Chapter 14: 1.14 – Nuclear Man – Don't hate me too much

When Kwon Taek Joo reached the centre staircase, there was a rush of footsteps from below. At least three or four people. It seems that the guards are coming in search of the intruder. If you keep procrastinating, the number will increase. It is best to avoid going when the quantity is small. Kwon Taek Joo changes his original plan and goes upstairs.

The 3rd floor is still quiet. He nestled against the wall and looked around. When did the guards get close. Kwon Taek Joo took long steps along the corridor, being careful not to make the sound of shoes.

Suddenly he discovered someone at the door next to him. It seems that someone in the room is approaching the door. The door handle suddenly moved. Kwon Taek Joo quickly nestled in the opposite direction with the door open.

The door opened shortly thereafter. The guards have reached the 3rd floor. They silently entered the room into the same time.

"Have you checked?"

The voice and questioning tone are very familiar. That is the voice that Kwon Taek Joo heard when he eavesdropped on the phone call. Psych Bogdanov.

"We are still looking, but there seems to be an intruder. Traces of intrusion from outside have been detected. It's very dangerous here, so you go down with us first."

The two ministers and Psych silently followed the offer. Half of the people who went to the third floor to support left. Thanks to that, there are only two or three guards left on the other side of the door. All of them are armed, so dealing with it is of course not easy.

One of the guards tried to close the open door. Kwon Taek Joo held his breath and looked down at the doorknob. When the guard grabbed it from the other side, the standing Kwon Taek Joo side also moved along. He aimed for that moment and kicked the door with all his might. The guard's head turned up after the door suddenly opened. He just fell down with a loud noise.

"…"

Another security guard was looking into the next room and poked his head out when he noticed something suspicious. He quickly found the fallen colleague and approached with a sceptical expression. As he bent down to look at his colleague, there was a figure walking through the doorway. The guard hurriedly grabbed the gun, but the bullet that flew out from the other side of the door had penetrated his shoulder.

'Kugh!'

Another security guard heard gunshots coming from the other side of the corridor. As soon as he confirmed that his comrades had been hit, he opened fire without hesitation. Kwon Taek Joo ran to the end of the corridor to avoid bullets, but the noisy guards gathered on the side of the stairs.

Kwon Taek Joo finally escapes into a nearby room. This was like a mouse bursing into a gabion, but he had no choice. He first locked the door and pulled nearby ornaments to create obstacles. The guards who followed quickly hit the door hard. Although the door does not move, it will definitely not be able to stay that way for long.

Kwon Taek Joo turns around and tries to escape. Suddenly he had a strange déjà vu feeling. It seems that he have been in this room once before. Kwon Taek Joo reminisced his memory and quickly realised that this was the room at the end of the 3rd floor that he had his eye on.

Meanwhile, the outside door is getting louder and louder. It seems that the security guards who received the contact had gathered at the door of the room. What to do now? Kwon Taek Joo looked out the window in a ly room. There were a lot of guards gathered there, it seemed that they were discussing how to penetrate the 3rd floor.

Kwon Taek Joo climbed onto the table and touched the ceiling. If it was a thin piece of plywood, he was going to pierce it and climb up. But the finishing material is so hard that even the drill cannot penetrate. He walked down again and checked the surrounding walls. The situation is the same.

Guards in the hallway opened fire on the door that is now closed. The wooden door quickly became a hive under the rain of bullets. The dilemma. What to do?

Kwon Taek Joo stood with his back to the bookshelf and took two Colts from his back belt and held them with both hands. Although he seemed reckless, he had no choice but to attack head-on. He took a deep breath, his eyes glued to the torn door. His full-body muscles were ready to fight. His face lost its expression, his eyes were not excited but cold.

Suddenly the strong smell of cigars somewhere startled him. A familiar scent. He panicked and was about to turn around when a hand from the bookshelf came out and attacked Kwon Taek Joo. In the blink of an eye, his mouth was blocked and his neck was squeezed by a strong arm. When the thought that he needed to get rid of him appeared, Kwon Taek Joo was overwhelmed. He was pulled inside with no chance of resistance. His vision suddenly darkened.

Shortly thereafter, the sound of the broken door resounded. There was the sound of the guards' feet crashing into the decorated cabinet. It all comes from above Kwon Taek Joo's head. He couldn't understand what was going on because his vision was obstructed, but it seemed that his head was being pressed against somewhere on the ceiling.

"No intruders seen!"

"He disappeared!"

"Where are you running? Outside?"

