Rescuing Park Dahyun (1)
Outside the karaoke parlor, the men who had taken Dahyun were trying to shove her into a waiting K5 sedan parked near the building entrance.
“Hey… What the hell is this…”
The instant Dahyun tried to speak, one of the men holding her pressed the cold, gleaming blade of a knife against her side and hissed in a low voice.
“Stay quiet. Unless you want a hole in your ribs.”
Passersby began to gather, sensing trouble, and Dahyun desperately wanted to scream for help. But the knife biting against her flesh kept her frozen in terror, unable to make a sound.
They bundled her into the car in seconds. One of the kidnappers barked at the driver.
“Go! Drive! Now!”
The moment the K5 carrying Dahyun and her abductors peeled away, a gray Sonata parked behind it roared to life and fell in behind them.
“Get closer, dammit.”
“Fuck, I know, but we’re in a hurry!”
Gain, behind the wheel, bit her lip hard, frustration boiling over as the situation spiraled out of control.
Damn it. If it were up to me I’d jump out right now, wipe every last one of them out, and pull Park Dahyun to safety… But this cursed position won’t let me.
Under orders from a certain “someone,” Gain, Donghyuk, and the rest of their team had been shadowing Jaehyuk and his family from the shadows. For reasons they could not ignore, revealing themselves was not an option.
We follow. At the very least we stop them from hurting her. Even if we have to take some risks!
At the same moment, Jaehyuk—who had already neutralized every thug involved in the kidnapping—burst out of the karaoke parlor, only to find the street empty.
“Huff… huff… No… No…”
Guilt and despair crashed over him as he muttered to himself, the weight of failing to protect his sister crushing his chest. Jeonghan and Jihun emerged right after, Suyeon between them.
“Jaehyuk! Where’s Dahyun?!”
They immediately understood it was already too late. Jeonghan pulled out his phone.
“We report it to the police first.”
“But how the hell do we find her? We didn’t get the plate number.”
“Ha… Fucking hell…”
Jeonghan cursed at Jihun’s question, face twisted with frustration. Suyeon’s voice trembled on the edge of tears.
“Dahyun… she was really kidnapped? What are we going to do…?”
“She’ll be okay. So try not to panic.”
Even as he comforted her, Jeonghan’s own anxiety gnawed at him just as fiercely.
Jaehyuk saved my sister… and I… what the fuck was I doing while his sister was being taken?
Swamped by self-reproach, Jeonghan could barely think straight. He dropped his gaze, failing to notice Jaehyuk standing motionless, eyes hollow with shock.
This is no time to freeze. We need a plan. But how…?
As Jaehyuk fought to regain his composure, a memory from his previous life sliced through his mind like a blade.
Not long after Jaehyuk had infiltrated the Gangryonghoe, he walked through the dim interior of a run-down villa complex with four or five other men. He asked the figure ahead of him, “Is this the new factory?”
“Yeah. Secluded, plenty of space. Perfect spot. This is where we’ll manufacture the new product we’ve been planning.”
Seo Myungwoo glanced around, then turned to Jaehyuk. “Deputy Park, ever hear of the Burning Island incident?”
“Pretty infamous case. Giant Bomb’s Victory and Jung Jinyong both got destroyed by it… flipped the whole country upside down, didn’t it?”
“Exactly. This is one of the studios they used to film their porn. They’d kidnap women, shoot the videos here. Thousands of films were made in places like this.”
Jaehyuk’s gaze drifted through a cracked door and caught sight of dusty camcorders, a stained old bed, and an array of adult toys scattered across the filthy floor.
Myungwoo kept talking. “Funny thing is, those bastards only ever used this one location for the porn side of things. Said too many sites would draw attention. And considering how fast they got busted, sticking to one place was probably the smartest decision they made.”
He pushed open another dust-caked door and surveyed the room. “If they’d been dumb enough to run multiple studios with the same sloppy operation that got exposed in under five years, the scandal would have exploded even earlier.”
That’s it. That place. They must have taken Dahyun there!
The memory hit like lightning. Jaehyuk flagged down a passing taxi and climbed in without hesitation.
“Driver, this address—”
“Hey! Park Jaehyuk! Where are you going?!”
Jeonghan, still on the phone with the police, shouted in alarm. Jaehyuk ignored him and reached to close the door, but Jeonghan grabbed it and slid inside.
“Dammit, where the hell are you two going?!”
Jihun hesitated, torn. He wanted to follow, but the thought of leaving Suyeon unprotected kept him rooted in place.
Shit… I’m worried sick… but if I go too, who stays with Suyeon?
He looked into her tear-filled, frightened eyes and forced a gentle tone.
“It’ll be all right. Everything’s going to be fine, so don’t be too scared.”
“You really think so…?”
“……We have to believe it will.”
Suyeon pressed herself tightly against his side. Jihun watched the taxi disappear down the street, eyes dark with worry.
