New Ally (2)
After finishing the call with Park Min-hyeok, Park Jae-hyeok returned to where Jeong-han was waiting.
"Who was that?"
"Just an acquaintance."
"An acquaintance? Who?"
"Just someone."
'Jeong-han isn't the type to talk too much, but I have to be careful not to make him suspicious.'
At this, Jeong-han quietly nodded, then took a sip of his soju.
A while later, Jeong-han tried to hail a taxi and asked Jae-hyeok.
"Are you not going?"
"I have a place to stop by for a bit."
"It's already 11 o'clock, where are you stopping by?"
"Just somewhere."
Then Jeong-han looked at him suspiciously and asked subtly.
"Is it a personal matter?"
"Yeah."
"...I get it. I won't ask anymore. Go in safely."
"Yeah. You too."
The taxi that took Jeong-han away distanced itself from Jae-hyeok.
When the taxi disappeared from sight, Jae-hyeok contacted him with the cannon phone given by his father.
"Hello?"
"I finished my business. I'll send you the address."
"Got it."
Then Jae-hyeok ended the call.
About 10 minutes later, a black sedan stopped in front of Jae-hyeok.
The window in the passenger seat opened.
"Get in."
Seo Gyu-hak sitting in the driver's seat said to Jae-hyeok.
Jae-hyeok boarded the passenger seat, and Gyu-hak drove while asking him.
"When did you meet Seo Yeong-seok?"
"Last Thursday at a drinking party."
"Really? Not long ago. Then you don't know much about Seo Yeong-seok's friend."
After a while, Gyu-hak stopped at a red light signal.
"Open the glove box in front of you. Information about Seo Yeong-seok is in there."
At this, Jae-hyeok opened the glove box in front of the passenger seat.
And he picked up a document envelope inside the glove box.
"Since we might be working together in the future, we should know each other to some extent, right?"
Jae-hyeok skimmed through the identity information of Yeong-seok in the document envelope.
'No special content. Hometown, blood type, military service record, family relations... Most of what I already know.'
Jae-hyeok put the document back in the envelope.
At the same time, the traffic light turned green, and Gyu-hak stepped on the accelerator and said to Jae-hyeok.
"This guy's career is quite impressive. He single-handedly sent back the pursuit agents chasing him after defecting from North Korea at 24, more than once. And he said he went through some rough times during the defection."
"If it's rough times..."
"Like assassination contract work."
'I didn't mention in my previous life that I did such things, but perhaps in his perspective, it's a painful memory he doesn't want to bring up.'
With that, the car carrying Jae-hyeok and Gyu-hak continued driving on the road.
After a while, at Min-hyeok's hideout.
Jae-hyeok and Gyu-hak climbed the stairs inside the building.
After a while, the two stood in front of a door, and Gyu-hak lightly knocked.
"Team leader. Seo Gyu-hak. I've brought Park Jae-hyeok."
"Come in."
In response to Min-hyeok's answer, Gyu-hak opened the door.
Min-hyeok and Yeong-seok were sitting in front of a round table.
When Min-hyeok saw Jae-hyeok, he pointed to an empty seat and said to him.
"Jae-hyeok, sit here."
When Jae-hyeok sat down, Yeong-seok asked him.
"Why did you come?"
"To have a conversation with people who have a common goal."
"Common goal?"
"You want to blow up Gangryonghoe, right?"
At this, Yeong-seok slightly furrowed his brows as if wondering how this guy knew that.
"I do it for revenge against my benefactor, the boss. But what is your purpose?"
"You're the same. Revenge. My uncle was killed by the second-in-command of Gangryonghoe."
"But why did such a guy join Gangryonghoe?"
"I didn't join to become a real gangster. I'm not a gangster; I'm a cop."
"A cop? Then undercover?"
"Yeah."
And Min-hyeok said to Yeong-seok.
"We, including Jae-hyeok, are collecting information in the shadows where undercover agents like us haven't been able to enter yet, and providing it to Jae-hyeok. What Yeong-seok will do is collect information about Gangryonghoe with us and help Jae-hyeok."
"Then are you people from the South Korean government?"
"Previously, yes. Now, just vigilantes punishing crimes caused by corruption."
"In a rule-of-law country like South Korea, vigilantes..."
"It's common everywhere to have people who claim to uphold the rule of law but play above it. We're trying to catch such people."
"Yeah, I see such people sometimes too."
And Yeong-seok said to Min-hyeok.
"I will actively help you, but there are two conditions."
