MMB Chapter 5 Passport Crisis
Chapter 5 Passport Crisis
As Jung Do-hoon walked out of the villa, the water flowing down the slope of Samseong-dong carried the humid, fishy smell unique to early summer, which only made him more drowsy.
He loosened his tie, draped his suit jacket over his arm, and walked with a sluggish gait. The effects of the alcohol hadn't worn off, and the emptiness following his social overload washed over him again.
Although he is a diplomat, he is not the kind of person who is naturally outgoing and active. In terms of the popular MBTI, he should be considered an INFP.
I can't remember, it was Ya Xian who dragged him through a series of questions to find out.
The ambassador's residence was more than ten minutes' walk from the subway station. Zheng Daoxun turned into the road lined with ginkgo trees. Memories overlapped with reality. He used to walk along this road to visit the Gomez couple.
However, it was autumn then, and the ginkgo leaves had already turned yellow.
In a daze, a bright red Porsche stopped by the roadside, and the window slowly rolled down.
Bae Suzy rested one hand on the steering wheel and pressed the door lock with the other, her tone light and cheerful:
"Section Chief Zheng. Get in the car, I'll give you a ride."
Zheng Daoxun stopped and smiled politely, "No need, I'll just walk around and sober up."
"You saved me the cost of a meal, so I owe you a favor," she winked. "I can't just leave without doing anything in return."
He wanted to say something more, but she looked up at the sky.
"It's going to rain soon, don't get soaked, hurry!"
Zheng Daoxun followed her gaze upwards, but could see nothing but a dark sky and light pollution.
"Thank you for your help."
Then he opened the car door.
The car was very clean, not like a new car, but with signs that few people had sat in the passenger seat. A small bottle of car air freshener was hanging on the rearview mirror, and a lipstick was left in the crevice of the seat.
Jung Do-hoon picked up the lipstick and put it away, then sat down with his suit jacket in his arms, his knees resting against the glove box.
A pair of delicate hands poked at the leather surface of the center console, and the woman gently reminded, "There are buttons for adjusting the seats on the right."
Jung Do-hoon adjusted his seat and sent the address to Bae Suzy via Kakao. It was CEO Kim who had dragged Suzy over to add him.
The car drove onto the elevated road.
The car was so quiet that only the tire noise could be heard. The city night view kept receding, blurring into a blurry image. In the hazy atmosphere, it felt like a time tunnel.
Tap, tap, tap...
As if clocks had reversed, Jung Do-hoon vaguely thought that it was Minatozaki Sana who had come to pick him up from get off work again.
Zheng Daoxun thought to himself that although his body was younger, his alcohol tolerance had declined considerably.
He looked in the direction of the sound and saw that it was Suzy, with her white manicured nails, rhythmically and unconsciously glancing at the steering wheel.
Bae Suzy didn't turn on any music. The streetlights outside the car window leaned back one by one, their light sweeping across her face, making her features appear bright and dark in turns.
She was focused on driving, and when she noticed Zheng Daoxun's gaze, she only slightly moved her brown eyes without saying a word.
We have to talk about something.
"What made you decide to attend the dinner party today?" he asked first.
Bae Suzy's lips twitched slightly, as if she had known he would speak first.
"I'm an actress now," she said, her gaze still fixed on the windshield. "When I'm not available, I might as well come out for some fresh air."
She paused.
"Unfortunately, some people just don't understand romance."
Zheng Daoxun smiled but didn't respond.
"I was recently transferred back to South Korea," he said. "These kinds of dinners are a great place to build relationships."
She glanced at him sideways, then quickly turned back.
"What about during the United Nations?"
"What?"
"Didn't you work at the United Nations?" She signaled, changed lanes, and glided into a less busy lane. "Is work busy over there?"
Jung Do-hoon thought for a moment and realized that he had never told Soo-ji that he had worked at the United Nations for the past two years.
"It's alright. Meetings, writing reports, occasionally writing speeches for the ambassador, and at the busiest times we have to visit ambassadors from other countries and lobby for things... Actually, winters in New York are very long, and the snow seems endless, but I feel it's very relaxing there, and we rarely work overtime..."
Bae Soo-ji listened to his somewhat rambling words but didn't press him for details; she knew he had drunk a bit too much.
That's how drunk people are; sometimes they're sober, sometimes they're confused.
She simply hummed in agreement: "You seem to miss your time at the United Nations."
"I don't know either..."
The car exited the overpass. The navigation system indicated three minutes remaining.
The rain finally started to fall in a light, continuous drizzle.
The wipers pushed away the water streaks on the windshield, only for them to gather again, then be pushed away once more. The red taillights blurred into a hazy mess in the rain.
"arrive."
Bae Suzy parked the car on the side of the road. The windshield wipers were still swishing back and forth. She didn't turn off the engine and handed him the umbrella she had brought with her.
Jung Do-hoon unbuckled his seatbelt, placed his hand on the car door handle, and paused for a moment when he saw the umbrella.
"Thanks."
"polite."
She smiled. Then, as if remembering something, she tilted her head.
"I live just one street ahead. If you have time, just let me know and return the umbrella to me."
Then she didn't say anything more, just put her hands back on the steering wheel and waited for him to get out of the car.
Zheng Daoxun closed the car door. The taillights of the red Porsche flashed briefly in the rain before turning the corner and disappearing from sight.
He stood in the rain for a few seconds, and for some reason felt that the Porsche's style matched Suzy's perfectly, but he shook his head and turned to go upstairs.
The apartment door closed behind me. A wave of intoxication and drowsiness washed over me at the same time.
He deliberately placed his phone face down on the coffee table, keeping it away from himself, and then closed his eyes.
We can't make those random phone calls again this time.
The keychain with the orange bear hanging from it was on the door, swaying slightly.
The rain pattered against the window, making a very soft sound.
He fell asleep and missed several phone calls in his sleep.
When I dialed the number, all I heard was a mechanical female voice.
"Sorry, the number you dialed is currently switched off."
She frowned, took the phone away from her ear, and glanced at the number on the screen.
She missed the call from that number in the early hours of the morning, as she was on the plane. As soon as she got off the plane, she rushed off to attend the concert.
I only managed to find the time to go back now.
If it's really an emergency... this person will probably call again.
She put her phone back in her pocket and told herself not to overthink it.
The door of the van slid open, letting in the humid Indonesian night wind, but it couldn't wake the person who was just waking up from their dream.
She slept on and off in the back seat the whole way, her dreams filled with fragmented pieces that she couldn't piece together—lying in someone's arms in an apartment, scribbling oil paintings haphazardly, one stroke at a time; sitting alone on the sofa watching TV after an argument; her messy suitcase; a suddenly empty and lonely room…
She followed the team inside, the sound of luggage wheels rolling echoing on the marble floor. The air conditioning in the hotel was on full blast, making Minatozaki Sana wake up for a moment.
The agent was walking ahead, looking down at his phone, when he suddenly slowed down.
Several men in suits were standing in the lobby's lounge area.
They are not from the hotel.
A large group of people stood in front of them. Sana Minato glanced at them and recognized a few familiar faces, her junior sisters. Some were leaning against their suitcases, while others had their arms crossed, looking bewildered and tired.
They also participated in a variety show tonight, but because they performed early, they returned even earlier.
Sana felt a little tired, so she just stood aside with her arms crossed, silently listening to her manager come forward to inquire about the situation.
"Why are they confiscating our passports at this time? We were invited to attend the concert. In this situation, we have no choice but to contact our embassy."