Dear Readers,
first, thank you all for following my story even though I was late to the party, and a special thanks to fairy Stephanie who keeps me motivated ❤
second, and **more importantly**, due to my mistake chapter 16 (HR's revelations) was posted twice, the first time it was half the wordcount it is now, and some people have already visited before I made the switch. stupid me didn't confirm the deletion and only found out 2 hours after clicking "delete". so please make sure you read the full chapter. and don't check the last paragraph to make sure!
the last sentence of the first version was "and went back to her game, waiting for her opportunity". ctrl+f it if you're not sure.
this is a DG chapter, so it wouldn't spoil anything if you go ahead and read, but it will probably be spoiled on the next chapter.
thank you and sorry and thanks again!
Revelations (Dal-Geon)
Just as he expected, Dal-Geon got little sleep after the incident the night before. He could still remember vividly the feel of holding her in his arms, her soft, full lips moving against his neck. Though the sensation hasn't left him, in his mind, he knew better. All hope of being remembered was gone, the idiotic belief that he appeared in her dreams was no more. Dal-Geon was no fool, and he never entertained false hope. He decided last night was a moment of weakness, brought on by long months of loneliness in exile, which he thought he got used to until he met her.
The security system announced an approaching intruder, and though he must have been asleep for a while, Dal-Geon felt it happened just as he managed to fall asleep. He got up abruptly as if possessed, and rushed to the control panel to dismiss all announcements so it wouldn't wake Hae-Ri, if she wasn't already up. Feeling as if every cell in his body was sleep deprived, he dragged himself back to the living room and watched the monitor, as Lily's hire made her way to the gate, stuffed several bags into a hatch in the wall, and immediately walked away. He checked his watch and was pleased to see that the girl proved to be quite diligent, it was just under 20 minutes before 9AM.
He shuffled to the bathroom and washed his face, trying to wake himself up, then snuck to the bedroom and very quietly extracted a pair of socks from one of the drawers, grabbed his boots from behind the wall, and got ready for the short trip downstairs, feeling rather stiff and sluggish. He went to check the control panel to make sure the girl was out of the motion detectors' scope, and when she was, he reached to the door handle. He remembered just half a second too late that he bumped up the security level, and went through the tedious process of punching in a unique code for that particular door, pressed his palm to the screen for a print scan, then did the same at the next door, not even 30 second later.
He stepped out into the garage and walked past the cars, then went through the security protocol to open the gate and stepped out, leaving one foot inside to prevent the gate from closing, so he wouldn't have to go through all the security stages to get back inside. Though the gate closed automatically once its track was clear, once it started to move back it wouldn't stop until it finished, even if something was standing in its way.
He opened the little hatch in the wall, the pleasant scent of fresh vegetables immediately hitting his nose, and extracted the three large bags that the girl prepared. He walked back inside with his hands full after successfully tricking the gate, and cursed under his breath as he had to reveal his face to the scanner in order to go back inside, then cursed again when he reached the landing at the top of the stairs.
Walking inside, he instinctively turned his head to the left, and found the bed was empty. Hae-Ri was up. He walked to the kitchen and placed the bags on the counter, then started to go through them. To his surprise, the first one proved to be not so much as groceries as the incoherent "women need" bag. He closed it back instantly and marched to the bedroom, leaving it there for Hae-Ri to find, too embarrassed to actually hand it to her himself. He used the chance to get out of the boots and back into his slides, and went back to the kitchen.
Dal-Geon was happy to find that one of the bags contained nice, generous cuts of some meat he suspected was sheep or goat, but had no real way to tell. It was very fresh and didn't seem to come from a butcher shop or supermarket, it was wrapped in plain plastic bags with no label. There was a nice amount of around 2kg, so he decided to store half of it in the freezer for future use, and shoved the rest in the fridge. There were also eggs in the bag alongside salt, pepper and a few other spices that smelled nice. He made a mental note to have Lily give the girl a much-earned raise.
