God of Blackfield

“Oh!”

Seok Kang-Ho dashed over in shock and pulled Kang Chan’s oxygen mask down to his chin.

“Where’s… Gérard…?” Kang Chan asked weakly.

“He hasn’t contacted us yet,” Seok Kang-Ho replied quickly. “How are you?”

“How long was I out?”

Seok Kang-Ho checked his phone to confirm the time. “It’s… 4:03 p.m. the next day.”

“Help me up.”

“Cap, you just died. You really shouldn’t move right now. Let’s wait for Director Yoo to come and talk to you, then you can get up.”

“Daye.”

Once Kang Chan had said his name like that, Daye could no longer refuse orders.

“Do you remember when I was seeing stars when you were in Libya? Right now, Gérard is in as much danger as you were back then, so pull me up.”

Despite how pale Kang Chan was, his eyes still glinted.

Left with no other choice, Seok Kang-Ho placed down his rifle on a chair and put his hands under Kang Chan’s armpits to sit him up.

“Argh.”

Blood seeped from the bandages on Kang Chan’s chest.

“I’ll listen to the situation on the road. Find Choi Jong-Il and get ready to move.”

Seok Kang-Ho looked up from Kang Chan’s blood-soaked bandages and met the latter’s struggling gaze with a stern look.

“Cap, you were shot thrice near your heart. I’ll guard Gérard myself and protect him if things seem dangerous, so just stay here. I’ll bring Jong-Il and Hee-Seung and make sure we come back alive. I’ll protect Gérard no matter what. Trust me on this.”

Kang Chan had managed to sit up, but he was in too much pain to move.

“Daye.”

“Sir.”

“Thank you.”

Seok Kang-Ho sighed quietly, remembering what Kang Chan had told him when the Chinese had kidnapped him.

“Asshole! Who am I?”

Kang Chan had been covered in blood back then, but that was simply who he was. He would rather die than lose someone he cared about.

“I’ll make sure no one can touch even a hair on Gérard’s head, so don’t worry,” Seok Kang-Ho said firmly.

Click.

The door opened, and Yoo Hun-Woo entered. He initially looked dazed and surprised, but he soon frowned.

“What do you think you’re doing? Lie back down!”

Yoo Hun-Woo set down the IV drip, injections, and blood pack that he had brought with him on the side of the bed. He then grabbed Kang Chan by the shoulders.

“I said lie down!”

Seok Kang-Ho gazed at him with conviction, conveying that he would keep his promise. “Do as the director says. I have already given you my word, haven’t I?”

In response, with Yoo Hun-Woo’s help, Kang Chan finally lay back down.

“How can you be so…” Yoo Hun-Woo scolded Kang Chan as he switched out the IV drip and the blood pack. Unlike before, he sounded quite energetic now.

***

Gérard spent the whole day with the TV on.

They were coming.

If not the Star of David, then it would be Seok Kang-Ho who’d come and pull the trigger.

Gérard stared at the TV. He had a loaded pistol, cigarette pack, ashtray, mug of coffee, and roll of toilet paper on the table in front of him.

For nearly the entire day, the TV repeatedly broadcasted the Bangji Hospital and Kang Chan’s achievements until he had memorized them.

The sun that lit up the morning disappeared behind the buildings. Darkness silently filled the room, and the light from the TV bounced around, making the studio look like a small movie theater.

“Haaa.”

Anxious, lonely, and frustrated, Gérard reached for his cigarette pack. There was just one left.

He put the cigarette in his mouth and flicked on the lighter, causing a red glow to cut through the darkness.

It had been a whole day since the incident.

Only Kang Chan and Gérard knew what happened. Kang Chan probably died and took the secret to the grave.

Gérard twisted his head from side to side.

“Fucking Star of David.”

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It was absurd. How dare they mess with his head and make him kill the person he liked the most?

Gérard exhaled the cigarette smoke, eyes glinting.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

If it were Seok Kang-Ho, he would’ve punched in the code and let himself in.

Gérard grabbed the pistol from the table and headed to the front door.

“Gabriel!” he heard someone shout outside the door.

Backing himself against the wall, Gérard reached out and pressed the lever on the electric lock.

Beep. Click.

The door swung open.

Gérard pointed his pistol at the door. Gabriel, the man he’d seen on the airport security cameras—the man he’d heard was supposedly dead—stood before him with an odd smile on his face.

“There’s a lot of eyes on me. Do you mind if I come in?”

He barged in and closed the door behind him.

“You should turn the light on.”

Click.

Gérard flicked on the light with his left hand and gestured to the table with his pistol.

“Whew! What a stench!”

Frowning, the man opened a window as if he didn’t want the smell of cigarettes to get on his fine clothes.

“Let’s sit down.”

Ha! Fuck it. Do whatever you want.

