“It’s easier not to think about it. Here, have some food.” Tom pushed a small plate towards her. They continued watching TV.
BBC World News then turned to another story:
“Chinese leaders were back in Beijing today after a trip to Washington. China’s President Wang Wei was said to have held a meeting with the Politburo Standing Committee to discuss possible nuclear conflict on the neighboring Korean peninsula. Lo Jie, a PLA General who was on the Washington trip, made a speech at an event in Beijing saying that despite potential war on their border, the government is taking action to ensure China’s economy maintains its stability.”
That reminded Jiyeon of what she told Tom last night.
“By the way, so what do you think about that guy, Li?”
“I still think it’s just one big misinterpretation.”
The two people they had met the previous night were a curiosity that Jiyeon thought about on occasion. The girl, Hyun-Joo, went to university with Jiyeon. They were not close friends, but they were acquaintances who would acknowledge each other and chat if they ran into each other. Hyun-Joo, with her outgoing personality, had developed many friends and acquaintances. She came from a moderately wealthy family. She had the name and means to go out and meet interesting people from different circles. She knew people who worked at various companies and in various government organizations. Li — the young man with her — was from China. He had attended their university for one year because he was studying the Korean language. Jiyeon did not know him well. Even Hyun-Joo did not know him well at university, because he generally kept to himself. On the few times they did speak, Li had told Jiyeon that when he went back he wanted to join the army. But several years ago, he came to Seoul to work at China’s embassy as a tourism attaché. He struck up a more serious relationship with Hyun-Joo. Jiyeon saw this and thought it was odd. Her gut told her immediately he was a spy with diplomatic cover, given his phony-sounding title and his friendship with a social butterfly. Hyun-Joo might unknowingly be his asset, she thought. He could be extracting information out of her, under the pretext that they were two friends catching up. When she told Tom this the previous night, he shrugged it off, saying that a real intelligence officer would not want to appear as cold as Li did yesterday. Their job is to meet people and make friends, not quietly hang around one friend. Tom thought it was just paranoia. But Jiyeon had developed this sense after years working with the illegals. Her gut still told her something was off. Either way, Hyun-Joo did not know Jiyeon worked at the NIS. Jiyeon had said she left eight years ago when she just switched groups. They did not see each other often enough or speak long enough for the truth to come out. So if Li was an officer, he probably did not take any interest, Jiyeon thought. Tom to him was probably just a hulking American executive.
Jiyeon and Tom got up to leave. They walked through the serene hotel. Outside, the air was still cool but now the entire city seemed to be making its way to work. Jiyeon turned to Tom.
“What was that secret you had? What were you escaping when you joined the Navy?” At this point, she just wanted to know. This might be her last chance to figure it out, she thought.
Tom looked at her with piercing eyes for a moment before speaking. “Tell you what. When this is over, we’ll take a weekend vacation somewhere not far from here. We’ll get up together to see the early morning sun. I’ll tell you my story then.”
“I can do that.”
They hugged, said goodbye once more, and parted ways. Jiyeon started off towards NIS headquarters. After half a minute she turned around and saw Tom walking away. He was headed to Yongsan Garrison.
When Jiyeon arrived at her desk at the NIS, the office was still quiet and empty. This was partly because Mr. Park and the analysts he took to DC were still away, but it was also because people arrived later when Mr. Park was gone. As usual, the only person sitting in his office, looking as if he was crossing the three hour mark of work, was Mr. Kim. As she sat down and started going through her emails. She looked up at Mr. Kim again. He was talking on his cell phone. That is strange, she thought. Everyone had a phone on his or her desk. Cell phones were only used for personal calls. But she thought Mr. Kim had no family or friends, so why would he use his cell phone. She observed him as he talked, and when he had finished, she rose and went to his office. She just wanted to ask him something quickly. As she entered his office, Mr. Kim looked up, although he kept his eyebrows low and did not say anything.
“Mr. Kim I just wanted to check something on these reports I received on my desk —“
“Jiyeon I can’t talk now,” he said sharply.
“But can I just ask quickly —“
“Just come back after lunch. I can’t deal with this now.”
Jiyeon slowly left the office. She walked back to her desk and sat down.
Soon she saw Sung-Ho walking through the office, smiling.
“Sung-Ho, how are you? What did you guys end up doing last night?”
Sung-Ho shrugged, “We went out for a little while, but didn’t do much. How about you, how was your night?”
“It was good. Had dinner with a friend.”
“That’s great. Well I came down for a tea and then just walked around because I was still sleepy,” he gave out a laugh, “I hope you don’t mind but I work better afterwards.”
“No, not at all — I think our afternoon coffee breaks are so much fun that we should definitely start a morning version.” She was smiling. Something about getting back to the normal, familiar routine gave her a pleasant feeling.
“Any weekend plans?” Sung-Ho asked.
“I might go to the countryside. Just to get refreshed. What about you?”
“I’m actually leaving tomorrow on vacation.” He looked excited.
“That’s great. Where are you going?”
“Japan. It should be fun.”
“Are you going with your sidekick?”
Sung-Ho laughed. “No. I’m going alone. I have some friends there I’ll meet up with.”
“That sounds fun. Tell me how it is.”
After a pause, he continued “Well I’d better get back to work. See you later.”
“See you, Sung-Ho.”
Jiyeon kept going through her emails. She gave out a big sigh as she had finally felt some of the nervous energy from the morning leave.
CHAPTER 15
Officer 2135 reached for the door to leave his apartment for work. Suddenly he heard a beep. It sounded like a ping that was just barely audible. 2135 had been trained to listen for it. His phone released this sound when something was not right.
He turned around and walked into his bedroom. He moved the small table and opened the cubby door in the floor. His phone sat in its usual spot, in the plastic bag. He took it out.
Before deployment, Command had given a special set of instructions on how to use the phone. He was required to check it once per day for either new instructions or information. He was required to send a message once per month to confirm that he has not been arrested. He could send mission updates as he deemed necessary. But if his phone made one beep, it meant that Command had a message for him that he needed to look at immediately. It was supposed to warn of danger. The ping was set to a barely audible level so it would not be heard by anyone else in the cramped apartment building.
He opened his phone and looked at his messages. One marked urgent had been sent by Command.