CH 2

“It’s the Red Mafia. I’m just glad they didn’t cut off my throat.”

At Eunhan’s words, Chris smiled sadly.

“They don’t just slaughter people. Don’t be so scared.”

“How can I not be scared? I’m terrified. How the hell am I supposed to break this deal off with Kaminsky?”

Eunhan started wiping his head with a towel. Meanwhile, Chris took Eunhan’s bag and put it in the trunk.

“What else can be done besides Kaminsky deciding not to leave it to you?”

Chris replied with a face that said it couldn’t be helped. Chris was Korean-American. His face didn’t show any features of Asian descent, so he wondered if he really was of Korean descent, but he was able to speak a little Korean under the influence of his grandmother who raised his. But it was very limited.

“Aigoooo”

Eunhan burst out laughing as Chris pretended to weep.

“Don’t cry like this, Yoon.”

“Like I said, I’ve never cried. You cry a lot more.”

At Eunhan’s comment, Chris shrugged his shoulders.

“I like ‘Aigoo’. It can be used anywhere… Aigoo that bastard, why do you drive like that?”

Chris frowned as he looked at the car in front of him. The car in front made a turn causing a squeaking sound and disappeared into the opposite lane.

“How was Mr. Kaminski today? Was he a super sexy guy today?”

“Today, he took off everything. He was only wearing one big black triangular swimsuit.” Eunhan said, showing his palm. Chris whistled when he said that a swimsuit the size of a palm was all he had on. 

Chris, who had only seen Kaminsky once, said as he whistled, “Well, one thing about him is that he has the face of a priest. The body is a Calvin Klien model.”

“Because he’s a Russian man, his skin is as white as snow. Does it make sense that people who live on yachts and come to Miami so often have white skin?”

Eunhan clicked his tongue. In fact, American gays didn’t like white skin very much, but Eunhan was Korean, so he had a longing for clear, white skin. At Eunhan’s words, Chris asked curiously.

“Huh? White skin?”

“Yeah, it’s completely white.”

“It’s white? No, it could be, but… Baby, did he still have a tattoo?”

“Tattoo? I didn’t see any.”

Creeakkkk.

Chris stopped the car. Eunhan shouted, “Hey, what’s this!”, as Chris suddenly hit the brakes and the cars that were about to hit theirs, passed by with sharp horns from behind. Eunhan, who had lowered himself while holding the handle of the car door, was about to get angry with Chris, but Chris held up his hand and asked,

“Wait a minute.Didn’t you see any tattoos? You obviously said you saw Kaminsky in a swimsuit, didn’t you?”

“That’s right.”

“Is that person Vassily Kaminsky?”

“Yeah.”

Chris’ face contorted.

“That bastard is a real monster.”

At Chris’s words, Eunhan made an anxious face. Now, he was a crazy person, an asshole, and a real monster? Eunhan’s face contorted. Chris clicked his tongue with a serious face.

“Is it so bad that Kaminsky doesn’t have a single tattoo on his body?”

Eunhan asked, confused. Isn’t tattooing just a matter of taste? Eunhan’s common sense did not understand why he had to have a tattoo. When Eunhan asked the question in bewilderment, Chris looked back at Eunhan. Facing Eunhan’s anxious face, Chris smiled. His hand stroked Eunhan’s cheek.

“No, honey. I made you worry for nothing.”

“Don’t lie. It’s not nothing to worry about. Tell me for real, what is it?”

“It’s not a good story to know.”

Chris started the car again, but the fear in Eunhan’s eyes did not go away. Chris, who pretended not to see Eunhan’s anxious face for a moment, finally opened his mouth.

“It’s nothing.”

Chris said and shut his mouth again. Eunhan trembled with anxiety as he looked at him, his mouth tightly closed. Chris glanced at Eunhan and replied with a sigh.

“If he’s ever served jail time in Russia, there’s no way Kaminsky’s body isn’t tattooed.”

“What do you mean?”

“With such a known name, he’s never even served a sentence for drugs or for stealing.”

When Eunhan looked at Chris with a face that said, “What is that?” Chris smiled lightly.

“Baby, Kaminski is very famous. A very, very, very famous bastard. He’s been famous since he was young, but he’s never served a sentence in prison. Crime is escalating after all. Where in the world is there a bastard who can sell weapons without being caught? There’s no way anyone can detonate a bomb from the very beginning. Beating people, taking drugs, that’s the way it starts, right? But he’s never been to prison.” 

Chris glanced at Eunhan’s face and spoke. 

“Besides, it means that no one could order him to get a tattoo. It’s scary. It’s like he was the boss from the start. That’s impossible. He’s really a bastard.”

“But, maybe tattoos aren’t his taste?”

“Not in Russian prisons. A lot of bastards die with tattoos using rubber, tires, urine, and stuff like that. In those prisons, tattoos are a pride. Thieves use stars, for drugs, spiders or webs, and murderers use skulls. You’ve got to keep engraving this and that, if you don’t, you’ll be treated like a bitch, so it can’t be helped.”

