A Genius Speaks with Money

Chapter 19

Samir spoke as he handed over the business card case.

“I apologize for the rudeness.”

I slowly reached out and received the business card case.

Then, I quickly took one out from the case and wrote something down.

“If by any chance you are hurt, please contact me here. I have caused you unnecessary trouble.”

I smiled cautiously and handed the business card to Samir.

He nodded and accepted it.

My party bowed our waists lightly and walked toward the elevator first.

Once the elevator doors closed and only the two of us remained in the quiet interior, Choi Seo-jun turned his head and asked in a low voice.

“Representative, are you truly alright? Your face turned deathly pale. Are you hurt anywhere?”I chuckled shortly, playing it off.

“My body is perfectly fine. My mind is just a bit complicated, though.”

“The bodyguard pushed you quite hard.... Are you really okay?”

I turned my head to look at Choi Seo-jun and answered calmly.

“I am really fine.”

The two of us entered the room and sat on the soft-looking sofa.

Only then did I open my mouth.

“CEO Choi, within a few days, a contact will come from that young man earlier.”

Choi Seo-jun'

s eyes turned round.

“Pardon? Why do you think so?”

“Perhaps he might need us.”

When Choi Seo-jun tried to ask in detail about the increasingly mysterious story, I stood up.

I immediately threw my body onto the bed.

“I feel sleepy now that I have eaten my fill. I should take a nap.”

“…….”

Choi Seo-jun gave up on waking someone who said they would sleep and returned to his own room.

***

Room 402 at the end of the 4th-floor hallway.

The inside of the room where Samir stayed was quiet.

The curtains were always closed and someone was guarding in front of the door.

Samir al-Zaidi was sitting on the sofa, peering at the small business card.

It was the one handed over by the Asian person who bumped into him in the restaurant a short while ago.

HJ Partners was written on the front of the card.

On the back, the name ‘Lim Hyunjun’ was written along with simple contact information, appearing as if written by hand.

And below that, a phrase was written in characters he was seeing for the first time.

Samir'

s gaze stopped there.

“There is a Lu Bu by your side.”

It was a short sentence.

He searched quickly on his cell phone.

“There is a Lu Bu by your side.”

He repeated the sentence once more.

“...Lu Bu?”

It was an unfamiliar name.

He entered the word ‘Lu Bu’ into the search bar.

“Lu Bu was a figure from the Three Kingdoms period. Though he was an outstanding warrior, he was known as the ‘epitome of a traitor’ for betraying his lords multiple times and coveting power.”

Suddenly, everything made him feel confused.

To the point where the familiar furniture and space felt foreign.

Samir'

s gaze headed toward the door.

There stood the bodyguard who had always stayed by his side and protected him.

Perhaps because of that, it felt even more suspicious.

There were also some points that were too questionable to just let pass.

The contents of the bodyguard'

s phone call he heard a few days ago.

It was a tone as if reporting to someone.

On top of that, there were times when he would occasionally slip away somewhere alone and return.

Back then, he had just let it pass unconsciously.

But now, the thought occurred that everything was not a coincidence.

Samir gripped the business card again.

His fingertips trembled slightly as his gaze looked beyond the door.

Outside the door, those guarding to protect Samir would be standing quietly as always.

Beings who were always there to protect him.

If there was a traitor among them.

If what that Asian man said was true.

He really could not just brush it off.

Today, Samir had an evening outing scheduled.

The bodyguards also knew all of his schedule.

He was just about to meet an acquaintance at a nearby cafe he always went to.

At the appointed time, he dressed as usual and left the room.

Two bodyguards followed behind him.

However, the moment he arrived at the hotel lobby, he suddenly stopped his steps.

“I feel tired today. I should probably rest.”

The gaze of the bodyguard faltered for a moment.

Samir observed the expressions of the two with a nonchalant face.

Arriving at the room by taking the elevator, he said as he went inside.

“I should wash up and rest for a bit.”

The bodyguard nodded quietly.

The moment the door closed.

Samir stopped at that spot for a moment to catch his breath.

After a short while, he headed to the bathroom.

He turned on the shower and waited, holding his breath in front of the bathroom door.

A strong stream of water poured out, filling the inside of the bathroom.

Before long, the sound of quiet footsteps was heard.

Someone entered the room.

Cautiously and skillfully.

A sound followed as if searching for something.

Samir quietly reached out and opened the bathroom door just a tiny bit.

Through that gap, the figure of a man searching the room was visible.

It was the bodyguard who had been with Samir for a long time.

***

3 AM.

The inside of the room where Samir stayed was so silent that even swallowing a breath was difficult.

He was lying on the bed, looking at the ceiling.

The streetlight leaking through the gap in the curtains of the dark room flickered on the ceiling.

Even though his eyelids were heavy, sleep did not come easily.

He tried turning his body and lying down again, and tried inhaling deeply.

However, his mind swirled even more complicatedly.

‘How could that person.... To think he is one of Faraj'

s people.’

The sight he saw last night kept coming to mind.

That familiar back as he quietly scanned the room through the crack in the door.

The loyal bodyguard who had always protected him now felt like a traitor hiding a knife behind his back.

His heart was still thumping.

Even though he was lying on the bed in a safe room, goosebumps rose on his body at the thought that the man was outside.

The thought occurred that even this place was no longer safe.

