Chapter 111
Chapter 111
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 111
Chapter Title: Iron Wall
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Actress Oh Sena arrived at Cheongpyeong later than everyone else. As she entered the pension garden where the party was underway, she said,
"Oh my. It's already started?"
Son Tae-min waved with a laugh.
"Hahaha. Sena, you're late again today?"
"Director, you've had quite a bit to drink already, haven't you? Don't shoot down anything flying in the sky today, okay?"
"Hey, don't bring that up. Just thinking about it makes my healed arm ache again."
"Yes, sir."
Oh Sena only greeted Director Son Tae-min before heading straight toward Na Gang-in.
"Oh. Gang-in's here too?"
Shin Eun-ha, who had been waiting right beside him, immediately jumped in to block her.
"Sena unnie. I'm here too, you know?"
"You don't need to be."
"But I am."
Oh Sena ramped up her intensity.
"Well, since it's just you today, I could..."
Yi Bo-ra suddenly appeared from behind.
"Phew. Made it just in time. Hi, Oppa Gang-in."
Shin Eun-ha scowled and asked,
"What? How'd you get here?"
"President Lee Tae-ho said it was okay if I came."
Yi Bo-ra had originally tried to get invited through her agency but failed.
"My company's so useless. When I called President Lee Tae-ho directly, he told me to come right away."
"Wow. The boss has no tact. He invites Bora even though she's not in our movie."
Yi Bo-ra pointed at the other actors.
"Looks like I'm not the only one who just showed up!"
Na Gang-in quietly slipped away from the three women.
"I'll sit this one out."
Lee Yeon-ji slipped away from the party to chase after the puppy. The little thing was so fast that she had to run for a while before finally catching it.
"Huff huff. Hey, how are you this fast when you're so tiny?"
"Pant pant."
"Tired? Me too."
She picked up the puppy and cradled it in her arms.
"But why'd you come all the way out here to such a secluded spot? What's out here...?"
She looked down and froze.
"Huh?"
In a spot below that was hidden from view due to the terrain, there were about twenty people and a few cars gathered.
A folding table was set up among them, and on top of it sat an open 007-style briefcase.
The case was stuffed full of plastic bags filled with white powder.
Lee Yeon-ji realized immediately.
'A drug deal?'
No one would handle bags of flour like that.
She tried to quietly back away.
'Gotta bounce before they spot me.'
But trouble struck. The puppy spotted the drugs and started barking.
"Woof woof!"
The twenty or so heads below all whipped toward her.
Lee Yeon-ji scolded the puppy.
"Hey, were you dreaming of being a police dog? We're screwed because of you."
Her eyes met those of the drug gang members. She gave an awkward smile and said,
"You won't believe me if I say I didn't see anything, right?"
Jo Dae-sang was the action captain of this drug gang, second-in-command overall and the highest-ranking member here.
Action Captain Jo Dae-sang pointed at Lee Yeon-ji and yelled,
"What the hell? Grab her!"
A few gang members rushed toward Lee Yeon-ji. Her spot was higher up, but not too far away.
Lee Yeon-ji quickly set the puppy down and bolted back toward the lively party, shouting,
"Run, pup!"
The puppy excitedly chased after her on its own.
"Woof woof!"
The drug dealers chasing Lee Yeon-ji yelled,
"Hey! Stop right there!"
"We just wanna ask you someth— huff huff."
The gang members were slowed because they had to run uphill from below.
Action Captain Jo Dae-sang bellowed from behind,
"If you let her get away, you're all dead!"
The gang members panted as they ran.
Lee Yeon-ji was a fast runner to begin with, and even now she was outpacing the drug gang members.
Jo Dae-sang below ordered his other men,
"We're gonna lose her like this! Get in the cars and chase!"
The gang members piled into the nearby cars.
His right-hand man Kim Dong-sik asked,
"Bro, what about the goods and cash?"
"We can't just leave 'em here! You stuff 'em in the trunk and follow!"
