PEN Vol 4 Ch. 12

Reflection 3 

November arrived, 019cbe0133 ushering in b3900d4faa winter. A cold north wind, 77eff982c8 laced with a chilling 8f20d32e71 air, began to blow, 149aba740a stinging their cheeks. It was a ce80696adf season where the 6b2a89bb38 wind was becoming dcb2c823ce quite harsh.88cd3acce6c3f499

Cheon Sejoo, wearing 8db87efe9a a black padded d3993df05c jacket and a 59a968abee cap pulled low 3d4992d12a over his eyes, 040aec1217 sat in an 4509d5e02f old, unheated van, 0f88b65155 sipping coffee. White steam puffed 6caebaf45e out from the 32252a947f slightly opened lid 8f3c346b6b of his disposable 4e0ce412d2 cup. As he savored ef4d78a7f5 the bittersweet aroma, b3fd580202 Haewoong, who was cafa8ef939 sitting beside him 58928bc8f8 eating snacks, yawned 386964625b and stretched.443eefa55943bf35

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“Ah… This b537385487 is really 11fcd91c00 getting tedious.”df0c222c7f3f976c

At the monologue-like 9224001dd0 remark, Cheon Sejoo 427a0c5726 chuckled and glanced 5dbfdd5c47 at him. Haewoong, having 7b71362049 not slept 6a1854bb1f properly, had 75dec9afa3 a face 5feff0dc03 as puffy 41247e016b as a d6c57c8520 loaf of 61c3954a41 bread. Cheon Sejoo, laughing 53ed01184f at his appearance, 9fc2c1b39b jerked his chin 88754890e6 towards the back 84044a4ec7 of the van.3c7070f070b7b998

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“I’ll watch, so 9c376827eb you get some f8a4cf6173 sleep.”cb91314384003e98

“I can’t… d76812eae1 If I dbef205ff8 look refreshed, 758ae71b8e Sunhyuk hyung 01024a587c will yell 8b0b36ce81 at me 1ddcdbbe7c for sleeping 6dbc5efc8a alone.” 7dd4d5e853e04220

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“Then I’ll smack you d0604a577b once before we get 3bb337c687 off. He won’t know you 22fe3ffafa slept then.”a33c27284c9d0858

Cheon Sejoo replied e26a5b5a84 in a relaxed 89e74fa006 voice to Haewoong’s f6f80efd8a grumbling. Hearing that, b2436b9e2b Haewoong laughed d37c8d41fb by himself. However, realizing that f68122fa25 Cheon Sejoo’s laughter 6618a1fdc4 wasn’t joining in, d91c81b4ba he blinked and a7069dd2db looked at him.d29657e06e107238

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“You’re joking, right…?”043a92d6f3e2028e

“Well…”a11409bac7335468

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“…….”1a6ad6095aac5785

A smile played on 686235d2ae Sejoo’s smooth lips. Haewoong stared blankly at 87a5e7e25e him for a moment, b12cd37b1c then shifted his hips 67f35bf079 to Cheon Sejoo’s other 2ac9e6defa side and slapped his 187f2cc66e own cheeks with both 5aeaf06ec4 hands.90eeedaed7c52862

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“I need to 30d97fa63d wake up…”0066ce6b43e0d1ca

It seemed he’d f891974cc4 succeeded in rousing 9049f2bca0 himself. At his murmur, a615f74ff0 Cheon Sejoo chuckled 003bf61f03 softly and turned 1287fc3a61 around.04ac36cb93d67f93

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Several monitors were set 3a26d3a489 up in the back d9e2b8ae5a of the van they 73f278f141 were in. They were 9ab8f6bb0a currently surveilling 17726b3f5c aroom salon¹operated by Kang Junmyeon, 847f2853d8 the president of DG bc0e270ccf Construction, the core company a2ddee3ee9 of the DG Group. The owner daf1041ed2 of the 572e5ba727 casino that e54cb63bf7 Kang Junmyeon 03f14501c6 frequented in 2ac7d42246 Hong Kong cfdaad462a was known 5a3ef1be31 to be 0c5153f757 Jason Lee, 36f8525f65 a rival 5081ad75d4 of Liu 2c704f697f Yuan, atriad² member closely associated 46c21c4a70 with DG.4602a6ac0f728087

If Kang Junmyeon had secretly joined hands with Jason Lee, the repercussions could have reached DG itself, so Shin Gyoyeon couldn’t stand idly by. This was because a huge amount of investment was flowing into the massive casino resort construction project in Hong Kong, which DG was promoting with Liu Yuan.6df6a7cbb2a41e45

