Mercenary Black Mamba

"Chairman, honestly speaking, I deeply regret returning to Korea. This country is not owned by people but by politicians and bureaucrats divided into two factions: pro-Japan and pro-America. They should serve the people, but they are instead hell-bent on getting served and bribed. It drives me insane. I spent half of my life wrestling and negotiating with this system and now, they let foreign forces take care of the country's defense. I explain with all of my might but it falls on deaf ears."

"For someone as gentle as him to speak like that...," wondered Lee Dae-deok.

Lee Dae-deok stared at Dr. Lee with his eyes full of shock. Dr. Lee was the very person who first called for sovereign self-defense. When the government gave up on atomic bomb and missile research, he must have felt profound despair.

"I'm sorry."

Lee Dae-deok bowed. He was one of the said bureaucrats. Mu Ssang had called him a parasite who didn't dare to strike and never intended to. His face was flushed hot.

"I'm sorry. You are one of the better ones. I am going off on a tangent. The United States, Russia, France, and Japan have already begun researching the superconductor three decades ago. What I researched at Princeton was also the same thing. If I could get my hands on a Room-Temperature Superconductor..." Dr. Lee trembled mid-sentence.

"With the help of former colleagues and acquaintances, I can easily reverse-engineer it. If Korea acquires the technology, it will soon be the strongest country in the world."

"Whoa!"

Lee Dae-deok was engrossed in Dr. Lee's lecture. The strongest country? Those words were music to his ears. Lee Dae-deok himself was involved in President Park's atomic bomb development plan. If the fatherland could rival Japan without caring about what China, Russia, and America would say, he would be happy. His heart was filled with hope.

"I could never have guessed. I will try to contact this person."

Lee Dae-deok nodded. When he talked to Mu Ssang on the phone, he sensed that something extraordinary had happened. Mu Ssang had said that he wouldn't respond to a call to patriotism without any compensation but he had to try.

He was the only high official in Korea who was aware of Black Mamba's identity and value. He wasn't sure if he could keep the secret amongst the pro-Japan and pro-America factions, but doing something was always better than inaction. At least, he wouldn't be a parasite like Mu Ssang said.

"Contact them right this moment, or invite him here. I don't want to behold piles of excrement that serve their interests with hard-earned taxpayer money."

Dr. Lee was resolute.

"He is not someone to use his power to meddle with Korea's current circumstances."

Lee Dae-deok shook his head. From his perspective, Mu Ssang had transcended worldly interests at a young age. He would not get involved in the sewers that were Korean politics.

"Should I send Lee Sang-han?" wondered Lee Dae-deok.

Lee Sang-han was Mu Ssang's childhood friend. He shook his head. Using someone close to him was the most certain way to invite Mu Ssang's wrath. With him, building trust was the best policy. Lee Dae-deok organized his thoughts and picked up the receiver. He was a capable bureaucrat after all.

"Hey, Jeong Pil-su, get a gift basket and visit Mu Ssang's residence. What? Do you want to get punched? Quit? You are driving me crazy. Grow some balls. Get some gifts and just go. Yeah, I'm scared too. See his girlfriend and ask what he's up to. You will get promoted for this. Yeah, call her right away."

Lee Dae-deok hung up and emptied his cup of water.

"You are like Mephistopheles luring Faust to hell. I pity your subordinate."

Dr. Lee clucked his tongue.

"He is quite fretful."

Dr. Lee dropped the leek pancake from his chopsticks and held out a wet hand towel.

"Wipe your forehead. You seem more frightened."

"He is quite a character."

Lee Dae-deok wiped his sweat-covered forehead. Mu Ssang had said that he would provide him with France's Résistance tactics when he became brave enough to strike. But with the Japanese and American sympathizers thriving, he couldn't make any improvements. That was Korea's current circumstances. They couldn't even receive a promised gift.

"Fuck. He surely wouldn't tie me down and beat me up when I'm much older than him," said Lee Dae-deok in his mind.

Still, he could see Mu Ssang's soul-shaking killer's eyes.

* * *

Jeong Pil-su paced for quite some time without being able to ring the doorbell. It was March but some late snow was falling. He stared at the bundle of flowers and a fruit basket he was holding. The cold wind shook him to the core.

"Phew! Pil-su, you are like a tribute for a monster centipede in a fairy tale."

