A Brief Father-Son Reunion

The van carrying Park Jae-hyeok, Lee Yong-jin, and Seo Gye-hak sped along the dimly lit road.

Sitting quietly, Yong-jin asked Gye-hak in a casual tone, "Hey, where are we going?"

"I can't give you the exact destination, but I can assure you it's a safe place."

Jae-hyeok looked around the interior of the van.

The van had tinted windows, making it impossible to see outside from inside.

Only one light was on in the dark interior, and a partition separated the back and front seats, blocking the view of the driver.

'I can't see outside, so I don't know where we're going. Is this for security?'

Jae-hyeok thought to himself and sat quietly.

After a while, the vehicle stopped, the door opened, and Cho Tae-min and Yong-jin's family members appeared.

"Dad!!"

"Seohyeon-ah!!"

Young Seohyeon, unaware of what her family had gotten involved in, looked at her father with a bright smile and hugged him.

"Are you okay? Did you get hurt anywhere?"

"Yeah, I'm fine...

At that moment, Gye-hak looked at Yeong-seok and asked Yong-jin, "Is this person also a friend of Yong-jin-ssi?"

Cho Tae-min answered him, "The person who saved us when Cho Jin-yeong's subordinates disguised themselves as police came to find us."

Gye-hak fell silent for a moment, then said to Yeong-seok, "For now, please get in our car as well."

"I'm fine...

"No. Since the moment you helped Cho Tae-min, you've been entangled in dangerous situations. You can't just stay like this."

"What do you mean by dangerous situations?"

"I'll explain that later. For now, come with us. It will be safer."

After hearing Gye-hak's words, Yeong-seok hesitated briefly before getting into the car. Gye-hak instructed one of his subordinates.

"Move Cho Tae-min's car to a suitable location."

"Understood."

So, Gye-hak's subordinate drove Yeong-seok's car.

Once inside the car, Yeong-seok looked at Jae-hyeok and greeted him as if he knew him.

"Oh? Why are you here?"

"That... it's a long story."

At that, Gye-hak raised his eyebrows and asked Jae-hyeok, "What? You know each other?"

"Yes. We met yesterday and talked for a bit."

"Really?"

Gye-hak stared at Yeong-seok blankly and said, "Well, that's not important right now. Let's talk about it later."

And the van continued moving for a while before stopping at some location.

"We're here. Please get out."

The door opened, and what appeared before them was a dark, rundown building in a mountainous area.

And several people with intense gazes stood around the building, watching them.

Feeling the atmosphere was scary, Seohyeon hid behind Yong-jin's back.

"Park Jae-hyeok. Follow me."

Gye-hak guided Jae-hyeok in a different direction from where Yong-jin and his family, Tae-min, and Yeong-seok were going.

"Where are we going?"

"I told you. Someone wants to meet you."

And Gye-hak arrived in front of a door and lightly knocked.

"Team Leader. Seo Gye-hak."

"Come in."

'Team Leader? Could it be...?'

When they said 'Team Leader', Jae-hyeok guessed that the person he wanted to meet was probably Park Min-hyeok, his father.

Previously, Seung-gyu had called his father 'Team Leader', and Gye-hak, his colleague, also used the title 'Team Leader'.

When Gye-hak opened the door, Jae-hyeok stepped into the room with a complex mix of emotions regarding his father.

Welcoming Jae-hyeok was a man sitting at the desk, typing on the computer keyboard.

Min-hyeok stopped typing and looked towards Jae-hyeok.

"Park Jae-hyeok... right?"

And he stood up and slowly approached Jae-hyeok.

Jae-hyeok looked at Min-hyeok, who had a similar atmosphere to himself, and realized he was his father.

"You... are my father?"

"Yes. You've grown up well."

And Min-hyeok looked at Jae-hyeok with a somewhat nostalgic gaze and tried to take his hand.

But Jae-hyeok didn't take his hand, pushed him back, and said coldly, "Please tell me the reason quickly."

Min-hyeok seemed a bit surprised but quickly regained his composure and said, "......Yes. Sit down first."

Jae-hyeok and Min-hyeok sat facing each other on a sofa with a table between them.

"It's unfortunate to appear before you like this."

Jae-hyeok stared at Min-hyeok in silence.

