Chapter 51.2: I'll do it Properly (2)
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Before they went home, they headed to Gangnam to have spaghetti and a bowl of bingsu each at a patbingsu specialty store.
When Kang Chan parked the car in the public parking lot, Kim Mi-Young appeared crestfallen.
“Come here,” Kang Chan told Kim Mi-Young.
When Kang Chan widened his arms for her, she cuddled up to him.
“Study really hard starting tomorrow. You have to become a diplomat, remember?” asked Kang Chan.
“Yeah!”
Kim Mi-Young resolutely answered while burying her cheek into Kang Chan’s chest.
“I had so much fun today, Chan. Thanks.”
Kang Chan softly combed his fingers through her hair.
“Let’s go,” Kang Chan said.
Kang Chan patted Kim Mi-Young while smiling.
They took a taxi home. Kim Mi-Young went in first.
Kang Chan called Seok Kang-Ho while sitting down on the bench and told him that he parked the car in the public parking lot. He also told him to rest until tomorrow evening. Seok Kang-Ho then said he was out eating with his family, so he’d call him back once he was home.
When Kang Chan went into the house, Kang Dae-Kyung and Yoo Hye-Sook were watching TV. The three of them had fruits and laughed while watching an entertainment show.
That brought about a safe end to his Saturday.
As he lay in bed, Kang Chan stared blankly at the ceiling.
‘Let’s put a quick end to this, Sharlan.’
There wasn’t a lot of time left until the big day, so he wanted to quickly win.
***
Soldiers also rested on Sundays, but only if there wasn’t a war or a battle.
Kang Chan skipped his morning workout, which made him feel sluggish. His body knew as well, which was why it was coaxing him to run. However, rest would make his body struggle the next day since it wouldn’t want to run again.
One of the basics of exercising was overcoming one’s physical limitations.
Kang Chan, Kang Dae-Kyung, and Yoo Hye-Sook had omelets that Kang Chan had made for breakfast, which they hadn’t done in a while. They then left to go to the Sangjeong orphanage at around 10:30 am.
The car that was parked in the basement was a ‘Chiffre’.
“You changed your car?” Kang Chan asked Kang Dae-Kyung.
“People find it weird that I’m driving around something else.”
Kang Dae-Kyung went in the driver's seat while feeling proud, Yoo Hye-Sook got in the passenger seat, and Kang Chan naturally went in the back.
They arrived at the Sangjeong orphanage after about 40 minutes of driving. Like every other Sunday morning, the road was still empty.
They first met someone known as the director, who had a look in his eyes that was sharper and sterner than expected. It would've been better if he appeared a bit more merciful, but he couldn’t say anything about it.
Since they were talking about supporting the operating expenses, Kang Chan sat on the broken bench in the orphanage’s garden, then examined his surroundings.
The building was shaped like a horizontal and reversed ‘L.’ Divided into two, its left side served as the orphanage and the right side as the nursing home.
He saw the employees putting in and carrying rice, doenjang-guk, kkakdugi, and danmuji in a large metal pale, perhaps because it was lunchtime.
‘Do they eat something like that?’
After all, they did say the most well-off orphanages still lacked about two million won a month.
Just as Kang Chan was looking at the entrance with a bitter gaze, a girl whose hair looked like it was cut by someone that she lived with grabbed onto the door and slightly peeked her head out.
The girl quickly hid away when her eyes met Kang Chan’s, then carefully stuck her head out again.
When Kang Chan brightly smiled, the girl tilted her head, which made her appear shy, then hid behind the door.
“What are you doing here? You should go have lunch.”
A small-framed woman that looked to be in her mid-twenties glanced at Kang Chan, then grabbed the child’s arm and went inside.
Kang Chan’s past life suddenly came to his mind.
He wanted to eat pork cutlets like crazy.
Even if he didn’t steal, there were kids that were willing to buy something like that for him. He just needed to ask them for help.
‘Wouldn’t I be able to at least properly feed the children if I give this place the money in my bank account and the salary I get from D.I?’
As Kang Chan blankly stared ahead, Kang Dae-Kyung and Yoo Hye-Sook came out.
“You should look at the kids’ living quarters,” said the director.
“It’s okay. We’ll greet them later to avoid disturbing their meal.”
Kang Dae-Kyung politely shook hands with the director, and Yoo Hye-Sook and Kang Dae-Kyung bowed their heads. They then went outside the orphanage.
They got in the car and headed home, but the atmosphere seemed quite frigid.
