GCT 24

“Crazy…. So that kind of…. Really? In the end, everything….”

“Money.”

“……”

“It happened because of money. Even if they say it’s for national interest or whatever, in the end, it’s a problem with money on the line. Well…. I guess we’ll have to ask the spy getting treated over there for the details. But I can’t say no.”

This time, all three of them naturally turned their heads towards Isabelle. Yohan bit his lower lip and then let go as he said to Avon.

“So, to what extent is that weapon of mass destruction? Besides, I don’t think they’ll just have it. Even if it’s the ‘nuke’ of the weapons of mass destruction world. It’s not like it’s powerful just by having it in your arms like a real nuclear weapon.”

“Good point.”

“That means….”

“It means they’re willing to actually use it.”

Yohan, unable to hold it in any longer, pulled the IV out of his arm and burst through the door into the treatment room. Lear and Avon were startled by Yohan’s sudden action, but they could not bring themselves to stop him.

“You’re awake?”

Isabelle, who had come to her senses in the meantime, was startled and sat up. At that, Yohan pressed down on one of her shoulders and said.

“If you don’t want to mess up your other leg too, you’d better stay still.”

Isabelle’s body trembled at Yohan’s words. She seemed to feel wronged that she had been caught in this way.

“You don’t have to look at me like that, Isabelle Lazareff.”

As soon as her own name came out, Isabelle could not hide her bewilderment. Of course, she was still pretending to be fine, but her eyes were shaking uncontrollably. Yohan began to pressure Isabelle.

“You’ve already failed, and do you think the SVR will protect you in this situation?”

“Thanks for the kind explanation. But I’ll take care of my own future.”

“It seems you haven’t grasped the situation yet.”

“……”

“Now that we’ve found you out, Russia will abandon you. But, if you give us useful information even now, you might be able to get your ordinary life back.”

Isabelle looked at Yohan as if to say, tell me more.

“I don’t know what you were thinking when you became a defector, but if it weren’t for your sister, I wouldn’t have said this much.”

“So you’re using my sister against me?”

“Kelita… was always worried about you.”

He had only met Kelita on the road recently, and since Kelita did not usually bring up family stories, he had no way of knowing how much she worried about Isabelle. However, recalling Isabelle’s usual personality, he thought she would naturally worry about her unnie who had quit the LAPD and was wandering around, so he just threw it out there.

“I’m sure she was. Kelita was always a kind and cute younger sister.”

For a moment, a deep emotion was revealed in Isabelle’s eyes.

“Your kind sister could be ruined. Not only will Kelita’s life, who is proud of her job as an LAPD officer, be ruined, but everything will be a mess. Solely your fault.”

At Yohan’s words, Isabelle burst out laughing with a smirk. Yohan stared at Isabelle and felt a sense of déjà vu. It was not just because she was Kelita’s unnie. He felt like he had seen her somewhere before.

“What is it?”

As Yohan, who had been going on about Kelita, suddenly narrowed his eyes and looked at her, she frowned deeply.

“More importantly, Lazareff.”

“Have we met somewhere before?”

“Was threatening me with my family not enough?”

Yohan, who had been standing behind him and watching everything, looked at Lear and this time spoke to him.

“Hmm, I feel like I’ve seen her before. Lear, does anything come to mind?”

“Come to mind, my ass. And Yohan, no matter what, isn’t it a bit much to suddenly hit on Lazareff with a pickup line? No matter how much I’m treated like a roommate and embrace you with an open heart, I can’t play the role of a wingman.”

“What are you talking about?”

Lear shrugged. And recalling what Yohan had said, Lear stared at Isabelle. Where had he seen her? Where on earth…. No matter how much he looked, he could not remember at all, and just as he was starting to get annoyed, Yohan, as if he had remembered something, tapped Lear and said.

“Ah! Calabasas!”

“Calabasas?”

“That day.”

At Yohan’s words, Lear tilted his head. For Lear, ‘that day’ in Calabasas, other than the incident where Shadow had drugged him and the party where he had first met Yohan, he did not have any particular memories.

Avon, who was listening quietly on the side, wanted to ask what ‘that day’ was, but there was no room to break into the two who were already lost in their own world, talking.

Yohan grabbed Lear’s arm and said.

“That day, I was so out of it with the Heinz thing and all, but there’s something else I remember. A Russian model and a Latina model, both my height, tried to play with me, slipping me a hundred dollars….”

Lear frowned at Yohan’s words and glared at Isabelle.

“Just a hundred dollars?”

At the sudden rush of Lear’s threatening pheromones, Isabelle cleared her throat and avoided his gaze.

“If you want to sleep with Yohan, it starts at a minimum of five hundred dollars….”

“Hey, what are you talking about? What I mean is….”

“You’re saying Lazareff has been hanging around me since before.”

Yohan did not answer Lear’s words, but he scratched his head, showing a sign of affirmation. In that moment, Lear, not hiding his anger, unleashed even more aggressive pheromones and shook Isabelle. She let out a dry cough and said.

“Stop… stop it….”

“Stop?”

“Ugh….”

“Before that, isn’t it in order for you to tell me what your purpose is first?”

