CH 3

The first time Eunhan met Vasily Kaminsky was during his part-time job. At that time, Eunhan worked under a man named Kay Linberg, and the job was popular because it was comfortable and the pay was quite high. Kay Linberg changed his part-timer every three months. Eunhan was able to find the job with the introduction of Chris. 

Chris also said, ‘Linberg is a bit special. I think it’s just a short-term part-time job for three months.’, and Eunhan himself was prepared to be replaced in three months, but surprisingly Linberg seemed to like him and continued to hire him after that.

The man named Kay Linberg was a very unusual person. He was, according to Chris, Miami’s best money launderer, and best geek. He ate in the same restaurant every morning and played chess in the same park every evening. The rest of the time was filled with work. Eunhan first started his assistant job part-time and later worked full-time. About a year later, he had seen through most of Kay’s work. Maybe that’s why.

When Kay met a customer, he met them alone, except once, he met someone with Eunhan. That customer was Vasily Kaminsky. Eunhan had no intention of meeting Kaminsky. He had no desire. He never wanted to meet him. Eunhan had been hearing a lot about Vasily Kaminsky. For example, it was about the nickname of Vasily Kaminsky. His nickname was paybacker, and the origins of that nickname were as follows. 

The Red Mafia was still known only in Russia, but in the United States, Kaminsky, a budding drug dealer, and a famous drug dealer all over Florida caused trouble. No, this was just a guess. Anyway, for some reason, Kaminsky decided to take revenge on a drug dealer. Most people thought that in this case they would shoot him, but if that was the case, Kaminsky would have never been given such a nickname. Kaminsky’s revenge proceeded like a very delicate horror film. The first to die was the daughter of the drug dealer. The day the daughter died was her own wedding day. In a pure white wedding dress, she was hanging from the cross of the church. Her body swayed from side to side without strength, and she was exposed to numerous guests. A fire engine was also mobilized by the police to bring her body down. However, it took a long time because the roof of the church was quite high, and it was said that it was around the time of her wedding when she was brought down. Then, about a week later, the drug dealer’s wife died in the kitchen.  Her limbs were amputated and placed in a pot, the refrigerator, and the head was placed on the table. However, the limbs were not actually amputated when she was alive. Both his daughter and his wife died instantly, and they only looked ugly after death. But when the drug dealer’s wife died in the kitchen, the drug dealer was resting outside his swimming pool. In other words, Kaminsky purposely spared the drug dealer. 

The drug dealer, Nabal, was so frightened that he tried to return to his native country, Colombia, with the thought that Kaminsky couldn’t do anything in the Colombian mafia lair. The drug dealer died at the airport in Bogota, Colombia. The body had several holes made with an ice pick, and the drug dealer’s cause of death was excessive bleeding. After being gagged and bound, he was stabbed all over his body with an ice pick and he watched his own blood flow into the toilet and died in pain. The drug dealer was found in a bathroom cleaning kit. On the wall was written paybacker, and that became Kaminsky’s nickname. But Eunhan had no choice but to meet. Apparently Kay left a check that day, so Eunhan was forced to bring the check.

‘I am Vasily Ivanovich Kaminsky. Nice to meet you’

Kaminsky said politely. With a friendly attitude, Eunhan grabbed his hand in an awkward way. It was a unique atmosphere. Surprised by the gentle yet stiff atmosphere, he forgot all the rumors he had heard about Paybacker. It was the moment Eunhan was about to say his name. 

’The check?’ Kay asked. 

Unable to come to his senses even then, Eunhan smiled and apologized, then let go of Kaminsky’s hand and looked through his bag. When Eunhan handed out the check and papers Kay had left behind, Kay pushed Eunhan back slightly and said, ‘Come in.’ Kaminsky pointed to Eunhan and asked ’But who is this?’ 

To Kaminsky’s question, Kay answered indifferently and said that he was a part-time student. At that, Kaminsky looked away from Eunhan. Of course, even then, Kaminsky was of Eunhan’s taste. Kaminsky’s outfit that day remained vivid in Eunhan’s memory. It was a white shirt and black jeans. Eunhan thought that he could be a model because a shirt that was lightly attached to the body and jeans that fit well matched Kaminsky so much. Suddenly, there was a scream from somewhere. 

