Episode 17 – A Man Who Remains the Same After Half a Century

Jeobeok jeobeok

A man in a black suit was walking down the hallway.

His hair was neatly combed to the side, giving him a tidy appearance, and his steady gait indicated that he was a highly controlled individual.

Deureureuk-

As he stood in front of the elevator, the doors opened as if they had been waiting for him.

Before pressing the button, he placed his hand on the scanner.

A red light moved up and down, scanning his hand.

• Access authorized.

As the familiar mechanical voice sounded, the man immediately pressed the top floor button.

After a brief sensation of sinking downwards, the elevator began to move at a rapid pace.

Seueuk-

He raised his arm to check his watch and then looked at the elevator’s display.

The numbers on the display, indicating the elevator’s position, were rising rapidly.

The man stood expressionless, but his actions suggested that the situation was quite urgent.

• Arrived.

The man walked out as soon as the elevator doors opened.

Ttubeok ttubeok

The man’s steps gradually gained strength.

Walking faster and faster towards the end of the hallway, the man was met with a large wooden door.

Next to the door, a secretary who appeared to be in her late twenties was sitting at a desk.

Her updo hairstyle and metal glasses gave her an intellectual look.

The secretary noticed the man and bowed her head.

“Is the branch manager inside?”

“He has a guest inside, sir.”

The secretary politely tried to block his entry, but she lowered her head in response to the man’s sharp gaze.

Cheolkeok-

The man opened the door and entered.

In the luxurious office overlooking the Han River, an elderly man with graying hair and a man who appeared to be in his mid-forties were conversing.

“Branch Manager-nim.”

The man opened his mouth towards the elderly man with a stern expression.

“Welcome, Chief Ahn.”

The elderly man, called Branch Manager-nim, smiled and looked at the man called Chief Ahn.

The elderly man was sitting on the sofa with a cane in his hand, but it was clear that he was quite large.

Although he wore thick glasses, they couldn’t hide his sharp eyes.

“Let’s have you two introduce yourselves first.”

As the Branch Manager-nim gestured towards the two men, the man who had been talking to him spoke to Chief Ahn.

“I’m Kim Young-soo. Please call me Section Chief Kim.”

“Kim… Young-soo… is it?”

He stared at the man who introduced himself as Kim Young-soo and extended his hand.

“Please call me Chief Ahn.”

Seeing Chief Ahn shaking his hand without revealing his name, Kim Young-soo raised the corners of his lips.

“You’re more cautious than you look, aren’t you?”

“It’s hard to trust someone who introduces themselves with the most common surname and the most common name in Korea.”

Kim Young-soo smiled at Chief Ahn’s stern expression and said,

He raised both hands, expressing that he had no other intentions.

“I have my reasons, so I ask for your understanding.”

“I understand.”

Chief Ahn looked at the Branch Manager-nim and Kim Young-soo with a slightly anxious look.

The Branch Manager-nim saw his gaze and nodded, saying,

“You can tell him.”

“Branch Manager-nim?”

The Branch Manager-nim pointed to Kim Young-soo, towards Chief Ahn, who was looking at him with surprised eyes.

“He is our ‘connection.’ He’s been with us since a long time ago.”

“To be exact, you can understand it as he’s been there since the project started.”

Kim Young-soo looked at Chief Ahn with a sly expression.

Chief Ahn looked at him with wavering eyes.

“Project? Don’t tell me you’re CIA…?”

“That’s enough. It’s something that shouldn’t be mentioned out loud yet.”

Kim Young-soo held out his palm, preventing him from saying anything further.

Chief Ahn understood the reason why he was using the name ‘Kim Young-soo’ in his own way.

“I think this is a sufficient explanation, don’t you think?”

At the Branch Manager-nim’s question, Chief Ahn made a displeased expression but soon nodded and opened his mouth.

“Then I’ll tell you.”

Chief Ahn placed the file he was holding on the table and said,

“We found traces of compiling.”

“Hmm…”

“Interesting.”

The Branch Manager-nim and Kim Young-soo, who reacted with different expressions, looked at Chief Ahn with expressions of anticipation for what would come next.

