Patrol in the Neighborhood (1)
Uwoong, uuwwoong….
The smartphone on the desk vibrated.
It was the alarm at exactly five o’clock, set to signal the end of the workday for Choi Yeon, who had programmed it that way. He silenced the alarm and stood from his chair.
From beyond the partition, a sharp gaze from Kim Jaesang, the Dongdae chief, shot toward him. The look was as icy as his voice.
“Choi Yeon. Where do you think you’re going?”
“…I’m doing my patrol. Come on, keep a straight face. You almost looked like you were about to go hunting.”
“Don’t blame my face for this, dummy. If there’s something that nags at you, that’s why you’re looking like that.”
“Nagging? Hmm. Nothing of the sort.”
A twitch.
Kim Jaesang’s broad forehead rippled.
From deep inside his core, feelings like a tidal wave surged up, making the thick veins on his forehead throb.
For that reason?
His voice trembled slightly.
“You’re nagging me…?”
“Nope. I’m really going to do my patrol. No hidden meaning.”
The face of Choi Yeon as he answered like that looked utterly innocent.
His childlike, guileless expression seemed to convey nothing but the bare truth.
Yet Kim Jaesang saw through it.
Having spent eight years with Choi Yeon, his sharp insight pierced right through the lie.
“…I see. You really are doing the patrol. But.”
Kim Jaesang said it firmly.
Tell the truth, you liar.
“Where does this patrol end?”
“…Huh?”
“After you finish the patrol, where are you going to stand?”
“Obviously right in front of my house, you idiot.”
“…!”
Choi Yeon didn’t deny it.
He simply maintained his innocent face.
Kim Jaesang spoke with the growl of a beast-monster.
“That doesn’t sound like a patrol to me. That’s just a slightly longer way home.”
“Aigoo, it takes at least an hour to do that little detour. That’s more than enough to call it a patrol, isn’t it?”
“I can’t. You’re doing your patrol starting at six and going home after.”
“What? That’s not fair! You want me to work even after going home?”
“Finishing at five isn’t that unreasonable, is it?”
“It isn’t. Obviously. Probably.”
Buzz….
Kim Jaesang’s fist trembled.
If I punched that mouth of his, wouldn’t it feel good?
He grumbled the complaint to himself. Being a civilized modern man, he didn’t act on it.
Instead, he turned to Choi Heeseok, who was sitting quietly beside him.
“Heeseok-ah. You say something. The bastard won’t listen to me, but he’ll listen to you.”
“Hmm…”
Really? I don’t think my words are getting through much either….
Rather than struggling to deliver that line, Choi Heeseok looked at Choi Yeon.
Choi Yeon, meeting his eyes, scratched his cheek.
He looked somehow flustered, like a little kid who tried to do something wrong and got caught by the teacher.
“Yeon-ah.”
“Yes, Hyung.”
“Do the patrol thoroughly. If anything happens, contact me right away. Got it?”
“Of course. That goes without saying!”
Choi Yeon answered cheerfully and dashed out of the Dongdae office.
So fast that Kim Jaesang, startled by Choi Heeseok’s words, didn’t even have time to grab him.
Swish… The sharp gaze that had been aimed at Choi Yeon now turned toward Choi Heeseok.
“Heeseok, what are you doing right now?”
Choi Heeseok secretly averted his gaze.
***
Choi Yeon crossed Malmangsan-ro.
It was for the patrol — a big loop around the Seonhwa Dongdae’s jurisdiction — better described as going home, but a patrol.
As he walked, familiar faces on the street greeted him.
“Another patrol? Eat this while you do it!”
The mart owner tossed him an apple.
He caught it with one hand, wiped it with his gloved hand, took a bite, and showed a thumbs-up, praising its taste, before moving on.
“Oh. It’s already five o’clock? Thanks for your hard work, Yeon-ah.”
He reached Dongsong-ro and ran into the owner of the massage shop.
The man, smoking behind the store, held up a finger to his lips.
He was sneaking a smoke without his wife knowing.
Choi Yeon smiled, pretending to zip his mouth with his thumb and index finger.
The shop owner’s wife watched the gesture with wide eyes, but Choi Yeon kept the secret solemnly.
He circled the massage shop and walked along Dongsong-ro.
Passing by a qi-press massage parlor and reaching Hunters GYM Seonhwa-dong branch,
“Ah! Yeon-hyung…!”
A voice called him.
The tone was mature for a boy and boyish for a young man. He turned and saw a tall, round-headed bear walking out from a short alley between buildings.
Kkung, kkung, kkung…
With every step, sounds came from under his feet.
“Seongyun-ssi.”
Choi Yeon instantly recognized the person wearing the doll mask.
Among his acquaintances, only Ko Sung-yoon called him Hyung while wearing a doll mask.
“Are you out handing out flyers?”
“Yes. Yeon-hyung, are you off work?”
“The chief’s nagging… but it’s a proper patrol.”
“Yeah. A patrol disguised as going home.”
Whether it was a patrol or going home.
It wasn’t a particularly important matter for third parties.
Flutter.
Ko Sung-yoon held out one of the flyers he was carrying.
“…!”
Choi Yeon obediently took the flyer.
It wasn’t going home. It was a patrol.
He tried to impress the truth on himself, but decided against it, thinking Sung-yoon wouldn’t hear him properly.
Even now, while walking with him, he was busy handing out flyers to the citizens they passed.
Why walk together if that’s the case?
Keeping the rising suspicion behind him, he examined the flyer.
It featured photos of cute animals like raccoons, raccoons, and black martens that were hard to spot in real life. At the bottom was a brief map and the name Seonhwa Animal Cafe.
