Rehabilitation Center with a 100% Success Rate
After we got back to the dorm, I filled the members in on what had happened.
“Wait, isn’t that straight-up kidnapping?!”
“Aww, kidnapping? Don’t say it like that~”
“Then what would you call it?”
“Hmm… non-consensual compulsory accompaniment?”
“That’s literally kidnapping.”
“It’s fine~ It’s fine~ Our Kakdugi Rehabilitation Center is actually pretty competent. So far, they’ve successfully rehabilitated a whopping seventeen people. Whether it’s drugs or gambling, once someone enters our center, everything turns out okay. We provide thorough relapse prevention and aftercare. It’s perfect~”
“Kakdugi Rehabilitation Center? Oh my god, something like that actually exists…? No, why does something like that even exist?”
“Ahem~ We’re a perfectly legitimate business~”
Surprisingly, the Kakdugi Rehabilitation Center that Yu Hana was talking about was a real, registered company. It even had proper business registration. That was probably why she carried herself with her usual confidence. But still… forcing rehabilitation on people against their will already crossed the line of legality, didn’t it? If this was legal, then what the hell counted as illegal? She really was a confusing person.
Still, the fact that they’d successfully rehabilitated seventeen people was somewhat impressive. Not because of the number itself, but because it was absurd that seventeen patients had even walked into a place that operated like this. Just how on earth had they managed to lure in that many people?
“Exactly how many people went in for those seventeen to all succeed? It’s not like seventeen out of a hundred, right?”
“Aww, of course not. We only operate on a strict referral basis. Seventeen people came in, and all seventeen succeeded. A one hundred percent success rate.”
“That’s actually impressive.”
“It’s nothing special~ We just don’t discharge anyone until they’re rehabilitated.”
A referral system, huh. I had no idea what that even meant. Did it mean that if someone commissioned a kidnapping, they’d proudly kidnap the target and force them through rehab? And the part about not being allowed to leave if they didn’t succeed… yeah, that was exactly what it sounded like. It was like those Indian rain dances where they kept performing the ritual until it rained, guaranteeing a one hundred percent success rate. Either way, it was terrifying.
“I don’t think it’s such a bad idea. Everyone deserves a chance at rehabilitation. She may have done drugs, but she didn’t commit any particularly serious crimes, did she?”
“…Yeah, that’s true. It’s not exactly a major crime.”
“Exactly~ She didn’t seem like a bad person at all. So we just need to rehabilitate her properly and put her to good use.”
Incredible. That bold mindset where buying drugs didn’t even register as a real crime. I wasn’t sure if I agreed, but by our standards, she wasn’t exactly wrong, so I couldn’t even argue. After all, doing drugs mostly just hurt yourself. It wasn’t like it caused massive harm to others.
“Anyway, that’s settled, but that’s not the important part right now.”
“Then what is?”
“There’s something we need to take care of.”
The fact that Yu Hana had already “collected” the composer was a done deal. We could just leave that part to her. The reason I brought it up was because we still had cleanup to do.
Even if F.A. was getting rehabilitated, that didn’t mean the drug scandal would disappear. As long as there was a purchase history, if the scandal broke, it would inevitably cause problems for us too. If we were going to use F.A.’s songs, we obviously had to prevent that from happening. Regardless of what I thought, Korean public opinion was extremely harsh toward drugs. There was zero chance they’d forgive an idol who debuted with songs from a drug-using composer.
“What are you planning to do about it?”
“I’ll explain this part.”
“Go ahead.”
“From what I checked, there was only one dealer who sold her the drugs.”
“Then…”
“If we just take care of that one person, we can clean this up neatly?”
“That’s what I’m thinking.”
“That doesn’t sound too difficult.”
If we tried to stop the entire drug scandal itself, there would be way too many things to worry about. That would be exhausting. Besides, a drug scandal ultimately meant all the people who took drugs would get caught. There was no real reason for us to stop that. In that sense, we decided to focus solely on erasing F.A. from the scandal.
After interrogating F.A.—who had been subjected to non-consensual compulsory accompaniment—we confirmed that she had only purchased drugs through a single dealer. From our perspective, having to clean up afterward, this was a very convenient situation. If we only had to deal with one person, there wouldn’t be any loose ends. If she had bought from multiple places, it would have been a real pain. At least we were lucky in that regard.
“So what are we going to do about that dealer?”
“Hmm, that’s a bit tricky.”
“Shouldn’t we punish him? Selling drugs is a completely different level from buying them, isn’t it?”
“The thing is, he’s not exactly a villain criminal either.”
This was the part that worried me the most—how to handle the dealer who would become the link between F.A. and the drug scandal. Most drug dealers were vicious people, so it would be better for the world if they disappeared. But they were too ambiguous to be called villains. It felt a bit much to go after people like that. Still, the cleanest solution was to make him disappear. That way, F.A.’s drug purchases would vanish too.
“Drugs, huh. From my experience, those drug dealer bastards are even more vicious than the mafia.”
