Jeguk-pa (4)
Ten years earlier, Jeguk-pa boss Kim Seong-han had given an order to his men: recruit smart people whose names did not appear anywhere in the police database.
In other words, he wanted gang members with no criminal record.
Not elite athletes, not the boys who had treated juvenile detention like a second home.
That was why Lee Jun-ho, who had finished his military service and was attending a polytechnic school while preparing for employment, had been scouted by Jeguk-pa.
Jun-ho began living under Jeguk-pa after being introduced by an acquaintance already inside the organization.
He had no romantic notions about gangsters from the start.
He was there for one reason only: money.
After his father’s business collapsed in childhood, Jun-ho had grown up in brutal poverty, and he had always wanted to make a fortune.
So he never held back.
He managed illegal gambling sites while moving back and forth between the Philippines and Vietnam.
He hired hackers to attack the servers of gambling sites run by other organizations.
And when a fight broke out, he never backed away from it.
That was the kind of work old-timers who had entered the underworld as children could never do.
Even when gangsters belonged to different organizations, they usually knew one another from childhood.
In that narrow world, everyone knew everyone else through one degree of separation.
But Jun-ho was different.
So he was always called some nameless bastard by men his age, but Jun-ho simply buried them under money.
That was easy enough.
Gangsters valued face and empty ceremony above all else.
To exaggerate only a little, there seemed to be a congratulatory or condolence event every other day.
And at every one of those events, they sent notices even to the farthest relatives of the family by marriage.
Jun-ho, meanwhile, sent the largest cash gifts.
Before long, his name had spread.
And somewhere along the way, Lee Jun-ho became known among the gangsters as the most loyal older brother and younger brother around.
Kim Seong-han, the boss of Jeguk-pa, took notice of him.
And sent him to Cambodia.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“If you talk, you die... If you talk, you die... If you talk, you die...”
Locked in the holding cell, Lee Jun-ho kept repeating the same words over and over, and in a situation where interrogation itself was impossible, there was nothing Kang-hae could do.
He gave Kim Hyun-su his contact information, then rode back on the motorcycle he had come on and returned to Smart Fix in Itaewon.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Wonju Prison, the warden’s office.
Jeguk-pa boss Kim Seong-han sat in the place of honor on the sofa, speaking on his phone.
“So Na Dong-hae’s younger brother came looking for Jun-ho?”
[Yes, that’s right, boss!]
It was Kim Tae-yong’s voice, calling from the Philippines.
“I thought Na Dong-hae’s younger brother was missing.”
[Yes, he disappeared all of a sudden five years ago, boss!]
“And now he’s suddenly reappeared...?”
[That’s right, boss!]
“At a time like this, of all times...?”
[I think it’s suspicious too, boss!]
“Where is Jun-ho now?”
[Well, boss....]
Kim Tae-yong trailed off, and Kim Seong-han knew immediately that something bad had happened.
He took a cigarette from the table and put it in his mouth.
The prison warden beside him hurriedly lit it for him.
“Speak.”
[Jun-ho went and touched drugs again, boss.]
“And?”
[I told him to keep his head down, boss.]
“Get to the point. Quickly.”
[I’m sorry, boss! He says he used again, then turned himself in to the police, boss.]
The lines between Kim Seong-han’s brows deepened.
“Where is he.”
[They say it’s Geumcheon Police Station, boss.]
“Call me back.”
Kim Seong-han ended the call and immediately phoned someone else.
It was late, but the other party picked up at once, and Kim Seong-han gave him instructions.
An hour later, lawyers from major domestic firms such as Daeseo, Geumchon, and Ggoneun Deung were crowding into Geumcheon Police Station in Seoul.
Every one of them charged retainers worth tens of millions of won, and one of them had until recently served as the head of the narcotics division at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office.
They were all Lee Jun-ho’s lawyers.
“My client has no prior record. This is his first offense.”
“He turned himself in voluntarily, so he has no reason to flee or destroy evidence.”
“There is still no evidence confirming that he actually administered drugs.”
The lawyers demanded a noncustodial investigation, and Kim Hyun-su thought it was absurd.
