The Honglyeonbang War (1)
'Where... where am I...??'
Shin Jaeguk had just sat up and begun looking around when several Honglyeonbang members stepped outside.
"Huh? Isn't that the chemist?"
"What's he doing here?"
Among them, Jaeguk spotted a familiar face and realized he was inside a Honglyeonbang hideout.
'I'm screwed...!!!'
The moment he grasped the horrifying reality, he tried to run. A gunshot rang out, and dirt exploded beside his foot. One of the Honglyeonbang men stood behind him, smoke curling from the barrel of a Colt M1911A1 aimed straight at him.
"Where do you think you're going? We've been looking everywhere for you."
[Jang Caoping. Former 3rd-in-command of Honglyeonbang]
Jang Caoping and his subordinates walked toward Jaeguk, who had frozen in terror.
"Tie him up and lock him in the warehouse."
"Understood."
Jang Caoping slipped the pistol into his pocket while his men seized Jaeguk and dragged him inside. As they walked, Jang Caoping spoke with his subordinate Li Xiaokan.
"Are you really planning to hand the chemist over to those people? Even if we deliver him, I doubt they'll keep their end of the bargain."
[Li Xiaokan. Former 7th-in-command of Honglyeonbang]
"That's why if they call, I'll tell them we haven't found him yet and buy as much time as possible. While we stall, I'll extract the drug-making techniques from him. Once we have money, we'll buy the materials and produce the drugs ourselves. That way we can earn enough to build our power and take revenge on those Jawolbang bastards."
"What if they get suspicious and move against us while we're stalling?"
"They won't dare. They know I still have the files containing their dirty secrets. That's why they can't touch me."
Just then, Jang Caoping's phone rang. He answered.
"Jang Caoping speaking."
"Have you secured the chemist?"
He hesitated for a moment before replying.
"Not yet."
"How much more time do you need?"
"One week. I'll definitely find him by then."
"Is that so? Fine. Once you have him, take a photo and contact us."
"Understood."
The caller hung up. Jang Caoping muttered under his breath, annoyed.
"Fucking bastard..."
At that same moment, in Dalat, Vietnam, a muscular man with long hair who looked to be in his mid-thirties sat in a hotel drinking scotch. He wore a black sleeveless T-shirt and dark cotton pants.
'Jang Caoping... I can't afford to trust that man so easily.'
With a suspicious expression, he set his half-empty glass on the table and called out in Chinese.
"Dou Yuan. Are you out there?"
The man outside slowly opened the door and entered.
"You called for me?"
"Gather the men. We're heading to Ho Chi Minh City."
"Is this because of the Honglyeonbang remnants?"
"Yes. I have a feeling they're plotting something behind our backs."
Dou Yuan bowed respectfully.
"Understood. I'll contact the men and move out immediately."
"Good. Once you find Jang Caoping, secure the files as well. And..."
The man stood up, his eyes flashing with fury.
"The moment you have the files, skin him alive."
"Understood."
The next day, at the hotel where Gangryonghoe members were staying, the executives listened to reports from Jaehyuk and Jeonghan.
"So you're saying the Honglyeonbang remnants killed people from Changsik's business and kidnapped Shin Jaeguk?"
Im Kanghun asked, and Jeonghan answered.
"Yes. The information came from our informant, Tran Bao. We also obtained the location of their hideout from him."
"I saw the Honglyeonbang remnants kill Director Cho's people and dump the bodies deep in an alley. I couldn't intervene because we were outnumbered..."
"It's fine," Im Kanghun said, reassuring Jaehyuk. "If you'd tried to step in and something had happened to you, we'd have one more victim. You made the right call by not acting."
"These motherfuckers killed our business associates and then kidnapped our chemist?"
Ha Joon exploded in anger. Taehyun remained silent for a moment before speaking to Jeonghan.
"I've heard the report. You two can wait outside."
"Yes, sir."
Jaehyuk and Jeonghan left the room. Im Kanghun turned to the executives.
"We need to strike the Honglyeonbang remnants as soon as possible and rescue Director Shin, don't we?"
"I agree with Manager Im. Now that we have their location, there's no reason to hesitate."
"The longer we wait, the harder it will be to secure him."
Do Won and Ha Joon voiced their agreement. Hyun addressed them.
"Then we'll reinforce our numbers with the local business staff here in Vietnam, head to the armory tonight to gear up, and hit the Honglyeonbang hideout."
"Understood."
Meanwhile, in a quiet alley near the hotel, Jaehyuk and Jeonghan discussed the mission.
"Did you send the human trafficking documents?"
"I forwarded them to Uncle."
"Did you mention Yeonjeong too?"
"Yeah. He said he'd take her to the embassy later."
"You don't think they'll half-ass it again, do you?"
"They won't. NIS is getting involved this time, so they can't just brush it off."
"That's a relief."
Jaehyuk then asked, "By the way, did you talk to her?"
"Yeah. She seemed shy at first, but later she started talking to me first."
"Guess she wasn't always that timid."
Jeonghan let out a sympathetic sigh.
"Hearing her testimony... it was heartbreaking. To go through something so horrific at such a young age..."
Jaehyuk looked at him in silence for a moment before speaking.
"At least she escaped that hell. But she defected alone, without any family?"
