Passion Novel - Volume 5 - Chapter 117 - Seringe

The man’s first impression was that he was exceedingly taciturn and gruff. He might have been a little over thirty, or perhaps closer to forty. His face, difficult to guess his age from, was blended into the crowd in front of the gate.

When he carefully curved the corners of his lips slightly, forming a couple of wrinkles around his eyes as he smiled, he looked surprisingly gentle and affectionate. Unfortunately, the man rarely smiled. He almost always maintained an expressionless face and a mouth that seldom opened.

Upon exiting the gate, amidst the countless people surrounding it, waiting for guests, friends, or family, or hawking their services, the man immediately stood out. While there had been a fair number of Caucasians in Johannesburg, their transit point three and a half hours ago, Dar es Salaam International Airport was entirely populated by Black people. Standing alone among them, the white man was undeniably conspicuous.

Inside the small airport terminal, which resembled a rural bus station more than an international airport, the man straightened his posture upon seeing them emerge from the gate.

“Long time no see, Rick.”

There was not a hint of welcome or joy on the man’s face as he extended his hand, saying, “Long time no see.” Only after a gruff, formal handshake with Ilay did the man turn to Jeong Taeui. Still without a trace of a smile, he extended his hand and said, “Jeong Taeui? The boss told me about you. Nice to meet you. I’m Yuri Gable.”

“Ah… nice to meet you. I’m Jeong Taeui.”

Thinking that his name, pronounced so precisely, sounded somehow awkward, Jeong Taeui took his hand.

He hadn’t expected anyone to pick them up. He had flown all this way without any plan, intending to ask for a hotel at the information desk.

Yuri Gable, Jeong Taeui mused, recalling the name, and then it finally clicked. He had heard it in passing before: a man under Kyle, who had wandered the Middle East searching for Jeong Jaeui’s whereabouts, and who had eventually found a clue.

Jeong Taeui glanced at Ilay, who was surveying the airport with an indifferent expression.

“Small.”

“Is this your first time in Africa? Most international airports in Africa are this size. Places like Johannesburg Airport are unusually large.”

Gable spoke in a businesslike manner, then turned and walked out. Jeong Taeui quickly followed him, as he showed no sign of waiting.

“You must have waited a long time. Getting the visa took longer than I expected.”

He had thought the local visa would be quick, but the process was slow. As a result, they could only emerge after most other people had already exited the gate. However, since he hadn’t imagined anyone would be waiting, he had taken his time.

“If I had known you were waiting, I would have hurried a bit. I apologize.”

“It’s alright, Jeong Taeui,” Gable replied politely. His pronunciation was clear, yet Jeong Taeui noticed a slight pause when he said “Jeong Taeui,” as if he was making a special effort. Jeong Taeui chuckled.

“You can just call me Taei. Please speak comfortably.”

Gable nodded but said nothing more. It had been a long time since he’d met such a quiet and gruff Westerner. Of course, while staying at Kyle’s house, he had seen several taciturn guests, and even the gardener, Peter, was difficult to converse with before they became close. But this man was exceptionally reserved.

“Jeong Jaei?” Ilay, who had been following half a step behind Jeong Taeui, suddenly asked.

“He should be in Seringe.”

“Are you sure?”

“It’s hard to say for sure.”

“What are the chances?”

“Well, about 70 to 80 percent.”

A brief exchange followed. Ilay nodded. Outside the terminal, a jeep was waiting directly in front. As Gable climbed into the passenger seat, the Black man waiting in the driver’s seat released the gear. After a short greeting, the car soon set off.

Jeong Taeui, feeling as though he had finally touched solid ground after nearly 17 hours of flying from Hong Kong, leaned against the hard seat and sighed lightly.

70 to 80 percent, he thought. While not a low probability, it certainly wasn’t high enough to risk five weeks of adventure. He doubted his uncle or Kyle would gamble on such low odds.

If he came all this way only to find Jeong Jaeui wasn’t here, then it would be back to square one. He’d just have spent five weeks vacationing in a distant country.

“It wouldn’t be so bad,” Jeong Taeui muttered, scratching his head, as Ilay slowly spoke beside him.

