“—Have you found something interesting?”
Color flooded back into Gemma’s voice. Unfortunately, however, the ‘fun’ that Ray Jun had discovered wasn’t the kind Gemma was hoping for.
“No, I just got stuck with an amusing guy as a roommate.”
“—Pardon?”
“He goes around with his guard up constantly, but he’s so clueless it’s ridiculous. I can’t just let this pass.”
His roommate, Xie Wei, acted like a wolf cub dropped into unfamiliar territory, wary of everything around him.
Ray Jun had felt something was off about him from their first meeting. Xie Wei was trying desperately to blend into Sovereign, but he was utterly awkward about it. Even for someone who’d supposedly lived in Canada for a long time, there were questionable aspects.
However, the world was full of all kinds of people, and even if Xie Wei was harboring ulterior motives, it wasn’t really Ray Jun’s business. More importantly, Xie Wei was a satisfactory roommate—quiet, clean, and not fussy. So there was a certain day when Ray Jun was just quietly observing Xie Wei.
‘Ugh, ngh… Save me… Please save me…’
In the middle of the night, Xie Wei suddenly started moaning in distress.
What was going on with a guy who until now had slept so quietly without even a single snore? Ray Jun sat up, annoyed at having his sleep disturbed, yet curious.
The room was dark so he couldn’t see his face clearly, but Xie Wei seemed to be frowning deeply. Groans continued as if he was having a truly horrific nightmare.
‘I, I just did what I was told…’
The voice pleading for something while gasping for breath was desperate. But strangely, that language was neither Chinese nor English. At first listen, it sounded like Korean.
Ray Jun, his curiosity piqued, opened a translation app on his phone.
‘…Please save me… I, I only embezzled it because I was ordered to… I’m sorry…’
The app, somehow managing to recognize the slurred pronunciation, displayed a translation. Ray Jun’s eyes gleamed with interest as he confirmed it.
What’s this? Did this guy also infiltrate with ulterior motives?
Ray Jun let out a laugh of disbelief. Two spies in one room—what an exquisite dormitory assignment. Even if Sovereign had planned it, they couldn’t have orchestrated such a coincidence.
‘Huuk…’
Xie Wei began outright sobbing. A grown man letting out such pitiful moans—it wasn’t a sight anyone could call cute, even as an empty compliment. As his roommate, Ray Jun couldn’t just leave him like this.
‘Xie Wei.’
‘……’
‘Xie Wei?’
He mercifully tried to wake him from the nightmare, but Xie Wei didn’t react at all. As if the wrong name had been called. Eventually, Ray Jun shrugged and returned to his own bed.
He decided to leave Xie Wei alone for now. Whoever Xie Wei’s backers were, or whether he’d infiltrated independently, someone so foolishly incompetent didn’t seem likely to cause any damage to their side. Moreover, leisurely observing and figuring him out would provide its own entertainment.
“—Then surely you don’t mean you’re staying at Sovereign longer because of your roommate? You must really like this roommate.”
Gemma’s voice pulled him from his reminiscence. Ray Jun answered nonchalantly.
“Hardly. It’s just one of the reasons.”
“—…By any chance, with that roommate…?”
“What are you imagining?”
“—I haven’t said anything yet.”
The voice making a flat denial was quite shameless. Even though the silences inserted between words had been rather impure.
“Dormitory roommates are assigned by the same gender. You’re not unaware of that, are you?”
“—I’m aware. I also know that you’re not someone for whom a male partner would be impossible, young master.”
“I do have preferences. Not being constrained by gender doesn’t mean anyone is fine.”
“—It seems I’ve misunderstood unnecessarily. I apologize.”
Gemma offered a respectful apology. However, in truth, it wasn’t entirely a misunderstanding on his part.
Certainly, Xie Wei couldn’t be said to perfectly fit Ray Jun’s preference for innocent people. However, it was intriguing how he had a strangely soft side despite always having his guard razor-sharp. The way he surprisingly let Ray Jun close so easily when treated with a bit of friendliness also played a part in stirring up Ray Jun’s mischievous streak. If only the place and timing of their meeting had been different, he might have made a move at least once.
A guy with excellent observation skills but no sense for reading situations. Feeling pity for how he struggled without knowing what he’d gotten close to, Ray Jun had shown rare generosity. He was also curious to see how far Xie Wei would figure things out from that hint.
“He seems to have a decent head on his shoulders.”
“—Which person are you speaking of?”
“Never mind.”
Ray Jun flicked pebbles with his foot, like a cat playing with a ball.
