A Rude Welcome

Im Suho shrugged as if to say, ‘what’s so surprising about our reaction?’

“Just as you chase justice as a lawyer, I do the same. You need information to punish evil.”

Im Suho pointed to the first picture.

“That’s the most recent photo. Take a good look. His physique has changed quite a bit.”

Lee Ilwoo took another step closer to the monitor.
He scanned the man’s every move as if analyzing them.
He seemed to be unconsciously mimicking the movements.

“His name is Beom Taeho, a former special forces soldier. He was sentenced to prison for killing a subordinate through hazing, but he only served a few years for manslaughter. It went wrong from the start.”

Hearing Im Suho’s words, a bitter taste instantly filled my mouth.

“After that, he wandered around here and there, both domestically and internationally, for a few years, and then suddenly disappeared.”
“Here and there… you mean as a gangster or a mercenary?”

Lee Ilwoo asked, as if the progression was familiar.
Im Suho nodded and unwrapped a candy that had been on the desk, popping it into his mouth.
He offered us some too, but we both shook our heads at the same time.

“My blood sugar is low because I talked a lot today. Mr. Lee Ilwoo is right. He was a mercenary who made quite a name for himself as a ‘cleaner’ who would do anything for money.”

Lee Ilwoo frowned slightly at the word ‘cleaner’.
It seemed to be a slang term in that field.

“After he disappeared like that, a rumor went around for a while that he must have been taken out somewhere, since it’s hard to disappear without a trace like that.”

At that moment, I spotted a small watch in the photo, set against a background that looked like a brawl.

“Here, do you see the date in the watch? This photo was taken in the Philippines a month ago. It was because of this photo that it became known.”

The man’s eyes in the photo were filled with murderous intent.

“The fact that he’s alive and well, and that he’s now the general manager of that Cas Vegas.”

The scentless room was instantly filled with a sweet smell, but all our attention was elsewhere.

“But the reason Beom Taeho became famous wasn’t because he would do anything for money. It was because of the rumor that he never failed a request once it was entrusted to him.”

Im Suho calmly added the number of people Beom Taeho was presumed to have killed.

“And that’s an estimate from a few years ago. You remember the site I showed you at the beginning? ‘Black Casino’.”
“Yes.”
“A few pictures were uploaded to social media when Beom Taeho raided the place, but they were deleted immediately. Luckily, they got caught by a program.”
“What kind of program?”
“A facial recognition program. Oh, and it’s not just faces. It includes physiques too.”

Im Suho calmly added that thanks to that, he had found out his hideout was in Cebu, Philippines.

[Temporary turbulence is expected. Passengers, please fasten your seatbelts…]

An announcement with a flat tone, easy to understand, flowed out.
I looked out the window, which was full of clouds.
But I quickly turned my head after checking my reflection in the window.

[You can’t jump out of here, so stop thinking, Attorney.]

‘…You’ve become a bit harsh lately.’

[Me? Not a chance. And Attorney Won and the Office Manager probably expected it.]

As Gram said, when they heard my and Lee Ilwoo’s story, the two of them had readily nodded.

“If that’s the only way to save the client, then we have to do it.”
“Have a safe trip, Attorney Cha.”

Not only that, but Won Youngoh and Jeong Donghyeok had even created an excuse for the new hires.

“Let’s say the hospital recommended he rest due to overwork. That it’s too much in his current state, something like that.”
“Yes, and Attorney Cha has a lot of vacation days saved up anyway.”
“Still, a business trip is a business trip, so I’ll save his precious vacation days.”

When I told them the news, Kim Eun-gyeom’s elegant eyes drooped, and he asked with a face that looked like he was about to cry.

“Attorney Cha, are you okay? I heard you were taking a break. Are you leaving right away? Have you decided on a destination?”
“Thanks for your concern, Attorney Kim. I’m thinking of getting some sleep I’ve been missing first and then thinking about it.”
“I wanted to learn from you, Attorney Cha… It’s a shame, but have a safe trip.”

Unlike Kim Eun-gyeom, Choi Yikang just bowed his head silently.
Taking a vacation in the middle of a case was something that didn’t make sense for a lawyer.

“Don’t worry, Attorney Kim. I’ll teach you with all my heart.”
“Attorney Won is a little scary…”
“Mr. Kim Eun-gyeom, are you upset because it’s not Attorney Cha? I’m disappointed.”
“Ah. Attorney Won, that’s not what I meant…”

But Won Youngoh, who had already coordinated with us, finished the conversation naturally and playfully.

[Our plane will be landing shortly. There may be an impact, so passengers, please…]

And so, after spending several hours with my eyes open, I got off the plane.
Any momentary confusion disappeared as soon as I saw the car Lee Ilwoo had prepared.

“Get in, Attorney.”
“…What is this?”

The car Lee Ilwoo had brought from somewhere was a pitch-black armored vehicle, so much so that the line between the window and the door was blurry.

“Just in case.”

Every time Lee Ilwoo did this, I was reminded of the fact that he was not an ordinary person.
I nodded silently and got into the car.

Vrooom.

The view outside, seen through the heavily tinted windows, was literally dark.
There wasn’t even the common black box in the car.
After driving in silence for a long time, Lee Ilwoo spoke quietly.