The surprise was evident in the voice of each guard. They pushed all the books from the shelf to the floor and lifted all the furniture and curtains to look for intruders. Meanwhile, Kwon Taek Joo is continuing to be dragged somewhere. By this time, the tension and vigilance had decreased a lot.

Only through the specific scent was he able to recognise who the subject was. Although I don't understand how he got here.

The two travelled a long distance without light. It's a secret passageway like an ant nest built between rooms and between floors. The narrow passage is only enough for one person to pass through, but it spreads and connects in all directions.

Zhenya went ahead for a while and then suddenly stopped. He swept around the ceiling as if trying to locate a specific location. Soon, a thick stone paving the ceiling began to shake in his hands. Kwon Taek Joo, who was staring blankly at him, suddenly sober and hugged Colt tightly.

Through the small opening raised on the floor, it can be seen that someone's legs are walking back and forth in the room. The eyes of Kwon Taek Joo and Zhenya touched each other for a moment. Kwon Taek Joo gently signalled and waved his hand to lower the floor. Zhenya obediently followed the instructions. His hands are still in contact with the ceiling. The guard is meticulously scrutinising each corner of the room gradually approaching.

When Kwon Taek Joo signalled again, Zhenya pushed the paving stone against the ceiling again. The guard passed by for a moment of loss of balance and fell. Kwon Taek Joo quickly took that opportunity and stepped up. The bodyguard hurriedly pulled the trigger at the intruders who suddenly appeared in front of him.

The sound of gunfire ripped through the air. Zhenya tilted his head slightly to the side to avoid the incoming bullet. Another bullet grazed through his earlobe. Red blood shot out immediately and then flowed along the neck. Zhenya touched the wound on the earlobe with the back of his hand and suddenly laughed.

Shortly thereafter, a bullet from Kwon Taek Joo hit the bodyguard's right hand. He screamed and clutched his torn hand.

But the tragedy doesn't end there. Before he knew it, Zhenya had approached. Kwon Taek Joo's intuition predicts that misfortune will come to that poor man. Of course, there was no need to do that much and he didn't have free time either.

He was not in the mood to mess things up any more. But there was no chance, and a tragedy happened.

"…Kugh!l

Zhenya forced the guard's mouth to open and inserted both hands. His jaw expands beyond necessity. Zhenya's hand moved up and down without hesitation.

"Ugh... Ugh... Uuhhh... Argh.."

The bodyguard was clenched and struggled. He tried to turn his body to somehow knock Zhenya's hand away. But Zhenya ignored that desperate will to survive and tore his mouth in an instant.

Kwon Taek Joo quickly turned his head away but couldn't ignore that special sound. It's not like just being dislocated. It's the sound of a broken jaw joint and a completely detached lower jaw. The bodyguard trembled and fainted. He frowned and took a step back, feeling like he was witnessing the slaughter of a bloodthirsty animal who was in a hunger, not a human. It's not something that people would do at all, especially while smiling like that.

Zhenya raised his bloody hand and looked around. Immediately, his eyes were fixed on Kwon Taek Joo. To be more precise, he was looking at Kwon Taek Joo's shirt. He took a step back and shook his head decisively.

"No."

Like it or not, Zhenya approached him without hesitation. Kwon Taek Joo still stepped back to avoid but in vain, the distance was quickly shortened. He frowned and tried to refuse again but Zhenya raised his long arm and grabbed his shirt before he could dodge.

Kwon Taek Joo quietly looked down at the shirt with Zhenya's hand on it. His jaws clenched. The eyes staring at Zhenya were full of murderous intent and lit up. Zhenya didn't seem to bother at all, only the mouth of his mouth was drawn on half an arc. There was no expression of apology.

Kwon Taek Joo angrily unbuttoned his shirt and threw a bloody shirt in his face with a swearing sound. Zhenya didn't care and continued to wipe the blood and body fluids on top of the shirt.

"Why don't you bring a handkerchief with you?"

"Why bother so much?"

If necessary, just take off someone else's shirt. That seems to be what he meant.

"This direction!"

Meanwhile, other guards scattered after the gunfire. Should he go back to the hallway and hide, or attack head-on? Kwon Taek Joo was still hesitating between the aisle and the door when Zhenya approached and grabbed his collar and pulled him to the window. Kwon Taek Joo looks out, it seems that this room is in front of the building, not in the back.

Zhenya opened the window without hesitation. Outside, the cars rushed out of the mansion because of the sudden chaos. Zhenya was observing that scene and then pulled Kwon Taek Joo closer to the window. With the terrible power from his hand, he was forced to climb the door frame.

