…The words “Thank God you’re alive” carried two assumptions within them.
That he knew who I was.
And that he had assumed I was dead.
All of that pointed back to one thing.
The Security Captain had recognized that I, sitting in the driver’s seat of the taxi, was Kim Soleum, Senior Associate of the Field Operations Team—the one who had been officially processed as dead.
‘……Since when?’
I checked the Security Captain in the rearview mirror. He was wearing an old security uniform almost like casual clothes, with his cap pulled low.
I couldn’t see his face very well.
But somehow, he looked relieved.
And then, all at once, I remembered something Park Minseong had once told me.
—The Security Team’s Captain J asks about you sometimes. I didn’t just… tell him you disappeared into the Darkness. Still, a few days ago, it seemed like he already knew.
…With the kind of years the Security Captain had under his belt, he must already have seen plenty of rookies from Baekilmong Co., Ltd.’s Field Operations Team get chewed up and replaced.
Even so, it seemed he’d worried about me because we’d at least known each other by face…….
‘I’m grateful, and I feel sorry too.’
And on top of that, even after recognizing me, he hadn’t acted like he’d noticed. He’d quietly waited until now, taking the circumstances into account. That surprised me too.
Of course, since I was currently in the middle of doing industrial-spy work, this couldn’t exactly turn into some heartfelt reunion.
Besides, it looked like Director Ho had already figured out that Group D all knew I was alive, so I couldn’t make the situation even riskier.
‘The Security Captain isn’t the type to go around talking just because he saw me.’
When he got out, a brief hint asking him to keep it secret would be enough.
Once I finished sorting things out in my head, I spoke in the friendliest taxi-driver voice I could manage.
“Whew, what in the world was all that… I thought my heart was going to drop out of my chest. So, sir. You said you were heading to Seoul Station, right? We should get there in about forty minutes….”