At Lear’s words, Yohan, who could not feel the pheromones, had a bewildered expression, wondering what was suddenly happening, and then met Avon’s eyes and mouthed the words.

‘Why is he suddenly acting like that?’

Avon told Yohan not to worry, let out a soft sigh, and grabbed Lear’s shoulder.

“Need help?”

“Forget it.”

Lear slapped Avon’s hand away. At that, Avon said it hurt and rubbed the spot he was hit as he said.

“You’re going about it the wrong way. Just mindlessly spewing pheromones like that isn’t everything.”

At Avon’s words, Lear looked at him with an annoyed expression. Avon ignored Lear’s displeased gaze and ostentatiously snatched the dressing forceps that were in Kozlov’s hand. Kozlov, who was watching nervously, flinched and quietly backed away.

Only then did Avon twirl the forceps in his hand, grip them tightly, grab Isabelle’s ankle, and then jabbed the bed instead of her leg. At that action, Isabelle trembled and looked at Avon with a pale face.

“If you can’t be treated like this, you might never be able to use your leg again, Lazareff.”

Avon signaled to Kozlov. Kozlov immediately swallowed hard and chimed in.

“Th-that’s right. Not only do we have to remove the bullet because it didn’t exit, but if it’s not treated properly, the inflammation will get worse and you’ll have to have your leg amputated. In the worst-case scenario, you could get sepsis and die. Of course, you’ll be fine if I treat you, but I can’t do anything without their permission.”

At Kozlov’s words, Avon said, “You heard him, right?” and raised his eyebrows slightly with an annoying expression. At that sight, Yohan clicked his tongue and said.

“Aren’t you getting on her nerves too much? If she loses a leg without all that, she’ll change her mind.”

Yohan ostentatiously pulled out his gun, immediately released the safety, loaded it, and then pulled the trigger with one hand. A gunshot echoed through the room, barely grazing past Isabelle’s uninjured leg. Everyone was appalled by Yohan’s action. However, Yohan scratched his head with the gun in his hand and said.

“Damn, it’s a little hard with one hand. I think I’ll hit it after a few more shots.”

Lear, seeing Yohan speaking sincerely, chimed in.

“What are you doing when your arm hurts too? What if the wound opens up…. I’ll take care of it for you.”

“Really?”

As if they had planned it in advance, at the sight of Yohan and Lear being in perfect sync, Avon said.

“You two are trying to have fun by yourselves again, aren’t you? Don’t be like that, I’ll take care of it cleanly. She’s not opening her mouth anyway, so I think it would be better to just kill her cleanly with a license to kill so there’s no future trouble.”

“That’s true too.”

Yohan spun the gun in his hand once and handed it to Avon. Avon said thank you, and then approached Isabelle, who was sweating and panting, and put the muzzle of the gun to her head.

“Especially, Lazareff. You’re a very special case, so you won’t even stand in court in the first place. …You know what I mean, right?”

“Wh-what!”

“I’m also curious about the expression on your sister’s face when she’s suddenly relieved of her duties and ends up on the street.”

As Isabelle still showed no sign of talking, Avon pulled the trigger.

Click—

Avon grinned and blew a wink at Isabelle. At the sight of Avon, who had only pulled the trigger, Yohan inwardly let out a sigh of relief. It was because he thought Avon was going to blow her head off before he even got a proper answer from Isabelle.

“Stop messing around.”

As Yohan chided Avon, who had threatened Isabelle by blocking the hammer, he pouted.

“It’s fun. Did you see her face, so tense she looked like she was about to piss herself?”

Just as Yohan was shaking his head at Avon, who was spouting psychopathic words, Isabelle bit her lower lip, let go, and opened her mouth.

“So… what is it that you really want?”

At Isabelle’s trembling voice, Avon handed the gun back to Yohan and instead picked up the forceps that were stuck in the chair and said.

“The reason you got involved in the Esprit and Declan matter. And the final goal of Operation Leverkusen.”

“That is….”

At Avon’s question, Isabelle stared at him with her wildly shaking eyes. Yohan was about to say something, wondering what the two were doing, as if they were exchanging glances, when Avon cornered Isabelle.

“Don’t even think about lying. We already know a lot. You’re not just trying to make some money with Candy, are you? Right?”

Isabelle was flustered. He could not tell if she was acting or not. Then, Lear said a word.

“The reason you took O’Connell’s laptop probably falls under the reason that guy mentioned.”

Isabelle, who had been keeping her mouth shut, fell into thought. It seemed there were not many options she could choose from.

At first, she thought the guys in front of her were either lucky or just bluffing, but now that Operation Leverkusen had been mentioned, she might have been cornered as far as she could be.

“Don’t waste your time thinking, just talk.”

Avon gestured with his head towards Isabelle. At that, Isabelle blinked a couple of times and then said to Avon with a resolved expression.

“…Then promise me.”

“Wouldn’t that depend on what kind of information you give?”

Avon said a word to Isabelle and then turned his head to look at Yohan. Yohan seemed to ponder for a moment and then raised an eyebrow as if to say, let’s hear it.