TL: EKID
Morning had come. It was a morning no different from usual. The shopping alley was as noisy as ever.
I placed an LP record on the turntable and sat at the workbench. It was to edit the video footage filmed the night before.
Paganini’s Violin Concerto No. 4 flowed from the speakers.
I had to do something while waiting for contact from Old-man Choi. It felt like I was trying to hold onto the crumbling peace of everyday life.
“Fuck, from now on I need to get my part-time pay in advance.”
Even while editing the video, the corpses I saw at the gas station and the shattered glass of the Suit Shop’s show window kept flashing through my mind.
Old-man Choi still wasn’t answering the phone.
If there was no contact from Old-man Choi by 6 o’clock today, I had to pull out from here and go to the safehouse.
The entire time I was editing, I felt uneasy. This was the first time something like this had happened since joining The Company.
The editing work was done in less than two hours.
I put the USB containing the edited footage in my pants pocket, removed the hard disk from the main unit connected to the editing machine, and put it in my backpack.
I detached the ENG camera from the tripod. I put the ENG camera in a portable bag to take with me.
Then I went up to the rooftop.
I opened the box concealing the TiCAM 1000C thermal imaging surveillance device and disassembled the equipment. I separated the thermal detector, aperture, and communication connection equipment and packed them into the bag.
If the core components are removed, the thermal imaging surveillance equipment cannot be used by others.
Even if I withdraw from the base due to possible danger, if The Company determines it’s safe, I will have to return here. At that time, I’ll need to use the thermal imaging surveillance equipment again.
I closed the lid of the metal box containing the thermal imaging equipment and locked it. Once the evacuation preparations were complete, I felt hungry. Checking the time, it was already 1 PM.
I went down to the fourth floor, put water in a pot, and boiled it. Today’s lunch would be two packs of Jin Ramen.
Because the NIS overseas organization operates with strict cell structure, there are rules in place in case the communication network is cut off.
If contact with the upper communication network is lost, the agent must evacuate to the designated safehouse. Then they must receive further instructions from headquarters.
The safehouse I had to go to was in Dalian City. In the year and a half I had been in Dandong, I had never once been to the safehouse.
The afternoon passed slowly. I spent the afternoon sitting by the window, watching Lingling who worked at the restaurant.
I listened to Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 twice in a row.
Time that had been crawling was finally heading toward six o’clock. Old-man Choi still hadn’t returned my call. He had never been late before.
I made one last call to Old-man Choi. He still didn’t answer.
It was five minutes to six. I disabled the alarm system in the Ops Room, slung my backpack over my shoulder, and picked up the camera bag in my hand.
“Old man, you’re okay, right? You didn’t die or anything, right?”
Mumbling to myself, I opened the door and stepped out. I locked the door with a key and drew two triangles with a pencil on the wall next to the entrance. It was a sign that I was evacuating to the safehouse.
I went down to the first floor and took the motorcycle out from the storage. When I opened the trunk, there was a plastic bag containing the jianbing I had bought yesterday. The cold jianbing gave off a sour smell. I threw away the plastic bag, put the camera case in the trunk, and started the motorcycle.
-Vroom vroom
As always, the engine of the Voge 300ACX Scrambler motorcycle was loud.
I set off toward Dalian.
***
To get from Dandong to Dalian, you have to take National Highway G228.
Darkness was already falling around the national highway.
Vroooom
The Voge motorcycle roared loudly as it sped down the road.
On National Route G228 toward Dalian, there is the Peace Gas Station.
Just like yesterday, I passed by the Peace Gas Station again today. It felt like a criminal returning to the scene of the crime.
“Damn it…”
My heart pounded as I approached the gas station.
The gas station came into view on the right.
The signboard was unlit, and no people could be seen.
There were still bloodstains on the ground of the gas station.
Without stopping, I passed the Peace Gas Station.
Vroooom
To enter the safehouse, there are several procedures required.
After arriving in Dalian, I looked for a public phone boothand paged. The first step to entering the safehouse is paging.
The pager number was one The Company had given me when I was assigned to Dandong and received local adaptation training.
“Do people still use pagers these days?”
I inputted the number on the public phone into the pager. Then I crouched right beside the phone booth and smoked a cigarette.
A moment later, the public phone rang.
Trrring trrring
I stubbed out the cigarette on the ground, stood up, and picked up the receiver.
-Are you the one who paged?
“Yes, I am. Dove No. 5.”
-Where are you right now?
“Lao Dong Park in Jinzhou District.”
-Be more specific.
“Public phone booth No. 7 at the park entrance.”
-Are you alone?
“Yes.”
-Did you bring a vehicle?
“I came by motorcycle.”
-Leave the motorcycle in the park parking lot and wait there until we arrive.
“The park parking lot?”
The call ended without answering my question.
The second step to entering the safehouse is waiting for pickup.
I parked the motorcycle in the park parking lot and took my luggage out of the trunk. The only luggage I had was a camera bag and a backpack.
I sat on a bench next to the phone booth.
Looking at my watch, it was 9:20 PM. I was hungry.
“Come to think of it, all I ate today were two packs of Jin Ramen.”
I sat on the bench and watched the people walking through the park. Since it was a weekday evening, there were quite a few women walking their dogs and elderly people around.
‘Should I mention the money bag?’
I was conflicted. I had to explain why I came to the safehouse, but I wasn’t sure how much to say.
I didn’t know whether the people at the safehouse were aware that I had gone to the Peace Gas Station.
In principle, my reporting line is Old-man Choi. Unless they ask, I planned to keep quiet about the money bag and the drug crate.
‘Right, when in doubt, stick to protocol.’