Gérard sat across from him and rested his pistol on the armrest of the chair.

“How much do you remember?”

“The name Xairo and his face.”

The man looked at Gérard in amusement. “So you don’t know you’re Gabriel yet, then.”

Gérard tilted his head.

The man smirked again. “Gabriel.”

“You’re Gabriel!”

“Whoa, whoa!”

The look in Gérard’s eyes made the man raise his arms into the air as if to calm him.

“The Mermier family has always been part of the Star of David. We enjoyed wealth and glory until my father, your fool of an uncle, rebelled against the grand plans of the organization!”

It didn’t seem like Gabriel was lying.

“So?”

“Your father offered you, Gabriel, to the Star of David in hopes of getting a chance to rebuild the family name. I don’t suppose you’ve remembered that part yet, have you?”

“Just get to the point!”

“You’re Gabriel. I’m Gérard. Xairo, who raised you since you were young, gave you a mission: find the nuclear warheads hidden by Sergey Gee.”

“That doesn’t make sense. I didn’t have to be locked up for a year after my adoptive father died just to try to remember that.”

The bastard grinned slyly.

“It took you a year to remember Sergey Gee’s every move. Thanks to you, we found the warhead, and you were able to live.”

He glanced around the room like he wanted something to drink. Seemingly giving up, he looked back at Gérard.

“If it weren’t for your father, you would have died in Garnich, Luxembourg. Oh, do I have to say Luxembourg in a Korean accent for you to understand now? Anyway! Since you contributed to the great plan, you were spared and sent to your next assignment instead.”

Another dribble of blood trickled from Gérard’s nose.

“Don’t rebel. Don’t even try to remember. The moment you cross that line, you’re dead.”

Gérard tore off a long strip of toilet paper with his left hand and wiped his nose.

“Korean people are so weird. They wipe their mouths and noses with toilet paper. Seems like you’ve been here long enough to pick up strange habits,” the man spat out as if he found it pathetic. “I was sick of being a cram school teacher, and it was annoying to kill that girl named Kim Mi-Young! I didn’t think I’d get to leave Korea thanks to your achievement, though. Now, let’s get going!”

“To Garnich?”

The man nodded, looking pleased. Then, he put a hand in his breast pocket. Gérard immediately aimed his pistol at him.

Click.

“Hey! Put that down. I don’t have any weapons.”

Slowly, he reached into his inside pocket and pulled out a sinister-looking syringe.

“If you want to come with me, you’ll need to take this injection. It will stabilize you and help you make another contribution to the grand plan.”

Gérard cocked his head.

“I’m curious, who was that guy on the airport surveillance? I thought you died there.”

“Why do you care? I picked him up in France and made him have plastic surgery to look exactly like me. If he hadn’t been so clumsy, he would’ve lived longer.”

Seeing Gérard’s gaze, the man wet his lips and shook his head.

“There’s not much time. Give me your arm.”

In the blink of an eye, the man’s expression suddenly turned cold.

Gérard hesitated for a moment, unsure if he would survive the injection.

However, the only way to get to Garnich right now was through the shot that the bastard was offering.

Even if Gérard killed him, without Kang Chan’s help, Gérard wouldn’t be able to leave Seoul, let alone South Korea.

‘To avenge the captain, I have to endure this!’

Gérard thought back to how he had fought off his reaction to the sound of motorcycles.

They didn’t know that secret.

Making up his mind, Gérard held out his left arm.

“Good boy.”

Looking satisfied, the man pointed the syringe at Gérard’s arm. However, before he could inject him with it, they heard numbers being entered on the padlock.

Beep. Beep, beep, beep, beep, beeeep. Click.

The door opened, and Seok Kang-Ho entered the room with a ferocious gaze and expression.

“Daye…?” Gérard uttered in surprise.

Choi Jong-Il and Woo Hee-Seung walked in behind him.

Click. Beep.

The door slammed shut.

“What are you doing?” Seok Kang-Ho growled at Gérard with more hostility than the man sitting across from him.

Although he was speaking Korean, Gérard could now understand that much thanks to the lessons that Michelle had given him.

The man who was sitting across from Gérard looked at Seok Kang-Ho as he tried to understand what was going on.

“You! Do you know how to speak Korean?” Seok Kang-Ho asked. When the man nodded, he pushed his face closer to him. “Then tell that son of a bitch that the captain is looking for him.”

The man looked at Seok Kang-Ho with dumbfounded eyes.

“Kang Chan’s alive?”

“Fucking bitch! How dare you say his name!”

Shing!

Seok Kang-Ho pulled out a bayonet from his right leg and slammed the blade against the man’s throat.

“Just hurry up and tell him, you dumbfuck! I’ll be damned if I have to stop myself from chopping your head off longer than I have to!”

