Chapter 217: A Promise Is a Promise

“Are you going to work today too?”

I returned home yesterday afternoon after wrapping up my long business trip to China.

However, because President Cho Seokchin summoned me, I only stayed home for two hours before heading out again.

I returned home late at night after briefing him on the events that had occurred during my trip to China.

Even so, when I came downstairs on Sunday morning, ready to go to work, Mother asked me with a puzzled look on her face.

“Why don’t you get some proper rest today and go to work tomorrow to finish everything?”

“I’d like to, but there’s something extremely urgent that has to be taken care of today.”

“Well, if that’s the case, I suppose it can’t be helped. Come home early and get some rest.”

The railroad and freight trains connecting North Korea and Russia were scheduled to be blown up tonight.

Since I needed to keep an eye on the situation, I was definitely going to be awake until morning tonight.

It was unfortunate that I couldn’t tell Mother the truth.

“I’ll try to finish everything as quickly as possible. I’m off, then.”

“Jiham, wait a minute.”

Mother called out to me as though she had something to say.

“Did you want to tell me something?”

“When are you planning to buy the Hangang Group company house?”

Chief Secretary Song Dosok had bought an upscale house near ours.

Mother planned to renovate the upscale house and open a reservation-only restaurant there.

I had promised Mother that after returning from my business trip to China, I would buy the house owned by Hangang Group.

Mother was reminding me of that now.

“I’ll take care of it by the end of this week at the latest. Don’t worry too much.”

“Son, thank you so much.”

“There’s nothing to thank me for. I’m the one who should be thanking you. Well, I’m off to work.”

When I opened the gate and stepped outside, I saw Chief Secretary Kang Inhan and the driver waiting for me.

I naturally took the seat of honor in the back, while Chief Secretary Kang Inhan sat beside me.

As soon as the driver started the car, I spoke.

“Chief Kang, you don’t have to accompany me today.”

“I’m simply following the Chairman’s instructions.”

In other words, it meant, Don’t even bother trying to talk me out of it. It won’t work anyway.

“I just feel bad that you can’t even get any rest because of me.”

“What is there to feel bad about? Lately, accompanying you, Director Cha, has given me a genuine sense of pride.”

“Why are you suddenly saying that?”

“If I hadn’t been accompanying you, Director Cha, would I ever have had the chance to meet such influential people as President Cho Seokchin, Chairman Bongard, and Vice Chairman Tang Guochang?”

To be honest, even I was sometimes bewildered by it.

The special abilities I gained after taking the herbal tranquilizer had certainly played a part.

And as I recklessly dealt with each problem that appeared right in front of me, somehow, before I knew it, things had naturally reached this point.

“Whew. If you put it that way, I don’t really have anything to say.”

“These days, I find myself wanting to work without anyone even telling me to.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“By the way, how should we reward the employees who went on the business trip to China?”

In exchange for sparing Politburo member Liu Peiqi’s life, Team Leader Seo Donghun had received 500 million yuan and approximately 400 million dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency.

I had said that I would distribute that money as bonuses to our employees who had gone to China and the NIS operatives.

However, in order to win Vice Chairman Tang Guochang’s favor, we had been forced to spend the 500 million yuan, leaving us in a situation where we could no longer pay out the promised bonuses.

Chief Secretary Kang Inhan was asking me about that now.

“Five hundred million yuan is about seventy million dollars. I’ll transfer five hundred million dollars of my personal money to you, Chief Kang, so use that money to pay bonuses to our employees and the NIS operatives.”

“But if you do that, Director Cha, you’ll personally lose seventy million dollars.”

“A promise is a promise.”

I easily dismissed Chief Secretary Kang Inhan’s objection.

***

An NIS safe house.

When I entered the living room accompanied by an NIS operative, NIS Director Om Giyeon, CIA Director Griffin, and FBI Director Nevers were discussing something.

Something was off.

Director Griffin and Director Nevers had faces flushed as red as ripe apples.

Unlike the two of them, NIS Director Om Giyeon remained perfectly composed.

