Chapter 159 - Rescuing Orea (Conclusion)
Myung was completely shocked to hear that. Orea burst into tears, visibly distraught by the truth behind her mother's death.
"You…" he began. "You're that woman's daughter?"
Orea nodded her head. "I remember Lieutenant General Yang very well!" she said bitterly. "He killed my mom because she was a spy in the government. She was trying to bring down the company by herself because she knew their dirty secrets!"
Myung was completely flabbergasted by this revelation. That woman knew the Company's secret? Then why would Jonghyun be after her life?
"My brother and your mom seemed to have known each other," Myung pointed out. "He even called her aunt."
"Your brother is adopted, right?" Orea asked in a thick voice. "My mom must have known him or his real parents. I don't know why he killed her. I thought it was Yang who shot her that night. I only saw him…"
"That night, my mom hid my brother and me inside a secret tunnel," she recalled. "And forced us to escape. She stayed back to face them and they killed her. Before leaving, we only saw Yang but not Lee Jonghyun-"
"He came later," Myung said, feeling disgusted at his brother. "He came in and shot her in cold blood. That guy must have known that your mother was a danger to the company. He's a minion of that cursed organization!"
"How do you know so much about the Company?" Orea asked. "I know because my brother told me that we have to hide from them. But how do you know? Did your brother tell you?"
"I overheard Ahn Jaejun, my father's secretary, talk about it with Jonghyun," he revealed. "That man is one of the core members of the Company and also the General's right hand man."
"General?" Orea echoed.
"That's what they call their leader," Myung stated. "I pretended not to hear any of it but I caught on to some of the snippets. They also call someone Empress but I assume it's another codename."
Codename for a stone cold bitch, Orea added in her head. Aloud she said, "They're one of the most dangerous people my brother had told me about. After hearing of my mother's murder, it's now more clear to me. They think of everyone as a threat. They've been looking for us for many years. My mom...before she died, she left a file with us. They want that file and will do anything to get it. Even kill us."
She broke into another round of hysterical sobs.
"Is this why you're hiding?" he asked. "To save yourselves?"
Orea nodded. "They're looking for us. My brother has to change my school every year so that they can't catch us. One of the reasons why I had to lie to you about my address. I can't reveal where I live nor who my brother is."
Myung was aghast and ashamed. He had thought that her brother was being abusive but in reality, he was protecting Orea. Now Myung felt very guilty.
"That file," he began. "Do you know what's in it?"
Orea shook her head. "It was in a pendrive. The day we escaped, the pendrive fell into a puddle and was corrupted. We tried to recover the files but there's a password on the file. The password was set by the security team of the Prime Minister so even my mom couldn't open it. I tried to use my skills to open it but I failed."
Myung sat there, deep in thought. "If that file is recovered, then can we bring down the Company?" he asked.
"I think so," Orea said, feeling hesitant. "If I can get the password, I can probably recreate the file. But the passwords are probably stored in a secured place. I can't access it. I don't even know where they are!"
"I might."
Orea gave him a quizzical look. "You do?" she frowned.
"The PM's security system," Myugn revealed. "If she stole the file from the PM, then it's obvious why Jonghyun had to kill her. It probably contains his own dirty secrets. Or, he was searching for that file to blackmail the Company's General. I know my brother well. He can do that."
Orea bit her lip, feeling confused. "But that's dangerous!" she claimed. "If you get caught, your father will harm you! And it's going to be risky. You don't have to do this, okay? Besides, me and my brother are in hiding anyway. We can stay like this forever-"
"We both know that they're gonna come for you," he said flatly. "It could be today or tomorrow. But they will come. The Company doesn't forgive these things. They'll attack and I know they'll kill you."
He grasped her palm, making her blush. "Let me protect you," he insisted. "I can break into that room and help you get the codes!"
"But…"
Orea was in a dilemma. Myung was ready to risk his life for her? Why?
"I'll be able to get into the room and help you hack into the system," he said. "You don't even have to be there! If we can think it through, we might be able to do it. Together."
Orea thought for a while before finally nodding.
"Alright," she agreed. "We'll do this. But you must do exactly as I say. The person who made that system is definitely an expert in cyber security. I've heard rumors that it's the best system in the world. It'll be tough to break into it."
"Let me handle that," Myung said. "Once we return home, you can start preparing to hack the system. Okay?"
Before Orea could reply, a bright torch light shone on them, almost blinding the teens. For a moment, they were scared that the army men had returned but Minwoo's voice spoke up.
"Oi!" he snapped at them. "Did you guys sneak into the forest to make out or something?"
Myung scowled. "We were lost, you idiot!" he claimed. "How did you find us?"
Minwoo stepped closer and handed Myung a paper. It was the note he had attached to the dog's collar.
"The dog came running to the camp," Minwoo explained. "And I happened to be taking a stroll when I came across him. I saw the note and came to rescue you."
"Please tell me that you know the way out of here," Orea said, feeling wary.
"I tied handkerchiefs on the trees as markers," he said. "Let's go."
They followed Minwoo out of the forest. Finally after twenty minutes, they managed to reach the camp.
"We'll talk when we return home," Myung muttered to her and left for his tent. Minwoo stared at him and then at Orea, feeling suspicious. Unsurprisingly, Orea was smiling. It was not a 'I-am-in-love' smile but rather she was planning something.
"What did you tell him?" he asked suspiciously.
"I'll tell you everything once we reach home," Orea sighed. She was not happy about her plan but lies and deceit were the only ways to stop the Company.
Orea already knew about Jonghyun's involvement in her mother's murder thanks to the dumb guards at the cabin. What surprised her was that Myung was a witness to it. At that moment, she came up with a plan to use Myung's resentment against his brother to break into the PM's security system. So she revealed that it was her mother who died that night.
Thankfully, Myung did not know who her mother really was so she made up the story about her mother being a spy and that they had a file which contained Company's dirty secrets. In reality, there was no such file but she needed someone from the inside to access the system and let her hack it so that she could tamper with Aberville's security.
And Myung was the perfect guinea pig for the task.
Sorry Myung but I'll have to use you as a pawn in this one, she thought.