Crash Landing on You - Edelweiss Diaries

Part 8 - Road to nowhere

Ju Mok's face scrunched, the unanswered questions nestled in the creases of his forehead. "Many steps -" he mumbled as the thoughts settled in his mind. Making a mad dash to the table, he rolled out a large sheet of paper. He began writing on post-its and pasted them on the sheet as a timeline to trace the events leading up to the arrest. The team assembled around the table in curiosity. 

"Right," Kwang Beum pointed to the start of the timeline. "Let's check everything from the day before he got on the flight."

Eun dong wiped the tears off his face using the back of his hand. "But does the timeline really end with the arrest?" The others looked at him confused. "Didn't Ri Jyeong Hyuk Dongmu tell us to anticipate what's coming next?"

Ju Mok, patted Eun Dong's head, glad that their maknae was back to form. 

It was another hour before they mapped out everyone involved in the summit from the state department.  

When the beeps on Ju Mok's systems were incessant, he couldn't ignore them. Anxiety seeped into his face as he read through the chatter pouring in, drawing Kwang Beum and Pyo Chi Soo to the monitor. 

The messages confirmed what they believed was an organic progression of the state of affairs.  The State Department wanted Major Ri Jyeong Hyuk to be extradited back to Pyongyang to continue with the investigation. They asserted that Ri Jyeong Hyuk was acting out of misplaced interests that aimed to sabotage the two-country relations. In addition, they maintained that the detractor, Ri Jyeong Hyuk, will be dealt with severely and swiftly for wanting to violate the peace between the countries. 

Pyo Chi Soo, fisted his hand, while Kwang Beum dug his nails into Ju Mok's chair, their desperation solidified in the disquiet that enveloped them.

"So the three men who'll be leading discussions along with General Ri Myung Su have remained on the committee for two years now," Eun Dong persisted with the map of the State and the CMC officials they'd arranged. "This year Ri Jyeong Hyuk Dongmu and Director Jon Pyong Ho's aide Kim Su Gil are the only new additions as staff." He shuffled to reach for a set of papers by the printer. "Kim Su Gil happens to be - " 

Eun Dong looked puzzled. "He's a nobody," he declared. "Both his mother and father passed away when he was four." He waved to the others to join him. "How can someone without connections get into the CMC to be Director Jon Pyong Ho's aide."

Sliding to his system, Ju Mok searched for Kim Su Gil in the RGB database. "That doesn't look right," he said sighting a picture of Kim Su Gil and the dead military director posing in front of the CMC headquarters. 

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The Chinese intelligence officials waited by the front desk to meet Ri Jyeong Hyuk for the umpteenth time.  

Lighting a cigarette, one of the officials tilted his head to the side before drawing smoke. "Do you think he'll fall now? It's been 18 hours already."

"Does it matter?" The other official flipped open his ID to show it to the guard and signed the register. "Even if he doesn't confess, what gets written in the file must ensure the cordial relations between the two countries."

The official on the bench exhaled a puff of smoke. "He'll be thrown under the bus then?"

Pocketing his ID the other official turned around. "His extradition request should be coming in any minute now. When he is back in Pyongyang, no one will care to ask what his motivations were."

The other official tapped off the ash build-up over a planter. "So we are doing a dog and pony show?" he scoffed.

The official by the door laughed. "The virus they found in his briefcase is not even as deadly as COVID-19." He showed amusement in his eyes. "Too bad our higher-ups wanted something out of all this for the upcoming negotiations."