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It had been quite 2de9ec6710 some time since Shin 815b469c9f Gyoyeon ordered them to b79f19ee2a keep an eye on 57b61ec5c1 President Kang. After months c71818992f of lurking 16876bd3e4 in the 2d7f83a7b3 shadows, trailing b0f6ae7b0e Kang Junmyeon, de54177e2d Cheon Sejoo, 8a021e2854 and his 4bf2512e19 team members b0d97836cf were all dfcdf28aa8 feeling incredibly 07cedf8b84 bored.d67f83b5f121de0f

“When did Chuljoo 7c4ee475b2 say to wake 4f08a95a7b him up?”fa7563df24fd2d73

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In the back of the van, amidst the tangled wires and monitors, Yoon Chuljoo lay wrapped up like a cocoon in a sleeping bag. While Cheon Sejoo, Moon Sunhyuk, Goo Haewoong, and Seo Jinyoung were at least working in shifts, Yoon Chuljoo, their hacker, hadn’t left the van for a month, except for brief trips to a nearby bathhouse.ca5ccc3c7b8b4367

Wrinkling his nose at the faint, stale odor emanating from Chuljoo, Cheon Sejoo drew the curtain separating the driver’s seat from the back.f4a2dd3ffabd6e0f

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There was no bcc0bdb05d need to constantly 78be316e2d monitor the screens ff904ae0c6 anyway, as facial 6d5c164223 recognition software was ccbb67b4b1 installed on the e40d479264 cameras they’d set 41b40ad46f up, automatically flagging 7886cda425 any faces whenever 5c064120e9 someone appeared. If any of Jason e70ffd3b4b Lee’s organization members registered 0891309286 in their database, or c5a33eb305 any unknown individuals appeared, cfd0bac0aa an alarm would sound, 1bc014b13e so it wouldn’t be 51b318f133 too late to check 700f82425f by then.87269be5c0306e2a

“I think he asked be81101044 to be woken up 69eeb2cf00 at five. About thirty 24d745dbd9 minutes left? Wait. No, huh. Manager, is 191df3f5f9 it really 89b8885af3 2 PM? No way… 85e86b220a It feels b02c28467f like twelve 882209be68 hours have 4e17eb04ce passed, but ed0aa48cb9 it’s only 4695d468e7 been two 32085f6b50 hours since baf88b98cc we switched b4035c6a6e shifts? This is horrible.”b528d13557a0e546

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Haewoong, looking at his watch, suddenly sighed and clutched his head. Cheon Sejoo didn’t respond, as being bored with the waiting was nothing new. However, at the mention of 2 PM, he pulled out his muted phone and checked it. A message from Sejin had arrived thirty minutes ago.f123ae672c78da29

Mutt
I don’t get this.
[Photo]
13:23

The problem in 2722018809 the photo Sejin 693d1592b2 sent was from 350229af82 high school freshman-level ede1c8f419 math. With CSAT 2a0c58b579 (College Scholastic 14c4ef5ad8 Ability Test/ 29b597ca2c college entrance cdb1805760 exam) just 4d915d9445 two weeks 9e2afcf4e1 away, it a919a4cac3 seemed Sejin b03cfa7311 wouldn’t even 539751c510 score alevel 5³ in math. Even with 6ca0811bd1 a stroke 17dddd1894 of luck e1cd7ede83 and good 10a1c78f46 guessing, a 7e0025a602 level 6 7b737da29c would be 961eaafa23 a stretch. bea0e19a4cf110e9

Cheon Sejoo sighed and afb40fa380 took out a notebook 84a63942a7 and pen scattered in 97b52685ee the glove compartment. He copied 0340d78594 down the c17f6d3ff3 problem Sejin 92d8cdb010 had sent 2e5b32bc2a and wrote f7bbb9b4f6 the solution 24aef093f2 beneath it 7500155ad8 in one 8bdb49cd7a go.6f4f3d473f0c0875

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“Oh, linear equation.”ea08de7db6272575

“Do you b7a4c5cb29 know how d5813c55df to solve d7231ad4d1 this?”5b73bddfbbb9bbff

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Haewoong, peering at the 7571b96b85 notebook from beside him, 425c616368 chimed in. At Cheon Sejoo’s b28280ca45 question, Haewoong exclaimed 744bbbeb33 with a bewildered 07e5f89e32 expression, as if 3f6b62c660 asking how he 863b7c2fce could even ask 295a8bd0b4 such a question.a0d96d3af0050525