"First, tell me."
"First, please guarantee the safety of my younger sister in South Korea."
At this, Jae-hyeok asked Yeong-seok.
"Seo Yeon-jeong at Onewon?"
Yeong-seok nodded and said to Min-hyeok.
"If they know that I am cooperating with your work, they will try to harm my younger sister."
"Don't worry about that. There's already one of my subordinates inside Onewon monitoring the situation. Then what's the second one?"
"Crown Hotel Suwon branch manager, Seo Myeong-woo, please let me finish him off with my own hands."
Min-hyeok accepted all the conditions Yeong-seok set.
"Understood. I'll grant everything."
The next day at noon, Jeong-han, Minsu, and Juseong were driving on the road in a car.
Minsu sitting in the passenger seat was on a call.
"Going to my client's in-law's house now. Understood. I'll give you good news soon."
When Minsu ended the call, Jeong-han asked him.
"Who was it?"
"My client's."
"What did he say?"
"First, somehow get rid of Gu Yong-jin and bring him out."
And he asked Juseong sitting in the back seat.
"There were only two old men, right?"
"Yeah. Just two ordinary old men."
At this, Minsu looked straight ahead and smirked.
"This is interesting. Two old men and one kid's head for 5 billion... What kind of bastard has 5 billion on his head?"
"Well, but one thing is certain: that kid seems to have scratched the VVIP's nerves badly."
"What, did he upload some bullshit post? Spreading rumors about pedophilia."
Minsu's words, Juseong laughed and said.
"Hey. That's a fact. That guy sometimes hangs out with Gwangsaenggyo guys and eats underage kids."
"No, why is that true?"
"When I see it, Gu Yong-jin seems to have gotten pissed off by scratching with bullshit, not just a post. Otherwise, he wouldn't have 5 billion on a C-grade civilian head."
In this unpleasant conversation, Jeong-han drove while staring straight ahead with a stern expression.
After a while, the killers arrived at the apartment where Gu Yong-jin's in-laws were staying in Daejeon.
And they moved to the security room.
"Hey, sir?"
Minsu showed a gentle smile to the man in his 50s who seemed to be the security guard.
"There's one thing I want to ask you to do."
"A request?"
And he handed a thick envelope to the security guard.
"When you come back later, delete the CCTV records we want."
"Eh...?"
When the security guard received the envelope, he still showed a gentle smile to the security guard and said.
But his eyes had a subtle killing intent.
Behind Minsu, Juseong slightly lifted his shirt, showing the handle of the Beretta PX4 pistol attached to his waist to the security guard.
"I'll come back later to give you double this money. Take care."
Minsu politely greeted the security guard who was looking at him with a dazed expression.
The three killers who bribed the security guard put on masks and entered the apartment.
Minsu arrived at the house where Gu Yong-jin's father-in-law and mother-in-law were staying.
He carefully examined the door lock.
Then he took out an electric shock gun and asked Juseong.
"Are there really only two old people?"
"Confirmed. I checked."
And Minsu pressed the electric shock gun to the door lock and opened the door.
In the living room of the house, an elderly couple was sitting on the sofa watching TV, and the husband got up when he heard the door opening.
He froze in surprise at the masked killers, and Minsu approached him closely and pressed a knife to his neck.
The wife tried to scream when she saw this.
But Minsu put his left index finger to her lips and winked with his right eye towards her.
And Juseong aimed a Beretta PX4 pistol with a suppressor at her.
"Hey, grandma. Don't think about screaming and answer the question. Is your daughter's name Sung Hye-bin? Have you contacted your daughter recently?"
"Wh, who...?? Who are you...??"
Then Minsu slowly slit the husband's neck, and a little blood trickled.
"Huh...!!"
"Argh...!!"
Suddenly, with a 'thud' sound, a bullet hole appeared on the sofa next to the wife.
"Damn it, don't scream."
At that time, Jeong-han felt some other presence.
Then, out of caution, he took out his VP9 pistol and entered the other room.
'Not just the elderly couple. There's one more.'
The faces of the elderly couple turned pale white when they saw Jeong-han entering the room.
When Minsu saw this, he said to Jeong-han entering the room.
"Who's there? If there is, answer."
Jeong-han entering the room slowly aimed his pistol around.
While looking around, Jeong-han carefully skimmed through the comic books on the bookshelf near the desk.
'Not old comics, but recent webtoon volumes. Not suitable for old people... Maybe there are grandchildren?'
