Kwon Taek Joo beca busy as soon as he entered the room. He stood with his back to the door and looked over the overall structure of the room, then walked along the wall and looked into the window. He carefully checked the shape of the window fra and the glass material and then tried pulling it in and pushing it out. The fixed window does not budge.
In addition, there is another cliff outside. All was as expected. There was no way Sergei could give a good room to a stranger. It seed difficult to move anywhere in this mansion without passing through hallways filled with security guards.
Kwon Taek Joo took out a lighter from his pocket. It's a small device that uses high heat to penetrate glass or thin steel plates. It was also used at the Bogdanov mansion once before. He grabbed the handle and pulled the long tube out, then bent it and turned the flint wheel in a circle. A few rays of light appeared at the end of the long tube, and soon a high temperature fla flared up. With that, Kwon Taek Joo successfully punched a large hole in the glass window on the cliff side.
He placed the neatly cut part on the window fra and put his left wrist through the hole. Kwon Taek Joo stood so close that his head touched the glass door and then pointed his watch up to the sky. When he pressed the ti control device on his side, the watch face opened and sothing shot out. The object flew straight up and quickly disappeared from sight. Not long after, a clicking sound rang out in the air.
Kwon Taek Joo took off the watch, opened the inside cover and took out a tiny mory chip. He plugged it into his phone and downloaded the saved file. A cross-sectional drawing of the mansion was broadcast on the mobile phone screen soon after. He could imdiately understand the structure of the building, as if he were looking at the whole mansion from above. The hidden space between the wall and floor is also completely exposed.
Kwon Taek Joo sent that cross-section diagram toZhenya and deduced the storage location of 'SS-29. I can guess 3 or 4 places. Basent, attic, behind the second bookcase in the reading room and the space inside Sergei's bedroom.
He tried contacting Zhenya by pressing the communication device to his ear.
"I'll probably have to search each place one by one."
"Then I will be in charge of the reading room. Security in that place is especially strict so it should be very interesting."
"Don't kill innocent people. It will be troubleso to clean up."
"I have never laid a hand on an innocent person. I'm just trying to protect myself in a legitimate way."
Justified' is not a word for you to use. Kwon Taek Joo clicked his tongue and ended the aningless conversation.
"Then I'll start from the basent. Work hard."
Kwon Taek Joo finished talking and looked back and forth between the room door and the bathroom. He quickly decided and headed towards the bathroom. The mansion is designed for daily use, so surveillance caras are hidden not only in hallways and stairs but also in fire extinguishers, picture fras on the walls and flower pots. Now that an uninvited guest has arrived, security will be even tighter. In a situation where the whereabouts of 'SS-29' were uncertain, the two of them could not risk a direct attack. When the enemy is outnumbered, it is best to avoid any conflict.
According to the cross-sectional drawing, there appears to be an exhaust fan installed on
the bathroom ceiling. Vent pipes in all rooms are connected as one and extend all the way to the tower to release air. And the basent is no exception.
Kwon Taek Joo locked the bathroom door and turned on the water. A stream of cool water poured down. He pulled the opaque curtain to hide his absence
After completing a series of preparation steps, Kwon Taek Joo entered the toilet and removed the ventilation fan cover. He poked his head through the ventilation hole and saw a dark passage. Not a large enough space but it didn't seem difficult to crawl through.
Kwon Taek Joo gently climbed up to the ceiling. The low ceiling of the vent imdiately pressed down on his back. Even the slightest movent created a cloud of dust that made his nose and throat itch. Kwon Taek Joo buried his nose in his arm and coughed for a while.
He turned on the headlights and shined forward. Eye sight can see clearly about 1 ter. He took a short breath and folded his arms and began to crawl. Kwon Taek Joo was careful and gentle not to let the ceiling shake
He crawled through his room and approached the hallway, when suddenly there was a loud conversation coming from below. They seed to be guards guarding the front of Kwon
Taek Joo's room. Leaving that extrely private conversation behind, he held his breath and moved forward.
