Not Bad 8
Lee Da-in had lived a life far from peaceful all her life. She'd always been the one chasing someone—or being chased—and there had been a gun within arm's reach the entire time.
But that didn't mean she had lived without any rest. While her other colleagues could return home to their families after earning vacation time, Da-in was locked away inside the house and hadn't stepped outside even once.
She wasn't afraid of some enemy's retaliation, nor was she afraid of being watched. She simply couldn't stand noise.
That's why, ever since she joined Valentine Corporation, she'd rented a tiny apartment on the outskirts of Brooklyn in New York State. Whenever she had no missions, she just stayed there, trapped like this.
She didn't even want to go back to Korea.
In the first place, during school she'd only been active in the shooting club, so she never had any chance to hang out with her friends, and the senior-junior relationships weren't exactly great.
She had just started school when she suddenly climbed to the top of the seniors' heads. Unintended jealousy had followed her along then, too.
Back then she hadn't minded. But as the years passed, she began to regret how she'd turned into a prickly little hedgehog.
And the moment she set foot in Korea, the faces of her cousins—those who had somehow hunted her down and demanded explanations about her grandfather's inheritance—were more annoying than anything else.
They had even stolen the savings she'd scraped together for her grandfather's old-age pension. What was left for them to pester her about?
The thought had crossed her mind that they wanted whatever was buried under the guardian tree, but she'd ignored it.
Even if she did reclaim that house, she didn't want to disturb the tree filled with memories of her grandfather.
“Um… you're shorter than the average kid, huh?”
Lee Da-in sat under the parasol and asked Kwon Yeon-woo, who was splashing around in the pool with a thud and a splash.
Manager Kang, who had sipped her warm coffee even in the summer heat, let out a soft chuckle.
“Kids grow up fast like that.”
“Yeah…”
If she had said something like “Of course, he's just like Mr. Kwon,” she would have almost slipped up.
The little boy in the watermelon-patterned tube drifting lazily on the water looked adorable. Even someone who didn't normally like kids like her kept glancing at him, strangely cute and somehow irritating at the same time.
Was it because of his face?
If that was true, then she had no right to be a babysitter. She was a dangerous person, after all. A threat. But whatever.
Still, Da-in found this kind of peace not bad at all.
Surveillance cameras were installed everywhere, and she couldn't even use electronic devices, but her heart felt at ease instead.
Watching the child splash about with such enthusiasm, she suddenly sensed someone rushing toward her with fierce momentum.
She had been staring at the client, so she couldn't pull her eyes away. She shot upright and dashed out from under the parasol.
She had left the gun in the room, so if something dangerous burst out, she had to stop it with her own body. The instant her body tensed with adrenaline, a plop! sound rang out.
A golden retriever with glossy fur came bouncing out with a wide grin, jumped once, and dove straight into the swimming pool.
Splash! Water exploded in a big spray with the impact.
“Ung-a!”
“Woof!”
Was the dog really that good at swimming?
Dripping wet up to her thighs, Da-in stood at the pool's edge and stared blankly at the two of them. No, one child and one dog.
The boy tossed the watermelon tube aside, grabbed the dog's scruff, and climbed on like a pro. He clung to the dog almost like it was a tube, and he laughed brighter than he ever had before.
“Ah, that's Ung-i's first time. They say a stray dog gave birth around here. They had four puppies, but they sent three to adoption and decided to keep Ung-i at the villa. The mom dog is being looked after at Park's house.”
“Ah… how old is it?”
“Not even a year yet, right? She got her shots, but her condition wasn't great, so we let her rest near the mom. She seems to be doing better now.”
As soon as Manager Kang finished speaking, Park Geun-sik appeared, leash in hand, getting out of the car and approaching. He shook his head while looking at Ung-i in the water. Clearly exhausted from being pulled around by such a big dog.
“I'm getting old, but that kid gets stronger every day. Sigh.”
“Sorry for the trouble.”
Manager Kang patted the seat beside her with a chuckle. Da-in turned away from the joyful Yeon-woo and the dog she'd just met.
With two guardians now, it was time for her to do her own work.
“Uncle, rest up. It’ll be a while until Miss Lu arrives, so I’ll do the first-floor cleaning.”
“Oh, then I’ll trouble you. My knees are creaking just walking with that one.”
Park Geun-sik grimaced and sat down. Manager Kang smiled gently as she handed him a drink, saying he had worked hard.
Da-in chose Manager Kang as the person she had to be most vigilant about in this place. The composed demeanor of a middle-aged woman in her late forties suited the title of manager perfectly.
Manager Kang would be in charge of what kind of work? Since information gathering wasn't her specialty, she would need headquarters' cooperation to learn her background.
