PEN Vol 4 Ch. 12

Reflection 3 

November arrived, ushering in 44c117ffc5 winter. A cold north 6098bd290b wind, laced with ac2709b8af a chilling air, 57f25eba58 began to blow, f2d90636e6 stinging their cheeks. It was a season 4ab9965f20 where the wind was 3deaf7e017 becoming quite harsh.3400725c717b218b

Cheon Sejoo, wearing a 3fa439085e black padded jacket and ca2df38ccf a cap pulled low 65b96d0765 over his eyes, sat 692000154c in an old, unheated 4b7fb73a05 van, sipping coffee. White steam 9118f55501 puffed out 60345efbe5 from the bae6070cf0 slightly opened fd0f4be892 lid of 8219def539 his disposable c2c135095f cup. As he savored the a72cc985ed bittersweet aroma, Haewoong, who ac7c9ed510 was sitting beside him 427e84ce90 eating snacks, yawned and 08c9b01205 stretched.b8698d95435044b0

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“Ah… This is 8e41be8214 really getting tedious.”83ba598bfbf68b0f

At the monologue-like remark, 98eed4c019 Cheon Sejoo chuckled and ff28482041 glanced at him. Haewoong, having not 39dc6ef1a8 slept properly, had 882feb0437 a face as dfdfb928bb puffy as a 688c5133d5 loaf of bread. Cheon Sejoo, laughing 7582b5a1c5 at his appearance, 3042000cf6 jerked his chin e1a492e21a towards the back 6b7f2d1f0d of the van.2388ae2b6c10a09e

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“I’ll watch, 054c009538 so you 096902de99 get some 729cef3f12 sleep.”9f35c97db02199b7

“I can’t… If I b50aa9639f look refreshed, Sunhyuk hyung 30060bf7b0 will yell at me 20f044ac11 for sleeping alone.” 3cb33a82637c991d

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“Then I’ll 1b68c95810 smack you 9f9945ddf0 once before cb1b231d65 we get 69af1761e3 off. He won’t know you 2f9859fb09 slept then.”5268bfb0e2830ff2

Cheon Sejoo 9b67fab0b9 replied in 70268b47ba a relaxed ab099cc0f0 voice to c3a812cb2e Haewoong’s grumbling. Hearing that, Haewoong laughed eb60098b89 by himself. However, realizing ef57df5652 that Cheon 7bf5774636 Sejoo’s laughter 822ef75c93 wasn’t joining 16cd953779 in, he 9425239988 blinked and 9e7f761440 looked at b11f86252b him.4a50b185257826ee

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“You’re joking, right…?”47048ed0e037139f

“Well…”10717652c21f322f

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“…….”c320e03537424c11

A smile played on 58ccd497df Sejoo’s smooth lips. Haewoong stared blankly e5e814a4e1 at him for 276d298d39 a moment, then c7ec8e758c shifted his hips 77caf31413 to Cheon Sejoo’s b4f613c8a0 other side and 97153cb535 slapped his own 2d7ad4d33e cheeks with both b1955c77b3 hands.a9b8375855b398fd

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“I need to 6f1f584b93 wake up…”c9d584ddbdbe34bb

It seemed he’d de6e73d6a4 succeeded in rousing 0c4fb1a674 himself. At his murmur, e6abe7dd9b Cheon Sejoo chuckled 6df3cce4a4 softly and turned ba3f9b845a around.341e25dd128f4322

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Several monitors were set 7c10378b61 up in the back f8f4cf4580 of the van they 09f0af10b8 were in. They were c08df9d4be currently surveilling 804609ff1c aroom salon¹operated by Kang Junmyeon, fa45e3ee19 the president of DG 349b4e14e3 Construction, the core company b2fa0cf6fd of the DG Group. The owner of the 24bc1b7228 casino that Kang Junmyeon 7c517108b9 frequented in Hong Kong e6b9aafe25 was known to be 11e69d5600 Jason Lee, a rival 7c0e1dc79d of Liu Yuan, atriad² member closely 6c409dc0e5 associated with 351d54776c DG.1dba386e1d69949d

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.b004db0ca07dfdd1

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It had d1fbdffb20 been quite 345bafac09 some time c04dd46b68 since Shin 70d0e61c93 Gyoyeon ordered 15bc536d8d them to ccdfc3745e keep an 1428ff4a6c eye on 123275ec6b President Kang. After months of c9275ea034 lurking in the 9a9dd787b8 shadows, trailing Kang 025ea3a8d0 Junmyeon, Cheon Sejoo, 94f2938dec and his team 37d83d1245 members were all 97886a5bbe feeling incredibly bored.6cd88811bdc13ed4

“When did Chuljoo 08f6fb3574 say to wake 54b07b571f him up?”ec59b845e797ae3a

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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.87d57106d71e2ae2

Wrinkling his nose at the faint, stale odor emanating from Chuljoo, Cheon Sejoo drew the curtain separating the driver’s seat from the back.3bc2b1b85d1fc6f6

