New Undercover
A while later, Jeonghan was riding in the car driven by Seung-gyu.
"What do you mean by collaborating with my friend?"
"Plainly, it's helping with the work your friend is doing right now."
"What do you think my friend is doing?"
"Besides infiltrating Gangryonghoe and gathering information on them, is there anything else?"
"Who are you people, exactly?"
"Well, what do you think?"
"The questions are mine."
"Think about it yourself."
Jeonghan then asked Seung-gyu another question.
"Why are you helping my friend?"
"First, we have a common goal,"
"Because I can't watch my benefactor's son die."
"Benefactor?"
"Details later."
With that, Seung-gyu continued driving.
A brief silence fell between them, and Seung-gyu broke it first.
"So, you killed Gangryonghoe's killers. What are you going to do about it?"
"Wouldn't you have thought and acted on it?"
"Well, I don't know."
Then Seung-gyu frowned slightly and asked Jeonghan.
"What? You carried out the operation without thinking about the aftermath?"
"Then, should I just stand by and watch an unrelated minor being raped in front of me?"
"So, every time Gangryonghoe's thugs commit inhuman acts, do I have to interfere with every single one and save civilians?"
With that, Jeonghan fell silent.
He was overwhelmed by sudden emotion and realized he had been too hasty in carrying out the operation.
If he hadn't properly subdued Ju Tae-yeol and Min-su, there would have been a witness to his actions.
That would have been a big obstacle to his future mission.
Thanks to Seung-gyu, he had completely neutralized Ju Tae-yeol and Min-su, silencing them, but if Seung-gyu hadn't been there, Jeonghan might have been at their mercy.
"Yeah, if you have little experience, you might get carried away by sudden emotions and mess up the operation."
"I went through that too. It took me rolling around in the field dozens of times before I finally got used to it."
"Were you also a soldier?"
"Let's just say I was."
Seung-gyu evaded the answer and continued driving.
A while later, they arrived at a building in a deep mountain.
"We're here. Get out."
"Where is this place?"
"One of our safe houses."
And the two entered the building.
The corridor was busy with people moving around, and some were cleaning guns inside rooms.
"These guys who operate domestically sure have a lot of guns."
"Are they trying to start a war?"
"Because the opponents aren't easy targets."
With that said, Seung-gyu and Jeonghan entered a certain room.
Inside the room, Seung-gyu's subordinate Jin Ga-yeong was sitting on the sofa.
And in front of her was a disassembled Glock 19 pistol placed on newspaper.
Seeing her, Jeonghan recalled meeting her in Vietnam with Park Jae-hyeok in the past.
'What? Why is this woman here?'
Jin Ga-yeong, sitting with one leg crossed, looked at Jeonghan and gave him a small smile.
"Meeting again here?"
Seung-gyu sat next to Ga-yeong and said to Jeonghan.
"We met briefly in Vietnam, right?"
He pointed to the empty seat in front of him.
"First, sit down. Let's talk."
After sitting down, Jeonghan asked Seung-gyu.
"What is your relationship with Park Jae-hyeok?"
"Before I tell you that, let me explain what we do."
"So you can understand better."
And he introduced himself to Jeonghan.
"We were National Intelligence Service agents working under Park Min-hyeok, Park Jae-hyeok's father."
"Now, we're on the run from a powerful politician and his cartel."
"Park Jae-hyeok's father was a NIS agent?"
"Yes. We were on an operation related to the presidential election 10 years ago."
"It was to dig up the dirt on a specific candidate and force him to withdraw."
"You got targeted by that specific candidate and were on the run?"
"No. We found out that most of the charges against that candidate were fabricated."
"And we learned about the existence of a powerful politician manipulating the election using his cartel."
Jeonghan recalled the information they saw in Vietnam with Park Jae-hyeok.
"Could it be that powerful politician is Cha Jin-yeong?"
"Yes. Cha Jin-yeong, the ruling party representative."
And Ga-yeong said to Jeonghan.
"Among the information I gave Park Jae-hyeok, there are also the ones we collected 10 years ago."
"Why didn't you expose that information?"
"If we had exposed that information, it would have been enough to bring down Cha Jin-yeong."
With that, Seung-gyu said.
"Even if we spread the information, if the other side can cover it up, there's no point."
"Cha Jin-yeong can just bury it as if it never happened or fabricate it as someone else doing it."