“Should we have lunch before going home?” Kang Dae-Kyung asked after about 5 minutes had passed, but they headed straight home instead since that was what Yoo Hye-Sook wanted.
He shouldn’t try to butt into everything just because he was curious.
Kang Chan went to his room after having lunch, used his computer to search the Internet for the things he was curious about, then lay in bed.
‘Should I work out instead?’
It would be great to at least go for a walk.
Just as he raised his body…
Buzz— Buzz—Buzz. Buzz— Buzz—Buzz. Buzz— Buzz—Buzz.
The phone rang. Sharlan was calling. He had been waiting for this.
“Hello?”
- Kang Chan, I’ll give you the username and password to an account in Hong Kong’s Silver Harvest Bank tomorrow. Korea has strict regulations, so that’s the only option I had unless we wait until Monday.
Kang Chan had been told that the money was in Switzerland, but it seemed to have been transferred to Hong Kong for now. Kang Chan thought of talking to Lanok.
“That’s good, Sharlan. I’ll let you know about the time and location once I’ve come to a decision and changed the password tomorrow morning.”
- Keep in mind that even though you can change its password, that account forbids remittance for seven days.
“There’s no reason for me to rush.”
Kang Chan hung up the phone.
Sharlan was probably planning on leaving Korea after taking care of Lanok. Kang Chan called Lanok and told him about the call.
- Monsieur Kang. You’re to tell me the account and password as soon as you receive it only through a phone call. Text messaging is dangerous.
“As you wish, Mr. Ambassador. But if we keep going down this road, then you’ll have to tell me the details about your baseball appointment this Wednesday by tomorrow.”
- That goes without saying, Monsieur Kang.
Their conversation ended.
At the very least, they’d finally discover the organization hoping to attack Lanok by Wednesday. And if things were to go well, then they’d also catch Sharlan.
Kang Chan got lost in his worries for a moment.
It would be dangerous to trust the French agents alone to keep Lanok safe in the baseball stadium. He had to ensure their plan would proceed seamlessly.
Solidifying his resolve, Kang Chan picked up his phone.
- How can I help you on a Sunday?
“Can I see you tomorrow for a short while?”
- I’m more than willing to meet with the instructor whenever he needs me. Where would you like to meet? The school, or do you prefer coming to our company?
If he was going to tell Kim Tae-Jin about it, then he might as well tell Seok Kang-Ho too.
“I wish to see you in school.”
- Okay. I’ll be there first thing in the morning.
He felt like a burden was taken off his shoulder.
What Lanok needed to do was find the person that deposited the money in the account anywhere between Monday to Wednesday since doing so would give them a rough outline.
However, if a problem occurred with Lanok even after they did all of this, then Kang Chan would be surrounded by enemies on all sides. The DGSE could try to go for Kang Chan since they’d need to cover up his conversations with Lanok.
Crazy fuckers.
Why would they make him worry while saying things about the dynamics of Europe or whatnot while in Korea?
A week. Everything should be able to be taken care of in exactly a week.
***
On Monday morning, Kang Chan had breakfast when he returned from his workout. Kang Dae-Kyung and Yoo Hye-Sook still hadn’t brightened up.
After a bit since Kang Dae-Kyung left for work, Kang Chan had to leave as well.
“Is everything alright?” asked Kang Chan.
Yoo Hye-Sook smiled at Kang Chan, who had just entered the living room. Her smile had disappointment in it.
“Your dad and I wanted to designate how our financial donation should be used, but all the orphanages said that wasn’t possible. We wanted to pay for the kids’ food, clothes, and education, but the orphanage said that the money could also be used for administrative expenses, and that they also can’t show us any related information; so your dad is also very upset right now.”
So that was what had been going on.
When Kang Chan nodded, Yoo Hye-Sook added, “The kids are often in the back of my mind. Your dad says it would be useless if we can’t dictate how our donation will be spent. Even so, I still wanted to send it over.”
“That’s quite a difficult situation."
“Don’t worry too much about it. I’ll find a good way to handle this.”
“Okay. I believe in you,” Kang Chan said.
He then pleasantly smiled for her and went out of the apartment.
1. doenjang-guk, or soybean paste soup, is made up of doenjang (soybean paste) and other ingredients such as vegetables and seafood
2. kkakdugi, or diced radish kimchi is a type of kimchi that is popular as a side dish
3. danmuji, or pickled radish, is a pickled preparation of radish that originated from traditional Japanese cuisine
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