Finally, a turning path appeared. Kwon Taek Joo turned on his phone for a mont and checked the cross-sectional drawing again. To get to the basent, you have to turn left. When he turned to the left, a profile appeared. It looks like a path leading downstairs. Up to this point, Kwon Taek Joo was putting half of his weight on one elbow and straightening his upper body. At that mont, the ventilation hole collapsed.
"..."
It seed he had touched the bottom of an old ventilation hole. Kwon Taek Joo quickly grabbed the wall to keep his balance. This caused quite a noise. Just at that mont, a guard passing nearby suddenly stopped walking. He saw him tilt his head beneath the ventilation hole woven like a net.
He looked sowhere behind and tilted his head again. His front colleague asked what was going on.
"Did you hear anything just now?"
"What sound?"
"It sounds like sothing is falling...?"
He looked left and right again, then suddenly looked up at the ceiling and discovered that a ventilation hole had fallen down. This situation has been going on for quite a while but has not been fixed yet. Because owner Sergei said he would complete important work first and then proceed with large-scale repairs to the mansion, but he kept delaying it day after day.
Could a mouse have run by? Even though I wondered that, the sound I just heard was heavier than that. The guard couldn't let go of his doubts so he lightly tapped the ceiling with his rifle. If there is nothing on it then it will sound empty. Even the slightest touch of the collapsed vent causes it to shake violently. By the way, he also tried touching other places but could not detect the existence of anything anywhere. "What's got you so stressed?", his colleague complained.
"Nothing."
"That's it."
"Don't worry. It's not unusual for rats to appear in the past day or two."
The guard looked into the ventilation hole with a confused expression and was pulled away by his colleagues.
Kwon Taek Joo is struggling in the dusty alley. He kept his head, back, buttocks, and both hands completely pressed against the vent ceiling, with only the tips of his toes touching the floor. His hands were slipping little by little because he was starting to sweat. If you fall, the ceiling will shake again. He just hoped that the two guards would disappear from the hallway before then.
If it happens once, it's a mistake, but if it happens a second ti, they definitely won't ignore it. If security decided to search the passageway, he would have no way to escape. The problem is that awkward posture cannot be corrected imdiately. The sweat that accumulated on his forehead fell to the floor. His wet hand kept sliding down. It seed like Kwon Taek Joo couldn't bear it any longer. That's your limit.
The clinging body fell with a thud. The ceiling also shook violently. He held his breath and looked down at the situation below. His heart beat fast. Every minute and second seed endless, Kwon Taek Joo waited a while longer but still saw no sign of anyone running because of the noise.
It seed like the security guard had completely left the hallway. Only then could he breathe out.
"Ha, ha..."
Kwon Taek Joo took a mont to catch his breath and start moving again. He crawled, turned around and crawled again along a path that seed to stretch on forever. How far have you gone? Gradually, the sll of mold and moss arose. It seed like he had finally reached the basent. The ventilation hole in the basent has a vertical shape, cut horizontally like a chimney. The height seems to be the longest at 4m and the shortest at 2m. Kwon Taek Joo couldn't let his head go out first, so he turned around with difficulty and jumped down without hesitation.
The speed of the fall combined with the body weight caused the ventilation hole cover to break. Kwon Taek Joo rolled for a mont to diffuse the impact of the fall. Dust flew up as soon as he fell to the floor.
Kwon Taek Joo's vision beca blurry. He stopped the cough that was about to explode with the back of his hand, then brushed away the dust and looked around. All the furniture was piled up in the basent. Among them, what caught Kwon Taek Joo's attention was sothing covered under a thick veil. Its size is quite large.
He quickly approached and cleaned up the surrounding furniture. The veil was pulled off imdiately. Dust flew up again. This ti Kwon Taek Joo couldn't stop sneezing.
When he opened his reflexively closed eyes, the strength in his shoulders suddenly disappeared. What was covered in the basent was not the weapon he expected. It's just an old piano. As soon as the lid was opened, rats with glowing red eves rushed out.
He suddenly sighed. Kwon Taek Joo risked his life to co here but he completely failed.
He wanted to deny the truth before his eves. He searched not only inside the piano but also all the boxes there in vain nostalgia, but there weren't any firearms or anything like that. He also pressed and knocked on the wall many tis, but there was no such thing as a second space.
