The First Mission Concludes
Shortly after, Kang Jihun arrived through the back door, but the situation had already ended. “You sure took your sweet time, you bastard.” Baek San, covered in blood from head to toe with a Japanese sword at his side, grumbled at the approaching Jihun, who then turned to Ha Seongjun. “What about Haneda?”
“He already escaped. Lee Jeonghan said he’d catch him, but Hakuro interfered and they lost him.”
“That wolf bastard showed up?”
“Yeah. Probably came to help Haneda. He’s caused trouble in Mokpo and Daegu too.”
But inside, Jeonghan felt something was off. ‘That doesn’t seem right. When I got there, the parked cars had slashed tires and all of Haneda’s men were down. Plus, Hakuro shot at Haneda when he aimed a gun at me. They don’t look like they’re on good terms…’
Jihun glanced around before asking Seongjun, “What about the other Yakuza?”
“They scattered and ran. I told the guys to shoot on sight if they spot any.”
“Good. But how do we report this to the chairman?”
“What else? We say the deal with the Yakuza fell through. They started the fight anyway—attacking our guys in Mokpo and Daegu, even trying to poison me with tuna.”
“They poisoned the food? Those crazy bastards…”
“We’ve got plenty of reason to call off the deal. The chairman will understand.”
Meanwhile, while cleaning up the scene, Park Jaehyuk asked Jeonghan, “Jeonghan, you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. You?”
“I’m alright. That guy I fought was seriously strong, though.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Looked like he was right under Haneda. Name was… Kuroba Itsuki, I think?”
Jaehyuk stretched, wincing as if something still ached. “Agh… The spots he hit still hurt.”
“You did good. Let’s rest for a bit.”
“Yeah. You too.”
Having won the war against the Yakuza, the gangsters hacked the bodies sprawled across the motel floor into pieces with machetes and axes, stuffed them into large plastic bags, loaded them onto a truck, and sprayed chemicals to clean up the blood.
The next morning, Jaehyuk stepped outside and received a call from Choi Seongcheol. “Did you eat breakfast?”
“I had extra jjajangmyeon.”
“Good. I heard about the mission results. You let Haneda Shinichi get away?”
“Yes… I’m sorry.”
“No need. At least you succeeded in driving a wedge between Gangryonghoe and Katsuyama-gumi. Half success is still something.”
Contrary to Jaehyuk’s expectation that Seongcheol would be annoyed by the failure, the man responded gently. “By the way… I heard there was a casualty from the UDT side.”
“Yes. Sergeant Namgung Chan.”
“I see… It’s unfortunate that someone died. Sigh…”
Seongcheol let out a sigh as he spoke. Jaehyuk thought to himself, ‘He’s probably just thinking one less person to worry about. That reaction is all an act.’
“Anyway, make sure you guys don’t lose your lives either. And remember just one thing.” Seongcheol emphasized firmly, “If you ever have to take drugs, don’t do it no matter what happens. Even if it means blowing your cover, get out immediately and ask for backup from above. Got it?”
‘Like they’d actually help if we asked. They’d just push us harder. And once we’re addicts, they’d abandon us.’ Jaehyuk suppressed the thought and replied, “Yes. Understood.”
“Good. Then rest up until the next mission.”
Jaehyuk hung up. Meanwhile, at a hospital in Busan, Seongcheol, who had been sitting in a chair inside the hospital room, put his phone away. The man lying on the bed asked, “Undercover?”
[Hyeon Donghwan. Former detective, Dongchul’s father]
“Yeah. The guys we recently sent into Gangryonghoe.”
“More fine young men are going to die again.”
Seongcheol remained silent, unable to respond. Donghwan sighed regretfully. “Sigh… Chief, if there’s one thing I hope for, it’s that those guys working now get some kind of reward. We’re the only ones who’ve risked our lives without getting anything in return.”
“……I want that too. But… what can I do as just a chief? All I can do is help you with my own money while feeling sorry for this reality.”
“Your own money… Come to think of it, the bag of money left in front of Dongchul’s house… Was that you, Chief?”
“Me? I didn’t give the kids money like you asked. Don’t tell me that bastard Commissioner Im did it again…?”
“If it’s not the police side, then it must be Gangryonghoe. Kang Jiyong, that friend…”
Just then, the hospital room door opened and Hyeon Dongchul walked in. Donghwan smiled at his son and greeted him. “Dongchul, you’re here?”
“Yes, Father. Who’s this…?”
At Dongchul’s question, Seongcheol stood up and answered, “I’m your dad’s friend.”
“Hmm… Are you a cop, I mean, police?”
“Not police. Just a regular civilian.” Seongcheol lied because Donghwan had told him Dongchul hated the police. “Ah… Yes. Hello.”
Upon hearing Seongcheol wasn’t police, Dongchul bowed politely. Seongcheol noticed the casts on both of Dongchul’s hands and asked, “By the way, what happened to your hands? Did you get hurt?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. I just twisted them while working part-time.”
Donghwan asked worriedly, “Dongchul, you’re not doing anything dangerous, right?”
“N-no, I’m not. It’s definitely not dangerous… I just twisted them. Really.”
“Hoo… Alright.”
Seongcheol said to Donghwan, “Then talk with your son. I’m busy, so I’ll be going.”
Seongcheol left the room. After closing the door, he recalled what Donghwan had just said. ‘If there’s one thing I hope for, it’s that those guys working now get some kind of reward. We’re the only ones who’ve risked our lives without getting anything in return.’
With a complicated expression, Seongcheol stared at the door for a moment before walking down the hospital corridor.
