“How does 2 million won per piece sound? We want to make various goods with these. In exchange, we’ll give you 2% of the net profit from selling the goods.”
Faced with the sudden proposal, Im Yuna couldn’t make a decision.
They were just scribbled drawings.
Drawings drawn without any intention, simply wherever her hand wandered.
The purpose of fine art is to express the artist’s inner self,
and the purpose of visual design is to convey a message.
These drawings were neither.
They didn’t fit in fine art, nor in visual design.
Yet this man said he would buy these drawings.
And at 2 million won per piece, no less.
On top of that, he would give her 2% of the net sales profit.
So she worried.
Because the terms were too good.
Wondering if there was some kind of trick.
She decided to ask.
“Are there any other conditions?”
“There are.”
Im Yuna was anxious.
What condition this man would put forth.
What if he proposed something strange as a condition?
What if he demanded a night in exchange for the paintings?
Should she refuse unconditionally?
Or should she reluctantly agree?
Her mind grew tangled, and her face flushed red.
“It would be nice if you could finish these drawings a bit. They’re good as they are now, but some look as though they aren’t finished yet. Would completion be possible?”
“It can’t be helped. Which room… ah… completion? Of course I have to do that for you.”
Im Yuna, flustered by the man’s unexpected condition.
“How soon would it be possible?”
“May I return to Korea, draw them properly, and send them to you?”
“The current state is good. Just finish them up and give them to me. That much is sufficient.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll finish them tonight and give them to you.”
“Still, we should write up a contract, shouldn’t we? That would be best for both of us.”
“A contract?”
“It’s better than having issues later.”
At the man’s gesture, some man came over and bowed his head beside him.
After the man said something, he appeared with a contract shortly after.
Im Yuna read the contract slowly and carefully, then pressed down hard as she wrote her three-character name.
It was the first income of her twenty-four-year-old life.
.
.
.
I watched the woman sitting in front of me sign.
And I called Patrick to look for a company that would produce the goods.
I planned to produce various types of goods.
T-shirts, hoodies, hats, eco-bags, scarves, keyrings, badges, magnets, tumblers, stickers, postcards, phone cases, umbrellas, snow globes, and so on.
There was so much variety in what could be made.
For now, I told him to make samples and bring them.
I thought I could proceed to the next step only after seeing the samples.
As the rough wrap-up finished and I was about to go up to my room, a white woman in her twenties entered.
It was unfamiliar.
Vicente Palace had an extremely high proportion of Korean people.
It was a natural result, as it was a hotel included in travel packages.
They couldn’t be made to stay at another hotel when this was their hotel.
So Koreans were common,
but foreigners, especially white people, were hard to see.
It wasn’t that they disliked this hotel; rather, there were no vacant rooms.
Even if they wanted to stay, there were no rooms.
But one white woman trudged in and came to the hotel reception.
I simply watched that sight as if viewing a painting.
Because it was fascinating.
The woman said she had come to retrieve her luggage, giving the name John Doe.
John Doe?
Where had I heard that name?
Ah, right.
It was the name the person who bought the gun had asked me to leave it under.
This was the woman who had come to pick up the gun I had left in custody.
The one who had purchased only a single gun—
the person who had swallowed my curiosity whole.
In that instant, my gaze turned toward her.
Simultaneously, I surveyed the surroundings.
Perhaps like Marian last time.
Just as I had made Marian look for drugs.
Someone might have sent her to retrieve the item.
If so, someone would be watching her from somewhere.
I quietly went to a secluded corner and checked if there was anyone around watching her.
I checked several times, but no such person was visible.
Was it a relationship built on trust?
So was the accomplice outside, or was there a separate meeting place?
I was dying of curiosity.
In the meantime, she found the entrusted item and went outside the hotel.
A single shopping bag dangled from her hand.
Naturally, I followed behind her.
Of course, I knew well that I shouldn’t.
That curiosity hastens death.
But I possessed a weak reason that couldn’t overcome instinct.
Naturally, I followed her.
I was simply curious.
About what would happen.
Instead, because I was weak, I would just watch and come back.
Just watch.
.
.
.
The woman got in a car and moved somewhere.