"What I wanted to see you for... is because you're walking a similar path to me, and I wanted to help you."

"There's also the purpose of telling you why you had to leave our side."

"Why did you have to leave our side? Please tell me from the beginning."

Jae-hyeok said coldly to Min-hyeok.

"In 2017, our Bukduchilseong team was performing an operation related to the presidential election."

"It was to obtain information about a specific candidate and prevent that candidate from running in the election."

"We called that operation 'White Night'."

Jae-hyeok listened silently to his words.

"During the execution of that operation, we discovered that the presidential candidate of the Justice Party had corrupt allegations."

"But when we dug deeper, we found signs of manipulation. And while digging up those traces, we learned another truth."

"That there was someone who manipulated the election according to their own tastes."

"Is that person Cho Jin-yeong?"

"Yes. At the time, Cho Jin-yeong was just one of the National Assembly members who was a close aide to the impeached Jo Nam-su before becoming the representative of the Seonmin Party."

"But his true identity was the designer of a cartel that had a negative impact on Korean society by using the connections he built up during his time as a prosecutor."

"We tried to expose Cho Jin-yeong's true nature, but what we got in return was the dissolution of the team, our dismissal, and the hunting dogs of Cho Jin-yeong chasing us to kill us."

"What is the relationship between that and why we left your side?"

"I had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠difficulty meeting my family even before... but I had hope that if I retired, I could meet you."

"But after ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠performing 'White Night', my wish to safely retire and meet you became even more distant."

"If you knew that my family was your family, Cho Jin-yeong would definitely come after you."

"But did Cho Jin-yeong really not know that we were the family of the party... or father?"

"Personal information on the families of black agents is not managed by a few administrators."

"One of my subordinates, Jeong Seung-gyu, was one of those administrators, so I could erase only the personal information about my family cleanly."

"It was fortunate that the National Intelligence Service officials at the time were incompetent, because with the stored files disappearing, they couldn't obtain any information about my family."

Jae-hyeok heard his father's explanation about why he couldn't meet them until now, but the resentment didn't completely disappear.

"So, you're doing vigilante activities to eliminate Cho Jin-yeong and that cartel."

"That's right. Here, Gye-hak is collecting information about Cho Jin-yeong's cartel by doing contract killings."

"The Seung-gyu you met earlier is active as an information broker in the underworld, collecting information."

Jae-hyeok fell silent for a moment and asked Min-hyeok, "Anyway, what kind of help do you want to give me?"

"Utilize my information network of Seung-gyu and my subordinates, including Gye-hak, actively."

"Since you already know a lot about Gangryonghoe, Cho Jin-yeong, and the corrupt politicians and overseas organizations connected to them, it will be a great help."

And Min-hyeok handed Jae-hyeok a phone.

"This is a burner phone that can communicate with me. If you need my help or have something you want to ask, feel free to contact me."

Jae-hyeok stared at the burner phone handed by Min-hyeok and put it in his pants pocket.

"Is there nothing else you want to say...?"

Actually, Min-hyeok had many things he wanted to say.

Whether his wife Sejin and daughter Dahyun were doing well.

How sorry he was for being a bad father who couldn't be there for them when they were in trouble.

How much he missed them even knowing they couldn't meet.

Even trivial things like whether he was dating well.

But Min-hyeok barely managed to suppress the words he wanted to spit out immediately.

Promising to say everything after everything was over.

"......There is none now."

"Then I have to go to work tomorrow, so let's end today's meeting here."

Min-hyeok nodded with a bitter expression at his son's still stiff attitude.

"Yes."

And he instructed Gye-hak.

"Gye-hak. Take care of Jae-hyeok well."

"Understood. Team Leader."

Jae-hyeok left the room with Gye-hak.

After sending his son, Min-hyeok remained alone in the room.

He leaned against the backrest, looked up at the ceiling, and let out a deep sigh.

Meanwhile, in some building in Seoul.

This place, which looked like a rundown abandoned ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠building, was the hideout of Cho Jin-yeong's private army, the Yeonghoda.

Leader of Yeonghoda, Lee Myeong-gang, was disassembling and maintaining his CZ85B pistol.

