SOG Ch 83

Seon Jae-chan hoped for Han Tae-hoon’s help.

That one fact had a suppressing effect on all the suspicious parts within Goo Woo-jin. The Universal Park brochure found on his desk earlier this year, the readily accepted proposal for guiding the Zoo’s animals, the claim of being stalked, the prepared location tracker—everything that was dubious had been made to seem acceptable.

Jae-chan handed over the location tracker to Gyeong Chang-hyun and later to Han Tae-hoon. The image of the guy going up to the hotel room with Han Tae-hoon lingered in Woo-jin’s mind once again.

If for some reason he needed someone’s help.

Why wasn’t it me?

Why was it possible for Han Tae-hoon and not me?

“If you help me, can’t I help you too?”

The voice continued without hesitation.

“Han Tae-hoon is your helper, and I’m your charitable Esper?”

“…”

Seon Jae-chan’s eyes were filled with shock at Go Woo-jin’s impassioned speech. He wanted to help him.

‘Is it sympathy or pity?’

He once again speculated on Woo-jin’s intentions. He has become more grown to him than before. It was undoubtedly the reason why Woo-jin’s favor, which a normal person would naturally receive, had extended to him. It was evident from what he said, and because he’s a pair guide, it presumably means he can go further into that line.

Regardless, it’s the wrong direction. Woo-jin shouldn’t have come this way.

Jae-chan recklessly avoided the gaze that was aimed directly at him. He forced his eyes to focus on the deciphered numbers. He spoke without even looking at Woo-jin.

“Well, your feelings are your own business. What you can do is another matter.”

It was difficult to speak in this way to the person who had stood by his side all day, but it was unavoidable. Jae-chan disregarded the uncomfortable feeling that was nibbling at the corner of his heart and pushed Woo-jin away, dismissing Woo-jin’s concern by declaring that he couldn’t do anything anyway.

“What should I do?”

However, Go Woo-jin’s reaction once again exceeded expectations.

He didn’t get angry or give up. He simply accepted it dryly. He put out the terms of the deal calmly as if becoming an intelligent businessman, asking for what he could offer.

This time, Seon Jae-chan was speechless. While he had casually questioned what Woo-jin could do, upon further reflection, he realized that what Han Tae-hoon could do was, to some extent, achievable by Woo-jin as well.

Jae-chan, who knew everything about the future as well as the military’s military strength, also guessed that Go Woo-jin was secretly keeping the members of the E-SOF unit in his hands. To exaggerate slightly, one unit of E-SOF could rival the entire power of the Esper Nation, and joining forces with Woo-jin could yield an effect similar to seizing control of the entire Esper Nation.

Furthermore, collaborating with Woo-jin aligned with the potential cooperation of Chairman Go Young-chang. Although Chairman Go hadn’t fully revealed his intentions at this point, Jae-chan was aware that the chairman held Woo-jin in high regard. How resilient was the character that had resisted Black Swan to the end? In reality, Woo-jin possessed conditions as perfect as Han Tae-hoon…

‘Pull yourself together.’

Seon Jae-chan resisted the urge to hit his own head.

He had decided to contribute to the happiness of his loved ones.

Choosing Woo-jin here would be an act of propagating his own goals. He wasn’t the person who could make Woo-jin happy. He was merely a stepping stone to lead him to Nam Hae-sol, the true lover who could make him happy.

“What should I do?”

In the end, Jae-chan decided to present Woo-jin with a task that he couldn’t solve. Conveniently, he had it in his hands.

“Something like this.”

He handed the original Black Mark that was kept under his pillow as if he was throwing it to him. He turned the laptop screen around and showed a complex password conversion program made up of columns and rows.

“Can you decipher it?”

Han Tae-hoon excelled in espionage. At this point, he probably had his own people planted in the intelligence agency. The fact that Jae-chan could rise to the position of team leader in the intelligence agency later on was also due to Han Tae-hoon’s influence. The decryption method for Black Mark was also discovered by team members from the intelligence agency who were loyal to Han Tae-hoon including Seon Jae-chan.

“At least with a sufficient number of samples, the probability of decrypting the code would be higher.”

Woo-jin had once mentioned the basic principles of code decryption.

Jae-chan hesitated at the insinuation that Woo-jin might have another Black Mark.

No way. Surely there wasn’t another code hidden behind the framed fish tank. Or was there?

Seeing Jae-chan in confusion, Woo-jin brought out a book he had been reading. From the last page, he pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper.

It was another Black Mark.

Jae-chan’s eyes shook violently. In the midst of his already confusing thoughts, suddenly valuable information fell from the sky. He hadn’t even had a chance to make any judgments. Woo-jin quickly interjected.