"And with his current strong support base, it might even increase our enemies if we're not careful."
"Then, it would be better to expose it when Cha Jin-yeong's power weakens."
"Yes. Or when there's irrefutable evidence."
"For example, a video of Cha Jin-yeong at the scene."
And Ga-yeong said to Jeonghan.
"Gangryonghoe is an organization closely related to Cha Jin-yeong."
"As you know, the manpower of Cha Jin-yeong's private army, Yeonghoda, is supplied by Gangryonghoe through North Korean defector human trafficking, etc."
"And it's one of the forces supplying political funds for Cha Jin-yeong by laundering money."
"One of the forces? Are there others?"
"One of them is the pseudo-religious cult Gwangsaenggyo and YH Entertainment. YH has greatly weakened its power thanks to you."
"Thanks to you?"
"You attacked the Burning Island guys in 2019, and thanks to that, the ledger linking Lee Seung-hoon and a powerful official was exposed."
'Was he monitoring Park Jae-hyeok since then? It's been a while.'
Then Seung-gyu said.
"Still, you can't be careless. Even a tiger with its fangs pulled out is still a tiger."
"Recently, it was said that YH has allied with Katsuyamagumi and is gathering some capital from Japan."
"Yeah, I heard rumors that they used trainees who couldn't rise in other clubs related to YH to make offerings to Katsuyamagumi."
"They say you can't change your habits, and now they're making money from prostitution."
And Seung-gyu said to Jeonghan.
"Anyway, to carry out our work smoothly, we need your help."
"And we will help you to safely complete your mission."
"Mutual aid, huh."
"That's right."
Jeonghan fell into a thoughtful silence.
'It's certain that we have an unfriendly relationship with Gangryonghoe.'
'If we had a friendly relationship with Gangryonghoe, they wouldn't have let me kill the killers.'
'But...'
He didn't hastily dismiss his suspicions and asked Seung-gyu.
"Are you really collaborating with Park Jae-hyeok?"
"What do you think we gain by deceiving you?"
"We can figure out our operation against Gangryonghoe."
"If that were the case, the undercover agents would have been killed by Gangryonghoe's thugs or Cha Jin-yeong's private army by now."
"And your life would also be in danger. Right?"
With Seung-gyu's answer, Jeonghan looked at Ga-yeong.
'Indeed... It seems this woman recognized us in Vietnam, so their intelligence is quite high.'
'With that intelligence, if they helped Gangryonghoe, our identities would have been revealed long ago and we might have all been killed.'
'There's no reason for Gangryonghoe to keep undercover agents alive.'
Thinking that, Jeonghan decided to drop his suspicion of Seung-gyu.
"Good. What should I do?"
Then Seung-gyu took out a phone from his pocket and handed it to Jeonghan.
"From now on, let's share information about Gangryonghoe or that cartel."
"If there's something to contact, contact us through this phone."
Jeonghan turned on the phone and checked the contacts.
"Contact through this contact?"
"Yes. To contact me, contact the contact listed as 'Pigeon'."
"Why pigeon? Is that your codename?"
"No. It's my activity name. While working as an information broker, I also gather information."
"If it's an information broker, do Gangryonghoe customers come sometimes?"
"Not often. And not only Gangryonghoe, but we also buy and sell information about overseas organizations."
"Like Ziyuebang, Katsuyamagumi, Komaroff Bratva."
Jeonghan put the phone in his pocket, and Seung-gyu stood up and said to him.
"First, rest here for a while."
"The play to deceive Gangryonghoe will be at dawn tomorrow."
"Okay."
And when Jeonghan stood up, Seung-gyu said to him.
"Ah, and..."
But for some reason, he stopped talking.
"What?"
"...Tell Park Jae-hyeok that you're also in contact with us."
"Got it."
"Then, rest in the room labeled 307."
"If you have any questions, feel free to ask."
"Okay."
And Jeonghan went outside, and Ga-yeong asked him.
"You weren't supposed to say that, were you?"
"That's right. But people react strongly with denial when you tell them the harsh reality they don't want to hear."
"And you don't seem to fully trust us yet, so there's no need to ruin the trust by saying that."
"But telling someone about the danger of having someone next to them is..."
"Just say it. It's not like he's an enemy?"
"And it's a bit ambiguous to call it dangerous."
"So, let's keep quiet about that matter."
With that, Ga-yeong nodded lightly in agreement, and Seung-gyu also went outside.