“Um, I used up all the hotspots, so… Uncle, would you mind telling me the Wi-Fi password?”
Park Geun-sik opened his eyes wide in surprise at Da-in's teasing question.
“Oh, there's no Wi-Fi here. Everything's connected by cable, right?”
Park Geun-sik asked Manager Kang. Who had been quietly watching Yeon-woo and Ung-i, Manager Kang looked up at Da-in.
“There's exactly one Wi-Fi signal, and it's for the representative's exclusive use. You can't use it. For internet, I'll have you connect a LAN cable.”
Somehow, there was only one Wi-Fi signal in this vast place.
Da-in's plan to climb to the second floor under the pretext of checking the Wi-Fi signal failed. She couldn't stubbornly insist when it was clearly marked as the representative's exclusive line.
“Thank you very much.”
Da-in thought she would need to buy a laptop and bowed, then headed inside.
Before the cleaning team led by Miss Lu arrived, she began cleaning the first floor while slowly pushing the vacuum cleaner.
Anyway, this place was overly safe. She would have to stay on high alert once they left the villa and find out what would happen, but here it felt like heaven.
She opened the door to Yeon-woo's room. Since the toys and even the bed sheets were neatly organized, all she had to do was dust and run the vacuum.
Every single one of Yeon-woo's rooms had surveillance cameras installed.
Manager Kang's room across the hall was the same. Her personal belongings consisted of only a few cosmetics and some clothes, so cleaning her room took no time at all.
After sweating profusely for over an hour, Da-in returned to her room, stripped off her clothes, and headed into the bathroom.
In the only blind spot—the bathroom—she lifted the toilet lid and took out the bug detector she had hidden there.
When she powered it on, the machine emitted a loud, erratic reaction with interference waves crackling everywhere. It confirmed a listening device was present.
Who on earth controlled this house to be so suspicious?
Da-in turned on the shower and checked the messages that had arrived.
Two messages from headquarters, disguised as spam, and one from Dan stood out.
- Ala Wai Boat Harbor, Alexa 71
***
The lights in the villa went out.
The hotels along the beach were preparing for parties one by one, but the night came early to the villa.
Da-in wore leggings and a tank top, laced up her sneakers, and slipped her phone into a wrist holder.
Manager Kang, who had prepared everything perfectly, asked with an odd expression.
“Running in this weather?”
“Ah, yes. I can't sleep, so… I have insomnia since I took a leave from school, and it's gotten worse lately. I'll just run and come back. Is that okay?”
“The door is managed by security anyway, so don't worry about waking the kids. And be careful. Even if the security is good, night is night.”
“Don't worry. I brought a self-defense whistle.”
Smiling brightly, she hung the fluorescent whistle around her neck. Manager Kang still looked worried as she saw Da-in off.
She wasn't going to do anything bad, but that strange gaze was nagging at her. Like a hawk, she thought. It felt like every action was being monitored. Da-in found herself a little uncomfortable with Manager Kang.
But she didn't seem like a bad person…
Anyway, having finished her exaggerated stretches, she waved to Manager Kang and ran down the slope.
The watch on her wrist showed her pulse rising quickly. She had been living too comfortably, so she was already sweating after a short run.
Leaving the luxurious villa area, she entered a restaurant filled with locals.
「Pau Hana」
It was a local eatery with a neon sign that cleverly mixed palm trees and shrimp.
The moment she appeared, the woman behind the counter gestured toward the kitchen.
Da-in met the eyes of the woman with her hair neatly tied back and entered the kitchen. The kitchen was designed like a long corridor. Five cooks focused intently on their work without even glancing at her.
She crossed the kitchen following the coordinates on her watch. The man in his thirties cutting fish heads and peeling shrimp shells gave her a look toward the right-side refrigerator door.
When she opened the large refrigerator door, the shelves were full of ingredients kept at low temperature. And on the opposite side, another door. When she smiled, the man showed his white teeth and raised his thumb.
She passed through the walk-in freezer that looked like it could freeze flesh solid, opened the door, and stepped outside.
This was the intermediate base of Valentine in Hawaii.
“Insane.”
Da-in spotted the motorcycles lined up with keys in them.
From Honda to Ducati, and even a Harley-Davidson was among them. A new BMW model was also prepared. It was truly a motorcyclists' paradise.
Da-in's heart pounded.
But after long deliberation, she chose the scooter that could be found anywhere—an Italian model.
The flashy high-output bikes tempted her, but she couldn't drive them with the appearance she was putting on. She didn't want to attract the gaze of tourists looking for Waikiki.
She started the scooter's engine, pulled the helmet down over her head, and sighed.
She didn't forget the sad parting words: Well, see you again.