God of Blackfield

When Kang Chan sharply turned his gaze, Seok Kang-Ho suddenly held out a cigarette.

“There’s a weird look in your eyes again,” said Seok Kang-Ho.

This man was clearly evolving.

“Captain.”

“Just light your cigarette!”

Kang Chan handed over one of the two matches that he had lit up to Seok Kang-Ho.

“Do you know what the look in your eyes was like when we were talking about Gérard?” Seok Kang-Ho asked.

It was already dark, so the air from outside the window wasn’t hot.

“You looked like a homesick new recruit. You deny it, but don’t you want to go back?”

Is that true?

“If you like Mi-Young, then just tell her that you like her. You’re still in high school, so you can sleep with her after you graduate. Either way, find a place to put your heart in aside from your parents. I’m afraid I’d get a postcard someday that says, ‘I’m writing this on my way to Africa,’ when I wake up.”

Kang Chan blankly got lost in his thoughts. Did he really want to go back to Africa? Even though they had already gotten their revenge on Sharlan?

Didn’t he shake his head because Yoo Hye-Sook came across his mind before anything else when he saw the word ‘death’ on the plane?

“If you want to…” Seok Kang-Ho woke Kang Chan up from his thoughts.

“If you don’t think that you can endure living like this and you really want to go back to Africa, then be cold and go. It’s your life, and you have the right to live it as you see fit,” Seok Kang-Ho continued.

Kang Chan stared at Seok Kang-Ho. He couldn’t even recall Dayeru’s past appearance. The face that was beside him was Dayeru and Seok Kang-Ho at the same time.

“I want to see you be happy now. But if you’re going to leave, then do it quickly. Don’t even bother telling me about it. I don’t want to cling to you while crying and screaming,” Seok Kang-Ho said.

When Kang Chan laughed out loud, Seok Kang-Ho showed his peculiar smile and laughed as well.

Would Kang Chan be happy if he went to Africa? As a new recruit under Gérard?

Gérard becoming a captain meant that, with the exception of a few guys that went to another military camp, all of the people above him had died.

Kang Chan shook his head. He didn’t want that kind of life.

On the contrary, he also knew that the wound from his past hadn’t completely disappeared from his heart. He could be intentionally avoiding loving someone and taking responsibility for them because he was afraid that he’d become like his past father.

Kang Chan sighed deeply.

What am I doing when even Dayeru is evolving?

Anyway, it felt like he had finally put down one of the burdens he had been carrying with difficulty.

They soon arrived at their destination in Yongin while chuckling. After they had parked, Kang Chan called someone, and an agent approached them.

“He’s having a group dinner at the Korean restaurant over there, but it’s almost done. There are about twenty people eating with him including the salespeople, but we haven’t seen anything suspicious,” the agent told Kang Chan.

“Have you guys had dinner yet?” Kang Chan asked.

“We had a simple meal.”

“Go and have a proper meal.”

“We’ll rest for twenty-four hours after rotating shifts tomorrow morning.”

Kang Chan liked that the agent didn’t look inattentive. He returned to the car, and Seok Kang-Ho soon came back as well. He had bought a cup of coffee.

“Weren’t you going into the restaurant?” Seok Kang-Ho asked.

“What a cheap fucker.”

“I only bought one because I thought you were going into the restaurant. I was going to drink this on my way home. I’ll go buy another one.”

“We can just share. Give me a cigarette.”

What use was there to go into the restaurant right now and making the employees uncomfortable? If nothing special happened, then he was thinking of meeting Kang Dae-Kyung like he only found the restaurant after the group dinner.

They took turns drinking the coffee as they smoked a cigarette each. Similar to how the inner part of the alley that the car was parked at was the ‘food alley’[1], the smell of food and all sorts of flyers littered the area.

Seok Kang-Ho leaned over and groaned. “Do I need to sacrifice myself for the captain?”

On the piece of paper about the size of a business card was a naked woman covering her chest and groin.

“That’s nasty. Throw it away,” Kang Chan told Seok Kang-Ho.

“Look at this. You’re ill, in all respects. Let’s go to the hospital.”

Was this guy tired? They chuckled as Seok Kang-Ho threw the flyer behind the car.

“Go home first,” said Kang Chan.

“As I said before, I’m only going to get bored if I go home now. I’ll just wait when there’s less traffic and take my time on my way back. Anyway, this place is heaven. There's massage parlors next to each other.”

“You’re tired, aren’t you? If you’re acting like this because you want to do stupid things by using me as an excuse, then snap out of it now,” said Kang Chan.

“What’s wrong with you? I’m satisfied with my current wife.”

Smirking, Kang Chan followed Seok Kang-Ho’s gaze and looked at a massage parlor. As its neon sign flashed and turned on…

What’s that?

