Chapter 20
I seized the seagull by the leg, wrenched the knife out of his hand, and drove the blade straight into the top of his foot, just above his little toe.
“Aaaaargh!”
“Does it hurt?”
“Ugh... ah... aah... ngh... gk...”
The seagull, who had been screaming himself hoarse, couldn’t endure the pain. He folded in on himself like a shrimp, making choking, gull-like noises before collapsing to the floor.
“Keep good watch over this bastard while I’m gone.”
“Yes, Chairman. How far should I take it?”
“Do whatever you want until Kim Museong gets here. Just don’t let him die. Kim Museong looks pretty damn angry.”
“Understood, Chairman.”
I patted Bear on the shoulder and opened the office door.
“Kim Gijung and the seagull?”
My jaw tightened.
Fortunately, I was able to stay calm because it had been my nephew’s friend who was kidnapped, not my nephew himself. If it had been Jinyeong...
Just imagining it made the pain so unbearable I wanted to die.
“Hang on a little longer. I’m coming now.”
* * *
One hour and thirty minutes earlier.
Mapo Police Station riot squad captain Jeong Taehyeong’s phone rang. The caller was his older brother, Jeong Taeyang, boss of the Gangnam Taeyang Faction.
“I’ll keep this short. It’s about your friend Do Jaehyun.”
“Go on.”
“Out of nowhere, some guy straight out of 007 showed up and told me very briefly that he was a former coworker of Do Jaehyun.”
“So?”
“So what do you mean, so? Do Jaehyun’s nephew got kidnapped, and you used the cell tower or whatever to find the rough location of the kidnappers. Then that 007 guy sent over the address of the place where the kid’s being held. I’ll share it with you too. He said he’d have the men watching WH Entertainment and the building where they took the kid taken care of in an hour and a half.”
“Really? Good. Well, if you’re watching a building, you need to be somewhere with a clear view of it, and places like that are obvious. Still, finding all that in such a short time is impressive. Who are those guys?”
“How the hell would I know, asshole? Is that what matters right now? Worry about your own plate. This was supposed to be Gangnam Police Station’s problem anyway, right? That 007 prick said he wanted to do things the nice way. The story should be that you found out about your friend’s personal trouble, moved on your own, and wiped out the kidnappers single-handedly. I’ll just play the Dark Knight, help out, and disappear.”
“...I’ll take a half day.”
“I’m hanging up. I’m not going. Seems like there are only a few guys there—some bastard called Seagull or Catfish, plus a few Kim Hasa Faction punks. That’s nothing I need to move for. I’ll send Jeonghun and a few men from the strike team, so don’t touch any of ours.”
“Got it.”
Jeong Taeyang took off his police uniform and got to his feet.
“They’re not even cops, and they call themselves a strike team. What a load of crap.”
* * *
“It’s me.”
The instant I got out of the office and into the car, I called him. While the signal was ringing, a text came in at just the right moment.
Operation complete. Handover to Jeong Taeseong finished.
Hey, little brother’s friend. Consider this repayment for that Gangbuk loan-shark debt and the favors from those businesses you got last time. We’re square now.
Then the call connected, and a familiar voice rang through the car speakers.
“Yes, Chairman. I’ve got your call.”
Red Dog, Kim Museong.
Like his nickname, his voice was low and steady, like a hunting dog ready to rip into anyone the moment an order came down.
“How’s the prep?”
“Done. I got all the guys gathered at Helios. But did you handle the issue with your nephew’s friend?”
“It’s over.”
“Understood. Then I’m heading to meet Kim Gijung, that son of a bitch. But are you coming in person too, Chairman?”
“No. I’ve got somewhere else to be.”
“Understood. I’ll clean this up on my end and make a trip to Yangyang. Will that be all right?”
So Kim Museong was going to Yangyang.
That meant he was going to erase Kim Gijung from the world, the same way he had once made Kim Baekho and Johwa Group’s lunatic Hyeonsu Yeong vanish.
If I had never touched it from the beginning, that would be one thing. But once you started, you had to see it through to the end.
“What if it isn’t?”
“I’m sorry, Chairman. I misspoke. May I say one thing for your sake?”
“Go ahead.”
“Kim Gijung of the Kim Hasa Faction is nothing special, but I don’t think former Chairman Kim Jungyeong will sit still. Even if he looks like he’s stepped back on the surface, isn’t he still propping Kim Gijung up as a puppet and ruling from behind the curtain?”
“Exactly why I’m going to see Kim Jungyeong.”
“Understood. I’ll handle it without making a mistake.”
