Chapter 69. The Marauder, No. 9 (1)
“All right. I understand. I’ll cooperate.”
Victoria nodded after hearing No. 5 out.
No. 5 looked at her in disbelief.
“Really?”
“Yeah. A mother could never lie while using her own child as leverage.”
Subin had been the same.
A mother might sacrifice herself, but she would never use her child for her own purposes.
Maybe it was because Victoria was a woman too.
Whatever the reason, No. 5’s sincerity struck her deeply.
“Thank you. I wouldn’t exactly call this repayment, but these are some of Abraxas’s research records. They may help uncover our past.”
No. 5 held out a small USB drive.
Victoria accepted it and asked skeptically,
“Are you really allowed to steal something like this?”
“I have already decided to betray Abraxas. I can do far worse than this.”
“You really made up your mind, huh.”
Just like Yukgap, No. 5 looked prepared to do anything if it meant recovering her past.
Then No. 5 spoke seriously.
“There is something important I need to tell you. Another Archon besides me has entered Korea. No. 6 may be in danger.”
“Why?”
Victoria immediately asked.
No. 5 answered in a grave tone.
“There is a man in the underworld known as the Mercenary King. Abraxas does not like that he has been expanding his influence.”
“So they intend to eliminate him.”
“What? Seriously?”
Victoria stared at her in shock.
No. 5 looked puzzled.
“Why are you so surprised?”
“Yukgap left to meet the Mercenary King today! Kevin might know something about Yukgap’s past!”
No. 5 immediately asked,
“Where did No. 6 go?”
Victoria hurriedly searched her memory.
She had briefly seen the map on the invitation.
“Uh... some kind of dock. He said he was meeting the Mercenary King there.”
No. 5’s expression twisted in horror.
Then she shouted,
“No! The sea is practically that Archon’s personal hunting ground!”
“Wait here. Kevin will be here soon.”
A man in a black suit guided Yukgap and Jeonghyeon into a reception room aboard the ship.
Yukgap dropped into a chair and muttered,
“He must be pretty important if they’re hiding him this thoroughly.”
Jeonghyeon looked at him with mild surprise.
“Mr. Yukgap, aren’t you nervous?”
Yukgap gave a small laugh.
“I’ll be honest. I have no interest in becoming Kevin’s chef.”
“Really? Then why did you apply?”
“My goal is to meet Kevin.”
Yukgap’s expression became serious.
“He might know something about my past.”
“Your past?”
Jeonghyeon tilted his head.
Yukgap hesitated for a moment, then decided to speak openly.
For some reason, being around Jeonghyeon made him relax.
Without quite knowing why, he felt his guard lowering.
“It’s embarrassing, but I don’t know my real name.”
“I don’t know who my family is or where my hometown is either.”
“Then I heard Kevin might know something about me, so I came.”
“I see.”
Fortunately, Jeonghyeon did not press him further.
Yukgap laughed.
“Once I meet Kevin and ask what I need to ask, I’m planning to withdraw from the application.”
“So don’t worry. You can have the personal-chef job.”
Jeonghyeon hesitated before replying.
“When I first saw you, Mr. Yukgap, I thought you probably weren’t a chef.”
“Why?”
“Your eyes were too sharp for one.”
Jeonghyeon calmly looked over Yukgap’s body.
“I practiced martial arts for a long time, so sometimes I can tell what kind of person someone is just by looking at their eyes.”
“You looked less like a chef and more like a soldier.”
“Sharp. Loyal. Dangerous.”
Yukgap flinched.
It felt as though the man had looked straight through him.
After thinking for a moment, Yukgap simply admitted it.
“You’re perceptive. I used to do something like that.”
“Are you retired now?”
“I got sick of my old workplace and quit.”
Yukgap smiled faintly.
“Now I’m living a different life thanks to a friend who took me in.”
“You must like being a chef.”
Yukgap paused at the question.
Did he like it?
Truthfully, becoming a chef had never been his dream.
He had simply met Victoria by chance and gone along with whatever she wanted.
It helped that he was already good with knives.
But at least this job never left that unpleasant aftertaste in his mouth.
“Of course.”
“At least cooking is something you do to keep people alive.”
He spoke more softly.
“When someone eats food I made and gets enough strength to make it through another day, that feels worthwhile.”
“It’s valuable work.”
“Then why not just become Kevin’s personal chef? I’m sure the pay would be excellent.”
Jeonghyeon asked again.
Yukgap immediately shook his head.
“Sorry. There’s someone waiting for me.”
“For that friend’s sake, I can’t do it.”
“You must have a good friend.”
Yukgap thought of Victoria and smiled slightly.
“If it weren’t for her, the person I am now wouldn’t exist.”
“She’s like my benefactor.”
She caused disasters beyond common sense almost every day.
