2. New Mission #2
“Oh, unfortunately, we’ve already reported the trouble on board to the control tower. Until the airport clears us to land, we’ll have to wait in the air. Our estimated arrival time is now expected to be delayed by about an hour.”
In the end, the thing that Taekjoo tried so hard to avoid was happening.
He nodded absentmindedly, annoyed, before putting on a pair of headphones.
It was a clear sign that Taekjoo didn’t want to be disturbed.
However, the co-pilot and the head flight attendant continued expressing their sincere gratitude to Taekjoo before they went back to their positions.
The plane jolted as turbulence hit. That was enough to silence anyone who was still complaining. People buckled their seatbelts before they were told to. Everyone held their breath, sitting up straight. Someone murmured a prayer.
And all thanks to this turbulence, Taekjoo enjoyed about an hour of peace and quiet, though his ears felt stuffed from the pressure and made it hard for him to fall asleep. Taekjoo tried his best to pass the time until the PA delivered an announcement he was glad to hear.
[Ladies and gentlemen, we are now approaching Moscow Domodedovo International Airport.
The local time is 16:11, and the weather is currently cloudy with a temperature of -13°C.
On behalf of the captain and the entire cabin crew, we sincerely apologize for the unforeseen commotion and appreciate your understanding and patience.
Thank you for choosing Japan Airlines. We hope you had a pleasant flight and look forward to welcoming you on board again in the future.
We wish you an enjoyable stay in Moscow. Thank you.]
Still, the plane circled in the air for quite some time after the announcement. It was past 5:00 PM by the time the plane finally touched down.
Taekjoo joined the throng of passengers heading toward immigration. He didn’t feel particularly anxious. He was used to crossing borders wearing someone else’s face and identity. It had almost become his second nature.
The border control process was quick. The immigration officer barely glanced at Taekjoo before moving on, and the baggage claim went just as smoothly. In no time, Taekjoo was on his way to the exit.
Outside the airport, a crowd was waiting for passengers or loved ones arriving from abroad. Sakamoto Hiro was an invited guest of the Russian government. However, since Hiro had departed Japan a day ahead of the rest of the team, he would not have an escort on his way to the hotel.
Yet somehow, there was someone waiting for him, holding a sign with the name Sakamoto Hiro on it. Taekjoo removed his sunglasses to get a better look and be sure of what he saw. The name was written in Japanese and English. The name Itochu International Inc. was also written below.
When Taekjoo stopped in his tracks, the man holding the paper beamed.
“Mr. Sakamoto?”
“Yes, and you are?”
Taekjoo responded rather coldly. The smile on the man’s face grew wider.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you! I’m Vasily Alexandrovich from the PR team at Gazprom. I was told you were arriving a day ahead of the rest of the visiting team from Japan, so I came to escort you, Mr. Sakamoto.”
The man suddenly extended his hand for a handshake. Taekjoo tilted his head, staring at the waiting hand.
“I haven’t received any message about that,” said Taekjoo.
“You didn’t get the message? That’s impossible. We sent it earlier today to Itochu, and we got a reply saying they’d make sure the message reaches you, Mr. Sakamoto.”
Vasily was confident in his tone. Taekjoo asked for a moment, alarmed that he might have made the wrong move.
He quickly pulled out his work phone for a quick check.
Text messages had been coming in one after another.
He assumed they were the usual updates from the Korean embassy or roaming information.
But among them, one was from Mr. Lim. And it confirmed that, indeed, someone from Gazprom would come to escort Taekjoo, just as Vasily claimed.
“Oh, you’re right.”
“There must’ve been a misunderstanding. Anyway, you must be tired from flying for so long. But if I may ask, you arrived much later than expected. Did something happen?”
“There was a small commotion on board.”
“Did someone have too much to drink?”
“How did you—?”
“Just another day to Russian men who run hot on vodka. It must have been shocking to see it for the first time. Is that all you’ve got for luggage? Here, let me get it for you.”
“I’m fine. I can handle it.”
“Okay, then. This way, please.”
Vasily didn’t seem the least bit awkward about the rejection.
Rather, he led the way cheerfully, as if something good happened.
Taekjoo slowly followed the Russian’s lead.
He wasn’t sure where things had gone off track.
But to be fair, there was nothing weird about this whole situation.
Whether Sakamoto Hiro was by himself or with the rest of his visiting team, it didn’t change the fact that he was an invited guest of the Russian government.
And having disguised himself as Hiro, Taekjoo had to deal with the trouble and the headache that came with the role.