"Got it!"
Lee Yeon-ji sprinted frantically and arrived at the bustling pension.
"Hah hah. B-big trouble."
Orthopedic Department Head Lee Jeong-ho had been eyeing a chance to approach Son Tae-min when he heard his daughter's voice and ran over.
"Yeon-ji! I told you not to run like that or you'll fall. Why do it again?"
"No, Dad. Hah... it's not that..."
"Sit down and catch your breath first."
"Down there, drugs. Hah. Drugs..."
"D-drugs?"
"No, hah, drugs..."
"What're you talking about meds for..."
A few drug gang members came panting up.
"Huff huff. That little bitch is fast as hell."
"She ran here... Huh? What's with all these people?"
The guys in cars arrived almost at the same time. Gang members poured out of the vehicles.
"What? Some kinda retreat?"
Lee Yeon-ji gasped,
"Hah... I saw them dealing drugs down there!"
"What?"
Lee Jeong-ho wasn't the only one shocked by her words.
The actors panicked too.
"Huh? Drugs?"
"So those guys are dealers?"
"Whoa... This is dangerous, right...?"
The drug gang members closed in on Lee Yeon-ji. As the distance shrank, some recognized the actors.
"Hey, isn't that Oh Sena?"
"Kim Yu-chan's there too."
"What? Why are all these movie stars here?"
Director Son Tae-min's hobby was photography. His skills rivaled professional photographers. He always carried a camera and snapped good subjects on sight.
While drinking and photographing the lake view, he spotted the crowd approaching and instinctively snapped toward them.
Action Captain Jo Dae-sang's face twisted.
"Did that bastard just take our picture?"
His right-hand Kim Dong-sik replied,
"Looks like it."
"Dong-sik. If all these actors report us together, you think the cops'll let it slide?"
"No. It'll hit the news too."
"We haven't sold the drugs yet."
They weren't the manufacturing side but the distribution crew. They'd just gotten a shipment smuggled from China, but hadn't put it on the streets yet.
"We haven't sold today's batch, but we've moved plenty before."
"Right. So if those actors hand over photos with our faces to the cops, we're done for?"
Kim Dong-sik checked the surroundings of the party pension.
"Bro, this pension seems to have only one entrance. Block it, and no one escapes without jumping in the lake."
"Perfect."
There were twenty drug gang members present.
Action Captain Jo Dae-sang ordered his men,
"What're you waiting for? Grab 'em all! Don't let a single one go! If even one slips away, we're finished! Stab anyone who resists!"
"Yes, sir!"
Kim Dong-sik asked,
"What after we catch 'em?"
Murderous intent flashed in Jo Dae-sang's eyes.
"Bury 'em all. No other choice with shit like this."
"If a bunch of actors go missing together, the cops won't sit idle."
"Fuck. Worry about that later—catch 'em first! Why're you still here? Go grab some too! If they jump in the lake, you jump in after! Don't miss a single one!"
The host of this party was THO Entertainment President Lee Tae-ho.
As the drug gang members blocked the pension's only exit and slowly advanced, he apologized to everyone.
"Everyone, sorry about this."
Actor Kim Yu-chan asked,
"Why are you apologizing, President?"
"Wherever I go, trouble like this keeps happening."
"Pardon?"
"The Gangwon-do set, Restaurant Penelope, the yacht party—all the same. And now today..."
Shin Eun-ha approached Lee Tae-ho and said,
"No, it's me. I was at every one of those places you mentioned."
"I'm the cause. That's why I didn't bring Min-ji to the party today. Good call."
Shin Eun-ha shouted loudly,
"I came prepared for anything, just in case."
"Prepared?"
Shin Eun-ha whispered to Lee Tae-ho,
"I'm wearing Dragon Plate."
"Huh? That's custom-order only from governments—no personal sales yet. Eun-ha, got connections in the government?"