But what was even more absurd than that was the fact that an all-star legal team had shown up for nothing more than a first-time offender.
That could mean one of two things.
Something was wrong.
Or else...
the man locked in the holding cell, Lee Jun-ho, was an extraordinary figure.
Could he be some chaebol bastard child...?
And the nonstop calls coming from above only deepened Kim Hyun-su’s suspicion.
His superiors asked about Jun-ho’s condition, and the moment they heard, “It’s not good,” they told him to reschedule the interrogation.
In the end, Kim Hyun-su couldn’t withstand the pressure from above.
After getting a written pledge to appear from Jun-ho, he let him go.
Jun-ho got into a car waiting in front of the station and headed to Icheon, Gyeonggi Province.
That was where Harmony Mental Hospital stood.
As soon as Jun-ho arrived, he went through the admission process in a single sweep.
And all of it happened in less than two hours after Kang-hae had returned to Smart Fix.
Before sunrise, Kang-hae learned the whole story through a call from Kim Hyun-su, and he ordered the private investigator’s boss to find out everything he could about the hospital where Jun-ho had been admitted.
The boss left Smart Fix at once.
Kang-hae woke Kang Yong-sik, who was passed out on the floor.
Then, as if to make a point, he pulled out the axe and saw-like tools from the drawer.
Thunk.
Thunk.
Thunk.
Kang-hae deliberately threw them one by one onto the floor, and Kang Yong-sik went pale with terror.
“Uwewewek.”
Utterly shaken, Kang Yong-sik began to retch.
Kang-hae approached him, axe in hand.
“P-please, spare me. P-please...”
Kang Yong-sik screamed, flailing on the floor.
“I—I’ll do whatever you tell me to do...!”
“I’ve got something to ask you.”
“A-anything! Please ask me anything...!”
“I want you to be honest.”
“I-I’ll tell you everything honestly!”
“Do you know about Harmony Mental Hospital in Icheon?”
Kang Yong-sik’s eyes wavered for a moment.
Kang-hae shook the axe in his hand.
“I-I’ll tell you. I really will!”
“Talk.”
“We... use it sometimes.”
“Use it how.”
“W-well, when there are people we’ve kidnapped who are awkward to kill, we put them in that hospital first...”
“Because you never know what might happen later?”
“Yes, that’s right...”
“Have you ever been there yourself?”
“No. I’ve never actually gone there myself...”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Half a day later, the private investigator’s boss returned to the office.
He brought back far more information than Kang-hae had expected, and Kang-hae thought that maybe the man was a far more capable boss than he had assumed.
“It’s a hospital that’s connected not only to Jeguk-pa, but to several organizations across the country. More than ninety percent of its admissions are involuntary.”
According to the boss, what Kang Yong-sik had said was true.
The boss continued.
“There are currently about a hundred patients admitted. The first floor is the lobby, the second floor is the ward for mild cases, the third floor is the ward for severe cases, and the fourth floor is the locked ward. Jun-ho is presumed to be in the locked ward on the fourth floor.”
The boss began laying out the structure, and Kang-hae asked, “The fourth floor?”
“Yes. The locked ward is on the fourth floor.”
If it was the fourth floor, he could easily climb up through a window or other features of the building even without a rope.
The problem was how to get Jun-ho out of there.
“How big are the windows?”
“Well... there aren’t any windows in the rooms of the locked ward.”
That was a problem.
In the end, the only way to penetrate from outside would be to break through a wall or ceiling.
But they were short on both manpower and time.
So there was no choice but to go in from the inside.
“How many security staff are there at the hospital?”
“Thirty people work in three shifts. But since Jun-ho was admitted, Jeguk-pa members have been guarding the locked ward.”
“Jeguk-pa is guarding the hospital?”
“Yes. Most of them are just low-ranking newcomers who recently joined Jeguk-pa, but there are so many of them that a frontal assault would be difficult.”
“New recruits are guarding it...”
Kang-hae fell into thought for a moment, then went on.
“No.”
“Pardon?”
“We’re going in head-on and taking him out.”
“What do you mean...?”