A short time later the taxi carrying Jaehyuk and Jeonghan reached the address. The meter read 28,600 won. Jaehyuk pulled two 50,000-won bills from his wallet and handed them to the driver.
“Keep the change.”
They stepped out into a pitch-black alley with no streetlights in sight.
“Why here?” Jeonghan asked.
“Dahyun will be here.”
“What if she’s not? Then what?”
Jaehyuk had already considered the possibility. If his fear proved true, he wasn’t sure his sanity could survive it.
There’s no guarantee this nightmare won’t happen… but to save Dahyun I can’t afford to ignore even the smallest lead.
Coming here felt like a drowning man clutching at straws. The two of them moved deeper into the alley until they stood before the entrance of a dilapidated villa building.
This is the place. In my previous life I came here scouting locations for the Gangryonghoe’s new drug factory.
Jaehyuk spoke to Jeonghan in a low, warning tone.
“Jeonghan.”
“Yeah?”
“Prepare yourself. This isn’t going to be pretty.”
“I know that.”
Jaehyuk stepped inside. Three men guarding the bottom of the stairwell at the communal entrance snapped their heads toward them.
“Who the hell are y—”
Jaehyuk closed the distance before they could react. His fist slammed straight into the nearest man’s jaw, dropping him instantly. The iron pipe the thug had been holding clattered loudly across the floor.
The second man swung a sashimi knife. Jaehyuk dodged, pressed his back to the wall, then twisted aside from the next slash and drove an uppercut into the man’s chin. He collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
“You bastard—!”
As the third man raised an axe, Jeonghan snatched up the fallen pipe and cracked it across the attacker’s skull. The man crumpled without a sound.
“Is he… dead?” Jeonghan’s voice shook.
“No. People don’t die that easily. He’s just unconscious.” Jaehyuk’s tone was flat, almost bored.
He picked up the sashimi knife from the man he had knocked out. Jeonghan eyed the blade nervously.
“You’re really going to use that?”
“When you have a proper weapon, you use it. Grab one for yourself.”
Jeonghan scanned the scattered weapons with clear unease, then chose the iron pipe.
“I’ll say it one more time. Steel yourself. This isn’t some high-school brawl.”
“……I understand.”
Jeonghan’s earlier bravado had vanished. The aura rolling off Jaehyuk now was not that of a man heading into a simple fight; it was the heavy, blood-soaked presence of someone walking onto a battlefield where people truly died.
Would Jaehyuk really kill someone? Even to save Dahyun… No. He wouldn’t. Stop thinking like that, Jeonghan.
Pushing the dark thoughts down, Jeonghan followed Jaehyuk up the stairs.
At the same moment, inside a building in Taipei, Taiwan.
Members of the Taiwanese triad Jawolbang stood armed and ready. Some were checking their weapons with practiced hands. They were preparing for war against their rival organization, the Honglyeonbang.
A man holding an American Colt M733 assault rifle addressed the group in Chinese.
“Everyone, we move out in three hours. Check your weapons and remember your orders.”
The men answered as one: “Yes!”
Lao Kai turned to the subordinate beside him, who was holding a Russian AKMS.
“Contact Korea and Japan.”
“Understood.”
The subordinate pulled out his phone and sent a message through the Telegram app.
Meanwhile, in the basement of the Crown Hotel, Ryu Baikhan read the incoming message in Chinese.
Not much time left.
Ha Seongjun, representative of the Crown Hotel, stood beside him and asked in Korean, “Has the home country begun to move?”
“Yes. We’ll move shortly as well. The operation begins in three hours.”
Next to Seongjun stood Shin Taebum, Im Kanghun, and Seo Myungwoo. Seongjun issued orders.
“Myungwoo, in three hours take your team and the Jawolbang personnel and hit every Honglyeonbang front in the area. Their other units will cooperate, so it should go smoothly.”
“Understood.”
“Taebum, work with Executive Ju Taeyeol and Director Kim Hyun to strike the locations where the Honglyeonbang leadership is gathered.”
“Yes.”
“Kanghun, assemble twenty men and raid the Burning Island club.”
“Understood.”
“Once the club is completely neutralized, seize everything in their vault. Not a single item gets left behind. We’re going to dismantle Burning Island, the Honglyeonbang, and every corrupt official and politician who backed them.”
“Yes, Representative.”
Seongjun’s phone vibrated. He answered immediately.
“Director Kim. Have you arrived?”
“We’ve just reached the location and are standing by with Executive Ju Taeyeol.”
“Understood. Deputy Director Shin Taebum will arrive with the men shortly. It should take roughly an hour and a half. Begin the operation the moment he reaches you.”
“Yes, sir.”
After ending the call, Seongjun’s mind drifted back several days to the moment inside Burning Island when Lee Seunghun had dared to make an outrageous demand.
Lee Seunghun… You dared to look down on me and the entire Gangryonghoe? I’ll make sure you regret it until your bones rot.