"Don't move!"

The guards did not know when they had entered the room and asked to surrender. It feels like there is an overwhelming force against Kwon Taek Joo. Probably everywhere from his head, back and limbs are within range.

Even with such a siege, Zhenya's temperament did not diminish. He just kept looking straight ahead and whispered incomprehensible words.

"Prepare."

"What?"

"Now."

Before Kwon Taek Joo could recognise the sound of "Dancing", his body had fallen into the air. It was as if he had been mercilessly dragged away by Zhenya. Two helplessly fell on a sedan that was leaving the mansion. The car was shocked and staggered to all sides. As a result, Kwon Taek Joo's body was thrown high and rolled off the ceiling. If he hadn't quickly put his finger in the back trunk lid slot, he would have fallen out of the car.

Meanwhile, Zhenya kept his balance by twisting half and then he punched the window on the driver's side of the driver's seat hard. After several collisions, the window cracked slightly and then shattered. He reached inside and quickly pulled the driver out of the car. Even the seat belt did not protect him from the sudden attack.

When the driver was pulled out, the person in the passenger seat awkwardly took the driver. Zhenya kicked him with both feet and squeezed inside. He quickly sat in the driver's seat and then did not hesitate to pedal the gas.

That's why Kwon Taek Joo's body was helplessly knocked up. After a while, Zhenya remembered his presence and opened the back seat door. Kwon Taek Joo finally struggled to crawl inside a car running at a speed of more than 100 km/h. He was almost stuck in the shaky door but was lucky to escape danger.

Although he didn't have time to breathe, Kwon Taek Joo immediately aimed his gun at the owner of the car sitting in the back seat. He had no intention of killing him. From the moment Zhenya and Kwon Taek Joo approached this car, the bullets from the security team stopped. That means that even Bogdanov's side can't quarrel with the owner of this car. There seems to be no better shield than that.

But that optimism didn't last long, as the bullets that had stopped for a while continued to fly out. This time it's a rifle. Kwon Taek Joo quickly looked back at the mansion in the distance. Vladimir Bogdanov was poking his upper half of his body out of the open window with a rifle without hesitation shooting at the car. Fortunately, the distance was very long, so the fierce attack did not even reach the back of the car. The sedan was carrying two people and the hostage quickly left the mansion.

There is still one more obstacle, which is that the main gate is completely closed. Even after seeing the iron door tightly closed, Zhenya did not slow down, but on the contrary, he stepped on the accelerator even harder, pushing the speed to the maximum.

Is life and death really that comfortable? How the hell is he so popular? Are crazy guys usually that cool?

'Aaaahhh!'

The owner of the car screamed like he was dying when he saw the iron gate getting closer and closer. He screamed loudly and loudly that he saw his throat. Anyway, in this situation, collision is inevitable. Even if you press the brakes, it's too late. Even the security team arranged in front of the main gate rushed out to avoid the reckless sedan coming. It's here. Kwon Taek Joo reflexively raised his hand to cover his head.

Moments later, the closed iron gate opened. The car hit the half-open iron door and rushed out. The security team bewilderedly watched the scene and fired late shots but could not stop the running sedan.

'Aaaahhh!'

The moment of despair was over, but the owner of the car continued to scream. It was so noisy that Kwon Taek Joo wondered if he should knock him out for a while.

A shot rang out. Kwon Taek Joo's seemingly tearing up the eardrums of screams stopped. For a moment, the car owner pierced his forehead and tilted his head back. His eyes and mouth widened.

Kwon Taek Joo's was covered in blood, angrily glaring at the driver's seat. If you could blow Zhenya's head away now, it would be very comfortable. But as if not knowing the anger was directed at him, Zhenya casually mumbled as if he had just killed a mosquito.

"…Noisy."

***

Water from the shower rushes down and accumulates in the drain pipe. The man hummed and sang as he stretched out his hand to remove the cramped tie. The clothes on his body were taken off and dropped to the floor. Soon, a solid muscular body was hidden under the exposed clothing. He shook his damp hair slightly and walked into the shower.

Wet ivory hair becomes darker. The water flowing along the chin settles in the straight collarbone and then flows down to the firm pectoral muscles. The wet chest area makes the tattoo on it appear more clearly. The toned muscle mass bends to soak in the warmth of the downflow of hot water. The fingers stroke the wet hair that is both elongated and soft.

