Octopus Gate (6)
“Name.”
“Bang Gyu-tae.”
“Alright, next up: age.”
“Aigoo, Detective Jeong. Come on, what’s this about? I haven’t done anything to piss you off before.”
Gangnam Police Station, Investigation Division. Sweat poured down Bang Gyu-tae’s forehead.
He’d been wined and dined properly at Octoperci—not to mention the top room salons in Gangnam—more times than he could count. Yet here was Detective Jeong Gi-su, acting like he was seeing Bang for the first time, impassively taking his statement.
“Detective Jeong, the chief’s calling for you urgently.”
“Got it. Mr. Bang, stay put right here. I’ll be back in a flash.”
At the words of his subordinate who’d come rushing in, Detective Jeong hurried out the office door. Like a man resolved, Bang Gyu-tae spun the laptop screen around—and a low groan escaped his lips.
[Name: Bang Gyu-tae. Age: 28. Charges: Violation of Narcotics Control Act. Suspected of manufacturing and distributing psychotropic drugs…]
Me, manufacturing? And not just potions, but full-on drugs!
Chopping off tails was Bang Gyu-tae’s signature move. But this time, the blade he’d used to throw others to the wolves was turning back on him.
Swallowing dryly, Bang quietly rose to his feet.
Vreeee! He cut in without signaling, and the car behind blared its horn furiously—but it fell on deaf ears.
That bastard Park Seung-hyun’s cut me loose.
His hands trembled violently on the wheel. He had no destination. All he could think was to flee to some deserted spot, anywhere out of that bastard’s reach, flooring the accelerator like a madman.
Screeech! Then, with a roar, a car ignored lanes and cut right in front of him. As brakes screamed and his face slammed into the steering wheel, Bang’s eyes bulged red with rage.
“What the fuck! And what the hell are you?!”
“Director Bang. It’s me.”
“You…!”
Bang flung open the driver’s door and stormed out—only for Fluorescent, the MD who’d evaded capture for days despite their dragnet, to approach in a haggard state.
If I grab this bastard now and throw him under the bus instead…!
Just as greed lit up his eyes, a familiar voice slithered into his ear.
“Look at his eyes spinning—you can tell he’s scheming again. Figures. He only ever learned the dirty tricks from Park Seung-hyun.”
There, flashing a white-toothed grin, stood the cop: Kang Cheol-gu.
“Y-you… why the hell are you with Fluorescent…?!”
“Yeah, yeah. Lots of questions burning in that head of yours, huh?”
Instinct screamed danger, and Bang staggered back—but in an instant, Kang Cheol-gu’s iron grip clamped his nape.
The moment he thrashed, his vision went black.
“Detective, looks like Bang Gyu-tae’s coming to.”
The faint voice in his ear was drowned out by a nauseating stench that jolted him awake first.
Where the hell am I?
Through his bleary eyes, a shadow loomed. A sallow, malnourished face topped with shaggy long hair and a beard that covered it entirely triggered primal revulsion.
“Wh-who? Who the fuck are you?”
“Heh heh! You’ve even forgotten my face now.”
A voice he half-recognized whispered in his ear as he scrambled back.
“…No way. Brother Seung-woo?”
Bang’s eyes widened in horror as the shadow nodded slowly.
How could Brother Seung-woo end up like this here…!
“Long time no see? At first, I wanted to rip you apart on sight. But now that you’re here… eh, not so much. You’ll be joining me soon enough anyway.”
Me, end up like that?!
A cold voice cut toward the wildly shaking Bang.
“I guarantee it—you’ll suffer worse than Seung-woo. Things are different now than back then.”
It was Kang Cheol-gu, the detective.
“Ha! You cops kidnapping civilians now? No warrant, and you rough me up like this?”
“Cut the bluffing. I heard from my Gangnam buddies—you bolted during a witness interview. You’re no rookie; you know how this game works better than anyone.”
Once you lost the momentum, it was over. Bang jutted his chin defiantly and snarled—but he swallowed dryly at the response.
“Park Seung-hyun’s already started cutting tails. Want to live? Spill everything. Seung-woo here lost a leg, but you know more. Which means you won’t get off that easy.”
Only then did he notice Maeng Seung-woo’s baggy pant leg. Faces of all the people Park had used and discarded flashed before his eyes.
Bang hung his head, a deep sigh bursting from his lips.
“If I tell the truth, what happens to me?”
“No more, no less—you get punished for your crimes. Testify in court, and you’ll get leniency for cooperation.”
“…Fine. I’ll do it.”
I’m already abandoned. This is my only shot at survival.
His mouth slowly opened.
“…So, like you said, Park Seung-hyun’s got direct lines into every corner of Korea’s politics and business, right?”
“Yeah. Not just politics and business—prosecutors, cops, anyone with real pull in this country has gotten a drink off him at least once.”
Resigned to his fate, Bang spilled even the unasked details freely.
“But why’d that bastard dip into potions and drugs? He was doing fine without that shit.”
Maeng Seung-woo, now chiming in, cocked his head.
“That’s…!”
“Octoperci’s differentiation strategy.”
All eyes turned to me.
