Chapter 14

It was the first time Lee-jin had heard him curse, and only now did she realize that for a gangster, Kwon Ki-joo was actually not someone who spoke especially harshly.

“Yes.”

Without asking the Lee-jin standing in front of him for understanding or anything of the sort, Kwon Ki-joo took the call just like that. Instead of hello, he said yes in a considerably displeased voice. Then he turned around and got into the car.

‘See you again, Song Lee-jin’—even without that usual farewell he always gave, the car carrying Kwon Ki-joo disappeared in an instant, leaving Lee-jin feeling a little dazed.

Judging from how he behaved like that, he definitely did not seem interested in her as a man. And yet, seeing that he kept giving her one opportunity after another, it also did not seem as though he truly had no thoughts about her at all.

Only after confirming that Kwon Ki-joo’s car had completely disappeared did Lee-jin begin walking home. She thought that she should put the samgyeopsal she had bought today into the freezer for now, and that she must not forget to call Sang-pil with a report as well, so as not to invite pointless suspicion.

Then suddenly, Lee-jin realized that she had accepted Kwon Ki-joo’s appearance in front of her house far too naturally.

Of course, Manager Kang had already driven her home once, so he would have known where she lived, but still, wouldn’t it have been more natural to ask how he knew? Only now did that thought occur to her.

Even in the middle of all that, one of Lee-jin’s hands kept unconsciously brushing over her cheek. It felt as though the warmth Kwon Ki-joo had left behind there was still sizzling on her skin.

* * *

In the early evening, the front of Havana was still quiet. Lee-jin lifted her phone and checked that there were still as many as 13 minutes left until 6 o’clock.

She thought she might have come too early, but if she watched the club entrance before it started getting crowded, time would pass quickly enough.

[Find some kind of opening today, no matter what. According to the information Wonjae found out, Kwon Ki-joo is about to go into Hong Kong and Macau for a five-day trip, so get something out of him before then, anything at all.]

That was what Sang-pil had said to Lee-jin when she stopped by the Vigilante Group office in the afternoon. Since it would be much easier to approach Kwon Ki-joo’s house when he was away, he had told her to at least find out how many men he was taking with him, if nothing else.

Maybe that was why her mouth had been going dry for a while now. Mimi had said that this was the fate of a spy, but constantly thinking and calculating something in her head was exhausting beyond words. Especially in front of someone like Kwon Ki-joo.

Up to now, the roles Lee-jin had handled had been things like sneaking into houses or offices to install something or find something out, and following people in secret.

This was the first time even for Lee-jin to work while openly showing her face in front of the target. Because of that, the danger was doubled. And by the time the job ended, she would also have to wrap things up carefully.

[Have a nice date with Kwon Ki-joo. But don’t jump straight into bed with him. Ah, f*ck, I’m so jealous.]

While deliberately zoning out as she recalled Mimi teasing her to the very end, a face that looked somehow familiar suddenly brushed past Lee-jin’s sight.

Lee-jin had been standing a little away from the chaotic entrance of Havana Club, lifting her gaze idly toward the building across the street.

The person who had briefly leaned out of the open second-floor window of the commercial building and then disappeared was definitely someone whose face she had seen somewhere before. Lee-jin, who had a good memory for faces, was certain she knew him.

But the problem was that unless there had been something specific between them, she could not accurately remember what reason she had for knowing him.

For example, he might have been a part-timer at a café she used to go to once in a while, or someone who had briefly come to the Vigilante Group office to do a job and then disappeared.

Those kinds of people muddled her memory because she knew only their faces and nothing at all about who they were.

That man who had just shown his face was definitely someone she had run into several times before, but she could not remember where it had been. His gaunt build and the nervous gesture with which he pushed up his glasses were clearly familiar to her eye, and yet still.

Lee-jin desperately tried to remember something about him.

Not being able to immediately recall where she had encountered him was not a very good sign. Because most of the time, people like that were those whom only Lee-jin had noticed while she was tailing someone.