But the eyes staring at the mirror full of steam were extremely fierce. It was the gaze of a crocodile that had just tasted blood. It's comfortable but brutal. The stiff mouth quietly drew a long curve.

Kwon Taek Joo poured all the ice into the barrel along with the cheap vodka. The things in the bucket seem to be able to spill out in an instant. He dipped his right hand in without hesitation. Vodka spilled out, a few ice cubes also fell on the table.

Only then did the burning sensation in his wrist decrease slightly. The old wound where the dislocation seemed to be causing trouble. This is the result of constantly squeezing out and ignoring the doctor's advice to continue to cast during this time.

Kwon Taek Joo sighed and then rested his head back. The dust on the old sofa gently flew up. He ignored it and closed his eyes. The feeling of soreness spread throughout the body, causing the black eyebrows to furrow. The running water continued to sound in the bathroom without a bathtub. Zhenya is taking a shower. Although he did not have permission, he arbitrarily took over someone else's bathroom.

Kwon Taek Joo has just escaped from Bogdanov's villa and returned to the old inn where he was staying. The innkeeper is away, so the two of you can easily come back here, but that doesn't mean he can stay here for long. Kwon Taek Joo paid for the room with Zhenya's card, so it was only a matter of time that the location was exposed.

It's also not wrong because the window is very noisy. Unscheduled inspections were conducted throughout the roads and barricades were erected at each entrance. Dozens of patrol cars driving through the city centre are constantly ringing warning bells. It is not surprising that a deadly shooting has just occurred at a gathering place of Russia's leading figures. Security will continue to be tightened during this time, the better way is that Kwon Taek Joo should wait until the surveillance is relaxed rather than act in a hurry. But the situation seems to be unfavourable.

Soon, the sound of running water stopped. It seems that Zhenya is finally done taking a shower. Kwon Taek Joo turned his head when he heard the door open, Zhenya was walking from inside out. But what surprised Kwon Taek Joo was that he was dressed in full and decent clothes from head to toe.

Isn't it that people who are wet will get their clothes sticky and very inconvenient? There are no robes or anything like this here because of the poor conditions, but they both are men, so it's enough to just cover the bottom. It's funny how a guy who is not strange, even though he is a naked as a pupae wandering and pretending to be so discreet.

Zhenya was wondering why Kwon Taek Joo looked at him so blatantly. He didn't mind but looked at him even more attentively.

"You. What is your body like?"

Zhenya took a sip of vodka when he heard an unpredictable question. He showed a face as if he didn't understand why he was asked such a question.

"No matter how you look, you don't look like an agent like me. Just looking at what happened at the Bogdanov mansion is clear. You have an official invitation to that party. At the party, he also easily integrated without any effort, and it was definitely not theatre or eye covering. That's all? He knew every detail from the inner structure of the mansion to the emergency exit. In addition, partners must know where each other are and what they are doing, but I have never been able to know those things from you. You always suddenly appear, but other than that, I don't know where you are and what you plan to do. You have never voluntarily shared information with me. From what I see, it seems that you have a different purpose than me, don't you?"

"It seems that your superior hasn't told you all about it, does it?"

"I know almost nothing. So tell me everything, don't miss anything."

"Is this an interrogation?l

"Just call it introduce yourself. You haven't introduced it properly yet."

Kwon Taek Joo knocked on the table as if to let Zhenya know he didn't think about escaping. Zhenya was not confused by the unexpected question, but rather he just smiled and guessed what Kwon Taek Joo was thinking.

"No matter how I look, it's clear that I'm Russian, with the right voice and pronunciation for those born and raised here, as well as the ability to use a personal helicopter without hassle and even engage in a noisy conflict in the city centre without being wanted. Is it because of those things that you are constantly looking for my identity?"

"Okay. 'I don't understand why you, a 100% Russian and a privileged class of this country, help our work.'"

That question has been wandering in Kwon Taek Joo's mind all this time. Zhenya is Russian. And he is not dominated by the direction of his superiors like Kwon Taek Joo himself, which is enough to neutralise part of the public power. He couldn't understand why he cooperated in this campaign. There must be a very special and extremely important situation otherwise he cannot understand.

Zhenya shrugged indifferently.

"In addition to being a Russian citizen, I am also a businessman."

Kwon Taek Joo's expression was even more confused. That word was not too difficult to understand, but he couldn't easily accept it.

So, he risked his life into the game despite living and dying for profit? Isn't he doing the same thing as being a traitor just for personal gain?

"Do you sell water for honour?"

"There is no more profitable business than that."

