A Bear’s Paws

I nodded.
The hypothesis that had formed in my head instantly took root like an established theory.

‘If the police and political circles knew about this case in advance, it makes sense.’

To clap, you need two palms, and to move those hands, you need a head.

‘Literally, it was just a show.’

[Then it’s not impossible.]

‘Then why on earth did they do it?’

Why did Cas Vegas and their backers stage such a troublesome show, and for what purpose?
As if to pull me out of my thoughts, my phone rang.

[You picked up right away.]
“I was looking at the things you sent earlier, Mr. Im Suho.”
[You’ve probably checked them all by now… right?]
“I’ve memorized them.”

Im Suho muttered, ‘I knew it,’ and then quickly added.
His voice grew quieter, as if he had moved away from the microphone.
Conversely, I turned up the volume and pressed the receiver closer to my ear.

[I just sent the missing data. It took a while to find. Check it out. I’ll decrypt it for you now.]

I took the phone from my ear and hurriedly opened my mailbox.

[There wasn’t any important information on those guys’ phones. At least there were some contacts left, so I checked them out, but they’re all similar breeds.]

The mailbox, which had been continuously failing to load, changed in an instant.
I hadn’t even realized at first that the screen I thought was just loading was encrypted.
As soon as the email opened, I couldn’t help but understand what he meant.

“This is…”
[I don’t know why they’d post this as if it’s something to be proud of, but they’re all similar. Taking pictures of crime scenes and posting them, exhibiting them.]

I didn’t even realize that my thumb, scrolling down, was trembling.
The screen was filled with explicit photos of crime scenes.
These were probably the photos that Im Suho had painstakingly selected to send.
Nevertheless, the level of gore was not low at all.

[Like with you, Attorney Cha, it’s mostly contract work. They call it a ‘portfolio’ among themselves.]
“Disgusting.”

An accurate assessment.
It was so disgusting that I felt nauseous in an instant.

‘To take pictures while smiling in front of the people they’ve killed…’

I let out a sigh at the sudden wave of a headache and rubbed my brow.

[Based on the cell tower data, there was a periodically overlapping location when tracking their movements. Did you see the picture and map I sent at the end?]

I put strength into my thumb and scrolled down quickly, and a wall surrounding a village like a fortress came into view.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen such a closed-off village. It’s like a medieval castle.”
[It’s not just closed off on the outside; there isn’t a single camera inside. Nothing shows up on satellite photos either. I’ll contact you again if I find anything else.]
“Okay, thank you as always. I’ll have to talk to Mr. Lee Ilwoo.”
[Isn’t that a given? Don’t even think about moving alone. And Attorney Cha.]

Im Suho seemed to have brought his head back to the microphone.
His voice, which had been slightly echoing at the end, was now clear again.

“Is there still more to talk about?”
[Be careful.]

Im Suho’s voice was firm, but his words revealed an unconcealed worry.

“Haha.”
[……]

When I burst out laughing, Im Suho didn’t react for a few seconds and then abruptly hung up.

‘People are so dishonest. In that respect, he’s like Choi Suhyeok.’

I should buy these two a gift when I go back to Korea.
Soon after, Lee Ilwoo and Kevin returned, their hands full of groceries.

“You’re back?”
“Did anything happen? Did anyone come looking for you?”

I nodded at Lee Ilwoo and took the bags.
I could never get used to Lee Ilwoo’s informal speech.
It was also strange how he could disguise his attitude in an instant.
Behind Lee Ilwoo, Kevin, with a build as sturdy as a bear, was looking at me with interest.

‘Still, if I’m to deceive them properly, I have no choice.’

I spoke in a roundabout way so that Lee Ilwoo would understand.

“I just got another call from the ‘3rd floor’.”

Lee Ilwoo’s eyebrows shot up.
He nodded as if he had remembered that Im Suho’s office was on the 3rd floor and headed to the kitchen.

“Let’s talk while we eat.”

