First Mission: Using the Enemy Against the Enemy (3)
Hey. I'm asking you a question. Answer me.
Jun-kyung kept his gun trained on Jaehyuk, growling at him. On the outside, Jaehyuk didn't show it, but he was extremely anxious.
Damn it… How the hell am I supposed to sweet-talk this temperamental bastard out of this situation?
At that moment, Seong-jun grabbed Jun-kyung's gun and smiled at him as he spoke.
"Jun-kyung. You've already taken care of the guys who talked shit behind your back. Why are you pointing a gun at a kid who has nothing to do with it? He might've just seen something because you're good-looking."
"Ha, but why the fuck is he giving me that shitty look? I swear to god…!!"
In an instant, Seong-jun pressed the magazine release, separating the clip from the pistol. He then twisted the gun counterclockwise and lifted it upward. Having snatched the weapon from Jun-kyung, Seong-jun quickly stepped back to create distance before the other man could react. The gangsters watching were visibly shocked.
"......What the hell are you doing?"
Caught off guard, Jun-kyung glared at Seong-jun with wide, furious eyes. Seong-jun pulled back the slide of the confiscated pistol, ejecting the round from the chamber, then dropped the empty gun to the floor.
"Hey, Cha Jun-kyung. Let's just end this quietly. Don't take your anger out on our innocent kid."
He stared Jun-kyung down. Though clearly displeased, Jun-kyung could only grind his teeth in frustration, knowing he had no choice.
As the two high-ranking executives of the Gangryonghoe engaged in a tense standoff, Jun-kyung glared at Jaehyuk and said,
"Fine. But I still need an apology from that bastard. If I don't get it by the end of today… I'll bet everything I have and really kill him this time."
Seong-jun glared right back. For a moment, it looked like the two might charge at each other, ready to fight to the death.
In the middle of that razor-sharp tension, Seong-jun slightly relaxed his expression and spoke to Jaehyuk.
"Sigh… Chief Park. Apologize. Now."
"......I'm sorry for offending you, sir."
Jaehyuk bowed deeply, offering a respectful apology. Jun-kyung took a deep breath, then pointed at the corpse of the man whose tongue had been ripped out.
"I really fucking hate people who ruin my mood. I hate them enough to turn them into that. If you give me that nice-guy look one more time, I'll gouge both your eyes out, chew them up, and shove them back in. Got it?"
He gestured toward the gruesome bodies and gave orders to his subordinates before leaving the room.
"Grind those up, season them, and turn them into dog food."
"Yes, sir!!"
While Jun-kyung's men cleaned up the corpses, Seong-jun spoke to the still-tense Jaehyuk and another subordinate.
"Let's head out too."
"Yes… sir…"
The other subordinate was still trembling, clearly terrified by what he'd just witnessed.
"Why didn't you leave earlier? I told everyone to get out."
"Th-that's… I was so scared my legs wouldn't move… But, um… Is Representative Cha Jun-kyung always that terrifying?"
Jaehyuk asked him,
"Are you close with Representative Cha Jun-kyung, sir?"
"Yeah. We're the same age. A long time ago, there was an organization called the Hyunbeom-pa. Ever heard of it?"
"I know a bit about it. Wasn't that the group that ruled Seoul before the Gangryonghoe?"
"That's right. Our Gangryonghoe went to war with the Hyunbeom-pa and won. That's how we became the top dogs in this world. The two of us fought together back then. I've saved that bastard's life more than once or twice. I don't even know how many times I pulled him back from the brink because of that shitty personality of his. I stopped counting after the seventh time."
That explains why his attitude toward him is relatively lenient. No matter how crazy and reckless the guy is, you can't treat your life savior like trash.
"Anyway, you must've been pretty shocked, Jaehyuk. You've only been here a short while and you had to see something like that. It's something you'll see plenty of in the future… but I guess I made you do some early preview without giving you time to adjust."
"I'm… I'm fine, sir."
"Really? You must watch a lot of gore movies or something? Sang-gyu, you watch that stuff too?"
"Uh… no, sir. That's why I was so scared my legs wouldn't move…"
"Whoa… Sang-gyu, you probably shouldn't be the one handling the logs then. But Jaehyuk, are you really okay? You almost got shot back there."
"I'm really fine, sir."
Seong-jun stared at him with a slightly hardened expression before speaking again.
"Good. But if it's hard, don't hide it. Tell me everything. Understand? Don't keep it bottled up alone and then explode somewhere you shouldn't."
