CODE NAME: ANASTASIA [Novel]

Chapter 6

What could be more futile than asking a child about their future hopes? When they will change their minds countless times, from one profession to another, such as becoming a president overnight, becoming a lawyer, a doctor, an astronaut or even an entertainer.

Kwon Tack Joo as a child was the same way. Even when he entered the university entrance exam room, he never thought that he would become an agent of NIS (Korea National Intelligence Service).

His brother is different. Ever since he first talked about his desired career in the future, his dream has not changed. He wants to be a soldier like his father. His mother often lamented that on his first birth, no one expected him to pick up a book on military theory.

(In Korea, on the birth anniversary, the family will display some objects that represent occupations in front of the child, for example, military books—> working in the army, blue shirts—>becoming a doctor, textbooks—>teachers. Then, if the child crawls/reaches for something, they think the child will tend to do that job later on. It's just a fun custom when it comes to plowing.)

His mother had always hoped that her two sons would not become soldiers or any such profession. His grandfather, who had always prioritized domestic work over housework, and her military husband, whom she had known through his introduction, were just like him. So his mother used to say that she no longer remembers being able to sleep comfortably with her legs stretched out in her 60 years of life. On the days when his father went out to receive combat missions, his mother often held his brother in her arms and stayed up all night. And she didn't want her two children to suffer the same hardships.

But no one ever pleases their parents. His brother finally let go of his mother's expectations. He volunteered to join the navy and was killed in a military operation. It's been 10 years. At that time, Kwon Taek Joo's mother was almost obsessed with him. Because at that time, he was her only son, and her only relative at that time. On the day of her brother's funeral, she hugged Kwon Taek Joo and repeated, You can't be like that anymore. Cannot.

However, in the end, Kwon Taek Joo could not fulfill her mother's wish.

According to the regulations of the national intelligence agency, the identity of the member will be strictly confidential, including from parents and other family members. Even if it wasn't for that reason, he couldn't honestly tell his mother what he was doing. She is a woman who has lost her father, husband and first son for the country. If that wasn't enough, she wouldn't be able to bear it anymore if she knew that even her only remaining child held a gun more times than a chopstick. Mom always thought Kwon Taek Joo was a lowly civil servant in a small town in the countryside. And she would never have imagined that the craziest thing her son could do was go to Moscow and disguise himself as the Japanese he is now.

Kwon Taek Joo closed his eyes, lost in the past, and suddenly took out his phone. As expected, mom's message popped up.

[Son, have a good lunch. Do your best today too!]

That seems to have become the norm, the text coming in every noon. If she doesn't get a reply from him, she'll text back when she's out of work. Sometimes she will call. Either way, he had to answer as soon as he landed. Since today is Monday, there will be many civil complaints, so he was too busy and couldn't answer, that's enough reason. Anyway, now he had a lot of experience with a lot of reasons to strengthen his mother's faith.

Kwon Taek Joo put his phone away and checked the time. It's been nine hours since you got on the plane. Looking at the distance left on the screen, it looks like it will take about an hour to get there. Maybe it's time to check the mask hes wearing. Kwon Taek Joo stood up and left the place.

The toilet was empty at the right time, he was about to open the door to enter, but suddenly heard a loud noise from the economy class. He watched the situation behind the half-open curtains, there was a passenger and a crew member in conflict. Looks like someone drank a lot of alcohol. Kwon Taek Joo soon lost interest, he went to the bathroom. The door closed and the overhead lights came on.