Seo Seong-guk (2)
Yongsan Family Park in Seoul.
The sunlight was warm and generous.
Seong Ha-yeong and Kang-hae walked side by side, each of them carrying an iced Americano. Ha-yeong had just come from seeing Jo Soo-mi, while Kang-hae had been meeting with the owner of SmartFix.
“I’m not sure this is okay……” Ha-yeong said, her voice laced with concern.
“It’ll be fine.”
Not a trace of worry colored Kang-hae’s voice.
Bzzt—
At that moment, his phone rang.
It was the owner of SmartFix calling.
Kang-hae answered.
“Yeah.”
“Yes, sir. Is this a good time to talk?”
“Speak.”
“About the job you asked me to look into a little while ago. You’re serious about it, right……?”
“Yeah.”
“I checked the market a bit, and because there’s a woman involved, the price is going to go up.”
“How much?”
“A bill. Big one.”
“Too expensive.”
“That’s the going rate these days, though…….”
“Find cheaper ones.”
“Understood.”
“And one more thing.”
“Yes?”
“Do you know other people in your line of work?”
“Well, since we’re in the same industry…… when something big comes up, we help each other out.”
“Then call them too. Tell them I’ll pay a commission if they introduce cheaper killers.”
“Yes, sir.”
Kang-hae ended the call.
“Do you think An Hyeon-beom will really show up……?” Ha-yeong asked.
“If it involves his family, he’ll show up no matter what.”
Kang-hae had not actually asked SmartFix’s owner to arrange a contract killing of An Hyeon-beom’s wife and child.
Anyone who had once served as a chief at the Southeast Asia Directorate would have information networks at home and abroad.
Even now, after going to ground, he would still be receiving information.
And if he learned that his wife and child were in danger, he would definitely show himself.
That was what family did.
There was one more thing Kang-hae was after, too.
Cracks.
An Hyeon-beom’s disappearance was, to anyone looking at it, something done on Seo Seong-guk’s behalf.
An Hyeon-beom had been the key witness who carried out Seo Seong-guk’s leak of information.
And he might well suspect that Seo Seong-guk was the one trying to kill his family.
And Kang-hae’s prediction was right.
* * *
A residential neighborhood in Jeongwang-dong, Siheung, Gyeonggi-do.
Former National Intelligence Service chief of Northeast Asia operations, An Hyeon-beom, was hiding out in a multi-family villa occupied by foreign laborers.
The only times An Hyeon-beom went outside were to buy convenience-store lunch boxes or cigarettes.
He never left the room otherwise.
The only thing he could do there was use his laptop.
An Hyeon-beom checked the articles on Seo Seong-guk, updated in real time.
Seo Seong-guk had promised him a large sum of money once things calmed down.
With that money, he could at least manage a life in the Philippines with his family, if not exactly a comfortable one.
Whenever he got sick of checking Seo Seong-guk’s news, An Hyeon-beom would log onto the dark web and copy the contact information of smugglers into his notebook.
Then, while browsing boards for weapons, illegal drugs, forged passports, human trafficking, and contract killings, he found a post, and the instant he clicked it, his heart sank.
Location: South Korea, Hanam-si, Gyeonggi-do
Profile: Female (Age 36), Female (Age 5)
His hand began to shake.
With trembling fingers, he clicked the attached file.
And the moment he saw the photos of his wife and little daughter inside, he slammed his fist into the floor and spat out a curse.
Bang—
“You fucking bastard!”
He immediately pulled out a burner phone and called Seo Seong-guk, but Seo Seong-guk didn’t answer.
Kim Soo-hyeon’s face, the man who had worked at the Tianjin consulate, flashed through his mind.
If only that day—if only I hadn’t been drunk at that fucking hot pot place and told Kim Soo-hyeon everything…….
An Hyeon-beom called Seo Seong-guk again and again, but no one picked up.
Instead of calling Seo Seong-guk once more, he dialed his wife Jo Soo-mi’s number.
But his finger froze above the call button.
The investigative agencies would certainly be wiretapping him.
He couldn’t just stand by and watch his wife and daughter die like this.
An Hyeon-beom left the house.
He climbed into the car parked by the studio apartment and headed for Gyeonggi-do Hanam-si, where his wife and daughter lived.
* * *
Outside a residential neighborhood in Hanam-si, Gyeonggi-do.
Kang-hae and Seong Ha-yeong had parked near An Hyeon-beom’s house and were keeping watch over it.