“It’s not just this. There’s more information.”

“…”

“I could take you there right away.”

Woo-jin thought it was perfect timing.

Since discovering the black feather symbol among the unknown English documents that Jae-chan had handed over, he had been waiting for the opportune moment to mention it. Fortunately, the timing had naturally come forward.

“Decide quickly. The military is planning to interrogate the culprits soon.”

Seon Jae-chan’s mind was spinning.

Given the nature of the case, it was obvious that an Esper with mental abilities would accompany them to the interrogation room. The fact that the culprits were trying to decipher the Black Mark would also be revealed. Of course, Jae-chan had a printed copy of the Black Mark, but the original likely still remained on the web.

Jae-chan’s Adam’s apple bobbed noticeably. Woo-jin relaxedly observed Jae-chan’s subtle hesitancy in the throat. As much as Jae-chan knew about Woo-jin, Woo-jin was also familiar with Jae-chan’s temperament. The current question was about what choice Jae-chan would make.

Jae-chan swallowed dry saliva and finally spoke.

“… Esper Go Woo-jin.”

He swiftly shifted his stance, smoothly pulling his legs and kneeling down to the floor.

“Could you please take me there?”

Again, Jae-chan wasn’t known for having a particularly kind nature.

With such a huge accomplishment standing in front of him, he couldn’t afford to let it slip away. Moral dilemmas were temporarily set aside. Getting further information from the Black Mark takes priority.

So the next day.

In the rocky plateau of District 14, coordinates N32°48’60” E69°53’20”, not even twelve hours after completing the discharge procedure, Seon Jae-chan was smiling brighter than anyone else inside the dim submarine in District Z. He held a small lamp in his mouth.

The Black Mark found at the fishing spot pointed to the scientist’s hiding place coordinates in District Z, while the Black Mark discovered additionally in the bunker indicated the whereabouts of an item. The item was right there, deep inside a model torpedo within a disassembled civilian submersible.

Jae-chan discovered the ‘item’ that the hostage-takers had searched for so desperately.

‘Crazy…’

His eyes were filled with joy as he clutched a stiff wad of money in both hands.

It was money, cash, dollars. Roughly translated, an enormous amount of illegal weapons sales and terror activities had inflated this money for decades.

Approximately 20 billion Korean won.

Unable to contain his excitement, Seon Jae-chan immediately stood up. He roughly threw the wad of money and the lamp into the pile of money and jumped toward Go Woo-jin, who had been waiting silently behind him.

“Woo-jin…!”

It was like a player scoring the final goal in extra time. Woo-jin’s strong arms reliably caught the jumping Jae-chan and embraced him steadily. Jae-chan, with a radiant face, wrapped his thick neck and slender shoulders around Woo-jin. However, the joyful shouts for Woo-jin’s name were short-lived. ‘Oh, this is not it.’ Jae-chan’s shoulders stiffened in embarrassment.

‘Now that I’ve achieved my goal, I need to send this to Nam Hae-sol…’

But it was too late to realize that.

Go Woo-jin was hugging Jae-chan tightly with both strong arms.

*

At the scientist’s hiding place, the haystack discovered was an enormous amount, so much so that Jae-chan and Woo-jin had to climb up and down the iron ladder several times. The two decided to transfer the dollars inside the messenger bag, filled to the brim, from behind the helicopter with the J Group’s logo to the Union Zone.

A few hours later, even after crossing the sky and returning to Union District 1, Seon Jae-chan was still trembling from the sudden excitement.

“Half of it is yours.”

Jae-chan whispered to Woo-jin as he took away his headset and stepped off the helicopter. Woo-jin shook his head, brushing aside the hair that was flapping in the wind from the helicopter’s propeller.

Even after offering it several times, he received a firm refusal. Jae-chan suddenly thought of the high-rise building in District 1, registered in the name of this guy. It was the building where Chairman Go Young-chang cheerfully paid the hefty inheritance tax and generously gifted it to his son.

‘Well, that should be enough to not pay any attention to this money.’

Recalling the disclosed land value of the building, which was around 600 million won per pyeong(36m²⁾, such an attitude was not entirely incomprehensible.

The landing spot happened to be a heliport located just outside Woo-jin’s officetel building. After the helicopter departed, the two of them moved the money bags to the underground parking lot.

The amount of money was so much that the two men had to go up and down the rooftop two or three more times. At least it was shortened considerably thanks to Woo-jin carrying the bag like a mountain at once. The money bag, which contained a large sum of money, took up the whole trunk and backseat area of Woo-jin’s car.

The car soon began with a calm engine sound. Seon Jae-chan, who had been pondering until then, finally made a decision.