Kang Chan’s gaze stopped at the van by the side of the massage parlor. He knew what happened inside it, so a bunch of guys could’ve just gone in. Still, it was weird to see huge men cramped up and waiting in a car. If it weren’t for the light of the massage parlor’s sign, it would’ve been difficult to spot them.

“What is it?” Seok Kang-Ho asked.

Noticing Kang Chan’s expression had sharpened, Seok Kang-Ho followed Kang Chan’s gaze to the van. The silhouettes of the people inside it were only clearly visible when the neon sign was at its brightest.

“Why are those guys sitting in there like that?” It seemed like Seok Kang-Ho also thought they were acting weird.

“Could they have seen us?” Kang Chan asked back.

“It’s only been twenty minutes at most since we arrived, so it would still be too early to be suspicious of us. Your clothes also suit this place.”

Still, their car was a ‘Chiffre’ of all things. If they were here to attack Kang Dae-Kyung, then they had likely quickly caught on.

“Park this car on the opposite side of the massage parlor. If something happens, then I’m going to go home in my father’s car, so follow behind it, said Kang Chan.

“Alright.”

When Seok Kang-Ho left, Kang Chan crossed the street at a crosswalk while calling an agent.

- We’re on standby.

“How many of you are there?”

- There are three of us.

“Listen carefully. There’s a massage parlor on the road next to the Korean restaurant. The van next to it seems suspicious. I don’t know for sure, but there’s likely another car. I just don’t see it. I’ll go over there and pretend to buy cigarettes to examine that area. You should check out the other side.

- Understood.

When the signal turned to ‘walk,’ Kang Chan crossed the pedestrian lane and passed by the van. As he did, he quickly counted seven heads in the vicinity, but there could be more.

Kang Chan went into the convenience store and bought a cigarette and lighter. As he was looking into the drink partition while pretending to relax, his phone rang. It was Seok Kang-Ho.

“What?”

- Where are you? The van left!

The van?

- Come out quick! Your father has already left!

“Come to the front of the massage parlor!”

Kang Chan hung up the phone and ran out of the convenience store, As Seok Kang-Ho’s car stopped in front of the store, his phone rang again.

“Hello?”

We are "pawread dot com", find us on google.

- Your father has left.

“Where is he?!”

- He’s headed toward Seoul. If he continues at this pace, he’ll soon be at the entrance of the highway. We still haven’t found any vehicle other than the van.

“We’re on our way.”

The sudden change in situation flustered Kang Chan, but it was difficult to pull tricks on the side of the street.

“He said my father is headed to Seoul,” Kang Chan told Seok Kang-Ho.

“It’s going to be difficult to create an accident here.”

“Right?”

They were on a two-lane road.

Beep! Screech!

Seok Kang-Ho was going to overtake the car in the front, but he urgently turned the steering wheel after looking at the truck.

It would be okay, right? This road has quite a lot of traffic, and three agents are tailing him, so it's going to be okay.

They were on a two-lane road that went around to exit to the highway, and there were a lot of freight trucks that made it difficult to overtake the car up front.

Beep!

The moment when a large container truck passed by them…

Kang Chan’s heart sank. The few seconds it took for him to take out his phone and press the call button felt like hours.

- Hello?

“Who’s driving my father’s car?”

- It looks like he called a replacement driver[2].

“How far away are you from him?”

- Thirty meters, and there are four cars in between us.

“Is there a truck behind my father’s car?”

- There’s a van right behind the ‘Chiffre’, and there’s a truck behind that van.

“The truck might push my father’s car if the van changes lanes! Get in between them no matter what and stop the truck from pushing!”

Screech!

Seok Kang-Ho was going to overtake the car in front of him, but he returned to his lane again while gritting his teeth.

Vrooom!

The car swiftly shot forward, enough for their heads to be pushed back.

High beams continuously came toward them from the other side of the lane, but Seok Kang-Ho forced ahead.

Beep! Beep! 

Headlights flashed.

Screeeech!

Seok Kang-Ho cut in between two cars, and the cars behind them consecutively and urgently pressed on the brakes.

That seemed to have angered the driver behind them, seeing as how their car’s headlights flashed twice.

“Over there!” Seok Kang-Ho yelled.

As they turned a corner, Kang Chan saw the ‘Chiffre’ at the front. At that moment, the van shot forward from the corner to the side of the ‘Chiffre.’

No!

A car sprang forward from behind the truck. It was clearly the agents’.

Screech!

A van cut in front of the ‘Chiffre’ while it was turning the corner, and a car bent over backward and turned the corner while brushing past the front of the truck.

Crack! Crash! Crash!

1. A ‘food alley’ (먹자골목) refers to an alley where a lot of restaurants and bars are clustered together ☜

2. In South Korea, there are people called ‘replacement drivers’ who bring inebriated people and their cars to their homes. It is an actual occupation ☜