An armed man aimed his gun at Hansu Seong who was running, carrying Minji. "It doesn't matter if the old man dies, right?" he asked his comrade. When he received no response, he looked back to find his comrade dead on the floor.
An old woman with a hunched back stood facing away from him. Before he could react, thin weapons pierced through his brain.
The old woman emerged from the shadows, followed by Nam-Sil. She was a member of ARES—Jeong Ok-soon.
ARES was an organization created by Jinchoel Park. He had previously tried to recruit Manager Kim when Tom Lee was about to dismiss him from his position. However, seeing Jinchoel Park's interest in adding Manager Kim to his team, Tom Lee reconsidered the dismissal.
---
Baki slowly got up, his body aching. He limped back to where his phone had fallen during the fight, picked it up, and dialed a number. After a few rings, someone answered.
"Hello, this is Sera Shin from White Tiger Job Center."
Baki grunted, "It's Baki. Can you pick me up from XXXX, Gangbuk?"
Sera's voice turned sharp with concern. "Baki?! What happened to you?"
Baki replied with a laugh, "Nothing. Just fought a bad motherfucker. My whole body's in pain. Can you hurry up?"
Sera nodded on the other end. "Yeah, I'm already in my car. I'll be there soon."
Baki ended the call and lay down on the ground. "Fuck! My whole body is beat!"
---
Minji asked, "Ajusshi, will we really be alright? Now—"
Hansu Seong cut through her words. "It's alright, Minji. Your safety is the most important thing right now. You might've noticed—a car has been following us for a while."
"Yes, what should we do?" Minji asked.
Meanwhile, Sera Shin was the one following them. Baki sat in the back seat bandaging his arms while Sera was on a call. "Yes, Major General. We're following them from a distance right now. How's it going on your side?"
Tom Lee sat on a broken locker, his body smothered in blood. Behind him lay several corpses. "I'm angry. So right now... This is all because of Manager Kim?
Sera Shin nodded, "Well, at least that's what Baki told me."
Tom Lee continued, "And Manager Kim himself is in North Korea...?"
Before Sera could answer, Hansu Seong turned his car and stopped directly in front of hers.
"You've been following us since earlier, haven't you?" Hansu Seong asked, knocking on the car window.
Baki rolled down the back window. "Old man, it's me. She's a colleague of mine."
Hansu Seong looked at Baki with relief. "Thank God you're okay, kid."
Baki smirked. "Who could ever hurt me?"
Sera Shin chimed in from the front. "Aren't you the guy who couldn't even get up from the ground earlier~?"
Baki's face darkened. "That was me being a little lazy, nothing else."
On the other end of the call, Tom Lee was shouting. Sera immediately replied, "Yeah, Major General. What were you saying?"
Tom Lee said, "Tell them that Zu Pengguan is dead. It's officially confirmed. In his will, he left all his wealth to one person. Manager Kim is one of the successors."
"Yes, Major General." Sera Shin ended the call and relayed everything to Hansu Seong, who was shocked by the news.
---
The Next Day
Baki arrived at the hospital with flowers. He suddenly noticed the large figure of Tom Lee alongside Yeongcheol and Sanghui Han.
"Old man, what are you doing here?! And what's up with all these gifts and flowers?" Baki asked in shock.
Tom Lee waved the flowers in his hands and said with a smile, "An employee of my team is hurt. Of course I have to come!"
Baki scratched his head. "Old man, your intention is spilling out. You're here because Mr. Kim is one of the successors, aren't you?"
Tom Lee snorted. "Brat, you're insulting my good intentions. Don't waste my time. Let me see my financ— I mean my excellent employee."
Baki smirked. "Old man, weren't you about to say 'financial support'? Hahaha!"
Tom Lee ignored his words and walked toward Manager Kim's ward.
Inside the ward, Tom Lee called out sweetly, "Oh my~ Manager Kim~~ Are you alright?"
Seeing him, Manager Kim sat up. "I was going to contact you anyway..."
But Tom Lee gently pushed him back down. "Oh dear~ It's fine, it's fine. Lie down! Why would someone so unwell try to get up?"
Everyone was speechless at the scene. Tom Lee smiled. "You should quickly get better and go on your next mission, don't you think?" He pulled out some berries from a bag. "Here, say ah~ Ah~"
Watching this, Jinchoel grew frustrated. "Stop. Stop it. Stay still."
While Jinchoel Park and Tom Lee argued, Baki approached Manager Kim and teased, "Old man, you're quite famous. Even the General Manager feeds you with his own hands. What do you say? Can you teach me the trick?"
Manager Kim smiled. "I'm sure if there's a chance you could inherit property worth almost the same as Seoul, the Major General would feed you with his own hands too."
Baki's smirk vanished. "I didn't know you were such a bigshot, old man."
Minji was shocked. "D-Dad! When did we—"
Before she could finish, a nurse entered the room and shouted, "KEEP QUIET! You all have to go outside. The patient needs rest."
Everyone except Minji began to leave. Baki looked at the nurse with suspicion but still left. The nurse approached Manager Kim and was about to administer an injection when Tom Lee grabbed her hand from behind.
"You're not a nurse here, are you?" Tom Lee asked with a dangerous smile. Anyone who would hurt his new financial support was his mortal enemy.
Outside the door, Jinchoel, Baki, and Hansu were beating up infiltrators. Everyone rushed back into the room.
Many people were targeting Zu Pengguan's successors. Baki scratched his head. "Old man, why is it that everyone wants to kill you every day?"
Tom Lee decided that White Tiger Job Center would guard Manager Kim.
Manager Kim told Hansu Seong and Jinchoel Park to leave for now, as their families should be waiting for them. Jinchoel and Hansu bid Manager Kim goodbye and started to leave.
Baki sat on a nearby seat and began eating the fruits Tom Lee had brought. Suddenly he witnessed a hilarious scene. When Jinchoel reached to open the door, someone slammed it into his face. Seeing this, Baki nearly spit out his food. Hansu also stood there dumbfounded.
Three people entered the room and walked toward Manager Kim.
The largest one smacked Tom Lee on the head. "What's with this bastard? Why is there a rascal in the hospital?"
Baki finally spit out all the food from his mouth and started laughing. The three looked at Baki. "How rude! Is he a guard?"
The leader said, "Leave it. We're here to take the successor." He introduced them. "We are the Tian Wai Tian. We're here to take you, Mr. Kim—"
Before he could finish, bashing sounds came from behind. He turned to see his two comrades lying on the floor with Jinchoel and Tom Lee standing over them.