External Drive (1)
“Then have a good time.”
After the madam left, the woman using the name Hana slid into the seat beside Kang-hae.
She looked to be in her mid-twenties, wearing a pink blouse and a white skirt.
“I haven’t seen you before.”
She greeted him with a smile that curved her eyes, then added in a soft, gentle voice, “What kind of drink would you like, oppa?”
Kang-hae looked at her for a long moment.
Elegance and luxury seemed to radiate from her face. If you ran into her on the street, no one would ever guess she worked in a Tenpro room salon.
“Do I have something on my face? Why are you staring at me like that, oppa~?”
She spoke with a playful, teasing lilt.
“I have something to ask you.”
“About what~?”
“Do you know a man named Lee Jeong-tae?”
“……!”
The woman named Hana stiffened.
And Kang-hae knew Lee Jeong-tae hadn’t been lying.
“So you do know him.”
“Oppa, who are you……?”
“I heard you were living in the officetel he arranged for you.”
“…….”
“There’s something I need to retrieve from that place.”
As he spoke, Kang-hae held out the white envelope he had received from Choi Tae-seong.
“If it’s all right with you, I’d like you to come with me now.”
“Puhaha.”
Hana burst out laughing the moment she heard him.
“Oppa.”
“……?”
“Are you a cop?”
Her voice, which had been gentle only moments ago, had already changed.
“Well…… where would a cop get the money to come all the way here?”
She took a cigarette from her pocket and put it between her lips.
“Hoo~.”
Then she blew smoke right in Kang-hae’s face.
“You look younger than me at a glance, so let Noona give you some advice.”
“……?”
“You’re screwed.”
She had clearly misunderstood something badly.
She kept right on talking.
“How did you know Oppa Jeong-tae went to Japan? Did the waiters tell you? Were you planning to do something to me while Oppa Jeong-tae was away? You think I haven’t seen a couple of creeps like you before?”
She let her imagination run wild.
Kang-hae found it a little awkward.
She blew cigarette smoke into his face again, then pinched his cheek.
“You think I’m working in a place like this because I don’t have money? There are girls like that, sure. They don’t know their place, borrow way too much, and end up getting hooked by the madam or the manager.”
Kang-hae couldn’t make sense of half the things she was saying.
She went on, “Noona owns two officetels in Gangnam. I’m renting both out, and I even bought an apartment in Gwacheon.”
This time, he understood. She was saying she had money.
Her hand, which had been pinching his cheek, moved to his hair.
Then she patted his head.
“At least your looks are decent. I’ll let it slide because you’re handsome~? Try some bullshit like this again next time, and then you’ll really be fucked~.”
He needed to correct her misunderstanding.
If she’d been a man, he would have broken her wrist first.
Instead, he took a business card from his pocket.
“National Security Office……?”
“I’m investigating Lee Jeong-tae.”
“W-what……? Y-you really are a cop, no, a detective……?”
“I’m not police, but I am investigating the Imperial Faction.”
“You don’t look like a government employee…… Is this really real……?”
Her face was still full of suspicion.
“Lee Jeong-tae died in Japan.”
“……!”
“I was told there’s a safe in the pantry. I only need to retrieve what’s inside.”
“Did Oppa Jeong-tae really die……?”
Kang-hae nodded.
She fell silent, deep in thought.
But Kang-hae didn’t have time to wait around.
“If you come with me now, nothing will happen to you. But if the investigation starts, you’ll be formally questioned too.”
He lied, using pressure to push her along.
After a moment, she stood and said, “You’re really only taking what’s in the safe, right……?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s go.”
She rose from her seat.
And Kang-hae followed her out.
Her home was an officetel near Nonhyeon Station.
It was about a ten-minute drive from the salon.
The two of them took a taxi to her place.
Just as Lee Jeong-tae had said, there was a private safe in the pantry.
7777
Kang-hae entered the password Lee Jeong-tae had given him.
Beep—
A moment later, the safe door opened.
Inside were an external drive about the size of a portable battery pack, a stack of fifty-thousand-won bills, and several chunks of gold bullion.
