On the way to the Future Building, the sky lood dark, threatening to pour rain at any mont.
The building stood tall beneath the gray sky, looking different than when it was first constructed. A smile crept onto my face when I saw the headquarters of Taesan Bank occupying the first floor.
I pulled over and waited. Soon, Eva opened the back seat door and climbed in.
“Boss! It’s been a while.”
She looked like soone heading out on a casual outing.
But who could bla her?
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see. But your outfit...”
“Why? I dressed up a bit since I’m eting you after so long. Not good?”
“It’s fine. Let’s just go.”
It took a long while to get out of Seoul’s traffic-heavy downtown during rush hour.
“Boss, where are we really going?”
I didn’t answer, and seeing my stiff expression, Eva didn’t press any further.
Eventually, we arrived at a familiar abandoned factory.
“Get out.”
The sun had already set, and the area around the factory was completely dark, isolated from any nearby hos.
As Eva stepped out and looked around, she instinctively clung to .
“...Why are we here?”
“Co on, let’s go in.”
rcenaries stationed at the gate saluted and pulled open the heavy tal doors.
Eva hesitated at the entrance.
“What’s wrong? Co in.”
“Boss... you’re scaring .”
Her hand was ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) trembling slightly.
Just being here was triggering Eva’s trauma.
“Sorry for not telling you in advance. I brought you here to help you overco it. Co inside first.”
“...”
“Eva!”
I raised my voice at her hesitation.
Startled, Eva turned toward .
“Co in. You trust , right?”
“...Yeah.”
After hesitating for a long while, she finally stepped through the gate.
The door slamd shut behind us, and Eva flinched, pressing closer to .
Chief Ma ca rushing over when he saw .
“Boss, you’re here.”
I nodded silently.
“He’s conscious. Got a little roughed up during the subdual process.”
“He’s going to die anyway. What does it matter?”
The rcenaries guarding the place saluted and all exited the factory.
The deeper we walked into the factory, the more violently Eva began to shake.
“Eva.”
“...Boss.”
“What is it? Seeing his face bring back mories of Hong Kong?”
“...”
The one who had physically tortured her was already dead.
But everything that happened had been under i Hong’s orders.
She probably saw it as she was released—i Hong personally executing the n who had tortured her, as part of his deal with .
“I heard the doctor upped your dosage. But you won’t really get better if you just rely on dication. Eventually, you won’t be able to overco this on your own.”
“...”
Her breathing was erratic. She couldn’t even stand properly.
I grabbed her hand tightly and held her upright.
“Eva. Look at .”
She clung to like soone drowning in water.
“B-Boss.”
“Yeah. It’s . Get a grip.”
“...”
“Don’t be afraid. Back then, you were alone. But now I’m right here with you. Don’t be scared.”
It was a cruel thing I was doing to her.
But pretending she was okay while hiding behind dication would only destroy her from the inside out.
Thanks to my deal with Wen Jiabao, we’d captured i Hong earlier than expected.
It was the perfect chance for Eva to personally end her nightmare.
“Chief Ma.”
He pulled a pistol from his coat and handed it to .
I guided Eva’s trembling hand around the gun.
“Eva. Kill him. It’ll be over if you kill him.”
With wide, panicked eyes, she looked from the gun to and back again.
“You need to do it with your own hands. Then it’ll be over.”
I led her further inside.
Even under the dim gas lamp, it was clear i Hong was covered in bruises and dried blood.
He was slumped over in a chair, tied up, but lifted his head at the sound of footsteps. The mont he saw and Eva, he started spewing curses in Chinese.
“I’ll kill every one of you! Not just your families, but your friends too! I’ll tear them to shreds and feed them to the dogs!”
Eva went completely pale—her hands bleached white, as if all the blood had drained from her.
She dropped the gun.
I picked it up and held it out again.
“I can’t...”
“You can. He can’t hurt you. He doesn’t have the strength or the power. Don’t be afraid. Just kill him.”
I placed my hand over hers, steadying her grip on the gun.
“You can do it. Kill him. Just pull the trigger and it’ll be over.”
As the muzzle pointed at him, i Hong began flailing wildly, screaming in terror.
Eva’s face twisted.
“Just pull the trigger.”
I whispered in her ear.
“You can do it. You’re the one ending this.”
Her trembling began to subside.
“That’s right. Nothing to fear. Kill him. With your own hands.”
Her finger began to move.
Maybe realizing what was happening, the blood drained from i Hong’s face.
He opened his mouth to speak—
Bang!
The sharp scent of gunpowder filled the air. i Hong didn’t even scream—he simply toppled backward in his chair, lifeless.
“You did good.”
I gently took the gun from Eva’s hands.
Passing it to Chief Ma, I spoke.
“Dispose of the body.”
“Yes, Boss.”
I took Eva’s hand and gently pulled her.
“Let’s go. Go ho and sleep. Don’t think about anything.”
Eva glanced one last ti at i Hong’s fallen body, then nodded.
I drove her back to the Future Building.
“Don’t think too much.”
Without a word, Eva staggered inside.
“Let’s go.”