The other bag was filled with fresh vegetables. There were carrots, zucchinis, potatoes, onions, scallion and a cabbage, and even a few apples. Other than the little he needed for breakfast, he stored everything in the fridge, feeling quite satisfied to see it finally full, and went on to prepare breakfast, when he heard the dragging of feet behind him. He turned around to look at her, and his face instantly felt like it was catching on fire.
She stared at him for a moment with the most speculative look, though not omitting any kind of murderous aura today, and went back to her room. He was glad to see that she was better now, and that her ankle seemed to be healing nicely, then turned back to his business.
Finishing up, he turned around to find her still in what was most definitely her room. He titled his head and leaned to the left, and saw her lying on her back, looking at the ceiling. Doubtful that she would suddenly decide to come out and be quick enough to catch him, he decided to have his meal before serving her.
Feeing rather starved and empty, he ate an impressive amount while standing up with his back to the bedroom. Though he knew she was still in her bed, probably in the exact same position, he couldn't bring himself to relax and eat comfortably, and once again found himself stuffing his face in a hurry as if someone was chasing him. Finishing up, he set the table for Hae-Ri before getting her to come out.
Standing at the entrance, Dal-Geon found Hae-Ri sill on her back, completely unaware of his presence. She seemed to be somewhere far away in her thoughts as he knocked on the wall to get her attention. She sat bolt upright, clearly startled, her cheeks turning a curious pink, as if she was caught doing something bad, which made him wonder what it was that she was thinking. Seeing as she made no move to get up, he gestured for her to come over with a finger. Hae-Ri just sat on her bed and kept staring at him, like his actions weren't registered. He gave it another try, and finally, she climbed out of bed and followed him to the kitchen.
Dal-Geon thought of giving her a hand and support her weight, seeing that she was still limping, but decided against it. He would have done so without thinking has he not been beating himself up for getting too close last night. He felt both angry and sorry for himself, which was an inconvenient combination. There were too many reasons for him to stay away from her, and not even one that justified getting closer. It would only put her in danger, and make the inevitable goodbye so much harder to handle. Though she still struggled on her feet, her limping was considerably better, and he thought it was better for the both of them to let her manage by herself.
He couldn't resist the urge to pull out a chair for her to sit in, and regretted it instantly as she sat down and nodded in thanks, making his heart flutter for just a moment before he shook it off. There was no reason to get excited over those little pleasantries and acknowledgements that she gave him, it was pointless. Unconsciously clenching his fists, he turned around and made his way to the sofa, when Lily's voice was suddenly in his ear.
"Geon, listen up," she sounded unusually serious.
Dash, dot-dash, dot-dash-dot-dot, dash-dot-dash. Talk.
"One of these days you'll have to tell me what the hell happened there, it sounds like a total mess," she sounded extremely curious.
"We still couldn't find the main frequency, but managed to find a couple of others that share info regarding the botched operation," Lily was all business, and though she didn't find what he hoped for, he was still rather pleased.
"The car was already scrapped by the time someone got to the capital, the Sheikh wanted it gone as soon as he got the news from his men. Looks like word of her assassination was already delivered by palace officials to her superiors. Someone managed to stop an investigation from ensuing, possibly our dear old friend…", she said in a suggestive tone, clearly referring to Edward Park. No doubt he had people both in the palace and the government, which marked him a prime suspect.
"…Are you ready for the bad news?" She asked hesitantly after a short pause.
Dash-dot-dash-dash, dot, dot-dot-dot. Yes.
Gal-Geon wasn't too sure that he was. His heart picked up pace and adrenaline started to seep into his veins. He was getting jittery.
"A blood sample was taken from the highway, and another sample that was found in a location which they believe was your hide site. Dead agent number one was shot in an angle that fits well with one that would have been taken from the presumed hide site. The bullet extracted from the body fits BS emo, so do bullets and casings from the second scene.
"…They ran a test on the both samples, and found a match between the two, but found no entry in their or any other databased that they had looked into so far, so it was labeled 'anonymous' for now. Since the blood samples are identical, the target was declared missing rather than dead, though I have no info on search parties yet, if there are any."
Damn.
