“Shall we go?”
Zhenya asked, standing by the doorway. Taekjoo nodded while tying his tie. It had been a while since he had worn a full suit. Usually, he only wore a semi-formal outfit for work, but today, he was making more of an effort. In fact, buttoning his shirt all the way up to the collar was something he hadn’t done in quite some time either. The tie felt tight on his neck, and Taekjoo found it uncomfortable. The vest and jacket came next. He was buttoning his jacket when Zhenya approached him from behind. Taekjoo gave him a questioning look when Zhenya draped his fur coat over Taekjoo’s shoulders. Taekjoo wondered if he appeared too modest to be seen as a guest.
The soft, real fur caressed Taekjoo’s skin. It weighed far more than he’d imagined. He was marveling at the softness of the fur when he was shocked at his reflection in the mirror. Taekjoo had never been considered small at any point in his life. But right now, he looked like a teenager who’d stolen his father’s clothes. The width wasn’t that bad, but the length was all wrong. The coat usually flapped around Zhenya’s ankles, but on Taekjoo, it trailed on the floor.
“...I’ll pass on this one.”
Taekjoo took off the fur coat and gave it back to Zhenya. His face turned a bit sour, while Zhenya grinned, clearly in a good mood. He did this on purpose, Taekjoo suspected. He thought Zhenya was being thoughtful for the first time, but it turned out that the man was just having his usual fun.
Taekjoo glared at Zhenya and walked out of the inn first. The innkeeper followed them to the door.
Taekjoo was about to get in the backseat of the car when he changed his mind and got in the passenger seat. Zhenya was taking him as a guest, so technically, it didn’t matter whether he sat in the back. However, if Sergey Ilyich knew who Zhenya was, it would seem suspicious for Taekjoo to sit in the back. Anyone who knew Zhenya would also know for a fact that Zhenya was not the type of person to be polite or thoughtful to anyone. Taekjoo wasn’t going to allow even the slightest hint of suspicion.
Zhenya got in the driver’s seat as well. Taekjoo sat up straight unconsciously. It made him rigid, knowing that he was an arm’s length away from Zhenya. They had already spent several days together by now, but Taekjoo still couldn’t bring himself to trust him.
The car backed out of the inn. The wind had swept away all the snow from the night before. The off-road vehicle’s wheels rolled down the hillside, leaving a long trail in the snow behind.
When Taekjoo had taken the bicycle up the hill to observe the mansion, it had felt so far away. But it didn’t take them long to get there by car. Zhenya stopped the vehicle right before the front gates. He glanced at Taekjoo, as if asking for permission to head inside. Taekjoo took a deep breath and nodded.
“Let’s go.”
“As you wish.”
Zhenya smirked and hit the accelerator. The car sped through the driveway and arrived at the main entrance in a second. Cameras were mounted on each side of the thick metal doors, aimed at the vehicle. While the cameras scanned the passengers of the car, guns mounted just below them were pointed directly at Taekjoo and Zhenya’s temples. One wrong move, and they’d end up with a bullet in the head.
Finally, the cameras returned to their previous positions, and the metal doors swung open. Through the widening gap in the steel gates, an SUV came into view. It seemed to have come to escort the unexpected and unwelcome guests. The windows of the SUV rolled down, revealing guards in suits aiming rifles at Zhenya and Taekjoo. Taekjoo had expected this kind of welcome. He had expected as much and raised his hands without protest.
Once they confirmed there would be no resistance, the guards gestured for them to follow. At the same time, the SUV that had been blocking the off-road vehicle slowly reversed. Zhenya followed, keeping the same distance as the SUV backed up. Once the vehicle passed through the gate, the heavy steel doors swung shut behind them again. Taekjoo and Zhenya were now fully enclosed. They exchanged glances before quickly looking away.
Unlike the exterior, the inside of the residence was simple, almost bare. The small front garden resembled a barren desert. The frosty winter didn’t seem to be the only reason for the lack of vegetation. Perhaps Sergey Ilyich simply had no interest in maintaining the property. Or maybe he liked the worn-down look of antiques. Here and there, the residence showed cracks in the walls and other signs of wear. It looked like an ancient ruin.
Still in their vehicle, the two men were guided to the foot of the residence’s stairs. The SUV stopped first, and armed men in suits stepped out. In a perfect sync, they surrounded the vehicle Zhenya and Taekjoo were in. Then, they yanked open the front doors and thrust their rifles inside.
Taekjoo and Zhenya looked at each other once again. One of the guards, apparently out of patience, began dragging Taekjoo out of the car. He pushed Taekjoo against the hood and started patting him down. The guard confiscated all weapons from Taekjoo, including the Colt at his waist and the Glock 26 inside his jacket. He also had to surrender his pocket knife, which looked too small to even peel an apple.
Zhenya had to go through the same security screening as well. One guard, who had been thoroughly patting Zhenya down, tilted his head when he reached the center of Zhenya’s body. He likely didn’t expect the large object in Zhenya’s pants to be an actual body part. His gaze turned suspicious, as if he thought Zhenya had something hidden beneath the fabric, disguised to resemble a penis. The outline of the lump also resembled a gun. The guard hesitated, torn between having Zhenya drop his pants or not, when Zhenya flashed a cheeky smirk. He shifted his hips, making it swing from side to side. The guard quickly stepped back in shock and cleared his throat.