’Bo, boss, save me, boss!’

As Eunhan tried to turn her head towards him, Kaminsky’s subordinate shook his head at Eunhan.

‘You’d better not see it. It’s not a good sight.’

‘What…’

Eunhan muttered, and Kaminsky looked at Kay. A chill swept through his body at the cold gaze. Kay chuckled. ‘He’s just a part-time student, but he has good sense, he has a clear understanding of the topic, and he is tight lipped’

‘He should be.’ said Kaminsky. 

The cool bass sound made him shiver. It was a warning that if he doesn’t, he will end up in the same situation as that person. Kay followed Kaminsky to the cabin and said ‘If not, I will take care of it without needing to get  hyourands dirty.’ 

Eunhan lowered his head at Kay’s words that he would kill him, so that Kaminsky wouldn’t be worried. It was then that he realized that he had come to a scary place. 

How can Kaminsky’s face look so good? No, doesn’t he look like a religious person who won’t let go of the Bible for the rest of his life? He looks better than the Father’s of the Vatican. He gruesomely killed a drug dealer with that face. It was amazing. This was their first meeting, however, it is also true that it was a little insufficient to be called a first meeting. In any case, Kaminsky’s face was engraved in his mind because of this event. Kaminsky was the most handsome guy he had ever seen and had the most reverent atmosphere. It was such a strong first impression that he could never forget it. For this reason, Eunhan didn’t stop running even when he was out of breath, as if his heart was about to explode. A building had been blown up and Kaminsky was smiling contentedly in front of it? If Kaminsky wasn’t the culprit, then that would’ve been even more surprising. He ran to the beach. He thought it would be safe to go to a place with a lot of people. He arrived at the sandy beach and sank into the sand.

“This, huh, what, huh huh, work, huh, hey…”

He couldn’t breathe properly. It was so hard. What the hell was that? Why did he meet Kaminsky? Oh fuck! How did this happen? No matter how much he tried to think, he was so out of breath that he couldn’t get his head together because of the lack of oxygen. Eunhan looked up at the cloudless sky and took a deep breath. Then suddenly the sky was obscured and a dark shadow fell over his body.

“For a police officer, you’re not very physically fit.”

The man’s beautiful bass voice was the same. Indeed it will be because it has only been a year.

“Or are you just a witness?”

The man’s face was not even visible because of the backlight. Eunhan opened his eyes wide and jumped up as something poked the side of his body. His body stiffened at the feeling of cold metal.

“Well, I’m, warning you in advance, don’t think I won’t shoot.”

He didn’t even have that kind of thought. He was more than capable of killing all the humans here. Eunhan closed his mouth tightly and nodded his head carefully. Kaminsky, who was friendly to the trembling Eunhan, said, “Then let’s go for a walk, friend.” In the end, he had to walk to Kaminsky’s car with him, shoulder-to-shoulder. With Kaminsky’s hand resting on his shoulder with the muzzle stabbing his side, Eunhan whispered while trembling.

“I, I am nothing.”

“Everyone says so.”

“It’s true. I’m nothing, I’m not a cop, I’m not a witness.”

“Yeah, I got it. Let’s go and talk first.”

Eunhan thought that he would rather bite his tongue. Wouldn’t it be better to bite his tongue and die than to die or be thrown into the sea alive with a hole in his body made with an ice pick? But he didn’t have the courage to do that, and eventually had to go into Kaminsky’s Aston Martin’s trunk. The next few hours were the worst moments of his life. The inside of the trunk was narrow, and every time it swayed a little, he bumped his body back and forth. In addition, he could not breathe properly, thinking that oxygen was not being supplied to this trunk for some reason. Just before he started panicking in fear, the car stopped and the trunk door opened.

“Slowly.”