What's even more tiring is that Kwon Taek Joo has to go back the way he ca. He looked bored at the ceiling. He had co here with a glimr of hope but now all that remained was difficulty, and a challenge from a 3 to 4 ter vertical walkway. How to climb up there?
Kwon Taek Joo, in a miserable mood, took out a special device that looked like a cara. He brought it with him just in case. He pointed the lens area at the ventilation hole in the ceiling and pressed the shutter button. A long wire was imdiately shot out along with the lens cap into the ventilation hole. The rope didn't fall down so it seed to have stuck sowhere on the ceiling. He pulled hard to check, but it was already tightly fixed, so the thread beca even tighter.
Kwon Taek Joo climbed on the old piano. The rope fixed to the walkway was connected to his belt. Kwon Tae Joo held the rope with both hands and kicked his legs to climb up. He is familiar with rope climbing because he often practices it when studying Judo.
Kwon Taek Joo safely arrived at the ventilation hole and crawled for a while to return to his room. Whenever he feels signs of movent from below, he will stop for a mont and then crawl again. As he slowly approached the room, he felt exhausted. All Kwon Taek Joo wanted to do was turn away and lie down.
He had just passed through the hallway leading to his room. Suddenly there was a knock on the door from sowhere. Zhenya never knocked on the door, so the visitor was probably Sergei or one of his assistants. Kwon Taek Joo was surprised for a mont then hurried out of the aisle.
The knock on the door rang again. When Kwon Taek Joo arrived at the ventilation hole in the bathroom, there was also a sign that the door was open. There's no ti left.
Sergei burst into Kwon Taek Joo's room and looked around at the ss inside. There was the sound of running water from the bathroom. He wondered if he didn't even notice soone coming because he was taking a bath. Sergei considered what to do and decided to return later. Since you are a guest, it is only polite.
He turned around and walked towards the door then suddenly stopped. After that, not knowing what he was thinking, he walked straight to the bathroom. There seed to be a rush on his stiff face.
Sergei pulled down the door handle but it was locked from the inside. Normally, the door that is locked must be the main door of the room, not the bathroom door. A bad premonition. He imdiately took out a set of keys from his pocket and counted them one by one to find the correct one.
At the sa ti, the bathroom door opened. The steam that filled the inside escaped through the open door. The person who opened the door was none other than Kwon Taek Joo. He must have just finished showering because his black hair looked thick and wet. The solid, curving body was also wet and shiny with water. A body that looks like soone put all their heart and soul into creating it.
Sergei just stood there bewilderedly looking at Kwon Taek Joo. It was Kwon Taek Joo who broke the long silence.
"What's going on?"
"Ah, since it's almost dinner ti... Let's eat together..."
Sergei stamred but his eyes slowly slid from Kwon Taek Joo's face down to his chest and stomach and right down there. His thick lips opened. Kwon Taek Joo took out a towel and wrapped it around his waist. Only then did Sergei co to his senses, looking regretful at losing the taste he had just tasted.
"You want to take your al into the bathroom?"
"Oh, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. Because I called many tis and no one answered, I'm afraid sothing unfortunate has happened."
Sergei made an obvious excuse. After that, he said that everyone would have dinner together at the restaurant on the first floor and quickly left the room. The door closed with a "bang". The footsteps echoed for a while and then quickly faded away.
Kwon Taek Joo put on his robe as if nothing special happened and then staggered to sit down. He sighed with relief. He almost ran into Sergei in a dusty state. His heart was pounding uncomfortably. Kwon Taek Joo angrily ruffled his wet hair.
"How's it going? It's probably not easy to fix sothing that's completely broken. But succeeding in sothing everyone else has given up on is probably a great experience."
"We're just in the stage of tweaking the design."
"Designing really takes a lot of ti. That's why it's even more valuable. Even so, things that put a lot of effort into will not betray us. Just like sincere love will never been betrayed like that."
Sergei laughed at that joke. Then, he gently leaned towards Zhenya and whispered a question.
"Okay, when will you announce it to everyone in the industry? Everyone is very curious."
"I have to consider it carefully. Over the years..."