That afternoon, the staff from Crown Hotel and Crown Entertainment headed back to Seoul. With the deal with the Yakuza having fallen through and war having broken out, there was no reason for them to stay in Busan any longer.
“Hmm… Jaehyuk, you’re better than I thought.”
Ha Seongjun, sitting in the back seat of the car, grinned at Jaehyuk beside him. “But where did you learn to shoot a pistol? Your friend Lee Jeonghan is a special forces guy, so that makes sense, but…”
“I learned at a live-fire shooting range.”
“Really? Well, I learned how to shoot a pistol at a live-fire range too.”
As he spoke, Seongjun gazed out the window as if deep in thought, then casually asked, “Jaehyuk, what do you think of the police?”
“The police? Just a bunch of cops.”
“You think so too? That’s a relief.”
Then he advised, “In this line of work, if you make a name for yourself, you’ll run into cops a few times. Those bastards will do all kinds of shit to turn our guys from the inside—promising to reduce criminal records, give rewards, all that crap. The ones who fall for it sell us out. But once the organization finds out they snitched, what do you think the police do?”
“……They abandon them.”
“Exactly. Once they’ve got enough prey, the hunting dogs aren’t needed anymore. Do you think the police would send in a special forces team to save those guys? Hell no. And the worst part is, it applies to their own cops too. How fucked up is that?”
Seongjun looked at Jaehyuk seriously and warned, “The point is this: if cops ever approach you later saying they’ll do this or that in exchange for intel on the organization, refuse without hesitation. Honestly, both cops and gangsters like us break promises as easily as breathing.”
‘He’s not wrong. Both gangsters and cops break promises like it’s nothing… But you guys are just as disgusting.’ Jaehyuk replied, “Yes. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Seongjun nodded with a grin. “Jaehyuk, I’ll make sure to pull you all the way up to the top. So just trust this hyung, okay?”
“……Yes.”
“Hey, you can just say ‘okay’ at times like this, man. Come to think of it, why haven’t you been speaking casually to me lately? Is that bastard Myungwoo still nagging you?”
“……I’ve just grown some manners.”
“Hey, drop the manners again. It felt more like brothers when we spoke casually…”
Seongjun snapped his fingers a couple of times with his left hand. “Alright, manners off. Execute.”
“It’s fine. I’ll keep the formalities.”
“Tsk… Fine, man. But when it’s just the two of us, feel free to drop the formal speech.”
“Yes.”
The car carrying them continued down the highway toward Seoul.
A few days later, in Seoul. Jaehyuk had received special leave directly from Seongjun and was finally heading home after a long time. When he arrived and opened the door, Park Sejin and Park Dahyun greeted him. “Jaehyuk, you’re home?”
“It’s been a while.”
Meeting his family after so long, Jaehyuk couldn’t help but smile. He asked Sejin, “Has everything been alright?”
“Nothing major happened. By the way, I heard you got a job at Crown Hotel. Is the work manageable?”
“Um… Yes. It’s fine.”
Sejin and Dahyun, along with other civilians, didn’t see Crown Holdings, Crown Hotel, or Crown Capital as the criminal syndicate Gangryonghoe—they thought of them as ordinary mid-sized companies. That’s why their reaction to Jaehyuk’s employment at Crown Hotel wasn’t bad.
Just then, Dahyun looked at her phone and exclaimed in surprise, “Oh, right!! I have an appointment, so I’ll be right back!”
She rushed out, and Jaehyuk asked Sejin, “What’s with her? Is something up…?”
“Dahyun got a boyfriend.”
“Huh? Didn’t she break up with Jinseok?”
“Ugh, don’t even mention it. That bastard Jinseok cheated, broke up with her, and then kept clinging to her asking to get back together. She was miserable for three days because of him.”
Jaehyuk said worriedly, “You should’ve just told me or Taeseok hyung.”
“I didn’t want to worry you when you’re busy. Anyway, just when I was about to tell Taeseok, Dahyun’s current boyfriend gave that stalker ex a real beating. And after that day, Jinseok never showed up in front of Dahyun again.”
‘I wonder how badly he beat him…’
“And that friend kept showing interest in Dahyun, confessed first, and they started dating about five days ago.”
“Hmm… What’s his name?”
“Shin Juhwan. He works at Hanbyul Publishing—a nice young man. Same age as Dahyun.”
Sejin smiled gently at Jaehyuk. “Let’s have dinner just the three of us. Dahyun’s eating with Juhwan and coming home later.”
“Okay. What’s for dinner?”
“I prepared beef since you were coming. Let’s grill some beef.”
Jaehyuk ate dinner and confirmed Dahyun had returned safely after her meal before stepping out for a walk. ‘It’s been so long since I’ve had a break…’
As Jaehyuk walked down the street, snowflakes began to fall slowly from above. ‘What? It’s snowing?’
While walking through the snow, someone called out to him. “Jaehyuk-ssi.”
At the sound of a woman’s voice, Jaehyuk turned around. Alina Kim stood behind him. It had been about two weeks since he last saw her before leaving for Busan. “It’s been a while.”
Wearing a beige coat over a white knit sweater, dark jeans, and brown boots, her striking beauty and figure made her look even more stunning to Jaehyuk. His heart began to race unconsciously at the sight of her. ‘Every time I’m about to forget, we meet again… Is that what you’d call fate?’
She approached him with a bright smile. Jaehyuk was overjoyed to see her but simply looked at her without showing it. “Can we talk for a moment?”
“Talk…?”
“Yes. There’s something I really want to say to you, Jaehyuk-ssi.”
She tucked her hair behind her ear, blushing. Jaehyuk just blinked at her in silence.