Kaminsky spoke in the same kind voice as when they first met, but he had a pistol in his hand. Eunhan came out very slowly, as if shooting a slow motion picture. Tears were dripping down from his eyes. It made him so sad to think that he was going to die like this. As he burst into tears, Kaminsky laughed.

“I hate people who cry, so you better not cry.”

At those words, Eunhan hurriedly tried to stop the tears. As he swallowed his tears and looked around, it was the pier. He had been here with Kay on Kaminski’s yacht before, so the pier was familiar. Eunhan almost cried again when he learned that he was going to be dragged onto Kaminsky’s giant yacht in a speedboat. But he clenched his teeth and held back the tears. Meanwhile, a speedboat was approaching from afar. Eunhan thought he might cry again or he might go crazy with fear. But not both. Eunhan couldn’t cry because he was afraid, and instead of going crazy with fear, he was dragged by the speedboat. As soon as they got on the speedboat, someone punched his stomach. He opened his eyes wide, then fainted. When he woke up, the thing that scared him the most was the fact that he couldn’t see with his eyes. For a moment, he was horrified that Kaminsky had even dug his own eyes out, but realizing that he could blink even though he couldn’t see, he breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing that his arms were tied behind his back, he speculated that it was probably that he was with an eye patch too. Eunhan listened. He listened to if there was anyone, and as soon as he heard footsteps, he opened my mouth.

“I, over there.”

There was no one to answer Eunhan’s words. However, it was clear that there was someone, so he opened his mouth again.

“Me, over there. Look. I’m not really an eyewitness. Hey?”

Suddenly the lights came on with a sound. It was a very bright light. Even the thick eyepatch could not block the intense light. Someone came and took off Eunhan’s eyepatch. When the eye patch suddenly came off and he was faced with the intense light, he hurriedly closed his stingy eyes. However, the light was not to the extent that he could avoid it even if he closed his eyes.

“Hey, hey! I’m not really a witness. Oh, no, I’ve seen it, but I haven’t seen the real thing, and I really don’t want to report it to the police! Hey, hey! It’s true, it’s true!”

“Hey, don’t say that. I feel bad. Do you know who I am?”

Hearing Kaminsky’s bass voice, Eunhan almost cried again. He was so scared. Is it right to pretend to know Kaminsky or to pretend not to know? Which one increases the odds of returning home one more time? Then Kaminsky pulled Eunhan’s hair and made him look at him. In fact, he couldn’t even look at him well. The only thing Eunhan could see was the shape of a person blocking the intense light.

“Who am I? Do you know me?”

“Ah, no, there…”

“If you lie, I will make you beg me to kill you.”

At that moment, Eunhan squeezed his eyes shut and screamed, “Oh, I know! Mr. Kaminsky! Vasily, Ivanovich, Mr. Kaminsky! Mr. Kaminsky!” Kaminsky glanced behind his back. Then the strong light went out and only the dim light remained.

“Now, what’s your name?”

In response to Kaminsky’s question, Eunhan answered with a breathless sigh.

“Yoo, it’s Yoon Eunhan?”

“Yunyu ah? Is that your name?”

Kaminsky asked earnestly. For a moment, holding back the desire to cry out his name, Eunhan said his name. He didn’t want to beg for death.

“No. My last name is Yoon. My name is Eunhan.”

“Ah, Asians, are you Chinese?”

“No, Korean.”

“North, South?”

“It’s south.”

Kaminsky told him to try more. Kaminsky, who sat in front of Eunhan, took the chair his subordinate had given him and clapped his hands to make him look at him.

“Look into my eyes and tell me. Keep in mind. If you lie, you’ll have to live longing for death. You know what my nickname is?”

“Pa, a paybacker.”

“Yeah. Remember I count lies as deceit. If you don’t want retaliation, look me in the eyes and tell me. Your name is Yoon. And how do you know me?”

Eunhan shut his mouth for a moment, then Kaminsky’s hand twirled something. When he realized it was a military knife, it was already on Eunhan’s head. The moment the knife fell, Eunhan let out a sharp scream.

“Kay Linberg!”

“…Linberg?”

