Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
Warning sounds abruptly filled the basement. The speakers also blared an announcement done with a feminine voice that Kang Chan thought was commonly heard in video games.
“Warning! Warning! The shockwave has gone out of control!”
Brr. Brr. Brr. Brr.
The machine flashed bright lights through the glass. Its vibrations and noises were growing stronger and louder.
Huff. Huff. Huff.
Tilting his head, Kang Chan glared at the Blackhead. He felt as if he was looking at the heart or eyeball of a gigantic monster.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
“Warning! Warning! The shockwave has gone out of control! Please get out of its blast radius immediately!”
“Lanok! We’ve never come across an issue like this! It might be too late now! Let’s get out of here!” Ethan yelled.
The researchers walking around and the employees operating heavy machinery below the core were now running for the door as fast as they could.
However, Kang Chan didn’t move an inch. He just glared at the blackish-red surface of the Blackhead, which was still flashing.
I feel like I’m connected to it.
He was certain that leaving now would cause catastrophic consequences.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
“Warning! Warning! The shockwave has gone out of control! Please get out of its blast radius immediately!”
The calmness in the announcer’s voice only made them even more nervous.
“Sir?” one of the nearby researchers yelled at Ethan. Their faces were full of despair and fear. After all, there was nothing they could do.
“Get the fuck out of here!” Ethan swore.
The researchers ran toward the iron stairs. Kang Chan could no longer see any of the employees below the core.
With his hands in his pockets, Lanok turned to the French researchers. “You all should head out as well.”
Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. Clunk.
The researchers ran out, urgency echoing with each of their footsteps.
As if having put on a mask, Lanok’s expression showed no changes. However, he had to hide his hands in his pockets because his right pinky finger was trembling.
“Lanok!” Ethan yelled.
“Be quiet. I’m going to stay here until Monsieur Kang leaves. It doesn’t matter whether you stay or not, but I hope you’ll at least be a little quiet.”
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
“Warning! Warning! The shockwave has gone out of control! Please get out of its blast radius!”
“Ah! And from now on, refrain from using vulgar language around me and Monsieur Kang,” Lanok added.
Ethan’s gaze alternated between Lanok and Kang Chan as he gritted his teeth.
“You guys should head outside,” Lanok said.
“We’ll stay with you, Mr. Ambassador.” The French agents were firm with their conviction.
Rumble!
A few seconds later, the main machine shook, sending tremors to the floor. Lanok, Ethan, and the French and British agents swayed with it.
I’ve established a proper connection with it!
The energy extended out of the Blackhead like spiderwebs tightly wrapped around Kang Chan.
This wasn’t right.
Kang Chan thought that the subterranean shock device would activate if he left. On the contrary, however, it now seemed to be sucking in his energy to start an earthquake.
So you’re targeting my energy?
Rumble!
It was as if an invisible rope was tightening around him. He could just be going crazy, but he felt as if he was in the presence of a gigantic living monster.
Kang Chan didn’t know how to stop the energy, but he knew that he wouldn’t just die if the machine took away all his energy. It would also bring forth a catastrophe.
What does it want me to do?
Rumble!
Kang Chan trembled.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
“Warning! Warning! The shockwave has gone out of control! Please get out of its blast range immediately!”
It’s the spiderwebs—I need a way to cut them off.
Kang Chan unholstered the pistol attached to his ankle. He then pulled the breechblock and released the safety switch.
Clank!
Considering the energy keeping him bound was coming through the glass, all he could do right now was attack the glass.
Surprised, Ethan’s eyes widened. Lanok still had the same expression on his face.
“Ethan! Is the glass is bulletproof?” Kang Chan asked.
“Bulletproof? Ah, yes, it is! You really shouldn’t shoot—”
Tang! Pew! Tang! Pew! Tang! Pew!
Kang Chan fired a couple of bullets, causing sparks to fly from the glass.
“Fuck!” Ethan yelled out of instinct.
Brr. Brr. Brr. Brrrr.
The machine began to quiet down.
Kang Chan was still aiming his pistol at the Blackhead. Feeling this way against a machine could be odd, but he was sure he was connected to the damn red jewel. Shooting at it a few times seemed to have severed that connection, however.
Brr. Brr. Brr. Brrrr. Brrrr.
When the machine’s sounds changed, the alerts and beeping warning sounds stopped.
“What on earth just happened…”
Ethan looked at Kang Chan in astonishment.
Click.
Kang Chan put down his pistol and exhaled softly. Not even he understood or could explain what just happened.
Brrrr. Brrrr. Brrrr.
The Blackhead wasn’t flashing anymore. However, it was now emitting a far dimmer red light.
Finally looking away from the Blackhead, Kang Chan turned to Lanok, who remained seemingly unbothered.
“What now?” Lanok asked.
After a while, Ethan finally seemed as if he was coming to his senses. “Well, the original plan was to have a briefing after the inspection.”
