In The Dark (SNOWDROP)

"give her a chance"

❄︎ — chapter 10 — ❄︎

"What?" Kang Cheongya asked in a mocking tone. "Is this some sort of dictatorship where only you decide who gets to be on your strike force?"

Jang Hanna rolled her eyes. "I'm heading this operation. So, yes, I get to choose. And you aren't welcome here."

"Noona," Lim Sooho spoke up quietly. "Give her a chance. Jebal?"

Hanna glanced between her cousin and arch-nemesis. "Since when were you on the side of this mi-chin-nyeon?"

"Mi-chin-nyeon?" Cheongya echoed with an exaggerated look of offense on her face. "Don't you think that's a bit harsh?"

Hanna wanted to point out that less than twenty minutes prior, Cheongya had baselessly accused her of seducing Lee Kangmu just so she could gain power within the ANSP, but she held her tongue. None of the other agents, especially Sooho, had to know about her and Kangmu's history. She'd rather keep it a thing of the past, something that as few people as possible knew about.

There was a teasing, challenging look in Cheongya's eyes. She was almost daring Hanna to let everything slip in a sudden burst of rage. Then, everyone would know, and Hanna would end up dragging Kangmu's immaculate image in the proverbial mud, even though their relationship was long gone and had never been for political or monetary gain anyway. They'd gotten engaged because they'd been in love with each other for years. It was as simple as that, but Kang Cheongya never seemed to understand. Her mind was too cold and calculating, Hanna believed, to comprehend things like love and trust.

But maybe in the end it was just as well, since when Jang Hanna had allowed herself to fall in love with the Black Tiger, her heart had become one of his unlucky victims. The love and trust between them had been irreparably shattered.

"Noona," Sooho pleaded. "Kang Cheongya is a good agent. Give her a chance, at least. I'll vouch for her."

Cheongya smiled tentatively. "Yes, Hanna-ssi. Let me prove myself. If there is any legitimate reason you are dissatisfied with my work, you may remove me from your team. But what is life without a few chances, Hanna-ya?"

Hanna pursed her lips, glancing over at Gyeokchan with the question in her eyes. He took a second to think, before shrugging.

"Fine," she relented. "But I expect nothing but the best from the famous Moran Hill."

Cheongya bowed. "And you'll have it."

Satisfied, Hanna moved to the front of the room, where Haegeumseong 1's case file lay on the table, with a map of the entire Korean peninsula.

"Before officially reopening the case, we need evidence that Haegeumseong 1 is still alive and still working for the North. As soon as we deliver it to the Chief, we can get more team members and funding," Hanna said. "Joo Gyeokchan has been after Haegeumseong 1 for a long time, so he will be my co-leader."

"As you all know," Gyeokchan said, "Haegeumseong 1 has been our top priority for years for good reason. He's killed several of our agents across Asia and Europe, as well as politicians and civilians. He's also excellent at dodging us and the normal police forces."

Sooho raised his hand. "Where are we starting from?"

"First," Gyeokchan said. "We're going to check all intercepted radio messages from the North and see if any of them mention Haegeumseong 1. Kim Seungjun, Kang Cheongya, and I will sort through the messages."

"Meanwhile," Hanna added. "The rest of us will go to Haegeumseong 1's old hideout."

"The shack?" Oh Dongjae asked. "We practically tore that place apart, but there wasn't any more evidence to be found."

"There is a door in the back," Hanna said. "We'll break the lock and see what's behind it."

Sooho nodded. "Should we get going?"

Hanna nodded, and the meeting adjourned. Gyeokchan, Seungjun, and Cheongya headed to the radio tables, while the remaining four went out to the back parking lot. Along the way, Sooho opened the weapons closet and pulled out an electric saw-style lockbreaker, along with batteries. Each agent was equipped with a radio, flashlight, infrared binoculars, pistol, and ammunition, and there was a metal detector, extra weapons, and medical kit that Hanna tossed into the trunk of her Jeep.

She remembered the way from when she'd gone to the shack with Gyeokchan, and fifteen minutes later the team arrived at the base of the mountain.

"Keep on your guard," she told them as they set off on foot, leaving the Jeep on the road.

Each had their pistols drawn, but nothing threatened them as they approached the abandoned shack. Hanna undid the bolt and stepped inside. Once again, it was empty, and she put her gun away. Lee Eungcheol guarded the door, scanning the perimeter with the metal detector, but he found nothing. Sooho and Dongjae cut away the straw curtain in front of the hidden back doors, and began sawing through the bolt between them. Meanwhile, Hanna knelt and examined every little tiny piece of grime on the floor of the shack, looking for remnants of bullets, wires, paper, or whatever else Haegeumseong 1 might have used while he was here. She found nothing of interest besides a few bits of metal, but from what she couldn't tell. She slipped the bits into a plastic evidence bag and shoved it into her pocket.

By then, the bolt on the doors had been completely sawed through, and Sooho easily pushed the doors open. Behind them was a concrete staircase leading down into an unlit corridor.

"Well," Sooho muttered. "That's doesn't look at all foreboding."

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Back at the ANSP headquarters, Kang Cheongya tightened the strap on her headphones connected to the radio. In front of her was a pad of paper and codebook. She jotted down the words and numbers she heard through a short clip of intercepted messages, though the sound cut out at random intervals.

As soon as her sound clip ended and she was confident she'd written everything down she possibly could have, she got to work on decoding the various words and numbers that the messages were disguised as. The codebook she had was the most recent one used by the ANSP, as codes changed all the time to keep enemy agents in the dark, but she had confidence this one was still good.

When she'd finished decoding, she read the message over, and then over again. Her eyes widened, and her hand shot up.

"I have something interesting."

Joo Gyeokchan stood from his own radio station and walked over. She handed him the pad of paper, which had the fully decoded message written on it, except for a few ellipses where the audio had cut out.

"Haegeumseong 1, you have a new mission. The other agents' attempts to... in America failed... has risen to power... be brought down. If you cannot... eliminate him without mercy."

❄︎ — ❄︎ — ❄︎ — ❄︎ — ❄︎

NOTE: KOREAN TERM TRANSLATIONS ARE AVAILABLE IN THE GLOSSARY

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