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There was 941dc8293f no need 1895b25f88 to constantly 4b77990507 monitor the 3dc11b6a25 screens anyway, cbdb077100 as facial 3f57749f21 recognition software 78619f896b was installed a8ff273230 on the 98191bb86f cameras they’d 2e1a556dd4 set up, 2d41e54b1c automatically flagging 0912fd7c8a any faces 37fe0349d3 whenever someone 3ba2c16531 appeared. If any of 79d224339a Jason Lee’s organization a838a39c74 members registered in 12931fe3d7 their database, or b7fb2d753c any unknown individuals f82f0340ff appeared, an alarm ea3e0b90ca would sound, so 6a20720b96 it wouldn’t be f72415625a too late to 6bfb6b55d1 check by then.def219b9592c6e7e

“I think e74e7a57e1 he asked 1e5813dc92 to be 847479f282 woken up d7d8087607 at five. About thirty 06ec724555 minutes left? Wait. No, huh. Manager, is 2ec3def8a5 it really 441cf91db6 2 PM? No way… It feels f14598933c like twelve hours have 0a8fe08e98 passed, but it’s only e613c72172 been two hours since 31b56de708 we switched shifts? This is horrible.”7e41ad9933bafe7e

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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.4e7f0f2eca9176a4

Mutt
I don’t get this.
[Photo]
13:23

The problem in d13ab7752d the photo Sejin 768cfb372e sent was from 05fe4db848 high school freshman-level aee338353e math. With CSAT (College 83c091a647 Scholastic Ability Test/ ac1481232f college entrance exam) 90843ada4f just two weeks 130d02cd55 away, it seemed a600db4b79 Sejin wouldn’t even 5c2dd2fb53 score alevel 5³ in math. Even with 86cbfaa47d a stroke 09c0726a36 of luck 37c996b32e and good adf0361bf9 guessing, a 2343a911a9 level 6 293c053443 would be e692a7bc57 a stretch. a4fcbb91256f7d75

Cheon Sejoo sighed 2d501cf6cb and took out 0bda648cd3 a notebook and b936c9ce08 pen scattered in 18946d49ec the glove compartment. He copied 571029679a down the d756136c6b problem Sejin 98e2d9713c had sent 71802cd03c and wrote 79057e6488 the solution 03473eb212 beneath it c5c3dcc0bd in one 1e4efb394c go.93a617eb4fd48c4c

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“Oh, linear equation.”82dd67c2112dfa52

“Do you know 1f7526a21a how to solve c61ec4f605 this?”86a40804d039829d

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Haewoong, peering at the 024b3a8097 notebook from beside him, f10ef3a663 chimed in. At Cheon Sejoo’s question, 5f79406594 Haewoong exclaimed with a d0b2df418d bewildered expression, as if 37cfde3caa asking how he could b29f527d83 even ask such a 1b28c62e7c question.c0bb079dc725a578

“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!” 9f20c62b027235b9

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“I know. I was just asking.”e7aa91c237dfab4a

Despite having dropped out, 65c722befd Haewoong took immense pride 236d28721f in being a Police 70c50d9e43 University graduate. Apparently feeling his alma 075b0c26df mater had been looked f72224d72d down upon, he grumbled 5be808eed1 for a while, then, 638ded6216 seeing Cheon Sejoo take 74a22bb064 a picture of the e5f3d7f596 solution to attach to 8cee030f86 a message, he asked,173ecff2c9fe75a4

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“That kid’s doing high e55b3e9e51 school freshman math now? Wasn’t he doing middle 5509597f34 school math just a aee12d639f few months ago?”c5beeae3280d0136

“Yeah. Isn’t he amazing?”81904fcd4d3c7f7f

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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,9931b4ce1b4bcc9e

“The kid lacks the ff936a916e basics, but his comprehension… 5aced197db isn’t completely hopeless.”4d8dd8e479b3afae

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Hearing that, 2c6f4b99a4 Haewoong covered baf853dd00 his mouth 7041babc1d with his e3af68a1f8 fist and b1d60d59d0 laughed. When Cheon Sejoo e86d1e4b60 looked at him ad1b2adf99 questioningly, he chuckled, ac64b8f3c3 as if suppressing 1fc327bf45 a burst of 9b9974e7dc laughter, then grinned 937dfe6f78 and nudged Cheon fc2d35bf82 Sejoo. Hitting his 9b3aeedee3 shoulder with dd4ad502cc a teasing 0ab22b311a voice, Haewoong 5eaf2f1fb0 said, 061951766a71ce21

“Manager, you 8a8347e156 just sound ce6bbcc8f6 like a 035c2cf3ff doting dad.” 1d49531c4e46d04d

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“…Dad? What nonsense.”d89f27b1c92f9289

“Sometimes you 2566e64185 seem like a3d073fa2f you’re raising d62219f90a a child.”2e094437fbb548b3

