Chapter 3 (2/2)
“As you say, Master” He looked up at her balcony one last time before he left for then
It was true that he wasn’tin immediately After all, he was a man on a mission
And he had sos to take care of
The sun setting over Seoul was a beautiful scene to watch But Ki into a new house and e about him was a lie, except his name
He was standing in front of the door of his new apartled with the lock She was all over hiet rid of her
He had wontedly arrived hours after Jia had arrived, so that she won’t s fishy He had spent all the tie
Tired with standing outside the door, he tried to take the key fro, “No, no, dear, it’s alright! I will do it”
He gave her a cold stare, before wrenching his araze He couldn’t bear being touched since last year, since her
She sta the door, without a backward glance
He walked in alone and locked the door behind hilance at all the appliances provided in the apartents use undercover, already in place Somebody must have taken care of all of it even before he arrived
Then he collapsed on the couch, and turned on the TV, h channels He finally stopped at old re-runs of City Hunter starring Lee Min-ho and Park Min-young His fingers played with the chain around his neck
The phone in the roonored it, absorbed in the show
The alar shrilly, and X’s ent Kim, I advise you to answer your phone The Director is on the other end of the line”
Joon sed, “What if I don’t?”
He turned back to the TV Seconds later, the TV went blank This time, X’s voice came from the TV’s speakers, and his polite tone felt like insult to the injury, as he said, “Agent Kim, as you have already seen thethe Director’s calls, I hope you’ve cultivated enough sense to choose the right path”
He cursed and turned to anshen the phone rang again
“Since when have you used your resources to hack into innocent Agents’ TVs?” he denantly, as soon as he answered
“Fronored the Call of Duty,” answered his father
“Isn’t it unlawful or so like that?”
“Not when it comes to Duty”
“You and your Duty You should have married Duty instead ofyou my father”
“Some of us care more about our country than others,” snapped his father
“Sure, you do But at the expense of the country
“This again?” asked his father, finally sounding tired, “Why are you so keen on rehashi+ng that incident? Can’t you just forget it as a freak mishap and leave it?”
“Nope! And don’t you dare pass it off as a mishap”
“Fine, then Back to work,” his father said, curtly, “Are you safely installed at your location?”
“Yup, I am And what is my charade this time?”
“You are a first year student pursuing a Bachelor’s in Ethical Hacking in Seoul School of Computer Sciences”
Joon coughed and spluttered, “Are you kidding me? I would do better as Jia’s Professor than as her classmate!”
“Perhaps, yes But then, a Professor can’t always be as close to a student as much a classmate can”
He made a face, as his father continued, “Don’t worry! I have thought through it all I have talked to the School’s Director, and he has agreed to help us in our mission Your cover story is that you lost your entire family sans your kid brother in an accident as a sopho hard to feed yourself and your hapless brother Now that the boy has found a job, you feel that you ought to catch up on your education So, boo with kids who are almost seven years junior to you!”
“Yeah, it all sounds so convincing!” he said, sarcastically, “I can feel tears in my eyes”
“If you have a better cover story, please feel free to disclose it to me”
“I am still inclined to the Professor-student relationshi+p”
“That won’t take you very far”
“I can’t pull this off I haven’t been to a norht years!”
“You’re working undercover If the situation deht to adapt yourself to any role Or have you forgotten your training?”
“I aent Not an actor”
“Jia’s life is in danger”
“You’re hardly worthy to even utter her name”
“This isn’t about who is worth to do what This is about her life”
Joon sighed in defeat What else could he do, after all? His father was using his one weakness to punch hiut and to use him like a puppet
“Alright I’m a student then”
He could almost hear his father’s sphinx-like smile, as he said, “I knew that you would accept”
“I know” Only because you stripped me off my choices
As soon as the call ended, the TV show resumed exactly where it disappeared But he was not in a rily Then he walked over and opened the refrigerator, to find a can of Red Bull
He walked outside to the balcony, and stood there sipping the drink fro the sun dip below the horizon
As another day ca up to hih which he had to wade His fingers involuntarily tightened on the chain
And he knew that the only saving grace in his life is the girl called Lee Jia