The Niece's Aunt
Da-in gently set down the tablet and answered.
"It's not that I'm angry. I'm taking this seriously. I'm not at the end of my rope, ready to throw my life away on a whim."
"Don't worry. As long as you're with me, you'll never die."
Hah, is this whole family a bunch of characters bound together by baseless confidence?
Da-in sighed, glancing between Clara and Dan, who couldn't have been less alike in appearance. Yet there was an inexplicable sense of trust between them — the kind you'd believe if you said they were family.
"Even if it's not my life, it's the same. Anyway, I'll be the one moving today. Those guys won't make it out of the airport unscathed, right?"
The men Sandra had sent were planning to enter the country using forged passports. There would inevitably be friction in the process, and their accomplices inside and outside the airport would cause disturbances. Men like that wouldn't head straight to the villa. They'd surely gather at a hideout, distribute weapons, and divide roles before moving out. And of course they wouldn't move in broad daylight — if they had any sense at all.
Clara held out her phone in front of Da-in. It was the phone Sandra had mentioned — Demon's phone.
"I've narrowed down the likely hideout locations. And here's this woman. She's Russian and a crazy white supremacist. I bet she'll be the one at the center of their operations."
Maya Skovnar.
Pale skin, silver-gray hair pulled up into a tight single ponytail. Her irises held a faint gray-green light, and one ear was folded like a dumpling. The way her trapezius muscles were tensed up — this woman's specialty was close combat.
She was the opposite of Da-in, a rapid-fire shooter.
Mercenaries didn't discriminate by gender in operations, but in one-on-one close combat, they'd rather not fight a woman if they could help it. For Da-in, that was a kind of passive advantage. For others, it was a penalty. Besides, Da-in's specialties were rapid-fire shooting and stealth infiltration. Her role was to slip in like a shadow and eliminate targets quickly — which made Maya Skovnar, strong in close combat, a troublesome opponent.
"We'll need to put Nine in a bulletproof suit."
Clara smiled wryly at Maya's photo. She was now calling her "Nine" without hesitation, but it wasn't bad.
Dan, who had been watching Da-in rub her stiff neck, added a condition.
"Open up three more yachts, Demon. Might come in handy."
"Fine. I'll leave the markings, so use them appropriately. Then we'll need to clear out the entire 34th floor of the hotel, right?"
"That sounds good."
"Whose name should we borrow..."
Clara asked a question with an obvious answer. The reason and purpose behind the men gathering in Hawaii. Naturally, there was only one name that could move them.
The alias Kwon Hee-jae used to enter the country with a forged passport was Keith Kwon.
The reservation name was decided.
"But I still don't get it. Just because they lost one business partner, gangs are moving this much?"
Dan answered the question Da-in had directed at Clara.
"The NIS only moves on national security-level matters. Mr. Kwon probably blocked the route that was supposed to go to North Korea. Or maybe he betrayed them. As evidence, all the remaining funds from Sihyang Group have been laundered through Switzerland and are flowing toward Kwon. They didn't get their payment, their route is cut off, and they're on the verge of international isolation — no wonder they're burning up with frustration."
I see.
Dan took the smoothie cup Da-in had been drinking from and, without hesitation, put the straw in his mouth. He even scolded Clara for not bringing him a drink.
Da-in sank into the hard wall-mounted sofa and stared blankly at the tablet. What kind of life had that man lived? What sins had he committed to be living such a complex and dangerous life?
That applied to her too, but whenever she thought back to their conversation at dawn, even the tiniest shred of pity vanished without a trace.
"Alright, I need to open the shop, so let's wrap this up. I'll send the weapons to Alexa. Go check on them."
Clara clapped her hands and stood up first, as if to change the mood. From the kitchen, someone responded with applause.
"Who was that again?"
It was vaguely familiar, on the tip of her tongue. At Da-in's mutter, Dan pulled out his sunglasses and extended his hand.
"My lover. Let's go, to Alexa."
The smell of doenjang-jjigae, rarely found in Hawaii, whetted appetites from morning. Drawn by the stew's aroma spreading through the villa, people gathered in the dining room. Kwon Hee-jae, who had finished his morning stretch, noticed an empty seat and asked.
"Where did the niece go?"
Seeing him with his hair neatly swept back, Park Geun-sik smiled awkwardly.
"She went to her part-time job early this morning. I'm sorry if I caused any trouble, CEO."
He checked the time. Breakfast wasn't later than usual — if anything, it was early. Lee Woo-hee had gotten up at dawn and gone straight out.
