Chapter 131
Chapter 131
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 131
Chapter Title: Caught in the Act
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Kang Hyun finished thinking it through quickly.
‘I have to get over the hill.’
To head straight down to the roadside, they’d have to pass the factory, which would make them easy targets for the enemy. Plus, it wouldn’t be long before the thugs realized Kang Hyun and his companion had escaped.
“We need to take the rough route. You okay with that?”
“Yeah.”
No sooner had their brief exchange ended than their reckless climb began.
“Huff… huff…”
The mountain on the opposite side was so overgrown and untouched that there were no trails, making it incredibly treacherous.
He wondered if they could keep going up like this.
But there was no other choice. For now, they just had to crawl up the hill and climb the mountain as best they could.
The one stroke of luck was the temperate weather—neither too cold nor too hot.
Even in the late early morning hours, they managed to push on without collapsing, avoiding sudden dehydration or a drastic loss of strength.
As they continued upward and the midway point came into view…
-What the hell! Those bastards!
-Find them!
Screams like banshee wails erupted from below, followed by chaos that prickled their skin.
Kang Hyun couldn’t afford to stop.
Twenty minutes… thirty minutes.
After about an hour, he spotted Yoo Seul-gi collapsing far behind him. He scanned the surroundings before slowly approaching her and helping her to her feet.
“You okay?”
“…”
The handcuffs that had seemed unbreakable still dangled from his wrists with a faint clink, but at his touch, she rose and started walking again.
They’d come quite a distance, enough for a breather, so Kang Hyun finally spoke up.
“…It started with diet pills, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then you got big prescriptions, stockpiled them, and started selling?”
“…”
“Once dependence and tolerance kicked in, you began running errands for them. How many did you take at a time? Ten or twelve?”
“…A fistful.”
“…A fistful?!”
Her words hit Kang Hyun like a gut punch, but he couldn’t let it show.
Her whole body was trembling. Not from heat or cold, but from withdrawal.
“Anyway, we’re almost there. Just a little further.”
The dawn was gradually brightening. The path was opening up somewhat, and he could see water flowing nearby.
At first, bushwhacking through the mountains had felt hopeless, with no certainty of escape. But now, possibility was dawning.
“There’s a road!”
Far below the hill, a path suitable for people stretched out, dotted with a few dilapidated farm sheds.
As if to conceal them, mist began to rise from the surroundings, thickening into a fog.
The odds of the thugs finding Kang Hyun and Yoo Seul-gi seemed slim.
In the end, Kang Hyun had kept his cool in that dire crisis and slipped away.
If he’d lost his composure even slightly—if he’d yelled or tried to fight—it could have ended badly.
Scolding Yoo Seul-gi or lecturing her with legal statutes might have led to a different outcome.
But Kang Hyun stayed calm to the very end.
“We made it…”
A public payphone stood out in the distance.
He’d never noticed or used one before, but it had never looked so reassuring.
Now, it was time to strike back.
Knock knock.
“Come in.”
Late afternoon.
The brightly lit office of Prosecutor Park Min-seong at the Central District Prosecutors’ Office.
The door burst open.
A burly man entered with a grim expression and bowed to Park Min-seong.
“Hello. I’m Senior Inspector Kim Cheol-min from the Narcotics Investigation Team at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Gwangsu Squad.”
“…We’ve met before.”
Park Min-seong crossed his legs and looked up at him.
He’d told them to call if they had any inquiries, but he hadn’t expected the police—still smarting from their last encounter—to show up at his office.
“Yes.”
“What’s this about?”
“…Team Leader An Gwang-hyeon and a few officers called in sick without notice today.”
“Guess they figured we’re the dogs here.”
Park Min-seong continued with a sour look.
“Shouldn’t the Internal Affairs Division have paid Narcotics a visit first?”
“…That’s not the issue, Prosecutor.”
“…?”
Park Min-seong eased his attack, furrowing his brow curiously, and the man cautiously got to the point.
“Actually, we’ve had ongoing discrepancies with the seized narcotics in our department’s custody.”
“Narcotics?”
“Yes. Even after appraisal by the National Forensic Service, the gram weights don’t match the actual seized amounts in several cases…”
“Even sealed, there’s bound to be some loss.”
“What if the pill counts don’t match either?”
“…The quantities are off?”
A visible difference in countable pills meant something else entirely.
“Yes. I found evidence that Team Leader An Gwang-hyeon manipulated the ledger during a disposal.”
“When?”
“Today. I got a call from the seizure officer that a bundle of Dietamin slated for destruction was missing, so I searched the cabinets. Especially since the guy in question called in sick.”
Park Min-seong shot to his feet, his face grave. This was no small matter.
The staff in the office paused their work, sensing the anomaly, and focused on Kim Cheol-min.
“…Dietamin.”
The Korea University drug case that started it all involved Dietamin too. This felt ominous.
Park Min-seong didn’t need much deliberation to decide.
He called for the participating chief.
“Chief Kim.”
“Yes!”
“Get An Gwang-hyeon’s contact info and prepare a communication warrant. Track his location and raid him now. No need to inform the Superintendent or Deputy. I’ll handle it.”
“Yes, sir!”
That’s when Prosecutor Park Min-seong was about to move.
The door flew open again!
“Sunbae!”
Prosecutor Jeong Ji-eun rushed in, still in slippers, panting.