‘Since when was it? Could it be from the beginning?’

Samir bit his lip firmly.

Anger and sadness.

Confusion and fear became entangled and shook his inside.

The fact that the one placed by his side was the most dangerous existence was more than just a simple shock.

He lay still for a while and then shook off the blanket and stood up.

His chest felt stifled and his inside felt as if it were burning.

The face of that Asian man who told him this came to mind.

Samir took out the business card he had put in his coat pocket.

He read down the characters written on the back again.

“There is a Lu Bu by your side.”

After hesitating for a long time, Samir lifted his cell phone.

A dawn where everything was quiet.

His hesitating finger cautiously entered a text message.

[Mr. Lim Hyunjun, I am Samir, who received a business card from you. Would it be possible to meet?]

As he pressed the send button, the cell phone screen turned dark.

He stood up and paced back and forth.

He felt impatient to just stay still.

After a moment, a short vibration rang.

[Meeting with you right now is difficult. You might become endangered. It would be better to talk quietly over the phone.]

Samir thought that he almost made a mistake due to his impatient heart.

He quietly headed to the bathroom.

He turned on the shower water and stood leaning against the wall.

As only the sound of water filled the bathroom space, he picked up the cell phone again and brought it to his ear.

After the vibration rang several times, a voice was heard.

-This is Lim Hyunjun.

Samir lowered his voice as much as possible and answered quietly.

“This is Samir.”

-Yes, I know that you are Samir, the son of Hakim al-Zaidi.

In an instant, Samir'

s gaze turned sharp.

Although the voice was still speaking lowly, a cautious tension hung in his tone.

“Who on earth are you! How is it that you know me?”

My voice was calm and without a tremor.

-I deduced it by looking at you. A young man accompanied by two bodyguards in such a remote hotel. And you can tell if you see the attitude of the owner couple.

I added slowly.

-Such a place would be good for someone trying to hide quietly. If they are the son of the next Prime Minister of Iraq, that is.

Samir could not say anything for a long time.

The statement that I judged who Samir was based on a few pieces of evidence was strangely persuasive.

“Isn'

t it too much of a stretch to deduce with just that much clue? What if I say I am not?”

-If you weren'

t, there would be no reason for you to contact me at this hour. And for me, wouldn'

t it just be the end of it if you weren'

t?

Rather, at my confidence, Samir maintained silence for a moment.

“...Fine. I admit it. It is surprising that you found out who I am as you said, but there is something I am more curious about.”

Samir caught his breath slightly and opened his mouth slowly.

“How did you know? That there is a traitor by my side.”

This time, I maintained a short silence.

After composing my thoughts for a moment, I answered calmly.

-I knew by seeing the attitude of the bodyguard who was dealing with you in the restaurant.

Hearing those words, Samir felt it was even absurd.

He closed his lips without a word.

I continued to speak.

-When protecting a person, one naturally wraps around the person being protected while being on guard of the surroundings. However, the bodyguard who was by your side was more conscious of the eyes around him than you. On top of that, when you were in contact with someone, he even showed signs of trying to control you by showing quite aggressive behavior. As if he were a person monitoring you.

Samir felt as if his heart had suddenly dropped.

He recalled how the bodyguard was looking with a sharp gaze after seeing the scene where he was talking with the elderly couple in the restaurant that day.

“...Are you saying you noticed that in just that short moment?”

-People tend to be revealed inadvertently.

Samir put a bit more strength into the hand that was holding the cell phone without a word.

“...Fine. Because it is true that I was already being monitored as you said.”

-You will fall into danger before long.

At the answer that was as if full of certainty, Samir inhaled quietly with his eyes closed.

“As you say, perhaps that might be so. Fine. What should I do?”

I answered shortly.

-For now, let the bodyguard move.

At my firm words, Samir'

s voice grew louder.

A great anger welled up within him.

Because of that, he ended up answering emotionally without realizing it.

“...You want me to just leave him be? While that man is threatening me even at this moment. Are you not speaking too complacently because it is not your own business?”

I answered calmly.

-I understand. For you, it is natural to feel that way. However, right now, leaving him is the best course of action.

“I do not understand. Why is that?”

My voice was low, but full of conviction.

-There must definitely be a mastermind behind the bodyguard by your side who is giving orders. Has anything been revealed yet as to who that mastermind is?

Stopping my words for a moment, I exhaled slowly and added.

-If you drive him out now, we will lose the clue. However, if you let him continue to move, we will find out who the mastermind is.

Samir bit his lip firmly.

Not a single thing I said was wrong.

Driving out the traitor was easy.

But after doing so, the real enemy behind him would hide in the shadows.

“Do you mean that I should become bait?”

-To be precise, it is not you, but making him move first. Only then will the traitor reveal who they are.

Samir'

s gaze, which had been full of fear, shone.

“Fine. I will do as you say. Ah.... Wait.”

-…….

Samir smiled shortly and asked.

“Now that I think about it, I only know your name and haven'

t even asked who you are.”

-Haha. I am Lim Hyunjun from Korea. I am 3 years younger than you. I am also a 3rd generation member of Korea'

s Taeseong Group.

“Ah....”

Even if Samir did not know much about Korea, the name Taeseong was familiar.

Because even the cell phone he was using now was made by Taeseong.

“It is a pleasure to meet you. I will not forget this incident.”

-Yes, I hope you do so.