Zhenya, who was answering without hesitation, suddenly stopped talking as soon as he made eye contact with Kwon Taek Joo, who was entering the restaurant. Sergei also raised his head to look out the entrance and raised his hand to greet Kwon Taek Joo, who had now beco neat and clean.
"This side."
The restaurant has a long table that can easily seat 40 people. But only Sergei, Zhenya and Hong Yeo Wook were sitting there. This is the first ti Kwon Taek Joo officially t Hong Yeo Wook. Their eyes t and he just nodded. Hong Yeo Wook was quietly eating and also bowed his head silently in response.
It seems like the seat where Kwon Taek Joo will sit has already been assigned. It was the chair right next to Sergei. Sure, because that's the only place the cutlery is located. The waiter who appeared also placed Kwon Taek Joo's appetizer there.
Sergei nodded and said "Hello." He wasn't interested but had no reason to refuse, so he just quietly walked back to his seat and stared at Zhenya sitting opposite. He looked at Kwon
Taek Joo while politely eating and cutting the at, then didn't look at him but just shook his head slightly. It seems that Zhenya also wasted ti and effort in the first search.
Kwon Taek Joo's eyes were glued to Zhenya, then turned to Hong Yeo Wook. He didn't participate in the conversation at all and just focused on filling his stomach. After quickly finishing his food, he quietly left. As Hong Yeo Wook walked around the table, his eyes lightly touched the back of Zhenya's neck.
Even though it was only for a mont, the gaze was quite intense. Have the identities of the two people been discovered? Kwon Taek Joo was suddenly startled.
Sergei says that Hong Yeo Wook is a guest who will stay for a while. He imdiately changed the subject as if he was waiting for Hong Yeo Wook to leave.
"Is the hacking program you ntioned used in both Korea and the United States?"
He seed very good at hiding his sinister intentions behind his cunning deanor. To cover up a lie, it's best to say a little less than to keep repeating it.
Kwon Taek Joo wiped his hand on a napkin and brushed it away.
"I want to avoid ntioning information related to weapons."
"Ah, that must be it. I was so negligent."
Sergei apologized more profusely than necessary. Then, as if thinking it would be better to have a normal conversation, the old man asked very personal questions about his hobbies and interests. I don't understand why he is so curious about other people.
When Kwon Taek Joo was looking for sothing to respond to, he often made eye contact with Zhenya. He was resting his chin on his hand and looking at the two of them, as if he was watching sothing very interesting. There was no sign that he was going to change the subject or help Kwon Taek Joo. When Kwon Taek Joo quietly urged him to do so, Zhenya just quietly laughed and slowly stood up from his seat.
"I'll go first. It's a long way so I'm tired. You two continue talking."
Zhenya left alone, leaving only Sergei and Kwon Taek Joo. It was obvious that the way he glanced at Kwon Taek Joo again and teased him was intentional. He was extrely angry but had no other choice. All he could do was stare at the back of Zhenya who was quickly walking away. That's why he also missed Sergei's question.
"...You did?"
"Hmm? What did you just say..."
"I asked if you are married? Like having a lover or sothing."
Sergei happily asked back with a friendly expression.
"Does whether or not I have a lover affect your purchasing decision?"
Kwon Taek Joo asked again and laughed. It was a rather cheerful smile. He could feel the calmness in his own voice, facial expressions and gestures.
Sergei's thick lips drooped at the unexpected provocation. His hand full of rings slowly covered the back of Kwon Taek Joo's hand. The slow movent of his thumb and hand kneading his hand was extrely uncomfortable.
"That depends on each case."
The old man finished his sentence cunningly. anwhile, his hand slipped into Kwon Taek Joo's sleeve. He had been enduring blatant harassnt all this while, suddenly standing up from his seat. Sergei's hand fell off imdiately, his expression shaless as if sothing shocking had happened.
"Sorry. I have urgent business to attend to."
He showed off his even teeth and smiled fakely then left the restaurant. Sergei was left alone, looking on in bewildernt.
Soon, the waiter brought dessert. It's a chocolate covered brownie. He could see its moist and chewy texture. Sergei looked down at the brownie hesitantly, finally regaining his appetite and putting his fork down to enjoy the cake.
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