While Myeong-gang was cleaning the inside of the barrel with a bore snake, his phone on the table vibrated.

The caller was Hwang Jae-chun.

Myeong-gang changed the phone to speakerphone mode and continued maintaining the gun while talking to Jae-chun.

"How did it go?"

Chae-chun, who was being supported by Gwang-yul, was in a deserted alley.

"That... both failed. Sorry."

"Gye-jung-gil?"

"It seems he was hit by other guys while trying to catch Gwang-yong-jin. He had a gunshot wound on his face...

"A gunshot wound on the face... Could it be that the Bukduchilseong guys moved?"

"The probability is high, but I can't be sure."

Myeong-gang assembled the gun and asked Jae-chun, "Did you also receive interference from Bukduchilseong?"

"No. I was hit by the guy next door to Cho Tae-min."

At that, Myeong-gang looked surprised and slightly furrowed his brows.

"Next door to Cho Tae-min?"

"Yes. Upon investigation, it was Seo Yeong-seok, a high-ranking member of the violence organization HGS in Suwon."

"Could it be that HGS contacted Gwang-yong-jin for some special reason?"

"It doesn't seem so, and it seems Seo Yeong-seok acted on his own because he had personal friendship with Cho Tae-min."

After completing the pistol assembly, Myeong-gang pulled the slide of the pistol and released it.

And he placed the assembled pistol on the table.

"Have you identified all the personal information?"

"Yes. The investigation result is that he is a defector from Cheonma-gun, North Pyongan Province, and has one younger sister who is in One-Union since coming to South Korea recently."

"Any other peculiarities?"

"It seems that the boss of HGS, Sim Gi-hwan, is particularly fond of him."

"The reason HGS became a well-known organization in Suwon is partly because Sim Gi-hwan is from Gangryonghoe, but it seems Seo Yeong-seok's combat power also played a part."

"Hmm... I understand. For now, return."

And Myeong-gang hung up the phone and leaned against the backrest and muttered.

"HGS... and Seo Yeong-seok..."

And after a moment of silence, Myeong-gang picked up the phone placed on the table.

On Monday at noon, at the D-Workshop.

Jae-hyeok was talking with Sang-gyu in the break room.

Jae-hyeok asked Sang-gyu while drinking a beverage, "How is it? Have you gotten used to the work now?"

At that, Sang-gyu crunched on a chocolate and answered, "No. My stomach is still upset, so the rice doesn't go down properly. How long have we been here, and we've already lost 5 kilos."

"Yeah, getting used to this kind of work isn't easy."

"Why do you talk like you've done this kind of work a lot?"

"Because a friend of mine has worked in this line of work for a long time."

At that moment, Jae-hyeok's phone vibrated.

'Jeong-han? What's going on?'

Confirming the caller was his friend Lee Jeong-han, Jae-hyeok answered the phone.

"Hey, Jeong-han-ah."

"I heard you were dispatched to Suwon, how are you adapting?"

"Well, somehow?"

"I came to Suwon too, let's meet sometime and talk."

Jeong-han was currently standing in front of the entrance of the Crown Hotel Suwon branch.

"What are you here for?"

"It's because of the main work at the entertainment company."

'Is it contract killing?'

Jae-hyeok guessed that and asked Jeong-han, "Is the target in Suwon?"

"Yeah. I'll explain the details later, and if I have time later, let's meet and talk. My uncle's business is not going well."

'It's to meet and discuss the operation.'

"Yes. Understood."

"Then, fighting spirit, and if you have time, let's meet."

And Jeong-han hung up the phone.

"A friend who works at the hotel side?"

Next to Jeong-han, Kyung-min scratched his head and asked, "Yes. We'll meet when we have time."

And Kim Ju-sung yawned and said, "Yeah. Finish the work quickly and meet the friend for a Suwon tour. We have to beat some rice cakes or something."

"More than that, this target was three?"

Min-su asked, and Ju-sung scanned the file on his phone and answered, "Yeah. One journalist, one civilian, one gangster."

"The journalist guy has a wife and kids?"

"Those we can handle on our own, the only ones we have to definitely deal with are those three."

At that, Jeong-han scanned the file that Ju-sung was looking at, and the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠photos of the targets and a brief description of them appeared in his eyes.