Chapter 201. New Yet Familiar
Inside the pension, there was an ongoing discussion about how to return home after finishing tomorrow's filming.
"Won't it melt a bit when it's daytime?"
"No. If we're going to leave, morning would be better. It's better to leave while the snow is still fresh and before it turns into ice."
"That won't work. The slope ahead is quite steep, if the back wheels slide sideways while going down, it'll be a major accident."
PD Joo Hyun-seok, who had been listening to the staff, spoke up.
"Setting aside the staff's schedule, have you checked the actors' schedules?"
"Seo Ji-eun has a variety show recording in the afternoon, Son Jin-yuk has a magazine interview, and Ryu Yeon-woo has a theater performance in the evening."
The PD nodded heavily at the staff member's words.
"We'll have to find a way to leave somehow..."
Just then, there was a loud noise from outside.
Thud─.
Clank─.
The staff went outside at the sound of something heavy being put down and chains clanking.
"Yeon-woo?"
At the pension entrance was Yeon-woo, dusting snow off his shoulders after putting down a white sack on the ground.
As the staff showed interest in the bag Yeon-woo had brought, he acted naturally.
"We shouldn't have any problems leaving tomorrow, right?"
"...Pardon?"
To the PD who questioned him, Yeon-woo opened the sack and showed the snow chains inside.
"Where did you get these?"
"I went to a farm behind here and they said they had some they weren't using, so I bought them."
"Eh? When you say farm, which direction is it...?"
Yeon-woo shrugged his shoulders as if unsure and shook his head with an innocent expression.
"Well, it was dark so I'm not sure which direction. I went out for some exercise and met a local resident who said they had these tractor chains they weren't using, so I paid full price for them."
In truth, it wasn't a local resident but Han Hae-woon from Seoul.
The staff had no choice but to nod at his logical explanation.
What could they say? That's what he said.
They just seemed happy that their problem had suddenly been solved.
"Wow, you saved us. A tractor... Why didn't we think to look around the area? I was getting a headache thinking about what to do about the actors' schedules tomorrow."
Yeon-woo had the same headache.
After all, he was the actual owner of the agency managing those schedules.
'Even delivering a single set of snow chains requires this much explanation.'
He couldn't exactly say he'd received an emergency supply drop via military drone.
He had no choice but to make up this crude excuse.
However, it was true that he had looked around the nearby farms during break time before it got dark.
'I was hoping to borrow some calcium chloride and fertilizer spreaders for tomorrow's snow removal...'
Perhaps due to the cold weather, there was no one to be found at the nearby farms.
Leaving the pleased staff behind, Yeon-woo went up to the second floor.
Entering an empty room, Yeon-woo pulled out an envelope from his chest.
The snow chains were just a side errand; Han Hae-woon had trudged through the snow to deliver a report.
Even with secure messengers using foreign servers, one of the definite lessons Yeon-woo learned in his previous life was that there is no perfect security once information becomes digital.
'The most perfect security is in one's head.'
Yeon-woo quickly committed the contents of the report to memory.
Then he immediately went outside and threw it into the drum barrel used for burning firewood next to the pension.
The report was quickly consumed by flames.
While he was out, he sat on a nearby log bench and gazed into the fire, lost in thought.
'I see Baek Sol also maintained security in the most perfect way.'
Killing to silence.
The most certain way to prevent information from leaking out.
Though it wasn't yet confirmed whether agent 'Gold' had been dealt with, he had a good sense of it after examining the contents of the report.
The relationship between the Black Society and Baek Sol was like their names - black and white - entities that couldn't mix.
'From Baek Sol's perspective, they'd want to erase any trace of conflict with the Black Society.'
It wasn't because they were afraid of the Black Society.
Even just considering Taiwan's Black Society, it was divided into three factions.
China's Black Society was divided into even more branches, so Baek Sol's power wouldn't be inferior compared to just one of them.
'But the problem is that when one of them starts having issues with an outside force, they might be at each other's throats one moment but suddenly unite to create a common enemy.'
That's how these divided factions managed to survive.
That's why it could be interpreted that Baek Sol wanted to eliminate any trace of conflict with the Black Society, their main supplier of 'drugs'.
'They probably figured Gold, with his shattered knee, might harbor other grudges against Baek Sol's measures. That's likely why they dealt with him.'
If Baek Sol decided to abandon Gold, they would start erasing all traces and connections below him.
In other words, those under Gold's management were now like kites with cut strings.
'James Choi, Byun Hak-gyu of Plus Ten, and veteran actor Jung Tae-soon.'
All their connections to Baek Sol had been severed.
It wasn't that they had left them alone because they were unaware of their corruption and dirty dealings.
They had been waiting for the right timing, knowing that if Baek Sol sensed a mysterious force attacking them, they would likely hide even more thoroughly.
'After returning to Seoul and investigating more thoroughly, I'll start with Jung Tae-soon.'
The time had come to restore Ahn Jun-ho's honor.
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**
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The next morning, all filming was completed, and thanks to the snow chains, the bus carrying the production crew safely made it down the hill.
Before his small theater performance, Yeon-woo stopped by home.
"Whew, it's only been a day but somehow it feels like I've been gone for days."
For Yeon-woo, who had lived an uneventful life just lurking in jungles and deserts and shooting guns, the variety show games were far too challenging.
"This is rough, so rough. Maybe I should take a break."
Yeon-woo went into his workroom and began combining and breaking down various pieces of information based on the report in his head.
After examining and checking various things for a while, Yeon-woo tilted his head.
"Hmm? Why is this like this? On the other hand, there's nothing much about Gold."