Dal-Geon wanted to slap himself in the face with full force. He forgot completely about leaving evidence of his "injury" behind, up on the mountain, and curse himself for doing it. Operating with no plan proved to be a stupid thing to do, and he feared the consequences of this momentary foolishness.
"…Are you ready for worse news?" Lily asked again, and he wasn't ready. He couldn't even imagine what could be worse than what she already told him.
Dash-dot-dash-dash, dot, dot-dot-dot. Yes.
"There's an eyewitness," She said simply and paused, giving him a moment she knew he was going to need in order to recover. He felt dizzy, and his hands started to tremble as his heart went out of control.
"The searches for one were extensive but they didn't get much out of it, so breathe," she instructed in a level voice, giving him another moment to collect himself. He did as she told, closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.
"There was a shepherd near the northern exist off the highway, claiming he saw a military jeep with bullet marks get off the highway at full speed. He didn't see the license plate, but under the circumstances they already concluded it was the jeep dead agents number two, three and four reported before losing touch.
"I have no info on search parties in this case either. Since they know the general direction, there probably will be, but I think it will take a while to find the exact direction. I assume they hired Bedouin trackers. They are the real danger."
There was no doubt about that, those men knew their way around the desert with nothing but their eyes and the sky. Even so, an area of over 500 kilometers was a lot, and would take a long time to cover. Hopefully, they will give up long before covering even half of that.
"…Are you ready for the worst, Geon?" she asked almost reluctantly. He thought he knew what was the next thing she was going to say.
Dash-dot-dash-dash, dot, dot-dot-dot. Yes.
"Seeing as you went AWOL, and your last registered location is just below the presumed hide site where jeep tracks were found, and top it off with blood of unknown source that appeared in two scenes related to the botch operation…", Lily deliberately paused, though there was no point.
"You were named a possible suspect. Just possible! Not prime..."
Not yet, at least, he though was what she wanted to say, but didn't.
A bit unsettled, sweaty and shaky after receiving a massive amount of bad news, he reminded himself that his unplanned operation was a success. The purpose was to confuse Black Sun in order to buy a little time and get Hae-Ri out of danger and hidden, which he managed to do. Now all that was left to do was to send her home and deal with the consequences.
He thought there was still a slim chance that he could get back to the cold, deadly embrace of Black Sun, using short-term amnesia and some believable story to wiggle his way back in. Seeing as they didn't know who the blood belonged to, he was still relatively in the clear.
Black Sun took blood samples for their DNA database from all hires, and if it wasn't for Do-Soo, there was no way Dal-Geon could have gotten out of it. Possessing not only a foul attitude, but a brilliant skill for anything shady, Do-Soo managed to help Dal-Geon switch his sample with that of an undocumented teen. God knows how he managed to put his hands on that, but Dal-Geon was awed and grateful nonetheless.
"…You okay there?" Lily asked, bringing him out of his reverie.
Dash, dash-dot, dahs-dot-dot-dahs / dot-dahs-dot-dot / dash-dot dot, dot-dot-dot. Tnx, L, DS.
Dal-Geon made an effort to thank them properly for all they did, but regretted it as soon as he started tapping the button. Morse was a pain in the ass.
"Anytime, as long as you keep paying us," he heard the mocking smile around her words, and couldn't help but smile himself. Sometimes she made him suspect she would have remained on his side even if ex-president Jeong ran out of money. Luckily, he would never have to find out, seeing how well off Jeong was.
"Will keep you posted. Have fun on your honeymoon," she didn't quite manage to stop herself from snickering. He found no need to respond to that, and the line went quiet.
Just then, he caught sight of Hae-Ri rushing to the bathroom with her hands full, leaving the door open behind her. Thinking something might have happened, he quickly got up and peeked inside, and found her looking through the different boxed and bottles on the shelve above the washing machine. Trying to beat her to the room, he half ran to excavate the flat, rectangle box that was buried at the bottom of the piled boxed. He managed to take it out of the stack, unboxed the metal drying rack and tossed the box behind the rest of the boxes, then leaned the rack against the wall and made it back to the sofa, just before Hae-Ri stepped out and rushed back to the bedroom.
