White Night and the Big Dipper
After the Burning Island gate exploded, how much time had passed?
It was a peaceful weekend afternoon when Jaehyuk stepped into a convenience store to buy some snacks. The person who greeted him was none other than his close older brother figure.
“Hey, kiddo!!”
It was Min Taeseok, who happened to be paying for beer at the counter.
“Oh… drinking during the day?”
“Nah. I’m just stashing it in the fridge to drink over the weekend. I’m off duty this weekend.”
Jaehyuk stared dumbfounded at the roughly eight cans of beer. Taeseok grinned at him, bagged the beer, and then turned back.
“You want anything? Hyung will buy it for you.”
“Some snacks, a drink, and a pint of Häagen-Dazs.”
“Sigh… that damn Häagen-Dazs again… Fine, I’ll get it. You did help me out, after all.”
After buying everything, the two of them sat at the table outside the convenience store, munching on snacks and chatting.
“How’s Dahyun doing? Is she okay now?”
“She’s completely back to normal. You should see how much she’s eating… Well, it’s good to see her with an appetite.”
“That’s a relief.”
Taeseok took a sip of his drink, then asked Jaehyuk,
“By the way, how did you get your hands on that phone? The one the Burning Island guys and the sex trafficking bastards used to contact each other.”
“Ah, that phone?”
He was referring to the blue-cased iPhone XR that contained records of communications between the manager of the XX House—where Dahyun had been kidnapped—and the Burning Island side. Last Sunday, right after Jaehyuk had punished the Burning Island cartel members including Lee Seunghun and Jung Jinyong, he had immediately contacted Taeseok, met him separately, and handed over the phone he had obtained from the XX House. He had also warned Taeseok that there might be corrupt cops working with Lee Seunghun, so he should bypass the police entirely and send it straight to the media. Fortunately, Taeseok had followed his advice to the letter.
“Hmm… I just picked it up while I was beating the crap out of them.”
“Good thing I listened to you. Turns out there were quite a few of Victory’s rats inside our police agency too. If I’d reported it through official channels instead of going straight to the press, it probably would’ve been buried. But how did you know there’d be moles in the police?”
“I saw what was on the phone. There were quite a few names from the police agency on there. Handing a phone full of their dirty secrets to those people would be like giving fish to a cat.”
Jaehyuk munched on a snack as he thought to himself, ‘Back then, the truth about the Burning Island cartel got out because that employee went straight to the media instead of the police.’
At that moment, Taeseok asked him,
“So, which university are you planning to go to?”
“Me? I’m going to the Police University.”
“Oh, then after you graduate, should I start calling you Inspector Park Jaehyuk?”
“Uh… now that I think about it, that feels a bit awkward.”
“Then would it be all right if I continue treating you comfortably in private, Inspector Park Jaehyuk?”
“I haven’t even enrolled yet, let alone graduated, and you’re already calling me Inspector?”
When Taeseok spoke in a teasing tone, Jaehyuk replied with a burdened expression. Seeing this, Taeseok chuckled as if Jaehyuk were adorable. It made sense—Taeseok had known Jaehyuk since he was six years old, and to him, Jaehyuk still looked like that same little six-year-old brother.
“When the time comes, you can treat me however you want in private, hyung.”
“Understood, Inspector.”
“Hey, come on!!”
“Okay, okay. But your ice cream’s going to melt. Go home and enjoy it with your family.”
“Yeah. I should head back now.”
Before parting ways and heading to their respective homes, Taeseok and Jaehyuk exchanged farewells at the table.
“Have a good weekend.”
“Okey dokey. You too.”
A few days later, inside a wooden house deep in the mountains. It looked like someone’s private villa. Men with fierce, sharp features wearing black suits stood guard around the property.
At that moment, a Genesis sedan pulled up nearby. A man in his mid-fifties with graying hair and gold-rimmed glasses stepped out.
“Hmm… quite the heavy security.”
Nam Sanghoon. Deputy Director, National Intelligence Service.
As Sanghoon tried to enter the cabin, the suited men blocked his path.
“I was invited by Representative Choi Kyungsoo.”
“Even if you were invited, we can’t be too careful. Representative Choi has more than a few enemies.”
Kang Taehyun. Subordinate of Ju Taeyeol.
Taehyun and his men scanned Sanghoon’s body thoroughly with handheld metal detectors. Though Sanghoon felt displeased that mere gangsters would dare treat a Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service with such disrespect, he didn’t let it show.
‘Hah… if they didn’t have anything on me, these bastards would be groveling on their own.’
After the body search was complete, Sanghoon straightened his suit jacket and entered the cabin.
Inside, his eyes fell on Choi Kyungsoo sitting at the living room table drinking tea, Ju Taeyeol standing behind him, and the back of another man seated across from Kyungsoo.
“Ah, please come in, Deputy Director Nam.”
Kyungsoo, who had been sipping his tea, stood up and greeted the newly arrived Sanghoon. The man seated in front of Kyungsoo turned his head to look at him but didn’t bother standing. He merely gave a slight nod. It was as if he considered himself superior to Nam Sanghoon.
“I see Director Lee is here as well.”
“It’s been a while.”
Lee Myeonggang. Right-hand man of ruling party leader Cha Jinyong.