“If so, then I trust you have prepared tea and cigars for us?” Lanok’s aura and tenacity completely overpowered Ethan. They even stunned the French agents and seemingly angered the British agents.
“This way please, Mr. Kang,” Ethan said.
“Ethan, refrain from speaking in English around me and Monsieur Kang. Vasili doesn’t speak French because he wants to,” Lanok said.
Does Lanok have to embarrass Ethan in front of British agents?
Right now, Lanok was like an old captain who couldn’t tolerate the defiance of a colleague whom they had already beaten once before.
Ethan never protested whenever Lanok was like this.
“Je m'excuse, c’est ma faute[1], monsieur Kang,” Ethan said.
“?a ne fait rien[2].”
Clank. Clank. Clank. Clank.
Kang Chan had a strange feeling as he walked out of the passage. It was as if he was giving up on his fight against the machine instead of seeing it through—as if he just turned away from an enemy with a pistol in their hand.
As soon as they went through the iron doors, the humid air that the rain had left behind greeted Kang Chan, making him feel refreshed. Aside from wanting to smoke a cigarette, he didn’t seem to have undergone any changes.
Ethan walked along a path that went around a convex cement building so large that it took them over ten minutes to go around it. Behind it was another convex building, but it was at least more reasonably sized.
The people here definitely lacked creativity.
Entering the smaller building, they found five wooden doors in a large hall.
“We have prepared the rightmost room for the researchers. Since only the three of us can join the meeting, our agents should wait outside,” Ethan said. He didn’t seem skilled enough to match Lanok.
Lanok nodded, finally taking his hands out of his pockets.
Ethan led Kang Chan and Lanok to the room at the very left. In the middle of it was a large circular table that went up to their knees and plush armchairs around it.
Damn it.
Having to sit in this room that could accommodate fifty people with ease made Kang Chan feel a little homesick.
Kang Chan and Lanok sat close to each other, and Ethan sat about three spaces away with his chair toward Kang Chan.
Soon after, an employee came over and put coffee, tea, cigars, cigarettes, and an ashtray on the table.
Kang Chan chose coffee, and Lanok a cup of black tea. They then took a moment to light up their cigars and cigarettes.
“Phew.” The smoke that Kang Chan exhaled was quickly sucked up to the ceiling.
“I can’t make sense of this situation, so please let me ask you this, Monsieur Kang. Why did you shoot the machine?” Ethan asked.
Kang Chan smiled as he raised his coffee cup.
How should I explain it? Do I have to say that I felt the energy from the machine? Won’t that make me sound crazy?
“Mr. Ethan, I acted like that out of pure pride. We couldn’t control the situation and didn’t have any other option, so I thought I should at least try breaking the machine with my own hands if an earthquake was going to occur anyway,” Kang Chan said.
“Haaaa!” Ethan sighed deeply. The room grew silent for a moment.
“As you saw, the Blackhead is in the main machine. Nine supporting devices intensify the energy inside the Blackhead, which then creates shockwaves underground,” Ethan explained.
Kang Chan didn’t even want to know about complicated things like this.
“I heard that one Blackhead is discovered every few years. Why didn’t you just try to get a new one?” he asked.
“Blackheads normally don't have energy. The one in the machine is simply special. Ever since a satellite discovered it, we have spent over two years working on it.”
“So you did all of that and also bought Sharlan’s services?”
“Ahem.” Ethan quickly picked up his teacup in response. Lanok smirked.
“Are you asking me to go into one of the nine supporting devices?”
“No. It’s a vacuum in there, so a person can’t go in there. However, with your permission, we can connect you to them through energy-gathering equipment.”
While listening, Kang Chan realized that his energy was draining out of him.
It had been about twenty to thirty minutes since they left the machine room.
Much like the time he ran like crazy in North Korea, he felt as if all his energy was escaping out of the soles of his feet. He started becoming sleepy as well—enough for him to fall asleep if he just leaned his head back right now.
“Monsieur Kang, that situation earlier was the worst we’ve experienced so far, and the interval between these incidents is quickly decreasing. If you’re going to help us, I hope you’ll hurry,” Ethan said.
“How long is it now?” Lanok asked. contemporary romance
“It occurs around once every week now.”
“I’ll have my country’s researchers look into it first. We’ll act based on their findings.”
.
No matter what Ethan said, Kang Chan or Lanok wouldn’t just comply with his wishes.
“Now that it has come to this, we’re willing to provide full cooperating on anything. However, I hope you’ll decide as quickly as possible.”
“We’ll keep that in mind. We’ll take our leave now. Let’s go, Mr. Kang Chan.” Lanok said, seemingly having noticed Kang Chan’s condition.
Kang Chan found no reason to refuse, and Ethan couldn’t do anything to stop them.
“To start with, give your full cooperation to the researchers France sent,” Lanok added.
“Alright.”
As they left, Kang Chan glanced at Ethan’s side profile. He felt as if the latter was hiding something from them.