"Yes, sir."
The way Seong-jun spoke to Jaehyuk didn't feel like a high-ranking gang executive. He seemed more like the friendly older brother you'd find in any neighborhood.
If Tae-seok-hyung became a gangster, he'd probably be exactly like this.
"Aigoo, my heart still hasn't calmed down after almost losing my little brother. This won't do!! Let's go to the arcade and heal up!! This hyung will treat everyone to the full course!!"
Seong-jun looked at the subordinates who had already left the room and shouted,
"Hey!! First ten people to the arcade get to go!!"
"Sir, there are only ten of us total."
"Yeah. So let's all go together."
Even after witnessing that horrific scene, Jaehyuk could only stare blankly at Seong-jun, who was now cheerfully suggesting they go to the arcade.
At a certain hotel in Busan.
Seo Gyuhak, who had come at Park Minhyeok's orders both to gather information on the Gangryonghoe and to protect his son Jaehyuk, was on the phone with someone.
"So the Company has started surgical operations?"
The person on the other end was Jeong Seung-gyu.
"Yeah. After closely examining the photos from the scene where the Gangryonghoe was attacked, it's clear it wasn't the Katsuyama-gumi's work. It looks like the Company sent in their employees and began business through surgical means."
"How can you be so sure?"
"I just asked them."
Around Seung-gyu, dozens of Katsuyama-gumi yakuza lay sprawled in pools of their own blood. Covered in gore and holding a knife, Seung-gyu sat atop one of the bodies while speaking to Gyuhak.
"While gathering intel on the Gangryonghoe, I asked them on the side. They said they've never attacked the Gangryonghoe nor received orders to do so. I also asked if any rogue elements might have acted independently, but they said it's against their principles to move without their oyabun's approval. If anyone breaks that rule, the entire affiliated subgroup gets wiped out."
"So the Company is likely to move again?"
"I'm certain of it. During the upcoming exchange between the Gangryonghoe and Katsuyama-gumi, they'll probably send in their people to cause chaos, wipe out key executive lines on both sides, frame each organization for the other's actions, and spark a collision between them."
As Seung-gyu stood up and began walking somewhere, a wounded yakuza charged at him from the side, swinging a dos dagger. Seung-gyu dodged the attack, struck the man's wrist with the hand holding his phone, and slashed the yakuza's throat with the knife in his other hand.
"What was that?"
"Nothing. One of them was still alive."
Spitting out the words casually, Seung-gyu left the yakuza hideout, got into a car, and continued speaking to Gyuhak.
"Anyway, I plan to secure more information on the business dealings between the Gangryonghoe and Katsuyama-gumi soon."
"You're going to get it in the field after so long?"
"Yeah. Doing it through a computer carries the risk of being traced by the Company. Plus, after staring at a screen for years, my hands are starting to itch."
"Don't lose your touch and do anything stupid."
Seung-gyu, who had just started the car, let out a snort.
"Ha, got it, you punk."
With that, he ended the call and stepped on the accelerator.
Meanwhile, at Gimhae International Airport.
Three high-ranking executives of the Gangryonghoe were waiting at the terminal.
"So who exactly is coming from Japan?"
"If they got promoted to division leader, they must have some skill. I'm curious what kind of guys they are."
Behind the executives stood subordinates from each of their respective businesses, holding welcome banners. A few of them were chatting among themselves.
"So you two have been friends since kindergarten?"
Seong-jun's subordinate Sang-gyu asked Jeong-han and Jaehyuk while sucking on a lollipop. Jeong-han answered,
"Yeah. We met when we were seven and we've been like this ever since."
"You're both twenty-six now… Wow, that's almost twenty years. You two must be real best friends."
"Twenty years, huh… Time really flies."
One of Taeyang's subordinates asked,
"By the way, I heard a rumor that you're close with Representative Kang Ji-hun, who is Representative Seo's nephew. Is that true?"
"We are close. This guy is too."
"And this guy's little sister is Kang Ji-hun's girlfriend."
At Jeong-han and Jaehyuk's answers, the other gangsters stirred with excitement.
"You're both close with Kang Ji-hun?"
"Must be nice. Your future is paved with flowers from now on."
"And his little sister is Ji-hun's girlfriend? Jackpot."
"Isn't that basically a royal family?"
Then Jeong-han quietly asked Jaehyuk in a low voice,
"Does Ji-hun know you've joined the Gangryonghoe?"