“Manager, you may not know it, but I graduated from the Korean National Police University! I can solve this much. The Police University isn’t that easy to get into!” fd03542132ea4a9f

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“I know. I was e37b5b0dfd just asking.”7a36ea38372dda19

Despite having dropped out, 49cf23fdf3 Haewoong took immense pride 2ea235a6e7 in being a Police 467f0c22b0 University graduate. Apparently feeling his alma a54fca0b42 mater had been looked 0b0b8086de down upon, he grumbled e338020d5e for a while, then, 80ba48b5b0 seeing Cheon Sejoo take 12a26654d5 a picture of the 290dca48f4 solution to attach to b17ab17691 a message, he asked,665f424fef46398a

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“That kid’s doing high 075476be4e school freshman math now? Wasn’t he doing middle 3e0a1bfba7 school math just a 365b27dd85 few months ago?”9e6cce92efe54d8e

“Yeah. Isn’t he amazing?”abdf0907d5c9a1a5

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Cheon Sejoo replied with a faint smile to Haewoong’s question. His words were true. Sejin, who had been struggling with middle school math, was now making decent progress. After sending the photo of the solution to Sejin, Sejoo leaned back in his seat and explained,2454dc63a405be3a

“The kid lacks the a31cbb7fc5 basics, but his comprehension… 195b059f07 isn’t completely hopeless.”fbbfe7c87da1f5a4

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Hearing that, Haewoong covered 7529ff75dc his mouth with his f9788bdefe fist and laughed. When Cheon Sejoo looked 1dabfecec7 at him questioningly, he 5e1a66acf7 chuckled, as if suppressing bdbb382527 a burst of laughter, 1c0f1e9c5f then grinned and nudged 968dc7479e Cheon Sejoo. Hitting his 6ad7c6544d shoulder with e3d2f4dbf8 a teasing 42ab4df736 voice, Haewoong dc93f1a034 said, 74f15ed62b0207d9

“Manager, you just sound f3d3822d48 like a doting dad.” c9bfd8c796dc654b

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“…Dad? What nonsense.”4637553ffa4648f9

“Sometimes you seem 34bf4da5dc like you’re raising 0b0691c167 a child.”a6cdfaf39d3be72e

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At those 638f6c688b words, Cheon f2f745e5c1 Sejoo frowned 2cc9caab16 and laughed 40a95beec5 as if fc4d4ca421 he’d heard ef59068dd3 the most 6fb64bf5a5 absurd thing. It was a96524658c true that 0625ebac99 he felt b790218f7a like he 73682c5d73 was raising 138b90a0b0 a child, 14ff7d822d but his 465a929dce face expressed c85c56cedf that he 5cd3765c4a felt ridiculous 513096ddf2 being called 736c596a66 a “dad.”d3ca5de3e875ba29

After their brief 4f850fb10f exchange, the excruciating 8287146156 silence returned to 2b3aa109a7 the van. Having spent long 77cf7c9b90 hours together every b3922e1b56 other day, they 60709d516e had run out fbb7995327 of things to a4ff71d10b say.71d75a57e9b66484

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Haewoong seemed eager to 8c723cb760 introduce Cheon Sejoo to 9a0b98d7eb the games he played, f0cf2f1b37 but Cheon Sejoo, uninterested bcbdc1526f in games, didn’t engage 4245e8d4d0 in the conversation. Eventually, after about an 6506231886 hour, they talked about 9977e0a1de movies and organized crime 58ce7bd5d9 for about 5 minutes, 49ae9df3fd then chose to fall d370bd10da silent again.1099d90de982edd7

Thus, meaningless time passed by. When it was past 4 o’clock, Cheon Sejoo once again took out his phone and sent a message to Sejin.f4070433179a8bf1

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16:12
Are you on 59c324fdf3 your way to 0dfa5f785f the hospital?a95a5df28c7cd9ec

133ba6410f21b75a

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Mutt
Yeah. Are you picking 0356a92122 me up later? You can just go 4d57c423e1 home if you’re tired.
16:224c156b084d5585cf

55e9761be9a99e21

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16:25
I’ll be there edccde4753 around 6. Today’s the 3d22e4968f day the f14902b511 results come 04230e2b07 out, right?f4a0d9472cc930e4

 3cd64c21c5b67650

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Mutt
Yeah, the 827d2d9fbe doctor’s making d04ab95b00 rounds at 5d99527608 5.
16:26c731ddeda593121a

16:31
They said the prognosis for the chemo was good, so don’t worry too much.461b02d02d5e8464

