The Villa on the Mountain
The in-flight meal was no different from the one in economy class, but Hawaii felt cooler than expected. The time difference made the headache worse as she retraced the day at the immigration checkpoint. Rubbing her temples, Da-in passed through the final gate.
During her mercenary work, she had visited quite a few countries, but most C-class missions involved only standard protection duties. The clients were business executives or celebrities visiting overseas, or occasionally even criminals.
They hired mercenaries precisely when visiting places with poor security. Hawaii, with its excellent security, heavy tourist traffic, and famous landmarks, would normally not require mercenary protection at all.
Unless the target was an Interpol-wanted drug dealer.
She had just stepped out of the airport and was walking toward the parking lot when a voice called out.
“Here.”
Dan reappeared exactly when the scan was complete, snatched her duffel bag, and tossed it into the rear seat of the massive pickup truck.
Da-in had decided to accept Dan as a team member. Team up with Dan Sneyer meant the mission was extremely dangerous, but it also meant he would keep her alive no matter what happened.
When performing a mission in a place you’ve never been before, you should always pair up with the strongest person possible.
That way you could survive more bullets and live longer.
She was about to climb into the driver’s seat when he grabbed her shoulder and pointed toward the passenger side with his chin.
“I’ll drive.”
If he was driving, then she was happy to sit in the passenger seat.
Da-in got in with a light heart. Dan slid into the driver’s seat and handed her a safety envelope.
No need to open it right away. A fake passport for disguise, a phone, and the folder containing the new identity details.
Da-in dialed Korea. The moment the line connected, Yoon Tae-jung’s voice—thick with sleep—came through immediately.
[Name: Lee Woo-hee. A distant relative of the villa manager Park Geun-sik, Kwon Hee-jae’s. She studied hard and passed the bar exam, but she needs money, so she took a leave of absence and came to Hawaii to work part-time at a hotel. But she got scammed at her part-time job? In that kind of situation, her aunt contacted Park Geun-sik and asked him to look after her. Don’t worry, since you don’t know each other’s faces.]
The car shot forward like Dan’s personality. After swallowing a curse, Da-in buckled her seatbelt and only opened the envelope after the conversation ended.
“Is this AI phishing? They’re doing voice phishing scams at headquarters these days?”
[Can’t say it’s not. But since she made it all the way to Hawaii, maybe the proposal impressed her?]
“You shouldn’t have let that Dangsan Tree story slip.”
[You tried every trick in the book to contact Kwon Hee-jae. You did everything to make the impossible possible. Kwon Hee-jae is in a really bad state right now. It’s not the image you remember.]
What kind of nonsense was that? Not the image she remembered.
[So try to keep her close. And isn’t this a way less dangerous mission than you think? We only barely managed to fit it into C-class, so don’t get complacent in Hawaii…!]
Click.
Da-in hung up before Yoon Tae-jung could finish. She flashed a wide grin that made dimples appear on both cheeks. Complacency? No way.
Ever since she learned the mission involved Kwon Hee-jae and the Sihyang Group, she had thought about him every single minute.
Even while her grandfather coughed weakly, she had smiled at that irritating face.
Now she was about to meet him soon.
“Why do you look so happy all of a sudden?”
Da-in calmly turned the question back.
“Is this Waikiki Beach?”
“Hawaii is your first time?”
“Yes. It seemed so famous I was excited, but the beach is pretty ordinary.”
“Target is a fairly famous person in Korea, right? Did you not know?”
“I didn’t. That’s all the information headquarters sent.”
Even though she said it in a deadpan tone, interest gradually crept into Da-in’s eyes as she stared out the window. She opened the window to feel the breeze and asked.
“There’s something I’m curious about. Why is the target doing identity laundering? Did he commit some capital crime?”
“For the child.”
“The child? The wife?”
“No wife. Didn’t you read the report? It says he’s unmarried.”
If there’s a child but no wife, the answer is simple. At the very least, he’s not the kind of trash who abandoned his kid to survive.
Because of past resentment, the heavy feeling in her chest lightened a little when she learned the target was a child.
“We’re almost there. Do you need weapons to control the kid?”
“No, it should be used only in the opposite case.”
Da-in opened the hidden drawer under the passenger console the way someone who already knew it would. As expected, it held quite a variety of pistols. She picked up the Glock 19 and asked.
“I don’t see a .23, do I?”
“There isn’t one.”
“You like old-school guns, huh?”
“Call it standard. Don’t clean your gear too fast.”
She bit her lip out of habit, then pulled out and checked the chambered round before running her fingers over the slide and the grip.
Watching Dan personally manage his firearms, Da-in felt good seeing a weapon that looked brand-new for the first time in a long time.