“If that man says 70 to 80 percent, you can be sure he’s there. Now, all you have to worry about is how to meet Jeong Jaei.”

Hearing Ilay’s words, Jeong Taeui glanced forward. Perhaps sensing their voices, Gable’s eyes met his in the rearview mirror. After a brief moment of holding his gaze, the taciturn man unexpectedly spoke first.

“You said you’re Jeong Jaeui’s younger brother, right?”

“Ah, yes.”

Then, he silently scrutinized Jeong Taeui again. Though it was only a partial view of his face in the mirror, he looked him over intently before briefly saying, “You resemble him.”

“Do I?” Jeong Taeui replied, but that was all. He didn’t elaborate on what it meant to resemble him. Perhaps it was just a polite remark. Come to think of it, Westerners generally have difficulty distinguishing Asian faces, so perhaps anyone with a somewhat flat face, yellowish skin, and black hair looks similar to them.

“Shall we go straight to Seringe? Is that alright?”

Jeong Taeui nodded at Gable’s question. Now that he thought about it, it was an island. He had heard they would take a small plane from Dar es Salaam.

The car was entering the city. The market, lined with low, old buildings, was packed with people at every turn. Crowds, crowds, crowds. As the dark masses filled the streets, the car crawled like a turtle, and Jeong Taeui felt a faint motion sickness, likely exacerbated by the smell of burning tires.

He wasn’t usually prone to motion sickness, but the long flight followed immediately by an uncomfortable, bumpy car ride made his stomach queasy.

“Is Dar es Salaam… large?” Jeong Taeui asked, swallowing a mouthful of water. Gable glanced at him in the rearview mirror and replied, “It’s the largest in Tanzania, with a population well over a million.”

“A million…” Jeong Taeui thought, wondering if it was similar to a metropolitan city, and drank more water. He tried to calm his churning stomach that way, looking out. Beside him, Ilay, who had been glancing at Jeong Taeui, suddenly asked, “You said the small plane airfield is next to the port. Is it a long drive to the port?”

“We’ll arrive in about 15 minutes. From there, we’ll transfer to a small plane, and it’s about a 40-minute flight to Seringe.”

At the mention of 15 minutes, Jeong Taeui sighed. That was bearable. He took another sip of water. His water bottle was already empty. He lightly shook the empty bottle and sighed, “Hmm,” when Ilay tossed him another bottle. Jeong Taeui casually caught it with one hand and looked at Ilay.

“With that kind of stamina, you won’t even have the strength to drag Jeong Jaei out if you meet him.”

“I don’t really intend to drag him out in the first place. If Hyung doesn’t want to come, there’s nothing I can do.”

Jeong Taeui shook his head and opened the water bottle. He took a thoughtless gulp, then grimaced, his cheeks bulging with water. He looked at the label on the bottle again.

“…My stomach is already queasy, why is this sparkling water?”

Seeing Jeong Taeui muttering with a disgusted expression as he swallowed the water, Ilay, who had clearly done it on purpose, merely chuckled.

Meanwhile, the car finally passed through the extremely congested market and entered a proper road. And, just as Gable had said, they soon reached the small airfield terminal building adjacent to the port.

Though it’s said that physical hardship is more bearable than mental torment, this journey was truly long and arduous. Jeong Taeui endured hardship until the very end of the path. The cramped rear seats of the old, worn-out four-seater plane served as a luggage compartment. A large rolled-up carpet-like object protruded from the luggage area into the seating, pressing against Jeong Taeui’s back throughout the flight to Seringe.

Clinging almost to the back of the front seat, listening to the small plane’s loud motor for forty minutes, Jeong Taeui regretted not taking a boat instead. Though it would have taken several times longer, he would have chosen the boat if he had known he would be subjected to such torment, crushed inside the shaking plane.

“Perhaps it would have been better to come by boat,” Ilay muttered beside Jeong Taeui, who had practically crawled out of the small plane. Jeong Taeui, with a drained expression, glanced at Ilay, wondering why this man was suddenly showing such human concern.

“Looking down on the way here, the ocean color was magnificent. It would have been nice to enjoy it slowly by boat.”