Kang-hae took the external drive and left her apartment.
* * *
The next morning, Kang-hae headed to the National Security Office.
Seong Ha-yeong, who had returned from Gwacheon to the National Security Office, greeted him with a surprised look.
It was the first time they had seen each other since returning from Japan.
“Mr. Kang-hae, what brings you here?”
“I came to see the director.”
“I heard you were questioned by the National Intelligence Service.”
“It ended yesterday.”
“You must have had a rough time.”
“Not at all.”
“Is the director in?”
“Yes, he just came in a little while ago.”
“Then I’ll go see him.”
Kang-hae headed for the director’s office and handed Ko Jeong-un the external drive.
“This is the evidence Lee Jeong-tae mentioned. He said the data was on here.”
“Good work.”
“And…….”
“……?”
Kang-hae held out the resignation letter he had prepared in advance.
“My resignation.”
“If you leave the NSO, will you also retire from Military Intelligence?”
“Yes.”
“Is the work too difficult?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“There’s something I need to do. I can’t put it off any longer.”
Handing over the external drive was the best Kang-hae could do for now.
Now he had to find his brother.
Ko Jeong-un, who knew exactly what Kang-hae meant by the thing he needed to do, watched him in silence.
“They’ll target you in Japan.”
“I’ll handle it.”
“It’s fine to leave the NSO, but stay with Military Intelligence a little longer.”
Under normal circumstances, that might have been the right answer.
But Kang-hae needed to know whether his brother was alive or dead first.
That mattered more than any threat he couldn’t even see.
“I’m sorry.”
“One week.”
“……?”
“If you still feel the same way a week from now, I’ll accept your resignation.”
“Understood.”
When Kang-hae left the director’s office, he met Seong Ha-yeong’s eyes.
He headed straight for her.
“Ha-yeong.”
“Yes.”
“Are you free for dinner after work?”
“Huh? Yes. I’m free.”
“Then I’ll see you later.”
With that, Kang-hae left the National Security Office.
That evening, Kang-hae arrived early at a dining pub in Itaewon and waited for Seong Ha-yeong.
At seven o’clock, she appeared.
Her face lit up the moment she saw him, all warmth and pleasure at the sight.
“Did you wait long?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“Ha-yeong.”
“Yes?”
“How’s your phone battery?”
Seong Ha-yeong blinked, confused by the sudden question.
Kang-hae smoothly took the phone from her hand.
“Looks like it’s low.”
He lifted a hand and called over a staff member, then handed him the phone and asked him to charge it.
Ha-yeong found it odd, but she knew Kang-hae wasn’t the sort to do pointless things, so she didn’t stop him.
“What’s this about?”
“You were questioned by the National Intelligence Service too, weren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Did they take your phone too?”
“Yes. They called it voluntary submission, but it was basically a forced seizure.”
“There’s probably a wiretap program installed on it.”
“……?!”
“Replace it as soon as possible.”
“All right…….”
After that, the two of them looked over the menu and ordered dinner.
Seong Ha-yeong ordered vongole pasta.
Kang-hae ordered garlic steak.
The food was good.
“Should we have some wine too?”
“Sure.”
Seong Ha-yeong ordered two glasses of house wine.
Clink—
The two glasses met.
Kang-hae savored the bitterness lingering on the tip of his tongue.
“Ha-yeong.”
“Yes?”
“I handed in my resignation to the director today.”
Seong Ha-yeong’s expression stiffened as she sipped her wine.
But unlike last time, there was no trace of hurt in her face.
“Then are you going back to Military Intelligence?”
“No. I’ll be leaving Military Intelligence too.”
“There must be a reason…… right?”
“Yes.”
“Can you tell me?”
“…….”
Kang-hae thought for a moment.
Aside from the people in Military Intelligence, Seong Ha-yeong was the only person he had grown close to.
And while they had worked together at the National Security Office, they had helped each other a great deal.
Most of all, Seong Ha-yeong was a good person.
“I had a brother. Smart, popular, and didn’t lack a thing.”
“…….”
“After he finished his military service, he went to Cambodia to earn money. Then contact was lost.”