Unable to understand what was going on, Chief Secretary Kang Inhan and I simply froze in place.

NIS Director Om Giyeon, who had been watching us, smiled faintly and addressed me.

“Director Cha, you’re probably wondering what’s going on here.”

“I won’t deny it. I certainly am.”

“I’ll explain in a moment. Have a seat over here.”

After briefly greeting Director Griffin and Director Nevers, we sat down on the empty sofa.

At that moment, NIS Director Om Giyeon continued.

“Director Cha, settle this for us and tell us which side is right.”

“I will, but first tell me what happened.”

“As you know, Director Peng arrived at the Port of Incheon yesterday evening. We were waiting at the Port of Incheon to receive him from Team Leader Lee Hyeonsol. But CIA and FBI agents showed up there as well.”

I thought I understood what this was about now.

The CIA and FBI had contributed absolutely nothing to the kidnapping of Minister Peng Yuxiang and his transportation to our country.

Therefore, the CIA and FBI had no right whatsoever to take custody of him.

That meant the NIS operatives had most likely simply thrown the CIA and FBI agents out.

After receiving that report, Director Griffin and Director Nevers were now arguing furiously with NIS Director Om Giyeon.

I asked NIS Director Om Giyeon whether my guess was correct.

“Your guess is exactly right, Director Cha. Tell us what you think.”

“I believe Directors Griffin and Nevers are in the wrong.”

“Ahem!”

Director Griffin cleared his throat unhappily.

“Director Griffin, Minister Peng’s final destination is the United States. So I don’t think you need to react so strongly over the question of who exactly hands him over.”

“Well, when you put it that way, that’s true.”

However, the verbal duel between NIS Director Om Giyeon, Director Griffin, and Director Nevers continued.

That was because NIS Director Om Giyeon brought up a rather sensitive subject.

“Director Cha, President Cho Seokchin ordered us not to send Minister Peng to the United States.”

I immediately saw through the situation.

NIS Director Om Giyeon had said that so he could sell Minister Peng Yuxiang to the United States for a higher price.

Having understood his intention, how could I pretend not to notice?

“Does the President have a reason for that decision?”

“The fact that Minister Peng was kidnapped is an absolute top secret. The President said there could be an information leak during the process of transferring him to the United States.”

Director Griffin could only think that things had gone terribly wrong.

Minister Peng Yuxiang possessed an enormous amount of classified information concerning his country.

Therefore, they absolutely had to take him to the United States, no matter what.

But apparently President Cho Seokchin had no intention of handing him over to America at all.

If things continued like this, they might end up with nothing.

“Director Om, we absolutely must take Minister Peng to our country.”

“I explained the United States’ position to the President as well, but he covered his ears and refused to listen.”

“What about interrogating him jointly with us?”

“I tried discussing that with the President, but he wouldn’t authorize it.”

“Is there really nothing that can be done?”

NIS Director Om Giyeon apparently decided he had tormented Director Griffin enough.

“Director Griffin, the person primarily responsible for and the hero behind Minister Peng’s kidnapping is none other than Director Cha. What if Director Cha persuades the President?”

At that moment, Director Griffin and Director Nevers both turned their gazes toward me.

Realizing what they wanted, I stepped aside and called Chief of Staff Lee Jihun.

As though he had been waiting for my call, he answered on the very first ring, and his voice came through.

[Director Cha, did Director Om ask you to call?]

“That’s right, Chief Lee.”

[Director Cha, how much do you think would be a reasonable ransom for Minister Peng?]

“I don’t think the man himself is worth all that much.”

[Are you saying we should hand him over to the United States cheaply?]

“No. I mean the briefcase of documents he had with him is worth far more.”

[What briefcase?]

Strong curiosity entered Chief Lee Jihun’s voice as he asked.

“When Minister Peng was kidnapped, they took his briefcase as well, and there was a laptop inside.”

[Ha-ha. I understand what you’re getting at.]

After chatting with Chief Lee Jihun about a few trivial matters for a little while longer, I ended the call.