That night, Park Jae-hyeok was walking on a street in Suwon.
A while later, he arrived at a construction site and took out his phone from his pocket to call Seung-cheol.
"I'm here, uncle."
"Go up to the 3rd floor. Manager Gang is waiting."
And Park Jae-hyeok ended the call and entered the building.
Park Jae-hyeok climbed the stairs to the 3rd floor and saw two men.
And one of them asked Park Jae-hyeok.
"Park Jae-hyeok lieutenant?"
He was a man in his mid-40s with a gentle appearance, about 170 cm tall, with a somewhat tanned skin and sparse hair.
"Detective Captain Gang Gi-seok from the Southern Gyeonggi Police Agency."
With that, Gi-seok extended his hand as if requesting a handshake with Park Jae-hyeok.
Park Jae-hyeok shook his hand, and Gi-seok introduced the man next to him.
"This is an undercover dispatched from the NIS."
And the man extended his hand to Park Jae-hyeok and introduced himself.
"Name is Bae Myeong-hwan, affiliated with the NIS."
Myeong-hwan, with broad shoulders and a sturdy build around 180 cm, had a sharp jawline, sharp eyes, and wore glasses with horn-rimmed frames.
It reminded Park Jae-hyeok of a spy from a movie, given that he was from the NIS.
Park Jae-hyeok shook Myeong-hwan's hand and introduced himself.
"Lieutenant Park Jae-hyeok, affiliated with the Police Agency."
After the two men greeted each other, Gi-seok said to them.
"One more person is scheduled to come, so we'll proceed with the meeting when he arrives."
"One more person is coming?"
Park Jae-hyeok asked, and Myeong-hwan answered.
"Considering that the A workshop has many Gangryonghoe business sites nearby, we judged that more personnel are needed, so we decided to bring in one more undercover."
"After the undercover who died in Busan before, a new recruit from UDT."
At that moment, footsteps were heard, and Park Jae-hyeok turned his head towards the sound.
And the man who appeared bowed his head to the three and greeted them politely.
"Corporal Gang Su-ho, affiliated with UDT."
Su-ho had a similar build to Myeong-hwan, but his face had a more rugged look compared to Myeong-hwan.
If it weren't for the mention of UDT, he would look like a gangster boss who knows how to use his fists from a gangster movie.
'Gang Su-ho? So the new undercover was that guy.'
Park Jae-hyeok knew Su-ho.
Of course, he was one of the people who helped Park Jae-hyeok in his previous life along with Yeong-seok and Dong-cheol.
Moreover, Park Jae-hyeok was able to obtain information that Su-ho helped him in the previous life, so his uncle didn't commit suicide but was killed by Choi Gyeong-su.
"The A workshop has many personnel guarding it, and since the Crown Hotel Suwon branch and several business sites are nearby, it might fail to carry out the operation with a small number of personnel."
"So, Lieutenant Park Jae-hyeok, attack the A workshop together with Corporal Gang Su-ho."
With Gi-seok's words, Park Jae-hyeok asked him.
"Are only the undercover agents going?"
"No. Detectives in Suwon will be disguising themselves as thugs to accompany us."
"The operation is to disguise the undercover agents and detectives as thugs who are not on good terms with Gangryonghoe and then launch an attack."
"How many personnel?"
"The D workshop: 4 detectives, 3 personnel from the police special task force, 1 undercover,"
"The A workshop: 5 detectives, 3 personnel from the police special task force, 2 undercover, planned to proceed."
"And the date and time of the operation is the day after tomorrow at 2:30 AM."
With that, Park Jae-hyeok, Myeong-hwan, and Su-ho answered simultaneously.
"Understood."
It was enough personnel to carry out the operation, but Park Jae-hyeok felt an inexplicable unease.
'Although the possibility is low, they might send support personnel from a business site other than Crown Hotel.'
'Then, there will be greater difficulties than expected in performing the mission.'
Thinking that, Park Jae-hyeok recalled the capable people Gangryonghoe might dispatch for support: Yoo Dong-seok, Ju Tae-yeol, Baek San, etc.
'If I request additional support from the current personnel, there's a high chance they'll refuse due to high budget.'
Thinking that, Park Jae-hyeok's nerves were focused on the cannon phone in his left pocket.
The cannon phone given to him by his father Park Min-hyeok to contact when help is needed.
'Maybe I should get some help.'