Dal-Geon was so determined to avoid Hae-Ri, that it took him quite a while to notice that she was doing the same. They were both doing their best to spend as little time as possible around each other, and so they spent the rest of the day with only a handful of moments in which they shared the same space.
He was using his time alone to focus on the issue at hand. The information Lily collected was useful, but missing a timestamp. It was already Sunday, and the botched mission party was dispatched on Friday, with him ending up thwarting it all and kidnapping Hae-Ri by noon. He found it hard to believe the information was up to date. The DNA test must have been made on the same day, and same goes for finding the eyewitness.
At worst, if they found the eyewitness on Friday, they could already be looking for another witness farther north, after the exit, if they didn't already find one. This will be their top priority, they needed a definite direction in order to narrow down the searching scope. If they really found the first witness on Friday, and they happened to find another one the same day, that meant that he and Hae-Ri could have already been tracked down. A skilled tracker could make it happen with enough leads. He dismissed the worst-case scenario, thinking that if Black Sun was that quick to find their trail, numerous mercenaries would already be upon them. Of course, it didn't mean they weren't close…
The possibilities were too many to take everything into account, there were too many variables. The house could be raided today, or never, or anytime in between. There were too many holes in the information he had, and the uncertainty was driving him crazy. He tried to calm himself down, fearing he might make an impulsive decision that would backfire in the long run, as he thought of telling Lily to drop everything and join him, and move forward the plan to smuggle Hae-Ri out of the country, instead of waiting for things to calm down. Being rash about it was the worst thing he could do, it would just put Hae-Ri in more danger.
He decided to trust Lily to notice any abnormal activity of troops, she was too experienced to miss something like that. Even if she couldn't pinpoint what was happening exactly, she knew perfectly well when things were getting suspicious.
He wondered if Black Sun would even bother looking for Hae-Ri, but that depended heavily on information that he didn't have. If the reason for the mission was indeed to prevent the final stages of a negotiation having to do with oil, then it was likely that she was already replaced. Her superiors were informed of her death, so they wouldn't be looking for her, nor would they hold back the negotiation, or leave her position empty. At most, they will try to push for an investigation, but business was always first, and money didn't wait for neither the dead nor the living. If there was no personal vendetta, and the hit only had to do with business, he saw no reason for Black Sun to try and take Hae-Ri down when she was missing, no longer a threat, and probably replaced by someone else who would inherit the bullseye that was on her back.
Even so, Black Sun wouldn't give up on finding him so easily if they suspected he went rogue, which will make him the one to put her in danger. Again. If this was the case, it would be better for her to be as far away from him as was possible. He thought again about contacting Lily and asking her to come over and stay with Hae-Ri in the safe house, while he led Black Sun on a wild goose chase.
Though the plan was good, there were two problems. First, it will eliminate his already slim chances to get back to Black Sun in the future. It was quite possible that he would end up getting caught, those guys were extremely skilled and deadly. Knowing what he did of the organization, he was well aware that there was only one way to out of it. Deserters were given no mercy, and traitors… It was better not to think about that.
And then there was the second problem, and it had nothing to do with Black Sun, lynching, torture or his cause. It was Hae-Ri.
Even though he was trying his best to keep his distance from her, to remind himself that the memories they shared were a useless thing of the past that would only hinder him, though he knew that those memories should be buried in the past where they existed, he couldn't bring himself to part with her again just yet. After never getting to say goodbye properly and being torn apart so abruptly, he thought he would have a little more time with her, a little more time to prepare himself before he had to let her go forever.
He cursed himself for being such a moron that would fall into a trap that he himself set, though he kept warning himself about it. But even though he was aware, and even though he knew it shouldn't be, every second that he got to spent in her vicinity was precious. Every glimpse he got of her face was priceless. Every funny expression and peculiar behavior that was so very Hae-Ri was a treasure that whether he wanted to or not, would forever stay with him. Giving up on those few moments that he had left with her were a sacrifice that he was too selfish to make. If he was going to hell, he thought, he smight as well be thorough about it. All he had to do was to protect her at all costs, to make sure that she goes back home safe and sound.
