2. New Mission #15
But there was a time and place for faking confidence, and this wasn’t it.
Taekjoo, his body pinned under the officer’s, was dragged to his feet.
The officer was finally taking deep breaths after finally retaining his suspect.
Then, he checked on his colleague, who was struggling to get up.
With a bleeding nose, the bigger officer stomped his way to Taekjoo like an angry bull.
“Go”
The hard shove made it clear that the officer was furious.
Taekjoo held his ground, refusing to budge. Meanwhile, he kept glaring at Zhenya, urging him to do something.
“I said go!”
The bigger officer barked, his words sharp with irritation.
When he saw that Taekjoo continued to show no signs of moving any time soon, he brought his hand up, poised to strike Taekjoo.
And just when the huge fist was about to land a blow to Taekjoo’s cheek, something swiftly and gracefully appeared between them.
“Argh!”
Suddenly, Zhenya stood between them, cutting off Taekjoo’s view.
In a split second, Zhenya appeared in front of Taekjoo, standing tall and unwavering like a mighty wall.
He had the neck of the officer who was about to hit Taekjoo in his hand.
Zhenya’s grip was so tight, the officer’s face quickly turned blue.
His eyes were so wide, it wouldn’t have been surprising if they’d popped right out of their sockets.
The man couldn’t even scream. Zhenya released his grip with a casual push.
And that swift, effortless motion knocked the officer out, leaving his massive frame limp.
His face immediately flushed red from the sudden rush of blood.
“Why don’t you handle me first?”
Zhenya spoke in a calm voice, looking down at the officers.
The two, alarmed at the sudden appearance of a stranger, turned to look at each other with a clueless expression.
After exchanging glances, one of them gestured for Zhenya to come with him.
Zhenya turned to take one look at Taekjoo, then calmly followed the policeman.
In the meantime, Taekjoo was seated by the window.
He could see the officer and Zhenya outside.
The bastard wore a fake, polite smile and seemed to converse with ease.
Taekjoo tried to read his lips, but it wasn’t easy, thanks to the other officer who was left with Taekjoo.
He kept pacing around, blocking Taekjoo’s sight.
Every time Taekjoo managed to focus enough to read Zhenya’s lips, the officer’s fat ass suddenly blocked his view.
Not long after, Zhenya and the other officer came back inside.
Taekjoo looked at Zhenya and waited for an explanation.
But Zhenya only grinned and gave him a shrug.
The officer he had spoken with did the same.
He didn’t bother explaining what he and Zhenya had discussed to his colleague, who’d stayed behind to watch Taekjoo.
He simply gestured at Taekjoo and gave an order.
“Release him.”
The officer scanned Zhenya up and down. He had suspicion in his eye, finding Zhenya untrustworthy, making it hard for Taekjoo to tell whether their talk had gone well or not. The handcuffs came off immediately.
The two officers briefly wished them a good day, then left the diner. The owner, who had been watching the entire thing all this time, tilted her head. She couldn’t understand what was going on. And it wasn’t just her. Taekjoo was just as confused.
“What the heck did you do?”
“Nothing much. Just gave him some change for drinks.”
There it is again. He was being vague. Taekjoo had his doubts.
He crossed his arms and scrutinized Zhenya.
Zhenya put on a sly smile, more than happy to return the gaze.
Zhenya was always smiling and grinning, but there was something off about him—something strangely intimidating.
And Taekjoo couldn’t shake off the feeling that the chilled-out facade was not who Zhenya truly was.
He seemed calm and carefree, but he was never clumsy.
He was bold and relentless, yet rash. Taekjoo had been sure Zhenya wouldn’t be able to find him, but here he was.
The man was sharp enough to figure out where Taekjoo was, all on his own.
His first step would’ve been to follow the credit card transaction.
His backup plan? Probably reporting the card stolen.
Of course, he wouldn’t have cared one bit if it got his colleague in trouble.
He was one hell of a piece of work. And then there was how he handled the Jeep.
Sure, Bogdanov was inside, but he didn’t care if his partner was, too. He just fired and fired.
Taekjoo glared at Zhenya, which had absolutely no effect on him. On the contrary, he couldn’t care any less. Zhenya even tilted his chin slightly, as if inviting Taekjoo to take a better look. And it was getting on Taekjoo’s nerves.
“Someone must be very busy, seeing how hard it is just to catch a glimpse of his face,” Taekjoo spoke in a mocking tone.
“Why? Did you miss me?”
No, I wanna pull your ears together and sew them shut to your lips.
Taekjoo clenched his jaw and forced a blatantly fake smile.
