CHAPTER 17………………………………………………
“It’s getting wet.”
“…It’s fine.”
The ice was cold, and his touch against her lips was hot.
His gaze slowly lifted from Chohee’s lips and met her eyes.
Chohee suddenly bolted upright, eyes wide. Rising too quickly made her head spin.
“Ugh…”
She shook her head. Why did that memory—him touching her lips—have to surface now of all times?
She raised a hand and touched her mouth. A scab had formed where it had torn yesterday.
“We must both have been completely drunk. Trying to stop the bleeding with ice, of all things.”
She let out a breath in disbelief.
It seemed neither of them had been in their right mind from the alcohol.
More than that, Chohee couldn’t clearly remember when she had come all the way here.
Looking around, she realized she was on the bed in her room. She was sure she had passed out while drinking in the study last night…
‘Did that man bring me here?’
She had definitely been too hasty last night.
She had drunk with him to dig up information about him, but all she learned was that he was twenty-nine and that he had lived in Gyeongseong as a child before studying abroad in Japan.
She still hadn’t found out what he currently did for a living.
“I’m sure we talked more than that…”
Groaning, Chohee tried to retrace her memory.
They had agreed to ask each other questions. She had been the first to ask.
The problem was that after that, it was like a black curtain had dropped over her mind—her memory cut off completely.
He must have asked her things too.
“Surely I didn’t say anything weird, did I?”
She had nothing in particular to hide, but she still didn’t like the thought of saying something strange in front of him.
With a troubled expression, Chohee shook her head. There was no use regretting what had already happened. If one approach failed, she could try another.
As she was getting up, she noticed a note, a kettle, and a teacup on the desk—things that hadn’t been there before.
She lifted the lid slightly, saw the familiar brownish liquid, and closed it again. It was barley tea.
Then she reached for the note. Neatly written in flowing script were the words:
“‘I have business this morning and will be going out. Honey water is good for a hangover.’ Honey water?”
Chohee opened the kettle again and smelled it. A sweet acacia-blossom scent rose up.
She had thought it was just plain water. When had he left this here?
The corners of her lips curved upward.
She’d expected him to be upset that she tried to pry information out of him last night… but seeing that he’d even left honey water, it didn’t seem like she had said anything too strange after all.
“That’s a relief.”
She poured a cup and drank. As the warm liquid soothed her throat, she realized how thirsty she’d been.
After refilling her cup a few more times, the kettle was soon empty.
Clicking her tongue in mild disappointment, Chohee stretched and sat at the desk.
She had sat at desks endlessly back at the academy. Even though it hadn’t been that long ago, the feel of the desk under her elbows felt strangely unfamiliar.
Since she had a bit of time, it might not be a bad idea to study what remained.
She rummaged through the drawers beneath the desk looking for something to write with.
There were three drawers. The top two were empty. Her hand moved to the handle of the last one.
Flap—
As she pulled it open, it bumped into the second drawer above it, which hadn’t been fully closed, and a sheet of paper slipped out—something that had been wedged between them.
She picked it up without much thought, but her pupils dilated and her hand began to tremble.
Early in the morning, Dowoon visited the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea’s Transportation Bureau branch in Andong County.
“Mikael, welcome.”
“Joseph.”
The man who greeted him was Joseph, who had carried out the mission with Dowoon on the train to Sinuiju.
Unlike Dowoon, Joseph was an intelligence agent based in Gyeongseong. The fact that he had come to Sinuiju himself meant he had important information to deliver.
“I heard there was urgent news.”
“We’ve received word that Wada Ichiro, Director of Railways at the Governor-General’s Office, will be visiting Sinuiju within this month.”
“This month? Then it’s starting sooner than we thought.”
Dowoon let out a sigh and clenched his fist at the unexpected bad news.
It was earlier than expected.
After Japan emerged victorious from the great war that ended last year, their ambitions had only grown.
Beyond Joseon, they were now planning to expand their rule into Manchuria.
But China held great strategic importance in Asia. The European powers would not sit idly by if Japan openly attacked China.
Japan knew this—but did not abandon its greed. They intended to colonize Manchuria in secret, without their Western allies knowing.
The first step toward colonizing Manchuria was laying a secret railway line into the region—so they could move military supplies covertly and prepare for war.
If left unchecked, Japan’s power would grow beyond recovery.
To stop this, the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea had hidden intelligence agents throughout Joseon. Dowoon was one of them.
But there was a problem: they didn’t know where the rail line to Manchuria would be built.