But there was no bear among the photos. Not even one.
Then why wear a bear doll mask?
Choi Yeon folded the flyer in half twice and tucked it into his pocket.
“Here, please take the flyers…!”
Kkung, kkung!
Ko Sung-yoon handed out flyers to the company worker coming from the front.
Beyond the company worker, who was exhausted, Choi Yeon spotted two familiar men.
They were carrying backpacks as they passed the oil-stone gas station that had emerged from the combination of petroleum and oil-stone thanks to scientific advancement.
“…!”
“Yeon-hyung? Uh, are those acquaintances?”
“Who are they? They’re idiots who got their hunter licenses suspended and are working as fortune-tellers.”
“……!”
At those words, Ko Sung-yoon realized the two men were criminals.
Hunter licenses didn’t get suspended for nothing. If their license was revoked, it meant they had done something terrible.
Ko Sung-yoon secretly glanced at the retreating men.
Even from afar, or through the eyes of the doll mask, their faces were full of schemes.
Naturally, the contents of their backpacks felt illegal.
“Why are such people in our Seonhwa-dong…?”
“I don’t know? If money is involved, they’ll do anything. The construction companies are all busy, so I have no idea right now.”
“Eh, what do we do? Should we report them?”
“They’re supposed to turn right here.”
“Eh? Right?”
Ko Sung-yoon, unable to understand what was being said, turned to Choi Yeon.
But Choi Yeon added no explanation.
He kept his eyes on the two men, simply repeating the same words like a mantra.
“Turn right. Turn right.”
“……?”
“Turn right! Go to Nubyeok!”
Crack…!
Choi Yeon didn’t stop at repeating it. He clasped his hands together too.
His posture of prayer to the heavens felt sincere and desperate.
“Please…!”
Soon the two men arrived at Joongchon-ro intersection.
It was the spot where they would decide whether to go forward or turn right.
Choi Yeon stopped repeating and looked at them.
He gulped down his saliva.
The men were about to make their decision.
“Ah…!”
They crossed the crosswalk.
They didn’t turn right but went forward.
“Why aren’t you going to Nubyeok? We could have ignored you if you had…!”
Choi Yeon shrugged and complained.
Ko Sung-yoon, watching the scene, gently patted Choi Yeon’s back.
He was confused about why this was happening, but seeing his usually kind Hyung so upset was heartbreaking.
“Eh, so should we report them now?”
“To who?”
“Eh? Obviously the police station or the Dongdae… ah.”
Thud!
Ko Sung-yoon hit his forehead. Because the mask was too big, it hit his cheek instead of his forehead.
With a Dongdae hunter right in front of him, wanting to report to the Dongdae, it was, in his opinion, really stupid.
Uuu, I’m glad he’s wearing the mask.
Facing the embarrassed Ko Sung-yoon, Choi Yeon said.
“Leave it to me, Sung-yoon-ssi. Keep handing out the flyers.”
His tone was level, with no sense of superiority.
His walking posture was the same.
That was why?
Ko Sung-yoon stared at Choi Yeon for a moment, then approached the pedestrian passing by his side and handed out the flyer.
“Hello! Please take the flyers!”
Just like always.
***
The place they arrived after chasing the men was the Hyeonamgyo bridge in the northern part of Seonhwa-dong.
Under the bridge supported by over twenty pillars ran the Daejeon River.
The men descended under Hyeonamgyo, and Choi Yeon followed a little later.
Below Hyeonamgyo was darker and gloomier than expected.
It felt like night had come by mistake, so he had to step carefully, one foot after the other.
As he was careful, the two men stopped.
Choi Yeon hid behind a nearby pillar.
“…!”
One of them stood there.
The one with long hair and a slender build was hard to tell if male or female in the dark.
But,
“Oh. You’re here already.”
“I rushed over, but if I made you wait too long, I’m sorry.”
From their attitude, he got the feeling they were a person who didn’t act rashly.
Were there such a person at the fortune-telling office?
No, if it was just a regular employee, they wouldn’t be so polite.
While Choi Yeon was remembering the Dongdae chief who lightly tapped his head with a ruler,
“It’s fine. I came earlier than the promised time, so it’s my fault.”
In the darkness, the one waiting spoke.
The voice was high like a man’s and rough like a woman’s, a neutral tone.
“Hehe. I couldn’t sleep because I was so excited to see the children.”
“I see. Hmm… Before I show you, I have something to tell you.”
“What is it? Are you worried about not being able to pay the fee? I wanted to reassure you it’s not a problem.”
Fee?
Choi Yeon finally understood and nodded.
If they were the client, they would be polite like that.
Anyway, “children.” Those guys weren’t bad enough to kidnap children, right?
While Choi Yeon was thinking that, the one on the left answered with a waving hand.
“Oh, no. There’s no way.”
“Then what?”
“Well, um… I couldn’t gather all the children you requested.”
“What did you say?”
The client’s voice dropped.
The two men, seeing the clear discomfort, quickly bowed their bodies.
“I’m truly sorry!”
“If you give me a little more time, I’ll catch the other children as fast as possible!”
“…!”
The men, bent over, were stared at by the client.
Until then, they had to keep their bodies folded in half like a map.
When their round backs and waists started screaming,
“Haa…”
The client sighed.
He rubbed his temple with his fingers and continued.
“First, let’s look at the children I’ve gathered so far.”
“Yes, yes! Understood!”
“I’ll show them right away!”
The men hurriedly set the backpacks down on the ground.
No matter how small the child, they couldn’t fit inside a narrow bag the size of a person’s torso.
Then, was it…?
“Ooh…!”
As Choi Yeon guessed, a cheer erupted from the client’s mouth.
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