Once outside, Lanok gave the researchers and agents their new orders.
Ethan seemingly wanted them to stay in the research institute. Nevertheless, perhaps because he was tactless or because he was trying to show his sincerity, he got in the passenger seat and accompanied them to the airport.
Kang Chan felt very sleepy.
The car’s pleasant vibrations, the soft cushions, and the humid, after-rain weather…. he was in the optimal condition to fall asleep.
Kang Chan sucked his left cheek toward his tongue.
Showing his enemies weakness was the same thing as telling them to look for an opportunity to get the best of him whenever they wanted.
Crunch.
Kang Chan felt horrible pain as the metallic taste of blood filled his mouth. Fortunately, that was enough to wake him up completely.
They drove for an excruciatingly tiresome hour and a half before reaching the airport.
If it wasn’t for France, it would’ve been difficult for Kang Chan to come to the UK often.
“Rentrez bien[3], Monsieur Kang,” Ethan said.
“? bient?t[4].”
Kang Chan then got on the plane. He was so tired that he drooped like lettuce. His sleepiness had returned as well, perhaps because the tension had finally left him.
Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding.
The warning went off, and the plane took off soon after. Kang Chan pressed on the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger.
“Are you okay?” Lanok asked.
“I don’t know why, but I suddenly feel very sleepy.”
Kang Chan wouldn’t have said that if he didn’t trust Lanok.
He suddenly started missing Seok Kang-Ho—the only colleague he could trust to protect him. With Seok Kang-Ho around, he could sleep whenever he was having a hard time. Unfortunately, he was thirteen hours away from him by plane.
After some time, a flight attendant came in with tea, but Lanok held up his hand and sent them away.
“You should get some sleep.”
“I agree, Mr, Ambassador. I’ll lay down for a bit.” Kang Chan replied, feeling relieved that Lanok was next to him. If it wasn’t for Lanok, he wouldn’t have done something this crazy.
Kang Chan went into the room that he fell asleep in on his way to France. After taking his jacket off, he went straight to bed.
Even I can feel this tired, huh? Could this be the result of the machine taking my energy away?
When Kang Chan closed his eyes, he saw an image of Seok Kang-Ho grinning. He then thought of Yoo Hye-Sook opening her arms and hugging him and Kang Dae-Kyung reaching out to him with his long arms to tousle his hair.
As Kang Chan fell asleep, he thought of one more person.
Is Mi-Young doing okay?
“Yeah!”
Kang Chan thought he could hear Kim Mi-Young.
Knock knock knock.
Kang Chan woke up to someone knocking on his door. He still felt heavy.
Kang Chan felt pain similar to when he was stabbed and lost a lot of blood. He was cold and trembling. It was as if someone had just beaten the shit out of him.
Kang Chan smirked. He thought of the Blackhead and the machine as he forced himself to stand.
When Kang Chan opened the door and went outside, Lanok—who was sitting on the sofa—looked at Kang Chan. Surprise could be seen in his eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Kang Chan asked.
“You’re too pale—you should probably go to a hospital.”
“Ethan might find out that I’m not feeling well, and I don’t think that’ll be too good.”
“I’ll order Pierre to handle this. For now, let the medical team support you.”
“Alright.” Kang Chan sat on the sofa. Not long after, he broke out in a cold sweat.
I can’t believe my encounter with a machine is giving me body aches.
Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding.
The plane slowly tilted downward as the lights flickered and warnings went off.
Kang Chan leaned back against the sofa but soon sat up.
“You’re really pale,” Lanok commented.
“I’ll be fine.”
Unfortunately, Kang Chan didn’t get better even after landing at the airport and getting in a car. He was in an almost similar condition, if not worse, when he got stabbed at the hostess bar.
Lanok was probably curious, but he just kept quiet instead of asking Kang Chan questions.
The car began to speed up, which was unusual.
As soon as they reached the building, they immediately went into a room. Kang Chan lay in bed, and a medical staff briefly examined him and attached an IV to him.
“He’s showing symptoms of physical strength loss. Let’s keep him under close observation for about another day so he can get some rest,” the medical staff said. They left soon after, leaving behind Kang Chan and Lanok in the room.
“Don’t you have to go now?” Kang Chan asked.
“Will you really be okay?”
Kang Chan just smirked in response.
“I’ll be back. I just have to go over the researchers’ report.”
Although Ethan was the one who caused trouble, Kang Chan was the one who fell ill, and Lanok seemed even busier than Ethan.
Lanok left without asking what he was curious about.
Kang Chan fell asleep again.
Sometimes, he couldn’t help but miss Director Yoo Hun-Woo from the Bang Ji Hospital.
1. French for ‘Sorry, I made a mistake.’ 👈
2. French for ‘It’s okay.’ 👈
3. French for ‘Have a safe trip.’ 👈
4. French for ‘See you soon.’ 👈
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