Jeong Pil-su pitied himself. To him, the front gate made of reddish pine covered with titanium looked like the entrance to a beast's den. He could still hear Mu Ssang's voice in his ears, that if he crossed him once more, he would need to be fed by tubes for the rest of his life.

He paid dearly for a few eavesdropping bugs. He didn't have an external injury but kept falling ill. He wet his pants many times and kept coughing.

The doctors couldn't find the reason or heal him. Mu Ssang said he would be like that for three months. Indeed, after three months had passed, he was completely healed. What he said about tubes was not rhetorical but a real, tangible threat.

He had been traumatized by Mu Ssang ever since. Anything that reminded him of the man shocked him deeply. Twins on a street made him gasp. Wooden chopsticks in a Chinese restaurant were flung to the wall. A set of two rings on his mother's hand startled him into convulsions. Anything in a pair, even double consonants in text, made him flinch.

"Being a subordinate surely sucks! The monster is overseas, so I should be fine."

His finger approaching the doorbell felt heavy like a lump of steel. He trembled at the sudden coldness he experienced. Jeong Pil-su had no idea that another monster, Kkamdung—this one was literal rather than figurative—had scanned his brain waves from under the house.

"An intent to murder?"

Jeong Pil-su was a genuine agent who completed extreme training. He turned instantly. There was a young girl and a suited man.

"Who are you?"

The youngest girl, Ou Soon, eyed the broad-boned man pacing in front of her house.

"Hello. I'm Jeong sent by Lee Dae-deok," Jeong Pil-su greeted them nonchalantly.

"Are you one of the suppliers?"

Jeong Pil-su improvised.

"Yes. We received a great favor this time. Mr. Lee told me to pay a visit."

"You are at the wrong address. The chairman handles such matters."

"Mr. Park helped us overcome some trouble this time. Here are some flowers to express our gratitude."

Jeong Pil-su smiled cheekily.

"Mu Ssang is quite kind-hearted."

"What nonsense! He is anything but...," Jeong Pil-su protested internally.

"But he is now overseas for a business trip."

Ou Soon seemed concerned.

"Oh my! I will be fired if I return without greeting him. I need my job for my baby!"

Jeong Pil-su grimaced. Ou Soon, after gazing at his face for a while, nodded.

"Then you should see Jin Soon instead."

"Hurrah!" Jeong Pil-su cheered internally.

His boss ordered him to acquaint himself with Mu Ssang no matter what. The eldest sister, Jin Soon, was the best connection.

"Ugh!" Jeong Pil-su, entering the front gate after Ou Soon, swallowed his scream.

Steely fingers grasped the scruff of his neck.

"Don't show your surprise and keep walking!"

A chilling voice assailed his eardrums.

"Look at your left chest."

His gaze was forcibly turned to his left chest.

"Huh!"

There was a bean-sized hole in his duck-feather jumper. It was brand new, bought from the Donga Department Store the day before yesterday, 50 percent off. Jeong Pil-su felt chills down his spine. This one was a monster too.

"I'm keeping an eye on you. You will be a goner if you try anything stupid."

Jeong Pil-su nodded like a grasshopper.

A young woman dressed in a beautiful hanbok emerged from an outhouse. The fingers released him. Jeong Pil-su looked back right away.

"We are back, ma'am."

The man bowed deeply as if nothing had happened. His stern features softened miraculously.

"Huh!"

Jeong Pil-su's eyes glinted. He had seen many beautiful women during his 37 years lifetime but had never seen one as classy and pure as this one. Her presence literally seemed to cleanse his eyes.

"Auntie!"

Ou Soon ran to the woman and clung to her waist.

"You are going to break my back!"

"Your back is stronger than that," Ou Soon joked.

"Auntie?" Jeong Pil-su wondered.

There could be an aunt and a niece with few years between them. Still, something didn't feel right.

"Thank you, Geuk-do."

"Apologies. The elders are grateful for your gifts."

"Those were but a few home appliances! Who is he?"

Kim Mal Soon looked at Jeong Pil-su.

"Ugh!" Jeong Pil-su flinched.

The strange feeling stemmed from her majesty. He felt certain majesty about her that a young woman in her 20s would not be able to muster. She looked like Mu Ssang.

"He doesn't have a sister though," said Jeong Pil-su to himself.

He had two cousins but they were not good lookers.

"He came to see Mu Ssang."

"Is that so? Nice to meet you."

"Greetings. May health be with you."