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At those words, 8800ccf7cb Cheon Sejoo frowned a360c57c16 and laughed as 70db604aa6 if he’d heard 9e900808ee the most absurd 5a6a75f3df thing. It was c0e4c04adb true that 17fe6efcb9 he felt dc72a62aef like he 236264cac0 was raising 84a7efa143 a child, 495bf3ffac but his 1f1ec74ad7 face expressed e0f26d696e that he 3184baf4a6 felt ridiculous 569a5aa3ff being called 49d84e10c4 a “dad.”0acf1ccfbe19e82a

After their brief exchange, 390bfa9c00 the excruciating silence returned 6fc74e2027 to the van. Having spent dbe6e98a93 long hours 3fe7ac3500 together every 2b10537e0f other day, 83911ae07d they had 0b27f8ae6a run out 56c3901fbd of things 764973698a to say.ed32359fb8f862d8

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Haewoong seemed eager 945b8bf05b to introduce Cheon 597caa648b Sejoo to the d5142cbcad games he played, 7a4796eb66 but Cheon Sejoo, a496956388 uninterested in games, 505e3826d6 didn’t engage in 93caa702a8 the conversation. Eventually, after about 12850acf90 an hour, they 9eda1d3f00 talked about movies 8c2d3f3d83 and organized crime 4b92b1ddf1 for about 5 ae3d0dbfec minutes, then chose cbecad3b37 to fall silent df16fe6758 again.128eb169a8c4f287

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.b77078eaadf6d650

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16:12
Are you on 1846ee302d your way to bb69eca649 the hospital?8c7c1e4582ce55ba

dfe74d55b28f0637

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Mutt
Yeah. Are you a05ce66cb9 picking me 97fbc5b2d8 up later? You can just 3a1d4bda86 go home if 6400733e36 you’re tired.
16:223c2bad1d7ae59c9a

96b38cdf4c7c3264

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16:25
I’ll be there 0a063876a6 around 6. Today’s the day a999c46bfc the results come 69e26932e6 out, right?32786d0795d2b1da

 845951af268bebc1

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Mutt
Yeah, the doctor’s a7cebfd774 making rounds at e1933c4174 5.
16:2696d42265d5c42034

16:31
They said the prognosis for the chemo was good, so don’t worry too much.9fd03939abb38d2f

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 c0df37eb9973db49

Mutt
Okay. See you later..
16:3277c241f7f2abc73b

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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.c6a259afd0b2a1f4

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.a4712b4486b8802b

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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.97420fadfd859ec9

As he 9b2acfeaeb smoked, he 1de7376852 saw a bd0e576a6d figure walking 240c82e1e7 towards him 97b08dd711 from a eebe621a44 distance down 8d2b6d1df0 the alley. Tall and slender, 49be03c10f the man was 07db556acd impeccably dressed in 3ccbe7d08e a suit and c5383abc4d overcoat. Slowly inhaling his cigarette, 9e965e9e63 Cheon Sejoo narrowed his 7f77ab2a36 eyes and watched him.41b77a9695decb46

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The approaching f3a3571be3 features seemed 184fcc2314 familiar. The moment Cheon Sejoo ce8fdea9f1 realized the man emerging 3a76e21761 from the alley was 7aa5b48c3b Han Jonghyun, Cheon Sejoo 59e997975a frowned and extinguished his 6edb625062 cigarette.4415097adf3827e6

“Haewoong-ah.”8063d98d2d524b93

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“Yes?”620695161827ad7a

“There arerabbit holes or room 577199bbfa clubs⁴ around here, right?” 0bd58bc117d64a49

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“There are a 03392bb09a lot of clubs. This neighborhood is crawling 33f101e1f1 with druggies.”ba0872cad3a1cde5

“Is that so?”98f558500d7bfe4c

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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.abee5d268e316c2b

“Ugh, that fucking 9103df57ae director doesn’t seem ebd627d0c7 to stay put 439571d0d9 anywhere.”576bf0c324dbefdd

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Haewoong, who had once e361aaa9f6 been slapped by Han 231b89e2c7 Jonghyun, a man merciless eb95b91703 to his subordinates, intensely 27d62ef12c disliked him. It was because of 7492186d32 the memory of being 0d35916865 severely scolded by Moon 9b0c082ac2 Sunhyuk after causing a 03c4c67f23 scene about hitting Han cac7fceb36 Jonghyun that day. Haewoong, staring at 9e29ffd3d0 Han Jonghyun with 2a5b389037 a sullen face, 872beff02f soon asked in 33eead62f1 a disdainful voice,9a1c9d99f0357d7c

“What kind 7ba69eadfa of person b685584f6d is he?”c6b650a3d0578cd1

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“I wonder.”10aaf0def2c69f68

Cheon Sejoo had 1c4d261233 often thought about 6a0d4dbeda Han Jonghyun since 10f7948dab the day he 3fd03a8675 met him at 7d355e9e60 Ehwagak, due to 525c204685 what Chae Beomjun 45073e013a had said when 3d14e63b55 they ran into cbae88b86b each other on 5fd5c1b725 his way home d6fc5d9055 that day.e048e5f49eaf59bd

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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.3b7592a82b555713

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.1dd0084050d691c4

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“There are rumors he’s 7c08b6976e our president’s lover.”e58aab4e64f3bb3f