Martoons

Cast of characters

Miss No

Mrs Park

*

“Why do you call at this odd time?” Miss No asked Mrs Park.

“Ah yeah…” Park said apprehensively, detecting the stiffness and inquisitiveness in No’s voice.

No: “Something wrong sister? You sound … nervous or something.”

“Look, I know we’ve had our ups and downs but … what can I do for you my lady?”

“I was just about to leave for the countryside. I am surprised you haven’t left yet.”

Park lowered her voice. “I am sorry. I would never pry into your affairs but I just came back from Jiri Mountain where I saw …” She started to lose her nerve.

No sighed quietly and rolled her eyes. “Saw what? What?”

“I saw Mr Fred.”

“Okay, and so…” No got an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach but tried to ignore it.

“Fred is very athletic and enjoys hiking,” she said offhandedly while shrugging. “It is a usual place to go.”

Park waved her off over the phone. “Yes of course; it’s just that the waygook was with Mr Go. I just thought you should know.”

No was now disturbed and chuckled again nervously. “Ha ha – it’s not like you to gossip Mrs Park! Ha ha.”

She sat more erect in her big chair and tilted her head forward, frothing at the mouth for more intel.

Lowering her voice, “How long did you observe them for?”

“I only saw them at the mountain peak where hikers stop for food and drink.”

“What struck me was it appeared Fred and Go were involved in an intense discussion.”

“It looked very serious. There were two other strange men too and at the end they all shook hands as if they’d reached a pact.”

“Two other … strange …men?”

“Yeah, yeah.” And she described the younger man – the Mr Kang look-alike – but then shrugged and felt foolish.

“I guess it’s nothing and I shouldn’t be talking behind others’ backs. Well, I really should go…”

“Not at all! Please tell me more!” No had instantly made the connection. “That must be Mr Kang. Now, can you describe the second other man?”

* Will Miss No’s misjudgement cause problems? *

“Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah…” and then Park chuckled as she jogged her memory. “He was a real character.”

“He was this old grandfather, garbed-out in traditional farmer’s clothes.”

“What was eye-catching was his white beard. He looked like… Santa Claus!” She laughed nervously.

“Anyway, I really think I’m wasting your time. Enjoy the rest of the weekend. Bye bye!”

“Wasting my time? Not at all …” yet the phone had clicked dead.

The image of the four men on the mountaintop was now vivid.

Immediately indulging in a dose of healthy paranoia, No speculated where Go was headed with all this.

The man never quits! There he was on a holiday weekend, instead of dutifully visiting his relatives, secretly selling Fred off to Mr Kang.

He did it with Thomas so why not a repeat of the same dreadful movie?

She was intensely intrigued by the older man Park had just mentioned – Santa.

She poured over the image of a white beard and somehow it was vaguely familiar.

* How come it seems familiar to her? *

She seemed to recall seeing a man like that somewhere associated with Mr Kang, but was at a total loss as to where it was.

Packing the image away for now, No’s mind became shrouded by sheer and utter darkness.

Don’t freak out. Get organized.

* Get organized how? *

This whole thing had to be stopped – she couldn’t afford to lose Fred.

In a trance of concentration, she squinted and focused her thoughts like a ray of sun refracting through a magnifying glass onto a slab of dry tinder.

She tilted her head slightly one way and then another like sloping the magnifying lens to sharpen the refracted image.

The heat reached its flashpoint and … poof!

Smoke, flame. Crackle. Burn.  

No scurried out of her office and down the stairs like a woman possessed.

She hailed a cab to Central Institute where Thomas’ file was locked up.

She’d studied it intently before and knew that Go had been sloppy and never bothered signing-off with immigration Thomas’ transfer to Ulsan.

The Golden God was working there illegally.

Up to now.

*

Tomorrow: Fred heads to Ulsan.