It's really ridiculous. Actually, he didn't expect anything big. Kwon Taek Joo's patriotism is also quite special. He was just doing these things because it was work and he never thought of sacrificing his life for the country. But damaging the nation for personal gain is another matter.

"You. Do you know what the purpose of this campaign is?"

"Of course. We are trying to confirm whether the weapon being developed can make both South Korea and the US tremble. 'If you find that weapon, it will destroy it, and if the development fails, you will get the design, right?'"

Zhenya knows exactly everything. If so, he must know if this strategy is successful, what effects it will have in the international community, and how unfavourable his country will be.

"What do you get in this?"

"For me, it doesn't matter whether developing that weapon succeeds or fails. Importantly, Anastasia's blueprint still exists somewhere in this country. If your goal is simply to find it, I might be a little different. What I'm really interested in is the blueprint, not Anastasia. If I complete the task this time, I will get that design."

"What?"

"Sounds like a deal that's not bad, does it? Without such conditions, who would participate in such things? Think about it. Anastasia's existence is more terrifying than its true firepower. The person who owns Anastasia will have the power commensurate with that fear. If I could get the design, I would create my own Anastasia. Even if it fails, it's okay. Because it is still a weapon masterpiece. I will develop a new weapon based on that design and sell it to special customers."

"Special customer?"

Zhenya just grinned without answering. If the second Anastasia were created, its customers would be those who understand the power of that weapon well, be it Korea or the US. By this time, the plan for this campaign was clearer in Kwon Taek Joo's mind. A large part of his doubts were resolved, but his psychological gap with Zhenya was even greater.

Zhenya's strange hour is also understandable. His outstanding information ability is also the reason why he became Kwon Taek Joo's partner. The headquarters must not be able to risk in vain.

Reason understands that but for some reason Kwon Taek Joo still feels uncomfortable. His sceptical eyes were still there. Zhenya continued to sarcastically to him.

"The first impression is not good, so you have to be wary of me?"

"I'm just thinking."

"Don't hate me too much."

Zhenya said and laughed loudly as if what he had just said was ridiculous. Kwon Taek Joo showed a disgruntled face and took something out of his pocket and threw it away. Zhenya easily caught it. A voice recorder. Psych Bogdanov's phone call with someone from 'Sonchef' was fully recorded in it.

"You probably heard it too, it seems that that Bogdanov is developing a weapon, potentially an intercontinental ballistic missile, but we need to check to know more accurately. I'm not sure if it's Anastasia or not. Only the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Defence and North Korea are involved should 'have-that-is-Anastasia'."

Zhenya nodded silently and then he looked at Kwon Taek Joo as if he wanted him to continue talking.

"I would program Psych Bogdanov's voice that was recorded on that recorder to a voice adaptor. With that, we will find out the identity of the name of the 'Sonchef' group he talked to on the phone. If we meet Sonchef, we will find out who the North Korean engineer has just arrived, and where his destination is."

Zhenya listened quietly and stroked his eyebrows with his hand. For some reason he seemed hesitant.

"Mafia all have tattoos on their bodies. Do you know what that means?"

"Does that really matter now?"

"Ignorance will make life shorter."

"What do you mean?"

"The tattoo of the mafia means 'to belong'. If you look at the body of an old mafia, you can know the story of his life. Which group did he belong to, who did he swear allegiance to? So if you harm one of the 'Sonchef', it means that you will turn all people with tattoos like him into enemies. Does that matter?"

"It doesn't matter."

"I want to know what you believe in to be so confident?"

"I don't believe in anything. It's just..."

"Just?"

Kwon Taek Joo pulls his right hand out of the ice bucket. He turned his paralysed wrist slightly and added.

"It's just that I've been collaborating with a pretty useful monster."

Zhenya immediately realised that the monster was him. The flattery is a bit vague. Kwon Taek Joo's tone is also not outstanding and does not look like a compliment. But there was something that made him strangely interested in his mood.

"What. If so, it's okay."

The voice was rather indifferent, but the unhideable pride was evident on Zhenya's face. His shoulders widened and his chin was slightly upturned. It is said that praise can make even whales dance, and Kwon Taek Joo is embarrassed to look at an arbitrary crocodile that is proud of something that is not even a compliment.

But it doesn't have to make him uninterested. Rather, he decided to take advantage of Zhenya's excited mood. For the first time, Kwon Taek Joo smiled and handed him his phone with a very friendly word.

"Not bad, is it? Then make a phone call."

*Call the phone for example 'Sonchef' in the face.