Not Bad - Chapter 10
Lee Woo-hee! Today the owner of this villa is arriving. Representative Kwon, you know, because of his leg issue, he’ll be staying in the room at the end of the first floor. Originally he was supposed to use the second floor, but I didn’t think of that.
Maybe because I’ve been staying here and eating well and sleeping well, the tension in my chest is finally loosening. Just as I’m about to feel that peace, Park Geun-sik handed me a mop and a vacuum cleaner.
The villa was loud and bustling.
Local workers were moving the furniture from the second floor down to the first. The room Kwon Hee-jae would be staying in just happened to be at the very end of the corridor in the direction where she lived.
Probably the biggest room on the first floor, right?
Da-in was already curious about where Kwon Hee-jae would be staying, so she smiled brightly and walked into the open door of the room.
People were moving a massive marble table and arranging the bed sheets. In the bathroom, products suited to his taste were laid out, and others were sorting the clothes taken from boxes into the closet.
And right there, Manager Kang was walking around with a small machine, observing everyone.
Da-in recognized the bug detector in Manager Kang’s hand and suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.
“Oh, Miss Lee Woo-hee.”
Da-in approached Manager Kang with polite manners. Recently, Kwon Yeon-woo had been calling her to his room every night to hand her a book. She was probably trying to recruit her as a book reader, but that wasn’t possible.
Soon, whenever she read one book, she’d have to coax her into studying English.
“You slept in Yeon-woo’s room yesterday too, didn’t you? Sleeping in a chair like that must be uncomfortable, right?”
Manager Kang asked without taking her eyes off the workers.
“I don’t mind moving the bed. I have a terrible habit of sleeping restlessly.”
Manager Kang smiled, her eyes widening at Da-in’s energetic reply.
“If it’s hard, you can refuse. Yeon-woo is a child who’s been left by a lot of people. He has trauma from forming relationships only to have them cut off forcibly. Well, it’s something he’ll have to overcome… but Miss Lee Woo-hee will be returning to school soon, right?”
Was she feeling abandoned?
Did she think it was a wound to be rejected by the adults who showered her with love only to vanish overnight?
Then Da-in understood Yeon-woo’s attitude right now. The one who would despise his partner for just the fact of being abandoned, even if he hadn’t been loved, was herself.
“I’ll be careful. I won’t be able to visit often. My thoughts were too short.”
“Thank you. Ah, have you heard? The representative is coming. But he has companions with him. They’ll be staying in a separate villa at the back, so you must never step into that direction. You understand, right?”
“Ah, yes. Then the cleaning too?”
“Yes. You don’t need to worry about the cleaning either.”
Da-in suspected Manager Kang might be an agent from the National Intelligence Service. The title of manager, the natural way she handled the device, and the meticulous boundaries she drew all made her seem that way.
Da-in vowed not to turn her head toward the villa direction and plugged in the vacuum cleaner’s cord.
After finishing the cleaning, she played in the water with Yeon-woo and dried the soaked fur of Ung-i.
Looking at her body covered entirely in Ung-i’s fur, Yeon-woo burst into laughter.
She made a tiger roar, and Ung-i wagged its tail in response while Yeon-woo ran away.
Something inside her chest prickled.
* * *
Uncle! I have two overtime shifts today, so I’ll be late. You should sleep first.
Now when she saw Park Geun-sik’s face, the word “uncle” came out naturally. Today he looked particularly frazzled, so he saw her off with a worried expression.
“Is the chair uncomfortable today? It’s fine. The people are nice.”
“No. One of the friends I work with today caught gastroenteritis, so I’m covering for her.”
“Woo-hee, don’t overdo it. You said you weren’t sleeping well.”
“I’m fine, I’m sleeping perfectly well.”
She laughed lightly and slung a small backpack over her shoulder.
From morning, Yeon-woo had been staring blankly at the news that his dad was coming. It looked both joyful and like he was holding back tears.
Today, Dawn, Ung-i’s mother, had even come to the villa. Holding two big dogs and reading the book Da-in had made, it was impressive.
She was still just a kid, but when she saw her like that, she felt like watching an adult.
Da-in rode the bicycle she had claimed she bought at a used market and left the villa.
She didn’t want to run into the National Intelligence Service people either. Black was a scary enough name; it was weird that he would show his face, but it also meant he was confident in his skills, which was even scarier.
In short, she was terrified. She must never cross paths with ghosts like that.
Shaking from the chill, Da-in opened the link to the message sent from headquarters last time.
GPS signal appeared immediately, forming coordinates. A voice came through the earphone in her ear: “Turn left seven meters ahead.”
Da-in pulled her hat low, took a deep breath, and steered the bicycle in the direction the voice indicated.
“Turn right two blocks ahead.”
“Go straight three hundred meters.”