“…”

I’m a fool for having expected human concern for even a moment. Jeong Taeui blamed himself. He also thought that since this man was incapable of such human exclamations as “the ocean color was magnificent,” he was surely trying to provoke Jeong Taeui.

Why is this guy’s temper getting worse and worse…? It’s like the more I dig, the more rotten his personality gets. This is a bottomless pit, a bottomless pit.

Still, as Jeong Taeui stood on solid ground and inhaled the cool breeze, his stomach quickly settled. He rubbed his midsection, where the nausea subsided, and took deep breaths.

“It’s not far from here to the accommodation. About 10 minutes by car… If necessary, we could walk a shortcut, though it would take a couple of hours.”

Perhaps seeing Jeong Taeui’s still pale face, Gable spoke gruffly. “Hmm,” Jeong Taeui muttered, tapping his stomach a few times. After a few deep breaths in the wind, his stomach felt much better. Ten minutes by car wasn’t unbearable. Besides, he wasn’t usually prone to severe motion sickness.

Jeong Taeui looked up at the sky. It was starting to get dark. In a couple of hours, it would probably be quite dim.

“Do you have a map?”

Gable, realizing that Jeong Taeui intended to walk by asking that, nodded.

“I know the way. So, shall we walk?”

As he spoke, Gable briefly lowered his gaze. Jeong Taeui, noticing his gaze on his cast-clad foot, said, “Ah,” and wiggled his foot.

“I can walk. It’s not like I’m running. Or is the path rough?”

“Not rough, but are you sure?”

Jeong Taeui grinned at Gable’s repeated question and nodded. He added, “My foot is fine, but more importantly, if I just have a map, I can find my way, so you don’t necessarily have to walk with me, Gable.”

“I’m actually very good at map reading,” Jeong Taeui added, but Gable, shaking his head indifferently, began to stride forward. Jeong Taeui scratched his head, then shrugged and followed him. Though he had started just a moment late, Gable was already ten or so steps ahead, and Jeong Taeui muttered, “My, he’s really a man of few words.”

“Ah, he’s always been like that,” Ilay mumbled beside him. Jeong Taeui glanced back at him.

“So you know each other?”

“Hmm. He used to work with James. When I was a minor, he often visited our house. But after his department changed, I hardly saw him.”

Jeong Taeui nodded, recalling the man named James whom he had seen in passing once while staying at Kyle’s house. Indeed, if he worked under Kyle, it made sense that they would know each other.

Jeong Taeui followed Gable, who maintained a suitable distance, seemingly gauging their presence, yet never straying so far as to be out of sight. He slowly looked around.

Leaving the airfield, they walked along a main road for a short while before turning into a wide alley. A normal road appeared: a spacious asphalt path wide enough for two cars to pass comfortably, and a quiet sidewalk lined with trees. Although it was paved, cars passed only sporadically.

However, Gable stopped at a crosswalk ahead, waiting for the red light to change on a road where no cars were passing. Jeong Taeui smiled at Gable, who was staring at the traffic light with a gruff expression, and stood behind him. Girls on bicycles passed by on the shoulder, giving them curious glances. Jeong Taeui chuckled at their innocent eyes, peeking out from behind their hijabs, which covered their small faces. The girls, startled, quickly disappeared into the distance.

“I came thinking it was Africa, but this is a Muslim city.”

“This island is practically sustained by Arab people. There’s no environment for industry to develop, nor is there a situation where they can receive aid from the mainland. Most people here make a living from the money spent by wealthy Arab residents. Naturally, the culture is similar to that of the Islamic world. You can think of it as having an atmosphere similar to a small city in the Middle East. Therefore, you shouldn’t smile or talk to women casually.”

Gable spoke with an expressionless face. “Oh, really?” Jeong Taeui scratched his head, thinking to himself, “I might have done something dangerous just now.”

The traffic light changed.

Walking along this quiet road, where few cars passed and people occasionally strolled leisurely, Jeong Taeui suddenly felt at ease. After some distance, they turned into an inner alley beside a quaint mosque.