The car rolled forward.
As if the heavens understood Eva’s tears, a downpour began to fall.
I quietly watched the rain streak down the window.
“She going to be alright?”
“You an Eva.”
“Yes. Killing soone with your own hands... it’s not easy.”
His concern was reasonable.
No one who hasn’t done it can understand what it ans to kill with your own hands.
“She’ll be fine. She’s strong.”
I believed in her.
Eva, who never once betrayed my trust even under the worst torture. She was strong. This would help her overco her trauma.
“She had to do it herself. Otherwise, it would’ve consud her in the end.”
Maybe at first the dication was enough, but if she kept suppressing it while pushing herself that hard... it could’ve ended in tragedy.
Fear erodes reason. If things had gone too far, I might’ve had to kill Eva myself.
As cruel and extre as it was, I believed the best solution was for her to face it head-on and finish it herself.
“Let’s wait. See how she changes.”
After that, Eva didn’t contact for a while.
Even though the office was just an elevator ride away from her lodging, she didn’t show up.
Several days passed before I heard from her.
— Boss. I want to see you.
“Okay. I’ll co.”
— No, I’ll co to Myeongdong.
“Alright. I’ll wait.”
When she arrived at the Myeongdong office, Eva looked noticeably thinner.
“Have you even eaten?”
She quietly nodded, her face pale but composed.
“For a few days, i Hong’s corpse kept appearing in my dreams. But now it’s fine. That whole mory doesn’t show up in my sleep anymore.”
“That’s good. Can you stop taking the ds?”
“I threw them all away.”
“Still, keep going to the hospital. Bottling it up will only make it worse.”
“Got it.”
“Let’s go. I’ll treat you to dinner.”
She no longer looked anxious or tearful.
“Thanks, Boss. For saving .”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll give you my loyalty.”
Then she hugged tightly.
* * *
Ti passed quickly.
Eva overca her trauma and stopped relying on ds.
anwhile, as promised, Wen Jiabao visited Korea. He was accompanied by high-level Foreign Ministry officials.
— Let’s et tomorrow at my hotel.
“Okay.”
It was ti to settle the debt.
I had used Wen Jiabao’s help for Eva’s revenge—now it was ti to pay the price.
As I watched Wen Jiabao’s face appear on the TV news, I muttered to myself.
“Not sure if this was the right call.”
I arrived quietly at the hotel where he was staying.
It reminded of when I t him in Russia—like déjà vu.
“Good to see you again, Mr. Kim.”
“Yes, Vice Premier.”
We exchanged a light handshake and took our seats.
“I’d like to speak privately...”
He glanced at Chief Ma standing silently behind like a statue.
“It’s alright. Whatever I know, he knows. Don’t worry. He’s trustworthy enough for to stake my life on.”
Though clearly displeased, Wen Jiabao nodded and began.
“I have a hundred million dollars in slush funds.”
Quite the haul.
“A hundred million...”
“I only need the principal safeguarded.”
In other words, he wanted to launder and store it for him.
“It’ll take ti to prepare. I’ll have to establish a company in China, set up a few shell companies, and route it through Hong Kong.”
“Can you do it within a year?”
“It’s possible. But I’ll need to establish the company and freely export foreign currency from China.”
In China, doing anything required bribes.
But when a high-ranking official stepped in, all approvals could be done in a day.
“I’ll take care of that. But instead of using a Korean firm, we should register the entity as a Chinese branch of a U.S. corporation.”
“Yes, that was my plan too. We’ll layer it so well no one can trace the origin of the funds.”
“I’ll trust you.”
“When it cos to money, I don’t make mistakes. You can believe .”
Wen Jiabao gave a faint smile—apparently satisfied.
“Mr. Kim, aren’t you interested in North Korea?”
“No.”
“Why? The Korean governnt seems to think otherwise.”
“My views differ from the governnt’s. I don’t trust communist countries.”
His smiling face froze.
“You saw firsthand how difficult even China’s transformation was. Do you really think North Korea will change just because they say they’re reforming?”
I shrugged casually.
“Sorry if that offended you. But that’s the reality. I invested in Russia because, at least on the surface, it’s a democracy.”
“China will change too.”
“Yes, it will. But China isn’t North Korea. I have no interest in North Korea.”
“Hmm...”
“Why do you ask?”
“If you were interested, I was going to connect you. But since you reacted so strongly...”
“I appreciate the thought.”
With my firm answer, Wen Jiabao didn’t press further.
“You’re a fascinating man, Mr. Kim. A Korean national, based in Arica, investing in Russia, and friends with their likely next president...”
“Money knows no borders, no ideologies. It’s just money. It’s not just —Arican investors from Wall Street put money into Russia and, despite being a nominally communist state, into China as well. Because it’s profitable.”
“If you’re not interested in North Korea, are you interested in China?”
“It’s a very attractive investnt destination.”
In the 21st century, no one could rival China’s explosive growth.
Massive companies like Baidu, Tencent, and Alibaba would erge to rival U.S. tech giants.
“Then why don’t you invest?”
“You really don’t know the answer?”
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