Chris sighed and said, “The more you know, the more amazing he is. Honey, how did you ever meet such a bastard?” he asked sympathetically. Eunhan’s face, which had drooled over his body without a second thought, became like a corpse. That smooth, pure white body was proof that he was more of a bastard than he had originally thought. God, oh God. Eunhan leaned against the backrest helplessly. He doesn’t know how the hell he was supposed to do this. Kaminsky goes beyond anything he can imagine, and he has to see him once or twice a month. Did he have to roll that guy’s money? He even thought in vain that he was going to die now. Suicide wouldn’t hurt compared to dying by tearing his body apart with at least a pair of pliers. It looked a bit better too.

“Come to think of it, Kaminsky’s men are saying strange things.”

When Eunhan, who was so scared, opened her mouth in a subdued voice, Chris asked, “Strange things?”

“Stop being scared of him. The boss likes you.” 

“…In ‘that’ sense?”

“No, not that. I guess he just likes me as a toy to play with.”

“Crazy bastard.” Chris snorted. Hearing Chris’ voice, Eunhan closed his eyes, suddenly tired. Well, every time he met Kaminsky, he was so tired. Really tired. They always asked him to come to the yacht and this consumed quite a bit of stamina. They had a yacht in the open sea and asked him to come. He just needed to get the money into his account, he doesn’t know why he has to go. Eunhan closed his eyes. He wanted to sleep.

“You’d better sleep. Don’t worry too much, I’ll figure out a way to get you out of Kaminsky’s grasp.”

“Thank you, Chris”

But Eunhan knew that there was no such way. Kaminsky likes Eunhan’s money laundering skills. There is no way out unless Kaminsky asks him to leave. However, if Eunhan makes a mistake, Kaminsky will blow his head off.

‘It’s not like that.’

Kaminsky’s subordinate’s voice remained clear in his ears. He’ll take good care of that bag and bring it with him the next time we meet. Or it might kill him. But what the heck does he mean he likes him? Damn it, how did he end up like this? He was scared to death. Why the hell was he doing this to him? Eunhan closed his eyes tightly because he thought tears would well up and because he didn’t want to cry next to Chris. Perhaps it was because he was tired, tears came rushing at once. Eunhan remembered his first meeting with Kaminsky while sleeping. It was a really disgusting and unfortunate first meeting. (Actually, it wasn’t even the first meeting.)

Even on that day, Eunhan was doing his best as a sincere money launderer. The money was deposited into a bank in the Cayman Islands, and the money was withdrawn from the Channel Islands. It seems every year that he hears the news that there will not be delays in monitoring financial transactions in offshore areas, but in reality, it has not changed at all. One day, he laughed when he saw a money launderer in the news asking, ‘What has changed with the intensification of offshore financial surveillance?’ And he answered the same as the money launderer on TV. He raised the fee. It was very hard to catch money laundering. The conviction rate was only 5%. Even so, it was right to assume that there are very few cases where actual money launderers were found guilty because the huge tax evasion suspects are concentrated in that 5%. Otherwise, a cowardly person like Eunhan could never be a money launderer.

It was when Eunhan confirmed the last deposit and pressed the send button. There was a roar and the building shook. Eunhan fell down in surprise. As he laid down, not knowing what was going on, the hallway became noisy. Hearing the people screaming and running away, Eunhan hurriedly grabbed his bag. He shoved his laptop and file folder into his bag. He checked it one more time before closing the laptop. He made sure the money was right. It was impossible, but the timing was so perfect that he doubted whether he had pressed the ‘detonate’ button. As soon as he left the building, he heard someone scream “a bomb!” 

A bomb? It was the first time a bomb had been detonated on Brighton Street. While Eunhan was looking around with his eyes close to panic, a man was standing on the edge of the road, calmly looking up at the building next to him. Unknowingly, Eunhan followed the man’s gaze with his relaxed appearance. And then groaned. It wasn’t Eunhan’s apartment where the bomb exploded. It was an apartment building next door. Part of the third floor was blown away, and gray smoke was rising. Then the man’s lips rose slightly. Eunhan could see the satisfaction on his face. 

The man turned towards him and their eyes met. The man was wearing sunglasses, so his face could not be seen properly. All he knew about the man was that he was tall, with black hair neatly cut, wearing a black suit. However, seeing a man smiling while watching the bombing site and making eye contact with him was a bad sign in many ways, so Eunhan turned away from him and tried to run away. But the moment their eyes met—even though he was wearing sunglasses—he couldn’t move, as if caught in a trap. The man took off his sunglasses, curious about Eunhan’s reaction. 

At that moment, Eunhan remembered Korean after a long time. Fuck! 

It would have been better if it was a man he didn’t know, but Eunhan knew the man. The man was, of course, Vassily Kaminsky. A mysterious man who always stands out for his overwhelming atmosphere, even though he has quite nice features. Eunhan had met him before. He was startled and could not move, and the man made a more puzzled face. Eunhan didn’t do anything stupid like turn around and run away, but he slowly turned around and passed the corner of the building pretending as if it was nothing. After he was clearly out of sight from the man, Eunhan ran like crazy.