“Traces of compiling have been continuously discovered in specific areas since the beginning of January. The exact location is still being estimated, but it is estimated to be in the Gangbuk area. We are sending people to identify the exact location, and we have finished identifying Mapo-gu, Yongsan-gu, and Jung-gu, and we have not found anything special in these areas.”

“You said it’s continuous?”

Kim Young-soo looked at Chief Ahn with a sharp glint in his eyes.

Chief Ahn nodded and continued,

“Since it has been continuously occurring since January, we can assume that it is a specific area. And although it is not accurate, we are estimating that it is occurring in the Gangbuk area, especially in the western part.”

“Is there a possibility of it being in northern Gyeonggi Province? Like Ilsan or Uijeongbu…”

“Based on the continuously discovered locations and wavelengths, we are limiting it to the Seoul area, not the Gyeonggi Province area.”

Kim Young-soo looked at the Branch Manager-nim and said,

“If it’s the beginning of January, it hasn’t been long. Are there any teams that have recently entered Korea?”

“I don’t know if they’ve entered Korea.”

“Is the Korean government concealing anything, perhaps?”

The Branch Manager-nim made a face as if he was contemplating for a moment, then shook his head.

“No. Korea has already suffered a great blow from that incident. Korea is the country that suffered the most damage among the project participating countries.”

“Then it’s even more interesting. A compiler is active in a country that has already withdrawn from the project. This is truly a predicament.”

Kim Young-soo rubbed his chin and made a troubled expression.

“What’s happening with the compilers that have been identified so far?”

The Branch Manager-nim gestured for Chief Ahn to sit down and made a troubled expression for a moment.

“Almost all of the remaining compilers have been disposed of.”

“We’ve heard that there are forces interfering from your side…”

“That’s right. We know them as mercenaries from East Asia.”

The Branch Manager-nim drank water from his teacup and moistened his lips for a moment.

“The only countries in East Asia that could do such a thing are Korea, China, and Japan, but Korea has already withdrawn from the project. We’re also looking into the National Intelligence Service and the Defense Intelligence Command on our side, but they know that area better than we do, so let’s skip that. China is not a participating country in the project in the first place. All that matters to the current chairman is futile hegemonic competition. That leaves Japan, but even though Japan has excellent information gathering capabilities, its overseas strike capabilities are weaker than North Korea’s. Korea is more likely to be in that field. This situation is making us worry.”

“I see.”

In the midst of the silence, Chief Ahn looked at Kim Young-soo.

Briefly showing a displeased expression, he said to Kim Young-soo.

“Section Chief Kim, something is strange.”

“What is it?”

Chief Ahn bit his lip with a stern expression and then laid out his thoughts.

“Wasn’t ‘Prism’ created in the first place to anticipate and prevent this situation from happening? The CIA… executing that project, and we suspect that you turned a blind eye to Snowden.”

“Hmm… that was our mistake. We didn’t think that bastard was a mole either.”

Chief Ahn had nothing more to say at Kim Young-soo’s appearance, which readily admitted it was a mistake.

“Now that we’ve discovered traces of compiling, it won’t take long to find the compiler’s location. You should also keep an eye on the movements of the Korean and Japanese governments on that side and let us know. There’s not much time left.”

“I understand. For now, finding the compiler in Seoul would be the best course of action.”

Kim Young-soo drank the water in his teacup in one gulp and then got up from his seat.

“Then I’ll be on my way.”

He shook hands with the Branch Manager-nim, bowed his head to Chief Ahn, and left the office.

Chief Ahn, who was watching Kim Young-soo’s figure, turned his head towards the Branch Manager-nim.

“Is that person really CIA? He feels a bit out of place.”

“I don’t know either. But one thing is certain. That friend looked the same 50 years ago.”

“Pardon?”

“That friend looked the same when the project started.”

At the Branch Manager-nim’s shocking words, Chief Ahn’s eyes widened.

“Is that possible?”

No matter how slowly a person ages, it was impossible to maintain the same appearance for half a century.

“I don’t know. It could be the effect of compiling, or he could have been a different being from the start…”