Suddenly, Xie Wei in the private room came to mind. He had abruptly given up on a big game he’d been winning with great momentum. Whether it was because he lacked greed, or whether it was one step back to gain something bigger, Ray Jun couldn’t tell.
However, that face that had become detached as if achieving enlightenment strangely lingered in his mind.
“If he’s lucky, we’ll meet soon. Of course, it’ll just be catching a glimpse of each other’s faces in passing.”
“—Actually, speaking of that matter… I won’t be going to Hong Kong.”
“Hmm, fine. Being careful never hurts. As long as my partner arrives on time, I don’t really care.”
“—Yes. Sua Kim is getting ready. You’ve received the invitation, haven’t you?”
“Mm.”
A social party was scheduled to be held in Hong Kong soon. Since it would be impossible to attend a party for VIPs as a mere dealer, Ray Jun had arranged for a woman who met the requirements. He planned to enter with the status of that woman’s partner.
Ray Jun glanced at his own room where the invitation would be safely kept. Just then, the light that had been on inside the room went dark.
Had Xie Wei gone to bed?
“If there’s nothing else, let’s hang up, Gemma.”
“—Understood. Please always be careful, young master.”
Before even fully hearing Gemma’s farewell, Ray Jun ended the call. He shoved his phone into his pocket and started walking. His suspicious and adorable roommate might suffer from nightmares again.
He couldn’t miss that entertaining spectacle.
* * *
Was this an appropriate time to use the saying, ‘You see as much as you know’?
After learning about Sovereign Casino’s dark underbelly, Kang Siwon became able to see things one by one that he hadn’t noticed before. Even things he’d previously passed off with ‘That could happen’ despite feeling a bit suspicious now felt different. Now he could roughly get a sense of who was splitting cash into chips and flowing it through in what manner.
When dealing with such customers, bile rose from his stomach. His hands that touched money and chips, and his own self participating in these shady acts, felt so filthy that he’d impulsively washed his face several times.
In truth, it made no sense for him to feel these emotions since he himself hadn’t lived a blameless life either. But just because he was a dog with chaff on him didn’t mean a dog covered in shit wasn’t dirty.
“Hah…”
Today too, the Baeksa Faction demanded exchange records of specific individuals. It was someone Kang Siwon had also been watching since they were acting so blatantly suspicious anyway. After transmitting the data, Kang Siwon let out a sigh from deep in his chest.
“What the hell are these bastards planning to use this for?”
Kang Siwon muttered while glaring at the phone in his hand. Since collecting tax evasion data wouldn’t be used for anything good, he could only guess it was probably for blackmail purposes.
Bzzzzt—
Just then, the phone vibrated. Seeing the caller ID ‘Ju Xiang’, Kang Siwon furrowed his brow. The timing was so coincidental, he wondered if they’d hidden a wiretapping function in his phone.
“Hello.”
“—Come down to the employee parking lot for a moment.”
As soon as he answered, Ju Xiang spoke abruptly. Though there was irritation in his voice, Ju Xiang was originally that kind of person, so it wasn’t particularly significant.
“I’ll come now.”
Kang Siwon stood up while ending the call. When they had something to discuss secretly, they would meet inside Ju Xiang’s car. It seemed there was important business today as well.
He hoped it wasn’t business related to crime, but of course that was unlikely. Kang Siwon let out a sigh and left the dormitory.
When he went down to the parking lot, he saw a familiar car. Walking over to it, Kang Siwon naturally opened the passenger door.
“Hello.”
“You’re on leave from the 21st to the 24th of this month.”
Ju Xiang asked curtly, even skipping greetings.
“Get your passport ready. You need to go to Hong Kong.”
“Already?”
The moment he asked without thinking, Kang Siwon regretted it. Because Ju Xiang’s expression soured sharply as he turned to look at him.
“What, you want to scramble to leave when your stay period is almost over? I guess your dream is to become an illegal resident?”
“……”
Why was this guy so negative about everything? Well, it was probably because of this temperament that he was loyal to something like the Baeksa Faction.
Separately from that, the statement itself that he needed to prepare in advance to avoid becoming an illegal resident was correct. It had already been half a year since Kang Siwon had been deployed to Sovereign. His stay period was gradually coming to an end.
Under current law, Koreans could stay in Macau visa-free for up to 90 days. However, if they visited a third country for even one day while staying in Macau, the 90 days would reset, so foreigners wanting long-term stays would typically visit nearby Hong Kong. It was a loophole called a ‘Visa Run.’
Kang Siwon had also done a visa run on the day it became three months since entering Macau. And this would be his second visa run.