After about twenty minutes, a van arrived. The window rolled down and a man wearing sunglasses in the driver’s seat spoke to me.
“Are you the one who paged?”
“Yes.”
“You’re supposed to say who you are.”
“Ah! I’m Dove No. 5.”
“Get in.”
When I got in the van, there was another man inside besides the one in sunglasses. He had a buzz cut like a soldier or an athlete.
The buzz-cut man took my hand and placed my thumb on a portable fingerprint scanner.
“Confirmed as Dandong Dove No. 5.”
The man sitting next to me informed the driver of the fingerprint result and then handed me a blindfold.
It was a cheap black blindfold. Once I put it on, the vehicle started moving.
To prevent the safehouse from being exposed, visitors are required to wear a blindfold. I leaned back in the rear seat.
‘Since I’m blindfolded anyway, maybe I should get some sleep.’
After driving for 20 minutes, the van entered the underground parking lot of a building.
“You can take the blindfold off now.”
“Is this the safehouse?”
“No questions. Get out quickly.”
I got out of the van and followed them into the building.
The room they guided me to contained only a bunk bed, a table, and a single chair.
“I need to ask a few formal questions.”
After putting the camera bag on the floor and sitting on the bed, the man with sunglasses sat at the table and began questioning me.
“Why did you come to the safehouse?”
“I’ve been out of contact with my upper-line handler for over 24 hours.”
“Where was the last place you saw him?”
“My Ops Room.”
“Any other unusual situations?”
“None.”
I didn’t mention the Suit Shop being attacked. If I said that, I would have to give a long explanation. And it would be against protocol to reveal that I know someone above my handler’s rank.
“You’ll stay in this room until you receive instructions from headquarters. There’s a bathroom and shower next door. Do not wander anywhere else.”
The man in sunglasses didn’t even follow up about the lost contact with Old-man Choi, treating it as nothing serious. After a few more formal questions, he left the room.
‘The Dalian safehouse…’
As the thought that I had reached a safe place sank in, exhaustion suddenly hit me. Riding a motorcycle for four hours from Dandong to Dalian, plus the tension of getting here, had worn me out.
I collapsed on the bed and fell asleep.
***
The man in sunglasses woke me up while I was sleeping.
“It’s morning. Get up and eat.”
Once I came to my senses, I saw a bowl of kimchi stew and a bowl of rice on the table. The side dishes consisted of just three green chili peppers and some gochujang.
The smell of the kimchi stew made my stomach churn. I hurried to sit at the table.
When I took a spoonful of the kimchi stew, it was spicy and suited my taste. It didn’t seem like an instant version, it tasted homemade.
“Damn, this kimchi stew is amazing.”
“Not bad, right?”
“Yes.”
“It was made with kimchi brought from Korea.”
While I ate, the man in sunglasses looked at his phone and spoke.
“Unfortunately, your upper-line contact is dead.”
“!”
I froze mid-bite. Then I looked at the man in sunglasses.
“Two agents in Dandong are dead and one is out of contact.”
“Who did it?”
Rice grains flew out of my mouth as I spoke. I picked them up from the table and ate them again.
“How would I know? My job is just to manage this place.”
If two agents had died, the customer who was killed at the Suit Shop was most likely Old-man Choi.
“Headquarters said to send you back to your original post.”
“What? My handler is dead, and you’re telling me to go back to a compromised location?”
“Nothing will happen where you are.”
What kind of irresponsible nonsense was this?
“That sounds like nonsense pulled out of nowhere.”
I stared at the man in sunglasses.
“There’s no intelligence agency that would touch your Ops Room.”
He spoke as if he had read the anxiety in my heart and explained further.
“China’s Ministry of State Security knows we’re monitoring the Yalu River bridge. They won’t touch you.”
“That’s possible. The MSS closely monitors any foreign intelligence activity on its own soil.”
“Monitoring the Yalu River bridge is a very basic intelligence-gathering task. It’s like keeping an eye on who enters the North Korean embassy in Beijing. It’s simple. The MSS doesn’t bother with low-level agents doing such work. Why? Because if they eliminate one of you, another low-level agent shows up right away.”
It wasn’t surprising that the MSS knew of my existence. After all, Dandong is Chinese territory.
But to call what I do trivial… It made sense, but still left a bad taste.
And the idea that I’m safe simply because my work is trivial… hurt my pride.
“Couldn’t it be North Korean agents’ doing?”
“Do you think North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau isn’t monitoring us? We don’t touch their low-level operatives either. Neither they nor we want to create friction with MSS by targeting low-level surveillance networks on Chinese soil. Besides, the Yalu River bridge is under constant surveillance from a U.S. reconnaissance satellite. From North Korea’s perspective, it’s the same whether one guy’s watching or two.”
What the man in sunglasses said sounded convincing.
In the end, it meant that low-level agents like me, who do menial work, aren’t worth the trouble for enemy intelligence agencies.
Damn! I don’t know whether I should be happy or feel bad.
“Do they know where my Ops Room is?”
“They probably don’t know the exact location.”
“If a U.S. spy satellite is watching the Yalu River bridge, then why does The Company assign me to that task?”
“Every task The Company assigns has one reason. Because the information you provide is needed by the Company.”
The man in sunglasses handed me a note and a USB drive.
“From now on, you’ll upload the edited footage directly to this site. The USB is your certificate.”
“Is there no new handler replacing Old-man Choi?”
“There won’t be one for the time being. Check the site for any special instructions.”
“When do I return?”
“Right now.”
The man in sunglasses stood up.
“It never hurts to be careful, so be cautious even after returning.”
I had no choice. I looked at the man in sunglasses and said one thing.
“Um… Can I have another bowl of rice?”