In The Dark (SNOWDROP)

"don't worry"

❄︎ — chapter 18 — ❄︎

Jang Hanna would never admit that she was affected by Kang Cheongya's words.

But she did understand that she and Lee Kangmu would have to be more careful. In an office full of highly-trained agents, experts in human behavior, it would be only a matter of time until someone caught the truth. And if that happened, both of them would be in deep water.

For the rest of the day, she resolved to leave Kangmu alone in his office. The blinds were now rolled up, so all she had to do to check on him was glance at the windows instead of actually going into his office.

Oh Dongjae left soon after to try and find Kim Mandong and keep an eye on him. He brought with him only a radio, camera, and pistol for emergencies. In his breast pocket was the photo of his target. He wore khaki shorts and a pink polo shirt, rolling the sleeves up to his elbows in an attempt to disguise himself as an innocuous tourist. Dark sunglasses perched on his nose, and he'd copied an American hairstyle from a magazine.

His coworker Kim Seungjun had cracked up once he saw him.

"Hyung!" Seungjun cackled, doubling over in laughter. "What the fuck did you do to your hair?"

Dongjae huffed, crossing his arms. "It's a disguise, okay?"

"Why do you have a purse?"

"It's a fucking satchel, Seungjunie. It's too warm out for a trench coat, and I need somewhere to put my equipment."

"Sure," Seungjun shrugged, holding his hands up. "I'm not judging, hyung."

"Really?" Dongjae asked sarcastically. "Because it seems like you—"

A muted chuckle from behind Dongjae cut him off. He cursed under his breath and turned around to see Hanna doing her best not to laugh out loud.

"Well, sunbaenim?" Dongjae asked, spreading his arms. "You were in America for four years. You think I could pass for one of them?"

Hanna pursed her lips, stepping forward. With her pen, she pushed down his hair so a few strands dangled just over the rim of his sunglasses. She poked his collar, amusement dancing in her dark eyes.

"Mess up the collar. And undo a button or two. No tourist walks around with all the buttons done up."

Dongjae undid the top two buttons of his shirt, ruffling the collar so part of it stuck up unevenly.

"Better?"

"Moderately," Hanna said. "You have your American ID?"

"Yes."

"Good," Hanna said, reaching her hand out to shake his. "Good luck."

After Dongjae left, the next thing on Hanna's to-do list was to pick up her car from the auto shop. Repairs had been completed that morning. Gyeokchan agreed to drive her, since she needed Sooho to stay at the office and make sure Kangmu was safe and didn't do anything stupid that might give Haegeumseong 1 a shot— quite literally.

"We've installed a security camera there," Gyeokchan said, pointing to a little white box that overlooked the entire parking lot of the factory. "If anyone tries to sabotage a car again, we'll catch him."