Securing Shin Jaeguk

In a fast-food restaurant somewhere in Ho Chi Minh City, Jaehyuk and Sanggyu sat with the girl they had rescued. She was devouring a hamburger like she hadn't eaten in days.

'Man... how long has she been starving to eat like that?'

Jaehyuk and Sanggyu, who were only sipping their drinks, watched her with pity in their eyes.

"Eat slowly. You'll upset your stomach," Sanggyu said to the girl with concern. She slowed down a little, but she certainly didn't eat any less.

Before long, she had polished off two full hamburger sets. Jaehyuk asked her, "Did you come from North Korea?"

"......Are you South Korean gentlemen?"

Fear colored the girl's voice as she asked.

"Yeah. We're from South Korea, and we won't send you back to the North Koreans, so you can relax."

The girl nodded at his words, but the wariness in her eyes toward Jaehyuk and Sanggyu hadn't completely disappeared. Then Sanggyu asked her, "What's your name?"

"......My name is Seo Yeonjeong."

"That's a pretty name."

Jaehyuk took a sip of his cola through the straw before asking Yeonjeong, "Did you come here trying to get from North Korea to South Korea?"

"......Yes. I was originally trying to go to South Korea through Thailand... but I fell asleep on the way. When I woke up, I was already here in Vietnam."

"Vietnam?"

"In North Korea, they call it 'Wietnam.'"

"Ah, I see..."

When Sanggyu looked confused, Jaehyuk explained it to him.

She was trying to get to Thailand but got tricked and ended up here. Gangryonghoe was supposed to be running human trafficking on North Korean defectors in Vietnam... but did they really go as far as impersonating defector brokers to pull this off?

Thinking that, Jaehyuk asked Yeonjeong, "Can you tell me where you escaped from? If you don't remember, just describe what was around you."

After a brief silence, Yeonjeong described the features of the building. Jaehyuk immediately recalled the facility he'd visited before that belonged to Jo Changsik.

It's similar to Jo Changsik's place. Come to think of it, they said one of the girls escaped from there. Was it her?

Swallowing his guilt, Jaehyuk pressed her for more information. "I'm sorry for making you remember bad things, but could you tell me what happened there? That's the only way we ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠can catch the bastards who hurt you."

"......Can you really... catch those people...?"

"Yes. I promise we'll definitely catch them."

After another moment of silence, Yeonjeong began to speak about what she had seen and experienced.

Among the defectors, the men were separated and forced to fight in an arena until one of them died. Sometimes they even pitted family members against each other. The women, without exception, were turned into sex trafficking victims. Those who couldn't be used that way became targets for organ trafficking. Occasionally, people with military backgrounds from special forces or those who survived the arena for a long time without serious injuries were taken somewhere else and never seen again.

These inhumane crimes didn't just target defectors. Local gang members, small-time Korean gangsters living in Vietnam, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠people connected to them were also victimized.

As she spoke, the horrific memories seemed to resurface. Yeonjeong's body began to tremble violently, and tears streamed down her face.

Sanggyu stared at her in horror. Jaehyuk clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white.

To do something that terrible to a child so young... How can human beings even do that?

At that moment, Sanggyu asked Jaehyuk, "Shouldn't we take her to the police?"

"No. In a normal situation that would be right, but she's a North Korean defector. Vietnam has friendly relations with North Korea, so North Korean State Security agents sometimes operate here to catch defectors. The Vietnamese police could hand her over to them."

"Then what should we do...?"

Still troubled, Sanggyu asked, "What about the embassy?"

Yeonjeong spoke up then. "I went to the South Korean embassy and asked them to send me to South Korea... but they refused. They said they were too busy."

"So the embassy isn't a good option either. What now..."

Unable to come up with any clear solution, Sanggyu rested his chin on his hand and brooded.

If the place Yeonjeong escaped from really is a Gangryonghoe operation... then we have testimony that they're running inhumane human trafficking in Vietnam.

With that in mind, Jaehyuk told Sanggyu, "For now, let's take her to the hotel."

A short while later, the three of them arrived at the hotel. Sanggyu asked worriedly, "What are we going to do now? Should we get one room?"

"Leaving her alone doesn't feel right. Those guys who were chasing Yeonjeong earlier are from Gangryonghoe, so I'm uneasy... I need to leave her with a trustworthy friend in secret."

"In secret?? How??"

Just then, Jaehyuk spotted a cleaning cart being pushed by a hotel housekeeper. He stared intently at the cart.

Meanwhile, Jeonghan was resting in his hotel room. As he relaxed, someone knocked on the door and called his name.

"Jeonghan. It's me."

Recognizing Jaehyuk's voice, Jeonghan opened the door. Jaehyuk stood there with Sanggyu and a Vietnamese housekeeper.

"What brings you here?"

"I have a favor to ask."

Jaehyuk lifted the cloth covering the cleaning cart the housekeeper had been pushing. Yeonjeong emerged from inside it.

"Huh?? What the?? Who is this kid??"

"Let's go inside and talk. Sanggyu, you head back to your room."

"Uh... okay."