The knife stopped in front of Eunhan. Was he really going to dig up his eyes? Eunhan trembled.

“What’s your relationship with Kay Linberg?”

Eunhan looked up at Kaminsky. Even if Kaminsky wasn’t paybacker, or even if he was just passing by on the street, Eunhan would not have forgotten Kaminsky’s face. He was a tall, handsome man, and his body was the ideal type for every little thing. But Kaminsky did not remember Eunhan. That’s right. He doesn’t know why he felt bitter in the midst of this. Why was it lonely that his ideal type can’t remember anything about him even though he was scared to death? Even if his ideal type was a crazy bastard, it was bittersweet. He was really a bad guy. EunHan closed his eyes. He couldn’t be confident looking at the knife anymore.

“I, I was his assistant.”

At Eunhan’s words, Kaminsky removed the knife that was right in front of his eyelids. Kaminsky, who looked at Eunhan’s face for a moment, smiled.

“I remember. We met once.”

It was very easy for Eunhan to know that Kaminsky’s statement that he remembered was a lie. Kaminsky only remembered that he had met Kay Linberg’s assistant once. Eunhan said, trying to give strength to his trembling limbs.

“Ah, look. I’m also a money launderer, so I can’t be in a position to report to the police that I’ve seen Mr. Kaminski anyway. Really.”

Kaminsky said, “I know, even if you don’t tell me.” He said and raised the knife again. Oh no!—Eunhan closed his eyes tightly. And he felt a pain in his head and passed out again. The second time he woke up, he was lying on a sofa. However, since there was no eye patch or straps, he felt a little relieved. As soon as he woke up thinking that he wasn’t trying to kill him, he saw Kaminsky drinking from a distance away. So startled, Eunhan jumped and ran away from the sofa.

“Can I call you Yoon?”

Kaminsky asked with a kind and good-natured face that couldn’t be considered a man who threw him in the trunk and dragged him onto a yacht in the open sea. Eunhan nodded his head unconditionally.

“Okay, Yoon. I’m Vasily Ivanovich Kaminsky. I know, but if you want to say hello, you better do it again.”

Kaminsky introduced himself as he walked by and reached out to Eunhan. When Eunhan opened his eyes wide, Kaminsky said, “I’m the president of RBS,” and took Eunhan’s hand. Eunhan was dazed at Kaminsky’s unexpected transformation. As he relaxed his strength without even being able to hold hands, Kaminsky cautiously released Eunhan’s hand and smiled.

“The first meeting was a bit rough. I’m sorry.”

Eunhan’s eyes were filled with only vigilance, but Kaminsky ignored Eunhan’s gaze and continued.

“I did a little research. You were the assistant at Kay Linberg’s funeral. I’m really sorry about Linberg’s death.”

Kaminsky said in a polite voice. Eunhan nodded his head as if he understood it. The voice that said ‘I’m sorry for Linberg’s death.’ was too gentle. Where the hell did a man with such a gentle face and sensible attitude come from?

“I wish I had known about the funeral in time. Do you know Linberg’s family? I’d like to reach out to someone and pay their condolences.”

Eunhan shook his head.

“I don’t know. I reported the death, but it turned out that there was no family…”

“You couldn’t even find a body. It’s unfortunate.”

Kaminsky clicked his tongue.

“The body was found. After the funeral.”

Eunhan said. Kaminsky looked at Eunhan with a surprised face. Frightened by his dark, unknown eyes, Eunhan added, avoiding his eyes.

“It was in the valley. But after being ripped out by a coyote, there were almost no corpses left. But the dental records confirmed it was him.”

“Wow, that’s really bad.”

Kaminsky expressed his regret in a sad voice. Eunhan just bowed his head. His eyes darkened when he thought about what would happen to him. Will he die like the man who screamed for life before? Does it end like that without anyone knowing of his own death? Kay was bitten by coyote and he will be bitten by a fish. Wasn’t it really a good match between coworkers?

“Hey, I’m in trouble right now because Kay suddenly became like that.”

Kaminsky whispered in a devilishly seductive voice.

“Would you mind laundering my money?”