Jeong Pil-su, being surprised, greeted her with an overly polite manner and bowed deeply until his head almost touched the ground.

"Don't do that!"

Kim Mal Soon, startled, bowed in return.

"Are you Mr. Park's sister?" Jeong Pil-su asked, overcome with curiosity.

"Thank you for that remark!"

Kim Mal Soon laughed, covering her mouth with her sleeves.

"Are you stupid? She's his mother," Ou Soon snapped.

"Huh!"

Jeong Pil-su gasped. His mother? It was unbelievable. Mu Ssang turned 27 this year. Unless the world was turned upside down, a mother couldn't look younger than her son. In this monster den, there was nothing ordinary.

"Are you his birth mother?"

Jeong Pil-su realized his mistake after asking the question. Mu Ssang's father died 18 years ago. Mu Ssang grew up as an orphan. He reunited with his mother only recently. A dead man could not get a second wife. It was a mistake made in his confusion.

"Why do you ask that? Does my son not look like me?"

"He takes after you a lot. I didn't expect you to be so young and beautiful. I'd ask you to marry me if I could."

Jeong Pil-su handed her the flowers with a corny line. Beauty and youth! Every woman likes such a compliment. Marriage? Every woman dreams of romantic marriage.

"Do you want to die?"

He felt something sharp and cold touching his neck.

"What did I do?" said Jeong Pil-su in his mind.

Jeong Pil-su was frozen in place.

"Jin Soon handles the company matters. She's there."

Kim Mal Soon turned on her heel suddenly and headed for the main house. Tender like a spring breeze a moment ago, she suddenly had a frigid aura. Ou Soon rolled her eyes and followed Kim Mal Soon.

"What is this situation?" Jeong Pil-su asked inwardly.

Jeong Pil-su wanted to pull out his hair. Now, he felt rejected. No one was normal or acted normally in this place.

"Milady!"

Kim Geuk-do bowed. The blade stopped touching his neck.

"You did a great job. Yeong-a needs to go to kindergarten now. Don't worry and attend to your business."

"Yes, ma'am."

Kim Geuk-do disappeared like the wind. Jeong Pil-su breathed in deeply. He couldn't breathe properly because of the intimidating man.

"You made a mistake."

Her cold remark caught his attention.

"What mistake?"

"You shouldn't say such a corny thing to Mother. You are very daring. You just risked getting your tongue cut off."

"I just wanted to compliment her. Is that a problem?" Jeong Pil-su mumbled.

Jin Soon seemed irritated.

"She has some history. You should never make the same mistake again."

Jin Soon folded the nickel silver tray she was holding as if it was a piece of paper. She folded it once, twice, and three times, then crumpled it into a ball and tossed it to Jeong Pil-su.

"What?"

Jeong Pil-su caught the nickel silver ball and his face paled. This beautiful woman was also a monster. The shadowy, menacing man, the mother younger than her son, a young lady who could crumple up a nickel silver tray—he felt like passing out.

"You must be from the government. You may fool Ou Soon but not me. We do not have a business acquaintance named Lee Dae-deok."

"Huh!" Jeong Pil-su gasped and mumbled.

Cold sweat ran down his backbone. Mu Ssang's sister was just like that.

"Since you are here, let me hear what you have to say."

Jin Soon passed by the bamboo forest and headed for Myo-Yeon-Geo. The eight-angled pavilion by the pond in which clear water sloshed about mesmerized him.

When they entered the pavilion, they could smell the scent of the pine. A Manchurian stove glowed in a corner, whereas a rectangular wooden tea table with cushions was at the center.

"It's still cold, isn't it?"

Jin Soon pressed a button. A soft sound of a motor was heard. Panes of glass rose and enclosed the inner space. Not a whiff of wind entered.

"That's great."

"Mu Ssang made the pond and built the pavilion for his mother. She likes lotuses."

"I should be a mercenary too," Jeong Pil-su said to himself.

Did he build all this just to look at lotuses? Is that stove always on for someone who's not even there? Jeong Pil-su was offended at the shameless display of wealth.

"Who sent you? Tell me now."

"How did you know?"

Jeong Pil-su was startled.

"You are not someone who can see him."

"Ugh!"

The cold evaluation made his heart break into pieces.

"Yeah, he's a dragon and I'm but an earthworm," said Jeong Pil-su to himself.

If it were not for a young girl who came with tea and confections, he might have wept right there.