“Jeong Ji-eun?”
Her eyes were wide with panic.
Jeong Ji-eun, who never flinched in any case, wearing this expression meant it was serious.
“Step aside for a sec.”
Ignoring Kim Cheol-min’s presence, she thrust her phone forward urgently.
“…What’s this? Why the phone?”
“Hurry!”
Flustered, Park Min-seong took the receiver.
“…Yes, Prosecutor Park Min-seong speaking.”
-Prosecutor! Asan-si, Seonnam-myeon, Seobunam-ro 100. There’s a facility tied to Inspector An Gwang-hyeon loaded with narcotics. By the kilo.
It was Kang Hyun. Speaking calmly, as if prophesying the outcome of the case they were just about to launch.
Park Min-seong nearly lost it like Jeong Ji-eun but clung to reason and asked.
“…Hold on! Where are you? What’s going on!”
-Uh. Precisely… Hurry and come. These handcuffs on my wrists are getting in the way.
“Handcuffs?”
-I was kidnapped. Took a blow to the head too.
“Kid…napped?”
The one who’d exceeded his expectations stayed calm from the shock.
Stunned speechless, Park Min-seong could only exhale softly.
His eyes flicked to Jeong Ji-eun, hoping it was a prank, but her relentless nodding forced him to press on urgently.
This was real.
“…Ha. This can’t be.”
-I’m okay for now, but come quickly.
“Hey, no, damn it. You’re in for it when I see you! Don’t hang up!”
-Got it.
Park Min-seong whipped around to Chief Kim.
“Chief, hold the warrant. Mobilize everyone available and head to Asan now. No police contact. Check other agencies for support personnel.”
“Yes!”
“No cops. There are police in the group right now.”
“Yes?”
The staff gaped, but Park Min-seong ignored them. Like a bulldozer, he issued orders, and the investigators sprang into action.
The prosecution was mobilizing.
“And Jeong.”
“Yes, sunbae!”
“Get verbal approval from the Deputy to deploy the whole division. It’s a kilo-scale narcotics case with cops on site.”
“Got it.”
“And… train Kang Hyun properly. Why the hell is he in Asan?”
Jeong Ji-eun shook her head.
“Must be his nerves of steel and top-notch skills.”
“…Sigh.”
Both Park Min-seong and Jeong Ji-eun wore expressions of urgency and worry.
An unexpected alert rang through the prosecutors’ office.
Now, the prosecution would race to Kang Hyun like a pack of wolves before the hunt—systematic and lightning-fast.
“Ha! You bastard! Found you!”
An Gwang-hyeon’s eyes gleamed maniacally.
Near a barren field with abandoned houses on Asan’s outskirts.
Powerful car headlights pierced the road, illuminating a man standing there.
Right in the middle of it, stock-still.
“This punk… Yeah, couldn’t have gone far.”
“Shit… Glad we found him.”
“Yeah. Better this way. I thought he was done for. But he’s alive, and we found him…”
“So we squeeze some cash and shut him up?”
“That’s the plan. Heh heh heh…”
Screech.
The car braked hard in the road’s center.
Slam!
An Gwang-hyeon and several burly thugs piled out, slamming their doors.
They bellowed as they approached Kang Hyun in the road.
“You little shit! You don’t even know where you are—why run?”
Kang Hyun looked a bit weary, his appearance disheveled. He slowly responded to An Gwang-hyeon’s shout.
“Yeah. Where’d you drag me after knocking me out?”
“Hahaha! You should’ve crawled back begging when you woke up—instead you run…”
An Gwang-hyeon’s gleeful rant cut off.
Something was off.
Kang Hyun stood tall and unharmed, exuding confidence.
An eerie dissonance hung in the air.
And he was too relaxed. Smirking, even.
As if mocking An Gwang-hyeon outright.
“You on something?”
“You tie everything to drugs. How much have you sold? Narcotics kingpin Inspector An Gwang-hyeon.”
“Kekeke. Crazy bastard. So cocky. Need to beat that smugness out of you.”
Yet An Gwang-hyeon couldn’t shake his unease.
Kang Hyun was far too at ease. Not a speck of dirt on his clothes.
After fleeing deep into the mountains and giving up? How?
“Still… you.”
An Gwang-hyeon eyed him suspiciously, as if spotting something.
“How’d you get the cuffs off?”
“Lost the ropes too.”
“Fuck. How! What are you!”
“Ha.”
“…?”
“Haha.”
Kang Hyun started laughing. An Gwang-hyeon scowled, forced to stand and watch.
Because he was now certain: something was wrong.
“Could it be… you.”
“Taking your sweet time.”
Only then did An Gwang-hyeon scan the roadside.
“Fuck. Nothing here…”
Quiet mountains, dark ruins. At a glance, nothing.
But looking closer, something was off.
Engines-off vehicles.
Undercover investigation vans like transport rigs—dozens parked.
As a cop, he recognized them.
One, two, three…
Eight vehicles encircled them.
“No way… you didn’t…”
Flash! Whoosh!
Vroom vroom!
Lights blazed on simultaneously. People disembarked slowly.
All in protective gear, shields, stun guns at the ready.
“Congratulations. Inspector An Gwang-hyeon and company.”
Kang Hyun raised both arms leisurely. His face lit up with pure vindication, as if all hardship had vanished.
“You’re all under arrest—caught in the act.”