I too got in my car and quietly followed behind her.
The place she stopped her car was in front of Cayley International Advisory.
Cayley International Advisory was quite a famous company not only here in Bohol but in the Philippines as a whole.
It was famous as a company that created consulting, solutions, and strategy for businesses.
I had heard it particularly excelled in tax law and investments.
It had been appearing in the news lately—was there some kind of problem?
But why had that woman come here?
Had she invested and lost?
Had she invested her own money and lost it?
Had all her money flown away into thin air?
Then it made sense.
Worth going after with a gun.
I understood.
Even after parking, she remained in the car for quite a while.
Seeing the interior light on inside the car, she was probably checking the gun she had received.
She would be checking the magazine and loading it.
Soon the interior light turned off and she got out of the car.
I got out too.
I said I’d just watch, so just watch.
Unlike the shining sign reading *Cayley International Advisory*, there was no one inside.
Guards should be essential in the Philippines, yet no guards were visible either.
This is usually how it’s done when something bad is going to happen.
It seemed something bad was happening inside.
Good for me.
I quietly followed behind her.
Without catching her eye.
Shortly after,
she stood in front of someone’s room and steadied her breath.
And then she opened the door and went in.
“What the hell, Ana. How did you know about this place?”
“What’s that in your hand? Don’t tell me that’s a gun?”
“Don’t do this. This isn’t a problem that gets solved by doing that. Put the gun down and talk.”
“We can solve this through conversation.”
“Conversation? What were you doing when I demanded conversation all this time, and now you want to talk? I suppose you want to talk because you have a gun pointed?”
“I was going to do it anyway. I was busy. We’re people for whom time is important.”
Peeking through the slightly open gap, inside one woman was seated in the head seat,
and three men in suits were sitting on a sofa.
The woman who had just entered was standing and continuing the conversation while threatening them with the gun.
The woman seated in the head seat opened her mouth.
She was probably the boss around here.
“Ana. I understand you’re upset. But this isn’t a solution. There’s no need to respond so sensitively. There will be another way. So let’s put our heads together and think again. It’s just a simple internal audit.”
That woman was definitely the boss.
Even with a gun thrust before her eyes, her voice was composed.
Either she was truly bold, or she had experienced this many times before.
But an internal audit?
It seemed it wasn’t simply a matter of lost investment funds.
“That’s right, Ana. If we discuss this together, won’t some solution come out?”
“Put that gun down and let’s think slowly.”
The men in suits echoed the boss’s words.
“Cayley, you really underestimated me. Did you really think I knew nothing?”
“What?”
“You embezzled the money Erica entrusted. You used my ID and email there, and I just did my usual work, but before I knew it, I would become the embezzler who stole client funds. You say it’s just a simple internal audit now, but tomorrow forged documents will come out through the audit, and I’ll be sent straight to prison. I’ll be killed in a suicide on the way to prison without knowing why.”
Clap, clap, clap.
The woman in the head seat clapped.
“Wow~ I’m really surprised. You’re not the first to play that role, but you’re the first to read the situation this quickly. I’m really surprised. But how did you know? I was being careful, you know.”
“Because the funds to be laundered flowed strangely. Wouldn’t it be odd not to notice? So decide.”
“Decide what?”
“Either make it all go away, or die here.”
Ana aimed the gun at her once more.
“As expected of Ana. You read the situation quickly and went straight to the best answer. I liked you because you worked so well usually, but I never thought that ability would show itself to this extent. But what to do. This isn’t something I’m doing alone, so I have to consult with others too. Could you wait until then? It’s just one phone call.”
“Go ahead.”
Cayley, the boss seated in the head seat, picked up her cell phone and manipulated it.
Suddenly it grew noisy behind me, and men holding guns came running.
It seemed she hadn’t been consulting with anyone but had called security guards.
I hid my body for a moment, and when they entered the room, I began peeping again.
Ana was bewildered when people with guns appeared behind her.
Cayley spoke to the flustered Ana.
“You didn’t think you were the only one with a gun, did you? You didn’t even release the safety on your gun.”
As Ana tried to check the safety in surprise, one of the security guards quickly snatched the gun away.
With her gun taken, the security guards surrounded Ana.