Feeling completely disappointed with himself while also knowing that he could do nothing about it, he suddenly realized that it was much later than he thought. Not wanting to starve her again, he went to the kitchen and, still plagued with the mindset that didn't allow him to let her go, prepared a dish that he hoped would remind her of home and comfort her.
He downed two scallion pancakes standing up, trusting Hae-Ri had no intention of leaving her room with their shared avoidance policy, and saved the largest one with the most meat in it for her. He placed the plate on the table and went to knock on her wall. This time, she came immediately, went to sit by the table, nodded in thanks again, and dug in as he retreated back to the sofa.
He was feeling strange the entire day, sluggish and heavy, and the dizziness which he thought was triggered by the ominous news Lily had delivered, remained. Thinking it must be from being confined in a small space for a long time, the only exercise he was getting was going up and down the stairs once a day, he used the opportunity while Hae-Ri was in the bathroom, warmed up a little and went on to the bedroom's entrance.
There was a metal bar that came with the house at the top, and was probably meant to hold some partition. He stretched up and gave it a try, pulling and shaking it, making sure it could hold the weight, and when he was sure it would, jumped up and grabbed it with both hands, feeling Black Sun's tattoo burn, and quickly did several sets of hurried pullups. Though it felt good to move around again and wake up his fatigued muscles, he still didn't feel quite right. He went on and did some squats and sit-ups, and closed the session with a few pushups, but found his injured arm uncooperative under his weight, and switched to one-armed pushups instead, making a mental note to balance it out tomorrow once his arm was better.
His heartbeat and heavy breathing were so loud in his ears that he completely missed Hae-Ri leaving the bathroom, surprised to find the door open once he got up from the floor. He went to the kitchen and gulped down almost a liter out of a nearly half empty bottle, settled his breath and went on to the room. He caught sight of Hae-Ri playing cards on the bed, and not for the first time today, though he had no idea where the deck of cards came from. He went straight to the chest of drawers, grabbed a change of clothes, and made his way to the bathroom in a hurried stride.
Stepping out of the shower, dripping with water, Dal-Geon still felt a little queasy. He reached for the white towel that waited for him on a hook by the door and quickly dried himself up. Folding the towel over, he draped it over his wet hair while pulling on a pair of boxers and pants.
He went over to the vanity and bent down to open the cabinet, pulling out the medical kit and went straight to treating his wounds. He disinfected and applied ointment on both cuts, then covered them up with a bandage. The cut on his palm was closing up nicely and didn't cause him any pain, just a little discomfort. He assumed that in a day or two he could give up the bandage and just leave it open to scab. His arm, on the other hand, was quite a sight.
While the long gash above and under Black Sun's tattoo seemed to be doing alright, the area around the tattoo looked alarming, and was pretty painful to boot. The skin was red and extremely hot, and the cut in the middle of the tattoo, through which he pulled out the chip, was still open and oozing, seeming to have no intention to close up anytime soon. He regretted not using a skin adhesive when he had the chance. Gluing it up now, when it looked infected, didn't seem to be the greatest idea. He hoped the antiseptics would do their job soon.
Finishing up with his arm, he went on to treat the cut on his neck. It wasn't bad, but it was tender enough that he wanted to protect it from being chaffed by the collar of his shirt. Tilting his head to the side, he placed a large square band aid over it, not feeling it needed any further attention. All patched up, he reached out to the fresh hoodie that waited for him on a hook, when he heard a muffled thud against the door.
He looked back instinctively, but there was no movement and the door stayed closed. He didn't give it much thought and hung the towel, quickly pulling the shirt over his head, when an alarming sound of something shattering came from the front room.
With the hood over his head, he instantly reached for the door, when he was suddenly reminded of his exposed face. Cursing silently under his breath, he grabbed the fresh mask that waited for him by the door, hurriedly slung it over his ears, and stepped into the front room.