Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Not Alone

Inside the café, Im Hee-yeon sat quietly. At that moment, a man from the adjacent table stood up and approached her.

“Director, are you alright?”

It was her secretary and close bodyguard, Song Tae-hoon.

Im Hee-yeon took a sip of her now-cold tea and sighed. Sёarch* The novёlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“Hmm… What’s the next schedule?”

“There’s an audit at MH Electronics.”

“Is everything prepared?”

“President Myung In-chul probably has some idea, but we have clear evidence, so there shouldn’t be any problems. Of course, he’s likely hidden as much embezzlement evidence as he could, but it won’t end quietly. Even if we only confirm the double-entry bookkeeping evidence, we can cross-check and wrap it up.”

Im Hee-yeon nodded naturally.

“That’s probably the case. I’m glad. Then, let’s leave.”

She stood up with the bodyguards around her and went outside the café. As they walked toward the outdoor parking lot through the door opened by Secretary Song Tae-hoon, they heard the rustling sound of dried leaves being stepped on from the direction of the forest. They saw Shin-woo, who had parted ways earlier, emerging from the forest.

“……?”

Shin-woo was dragging a suspiciously dressed man behind him.

The surrounding bodyguards were startled and tightly surrounded Im Hee-yeon.

Seeing this, Shin-woo approached her with a frown.

“This man seems to have been targeting you from the forest. You’re not going to claim ignorance, are you?”

“Me……?”

“He was carrying a high-power shortwave radio. From what I overheard, it seems he was waiting to push you and those around you into a truck from the road in front of the café.”

At that moment, Im Hee-yeon and her team’s faces went pale.

“Is that person… dead?”

“No, he’s unconscious. But now, let’s hear it. Who are you that you were almost targeted like this?”

Shin-woo was also baffled when he secured the radio contents. Moreover, the behavior and equipment of the man he had knocked out were definitely not those of an amateur. Just by the equipment, system, and organized movement, it was clear that it was a professional assassination organization.

“First, let’s sort out the situation. Secretary Song.”

“I’ll handle it immediately. But what about the schedule you mentioned earlier?”

“Given the situation, it’s likely that they’ve caught on. It’s better to postpone it for now. We need to find out where the information leaked from.”

“Understood.”

Song Tae-hoon replied and gestured to the bodyguards around them. Some of them and others waiting in different vehicles left the parking lot in cars.

“Shall we go back inside?”

“No. It doesn’t seem like a conversation for an open area. Let’s discuss it in your car. Oh, what should we do with this man?”

“Secretary Song.”

“We’ll take care of him.”

The remaining bodyguards tied the man’s arms and legs with cable ties and moved him.

Meanwhile, Shin-woo and Im Hee-yeon got into the back seat of a luxury car.

“Speak. Who are you that almost faced such a grave threat?”

“…You know about MH Group, right?”

MH Group is one of the largest conglomerates in South Korea, with numerous affiliates under its control in sectors such as electronics, communications, construction, retail, department stores, hotels, and food. The phone Shin-woo is using right now is also from MH Electronics. Naturally, he couldn’t have been unaware.

“Why is that?”

“I am the head of strategic planning at MH Group. And I am also the daughter of Chairman Myung Joong-hwan.”

For a moment, Shin-woo’s expression hardened as he questioned the statement.

“Daughter? But the surnames…”

Im Hee-yeon and Myung Joong-hwan have completely different surnames. Shin-woo immediately picked up his phone and searched.

Chairman Myung Joong-hwan has two sons and one daughter. The daughter is not Im Hee-yeon but Myung Soo-yeon.

“Stepdaughter. A child born outside. Originally, I lived separately, but when I was seventeen, after your grandmother passed away, I came under Myung Joong-hwan to make a living. Of course, you are also related to the chairman.”

This meant that Chairman Myung Joong-hwan is Shin-woo’s maternal grandfather.

Shin-woo was so stunned that his furrowed brow did not relax.

“Then was it because my life could be in danger that you didn’t tell me the reason for wanting us to live together? Of course, given the current situation, you would have made appropriate preparations for it.”

They had even hired professionals to push people off with a truck. Naturally, Im Hee-yeon must have provided the reason for this.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you that.”

“So what changes if everything is resolved and we live together?”

“That is…!”

The guilt of abandoning Shin-woo as an infant. The longing for over twenty years, though she could not see him. Various reasons swirled, but in the end, it was just Im Hee-yeon’s personal greed.

“If you had left me abandoned until now, it would have been fine to continue living like that.”

“I didn’t want to do it that way!”

In MH Group, there was a succession war even before the chairman’s children became adults. Although Im Hee-yeon was a stepdaughter, she was fully qualified. If Im Hee-yeon’s child appeared in such a situation, who knew what would happen?

“But now it seems your opponent has noticed that flimsy plan, and everything has fallen apart.”

“Not everything.”

Im Hee-yeon had gathered enough evidence to accuse Myung In-chul, the head of MH Group’s headquarters, of corruption. With today’s scheduled inspection of MH Electronics, if they secured the surface accounts and other materials that Myung In-chul used to cover up embezzled funds, it would be completed.

“Is that so?”

“By the way, what happened earlier? Did you knock out that man yourself?”

“Well… yes.”

He subdued the man before he had a chance to react. Although the man was also quite skilled, the gap created by Shin-woo’s previous experience and combat skills from before his return to the past was immense.

However, Im Hee-yeon didn’t know this process and thought it was just a simple fight.