In an instant, all the advantages Ana had held disappeared.
When Cayley nodded, all the security guards went out.
The gun Ana had brought was now in Cayley’s hand.
“Since it’s come to this, why don’t you just turn yourself in? In exchange, we’ll support you with lawyers too, and when you’re released, you can keep working here. Seems like a pretty good condition, no?”
“Cayley, do you think I’m a fool? Did you think I’d fall for that? You just lied to me even now.”
“Ana. Do you think you have a choice right now? Ana. I’m showing you mercy right now. I’m making a way for you to survive. If you can’t accept it, dying now isn’t bad either. You came to threaten us with a gun and got shot by accident. The gun is in my hand too. Not bad, is it?”
Cayley placed the gun in her hand on the table as she spoke.
“You’re smart, so you must have caught on to some extent. Did you never think there was a reason an orphan with no good background got into our company?”
“Th… that’s still…”
“This is why orphans are convenient. Even when driven to a crisis like this, there’s no one to help them. No one to step forward for them. That’s why orphans are always used for this kind of work. Easy cleanup, too.”
Ana’s body was trembling, perhaps truly furious.
She probably would have fired if she’d had the gun in her hand, but she could only clench her empty fists tight.
“Don’t be like that and think positively. It’s just one year. Or maybe even shorter than that. If you admit it and take the blame, we’ll take responsibility for everything that comes after.”
Ana seemed confused, unable to reach a decision and hesitating.
From my perspective as an onlooker, it was entertaining.
It was a common story: a woman named Cayley had swindled a client’s money and planned to pin it on Ana, but Ana found out and came to threaten her with a gun, only to have the gun taken away as well.
My curiosity was satisfied.
That was enough.
However the conclusion turned out, that was their business to handle, and I should go home.
The only regret was,
if Ana had fired a few shots with the gun as soon as she entered, the conversation would have proceeded much more easily and quickly.
If some of the people in there had been bleeding right now,
she wouldn’t have been cornered like this; it was a bit of a shame.
If it were me, I would have handled the three men sitting on the sofa as soon as I entered,
then aimed the gun at the woman while talking,
I shook my head fiercely.
What a blasphemous thought.
Now, if I just carefully went back, I could satisfy my curiosity and keep my life too.
"Kayleigh, I've thought about it over and over, but I don't think that'll work. I can't trust you."
Anna drew a gun she'd hidden behind her back.
That was the Smith & Wesson Shield I'd sold.
Then what was the gun from earlier?
Wow, was this part of the plan too?
Anna reappeared.
Anna, having drawn her gun again, pulled the trigger on the man sitting on the sofa.
Bang. Bang.
Her stance was unsteady, but perhaps because the distance was close?
The man who'd been sitting on the sofa collapsed on the spot.
The others hurriedly hid behind the sofa, behind the desk.
Kayleigh tried to pick up the gun she'd set down, but startled by the sound of Anna's gunshot, she hid behind the desk.
Perhaps the gunshots had carried far, because I could hear the security guards from earlier approaching.
Can't let them ruin such a good show.
I pulled an automatic rifle out of my inventory
and helped make sure their conversation didn't end.
"Don't do this, Anna. Why are you doing this? It's a misunderstanding. A misunderstanding. Let's think this over again."
Kayleigh's voice had changed.
The relaxed tone from earlier was now gone.
"No, if you get out of here, you'll find a way to kill me like nothing ever happened. So I think it's right that you die here. Thanks. I'll put all those money laundering techniques you taught me to good use."
Bang.
Anna fired her gun at Kayleigh.
But she couldn't hit her.
The man in the suit who'd taken cover tackled Anna.
Anna was holding the gun, but the chances of her, with her slight build, overpowering that man didn't look high.
Another man picked up a gun that had fallen to the floor and turned the barrel toward Anna.
But what did that woman say again?
Did she say money laundering techniques?
So she's a specialist?
Well, that's a different story then.
We do give preferential treatment to specialists, after all.
And didn't Chief Nam Yong-woo say he had a headache because of money laundering?
Wouldn't bringing her along help?
My thoughts hadn't even finished, but my body was already opening the door to that room and going in.
