of the van and smoked a cigarette each.
They had to be careful about drawing the public’s attention.
“Hoo.”
An agent brought over some coffee for them.
“Nice!” Seok Kang-Ho suddenly cheered. Kang Chan understood how he felt.
The blue sky and white clouds looked beautiful.
After about fifteen minutes of rest, they hit the road again. They drove for about thirty more minutes before getting off the highway, then kept going for a while longer. Eventually, they came to a stop on one side of the quiet road.
Sedans parked some distance away ahead and behind them.
“We still have about thirty minutes left,” Kim Hyung-Jung remarked.
“Will the bus be coming here?” Kang Chan asked.
“Yes. We plan to move together from this point,” Kim Hyung-Jung replied.
They were infiltrating through the ocean, so they likely already had an area designated as the starting point for this operation.
Every time Kang Chan breathed in, he felt as if spite was slowly filling his lungs. He knew his eyes would be glinting soon.
He laughed out loud, realizing that he was no different from Seok Kang-Ho, whose eyes started turning sharp whenever he became nervous.
Kang Chan and Seok Kang-Ho sat back and smoked. As time passed, Kim Hyung-Jung’s face stiffened.
“Are you nervous?” Kang Chan asked him.
“Huh? Oh. Yes. Strangely, this time I am,” Kim Hyung-Jung admitted.
The man had been through many special forces operations, so his nervousness likely wasn’t because he had a weak heart. Rather, it was probably the pressure of this mission that was making him feel that way.
“It’s okay, you can relax a little. This isn’t that different from when we went to Mongolia, France, or when we crossed into China,” Kang Chan said.
“That’s true,” Kim Hyung-Jung agreed.
Contradicting his response, Kim Hyung-Jung’s expression remained hardened.
It depended on the person, but nervousness could be contagious.
“Do you and Mr. Seok really not get nervous?” Kim Hyung-Jung asked.
Seok Kang-Ho glanced at Kang Chan. Kang Chan couldn’t tell the manager that they had tons of experience like this back in Africa, so he just smiled.
“Mr. Kang Chan, I wasn’t going to ask, but…” Kim Hyung-Jung trailed off, pressing his lips together.
Seeing Kang Chan’s smile, he already knew that Kang Chan wouldn’t answer anyway. As he sighed heavily, a bus approached them and slowly parked behind the van. It was a bus with tanned windows, preventing people outside from seeing inside.
“Let’s go,” Kim Hyung-Jung declared, shutting the doors of the van.
A sedan, a van, another sedan, and a bus—the entourage of vehicles drove down twisting roads for about ten minutes before speeding down different paths.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om