Eunhan shook his head. Embarrassment and hope crossed Eunhan’s face.

“Do you mean money laundering?”

“Anyway, let’s end it well. If you take charge of my money laundering, we’re on the same boat, so there’s no reason for me to kill you. And you’ll be fine. You will receive compensation.”

While Eunhan was silent for a moment and thought deeply, Kaminsky was sitting in front of him, staring at his face. Even though he felt his gaze, Eunhan never looked at him. Kaminsky was offering to spare his life if he could get on board ith him. But Eunhan wasn’t sure if it would be better to go deeper into Kaminsky’s work. There was only one possible answer anyway. If he didn’t get on one boat, he couldn’t refuse, because it means that he’ll push him out of the boat and turn him into fish food. But the reason he couldn’t easily accept it was because it was still scary. He couldn’t stop his mouth from knowing how powerful this man’s white, well-groomed fingers were and how easily he rushed to dig out his eyeballs.

“Hey Yoon.”

Kaminsky gently grabbed Eunhan’s neck with his hand. Eunhan was startled and stepped back.

“What are you hesitating about? You know there is only one answer.”

In the end, Eunhan said, “Well, thank you.” He had no choice but to answer. It was summer, and he had a terrible chill. It was so cold that he couldn’t help but tremble no matter how much strength he applied to his body. Glancing at Eunhan with narrowed eyes, Kaminsky turned his gaze away. It was an indifferent eye. That’s right, Eunhan trembled and followed Kaminsky to the deck. Kaminsky’s yacht seen after a year was just as huge as it was then. The sea at night seemed to be connected to the sky and the sea. The speedboat was swaying lightly on the sea.

“I’ll call you soon.”said Kaminsky. 

Just before going to board the speedboat, Eunhan faintly nodded at those words. If he could get off the yacht, he would probably nod at the suggestion of selling his soul to the devil. At that time, in his eyes, Kaminsky was scarier than the devil. Kaminsky beckoned Eunhan. The gaze was indifferent. After that, Eunhan worked as Kaminsky’s money launderer for a year. Kaminsky was surprisingly a common-sense person. Although informed, he made an appointment in advance to come to the yacht, and did not complain about the fee. Although they were told to come to the yacht in the open sea, in fact, most of the guys who were rich enough to have to launder their money lived like that. So there was nothing special about Kaminsky. However, Eun-han was always afraid of Kaminsky, and had never met with a comfortable mind. Today too, Eunhan was preparing to go to Kaminsky, feeling that he would rather not die. Eunhan pulled out the last ten thousand dollars and put it in his bag. This raised $6 million. Was he okay? Eunha looked at himself in the mirror for nothing. He was wearing the same outfit as last time. It was the same pants, T-shirt, and bag. He deliberately didn’t go with the bag Kaminsky had given him two months ago. Was it really okay? he wondered. Could it be that Kaminsky would beat him down for not bringing the bag he gave him? In fact, he was about to bring the bag that Kaminsky had given him. Eunhan, an atheist, didn’t want to do anything against Kaminsky’s heart. However, on the other hand, the words of Kaminsky’s men remained in his mind and did not go away. The story that Kaminsky liked him. In that case, he shouldn’t be carrying a gift from Kaminsky. Putting on a gift given by someone afterward is kind of like a signal. ’You can like me, you can do me a favor, I’m ready to take—a signal’, my God. Such a signal to Kaminsky, unless Eunhan himself suffered from amnesia. Don’t give out tea you don’t like, but don’t do anything that might be misunderstood. He knows that Kaminsky didn’t like him romantically. However, it was also true that Kaminsky was obviously curious about him. He decided to behave well. Eunhan decided not to carry the bag. The road to the pier was, as always, a thorny road. His heart was heavy and he couldn’t stand it. He took out a calming pill wrapped in gold leaf from his jeans pocket. He ripped off the gold leaf and put it in his mouth at once and muttered. As Eunhan was waiting at the pier, a speedboat approaching from afar caught his attention. He really didn’t like it. He was holding back the feeling that he was about to cry.