East

Chapter 8

June 03 | 07:00

Two months had passed in a blur for Sora. Her time was now spent primarily with Jung Rae-Won as he continued and intensified her training. She enjoyed the work and the puzzles almost as much as he did, and he seemed happy with her progress. 

As she sat at the table, the plate of peeled fruit growing slowly in front of her, she decided that her life had taken a turn for the better and she was happy with the path she seemed to be on. Rae-Won and Park Ye-Jin both looked after her well and soon she would be on a flight to England to meet Clive and his wife, Song Eun-Jae. Song Eun-Jae, who had been her mothers best friend, had been overjoyed at the prospect of being reunited with Sora who she had not seen since Sora's birth. They had spoken on the phone half a dozen times since discovering each other. The calls were awkward as Sora did not really understand why these people considered her like family. This lack of comprehension was mainly because she had not had any close friends in her life and everyone that had been close had left her. At school there were people who tolerated her, but no one really close. Her first, and only, boyfriend turned out to be not such a nice person. That was six months ago now, but she still shuddered inside at the memory. Sora did not think she had felt alone growing up, but now that there were so many people around her, she realized that she had actually been very lonely. She smiled as she selected a piece of pear and ate it. Life felt good now.

Rae-Won appeared in the doorway.

"You seem happy," he said.

"I am," she nodded. "Today is my first solo surveillance, right? Any changes to the plan?"

"No, everything is the same. Let's go over it one last time."

Sora fetched the mission file from her room and they sat at the table. Rae-Won opened the file. He indicated the photograph clipped to a sheet of paper.

"This is our target. He is meeting one or more people who are interested in buying information from him."

"Who arranged the meeting?"

"He did, which is how we know where it is taking place. My contact at the hotel is going to make sure that a specific room is used so that you can monitor the meeting."

"From another building."

"Yes. You will be on the roof of a building to the South of our target, at a distance of less than forty meters. I need you to take photographs and video. Which camera are you taking?"

"The D3 with the 200-400 F4 lens. No audio?"

"No, no audio. Our client is content just to see the people involved at the meeting." Rae-Won was always very serious when briefing. "We've visited the building and you know where you are going. The guard will let you on to the roof after you meet him at the rear entrance that we looked at."

Sora nodded.

"Double, triple check your equipment before you leave. Allow time to get there early. The meeting is at 20:00. I know this isn't international espionage, but remember rule number one. The people you can see are not always the only ones in the game. And please don't fall off the roof."

Sora smiled to reassure him.

"I'll be available by phone all day. Any questions or concerns, call me," he concluded.

"So this is what having a mother sounds like?" she asked.

"Would you rather hear Ye-Jin's lecture on safety?"

Sora raised her hands in mock horror. "No, no, no. I've listened well."

"Did I hear my name?" Ye-Jin walked through the door and put her bag on the table.