They had been in hiding for days, and Ha-yeong felt as though she’d stepped right into a movie or a drama and become a detective.
“Kang-hae.”
“Yes.”
“Have you ever done surveillance like this before?”
“I’ve done similar training.”
“What?”
“I once dug a pit in the mountains and lay in it for three days.”
It had been one of the training exercises he’d gone through at the Development Group.
“Three days?!”
“Yes.”
“Then what about the bathroom……?”
Did he really have to say that much? Kang-hae was still debating whether he should answer when headlights appeared in the distance.
It was a car he hadn’t seen before.
The vehicle stopped in front of An Hyeon-beom’s house.
A moment later, a man got out.
He looked around nervously before heading for the house.
The way he punched in the door code and opened the gate made it clear it was An Hyeon-beom.
“Stay in the car, Ha-yeong.”
“No. I’m going with you.”
“Then stay behind me.”
“Okay.”
Once inside, An Hyeon-beom woke his wife, who had been asleep in the main bedroom.
“Honey!”
When Jo Soo-mi cried out, he hurriedly clamped a hand over her mouth.
“You’ve got a carry-on, right? Pack your things. Now.”
Jo Soo-mi had plenty she wanted to ask, but the desperate urgency in her husband—something she had never seen before—shut her mouth.
She did as he said, pulled out the suitcase, and started packing.
And then, just then—
Click—
They heard the sound of the door opening.
An Hyeon-beom drew a knife from inside his jacket.
He hid behind the bedroom door and strained his ears toward the approaching footsteps.
The instant someone stepped into the bedroom doorway, he lunged with the blade.
But Kang-hae had already anticipated it and dodged his swing.
He seized the hand gripping the knife and twisted it the other way.
Bang—
The knife clattered to the floor.
Thud—
Kang-hae kicked An Hyeon-beom hard in the shin.
Crash—
An Hyeon-beom collapsed onto the floor.
Jo Soo-mi decided she ought to scream, but fear had stolen her voice.
And the moment she saw Seong Ha-yeong standing behind Kang-hae, she forced out what little strength she had left.
“P-please, please…… save us…….”
She used every ounce of her strength, and still her voice came out weak and trembling like a quivering leaf.
“Don’t worry. We’re not here to hurt you.”
Seong Ha-yeong stepped over to Jo Soo-mi and wrapped her in an embrace. The moment she was held, Jo Soo-mi began shaking and crying.
Watching that scene, An Hyeon-beom was struck by a strange, uneasy feeling.
“We’re not here to kill you,” Kang-hae said, looking down at the man sprawled on the floor.
Then he took out his National Security Office identification and showed it to him.
“We’re from the National Security Office.”
“…….”
But An Hyeon-beom couldn’t quite believe him and stayed silent.
“An Hyeon-beom, you were told that if you went into hiding, Seo Seong-guk would pay you, wasn’t that it?”
“…….”
“The information officer Kim Soo-hyeon who was stationed at the Tianjin consulate—he was sent by Seo Seong-guk too, wasn’t he?”
“…….”
“Then wouldn’t Seo Seong-guk do the same to you?”
“…….”
Seong Ha-yeong backed Kang-hae up.
“An Hyeon-beom. Because of you, Team 1 from the Information Command was arrested in Tianjin. You know better than anyone how long they worked to establish themselves there. And Seo Seong-guk even killed an NIS employee to cover it all up.”
“……That was the order of the NIS director……. What was I supposed to do to refuse it……?”
“Then say that,” Kang-hae said. “Say it to the prosecutors.”
“Then I…….”
“You’ll go to prison, of course.”
“My kid just started kindergarten…….”
“So you’re going to be a father your child can be ashamed of?”
“…….”
“Let’s say Seo Seong-guk leaves you alone. Do you honestly think you can go live in the Philippines or Vietnam and hold your head high?”
“…….”
At that moment, An Hyeon-beom’s daughter, just awakened from sleep, appeared in the bedroom doorway.
When she saw her father on the floor, she screamed.
“Daddy~!”
She threw herself into An Hyeon-beom’s arms.
Then, with her tiny fist clenched, she pounded on his chest.
“I hate you, Daddy~! Why are you here so late~! I missed you, you know~!”
An Hyeon-beom wordlessly patted her hair.
Then, without realizing it, tears began to fall.
“An Hyeon-beom. Don’t be a father your child will be ashamed of.”
That was what Seong Ha-yeong said.
