Chapter 82
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: Black Market Refugees
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"Hoo."
Glancing around the police headquarters—a place I could never quite get used to—I stepped inside slowly.
As I entered the Major Crimes Squad with familiar footsteps,
the usual buzz was even livelier than normal.
"What's going on?"
"Over there."
One of the squad's screens displayed a single photo.
It was an airport security shot of Brody departing for Japan, just as promised.
In other words, proof that Brody was honoring the deal.
"Think he'll keep his word?"
"Even if he doesn't, the guys in Japan will see he's injured and decide against coming back to Korea."
The squad captain responded to Detective Lee's question.
He wasn't wrong.
Korea didn't offer enough unique advantages to risk that kind of danger.
If Brody hadn't specifically said he was leaving Bella behind, she and Alex might have abandoned Korea too.
"Anyway, how are you two holding up?"
I asked the pair, who had already been discharged and were back on duty.
They looked every bit the patients they still were.
Detective Lee was on crutches with a cast, and the captain had a neck brace on.
"I'm fine. Not like I took a direct hit like you, Captain."
Detective Lee's injuries were technically self-inflicted, if you wanted to split hairs.
From what I'd heard, he'd bolted the moment he saw Brody. In the dark, he misstepped, tumbled over the seawall, and banged up his foot and knee on impact.
Brody had seen it and didn't bother finishing him off—just chased after us instead.
In a way, he got lucky.
Better than taking a direct hit, at least.
The captain hadn't fared much worse, aside from his neck.
"Good thing we had the stab vests..."
The vests we'd worn under our clothes for precaution had done their job.
Even they were shredded from the attack.
"If we hadn't..."
The captain shuddered at the mere thought.
"So, what about Bella?"
"...We'll negotiate."
"I'll leave it to you."
The captain gave me a trusting look, signaling his faith in me.
I nodded.
Having successfully negotiated with Brody once already, he seemed to have full confidence now.
He'd even said, after some hesitation,
"If you need any help, just call anytime."
"I'm good. I've already got someone lined up."
I politely declined his kind offer with a smile, appreciating the gesture.
I didn't want to burden injured folks anyway.
Besides, I had my own helper in mind.
Seeing Bella's Fetish had reminded me of another woman with a similar one in this world.
An A-rank hero who, like Bella seeking her master, craved a man stronger than herself.
"Well then."
"Take care."
As I turned to leave, the captain and Detective Lee struggled to their feet with their injuries to see me off.
"Sorry I'm late!"
"You're right on time."
I smiled at Choi Ga-eun, who bowed stiffly like a college freshman on her first day.
Even arriving exactly on schedule left her fidgeting because she hadn't beaten me there.
Despite squeezing this out of her busy hero schedule.
Usually, people loosen up over time—less formal titles, casual speech—but Ga-eun was more polite now than at our first meeting.
She'd actually seemed sharper, more on edge back then.
I asked her,
"When was it for you? The first time?"
I meant the moment she'd first seen me as a man.
Ga-eun gazed off into the distance, as if rummaging through her memories.
Then she nodded, something clicking.
I'd figured a woman like her, who went for strong guys, might pinpoint when she'd seen me fight.
But her answer caught me off guard.
"The first time I really noticed... was when you kissed Minji in the coffee shop...?"
Her cheeks flushed as she said it.
That public display—borderline nuisance-level PDA—had stirred her heart.
She couldn't explain why exactly, but watching us, she'd felt our intense emotions indirectly, setting her own heart racing.
Would it work on Bella too?
Hard to say for sure, but worth a shot.
I nodded, thinking it just might.
Now, the trick was showing Bella some affectionate antics naturally.
"Hmm... Maybe film a video and send it?"
That was the clearest way to make it obvious.
But sending it outright felt too forced. Better if she stumbled on it organically.
Like turning on the TV in her usual hotel room and bam—there it was.
"Ah."
The perfect people for this came to mind.
Or rather, the place swarming with folks who could handle it.
"Wonder if it's still standing..."
Ga-eun eyed my worried expression curiously.
"Where?"
"Eh... somewhere."
Too shady to tell a hero.
...Even if I was one too.
Ga-eun's phone buzzed.
Hero business, most likely—that's what her calls usually meant.
Sure enough, she frowned at the screen.
"Tch... I gotta go."
"Sure. Catch you later."
She looked reluctant to part, so I added,
"Next time, I'll call you at night."
It bordered on sexual harassment, but she beamed and nodded.
"...Promise?"
I saw Choi Ga-eun off and headed into familiar back alleys.
Toward the villains' black market—their hidden hub.
"Transport crew, three needed!"
"I'll take it."
"Me too."
"Those Wolf bastards—I'm gonna kill 'em."
Stepping into the black market felt like Namdaemun during Chuseok eve—packed to the gills.
I let out a hollow laugh.
Not at all what I'd expected.
I'd thought Wolf's rampage would leave it deserted, organizations crushed or wiped out.
Instead, it was the liveliest I'd ever seen.
Knowing they were all villains made me want to blow the place sky-high.
A bit flustered, I wove through the crowd and barely squeezed into the bar.
Even that was overflowing—patrons standing and drinking.
More bartenders too.
"Oh, you're here."
A seductive woman sauntered out from the back.
Violet.
The black market's de facto queen, who'd helped me out before.
"What the hell's going on?"
"Refugees, basically."
Spot-on metaphor.
According to Violet,
most were villains who'd lost their organizations to Wolf.
Even if Wolf dismantled or absorbed some,
not everything wrapped up neatly.
Survivors and escapees started piling up,
and with nowhere else to go, they flooded this villain haven.
"Hate to say it, but I'm kinda grateful to Wolf."
Violet whispered in my ear.
The bar was breaking sales records. She flashed a sly smile.
Then, apologetically,
"Sorry... no jobs left to hand out."
With all these villains snatching commissions regardless of difficulty, the board was empty. She gave a wry grin.
Didn't matter to me.
This time, I was the one posting a job.
"Good thing—I came to give one."
"Perfect timing."
I laid out my dilemma straight to Violet.
She was hard to read, but always friendly to me, so I trusted her with everything.
She listened, then grinned.
"Haha, that's fun."
She pulled out her phone and made a quick call.
"Put a camera in the hotel room. Yeah, top floor and the one below, linked up."
A few words later, she hung up.
One call, problem solved.
"Gotta handle fun requests like this myself."
"...How much?"
"On the house. Helping take down Wolf? Worth it. Never guessed you'd go this route, though."
She kept chuckling behind her hand.
Then her eyes narrowed slyly.
"You injured his other exec, Brody, too, right?"
I answered Violet's question with silence.
No need to confirm.
But she nodded anyway, muttering regretfully,
"If you'd filmed that, everyone here would've bid through the roof."
That much hate for Wolf, huh.
Then she leaned into me.
"What do you say? If your plan works and you seduce Bella, wanna sell the video together?"
And dangled a sweet deal.