Today, I intended to wipe the Kim Hasa Faction out of Seoul.
Red Dog Kim Museong and the Baekho Faction would sweep away Kim Gijung, the current boss of the Kim Hasa Faction, along with all the mid-tier action leaders loyal to him. And if, by some chance, a few slipped through Kim Museong’s fingers, I would use the police, issue warrants, and send every last one of them straight into prison.
As for former Chairman Kim Jungyeong, the same applied.
I didn’t actually believe Kim Jungyeong had personally committed this stupid act. If he had moved himself, he would have come after me directly or taken my nephew hostage and shaken me down.
That sort of clumsy, amateur move wasn’t Kim Jungyeong’s style. But the dice had already been cast.
Whether Kim Jungyeong knew it or not, one of the two factions—the Kim Hasa Faction or the Baekho Faction—was going to have to take its sign down.
“Hyung, this is it.”
By the time I’d finished sorting out my thoughts, we’d already arrived at WH Entertainment, where Shin Gilwoo had been waiting. He lifted a hand in greeting.
“You found him?”
“Yes. I was about ready to go in first and turn the whole place upside down. I was dying holding myself back.”
Gilwoo, who was in the passenger seat, ground his teeth as he cracked his knuckles.
“Chairman Kim Jungyeong. That old man is cautious as a fox. He’s got a good number of vacation homes all over the country—Anseo, Sokcho, and so on...”
“So where is he now?”
“Currently, he’s at a villa in Yangpyeong.”
“He’s probably not alone. How many people are there?”
“I sent two Baekho guys to recon. Told them not to get close, just watch from afar, but...”
Gilwoo fumbled with his phone, then showed me three photos and the contents of a text.
“Looks like one or two old men who seem to be elders come and go during the day. Other than that, there are around ten guards and attendants. Honestly, whether it’s ten or twenty, what does it matter? You and I alone would be enough.”
“Still be careful. A blind knife is the most dangerous thing of all.”
“I know. That’s why I brought one for you too.”
Gilwoo pulled something out of the big shopping bag he’d tossed onto the back seat, and I couldn’t help but let out a snort of laughter.
“Well, I’ll be damned.”
What he pulled out was a stab-proof vest.
“Put it on before you get out. Like you said, a blind knife is the scariest thing.”
Gilwoo grinned and shrugged the vest on over his clothes.
9:00 p.m.
“That’s it?”
I pulled over on the shoulder of a quiet road in Yangpyeong after sunset.
“Yes, that’s right.”
A moment later, Gilwoo checked the map against our current location and the house in the phone photos, then nodded.
A large mansion stood atop a hill, reached by an unpaved road.
The mansion Gilwoo and I were looking at was the villa where Kim Jungyeong, former chairman of the Kim Hasa Faction, was staying.
“Confirm it.”
“Yes.”
Shin Gilwoo opened the map book and made calls one by one from his phone. The people he was calling were the Baekho men we had sent ahead to keep watch on Kim Jungyeong’s villa.
“There’s been a development.”
Gilwoo’s expression stiffened slightly after finishing the calls with the reconnaissance team.
“What is it?”
“Kim Gijung is with him.”
“Really? Their information moves fast. Is he probably begging Kim Jungyeong to save his life?”
“Probably. If it were me, I’d turn myself in and try to get police protection at least. Honestly, when gangsters use their heads, is that really the best they can do? Still, this might get a little annoying.”
“Why?”
“Kim Gijung didn’t come alone. He went in with a van packed full of thugs.”
“Really?”
“What should we do? There are probably at least twenty on their side. Should I call in more men?”
Gilwoo asked while tightening the leather gloves on his hands.
“How do you want to do it?”
“It’ll be hard with bare hands... but we can’t exactly use knives either.”
“Use them.”
“Huh?”
“Use knives. You learned well in Special Forces, didn’t you? Knife skills?”
“Squad leader! No, hyung. That’s not for subduing someone or self-defense. It’s for killing people. Even if you try to keep away from vital points, one slip and somebody ends up in a hospital—or worse. And...”
“And?”
“You’re not seriously planning to use a knife too, are you?”
“Me? No. I’ve got something I prepared.”
I opened the console box behind the gearshift and took out a leather pouch about the size of an adult man’s fist.
“What is that?”
“If you’re curious, look for yourself.”
“Let me see. You didn’t stuff it full of coins or something, did you?”
Gilwoo must have heard the clink coming from the leather pouch, because he hurriedly opened it and pulled out the contents.