"No. He still doesn't know."
Jaehyuk glanced briefly at Seo Taeyang, who was talking with Seong-jun and Jun-kyung, then asked Jeong-han,
"Speaking of which, Seo Taeyang is Ji-hun's uncle, right? How is he? Does he treat him well?"
"He seems to secretly favor him since he's his nephew's friend. He gets called to the representative's office often and receives pocket money."
Jeong-han looked at the high-ranking executives waiting for the arriving yakuza and said to Jaehyuk,
"I didn't know Ji-hun was Chairman Kang Ji-yong's son."
"When I first found out, I was shocked as hell too."
"......Let's meet separately later and talk more. We can catch up properly."
"Okay."
At that moment, about ten men approached the Gangryonghoe executives. Seeing them, Seong-jun muttered,
"They're finally here."
The man at the very front was a Japanese man in his mid-thirties, around 180 centimeters tall with a mullet haircut. He smiled brightly at Seong-jun and greeted him in fluent Korean.
"Representative Ha. It's been a while. Have you been well?"
"I studied a bit. It's been a while, Representative Cha and Representative Seo as well."
"It's been a while, Mr. Haneda."
"It's been a while."
Taeyang and Jun-kyung also greeted Shinichi with proper courtesy. Shinichi then introduced the two Japanese men behind him who appeared to be at the executive level.
"These are our boys who recently became division leaders. The one with the ponytail is Hashimoto Ryuhei, and the bald one is Honda Hideki."
He then spoke to his subordinates in Japanese.
"(These are the executives from the Gangryonghoe. Show proper respect.)"
The man with the ponytail, standing around 180 centimeters tall with a mustache, greeted them first. Then the bald man, around 175 centimeters with a knife scar near his left eye, followed.
Seong-jun responded in Japanese.
"(Likewise, please take care of us as well.)"
He then spoke to Shinichi in Korean.
"Let's head to our hotel first."
"Yes. I'm quite looking forward to this exchange."
With that, the members of the Gangryonghoe and the Katsuyama-gumi left the airport together. Several people secretly filmed them using cameras hidden in pens or inside bags.
One of them sent a message somewhere.
Yong-gyun was slang for the Gangryonghoe, and Kyung-chun referred to the Katsuyama-gumi. "Going to drink" meant their exchange would begin soon. A reply came quickly.
In a building near the Busan branch of the Crown Hotel.
Inside a truck parked nearby, NIS agents were waiting.
"Both groups are currently heading toward the Crown Hotel Busan branch."
Gyeong-won then gave the agents detailed instructions for the operation.
"Business commencement is at 2 a.m. on December 7th. Try to move when the two organizations are separated as much as possible. Team A will operate disguised as Katsuyama-gumi hitmen, and Team B will operate disguised as Gangryonghoe hitmen."
"Yes, sir!!"
"If the situation becomes unfavorable, Team C, disguised as a third party, will move in. Do not draw firearms unless absolutely necessary. Understood?"
"Yes!! Understood!!"
At the same time, in another hotel near the Crown Hotel.
Robert Han, Alina Kim's special bodyguard, was in a room looking toward the Crown Hotel through a scoped rifle mounted on a bipod. Through the scope, he captured an image of Jaehyuk entering the hotel alongside Seong-jun.
Through the wireless earpiece in his ear, he heard the following:
"Business commencement is at 2 a.m. on December 7th. Try to move when the two organizations are separated as much as possible…"
I need to be even more alert on December 7th. Good thing I predicted the NIS's involvement to some degree and installed listening devices in suspicious locations.
Robert briefly looked away from the scope and typed several English sentences into his phone. He carefully examined the photos he had taken while tailing Jaehyuk.
There is no immediate serious danger yet, but now that the NIS's involvement is confirmed, Park Jaehyuk's life could become even more endangered. On top of that, several unexpected individuals have been identified.
He looked at a photo where Jaehyuk appeared alongside several suspicious-looking people, then pulled up other images taken with a camera that had X-ray capabilities.
Some of the X-ray photos clearly showed people carrying concealed pistols moving around Jaehyuk.
When I ran their identities, several turned out to be former members of Korean special forces, not NIS. Why are these unaffiliated ex-special forces operatives monitoring Park Jaehyuk?
With questions swirling in his mind, Robert slipped his phone back into his pocket.
Things seem to be getting more complicated than expected. It might get a bit dangerous. We may need more personnel than I originally anticipated.