Episode 199. interest (1)
the next morning.
Kangsu visited the streets of Shibuya, Japan with Teresa. It was a place reminiscent of Korea’s Cheonggyecheon shopping district alley.
「World Decoration」
After walking for a long time in the alley, the two entered an ornament shop they found.
It was a store that sold ornaments all over the world.
With my daughter—
As the bell on the door rang, the owner revealed his face from inside the store.
“Are you here?”
It was Rodney Atkins who sold equipment to Kangsu.
“The equipment was well used.”
A bag of sniper rifles, pistols, and other equipment was placed on the store counter.
Seeing that, Rodney made a puzzled expression.
“… Wasn’t that a purchase, not a rental?”
“It’s over.”
“It was bought at a fairly high price. Did you finish it already?”
The equipment was traded for a total of 400 million won, with a down payment of 100 million won and a balance of 300 million won.
Rodney couldn’t help but be suspicious.
“There is nothing more to write here. Please dispose of it so that it will not be pursued.”
“Uh-huh—these are wasteful things to use for just one day.”
The bag opened in Rodney’s hand. I checked the parts of the disassembled sniper rifle and the condition of the pistol.
clap- clap-
The sniper rifle was put back together and I pulled the loading handle.
“No problem. It seems to have been used cleanly… . I will dispose of it.”
“Thank you.”
Rodney disassembled the sniper rifle again, put it in his bag, put it inside and came out.
“They’ve been showing their faces on TV lately, aren’t they doing things that are too dangerous?”
“You worry very quickly.”
“The news here is rather slow. Control is tight too. instead… It’s just a shell. don’t you know?”
Kang-soo laughed a little at the answer sarcastic about the country he was living in.
“Is there any country that Rod is satisfied with?”
“There is nothing. It’s all there.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because I’m settled.”
“… You mean settling down?”
It was because Rodney, an arms dealer, had a strong sense of wanderlust and continued to wander around as an arms broker.
It was strange that he had worked for Ejisto for several years. Of course, it was a story I heard directly from him.
“Okay, settle down. Just like you.”
It was a serious tone, but difficult to understand.
“You mean Rod to settle down?”
“Didn’t I tell you earlier? Like you.”
With my daughter—
A little girl whimpered and opened the door. He was a mixed-race child of African descent with shoulder-length black bobbed hair.
Theresa, who was standing next to her, saw it and hurried over to hold the door, speaking in English.
“What is a pretty little girl doing in a store like this?”
To that question, the child spoke in Japanese.
“hmm-? Thank you. But who is the lady?”
foot—
At that moment, laughter erupted from Kangsu and Rodney’s mouths.
“Smile?”
Theresa’s sparkling eyes pierced the two of them.
But since there was a child in front of me, I couldn’t help but smile again. And he spoke in Japanese like a child.
“Is it okay for a pretty little girl to call ‘sister’ like that?”
“You’re right, Auntie.”
“… … .”
“Ha ha ha ha!”
Rodney, who had been holding back so hard, burst into laughter.
At that moment, Theresa swung her arm and almost threw the knife, but held back. He folded his hands, which were about to spread out, and forced a smile.
“Since you’re my sister, why do you keep doing this?”
“dad! This lady keeps looking at her and calling her sister!”
Theresa and Kangsu looked at Rodney in surprise.
“dad?”
After saying that, the girl went back to the counter and lifted herself up while being hugged by Rodney.
“Ellie—wasn’t she scared? Ugh.”
“no! Auntie, I wasn’t scared!”
Rodney smiled brightly as he rocked the child he called Ellie in his arms.
“Our Ellie, you are so brave!”
“huh! I’m brave! dad!”
The child, speaking vigorously, hugged Rodney by the neck.
With my daughter—
While still not understanding the situation, the door opened again and an Asian woman entered.
“Ellie! You can’t just run like that by yourself— Oh, you have guests. welcome.”
The woman was surprised to see Kangsu and Teresa and greeted them in Japanese.
The two bowed their heads awkwardly and exchanged greetings.
“hello.”
“hello.”
Then Rodney looked at the woman and said.
“I told you to rest at home. Why did you come out?”
“I wanted to do that too. But when Ellie keeps going out saying she wants to see her dad, she annoys me. So I brought lunch while I was leaving.”
The woman lifted the lunch bag she was holding in her hand.
“Thank you, honey.”
In the meantime, Kang-soo and Teresa watched something strange while understanding.
Soon the two and Rodney met their eyes.
“Ah—these two aren’t guests, they’re my former co-workers.”
It was not wrong. Even so, it was ambiguous to simply describe it as a work colleague.
“really? You did. hello. My name is Shin Su-jin, who will become this person’s wife.”
“yes. But when it comes to Shin Soo-jin… … ?”
Kangsu was puzzled when he heard her Korean name.
“I am a Korean-Japanese. Original nationality is Korean. But I’m a little familiar… … .”
Shin Su-jin’s eyes wandered over Kang-soo’s face. Then there was a face that came to mind.
When entering the country, Kangsu used a fake passport that Simon had given him. Of course, I made it so that there was no problem by dressing up accordingly.
However, after entering Japan, the disguise was off. Even if it became famous in Korea, it was judged that it was not easily recognizable even in Japan.
Of course, I was slightly concerned, so I wore a hat. And now the hat had been taken off for a while.
“This time, it appeared on the front page of an economic magazine in Korea… Right?”
“ah… … .”
For a moment, Kang-soo had no idea how to deal with it.