“I don’t think we’ll be able to arrive at the estimated time.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“We have a tail.”

When I checked the rearview mirror, just as Lee Ilwoo had said, a black car was stuck behind us.
It was at a moderate distance, neither too close nor too far.

“That black SUV?”
“Yes. It’s been following us since the airport.”
“Since the airport? …Could it be that our paths are just overlapping? This is the only road right now.”

Lee Ilwoo shook his head as he stepped on the accelerator.

“I deliberately took a few wrong turns before entering this road, but it kept reappearing.”

As we sped up, the car behind us also sped up.
The distance seemed to change, but it didn’t.
Lee Ilwoo checked the side mirror once and moved his lips again with a somewhat determined face.

“There’s a fork in the road about five minutes from here. I’ll speed up then and shake them off.”

I thought for a very brief moment and shook my head.

“No. Let’s do the opposite.”
“Pardon?”
“We’re going to slow down. And can you do as I say?”

Lee Ilwoo looked around a few times, as if checking the width of the road, and nodded.

“Yes, understood.”

“[Wait… I think they’ve noticed.]”

The man holding the steering wheel spoke to the men who had their faces covered with various balaclavas and were holding knives or guns.
But all he got in return was ridicule.

“[You have too good an imagination.]”
“[But…]”
“[Shut up and drive. We always do all the work, don’t we?]”

The man wiped the sweat from his palms on the steering wheel and gripped it tightly again.

‘[The way they’re moving is strange… The speed has slowed down, as if they want us to follow.]’

But as the other men had said, he might just be overreacting.
He had been gripping the steering wheel tensely for two hours now, so his judgment might have been clouded.

‘[Whatever. I just need to get the money this time too.]’

If he just solved this request, he could live without worrying about money for a while.
At least for a few years.
It was a request that would pay him hundreds of millions if he just quietly took care of the two men who had come from Korea.
He had already received half of the fee as an advance.

“[Doesn’t that look like them? Look at the picture.]”
“[It is.]”

Somehow, their contact had informed them that the targets had gotten off the plane at the airport where they were waiting.
But this was an airport.
There were limits to terror.
At least none of them wanted to be labeled as international terrorists here.
For just two people, it was best to take care of them in a quiet place.
The men behind the driver, who had made that suggestion, chuckled and adjusted their balaclavas.

“[Did you see? It’s really an armored vehicle. It’s been a while since I’ve seen one of those.]”
“[Is what we’re doing today an assassination, not a murder?]”
“[He looks Korean. If he’s a businessman, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to take him hostage and demand money.]”

Whee!

A high-pitched whistle rang out sharply in the car.

“[So your head can actually think? It really works at times like these.]”
“[Shut up before I blow your head off before theirs. Do you want to not be able to think forever?]”
“[Hey, don’t fight. Still, clean is better. Let’s go to the casino after we take care of them and get the rest of the payment.]”

They seemed unfazed by murder.
As if it were a daily occurrence. They were completely at ease.

“[But I wonder if they’re not paying that much for no reason. He’s Korean, but he knows our roads well.]”
“[It’s the last struggle everyone makes before they die. No matter how armored it is, they have to get out of the car once. We can kill them then.]”
“[That’s right. It’s not like we’re doing this for the first or second time.]”

The men chuckled and bumped their fists.
Just then, the car in front suddenly slowed down.
Not only that, but it boldly veered off the lane.

Screech!

“[What the!]”
“[This is crazy, drive properly!]”
“[Where’s the target? Where did it go!]”

If they had slowed down, it should have been visible behind them, but it wasn’t.
The car, which had been observing all the signals and lanes even while weaving through side streets, had gone off the road.
Onto an unpaved road.

“[There it is! Follow it!]”

A bundle of money was running away right in front of them.
The men grabbed the driver’s shoulder, pointing fingers as if they were about to climb into the driver’s seat.
The targets boldly entered the mountain and then repeatedly appeared and disappeared, as if mocking them.
The car was filled with curses.
They had already bumped into each other countless times and hit their bodies against the car frame.

“[Ram them the next time you see them!]”

One of the men, judging that it would reappear soon since it had just disappeared, shouted.
The car carrying them struggled up the hill.
But…

“[No! Stop!]”

At that moment, a railroad track appeared in front of their eyes. And a train, rushing towards them at full speed.

CRASH!

The sound was loud enough to echo through the mountain.
After the train had completely passed, the overturned car was visible beyond the rails.
As the train grew more distant, the vibrations from the ground also faded. The loud commotion of the train hitting the car had also subsided.
The birds that had flown up into the air were also all gone.
Lee Ilwoo stared at me intently.

“Let’s go.”

We got out of the car and started walking.
After a few steps, we saw the overturned car, its belly exposed.
Blood was slowly leaking out from the broken glass.

“I’ll go check.”

Lee Ilwoo strode over and knelt.
He checked the men who had been tailing us through the crumpled and broken glass.
He made a judgment without even reaching out his hand and then nodded.
With a familiar gesture, Lee Ilwoo collected all their weapons and cell phones as concisely as possible.
He turned back to me and spoke calmly, his voice no different from usual.

“They’re not dead.”