Chapter 336 - Decoding The Tattoo

"Errr...what's going on in here?" Jackson asked again as he looked around the room.

Natalie was seated on the sofa eating a stick of tanghulu, candied fruit that originated from China, while Sean was holding down a middle-aged man in a chair, and Halia was tying some rope around him. Did these guys kidnap someone? Why?

Jackson analyzed the man in the chair. He had a mask hanging from one ear, which originally covered his mouth and nose, but had been replaced by a strip of tape. He had a cap on and he was wearing all-black. If anything, he seemed more like a kidnapper. How did the kidnapper get kidnapped instead?

"We were having lunch when I noticed this guy had followed us all the way from the hotel," Halia explained. "I don't know why people dress in black when they don't want to be noticed. It stands out so much!" she shrugged.

Jackson furrowed his brows, "He followed you all the way from the hotel?"

Apart from Jackson and Sean, the two girls had never been to Korea before. In theory, there was no reason why someone would be after either of them. Unless...it was completely random. 

If so, this guy was really unlucky.

Jackson walked up to the man and removed his cap to take a better look. His face was swollen on one side from what appeared to be a punch. 

"Did you hit him?" he asked Sean.

Sean laughed and shook his head. "I heard some screams coming from the ladies' bathroom, but by the time I got there, he was already lying on the floor in pain..."

Jackson looked at his wife with an impressed expression. She was getting better at protecting herself.

Halia tightened the rope around the man and explained, "I had no choice. He had a knife..."

"Your wife threw a kick in his face! I never knew a person could move like that!" Natalie exclaimed as she took a bite of her tanghulu like a child.

Jackson touched the man's swollen face and he flinched a little as he growled threateningly. "I am going to remove this tape on your mouth. If you make too much noise, I'll make sure the other side of your face matches this side before I throw you out in the streets for everyone to see. Do you understand?" he said in English.

The man glared at him and fell silent. His English wasn't good, but he understood the gist of what Jackson was saying. He was usually on the other side of situations like this, so he knew this man was being serious. If he was thrown out on the streets and word spread in the underworld about this, he was never receiving any jobs again. So, he nodded his head. For now, all he could do was cooperate.

As Jackson removed the tape from the man's mouth, he narrowed his eyes and looked at him carefully. There was something familiar about him.

"You can speak to me in Mandarin or Cantonese," the man said. He had been listening to their conversations and realized they were from China. When he received this job, he wasn't given much information: just a picture and a flight number, so when the flight flew in from the Philippines, he didn't expect his target to be Chinese.

Jackson looked at the man in surprise. He didn't expect him to be Chinese either.

"Why were you following me?" Halia asked straightforwardly as soon as the man began to talk. Earlier on, she had asked him a few questions but he refused to say anything.

The man sneered, "Cos you're a good-looking young woman..."

Of course, he was not going to expose his client. That would be completely unprofessional.

"Are you sure someone didn't send you?" Halia asked with suspicion. It seemed too coincidental that something like this happened as soon as she landed in Korea.

Jackson observed quietly from behind Halia as the man wiggled in his seat. With a laugh, the man replied, "Why would someone send me after you? Are you someone important?"

As the man spoke, Jackson noticed he was trying to untie himself. It was only natural to make this attempt, but Jackson knew his wife had tied him securely. But, as he walked around to look at the man's tied hands, he spotted a tattoo around the man's wrist. 

It was a dragon's tail!

In recent years, tattoos had become more mainstream all around the world and it was no longer just associated with gangs and crime. But, in Korea, tattooing was still illegal and frowned upon. So, a tattoo like this had a unique meaning...

Jackson was familiar with it. The way the dragon's tail wrapped around his wrist like a handcuff, meant that he had been to jail before...

Jackson immediately bent down and rolled up the man's sleeve. If this was the type of dragon tattoo he thought it was, then the rest of the dragon would also symbolize something.

Gang tattoos around the world often conveyed special meanings and code that only they understood. Here in Korea, the dragon tattoo was one of them.

"What are you doing?" the man asked as Jackson twisted his arm to take a closer look.

Jackson was never a part of the Korean gangs, but he had worked with them enough in the past to know a few basics regarding their tattoos.

The dragon had its mouth closed: a sign that the man was not an active member of any particular gang. In other words, he had connections to the gangs, but he worked on his own.

Both its eyes were open, which meant he was active and available for hire.

And, one claw could be seen clutching a pearl.

The claw part was the difficult part. There were hundreds of possible combinations ranging from how many claws were showing to what the dragon was clutching, and each combination meant something different.

He quickly took a photo and sent it to his friend Kwon as Halia continued to question the man...