Beep─.
Speaking into the microphone attached to his headset, Yeon-woo began:
"I've checked all immigration records up until today, but there's no one suspicious who could be 'Gold.'"
"Yes... I cross-checked with the agents too, but found nothing."
Hearing Han Hae-woon's voice through the headset, Yeon-woo nodded.
"What about the information obtained through Baek Noya? Is there a possibility he left the country through illegal entry?"
"Nothing there either."
"There are no smuggling routes in Korea that could evade Baek Noya's eyes."
"Then that means..."
Yeon-woo continued:
"He doesn't exist in this world anymore. In the end, a bad guy took care of another bad guy."
"I wonder why the members inside Baek Sol remain loyal when they're being discarded like this?"
"Huh?"
When Yeon-woo asked back, Han Hae-woon continued:
"I've always wondered. Though I shouldn't say this as a former agent, but in spy movies, the villains stay loyal even as they're being shot to death. Back then, I'd smirk thinking that the NIS wasn't like that, but looking at these guys now, they're exactly like that."
"Hmm."
At Han Hae-woon's words, Yeon-woo stroked his chin and thought for a moment.
Then suddenly, two stories came to mind.
One was from the content of a script that Joo-hyung, who dreamed of becoming a playwright, had written in an empty lecture hall at Korea University.
"Two things come to mind. First, someone once said that when black things start gathering, at some point they start insisting they're gray, and eventually they begin brainwashing themselves into thinking they're white."
"Hmm... What's the second?"
Yeon-woo grinned and said:
"As an operative, you probably know this well too. The words of Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Minister of Propaganda."
At Yeon-woo's words, Han Hae-woon spoke:
"'Propaganda can be made with one sentence, but it takes dozens of pages of documents and evidence to refute it. And by the time you refute it, the propaganda has already done its work.' I see. So there must be some among those working under Baek Sol who believe they're on the side of justice."
Quietly nodding at Han Hae-woon's words, Yeon-woo spoke:
"That's right too. But I was thinking of a different quote."
"What is it?"
"A lie is rejected at first, then doubted, but when it continues, it eventually becomes gospel."
It was not only their method of controlling organization members, but also how they had used veteran actor Jung Tae-soon to send Ahn Jun-ho to his downfall.
"It's about time to take care of Jung Tae-soon."
"The materials are ready. The Speaker has been asking for work too."
The Speaker referred to journalist Oh Seung-hwan, whom Yeon-woo and Han Hae-woon had on a leash.
"One Speaker won't be enough going forward. Since Baek Sol's influence in Korea extends throughout all sectors of society, we need to gradually throw out some bait and increase the number of journalists we can mobilize."
"Understood. I'll compile a list after screening suitable journalists."
Nodding his head, Yeon-woo continued:
"But while cross-checking immigration records to find Gold's departure status, I noticed something peculiar..."
"Something peculiar?"
The person uncovered while backtracking and investigating the Ahn Jun-ho case.
Agent Ha Ju-ran, disguised as Ministry of Culture Assistant Minister 'Jung Chan-sook'.
The name that was in the secret information purchased using the Lichtenberg Library in Berlin.
Kim Gye-sik, who handled overseas supply for Baek Sol.
And Agent Gold, who was recently discovered while pursuing James Choi and is now presumed dead.
So far, these were the three main Baek Sol figures whose identities had been confirmed.
Among them, Gold was presumed dead.
"While looking at Ha Ju-ran and Kim Gye-sik's past immigration records, I found some curiously overlapping movements. Their movements keep intersecting in Okinawa. Though their stays were only for a day or two."
"Okinawa. Understood. I'll investigate that area as well."
'There must be something in Okinawa.'
Yeon-woo's instincts were strongly pointing to Okinawa.
"I should wrap up today's work here. I need to head to Daehangno soon for the performance."
"There aren't many performances left now, right?"
"Yeah. Three left. Among the three people who came to the theater last time, which one is your sister-in-law?"
Hearing Yeon-woo's question, Han Hae-woon's flustered voice came through.
"When did you notice all that?"
"From when they came in. So who is it?"
"Haha... Who else? The prettiest one among them."
At Han Hae-woon's words, Yeon-woo smirked.
"I'm heading out."
"Yes, Team Leader."
Taking off his headset, Yeon-woo left home for his performance.
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**
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And several hours later.
After finishing the play "Mirror" and coming up to the office, Yeon-woo had a missed call.
'Hm? It's CEO Jung-hyuk.'
Ring ring─.
"Oh, Yeon-woo."
"Yes, CEO. I saw I had a missed call. I was in the middle of a performance."
"Ah, I forgot. It was performance day today, wasn't it? I thought you'd be resting since the variety show ended. The reason I called is that there's a director who wants to take on the direction of our sports drama."
At Jung-hyuk's words, Yeon-woo tilted his head.
"How can there be a director who wants to take it on when there isn't even a script yet and it's just in the planning stages?"
"Director Yoon mentioned it casually, and they said they really want to do it. It's a director you know very well, Yeon-woo."
'A director I know well?'
Several directors came to mind for Yeon-woo.
His filmography had become quite impressive now, so he had met many directors.
"Who is the director?"
"It's Director Kim Han-soo."
Director Kim Han-soo, who directed Yeon-woo's debut drama "Summer's Promise" and his first cameo in the film "Spring's Lover."
Yeon-woo's face brightened at hearing the name after so long.
Come to think of it, the director was famous for his skill in directing warm, youthful sensibilities, so he was perfect for the genre.
"That sounds good?"