She didn’t need a real road. She maneuvered freely between trees and arrived after riding for a while at a church that looked properly built.
Gasping for air, she opened the water bottle she had brought and popped the lid. The door she had locked opened with a creak.
A local man in priest’s clothes spotted Da-in and bowed.
“The villa…”
Even AI phishing was nothing compared to this sacrilege.
Shaking her head, Da-in handed her bicycle to the man she thought was a pastor and went inside.
The man was hiding her bicycle with skill that wasn’t ordinary.
From behind the back of a man seated on the pew facing the altar, only the nape of his neck was visible. From the hair color and broad shoulders, it was clearly Dan Sneyer.
Da-in walked down the center aisle, sat in the seat opposite Dan with a thud, and groaned.
“Here? Middle outpost.”
“Yeah, surveillance tower. And you call this a safe spot for the terrified Lee Da-in?”
“Haha, thank you for the thoughtfulness. It makes me tear up.”
After catching her breath, Da-in stood up. Dan, who had also risen, took the lead. A fresh body-cleanser scent drifted from him. He never smelled like smoke, which was strangely odd.
His face looked like the type who would like decadent things.
Without anyone telling them, they opened the door on the left of the altar. A narrow staircase leading to the roof appeared. When she received the message from headquarters, she had already known what this place was for.
Climbing the stairs quickly, they reached a tower with an open view all around. Leaning against the arched frame, Da-in let out a sigh of admiration at the breathtaking view.
Why had she never tried to go up high before? She could have seen it if she went out behind the villa, but that place was forbidden to her.
The turquoise sea of the South Pacific spread out before her eyes. As Da-in stared blankly, Dan’s face suddenly appeared right in front of her.
So close she could reach out and touch him. Startled, she pulled her head back, and he frowned.
“I knew it was you.”
“I’m not crying. Why would I cry?”
“You just looked like it.”
Then he pulled out a large duffel bag and a bag holding a sniper rifle hidden inside the tower.
“He’s arriving soon. Use the telescope there.”
“Why the sniper rifle?”
“If anyone’s tailing him, eliminate them. I was hired for that.”
“Tailing?”
“I told you. KING won’t just let him go.”
Da-in took out only the telescope and closed the bag without hesitation. In the past she would have spent time admiring the gun inside, but today she didn’t feel like it.
Was it the wind? Leaning against the arch, Da-in cooled the sweat between her hair strands while gazing into the distance.
Soon Dan, who had finished assembling the telescope, looked through the sight and adjusted the angle. The sky began to turn red as sunset started. A voice came through the earphone.
[Arrival, three minutes ago.]
They nodded at each other and prepared their stance. Da-in focused the electronic telescope. At three minutes from the villa, they were likely climbing the hill. At an average speed of fifty kilometers per hour, the position was naturally estimated.
Through the focused telescope, a large SUV belonging to the third generation appeared. One of them had Kwon Hee-jae inside.
As darkness deepened, the lights of the cars automatically turned on. Right behind the third-generation vehicle speeding toward the villa without hesitation, a motorcycle at high speed appeared.
What was that?
Da-in narrowed her brows and raised her hand. Dan, who received the signal, followed the motorcycle’s movement route. Despite the enormous distance, Dan Sneyer was precise like a monster.
The gate of the villa opened with a creak. Cars sped through the barred gate without braking once and entered. The moment the last car entered, the motorcycle’s speed slowed, and something flashed inside it.
It was a silenced pistol. Da-in, with narrowed eyes, timed her raised hand to lower it. At the same moment, Dan pulled the trigger.
One point eight seconds after pulling the trigger. A bullet precisely pierced the helmet, and the enemy’s head exploded.
The motorcycle, unable to stop, shot forward. The man clutching the gun floated up into the air and fell to the ground.
Dan immediately reloaded. Da-in scanned the surroundings. He hadn’t gone out of his way alone to target Kwon Hee-jae.
But no trailing traces could be found anywhere. Da-in turned and looked into the villa.
People got out of the cars one by one. A man in jeans and a short-sleeve shirt and a slender woman from a distance. And Kwon Hee-jae, leaning on a cane.
The moment she recognized him, her heart began pounding loudly even though she had only seen his back.
Yeon-woo, who had been stacking blocks with the two dogs, spotted Kwon Hee-jae and ran over screaming, hugging him.
Da-in let out a long breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. Seeing the child cry, her heart felt heavy.
So she turned her angle slightly and made eye contact with someone. A man with his hand in his pocket and head tilted sideways had found her exactly.
Black hair and eyes of an odd color. The moment he saw the man holding the hand of the woman accompanying him, Da-in dropped the telescope onto her lap.
“…We made eye contact. Black.”
Her whole body’s fur stood on end like a startled long cat.