The moment I returned to the living room and sat down on the sofa, Director Griffin immediately bombarded me with questions.

“Director Cha, who were you speaking with?”

“I spoke with Chief of Staff Lee Jihun, and he promised to convey our request to President Cho Seokchin.”

“Can we be optimistic about this?”

“I believe so. However, if you want to take Minister °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° Peng to the United States, you’ll have to open your wallet wider.”

“You don’t need to worry about that.”

Bzz, bzz—

About ten minutes later, NIS Director Om Giyeon’s phone vibrated.

After checking the caller’s name, he excused himself and began speaking in Korean.

After talking with Chief Lee Jihun for quite a while, he hung up.

As though he had been waiting for that exact moment, Director Griffin impatiently asked him.

“Director Om, how did it go?”

“President Cho Seokchin accepted Director Cha’s request.”

“Whew... Thank goodness.”

“Shall we take our time deciding on a price for Minister Peng?”

“Is there really any need for that?”

Director Griffin’s question carried an unmistakable refusal.

NIS Director Om Giyeon wasn’t troubled in the slightest, because he had an ace up his sleeve.

“When Minister Peng was kidnapped, we also took the briefcase containing his laptop.”

“Are you saying you’ll check the information stored on the laptop first and only then set the ransom price?”

“I believe that would be fair. What do you think, Director Griffin?”

“I completely agree with Director Om’s opinion.”

“We’ve decided that the United States, the CIA, and the FBI will interrogate him jointly with us.”

“I sincerely appreciate your consideration, Director Om.”

“There’s no need to thank me. Now, let’s discuss what to do with the hackers captured alive at Politburo member Liu’s villa.”

Since the FBI was handling the hacker issue, Director Nevers spoke up.

“I’d like to hear your thoughts first, Director Om.”

“I’ll hand all the hackers over to you in the United States.”

“Is that true?”

Director Nevers asked again with a completely stunned expression, clearly not having expected that answer.

“That’s right. However, we won’t be able to hand over the hackers’ personal belongings that were seized at Politburo member Liu’s villa.”

“What personal belongings?”

“After the operation to eliminate the hacking organization was completed, Korea Investment employees confiscated the hackers’ laptops at Politburo member Liu’s villa.”

Only then did Director Nevers understand what NIS Director Om Giyeon was planning.

The laptops confiscated from the hackers had hacking programs installed on them.

Therefore, by analyzing those programs, they could determine the methods the hackers had used to hack cryptocurrency.

That meant obtaining the captured hackers themselves wouldn’t be all that useful.

At that moment, Director Griffin unceremoniously cut into the conversation as though he had something to say as well.

“I accept Director Om’s proposal.”

“Director Griffin, what are you talking about?”

Director Nevers actually flinched in surprise as he asked.

Director Griffin whispered into his ear.

“The laptops are probably password-protected. But the hackers themselves will be in our hands.”

“Director Griffin, Director Om is no fool.”

“Don’t tell me...”

Director Griffin trailed off as though something had suddenly occurred to him.

“Your ‘don’t tell me’ is exactly right. Director Om surely knows the passwords to the laptops. Director Om, am I right?”

“You understand me very well.”

Director Nevers looked at Director Griffin with a pitying expression before continuing his conversation with NIS Director Om Giyeon.

“Director Om, pretend Director Griffin never made that proposal.”

“What a shame.”

“I’d like to hear your proposal, Director Om.”

“How about our country and the United States split the hackers evenly—five each?”

“What about the laptops?”

“We’ll share the hackers’ laptops with you.”

“You’ll really do that?”

“Of course. The only condition is that we get to choose the first five.”

After analyzing the footage recorded by Saho, NIS Director Om Giyeon had already separated the wheat from the chaff and determined which hackers were the most valuable.

That was precisely why he had made such an offer.

Of course, Director Nevers had no idea what his true intention was.

“I accept Director Om’s proposal.”

And just like that, we managed to secure five people with outstanding hacking skills without much effort.