First of all, it was important how far Rodney spoke when he married her.
In the meantime, Shin Su-jin opened her mouth first.
“Have you ever worked with someone like this?”
Rodney, too, was speechless after liking only the fact that his wife and daughter came to the store to play.
What I did in the past was also work, and now that Kang-soo is famous, it was questionable how to fit it.
Then Theresa intervened.
“We met while working for a security company. Gangsu is famous now, but it wasn’t before.”
Only Kang-su and Rodney had complicated thoughts.
At Teresa’s explanation, Shin Su-jin nodded.
“ah… … .”
“More than that, Mr. Atkins. When did you get married? And the daughter… … .”
Ellie looked six or seven years old at least. And Rodney Atkins was a bachelor until four years ago when he worked at Egisto.
“ha ha ha! Are you surprised? I was really surprised when I first met my wife again.”
“Again?”
“What are you talking about?”
When asked for a detailed explanation, Rodney put on an embarrassed expression.
“I met my current wife while staying in Japan before entering the old company, but then after 8 years of separation, I came back and found out that she gave birth to Ellie and is raising her.”
“then… … .”
“You’re a bad dad. I lived without knowing that my daughter was born for four years.
“Why, bring up the story then again.”
Rather, as if Shin Soo-jin comforted him, he tapped Rodney’s large shoulder with his small hand.
“It’s great— anyway, we met again by fate and finally got permission.”
“Didn’t you contact me after the baby was born?”
“Is this person the type to leave things like that? I also found out about the pregnancy belatedly and went to the house where Lee lived, and it was neatly organized.”
“ah… … .”
It is forbidden to leave scars while moving. I also never left any contact information so that it could not be traced.
It was a habit of the people who lived and worked here.
“If I hadn’t come here again like fate and met my wife, I might have lived my whole life without even knowing about our Ellie’s existence.”
Rodney’s eyes blushed as if he remembered the first time he met Shin Su-jin.
“Mister, are you crying?”
“It’s big—it’s because your hormones become imbalanced as you get older.”
“This person often cries even while watching Korean dramas these days.”
“Daddy Crybaby! I want to cry!”
Their daughter, Ellie, was cradled in Rodney’s arms and teased him.
“A lot—! More than that, I was curious about the two of them, but are they finally dating? Back in the day, Theresa had been chasing Soo.”
“Absolutely not.”
“You must be crazy! I have a boyfriend!”
Kang-soo’s expression and Teresa’s vulgarity made Rodney slightly embarrassed.
Then his gaze returned to Theresa.
“Teresa, you have a boyfriend? Is there anyone who can stand your temper?”
“mister-!”
“Madame! Character hair! Kyaak-! But Dad! What is your temperament hair?”
Ellie laughed, not knowing what that meant.
In the meantime, people around me were busy laughing.
“There is something wrong. Our Ellie doesn’t have it.”
“You don’t have a mother?”
“hmm… Mom is a little bit.”
“honey-! There’s nothing I can’t say to a child!”
jjaak-
Shin Su-jin’s palm stuck in Rodney’s back.
Seeing such a scene, Kang-su recalled memories of his mother together and felt something in his heart.
Shin Soo-jin, who was bickering, said while looking at Kang-soo and Teresa.
“If you don’t mind, how about lunch together? My husband ate a lot, so we bought plenty.”
“ah… … .”
Kang-soo’s eyes turned to Rodney.
“I can’t help it if I’m busy, if it’s okay, let’s eat together.”
“Teresa, are you okay?”
“I am fine. Rather, is your daughter’s name Ellie?”
After the consent was lost, Kang-soo helped Shin Su-jin set the table and chairs of the stall in the corner of the store.
In the meantime, Rodney joked around with Ellie and told me.
“My full name is Eleanor Akins. I also have a Korean name. It’s Shin Ah-jin. I took my wife’s last name.”
“It’s pretty. Shall we come to my Ellie unnie?”
Ellie pondered for a moment before reaching out her arm toward Theresa. Even though I called her a lady, it didn’t seem like she didn’t like it.
Soon Theresa was walking around the store with Ellie in her arms.
Seeing this, Shin Su-jin smiled brightly.
“That lady seems to really like children too.”
“They are very friendly.”
In the past, Yoo So-hyun and Kim Bo-ran had become close friends in an instant.
Then Rodney muttered in a slightly worried tone.
“What— you’re not going to teach me anything weird, are you?”
“Is it weird? Hey, what can I teach you?”
Teresa and Ellie giggled as they browsed the store. I couldn’t stop laughing at how funny it was.
Ellie’s gaze was on Theresa’s hand. He was holding something and moving his wrist.
“It was and is gone! It was there and then it was gone.”
Tiny ornaments appeared and disappeared from Theresa’s swiftly moving hands, replacing them with other ornaments.
It was magic created by the skill of handling knives.
“and-! Interesting! How did you do it? Let me know too!”
“right? Isn’t that great? If you are curious, call me sister.”
It seemed that he couldn’t let go of his lingering feelings about the name.
Kang-soo shook his head as he looked at the two of them. At the same time, he opened the boxes for the lunch box Shin Su-jin had packed on the table one by one.
‘Come to think of it, Simon and Jack must have gone to the chairman’s house… … .’
It came to mind suddenly.
He said that he was having lunch prepared by his aunt Lee Ji-yoon.
‘I’m sure he’s doing well.’
Thinking that it would be okay, Kang-soo sat down with Rodney and Shin Su-jin in a chair.
Returning life of a retired S-class mercenary