But her thoughts could not continue for long. Even though there were still four whole minutes left until 6, Kwon Ki-joo’s car had arrived in front of Havana.

Today there was only one tail. It seemed there were not many underlings he could drag along to an old samgyeopsal place.

When the car came to a stop, one of the guards standing in front of the club hurried over and opened the door.

Perhaps he had already spotted Lee-jin, awkwardly standing off to one side, because as Kwon Ki-joo got out of the car, he smiled straight at her. Then he crooked his fingers.

Like a well-behaved pet dog, Lee-jin quickly went over to his side.

“You came early?”

“I just got here.”

“You look pretty today. Since you’re going on a date with me, I guess you put a lot of thought into it?”

Even though dark-clothed men were swarming around like a pack of dogs, bending at the waist right in front of him, Kwon Ki-joo only went on with such useless remarks toward Lee-jin.

She was just wearing the same T-shirt and jeans she always wore, so she had no idea what he meant by saying she had made an effort, but Lee-jin smiled brightly for now.

Praise from your favorite was precious.

“By the way, Boss, did you really need to come dressed so nicely just to eat samgyeopsal? Your clothes will soak up the smell.”

When Lee-jin asked while looking at the suit that seemed incredibly expensive, Kwon Ki-joo let out a short laugh.

“I had to meet some guests and came from that. After dinner, I’ll just change at a nearby sauna or something. Are you hungry?”

“A little.”

“Then wait just a moment. I need to give the guys a few instructions.”

At Kwon Ki-joo’s words, Lee-jin obediently nodded, then stepped back. Not so close that she would look like she was snooping, but to about the right distance where she could still hear Kwon Ki-joo’s voice.

Kwon Ki-joo spoke to the people who had sluggishly gathered around about entertaining a VIP who would appear that evening.

She wondered what place he meant when he kept mentioning the 7th floor this and that, but at the glances people kept throwing at her, Lee-jin quickly looked away with a face that said she had no interest.

“……Madam Oh will be bringing eight people in. Clear the whole floor, and before the vehicles leave, check everything and don’t forget to load the bags into the trunk in advance. And…….”

While Kwon Ki-joo’s instructions went on, Lee-jin kept moving her eyes here and there again with an indifferent expression. With her whole body, she was expressing, ‘I’m not interested in any of this’. Then, once again, she spotted that man from earlier.

The man, who had reappeared at the commercial building window, was looking directly at Kwon Ki-joo. For a moment, a strange premonition came over her, but Lee-jin could not easily judge him to be dangerous.

Because he was such an ordinarily skinny man that, to anyone’s eye, he did not look like a match for Kwon Ki-joo—or for any of the people gathered here.

‘Where on earth have I seen him?’

What bothered her more was the identity of the man she still could not remember.

She was certain he was not someone she had seen while following Kwon Ki-joo. The fact that she could not remember this much meant he was not someone she had seen recently.

Kwon Ki-joo was such a conspicuous man that she first thought perhaps the man was simply watching for the pleasure of looking, but the man’s emotionless face felt deeply unsettling.

Then, as the man turned his head, his gaze brushed over Lee-jin very briefly. A dry gaze that lingered for a moment and passed on, as if to say he knew she was there but would not bother acknowledging her.

But before the man fully withdrew, Lee-jin saw that he stared for quite a while at the area near the entrance of Havana Club.

Lee-jin quickly followed the line of his gaze. At the entrance to the alley opening up right beside Havana Club, large and small white plastic bags were piled up in heaps.

The garbage bags, put out in advance for collection at dawn, were leaning against the wall in disorder.

“You’re not going inside? You’re just leaving?”

It seemed Kwon Ki-joo had finished speaking, because one of the gathered men asked that.

Snapping back to her senses, Lee-jin quickly turned her gaze and looked at Kwon Ki-joo. She heard the short laugh of Kwon Ki-joo, standing there in an arrogant posture.