The moment I entered, bang bang bang.
The man holding the gun,
and the man in the suit grabbing Anna—I shot them down.
Anna seemed startled to see me barge in out of nowhere, but at least she looked thankful that I'd helped her.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
The men all collapsed, and only Kayleigh was hiding under the desk.
"Hey, why don't you come out now?"
"If you were me, would you come out?"
"It's not that I can't drag you out. I just want to talk."
Still, she didn't come out.
When I fired warning shots around the desk, she came out with her hands up.
Even as she came out, she growled.
"Who are you? Who the hell are you to interrupt our conversation? If you get lost right now, I'll at least spare your life."
"Sheesh, look at that foul mouth. If you end up dead, it'll probably be because of that mouth. When you first meet someone, you say hello, right? You introduce yourself. But you're already talking about killing me or sparing my life. How am I supposed to have a conversation when I'm shaking in fear?"
"Who are you? What conversation could there possibly be in this situation?"
"Forget that. Are you good at money laundering?"
"Money laundering? That's my specialty. No matter what kind of money it is, once I run it through, every trace disappears completely. At least in the Philippines, I'm the top dog."
Kayleigh answered confidently.
"Really? You sure?"
I asked, looking at Anna.
"That might've been true ten years ago, but not anymore. Kayleigh's methods are too old. Everyone knows them. The reason investigations keep coming in is because the government has tracked down all the fund sources. Feeling threatened by that, Kayleigh stole her clients' money, framed me for it, and was trying to leave the Philippines."
Anna spoke as if protesting, and her words were quite convincing.
"She says that's not true?"
"I only use proven, reliable methods. Our clients prefer stable, highly trustworthy methods that have been established over a long time."
"Yeah? I'd like to vote for a more creative approach. Anna. If you do it, can you do better than Kayleigh?"
"Of course. I can do it a hundred times better than Kayleigh. I know all of Kayleigh's methods. Though I wouldn't use them if it were up to me."
"Great. Then let's go. Better than dying here, isn't it?"
"How can I trust you?"
"Trust? Is this a religion? Do you work on faith? You just get paid to work. You get compensated for your work; why are you looking for trust on top of that? If you want faith, go to church."
"No, that's not what I mean."
"You said you're good at money laundering, right?"
"Yes. I'm truly good at that."
"Then just do that well. Any problem?"
"No. None."
"Then let's go."
I tried to leave, but she couldn't.
She was looking at Kayleigh.
Probably because she was worried that leaving Kayleigh like that would bring trouble later.
Even so, I didn't take any action.
"What about Kayleigh?"
"Why Kayleigh?"
"We're just leaving her like that?"
"Then what? Should I drop her off at a hospital or something?"
"No, that's not it..."
"That's not it. What? Speak clearly."
"If we leave her like this, she'll become a problem later."
"What kind of problem?"
"She'll get in my way and try to kill me."
"I'm disappointed in you right now."
"What?"
"When you're working, problems keep popping up. I need someone who can proactively solve those problems. People who whine and beg for someone else to solve them every time aren't attractive."
"I don't like you, Anna. I just picked the more capable one between you two. If Kayleigh had been more capable than you, I would've chosen her. I have no feelings whatsoever for Kayleigh. The feelings are between you and Kayleigh. I'm not someone who steps in between to settle other people's emotional fights. Whether there's emotion or conflict, that's something you handle yourself. It's nothing to whine about."
Anna seemed shocked by my words.
I had no idea what was so shocking about it; I'd only come in here to scout, that was all.
It would be a shame for valuable talent to die in a shootout.
That's it.
I have no desire to fight their battle for them.
Is Kayleigh the only bad one?
Is Anna some kind of saint?
They may be outstanding talents who launder money, but that has nothing to do with being a good person.
I have no intention of judging who was right or wrong between them,
and no intention of intervening in their fight.
The two of them need to sort out their own problems.
"Anna. When you came in here holding a gun. If you remember why you came in holding that gun, you'll be able to find the answer more easily than you think. I'll head out first. If you're thinking of working together, come to the front of the building."
I left those words behind and exited the room.
Before long,
Bang.
A single gunshot rang out, and Anna walked out.