Then, his eyes, which had been fixed on Zhenya up until then, moved to focus on something beyond Zhenya’s shoulder.
Before Zhenya could turn to trace his gaze, Taekjoo held Zhenya’s chin and stopped him.
His lips moved with the slightest movement, and his eyes returned to meet Zhenya’s again.
“Someone’s been watching us. Did you bring a tail with you?”
“Oh.”
“Quite careless, aren’t you?”
“What should we do?”
“Shake off the tail, of course.”
“Then you stay here. I’ll take care of it.”
“If you think you’ll need help, you better tell me now.”
“Thanks, but no thanks.”
Zhenya said, smiling, before heading out.
As soon as he stepped out, a man lurking around the corner flinched.
Zhenya took wide strides, his long coat billowing behind him.
The nosy bloke didn’t know what to do. He started running away.
Zhenya followed him slowly, and soon, the two of them disappeared from Taekjoo’s sight.
It had only been about three minutes when Zhenya reappeared, and Taekjoo scowled at the sight. Zhenya’s coat, which was usually a nuisance, was nowhere to be seen.
“What happened to your coat?”
“Threw it.”
Taekjoo didn’t ask why. He had a feeling he already knew the answer. But Zhenya must have thought otherwise.
“I got some dirt on it.”
Taekjoo quickly glanced at the tip of Zhenya’s fingers.
He’d been trying not to, but he couldn’t help his eyes.
Those fingers had once popped human eyeballs—had they done the same again today?
He got rid of his entire coat—then was it throat this time?
Or he could’ve opted to suffocate the person, covering the mouth and nose.
It wasn’t a human or normal method, but then again, nothing about him was.
The thought disgusted Taekjoo. He’d make a better Psikh Bogdanov than the one who died in the river, Taekjoo thought.
Zhenya suddenly flicked his fingers, and Taekjoo, who’d been glaring at the man, flinched. A lazy chuckle followed from above his head. Taekjoo looked up, annoyed, and saw Zhenya smiling from ear to ear. I really don’t like this guy.
Zhenya handed something to a scowling Taekjoo.
“Stop being distracted and take a look at this.”
It was an invitation. There would be a banquet held at the Kremlin Palace in celebration of the Japanese-Russian energy project.
The Japanese visiting team and various important Russian public figures would be attending—including Kwon Taekjoo, disguised as Sakamoto Hiro.
That was the plan, until a surprise bomb explosion ruined it.
Taekjoo noticed that the date on the invitation didn’t match the one he had in mind.
They must have rescheduled it to buy some time to handle the aftermath of the explosion.
After all, the explosion had taken place at the hotel where the Japanese delegation, an official guest of the Russian government, was staying.
No doubt, security would be tightened as well.
Taekjoo started to think about how to get into the party when Zhenya suddenly took back the invitation.
“This one’s just for show. A formality. The real party starts after this.”
“The real party?”
“The Bogdanov residence isn’t far from the palace, and the head of the family is the one with the real power over Gazprom. And his younger brother is a very close friend of the president of Russia. I heard that every time a national-level official event happens,
an after-party is held at the Bogdanov residence. This after-party would be attended by even those who hadn’t been invited to the official party prior. This crowd includes major underworld figures, the ones who can start or stop the flow of money across Russia with a flick of the wrist.
You could say that they are the real MVPs. They’re also the type of people to do anything and everything that makes a profit, so they’re quite a useful source of information. Who knows, you might find out something about Anastasia if you meet them.”
“This Bogdanov you’re talking about, is it the same one I know?”
“Do we know any other Bogdanov?”
“A member of their family, their own flesh and blood, just died, and the Bogdanovs are still hosting that party?”
Taekjoo couldn’t understand it. By now, they should’ve found Psikh Bogdanov’s body. It was an important event, but was a banquet more important than the death of a family?
“Do you really believe he’s dead?”
“Are you telling me he’s not?”
“Unfortunately. I asked around, and they told me only two bodies were found in the river.”
It made sense. Taekjoo had also been thinking that killing Psikh was too easy compared to the notorious reputation.
But still, the man was unconscious, and Taekjoo was positive he wouldn’t survive because he was shot too much and bled too much.
Moreover, the river was so cold its fringes by the riverbank were all frozen.
The water would’ve dropped his body temperature in an instant.
And to think that he still made it out alive in a situation as dire as that—Taekjoo could see where the reputation came from.
So, the killing maniac was alive. This meant that he could come after Taekjoo anytime.
This fact gnawed away at Taekjoo, but he tried not to think about it.
“What makes you so sure that I’ll find some lead on Anastasia in that party?”