“?! This is... ”
“Oh, throwing stars. Back when we were training, we used to stick metal chopsticks into trees and toss all kinds of things around when we were bored. We even made throwing stars and threw them for fun.”
“No, hyung. Didn’t we make these ourselves as a discharge gift?”
“Exactly. Isn’t it great? No clear source, not something you bought somewhere, and no evidence left behind.”
“...Fair enough.”
“Take a few yourself. This is enough for me.”
“Unbelievable. You really keep things like this in your car?”
Gilwoo grumbled, but he still picked up four or five throwing stars and stuffed them into his front pocket.
“Prep’s done. Let’s go!”
* * *
Smack!
“You stupid bastard. Huhh, huhh...”
Former Chairman Kim Jungyeong slapped Kim Gijung’s cheek hard enough to make the sound crack through the room, then immediately hit him again. Kim Gijung was kneeling in front of him, and Kim Jungyeong panted with anger.
“Hyung-nim, I made a mistake for the sake of the organization, but...”
“Mistake? Don’t give me that crap, you lunatic.”
Kim Jungyeong had no intention of listening to Kim Gijung’s excuses.
“Get down.”
“Huh?”
“I said get down, you bastard. What, are you embarrassed to get beaten in front of the guys because you still care about boss face? And you had the gall to botch things this badly? Huh?”
“Hyung-nim, that’s not it. I was thinking about the organization...”
“You son of a bitch, you’re still running your mouth.”
Thunk!
“Ghk!”
Kim Gijung doubled over, clutching his stomach after Kim Jungyeong’s kick slammed into his solar plexus.
“You. Bring me whatever’s over there.”
“Huh?”
“What do you mean, huh, you bastard? Bring me anything that’s in your hand!”
“Y-yes, Chairman!”
One of the Kim Hasa Faction men, who had been frozen in place in front of the golf clubs lined up along one wall of the villa, met Kim Jungyeong’s icy gaze and ran over like a rabbit with its tail on fire, carrying a titanium club.
“Take off your damn underwear too.”
“Huh?”
“You won’t? Want me to do it myself?”
“H-Hyung-nim. No matter what, that’s...”
“You little shit.”
Thunk.
The golf club in Kim Jungyeong’s hand smashed into Kim Gijung’s solar plexus again.
“Ghk, ugk... ngh...”
The blow stole his breath so completely that Kim Gijung curled up like a shrimp and could no longer move. Kim Jungyeong’s gaze shifted to the lackeys.
“Strip this bastard naked.”
“Yes, Chairman!”
Not a single person here was on Kim Gijung’s side.
Just as Red Dog Kim Museong had told Do Jaehyun, Kim Gijung was nothing more than a scarecrow to former Kim Hasa chairman Kim Jungyeong.
And the men of the Kim Hasa Faction knew it well.
“Face down. Keep your back straight. If you act like a baby and take a bad hit, you’ll wreck your spine.”
“Hyu-nim... Aaagh, ah! Aaagh!”
Kim Gijung looked at Kim Jungyeong with pleading eyes, but what came back at him was not pity or forgiveness—it was merciless beating.
“Hyu... hyu... that... that’s enou—”
In the end, unable to withstand the savage punishment, Kim Jungyeong collapsed in a bloodied faint. Even then, with his anger still not spent, Kim Jungyeong brought the golf club down three or four more times on the unconscious Kim Gijung.
“...”
Kim Gijung’s arms and legs bent at grotesque angles, but he was already unconscious, so all he could do was twitch whenever the club struck him. He could no longer even scream.
“Any contact from Do Chairman’s side?”
“Not yet.”
“Damn it... Bring me any whiskey. Fast.”
“Yes, Chairman!”
Kim Jungyeong collapsed onto the sofa and gulped down the harsh whiskey straight from the bottle.
“Tell everyone to gather up. Nobody knows what Do Jaehyun might do.”
“Yes, Chairman. I already gave the order. So far, thankfully, nothing seems to have happened.”
“That would be a relief... Still, looking at the way Do Jaehyun does things, that young bastard acts like a guy who’s been rolling in this world for decades, yet on the surface he behaves like a clean-cut businessman. He’s impossible to read.”
Kim Jungyeong’s eyes wavered with anxiety.
Of all things, they had kidnapped Do Jaehyun’s family.
The only silver lining was that the idiot Kim Gijung had not kidnapped Do Jaehyun’s actual nephew, but the friend of someone with the same name.
Then—
Rrrrring! Rrrrriing!
The phone Kim Jungyeong had tossed onto the sofa vibrated violently, its ringtone shrieking through the room.