EPISODE 92 – The Zinsang Gambit
The low hum of a thousand hushed conversations and the soft clinking of crystal glasses filled the minister's mansion. It was a palace of secrets, a gilded cage where the powerful played their private games. On the main floor, Minjae moved with the fluid grace of a hunter, his tuxedo a perfect camouflage. But beneath his calm exterior, his mind was racing, a torrent of frantic, calculated thoughts.
His earpiece, almost invisible against his skin, crackled with the low, urgent voice of Alex. "Minjae, what's your position? Micha has just entered Jung-woo's room. She's alone with him. I've got eyes on the security feeds."
"I see her," Minjae murmured, his eyes scanning the crowd for any signs of a trap. He watched the minister, who was laughing with a group of friends, but his gaze was sharp, always moving, always calculating. Something was off. The minister was too relaxed. The son, Jung-woo, had been too eager, too sloppy in his pursuit of Micha. It was a performance. A trap.
"Alex," Minjae's voice was a barely audible whisper, tense and strained. "I don't feel anything normal here. This guy, Jung-woo, is he really as drunk as he seems? I don't think so. There's a calculation in his eyes." Minjae walked towards an empty balcony, putting some distance between himself and the chattering crowd. "I need backup. What I think... this guy is suspicious."
The line was silent for a moment, and then Dohee's voice, small and shaky with fear, cut through the static. "So- so that means Micha will get in danger? Oh my god... Minjae, you have to help her. Please."
Minjae closed his eyes for a brief moment, steeling his nerves. He had to be calm, concise, and commanding. There was no time for fear, only for action. "Alex, listen carefully. Dohee and you need to get dressed up as waiters. I left a box in the car. It contains a fake Zinsang plant. This plant is very special and expensive, a perfect cover. Nobody will doubt you. They will let you go inside without a second thought."
"A Zinsang plant?" Alex's voice was a mix of confusion and focus. "I've heard of it. It's a very rare ornamental plant from the northern hemisphere, only grown for the most influential. It's the perfect cover. I'm on it."
"Good," Minjae continued, his voice a low, urgent command. "Alex, you have to go inside the control room. I'll get you the code. Your mission is to connect your phone to their main server and play a distracting video. Something that will steal everyone's attention and give Dohee a safe window to move. After you get the video running, I need you to cut the power for exactly sixty seconds, giving us enough time to get out of this palace. This is our only escape route."
"Understood," Alex's voice was sharp, all panic gone, replaced by a professional calm.
"Dohee noona, you have the most dangerous part of this plan," Minjae said, his voice softening just a fraction. "You'll have a small bottle of chloroform. I'll send you the location. You have to come near the room where I'll be with Micha and the minister's son. Be ready."
"Chlor-chloroform?" Dohee's voice was a whisper, filled with terror. "I've never done anything like this before. I'm a lawyer."
"I know, noona," Minjae replied, his voice gentle yet firm. "But you're the only one who can do this. The moment I get the USB drive, I will pass it to you. You should then immediately give it to Alex and then get out of here. Alex will be waiting for you in the car. You have to be ready."
"What about you and Micha?" Dohee asked, the fear in her voice almost palpable.
"I will apply the chloroform to the minister's son, making him unconscious," Minjae said, his voice flat and emotionless. "Then I'll get Micha, and we'll leave this palace immediately." He paused for a moment. "It's a risky plan, but it's the only one we have."
The Unseen Battle
The scene in Jung-woo's room was a delicate dance of deception. The room was lavish, filled with expensive furniture and modern art. Micha stood in the middle of it all, her heart pounding in her chest, but her face a mask of elegant calm. Jung-woo, who had pretended to be drunk, was now looking at her with an unsettlingly sober gaze.
"You're very beautiful, you know that?" he said, his voice no longer slurred. "I knew there was something different about you. Not like that other pathetic girl."
"Oh, really?" Micha replied, her voice smooth and seductive. "What was so different about me?"
"You're a professional," he said, his eyes scanning her body. "You know how to play the game. I like that." He walked to a desk and pulled out a small black pendrive. "This is what you're looking for, isn't it? The video of Nayeon."
Micha's breath hitched in her throat. Her heart pounded against her ribs. She was so close. The plan was working.
"How did you know?" she asked, feigning surprise. "Are you a magician?"
Jung-woo laughed, a cold, humorless sound. "I'm not a magician. I'm a monster. And you're just another piece of candy I'm going to eat."
He moved towards her, the pendrive clutched tightly in his hand. But just as he was about to grab her, Minjae's voice, a calm and reassuring presence, came through her earpiece. "Micha, I'm right outside the room. Be ready."
The Distraction
Meanwhile, in the dimly lit hallway of the minister's mansion, Alex and Dohee were a strange sight. Dressed in the crisp, white uniforms of waiters, their faces covered by black masks, they were holding a large box. The plant, a fake but convincing Zinsang, was a beautiful, elegant thing, and it was getting them through the security with ease. No one dared to question them.
"This is insane," Dohee whispered, her voice still a little shaky. "I've never been so nervous in my life. I'm a lawyer, not a spy."
"We can do this, Dohee," Alex's voice was a calm, steady presence. "Just follow my lead."
They reached the control room. Alex, with a nervous grin, connected his phone to the main server. The screens, which had been showing the party, suddenly switched to a video of a baby laughing.
A guard, who had been staring at the monitors, looked up in confusion. "What's that? Why is the feed of the minister's party gone?"
"A glitch," Alex said, his voice calm and confident. "The minister's son wanted to see a baby's video. It's a joke, a little prank he likes to play. He'll get bored with it soon."
The guard, confused but not wanting to question a waiter, just shrugged and went back to his work.
Alex, with a quiet grin, opened his phone and a small, red button. "Minjae, I've got the video ready. Just say the word, and I'll cut the power."
Minjae, from his vantage point outside the room, saw a flash of movement through the crack in the door. "Not now," he whispered into his earpiece. "Wait. I have to figure out what's going on in this room."
He could hear Dohee's frantic whispers in his other ear. "I'm coming, I'm coming to you. I have the chloroform." She was carefully and discreetly making her way through the throng of people, a black box clutched in her hand, a tiny, terrified soldier on the battlefield of high society.
Inside the room, Jung-woo, his predatory smile still in place, slowly moved toward Micha. With a sudden, lightning-fast motion, he snatched her earpiece right out of her ear. The device fell to the floor with a tiny clatter. He then stomped on it, crushing it into a dozen pieces.
Micha, her communication to the outside world severed, reacted instantly. She kicked out, her heel connecting with his shin. He stumbled back, a surprised grunt escaping his lips. She then ran to the door, fumbling with the lock. But before she could get it open, he was on her. He hit her hard from behind, a brutal blow that made her scream, but the sound was choked off as she fell to the floor, the pendrive skittering away into a corner.
Outside the door, Minjae's breath caught in his throat. The line to Micha had just gone dead. He heard a muffled thump, and a short, choked scream that sent a jolt of ice through his veins. He didn't know what had happened, but he knew with a terrible certainty that something was very, very wrong.