Though not a main road, the alley was wide enough for a car to pass comfortably, winding like a disorganized maze between houses. Along the alley, houses with whitewashed walls stood neatly in a row. Occasionally, a child would dart out from a wooden door, or an old man would sit on a chair placed in the sun outside the main gate, puffing on a pipe. Beyond the walls, trees with abundant branches stretched out, casting shade with their leaves. As the wind rustled through them, a crisp, refreshing sound of rustling leaves filled the air.

“I like this place,” Jeong Taeui suddenly blurted out. It wasn’t something he intended to say; it simply slipped from his lips.

Gable glanced back. It was then that Jeong Taeui first saw a faint smile appear on his face, though it quickly faded.

“It’s a good place to live. Quiet and peaceful.”

Ah. Jeong Taeui realized without being told. This man also liked this place. Jeong Taeui felt unnecessarily pleased and smiled.

It was then that Ilay, who had been walking silently beside him, mumbled.

“It’s perfect for a few months of free-roaming vacation. Though it might be a bit difficult to get desired items immediately if you’re away from water.”

“Even so, it takes some time, but there’s nothing you can’t get. Besides, once a week, a night market opens in Bahep Street—a village near the southern coast of the island, where most surfers go because the waves are good—and you can find most things available in Dar es Salaam there too.”

“Night market?”

“It’s held in Bahep’s central square from around six or seven in the evening until after midnight. Besides the commercial market, there’s also a space like a flea market where anyone can buy and sell things. Sometimes interesting items appear, so it’s always bustling with people.”

“Huh,” Jeong Taeui nodded, saying, “That sounds interesting.” After a brief silence, he asked again, “Are there many tourists in Seringe?”

Gable shook his head.

“General tourists don’t usually come this far. It’s more common to go to Zanzibar, which is closer to Dar es Salaam. Here, it’s mainly Middle Eastern royalty or wealthy merchants who have villas and use them as second homes. Around this time, from summer to autumn, the currents make for good surfing, so quite a few young people come, but that’s only for a while. After this period, you can expect almost no outsiders.”

Jeong Taeui pondered for a moment, then quietly asked, “So, if an outsider walks around, they’d be noticed immediately, wouldn’t they?”

Gable did not reply. He slowed his pace slightly, glanced at Jeong Taeui, and continued walking in silence.

He had said he couldn’t be absolutely certain whether Jeong Jaeui was here or not. Uncertainty meant there were no rumors of such a person being seen. However, someone like Jeong Jaeui, who was neither African nor Arab, would undoubtedly stand out if he were walking the streets here.

“It’s no use trying to gather rumors around here.”

Gable, who had been walking in silence for a while, suddenly spoke. Jeong Taeui didn’t reply, listening intently.

“The area where the Arab magnates’ villas are gathered is further inland from Bahep, and it’s practically separated from the rest of the island. Rumors from here might reach there, but rumors from there don’t reach here.”

“Then why do you say Hyung is there—”

“If not there, there’s nowhere else on this earth Jeong Jaeui could be.”

Gable concluded. Then, he strode forward, once again putting ten or so steps between them. Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue, looking at his back with an awkward expression, and muttered under his breath, “Did I perhaps make him angry?”

“Hmm? Ah. He’s always like that. A bit indifferent.”

“…”

To be called indifferent by this man, Gable must truly be at rock bottom.

Muttering to himself about how Gable didn’t seem like a bad person, but how he had ended up like this, Jeong Taeui followed Gable. Suddenly, he felt a gaze on him and turned his head. Ilay was staring down at him.

“…Huh?”

“You’re right.”

“…? About what?”

Jeong Taeui tilted his head, a slight frown creasing his brow, and asked again. He tried to recall what he had said, but he couldn’t quite figure out which of his statements Ilay was referring to.

“As you said, outsiders are too noticeable here. Especially Asians, as they are rare, even more so. Unless he’s confined to some deep, secluded place, it would be very easy to track him down.”

“Ah? Oh, right. Hyung, what if he’s really holed up in some villa and won’t come out? There’d be no way to meet him.”

Jeong Taeui muttered with a frown. If only he knew which villa he was in, he could sneak over at night. But he couldn’t possibly infiltrate all the villas in the southeastern region. What should I do? He sighed, but no good ideas came to him immediately. He probably needed to go back to the accommodation, wash up, get some rest, and then think about it.