And An Hyeon-beom, holding his daughter even tighter than before, whispered, “I-I’m sorry, baby…….”
And so An Hyeon-beom wept for a very long time.
The next day.
An Hyeon-beom turned himself in to the prosecution.
The investigation lasted twelve hours, and when the reporters who had heard the news swarmed the prosecutor’s office to interview him, An Hyeon-beom faced them and read the statement he had prepared.
“I served as a chief in the Northeast Asia Information Operations Bureau of the National Intelligence Service of the Republic of Korea. And one month ago, I received an order from Seo Seong-guk, then the NIS director, to leak information about the Information Command’s overseas team operating in China to Chinese authorities.”
The reporters buzzed at the revelation.
“Because of my cowardice in failing to refuse an unjust order, the Information Command agents who were risking their lives abroad were arrested by Chinese authorities. Seo Seong-guk also ordered the assassination of an NIS employee dispatched to the Tianjin consulate in order to cover it up. I have testified to all of this in today’s investigation, and I will pay the price for the crimes I have committed.”
When An Hyeon-beom finished reading the prepared statement, a reporter fired off a question.
“Do you have evidence?”
“I have the audio file of Seo Seong-guk giving the order over the phone.”
After that, breaking news poured out.
The audio file containing Seo Seong-guk’s orders was released to the press.
Seo Seong-guk claimed it was an AI-manipulated recording, but audio forensics experts, deepfake detection specialists, and digital forensics experts all agreed it was genuine and unaltered.
The arrows of public anger that had been aimed at the Blue House turned toward Seo Seong-guk instead, and the Future Korea Party distanced itself from him, insisting he had nothing to do with them.
The next day.
The chief prosecutor of the Financial and Securities Crime Investigation Division at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office called in the press.
“I’d like to address the recently raised concerns regarding the account status of B Investment. Last March, the account belonging to B Investment, a company incorporated in Singapore, was frozen on suspicion of financial fraud and violations of the Capital Markets Act. However, the account balance claimed by some media outlets as 500 billion won is incorrect. That 500 billion won represents the total accumulated transaction volume, and at the time, the B Investment account held only about 3 billion won in Korean currency.”
* * *
A few days later.
Jo Seong-jun, leader of Information Command Tianjin Team 3, entered the country on a forged passport without reporting to headquarters.
He prowled around Seo Seong-guk’s house for several days.
And the night before Seo Seong-guk’s detention warrant hearing, Seong-jun slipped into the house under cover of darkness.
Unable to sleep, Seo Seong-guk encountered Seong-jun in the living room.
And he knew at once that this man had come to kill him.
“You sent your family to Canada.”
Not long ago, Seo Seong-guk had sent his wife and youngest son, who had been living with him, to Canada, where his eldest daughter was staying.
“What a shame. I was going to kill your whole family, too.”
“…….”
“Don’t worry. I’m not so free that I’d go all the way to Canada just to kill your family. I’ve got better things to do.”
“You’re one of Team 1?”
“No. Team 3. Because of your bastard ass, Team 1 ended up half-broken. So I came instead.”
“What changes if you kill me?”
“What we suffered, we’ve got to pay back in full.”
“You seem to think you’re some great patriot.”
“You son of a bitch. Working my ass off for a miserable wage and putting my life on the line—that makes me a patriot, doesn’t it?”
“Ha. How many people did you kill in China?”
“A fucking lot.”
“You’re nothing but a machine. A killing machine. Be honest with me. Among those red bastards, those Chinese you killed in China, were there people who actually deserved to die?”
“I don’t know.”
“Ha ha ha. Then you and I are the same kind of people, aren’t we?”
“No. At the very least, we don’t do rat-ass shit like you in a military uniform with the Taegeuk symbol on it.”
“…….”
“Go to hell.”
The next day.
Articles flooded in claiming that Seo Seong-guk had written a suicide note protesting his innocence and then killed himself in his own home.
At the strong request of the bereaved family, an autopsy was conducted.
The cause of death was asphyxiation due to pressure on the neck.
There were no signs of homicide.
According to the document examination, the suicide note was confirmed to have been written by Seo Seong-guk himself. However, it was noted that his hand trembled much more than usual while writing, and that the final sentence differed somewhat from his normal handwriting. Still, they added that this could be explained by psychological instability and emotional disturbance.
Reading the report, Kang-hae was impressed in spite of himself.
He made up his mind that, if the opportunity ever came, he would have to learn Seong-jun’s methods from him.
---