He pulled out a chair, sat down, and calmly lowered his gaze.
"It doesn't bother me. Don't worry about that."
"Thank you. She came all the way here because she wanted to do something, so I'm indebted to you in many ways."
"She's your family, isn't she? Everyone, eat."
As soon as Kwon Hee-jae's words fell, Yeon-woo was the first to scoop up a big spoonful of rice.
There weren't many days left like this, sitting across from each other at the table. Ju Seung-eon and Han Chae-a were already coordinating their return to Korea. Ju Seung-eon would leave the NIS after this Hawaii mission. Even if they let him go easily, he planned to travel through several countries for a while to launder his past records.
It was an expected farewell for him, but not for Yeon-woo. Worrying about how shocked Yeon-woo would be, Kwon Hee-jae finished his meal with food half-scooped, half-unscooped.
"Dad! Look at Yeon-woo!"
They say you don't notice the seat that's filled, but you notice the one that's empty. That was exactly it. The empty seat kept nagging at him.
After finishing his meal, he sat on a sunbed to watch Yeon-woo, who had jumped back into the water. All the parasols were open, creating shade, but they couldn't block the heat. He called Park and instructed him to install awnings over the pool as well. Park Geun-sik, who said he'd call a contractor to do the work, had never once objected to his orders. Truly, he was an astonishingly transparent person.
In that regard, Lee Woo-hee and Park Geun-sik didn't share a single similarity. No matter how distant the bloodline, shouldn't there be some resemblance?
Manager Kang approached, bringing drinks and snacks, as he watched Yeon-woo, who was getting darker by the day.
"I'm planning to prepare a therapy session in an hour. I've set up a bed in the second-floor bedroom — would that be alright?"
Kwon Hee-jae took the lime drink and smiled, his eyes crinkling behind his sunglasses.
"Stairs are nothing. But Kwon Yeon-woo, isn't he getting too sunburned? He's turning completely black."
"He gets sunburned more easily when he's in the water. He's like you — he loves the water."
"That's true. He might get sore at night, so keep a close eye on him."
"Yes, I will."
Manager Kang, standing by the water's edge, waved at Yeon-woo. Splashing and paddling while clinging to a tube, Yeon-woo came out of the water with a confident stride. Then he wrapped himself in a towel and plopped down beside Kwon Hee-jae.
Seeing him chug sour pineapple juice like he was already grown up, he felt a sudden sense of something.
"Kwon Yeon-woo, do you like it here?"
Perhaps because he had held Yeon-woo, who had woken at dawn, and shared a deep apple with him, his eyes were curving prettily with coquettishness.
"Yeah! I like it."
"Weren't you scared being alone? You came here before Dad."
"I was scared at first, but Ung-i was there. And there was an auntie, so it was okay. The auntie hugged me instead of Dad."
"Auntie?"
Wondering if he meant Manager Kang, he asked back, and Yeon-woo, looking around, nodded with a strange expression.
"The niece's auntie. Yesterday, the auntie saved Yeon-woo too."
Gulp.
The limeade shot up the wrong way, and he almost choked.
Could it be... he was calling Lee Woo-hee "auntie"?
He bit back a laugh and covered his face with one hand. Imagining Yeon-woo calling Lee Woo-hee "auntie," he couldn't stop smiling.
"...Ha, do you like that auntie?"
He asked with a cough, and the tips of Yeon-woo's ears turned red as he gripped the pineapple juice with both hands. But for some stubborn reason, he didn't answer.
"What about Rabbit Teacher?"
"Uncle said no. Teacher is going to marry Uncle and become Yeon-woo's aunt."
As expected, he answered promptly when it came to questions about Han Chae-a. Fortunately, Lee Woo-hee hadn't captured Yeon-woo's heart yet.
...Ha, what am I saying.
He looked down at Yeon-woo through his fingers, mocking his own relief.
"Yeon-woo, will you live with just Dad forever? Dad can do everything for you, you know."
He asked with a subtle hint of melancholy, and Yeon-woo, with a blank expression, beamed.
"Okay! Yeon-woo will live with Dad forever."
Then he set down his juice cup, hopped over, and nestled into his arms.
He kissed Yeon-woo's forehead and lay back. Whether it was still nice to be in Dad's arms or whether he was just being clingy — Yeon-woo, who had burrowed between his armpits, suddenly popped his head up.
Looking up at Kwon Hee-jae with dark, innocent eyes, he said shyly.
"But, Dad... Dad doesn't have a dad who hugs him like Yeon-woo does. I wish Dad had a mom who would hug him too."