TL | Chapter 29 | Security Team

In the basement level 1 of the Luciano Building, there was a shooting range. It was an unusual and rather pointless facility for a typical office building, but I shrugged it off—after all, it was the Luciano Company. I didn’t know what the rest of the basement was used for, but today I found out it was entirely taken over by the security team.

Though they were called “security guards,” most of them were actually mobsters affiliated with Luciano’s organization in the United States. Not all of them were mafia members, but some of them had such fierce looks that it made sense to keep them separated from the regular office staff upstairs, hence giving them this entire basement floor.

Min had offered to come along and introduce me, but I declined. I didn’t want to give the impression that I was completely under Min’s—more accurately, Iden’s—protection. They were technically “security guards,” but in reality, they were a bunch of mafia who determined hierarchy through strength. I knew that if I gave them a weak first impression, they’d look down on me from that point on.

Was this really going to be a first impression?

Standing in front of the door labeled “Security Team,” I took a deep breath. I might be seeing them for the first time, but it wouldn’t be the same for them. They probably knew everything about “Ha Seowon” by now.

“Don’t worry. These are the Director’s guards. They know better than anyone who you are, so they won’t act disrespectfully.”

Min had added that, probably thinking I might feel intimidated, but his words only made me more uneasy. The thought of them treating me like they treated Iden was already a bit overwhelming. Unlike the late Ha Seowon, I’d never even spoken to mafia members, except for Min. I hadn’t even had a chance to figure out who was in Luciano before “Iden” was killed.

I swiped the card key Min had given me before coming down at the system beside the entrance. The display read “Authorized,” and the door automatically slid open.

As I entered, I felt a dozen pairs of eyes instantly shift towards me, making me swallow dryly. The space inside was much larger than I had expected, with open sections set up for different kinds of training exercises. Toward the back, I could see a glass-enclosed office area.

The group gave each other silent looks when they saw me. Then, one of the men stepped forward. He extended his hand without a word. I looked down at it, deciding I had no reason to avoid it, and shook his hand.

He tightened his grip slightly. I didn’t resist or respond but simply looked at his face. After a moment, he let go with a smirk.

“Mr. Ha.”

He addressed me without introducing himself, instead scanning me up and down, as if evaluating me. It finally clicked what he was doing.

They already knew Ha Seowon. I didn’t know how or what kind of relationship they had, but they felt no need to introduce themselves to him again. But that didn’t mean they weren’t suspicious. They were still assessing me.

“Sorry, but could you start with an introduction?”

Even if they knew me, I didn’t know them. I had no choice but to ask what to call them, despite knowing they’d find it strange.

The man’s face stiffened slightly at my request for an introduction, and he exchanged looks with the others.

“Mr. Ha?”

He raised his tone at the end, almost as if questioning if I was indeed “Ha Seowon.”

“You all seem to know who I am without me needing to say it,” I replied indirectly, acknowledging, “Yes, I am Ha Seowon.” But I could still see suspicion in their eyes. Naturally, it was suspicious—I had returned from the dead with no memory of them.

“Looks like a trip to the afterlife gives you amnesia, huh? Did you drink some sort of forgetfulness tea?”

Someone muttered sarcastically from the back, and a few people chuckled. The man I had shaken hands with turned around and told them to shut up. His firm tone made the chucklers clear their throats and look away.

“Leo.”

He finally looked back at me and introduced himself as Leo. His Korean pronunciation was surprisingly perfect. With a mix of Eastern and Western features, I wondered if he was biracial.

“The other team members—you’ll get to know them over time.”

In other words, he had no intention of introducing everyone right now. Since there were about a dozen people here, it was unlikely I’d remember all their names even if they were introduced, so I didn’t push it.

“What do I need to do?”

Though I understood the basic responsibilities of security, I’d never actually been part of a mafia’s security team. That was the fundamental difference between the late “Ha Seowon” and me. Upon my question, Leo and the others’ faces twisted, as if rotting. Even Leo couldn’t hide his surprise this time.

Are you saying you want to do security work without even knowing what it entails?

That was the exact expression on his face.

“I’m not asking because I don’t know how to guard the Director. I’m asking how to cooperate with you.”

I clarified, but their reactions didn’t change much. Some even scoffed in disbelief.

“Captain, shouldn’t we test his skills first?” one of them asked Leo in English.

“Bringing in a half-baked guy could put us all in danger.”

“I don’t understand what they’re thinking. This one looks like a counterfeit no matter how you see it. The Director’s gone out of his mind, bringing in someone who only looks like him.”

The others chimed in as well.

“Watch your mouth,” Leo warned them, then looked back at me. Unfortunately, I understood every word, though I kept my expression neutral and met his gaze calmly.

I’d been learning lately that people try to find their own explanations when faced with things they can’t accept.

As for Ha Seowon, Iden seemed to mentally grasp that I was a different person, but on an emotional level, he still saw me as the same. Among everyone here, he was probably the most conflicted, though he never showed it. He might have seemed rational, but perhaps he was the most emotional when it came to “Ha Seowon.”

On the other hand, Jian outright rejected Ha Seowon’s death. Though she attended his funeral, she hadn’t witnessed his death firsthand. To her, it was as if he’d never died—just pretended to for some unknown reason.

The security team here, however, had likely been with Iden all along, meaning they had witnessed Ha Seowon’s death. They didn’t deny his death itself but rather denied my existence. To them, it seemed Iden had found someone resembling Ha Seowon as a replacement.

“If verification’s necessary, let’s do it. Where do I start?”

I responded in English on purpose. The ones who had spoken up earlier stiffened, seemingly worried I’d relay their words to Iden. And I realized again just how much they were underestimating me. They were visibly rattled by a few words in English. Surely the late Ha Seowon had been fluent in English too.

Leo gave me a long, scrutinizing look, as if asking if I was really up for it. Without adding anything else, I held his gaze, and he finally smirked slightly.

“Aiden.”

He called out to one of the men behind him.

“You take him on.”

The man called Aiden stepped forward, grinning at me before rushing in without warning. I turned my body slightly to dodge his fist and ducked down, moving toward his torso. Instead of landing a punch, I grabbed his waist and used his momentum to flip him over. With a heavy thud, Aiden hit the ground, and the others’ faces froze.

“Asher.”

Leo called another name. This time, the man who stepped forward pulled out a jackknife just slightly longer than his palm, its sharp blade glinting under the light—clearly not a training knife.

The jackknife came hurtling toward my face at high speed. Before it could make contact, I grabbed his arm with both hands and stopped him, sweeping his knee with my leg. Asher, who’d been focusing all his strength on his knife hand, lost his balance and stumbled. But he didn’t give up, trying next to slash at my abdomen. I narrowly dodged, grabbed his arm, and twisted it behind his back. With a grunt, Asher dropped the jackknife to the floor.

“Need anything more?”

I asked Leo, letting go of Asher’s arm. Leo grinned and shook his head.