He had no choice but to act as Hiro until they arrived at the hotel.
A black sedan was waiting for Vasily and Taekjoo.
A man stepped out of the driver’s seat. He greeted Taekjoo before taking Taekjoo’s suitcase to the back of the car and loading it.
Vasily joined in the politeness and kindly opened the door for Taekjoo.
Taekjoo felt uncomfortable with the almost-servile welcome as he entered the car.
As soon as Vasily got into the passenger seat, the sedan quickly glided out of the airport grounds.
Taekjoo felt stiff from the long-haul flight. He leaned back and closed his eyes, hoping to get some brief rest. It was also a subtle signal to avoid small talk. However, the left half of Vasily’s torso was already facing Taekjoo.
“You must be very tired.”
“A bit, from the jetlag.”
Taekjoo forced a terse response out of himself.
But it wasn’t enough to stop the string of questions that followed.
How was the food, how was the seat, how pretty were the flight attendants, yada yada.
Vasily even moved on to tell the story of his own in-flight experience.
Taekjoo barely paid any attention, his face turned toward the window.
The darkness was thick outside, but that didn’t stop Moscow from revealing its beauty.
Lada cars were everywhere. Indeed, the brand earned its undisputed title as the car of the Russian people.
In the middle of the city stood a Starbucks sign, adorned with the Russian Cyrillic alphabet.
It was an eye-catching sight. People passing by wore short or long shapkas on their heads, their shoulders hunched against the cold.
Their noses, the first point of contact with the brutal chill, were red.
People’s faces look rigid, likely due to the cold.
It gave them an overall impression of grumpiness.
“Is it still that cold these days?”
Vasily had been recounting the winding story of his trip to Japan. He stopped at Taekjoo’s question. The sudden interruption didn’t seem to bother the man. He responded with a smile.
“Actually, it’s gotten warmer these days. It’s just around -15°C, which is pretty decent for winter.”
Taekjoo hunched out of reflex. He hated the cold. Vasily resumed speaking with enthusiasm, but with a new topic—the brutal Russian winter.
“You’ll hear people complain about Moscow being cold. It just shows they haven’t experienced the real cold. Irkutsk and Verkhoyansk would drop to -20°C to -45°C. Compared to that, Moscow is a paradise. Although the mildness of Moscow’s winter would pale next to Tokyo’s.
I heard it stays above freezing year-round. Is that true? Do people really freeze to death when the temperature drops below freezing? If something like that happened in Russia, it would definitely make the news.”
The idea of winter temperature dropping to -40°C made Taekjoo shiver inwardly. Vasily continued yapping, but Taekjoo didn’t pay him much attention.
Taekjoo had been looking out the window when he suddenly started glancing around. He noticed the car had slowed down and stopped. It kept moving and stopping for a while.
Taekjoo craned his neck to get a better look at his surroundings. Cars formed long lines, stretching on endlessly. They were caught in heavy traffic.
This wouldn’t have happened had the plane landed on time.
It was the drunk man’s fault. Taekjoo felt sorry that he didn’t beat up the man more.
He clenched his fist in an effort to calm his latent surge of anger.
Vasily exchanged a few words with the driver.
Then, he looked to the back and asked for Taekjoo’s consent.
“If we stay on this route, we’ll be stuck here for a while. Would it be okay if we took a detour? This guy here knows every shortcut and backroad in Moscow. And it’s almost dinner time—I suspect you’d be hungry, Mr. Sakamoto. At any rate, I’m sure you’d just want to rest after the long flight.”
For once, Vasily said something Taekjoo didn’t mind hearing. He couldn’t care any less about dinner, or any food for that matter. He simply wanted to lie down on a bed. Taekjoo nodded several times in response to Vasily’s suggestion of the detour.
And as soon as Taekjoo gave the green light, the car swerved out of the main road into a nearby shortcut.
It was a tight street where the road and sidewalk were basically one with no street lamp in sight.
The vehicle navigated its way forward by solely relying on its headlights.
A stray cat digging through the trash jumped and ran away, spooked by the sudden brightness.
The driver proved he truly knew his way around.
Street after street, they passed narrow roads that wound and twisted, barely wide enough for one car.
The earlier route on the main road would have been much shorter.
However, because of the traffic, this route would be faster as long as they didn’t get lost.
Taekjoo felt optimistic. He leaned back, resting against the seat.
“...!”
But then, Taekjoo suddenly turned his head to look out the window.
Something in the corner of his eye caught his attention.
He quickly scanned the road they were on, but there was nothing out of the ordinary.