Jaehyuk pulled a hundred-dollar bill from his pocket and handed it to the housekeeper, who grinned and said in clumsy Korean, "Cam sa ham ni da."

Once the housekeeper and Sanggyu had left, Jaehyuk entered Jeonghan's room with Yeonjeong. Jeonghan stared at her blankly for a moment before asking Jaehyuk, "What happened? Weren't you supposed to be looking for Shin Jaeguk?"

"I found her while I was searching for him. She was being chased by human traffickers from Gangryonghoe."

Jeonghan looked at Yeonjeong's disheveled appearance and said gently, "Go wash up in the bathroom first. If you need anything, just knock on the door and call me."

"Yes..."

Once Yeonjeong had gone into the bathroom, Jeonghan let out a sigh. "Saving someone in danger is good and all... but we have our own mission."

"We're going to save the girl in danger and still do our job. Besides... it didn't feel like it was someone else's problem."

Seven years ago, Jaehyuk had nearly lost his younger sister Park Dahyun in the Burning Island Gate scandal—a massive sex trafficking case that entangled the entertainment industry, politics, and the legal world. Yeonjeong had suffered the very horror that Dahyun had barely escaped. Jaehyuk couldn't just coldly brush aside her pain.

"Yeah, I get that. But what about the guys who were chasing her? You just shook them off?"

"No. I killed them."

"You killed them? How are you going to handle the fallout?"

"We'll say it was the remnants of Honglyeonbang who killed them, not me. There's no evidence I did it, and since the remnants of Honglyeonbang are currently looking for Shin Jaeguk, it gives us plausible deniability."

Jaehyuk sat down on the bed and continued, "Basically, we let the two sides go to war. Then the Vietnamese or Korean police will investigate the conflict and tear down Gangryonghoe's operations inside Vietnam."

Just then, Jeonghan's phone rang. He answered it.

"Hello?"

"Is this Sergeant Lee Jeonghan?"

"Who is this?"

"We're the support team from the NIS."

"Have you secured any information on Shin Jaeguk yet?"

"No. We haven't secured him yet."

"In that case, we'll handle securing Shin Jaeguk. Mr. Jaehyuk and Mr. Jeonghan, please focus on inciting conflict between the remnants of Honglyeonbang and Gangryonghoe from within, or gather additional intelligence."

"Understood. The scenario was written by Detective Park Jaehyuk. May we proceed with it as planned?"

"Let's hear what the scenario is."

Jeonghan relayed Jaehyuk's plan to Wonjin.

"Hmm... Not a bad scenario. Very well. We'll proceed."

"Understood."

"Once we secure Shin Jaeguk, we'll drop him off at a Honglyeonbang safe house. We'll send the location to you or Jaehyuk. Use it to tip off Gangryonghoe and trigger the war."

Wonjin placed the inspected pistol on the table and continued, "If they ask how you found the safe house, say you bought the information from Vietnamese informant Tran Bao."

"You're trying to use Shin Jaeguk to make Honglyeonbang and Gangryonghoe clash?"

"That's correct. We'll execute the plan tonight, so just follow the instructions when the time comes."

"Yes. Understood."

That night, Jaeguk was walking through the streets of Ho Chi Minh City.

I heard some Gangryonghoe guys came here. I need to contact them somehow. But I don't have a phone right now, damn it...

He slipped into an alley. A short while later, a dull thud echoed from within the alleyway.

About five minutes after that, NIS agents Heo Gwanung and Ji Seunggyeom emerged carrying the unconscious Jaeguk.

"Shin Jaeguk secured. Let's move."

Hearing Gwanung's report, Wonjin replied, "Copy."

The van carrying Wonjin and Dongjin drove off. A short while later, they stopped on the side of a road. Gwanung and Seunggyeom got in, and Dongjin, sitting in the passenger seat, gave the order to Wonjin who was driving.

"Move out."

The NIS agents who had kidnapped Jaeguk drove away. During the ride, Dongjin said, "First, we'll drop Shin Jaeguk at the Honglyeonbang safe house. Then we'll make Gangryonghoe negotiate over him. Of course, we can't let Gangryonghoe actually accept their terms and ruin our plan."

Gwanung asked, "But will ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Honglyeonbang just leave him alone?"

"To them, Shin Jaeguk is a bargaining chip against Gangryonghoe. Killing him recklessly would be a stupid move."

Dongjin glanced at the unconscious Jaeguk and continued, "No matter how reckless they are, they won't want to make an enemy of Gangryonghoe, which has real influence in Vietnam's underworld. If they use his life to negotiate for profit, that's one thing. But killing him would make everything ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pointless."

A while later, they drove deep into the jungle. Soon, a building came into view. Seeing it, Dongjin pointed near the structure and told Wonjin, "Drop him off there."

"Understood."

"And Agent Kim, tomorrow you'll disguise yourself as a Honglyeonbang member. If they hesitate to go to war with Gangryonghoe, push them into it."

"Yes, understood."

After dropping the unconscious Jaeguk at the Honglyeonbang safe house, they drove away, gradually distancing themselves from the building. Behind them, Shin Jaeguk slowly regained consciousness, opened his eyes, and began to stir.