“Park Seung-hyun built connections with the elite through booze, women, and cash. But anyone could provide that kind of lobbying. Smart guy like him must’ve always been insecure about it—knowing his spot could be taken anytime. …So he used drugs to collar the big shots.”
In his previous life, back in 2015 during the Octoperci Gate scandal, the cops never nabbed Park Seung-hyun. Higher-ups in prosecution and police—whose own dirty secrets would spill if he went down—desperately sabotaged the probe. In the end, it wrapped up as “rogue hostesses and field staffers gone wild.”
Bang, staring at me in shock, nodded and continued.
“Yes, exactly. Potions weren’t in Park’s original plan. But he tried them once or twice on VIPs he was entertaining, and as you know, they didn’t even show up on drug tests—pure cost-effectiveness. Worth the risk. And he had plenty of confidence, of course.”
“Confidence? That he wouldn’t get caught?”
“No.”
Bang shook his head bitterly.
“Confidence that even if he did, he’d walk away clean. Everyone who’d arrest, try, and punish him was in his pocket—who’d dare touch him? Honestly, if I hadn’t seen Brother Seung-woo like this, I wouldn’t be cooperating with you this much. That’s Park Seung-hyun. …You really think you can take down a guy like that?”
Bang let out a low sigh and looked up. Assuming we were in the same boat now, Maeng Seung-woo and Fluorescent turned their gazes to me too.
“…There are real monsters out there, not the trash you’ve been feeding scraps to.”
Unlike their wavering eyes, my lips curved faintly upward.
* * *
“Prosecutor Choi, it’s Park Seung-hyun. I’ve never done you wrong, right?”
– Ha! Think I don’t know that? But this time’s different.
He’s trying to distance himself and bail!
Park’s brow twitched, but he burst into laughter and pressed with a sly tone.
“He’s just some cop. Doesn’t make sense for Korea’s top prosecutor to not handle one little policeman.”
– To take down Kang Cheol-gu, we need Special Unit, but no one’s stepping up. Especially that hardhead Jeong Jae-hoon—he’s blocking it like his life depends on it, ready to die fighting anyone who tries to grab Kang. Other prosecutors are playing it safe too.
“…Understood.”
– Sorry, Chairman Park.
Park’s hand shook as he gripped the phone.
What the hell was that bastard Kang Cheol-gu?!
Call after call brought the same response.
– Can’t do it. Kang Cheol-gu’s dad, Dean Kang Hyeok, is my mentor. Can’t stab my mentor’s son in the back without clear wrongdoing.
– Don’t even ask. The 22nd Police Guard commander threatened to chew anyone alive who touches him. Fire was practically shooting from his mouth.
– Councilor Park Man-cheol flipped the table mid-meal, saying he’d never show his face again. Don’t ask me for favors if you don’t want to see mine either.
What kind of connections does this guy have?! First time I’ve seen anyone this untouchable.
Park’s shoulders heaved.
From their trembling voices, he could sense it instinctively. Kang Cheol-gu’s network wasn’t like his own flimsy “bonds.” It was built on trust—unshakable.
Something I don’t have.
Jealousy and inferiority crept from his twisted lips.
A regular cop? He’d crush him with his lines. Someone exceptional? Bend him, absorb him. But the reports kept exceeding expectations.
If coaxing and threats fail, only one option left: eliminate him.
The higher-ups had waved off his requests, but when shit hit the fan, they’d clean it up like it was their own mess. That’s why he’d invested so much.
Second time, huh? First was with that bastard Maeng Seung-woo.
Park’s eyes gleamed coldly as he checked his phone.
* * *
Screeech! A black Jeep blew through a red light, smashing across the median with a guttural roar. Curses and horns erupted from all sides at the sudden U-turn.
Trailing it, a battered van swerved hard with its own thunderous growl, bumper scraping the curb—but the driver didn’t care, flooring it after the Jeep.
Tail?
My eyes narrowed at the rearview mirror.
Not even a proper tail—the van reeked of blatant murder intent as it pursued.
I thought of the Octoperci club guys holed up in Maeng Seung-woo’s flop.
…Hey, Brother Seung-woo. Kinda late for this, but how’d your leg end up like that?
Bang Gyu-tae had confirmed his own fate—used and discarded by Park—just like Seung-woo, so the guy’s anger had cooled a bit.
Makes sense. Fluorescent said they’d been thick as thieves in Octoperci before Bang’s betrayal.
As you know, Brother, I got into Octoperci on smooth talk alone. But you came from the fist-fighting world, right? So why…?
You mean how’d I end up legless?
No! That’s not—!
Maeng Seung-woo gave a self-mocking chuckle at Bang’s frantic waving.
Not to brag, but I thought I was unbeatable one-on-one in Gangnam.
I know. Fluorescent might not, but I’ve seen you fight myself.
Heard the rumors too.
Fluorescent jumped in, eyes gleaming.
Park Seung-hyun has a separate crew no one knows about. I’d never seen guys like that.
Maeng’s gaze shifted from his baggy pant leg to me. He tried to sound calm, but his voice cracked noticeably.
Watch your back, Detective. When all else fails, Park’s got only one play left.