“Really?”
“The Russian warlords never forgave anyone selling drugs in their territory.”
“That’s surprising. I thought that side would be the ones selling drugs.”
“They might have during their mafia days, but groups that grew into warlords tend to be more cautious about it. People need to work to earn money, and they need to earn money to pay taxes. If you sell drugs for a quick buck, you won’t last long.”
“I guess that makes sense.”
Tasha’s opinion that drug dealers were more harmful than villains was reasonable.
“I agree. I’ve heard that many people become addicted to drugs even when they had no intention of doing so.”
“Ah, yeah. I’ve heard that too. These days there are all sorts of weird drugs that get you addicted without any warning signs.”
“Exactly. Especially the ones made with superpowers—they’re mostly like that.”
“True. When you think about cases like that, the ones selling the drugs are definitely worse.”
Seong Jiyeong also cast her vote for elimination.
“I don’t understand why you’re even worrying about this~”
“What do you mean, why? Killing someone you don’t need to kill makes it hard to sleep at night.”
“Then~ to ease our dear Yeri’s worries~ shall I share a little story about this HD person~?”
Yu Hana, who had been watching our conversation, began to release information. It was about the drug seller who went by the alias Heaven’s Door. She must have already finished investigating through her own information network. Seriously, what a nasty personality. If she had this information, she should have said something earlier.
“Hmm, he’s not just a simple drug dealer?”
“He forces people to take drugs at clubs, and then… well.”
“And he’s involved in human trafficking too? The man has no fear.”
“If his base is in Incheon, whose territory is that? Something on this scale wouldn’t be ignored by the local powers. Isn’t this something the Security Force should be moving on?”
As Yu Hana laid out the guy’s record one by one, it was truly appalling. He was committing crimes in a much more varied way than I expected. And listening to this explanation, I could roughly understand why that drug scandal had blown up so massively back then. There were so many messy things going on that they had amplified only the drug angle to calm public opinion. Compared to the fact that people had been completely torn apart, drugs were actually less stimulating. It was possible because quite a few entertainment industry figures had been involved in that drug scandal. In the end, whether here or there, it seemed to be a special trait of investigative agencies to drag the entertainment industry into things whenever a case got too big.
“At any rate, the death penalty is confirmed. It actually feels better this way since it doesn’t leave a bad aftertaste.”
“It’d be better to clean this up quickly. Preferably before we start shooting the music video. That side has a lot to worry about too.”
“You’re doing something you’ve never done before, so of course~ How about taking this chance to build up some feminine charm, Sasha~?”
“What is that? Don’t use words I can’t understand.”
With crimes this severe, we could move without hesitation. It was much easier to deal with someone who was clearly evil rather than someone ambiguous. However, the fact that Tasha was pushing for such a swift execution was slightly surprising. It wasn’t just because she was worried about the music video. By the way, the music video Tasha mentioned was for Danger’s single album Overcome, where she was doing a featuring. It seemed Habershock was putting quite a bit of effort into this album, because the music video was being produced on a fairly grand scale. And Tasha, who was featuring on it, was the female lead. Apparently they didn’t have the budget to hire a separate actress. Since she was doing acting for the first time in her life—and very feminine acting at that—Tasha had become a bit sensitive. If it had been a request from a complete stranger, she might have brushed it off, but since she thought well of the Habershock label, she didn’t want to cause them any losses. Tasha, of all people, being passive about Phantom business. It really was an interesting sight.
It seemed the best way to shake the Phantom girls’ mentality was to pile on the company schedules. Even though they looked like that, they actually had quite a strong sense of responsibility. Once something was given to them, they tried their best to produce good results. I should probably make a note of this.
Regardless, I agreed with Tasha’s opinion that we needed to move quickly. Looking at the atmosphere, I had a feeling this wouldn’t end with just catching one drug dealer. The fact that he had committed so many crimes meant he probably had some kind of backing. If there were ledgers or something and the higher-ups were managing them, we’d have to deal with that side too.
“I’d really like to avoid anything troublesome if possible.”
For now, it seemed we’d have to catch this HD dealer first and then see.
“By the way, where can we find this guy? Hana, do you have anything?”
“Hmm~ F.A. bought the drugs at a club called Hot-Dream in Incheon. It seems this HD guy mainly hunts for prey around there.”
“A club, huh. That’s a bit annoying. Don’t you know his residence or a hideout or anything?”
“I can’t know everything. I’m not omnipotent, you know~”
“Then…”
“Do we have to go there ourselves and catch him?”
“That’s a bit much.”
“Well, since he shows up around there almost every day, couldn’t we just stake out the club?”
That squinty-eyed villain. What was she plotting this time? After finding out everything that dealer had done, there was no way Yu Hana really didn’t know where his hideout was. Honestly, it was hard to believe. But if she openly said she didn’t know, it was also true that we couldn’t really pressure her. It looked like we’d have to do some legwork ourselves this time.