“Since these are my personal items, use them cleanly and bring them back. Don’t throw them anywhere.”
“I’ll try. And guns can’t be too precious. They might get eaten by the gun.”
“What kind of ghost-sprinkled nonsense is that?”
“I’ll handle it properly, though.”
Da-in stuffed the gun into the duffel bag on the backseat and hid it tightly. She didn’t know Park Geun-sik’s personality, but she didn’t want any chance of the guns being discovered.
Because of that newly found hope, Da-in’s expression lightened noticeably.
How long had they been driving? A view that didn’t match her expectations began to unfold.
She had assumed a villa would be on the beach, but the car turned off the coastal road and entered a narrow path leading up the mountain.
Kwon Hee-jae’s villa wasn’t on the beach at all—it was at the very peak of the mountain. Surrounded by forest like a fortress, it sat in a spot where the entire Waikiki city could be seen from one glance.
It was a little disappointing to be farther from the beach, but isolation made the mission easier to handle.
Kwon Hee-jae was a fugitive.
The NIS was not a protector; it was a surveillance and takedown agency. So no matter who the client was, it seemed they wanted her to deceive both Kwon Hee-jae and the NIS.
Dan stopped the car in front of an enormous gate that looked like prison bars.
“Here?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s huge.”
“Hawaii always builds expensive homes on the mountain tops.”
The…
Da-in glanced outside once, then stepped out of the car and grabbed the duffel bag. Dan lowered his window and rested his arm on the frame, watching her steadily.
“But Da-in. Do you notice how similar my name and yours sound?”
Da-in frowned at the sudden question and shook her head.
“Not at all. Thank you for driving me.”
“I’ll see you again soon.”
He laughed dryly, turned the car around, and drove down the road. Only after Dan’s vehicle completely disappeared did Da-in press the doorbell on the massive gate.
The long bell rang and echoed through the huge garden into the building.
“Uncle, it’s me. Woo-hee.”
Da-in held her face to the camera and smiled brightly as she greeted him. From now on, she was the twenty-six-year-old law-school dropout living at 26 Samgong-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul.
With a heavy rumble, the enormous iron gate began to slide open.
Walking inside with the feeling of entering a lie-detection machine, Da-in stepped forward.
* * *
“Here. You’ll be staying here.”
Park Geun-sik led Da-in to the room she would use. The villa gave off the feel of a luxurious California beach house.
The building’s shape, the distant view of the ocean, and the pastoral garden with a couple of pools. It looked like it had been built with money alone, yet the hand of many people was clearly visible.
“I imposed too much on you, but I’m grateful you accepted. I’ll start looking for another job immediately.”
Da-in quickly sketched the floor plan of the first floor in her head. Unfortunately, Kwon Yeon-woo’s room was on the opposite side, facing Manager Kang’s room.
To reach the child’s room, they would have to pass the central hall and the living room. The sensors would light up, and the three cameras watching the living room would follow her every move.
So how would she approach them? Well, maybe she could just run into the child’s face every day?
Standing by the sunlit window, Da-in saw the edge of the main pool and cream-colored parasols lined up.
The house was completely different from the image of Kwon Hee-jae she had seen in the media. It didn’t suit his arrogant, soft, and cozy vibe at all.
While quietly studying Da-in’s back, Park Geun-sik patted her shoulder with a sigh.
“Don’t get too discouraged. Everyone makes mistakes and fails when they’re young. How can you run if you can’t even walk? You have to fail a lot before success becomes sweet. Don’t blame yourself.”
Da-in was momentarily speechless by the unexpected words of comfort. Park Geun-sik’s consolation was meant for the real Lee Woo-hee—the genuine one who lived in Seoul and passed the bar exam.
But the comfort she received came from the fake person right here.
In the future, would Park Geun-sik discover that everything he comforted was a lie? Would he suffer betrayal when he learned?
Da-in turned to Park Geun-sik and bowed her head with an awkward expression.
“Thank you.”
“Family should help each other. Ah, and since your aunt asked me for help, I’ve been thinking. While I slowly manage the villa, could you teach me some English?”
“English? Who…?”
Da-in blinked her eyes even though she knew, pretending she didn’t. It was then. The car-arrival notification chimed on her phone. Park Geun-sik waved her out.
The moment she saw the young boy leaping out of the luxury SUV that had just arrived, a difficult mission prediction arose in her mind.
The boy was an exact copy of her father, blinking his large eyes as he looked up at her. He was a child who resembled Kwon Hee-jae so much it was unnerving.
Treating her like air, the boy ran to Park Geun-sik.
Not looking at her, not even seeming pleased.
“Grandpa!”
He was eight years old, right? The ‘miserable eight-year-old’ had appeared before her eyes.