Kevin began to cook, moving his large hands delicately.
Lee Ilwoo and I hovered by his side, carrying plates or taking ingredients out of the refrigerator and handing them to him.
It was a peaceful scene I hadn’t experienced in a long time.

“Alright, let’s sit down now. A Korean’s strength comes from rice! Though it’s been a while since I’ve been to Korea.”

Kevin handed me a bowl of rice piled high like a mountain.
I took the bowl and asked back with a smile.

“How long has it been?”
“Hmm, I think it’s been about fifteen years? As you’ve learned, rookie, this place can’t be left empty.”

As I handed him a spoon, Lee Ilwoo added to Kevin’s words.

“As Kevin said, the only times a safe house is emptied are when a situation equivalent to a state of war occurs in the country, or when the operation site has been compromised.”

Kevin nodded and held up his right index finger.

“Since I’ve been in charge of this place, it’s only been emptied once. That was when intelligence came in that a bomb was going to be dropped on this village.”
“Fortunately, it was false information.”
“What a relief it was not to have this beautiful house blown away!”

Unlike their grim conversation, the food on the table looked so delicious that just looking at it made my mouth water.
It was a spread that strangely reminded me of the food at the Family Diner.

“Is cooking your hobby?”
“It’s not much of a hobby. It’s strange, but I’m practically living alone. When you live alone, cooking is the only thing that improves.”

Kevin shrugged lightly, but Lee Ilwoo, after taking a large bite of the steaming stir-fried pork, shook his head.

“Put away your modesty. Kevin was originally a chef. It’s just amazing that his cooking skills keep improving.”

‘He was a chef? Come to think of it, his knife skills didn’t seem ordinary, so I just assumed he was an agent.’

Come to think of it, Lee Ilwoo and Kevin seemed to have a very comfortable relationship.

“Hey, Ilwoo. Even if it’s you, is it okay to just open up someone’s past like that?”

Despite Kevin’s light rebuke, Lee Ilwoo paid him no mind and tasted a few more of his own dishes.

“There’s a famous saying among the agents that if you miss Korea, you should find Kevin. It’s a rare opportunity, so eat up.”
“I’ll eat well, thank you.”
“It’s nice that you’re so polite. Eat a lot, rookie. You need to grow tall.”
“Haha…”

Objectively, I wasn’t short, but in front of these two men, that was a useless point.
As Lee Ilwoo had said, Kevin’s food was delicious.
So much so that it felt like I was in Korea, not the Philippines.

[Were you hungry?]

‘I didn’t know, but I guess I was.’

The mountain of rice had disappeared before I knew it.

“It seems the rookie liked it too.”
“It was really delicious. Thank you.”
“Not at all. I’ll clean up here, so you two go talk over there. Hey, Ilwoo, get your hands off the plates.”
“It’s fine, let’s just get it done quickly and rest.”
“You’ve gotten even more stubborn.”

Lee Ilwoo didn’t answer and just moved his hands.
But for some reason, I felt a pang of guilt.

‘…Did he get that from me?’

[You can’t say he didn’t.]

‘I can’t deny it…’

In the end, we cleaned up the kitchen with Kevin and headed to the living room.
I sat on the sofa and showed Lee Ilwoo Im Suho’s email.

“He said he’d contact me again, but it seems difficult to find out anything more. I think we’ll have to go to this place ourselves.”
“Hmm…”

Lee Ilwoo carefully examined the photos.
He seemed to be scanning the weapons and locations that were in the pictures with them.
The bastards had also used their heads, so there were no photos that could clearly identify the location.

‘Though there were sometimes broken houses in the background…’

That too was close to unidentifiable debris.
While Lee Ilwoo’s contemplation continued, Kevin joined the conversation, lightly holding three bottles of beer in one hand.

“Where is it that’s making you so serious?”

Lee Ilwoo showed him only the map, not the photos of the mercenaries.