Seong Ha-yeong listened to him with a serious face.
At some point, Kang-hae’s voice began to tremble as he spoke.
“A year later, the police contacted us. They said my brother was dead.”
“…….”
“It turned out he’d been kidnapped by gangsters, then murdered.”
“No way…….”
Seong Ha-yeong looked stunned.
“My father collapsed from the shock and passed away a short time later. My mother took her own life.”
She clamped a hand over her mouth.
“I enlisted in Military Intelligence to get revenge.”
“Don’t tell me those gangsters were the Imperial Faction……?”
“Yes.”
Only then did Seong Ha-yeong understand why Kang-hae had been so fixated on Lee Jeong-tae.
“I didn’t know any of this…….”
“But Lee Jeong-tae told me my brother is alive.”
“……!”
“So I have to find him.”
“…….”
“Thank you for everything. In a lot of ways.”
It was the first time he had ever laid his family history bare before anyone.
And for the first time, Kang-hae felt it.
That heavy thing that had always pressed down on his chest had grown just a little lighter.
“So you’ve been living in hell too, Mr. Kang-hae…… I had no idea…….”
“Ha-yeong.”
“Yes.”
“I met a man named Choi Tae-seong yesterday.”
“……?!”
“He said he was the head of planning and strategy at the Ilseong Group.”
“That’s right. He’s my grandfather’s longtime chief of staff.”
“He asked what you went through.”
“And?”
“I told him.”
“I see…… so that’s why Grandpa contacted me…….”
Last night, Seong Hun had heard from Choi Tae-seong about what Seong Ha-yeong went through in Japan, and he had sent word asking to meet her.
“What are you going to do now?”
“I’m not sure…… My grandfather knew how my father died, but he still chose to look the other way…….”
“He looked the other way?”
“Yes. He said even if they sent my uncle—no, that trash—to prison, my dead father still wouldn’t come back.”
“What do you want to do, Ha-yeong?”
“If I’m honest, I want to send every last one of those bastards who made my father that way straight to prison. But…… I’m a little scared…….”
“What kind of man is the president of Hanbando Construction?”
“I heard he used to be a gangster. Now he’s my uncle’s—no, that trash’s—lapdog.”
“A lapdog?”
“A chaebol and a former gangster? It’s obvious. He’s just the guy who does the trash’s dirty work.”
“If he’s the one who reports it, wouldn’t that make things go the way you want?”
“But how……?”
“People who receive orders usually leave traces, especially if the work is illegal. They keep hold of the person who gave the order’s weakness. That goes double for trash like gangsters.”
“Then…….”
“For now, let’s look into the man who serves as Hanbando Construction’s representative. I’ll help you.”
“You’ve got your own things to do, Mr. Kang-hae…….”
“I still don’t know whether my brother is alive or dead. To be honest, I wasn’t even sure where to start. Until then, I’ll help you.”
“Then I’ll help too, Mr. Kang-hae! I’ll help you find your brother!”
Seong Ha-yeong said it with such force that Kang-hae smiled before he even realized it.
“Mr. Kang-hae, did you just smile?!”
“What?”
“I’ve never seen you smile before.”
Kang-hae turned his gaze away, a little embarrassed.
Seong Ha-yeong watched him with a gentle smile.
Buzz—
And then Kang-hae’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
“Hello.”
[Is this Na Kang-hae?]
“Yes. Who is this?”
[This is Detective First Class Lee Seong-min from Gangnam Police Station.]
“Yes.”
[It’s about something else. You met a woman named Lee Na-yeon last night, didn’t you?]
Kang-hae thought through the people he knew, trying to remember whether there was anyone named Lee Na-yeon among them.
[The woman who works at Blue Velvet. I think her work name was Hana, or maybe Hanna. Anyway……]
“What is this about?”
[That woman named Lee Na-yeon died early this morning.]
“……!”
[Where are you now? I’d like you to come to the station.]
“Understood.”
Kang-hae ended the call.
And seeing the grave look on his face, Seong Ha-yeong asked, “What happened……?”
“I need to go to the police station now.”
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