With those words, Myeonggang simply took another sip of the tea in front of him. He appeared to be in his late twenties with neatly styled hair and a somewhat refined image, yet a thick, metallic scent of blood seemed to seep from his eyes—an unmistakable aura of killing intent.
Once Sanghoon sat down, Myeonggang asked him,
“Have there been any developments in the investigation regarding the Big Dipper?”
Although Myeonggang’s speech was clearly standard Korean, it carried a slightly alien accent.
“No… not yet. There has been no progress.”
Kyungsoo then asked Myeonggang,
“In that case, how about targeting Park Minhyeok’s family? Do you really think a man who sees his family on the brink of death won’t show himself?”
Myeonggang replied,
“I tried to gather information on Park Minhyeok’s family, but for some reason, everything has been erased. It appears someone deliberately wiped it all.”
Sanghoon spoke with visible unease.
“If the information the Big Dipper has collected gets released without a hitch, it will cause a major problem for Assemblyman Cha.”
Myeonggang let out a deep sigh.
“Haa… it won’t just be a big problem. It will end all of our lives. This could trigger the worst gate in South Korean history—one that makes the current Burning Island gate look like child’s play.”
Sanghoon continued,
“Because it contains evidence that they manipulated information on presidential candidates for years, altering the course of elections and committing various crimes.”
In other words, the cartel centered around Cha Jinyong had manipulated public opinion against certain candidates during the presidential election process. All to ensure a president favorable to them would take office.
“Therefore, the information regarding White Night must never come to light. If the truth about White Night spreads across the entire country…”
Sanghoon swallowed dryly before continuing.
“Not a single one of us will survive.”
A few days after that, in a building in Suwon.
The building had previously been an illegal gambling den managed by the Taiwanese triad Honglyeonbang. Now that Honglyeonbang had collapsed under the joint assault of Gangryonghoe and Jawolbang, it had been decided that the two organizations would manage it together.
Gangryonghoe members were in the middle of cleaning up the interior, which had been left in shambles by the war, when several people entered the building.
Among them was a bald man who appeared to be in his late thirties. He stood around 190 centimeters tall, had a stout build, and a fierce expression. He spat out in Chinese,
“{Looks like it was quite the fierce battle. There isn’t a single spot left untouched.}”
Xu Kaiwang. Executive of Jawolbang.
He then turned to Ryu Baikhan standing beside him and asked in Chinese,
“{Did you take care of every last one of the Honglyeonbang bastards?}”
“{Yes. We eliminated them all without exception.}”
“{Good. By the way, the Longtou was very pleased when he heard about your achievements.}”
“{It is an honor.}”
At that moment, Ha Seongjun, who had been standing beside them, asked Ryu Baikhan in Korean,
“Is the person standing next to you the one who will be overseeing this place with us?”
“To be precise, he will be overseeing all of Jawolbang’s business operations within Korea. This location will be managed by another executive.”
“You remember that the profit split is 40% for Jawolbang and 60% for Gangryonghoe, right?”
“Of course. How could I forget something like that?”
However, Seongjun felt a vague sense of unease in his gut.
‘There’s no way they’re cooperating with us out of pure goodwill. But I can’t figure out what their true objective is. Whatever it is, it definitely won’t benefit Gangryonghoe.’
Thinking that, Seongjun told Ryu Baikhan in Korean,
“I need to use the restroom for a moment.”
“Of course. Take your time.”
Seongjun stepped outside to a secluded area and made a phone call.
“Boss Jang. This is Ha Seongjun from the Crown Hotel.”
The person who answered was Jang Seongyun, the information broker of the underworld.
“Ah, Representative Ha. To what do I owe the honor of a personal call from you?”
Seongyun, wearing a wireless earpiece, took the call.
“I have a request for you.”
“Hehe… what could a humble information broker like me possibly do for you…?”
“I need detailed information on the Jawolbang members currently operating in the country. Since we’ve become business partners, I’d appreciate it if you could send me everything you can gather about their personal backgrounds by the end of today.”
“Hmm… so you want to get a hold of their weaknesses?”
“That’s correct. I’ll have Director Seo Myungwoo deliver a generous payment shortly.”
Wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt that revealed the irezumi tattoos covering both arms, Seongyun rapidly typed on his keyboard and spoke to Seongjun with confidence.
“Just give me one month. I’ll compile everything and send it over.”
“Understood.”
Seongjun ended the call and returned inside the building.
‘Information on Jawolbang…? His intention is clearly to keep them in check, isn’t it?’
But Seongjun never even dreamed that Ryu Baikhan had been eavesdropping on his conversation from nearby.
Ryu Baikhan watched Seongjun’s retreating figure with a meaningful expression before following him back into the building.
“{What’s up? Where did you go?}”
Xu Kaiwang asked Ryu Baikhan in Chinese. Ryu Baikhan casually held up two cans of drink and replied naturally,
“{I was thirsty, so I bought some drinks. I got one for you too, boss.}”
Xu Kaiwang grinned at him, accepted the drink, and said,
“{Thanks. My throat was getting dry. Perfect timing.}”
Xu Kaiwang downed the drink in one go. Meanwhile, Ryu Baikhan once again watched Ha Seongjun slowly surveying the building’s interior with that same meaningful look in his eyes.