Thinking this, Jeong-han opened the closet next to him.
In Jeong-han's eyes, opening the door, there was one girl crouching inside the closet, trembling in fear.
The girl looked about middle school age, and when she saw Jeong-han and the gun he was holding, she gasped.
If the girl screamed, she would probably die.
Thinking this, Jeong-han dropped the pistol onto the blanket inside the closet, then quickly covered the girl's mouth with his empty right hand.
And he looked straight into the girl's eyes, put his left index finger to his lips, and said in a low voice.
"It's okay. Stay quiet. Got it?"
Jeong-han slowly removed his right hand from the girl's mouth.
When the girl realized that Jeong-han had no intention of harming her, she slowly nodded with tearful eyes.
At that time, Minsu's voice calling Jeong-han was heard.
"Hey!! Is there anyone there?!!"
Jeong-han picked up the pistol that had fallen on the blanket inside the closet and answered Minsu.
"Yeah! No one!!"
And Jeong-han quietly closed the closet door and left the room.
Minsu sat the elderly couple on the dining table chairs and sat facing them.
He stabbed the knife on the table, and with his eyes flickering, asked the elderly couple.
"Is your daughter's name Sung Hye-bin?"
"Yeah... Yes, but what is it...?"
"It's nothing special. We have something to ask your daughter. But no contact."
Juseong, who had been staring at them, was slightly increasing the volume of the TV they were watching.
The wife was crying because she was too scared.
"Ah, damn it, why are you making my heart weak?"
And Minsu took a tissue from the table and handed it to the wife.
"First, wipe your tears."
"Ah, thank you..."
At the moment the wife extended her hand to Minsu, Minsu grabbed her wrist, stabbed the knife he had on the table onto her hand back.
"Aaaah!!"
"Honey!!"
Because of the increased volume, their screams were buried in the TV sound.
The neighbors would think that the elderly couple with poor hearing had turned up the TV volume loud.
At this, Jeong-han looked at Minsu in shock, and Juseong laughed while watching this cruel scene.
"Still a nasty hobby."
Minsu glared at her, trembling with pain and fear, blood dripping from her hand.
"Don't squeeze your heart weak. Question."
"Have you contacted your daughter recently?"
Noticing that they had come to harm her daughter, she hesitated in answering.
And the husband was the same.
"Hah, why would you walk a difficult path when it could have gone smoothly?"
Minsu took the knife from the wife's hand and stabbed it back on the table.
"This time, answer well. Have you contacted your daughter?"
"Wh, why are you doing this to us...?"
At this, Juseong holding the gun approached the husband and said.
"To be precise, it's because of your son-in-law. That guy poked the high person's nerves properly."
"But this guy took your daughter and granddaughter and ran away."
And Juseong aimed the gun at the husband's head.
"Well, honestly. Your daughter is just a bait to kill your son-in-law, so there's no need to kill her. So, contact your daughter and ask for help. Then your son-in-law will slowly come out."
"Th, that's... What are you saying...!!!"
Juseong shot a bullet into the husband's thigh.
"Uwaaaak!!!"
"Kyaak!!"
"Don't pretend not to know anything, it's hard to hear."
Minsu, with a twisted expression, scratched his ear and said in a sullen voice.
"Hey, it's noisy. What if we just kill both?"
"No. There should be some harvest."
And Juseong turned his body and entered the room where Jeong-han had entered earlier.
"I'll find some things that could be clues. I'll interrogate more."
"Okay."
Seeing Juseong enter the room, Jeong-han felt a sinking feeling in his heart.
'Big trouble...!!'
"I'll go in too and look for it."
Saying this, Jeong-han followed Juseong into the room.
Juseong entered the room and slowly scanned the surroundings.
"Hmm.... Something that could be a clue... Where is it?"
"I looked for it earlier, but I didn't see any clues that would be that useful."
At that time, Juseong saw a bag nearby.
"Hmm? This style.... Doesn't seem to suit old people's tastes...."
And he saw the webtoon volumes on the bookshelf.
"Having things that look like 10s tastes in an old people's house..."
Saying this, he looked at Jeong-han.
"What reason do you think? Are these old people keeping these things because they want to look like 10s?"
"Damn... What to do...?!"
"Don't know? Sometimes 10s grandchildren come to play. And that grandchild.... Might be somewhere in this house right now. For example...."
And Juseong threw open the closet door and aimed the gun at it.
He saw the girl hiding in the closet and gave a creepy, eerie smile.
"In a place like this."