The boss asked in shock, but Kang-hae did not answer.
But the taxi driver saw the fire in Kang-hae’s eyes.
There was definitely some way.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Lobby of Harmony Mental Hospital in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province.
“Good to see you, boss!”
Kang Yong-sik, his foot in a cast and leaning on crutches, appeared in the hospital lobby.
The Jeguk-pa members who recognized him came over and bowed at the waist, ninety degrees.
Then they glanced sidelong at the man who had come with him.
He was a face they had never seen before, but he had cloudy eyes, a vaguely sleazy expression, and the air of a petty thug.
The Jeguk-pa members assumed he must work in the same line of business as they did.
“Everyone say hello. This is Boss Tae-yong, who came all the way from the Philippines today.”
Kang Yong-sik introduced the private investigator’s boss that way.
The Jeguk-pa members were startled and bent even deeper than before.
Then, in unison, they shouted, “Nice to meet you, boss!”
The man who received their greetings gave a short nod.
Kim Tae-yong had gone to the Philippines more than three years ago, and the Jeguk-pa members who had started their lives after that had never once seen his face.
It was Kang-hae’s idea.
They would visit Jun-ho under the pretense of being Jeguk-pa members.
And inject Jun-ho with a new type of drug.
The drug would disrupt the central nervous system, slowly lowering blood pressure and respiration, until the body slipped into a coma.
If he took the antidote within the allotted time, he could quickly regain consciousness.
But if the hospital didn’t know that, they would transfer Jun-ho to a larger medical center, and Kang-hae planned to strike during the transfer.
The taxi driver would inject the drug into Jun-ho.
And in order to get safely to the visitation room, they needed Kang Yong-sik’s help.
Of course, Kang-hae did not trust him.
He already knew, from Byeon Dong-jin, that expecting faith or loyalty from men like gangsters was stupid.
Kang-hae sent Ha Seok-jun to the countryside where Kang Yong-sik’s parents lived.
Ha Seok-jun followed orders, photographed Kang Yong-sik’s parents, and sent the pictures to Kang-hae.
Before coming to the hospital, Kang-hae showed those photos to Kang Yong-sik.
“I—I’ll really do exactly as you say. Please, my family...”
Kang Yong-sik’s voice trembled with tears, and he couldn’t finish his sentence.
“If you do your part well, nothing will happen to them.”
“E-even so... threatening my family is...”
“Why? Isn’t that what you’ve always done?”
“...”
Kang Yong-sik shut his mouth.
Just as Kang-hae had said, Kang Yong-sik had once run a loan-sharking business and routinely threatened his victims’ families.
There had even been times when victims killed themselves after being ruined by stock and coin-prediction rooms, and Kang Yong-sik had mocked the bereaved families through Telegram.
Kang-hae discovered all this while digging through Kang Yong-sik’s phone.
And decided not to feel a shred of guilt.
“Your job is simple. You just have to get the man beside you into Lee Jun-ho’s room.”
Kang Yong-sik kept his poker face.
Then he took the elevator with the private investigator’s boss and went up to the locked ward.
First floor.
Second floor.
Third floor.
Fourth floor.
Ding-dong.
The elevator doors opened, and Kang Yong-sik saw the double-locked iron bars and the security men guarding them.
Clack, clack, clack.
Kang Yong-sik dragged his crutches toward them.
“We’ve come to see Jun-ho, boss.”
Without a word, the security men led the two of them to the room where Lee Jun-ho was staying.
Jun-ho, having been given a sedative an hour earlier, was lying in bed asleep.
The private investigator’s boss naturally stuck a syringe into Jun-ho’s IV.
The new drug flowed in through the line and into Jun-ho’s body.
An hour later, the duty doctor at Harmony Mental Hospital called the nearest major hospital and requested a transfer.
“This is an emergency patient. His breathing and pulse keep dropping!”
The major hospital approved the transfer of the emergency patient.
And Lee Jun-ho, whose breathing was fading away, was loaded into a private ambulance and taken out of the hospital.
Trailing behind that ambulance was a taxi.
It was the taxi Kang-hae was driving.