All details about the railway were kept strictly confidential. Only a few high-ranking officials in the Governor-General’s Office, and President Minamoto of the Minamoto Company—who was directly involved in the construction—along with his closest aide, had access to the information.
That made extracting information from Minamoto critically important.
“Mikael, is your plan to use that woman you mentioned to gather intelligence progressing well?”
Rita, who had been talking with Joseph, asked Dowoon.
She too had been an agent on the previous mission. Rita was a professional bomb maker, assigned to major operations such as train bombings.
At her sharp question, Dowoon nodded.
“She’ll be joining that gathering soon.”
Rita openly frowned and shook her head.
“Mikael, aren’t you being too complacent? You said she’s not even one of us. What if she betrays us?”
“That won’t happen. I’ve secured leverage she can’t betray.”
“Can you really trust that leverage? If she puts us in danger, I won’t stand by. If necessary, I’ll eliminate her myself!”
Rita’s voice burned with intensity. In contrast, Dowoon’s face was cold and expressionless—enough to make one feel suffocated under his gaze alone.
“You won’t have to eliminate her, Rita.”
He spoke slowly through clenched teeth.
Rita was not someone who showed mercy.
If she decided to remove someone, Chohee would have no chance.
Yet for some reason, just imagining Rita harming Chohee made his chest go cold.
Rita was his comrade, and Chohee was merely someone he was using—and yet.
“Mikael, anyone who threatens our cause must be removed.”
“…Understood.”
Dowoon forced himself to erase Chohee’s face floating in his thoughts as he replied.
With trembling hands, Chohee read the writing on the paper.
“‘Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea Transportation Bureau Report. Regarding candidate routes for fund transport.’”
Only the title was clear; beneath it was a list of meaningless-looking words.
But Chohee immediately sensed they were not meaningless. It was likely encrypted text.
Just in case, she reread the title several times.
“The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea…”
No matter how many times she looked, that part—and the handwriting—matched Dowoon’s script from the note.
She had heard of the Provisional Government before.
‘How could I not?’
Students she had taught had gone out into the streets and returned injured. She could never forget what those who risked their lives told her—that we now have a government of our own.
A government. An organization leading the independence movement.
Her body trembled at the thought.
“Gyeongseong might be different, but Sinuiju is dangerous. Don’t trust that man too much. Especially if he’s a wealthy Joseon man—there’s bound to be something dirty behind it.”
Bok-ssi had been right. A wealthy Joseon man was bound to have something suspicious behind him.
Just not in the way she had suspected—he wasn’t a traitor who sold out his country.
Lee Dowoon was an independence activist.
Now everything made sense.
How a mere businessman could have so much information about her and her brother.
No matter how capable, his information-gathering had been suspiciously thorough.
Even the information about businessmen’s wives—he must have been collecting intelligence on key Japanese figures as part of his work.
“I want you to know you have two choices.”
“……”
“Either help me and join the English club so I can gather information—or allow me to win favor with the Japanese by telling them, ‘The family of the subversive you’re looking for is here.’”
“Are you threatening me right now?”
And despite all those threats, he had shown no real intention of turning her over to the Japanese.
What greater contradiction would there be than an independence activist handing a Joseon person to the Japanese?
Thinking back, even their first meeting had been strange. They met suddenly on the train. Now it was obvious—he must have entered her compartment to avoid the patrolling officers.
“Ugh!”
Overwhelmed, Chohee crouched down and ran her hands through her hair.
“An independence activist…!”
That was exactly the type of person she hadn’t wanted to get involved with. She had thought that if he wasn’t a bad man, maybe she could trust him—but now her mind felt even more tangled.
“Should I just run away? There’s nothing for me to gain by staying here anyway.”
Had she ever experienced anything good from being entangled with independence activists? She had only suffered because of it. But she had nowhere to go.
Leaving wouldn’t magically solve anything.
She was still short on money, and her brother was still missing.
If what Dowoon said was true, her brother was likely stuck in Gyeongseong. Even if he tried to come to Sinuiju, it would be nearly impossible to find her while evading the pursuing officers.
But if she stayed beside Lee Dowoon—another independence activist?
There would be a private communication network among them. Dowoon was clearly a man with access to information.
She might be able to learn about her brother—and even find a way to reach him.
And now she was certain of one thing: this man would not hand her over to the police.
Which meant staying here wasn’t such a bad choice after all.
“I’ll wait for an opportunity. It’s not time yet.”
Chohee forced herself to justify her decision not to leave.