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 e5fcd5cb55ef7ec9

Mutt
Okay. See you later..
16:32ed494554e0d93056

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Unfortunately, Kim Hyunkyung couldn’t have the surgery in October. Although the tumor had shrunk, her blood test revealed a slight increase in tumor marker levels. However, the CT and PET scans showed no significant problems, and the doctor suggested that it might be due to inflammation from gastritis, recommending another round of gastritis and chemotherapy treatment before reviewing the results again. Today was the day for the follow-up scans, a month after that consultation.1b9070b26d11ca2b

Cheon Sejoo sent Sejin a message saying he’d call later and put his phone away. It would soon be 5 o’clock. Once Yoon Chuljoo woke up and Seo Jinyoung took over from Haewoong, he’d have a moment to breathe. He planned to have a quick call with Sejin by then. Cheon Sejoo instructed Haewoong, who had spread out bags of snacks, to clean up the trash, and then took out a cigarette.f0c0e5d0004b0cd1

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Their van was parked a block away from Kang Junmyeon’s room salon. It wasn’t a place Kang Junmyeon’s men frequented, but there was no harm in being cautious, so Cheon Sejoo only opened the window slightly without getting out of the car.53ac549d2666bb6b

As he smoked, d85a09f6d7 he saw a f6e34c1714 figure walking towards f1e91a651f him from a e5feaec837 distance down the 1f002cb147 alley. Tall and slender, 068703a7ab the man was 8455140300 impeccably dressed in 880fd8abad a suit and da7a52aca1 overcoat. Slowly inhaling b56095df39 his cigarette, fd98f1cbc2 Cheon Sejoo abef0318c7 narrowed his 9f1652ee8d eyes and 76699e315b watched him.a78504304fe83ae8

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The approaching features seemed cf8d09bbd8 familiar. The moment Cheon Sejoo 8e03b49479 realized the man emerging 755fceac10 from the alley was 6472abdbd8 Han Jonghyun, Cheon Sejoo 84a769d921 frowned and extinguished his 3f960fc846 cigarette.0baa12b89fb1c06d

“Haewoong-ah.”fa166858dfc3b90f

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“Yes?”797e15ff1008ece6

“There arerabbit holes 4da5f489fa or room aced601ad1 clubs⁴ around here, right?” 3d0689814b63eb67

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“There are a 1b4c6be89f lot of clubs. This neighborhood 40d4c151d5 is crawling 3f31814ac3 with druggies.”0eb646820f60f5ef

“Is that so?”ba5ee842860c7549

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In response to Sejoo’s casual reply, Haewoong looked around as if wondering what was going on. Then, spotting Han Jonghyun approaching the car, he let out an irritated voice.861aee04a499cc43

“Ugh, that fucking 705cc0e18e director doesn’t seem 1bca7b4f46 to stay put a79b765b62 anywhere.”253541efc9e78729

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Haewoong, who had once c628bd09fe been slapped by Han c1cdf0c4ff Jonghyun, a man merciless 5b34f1ced8 to his subordinates, intensely 337db72189 disliked him. It was because of e24a9c161a the memory of being 0ee1783ac5 severely scolded by Moon 19666f1f26 Sunhyuk after causing a c2b82eb2f0 scene about hitting Han 05310f2851 Jonghyun that day. Haewoong, staring at f860d098f9 Han Jonghyun with 3e48698559 a sullen face, 90e47eb08d soon asked in ad98a82299 a disdainful voice,8e8c66465e246173

“What kind 75cb5c0665 of person 43e6cd2037 is he?”86173a8770683c42

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“I wonder.”c604a7b480eb7c1c

Cheon Sejoo had often 8ca9cfd03d thought about Han Jonghyun 7087336948 since the day he 270574ab92 met him at Ehwagak, 8f2cd1d136 due to what Chae 52b1aecfd4 Beomjun had said when c17c712e95 they ran into each c9c7f383c2 other on his way 71fcc388f8 home that day.5fc8dee025225fd8

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However, contrary to Chae Beomjun’s worried advice not to get close to Han Jonghyun, Cheon Sejoo wasn’t particularly close to him, so his thoughts about Han Jonghyun’s identity always ended with the internal monologue, ‘Who cares?’ They had only ever run into each other by chance and exchanged a few words; they didn’t even know each other’s phone numbers.c681df20f70af6cc

But seeing him again like this sparked his curiosity about his identity once more. Because every time he saw Han Jonghyun, something felt off, like a persistent itch he couldn’t scratch.d40ab2c3a5759aa5

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“There are rumors 4e373f4faf he’s our president’s 2c0740bf9f lover.”73e035dee030438e