Gulp.

Feeling the bayonet pressing against his throat, the man swallowed and frowned.

“God fucking damn it!”

“Okay, okay! I’ll tell him!”

Seok Kang-Ho gritted his teeth, seemingly holding back the urge to slit the man’s throat. He then moved the bayonet away.

“Gabriel! He’s saying I should tell you that the captain is looking for you!”

Gérard looked at Seok Kang-Ho in surprise.

“Let’s go!” Seok Kang-Ho commanded, which Gérard easily understood.

“The captain is alive?” Gérard asked in French.

Unexpectedly, as if Seok Kang-Ho understood, he replied, “What made you think your useless aim and weakass shooting skills can kill him?!”

Gérard found it funny. With the help of Seok Kang-Ho’s expression and tone, he managed to understand him.

Kang Chan was alive!

***

The funeral would be five days long.

The plaza in front of the Seoul City Hall and a couple of areas in every neighborhood were set up with incense-burning stations, making the Bangji Hospital relatively quieter.

Nevertheless, the NIS counter-terrorism closely guarded the area. After all, it was where Kang Chan’s body was being kept.

Choi Jong-Il returned to the hospital. Only four hours had passed since he left.

Chk.

“This is Choi Jong-Il.”

Upon hearing the radio transmission, the armed agent guarding the hospital entrance approached the SUV. Using his radio, he then confirmed with Lee Doo-Hee if the vehicle should be let through.

“Manager Kim has moved to the mausoleum in front of the city hall. Mr. Seok, if you see anything unusual, report it immediately,” the armed agent said afterward.

“Understood.”

Once the armed agent had stepped back, the SUV went straight through the parking lot and around the back of the building.

Creak.

Choi Jong-Il and Woo Hee-Seung were the first to get out. They checked the stairs leading down to the basement from the back door.

Seok Kang-Ho got out next, then a tall, black-haired man dressed in baggy, hippie clothes.

Finally, a Frenchman in a neat suit hopped off and looked around.

Lee Doo-Hee fell in behind him, pushing his back.

The stairs led down to the basement and into the room where Kang Chan was.

“Captain…”

Kang Chan, who was lying on the bed, looked at Gérard. He then laughed like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“What’s with that look?”

Gérard took off his floppy wig and extra clothes and approached Kang Chan’s bed.

“That damn glare of yours is gone, huh?”

“It is?” Gérard confirmed.

Kang Chan then turned to the man who came with them.

‘How is Kang Chan still alive? He’s been declared dead!’ the man thought.

Gérard quickly told Kang Chan what happened in his hideout. He also revealed that his name had been changed and that was almost injected with a syringe.

Meanwhile, Gabriel could only stare at Kang Chan blankly.

“The hypnosis you put on him has already been broken,” Kang Chan told him in French. “I don’t care what any of you say. This man is Gérard, so cut the bullshit.”

Gabriel gulped.

“This is the only question I’ll ask you. If you try to lie to me, I’ll twist your neck in a heartbeat.”

Gabriel couldn’t defy Kang Chan’s glare, which was only natural. After all, even Seok Kang-Ho couldn’t handle it. Shocked, he focused on what Kang Chan was saying completely.

“Why should I keep you alive?”

“What?”

Kang Chan frowned.

“Sorry, I couldn’t understand your question,” Gabriel immediately added.

Gérard understood French. From the conversation, he could tell that the Star of David members had a primal fear of Kang Chan.

He had thought as much, though. After all, most of them likely imagined Kang Chan as a serial killer with a bad temper and two pointy horns on his head—kind of like a cow.

“Tell me why I should keep you alive even though you’ve targeted Gérard!” the scowling serial killer reiterated. He now looked like he was holding back his annoyance.

“I can be useful to you during your negotiations with Xairo,” Gabriel replied, desperation now evident on his face. “You also need me to go to Garnich.”

“Gérard, you know how to go to Garnich, don’t you?”

“Yes, sir.”

Kang Chan shifted his gaze back to Gabriel.

“Xairo is waiting for me. If I don’t go, Xairo won’t stay still.”

“What’s the injection for?”

“Well…”

Kang Chan’s brows furrowed.

“It’s a drug that enhances the hypnosis you used on Gabriel.”

Upon hearing his reply, Kang Chan looked away. He had learned everything he needed to learn.

“Daye.”

“Sir.”

“Take care of him.”

“Without me, you’ll never get into Garnich.” Gabriel, who understood Korean, quickly interjected.

As Seok Kang-Ho walked over to him, Gabriel took a step back. He then raised his voice and pleaded to Kang Chan for mercy.

“Geez, you son of a bitch! You’re too fucking noisy!” Seok Kang-Ho growled.

Gabriel fell to the ground, his neck twisted in a gruesome fashion.