“What? Are you really planning to go there?”
“I think we’ll have to.”

Lee Ilwoo answered, looking at me.
Kevin scrunched his thick eyebrows and pointed at us alternately.

“Don’t tell me you’re going just the two of you.”
“Is it a dangerous place?”
“It’s a place where that question is trivial. I live and work with agents, so I know that much.”
“What kind of place is it?”

Kevin handed each of us a cold bottle of beer and plopped down on a single-person sofa.
And he unfolded his fingers one by one.

“First, retired soldiers who now value money more than honor. Second, money-grubbing criminal bastards.”

He held up his middle finger as if sending it somewhere and spoke.

“And finally, third. A trash mercenary group that will do anything for money, a combination of the two. Though they call themselves cleaners.”

From Kevin’s words, I could see why Lee Ilwoo had frowned at the word ‘cleaner’.

Pop!

Kevin reached for the table, lightly popped open his beer with an opener, and chugged it down.
He handed me the opener and looked at us alternately.

“So no matter how great Ilwoo is, you can’t go with just a rookie. Is there anyone who doesn’t know they only have one life? Request backup immediately.”
“We don’t have the capacity. The administration has changed. You know what that means.”
“Damn it! Why does time fly so fast? Every time the head changes, only those below suffer.”

Bang!

Kevin slammed his thick fist on the armrest of the sofa.
Kevin, who had downed half the beer in a few gulps, asked us.

“Want some help?”
“Aren’t you not supposed to be directly involved?”
“Of course, I can’t help you openly. That would be against the rules. But I can provide support.”

Lee Ilwoo looked at me as if seeking my consent.
I nodded quietly.

“Thank you, Kevin.”
“Don’t mention it!”

We readily decided to borrow the cat’s paws that resembled a bear’s.

“Boss.”

A man with a languid face and languid movements, like a predator after a big meal, turned around at the call.

“I think you need to check this.”

The man, who had been strolling through the vast casino as if it were his own territory, stopped in his tracks.
Beom Taeho, with his subordinate who had rushed over behind him, headed to a secret space in the casino.

Thump.

He sat on the sofa and tilted his head.

“Speak.”
“The mercenaries have failed. A few of them are in surgery right now, and they said their phones were gone when they woke up. It seems those men took them.”
“Hmm… and what was on them?”

Tick, tick.

Beom Taeho picked up the cigarettes and Zippo lighter on the table and slowly lit one.

“They said there was no important information.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Because we told them to leave anything important behind.”
“Hoo.”

Beom Taeho exhaled a long breath.
The hazy, white cigarette smoke briefly covered his face and then scattered.

“Clean it up before it gets noisy.”
“Yes, I will.”

Even after his subordinate left, he smoked for a long time.
Beom Taeho stood up and placed the cigarette at an angle on the turquoise ashtray, the same color as the hotel lobby.
Just as the embers from the cigarette began to fall and touch the butt, he took out a phone from his coat and long-pressed a button.

Click.

“Head, it seems things have gotten a little twisted. I’m sorry.”

The call connected, and the other person was listening.
Although no reply came back.
After a few seconds that felt like time had stopped, the other person spoke in a voice that seemed to be bestowing mercy.
The cigarette had already burned out.

[Just finish it well.]
“…I will.”
[But I hope this isn’t the last time for us.]

Even without any further words, he knew.
This was a warning that there would be no more chances.

“I will handle it cleanly, without any errors.”
[Well, I’ll trust you. This is your first mistake, after all.]

The call ended.
Beom Taeho picked up the extinguished cigarette butt and crushed the accumulated ash.

“Haa, fck…”

The result of extending one hand out in an already chaotic situation was this.

‘I shouldn’t have entrusted it to those mercenary bastards this time.’

Still, to have it turn out like this even after carefully selecting the most trustworthy ones.
If his steps were to falter here, everything he had achieved so far could crumble.
Because his Head, K, with whom he had just finished the call, was a person capable of that.