Shin Eun-ha boasted,
"No, this is handmade by Oppa Gang-in."
"Whoa, Gang-in made it himself? That's not for sale—nobody but a select few can get one."
"I'm not just anybody."
The three could afford to stay calm because they had faith.
Na Gang-in was here.
Lee Tae-ho and Shin Eun-ha had seen him fight multiple times. Kim Yu-chan had witnessed him take down the pirate crew at the yacht party.
Kim Yu-chan thought,
'Compared to that, this is better.'
There were twenty drug gang attackers, but over twenty actors and managers gathered here.
Action Captain Jo Dae-sang yelled,
"You fuckers here to play? Pull your weapons!"
The drug gang members drew knives—mostly pocket-sized switchblades.
The actors outnumbered them, but the enemy were armed gangsters.
Oh Sena screamed,
"Knives! They pulled knives!"
Even with similar numbers, one side armed with blades and the other bare-handed made it one-sided.
Shin Eun-ha, Lee Tae-ho, and Kim Yu-chan didn't lose their composure. They'd faced gunfire before.
But the others here hadn't.
Everyone panicked.
Someone in the back pulled out a phone to call the cops.
Jo Dae-sang spotted it and roared,
"Stop that bastard from calling! Hit him!"
"Waaah!"
The gangsters charged the actors with yells.
The actor trying to call dropped his phone in fright.
Even the calm three tensed up seeing enemies charging with knives.
Orthopedic Chief Lee Jeong-ho shielded Lee Yeon-ji, regretting,
'Why did I bring Yeon-ji to a dangerous place like this...'
Come to think of it, she'd led them here.
'Huh?'
The drug gang charged the actors, who stumbled back.
Suddenly, Na Gang-in leaped forward.
He kicked off the ground, jumped into the air, and slammed a kick into the chest of the lead gangster.
"Gack!"
The kick harpooned into the enemy like a spear. Several ribs snapped outright. The thug flew backward screaming.
The gangsters behind couldn't dodge the flying body and collided.
"Argh!"
The two tangled and rolled on the ground.
Na Gang-in used the recoil to leap sideways. The gangster charging that way was still focused ahead.
Na Gang-in spun in midair and unleashed a roundhouse kick. His instep drew a perfect arc into the enemy's face.
"Guh!"
The forward-momentum thug flopped backward. The single blow knocked him out cold—he couldn't even twitch.
Na Gang-in landed lightly.
The three front-runners were down in seconds.
The following gangsters halted in shock.
"Huh? What?"
"What just...?"
Na Gang-in motioned to the actors without looking back.
"If you're not fighting bare-handed, grab something."
Shin Eun-ha reacted first.
She grabbed a long pole nearby with both hands, spun it like a windmill, and tucked it under her arm. It was a move she'd practiced for another film.
She thrust her left hand forward and shouted,
"Leave this to me!"
"She's overdoing it because she trusts me."
Thanks to Shin Eun-ha's bravado, the others snapped out of it.
THO Entertainment President Lee Tae-ho hoisted a chair.
Yi Bo-ra grabbed a plate next to Shin Eun-ha. Shin Eun-ha glanced and asked,
"What're you gonna do with that plate?"
"Throw it like a shuriken!"
"Hey! Grab a chair like the president!"
Action Captain Jo Dae-sang pointed at Na Gang-in and yelled,
"That guy's their bodyguard or something. Take him down, and the rest are nothing! Get him first!"
The gang members advanced again. They didn't charge like before—afraid the frontrunners would drop first.
Instead, they bunched up and moved toward Na Gang-in as a group.
"I know."
This pension had great views but only one access path—which was why Jo Dae-sang figured blocking it trapped the actors.
But now Na Gang-in stood smack in the middle of it. They couldn't reach the actors without breaking through him.
Action Captain Jo Dae-sang suddenly shouted,
"Twin Blades!"
The gang's top knife fighter, Twin Blades, broke from the pack and charged Na Gang-in.