“Did you learn that in the military? But you…”

“I was a non-commissioned officer in the military industry. You must have already investigated that, right?”

“…Yes.”

On the surface, Shin-woo was discharged as a sergeant in the Army Special Warfare Command’s Logistics Division. But in reality, he served as a member of the Underground Attack Department (UAD), a secret special operations team run by the Army Special Warfare Command, before his discharge. Such matters are handled specially by the Ministry of National Defense and are difficult to know unless you are one of the few people involved.

“So what will you do now? It may not be my concern, but since the opponent has noticed, isn’t your position also at risk?”

“I don’t need to worry. I’m sorry. I only caused you discomfort due to my own greed. But I’m relieved that you’ll living abroad.”

In the future, Shin-woo had joined a mercenary unit under an American military company after his military discharge. However, due to the nature of the unit, the identities of its members must not be traced, so he would leave unofficially and live under a different identity.

“Is it to avoid being targeted by MH Group?”

“They still don’t know who you are. I’ll make sure they never find out.”

“So you have quite a bit of trust in the people around you.”

“There’s no reason not to trust them.”

“Even though today’s schedule was leaked?”

Looking at the situation from earlier, it seemed highly likely that Im Hee-yeon would have died after being hit by a truck in the future. Since Shin-woo went overseas by illegal means for mercenary activities, it would have been impossible for those who targeted Im Hee-yeon to track him.

“I need to confirm that. For now, you should focus solely on your departure.”

Shin-woo’s expression hardened at her words. “I’ll handle my own matters. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going.”

“Shin-woo!”

“Oh! I’m a bit curious, but is my surname from my biological father?”

He had been left at an orphanage under the name Baek Shin-woo. Since his surname differed from Im Hee-yeon’s, he had always thought it was his biological father’s surname.

“Yes.”

“Who was my biological father? Is that a secret too?”

“Your father died in a car accident shortly after you were born. Since we couldn’t register the marriage, I had to let it be quietly.”

“What’s his name?”

“…Baek Jeong-hoon.”

With that name, Shin-woo got out of the car. Song Tae-hoon and the bodyguards waiting outside boarded the car and departed. Left alone, Shin-woo quietly watched them leave and raised his left hand.

The tattoo of the Triad Eye’s symbol, a pattern resembling an eye, was etched there. Now, it was a tattoo that should not exist and continued to cause him doubts.

“I can’t believe it’s 2023, and my biological mother is from a chaebol family… Why is this tattoo here even though it should have been done later?”

He had learned so many things he hadn’t known before that living the same life as before was no longer possible. He thought about trying to find the Triad Eye members but realized he would only meet them six years from now.

“Finding Man-soo first would probably solve the rest.”

Jang Man-soo, who was responsible for gathering information within the Triad Eye. He also managed information about team members, finances, and received requests. However, Shin-woo didn’t know where Man-soo was at this time.

As Shin-woo was lost in thought, his phone rang, and a message arrived.

【Caller ID Restricted】

【The ordeal is not over】

“This…”

The message meant, “The ordeal is not over.” Shin-woo took off his wristwatch to reveal the tattoo below. The message just received was written exactly as it was tattooed.

The name of the mercenary unit, Triad Eye, meant “Eye of the Tested.” And the content of the message was a pledge with his comrades to remain vigilant.

Unable to make a call, Shin-woo felt frustrated. However, another message arrived under the same condition.

【103-4, Gochok-dong, Guro-gu, Seoul, Rooftop of the Building】

Seeing the message, Shin-woo smiled slightly and didn’t hesitate to get into the car. He headed to the location mentioned in the message and arrived at the address, a hardware store building in Gochok-dong, after about 1 hour and 30 minutes.

“Hmm… This address seems to be correct.”

After driving up to the rooftop of the building and getting out, he looked around. The phone rang again with a new message.

【Let’s start the game now.】

Seeing this, Shin-woo could tell who had sent the message.

“Whatever this is…”

Muttering to himself, Shin-woo typed something on his phone and, standing on the parking lot, shouted loudly.

“Are you listening nearby? Should I send a radio story about how I confessed my feelings to my first love in high school and got rejected, cried for a week, sent a lucky letter, and then had to transfer schools because I couldn’t face them again? Jang Man-soo! If you don’t show up, I’m sending it!”

Clunk―!

At that moment, the back door of a van parked in one corner of the parking lot opened, and a man rushed out. Wearing a blue tracksuit with a lean physique, messy curly hair covering his eyes, and wearing horn-rimmed glasses, it was Jang Man-soo.

“Ah―! Wait! Wait! Time! Tiiime―! Get your hands off the phone immediately!”

Seeing this, Shin-woo smiled and held up his phone. “Is that enough?”

As Jang Man-soo approached, he snatched the phone from Shin-woo’s hand. “Wow― You really were going to send it as a radio story.”

What Shin-woo had typed was indeed a story for a radio app’s submission board.

“Just kidding. By the way, you looked like this back then? Hahaha!”

The tracksuit, glasses, and hairstyle were too noticeable.

Jang Man-soo rolled his eyes and looked at Shin-woo with disdain. “You look like a complete military person.”

They started laughing madly together. Then Shin-woo remembered something important.

“Oh, I had a question first.”

“Is there any need to say that? It’s just like a fantasy novel, you and I both came back from 2035 to 2023. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have met like this.”

“Then, do you still have this?”

Shin-woo showed the Triad Eye tattoo on his left wrist. Jang Man-soo also raised his wrist to show that he had it too.

“I saw this and wondered if it might still be here… So, you have it too.”