"No. She had her mother and aunt, but they were caught by the Ministry of State Security during the journey. She tried to reach Thailand by herself after that."
"So she defected with her family..."
Jaehyuk also sighed at the additional tragedy.
"If she goes to Korea, how will she manage on her own?"
"She won't be alone. She has an older brother who defected earlier and settled in South Korea."
"That's fortunate, at least."
"Let's head back inside. Things are going to get busy, so we should rest while we can."
"Yeah. Let's go."
That night, the Gangryonghoe members armed themselves at the warehouse and boarded vans to head toward the Honglyeonbang hideout. Sangkyu sat beside Jaehyuk holding a Mini Uzi, looking visibly anxious about the impending gunfight.
"Woo Sangkyu. You okay?"
"Huh? Uh, yeah..."
Jeonghan, seated in front of him, spoke up.
"If you're not feeling steady, just lay down suppressing fire from the rear. If it gets too dangerous, fall back."
"Suppressing fire?"
"It means creating a wall of bullets. Shoot so the enemy can't approach."
"Ah... got it."
Soon the vehicles arrived near the hideout. Vietnamese gangsters and Gangryonghoe members armed with machetes, axes, and firearms stepped out. As they approached, several Honglyeonbang members noticed them and emerged with guns.
"What the hell? Who are you?"
In that instant, Taehyun shot one of them dead. The gunshot became the signal, and Gangryonghoe members opened fire on the Honglyeonbang men.
"Ambush! Shoot!"
"Kill them all!"
"Aaaagh! My leg!"
Honglyeonbang members poured out and returned fire at the Gangryonghoe forces and Vietnamese gangsters.
"Aagh!"
"Take cover! Take cover!"
"Get down!"
Some Gangryonghoe members who didn't understand the command stood exposed and were gunned down. Sangkyu panicked, flailing in confusion.
"Woo Sangkyu!! Get over here!!! Hide behind the rock!!"
Jaehyuk, already crouched behind a boulder, waved frantically. Sangkyu sprinted over and ducked down. He screamed mindlessly while spraying bullets from the Uzi in every direction.
"Aaaaaagh!!!"
"The stock! Extend the stock before you shoot!!"
Jaehyuk fired his M4A1. Sangkyu, still standing and spraying, suddenly realized his gun had stopped firing. As he tried to check it, Jaehyuk yanked him backward by the collar, knocking him down. A bullet grazed the spot where Sangkyu's head had been a split second earlier.
"Huff... huff..."
"Snap out of it, you idiot!! This isn't a game!!!"
"Huff... hah... Mom... Mom..."
"Woo Sangkyu!! Breathe! Slow, deep breaths!!"
Sangkyu's condition was deteriorating fast. The horrific sights—men with shredded flesh, heads blown open with brains spilling out, others wandering with missing limbs before being shot again—had shattered his mind. The near-miss to his own head only made it worse. Jaehyuk slapped him hard across the face several times.
"Get it together!! Focus!! If you don't, you're dead, you bastard!!"
Sangkyu finally regained some clarity. He took deep breaths and looked at Jaehyuk. Jaehyuk snatched the Mini Uzi, ejected the empty magazine, pulled the charging handle to clear the bolt, loaded a fresh magazine, and handed it back.
"Don't empty the whole magazine at once. Fire in short bursts. Don't waste ammo. Got it? If it gets too dangerous, stay hidden behind this rock."
"Y-yeah... okay..."
Jaehyuk peeked over the rock to assess the situation.
"I'm moving over there. Cover me by shooting toward the front."
"Uh, uh-huh..."
'This is risky... but whatever.'
Despite his unease, Jaehyuk dashed from cover toward another position. Fortunately, Sangkyu laid down fire on the Honglyeonbang members targeting Jaehyuk. Though he fired on full auto instead of bursts and quickly emptied the magazine, the distraction worked.
'At least he did okay.'
At that moment, a Honglyeonbang member aimed a Remington M870 shotgun at Sangkyu. Jaehyuk shot him in the head before he could pull the trigger.
'Now I need to get inside and secure Shin Jaeguk.'
Jaehyuk gunned down more Honglyeonbang members and sprinted into the hideout.
Meanwhile, Jeonghan used a parked car's tire as cover, periodically rising to shoot. He spotted Jaehyuk entering the building.
'It's too dangerous for him to go alone. I need to follow.'
Jeonghan fired until his magazine ran dry, then calmly tilted the rifle, ejected the spent magazine, reloaded, and resumed shooting. Suddenly, a Honglyeonbang member aimed a Type 56-1 assault rifle at the back of his head. Jeonghan sensed it and started to turn, but before he could fire, the man's head exploded in a spray of blood and brain matter. Startled but quick, Jeonghan took new cover.
'That shot didn't come from us. Who was that? Who just saved me?'
Five hundred meters from the hideout, inside a modified truck, a masked figure wearing blue sunglasses aimed a suppressed Walther WA2000 sniper rifle equipped with a night-vision scope. Through the green-tinted scope, he watched Jeonghan in the firefight. When another Honglyeonbang member tried to shoot Jeonghan with a Mini Uzi, the sniper pulled the trigger, blowing the man's head apart. He ignored everyone else, focusing solely on protecting Jeonghan. Once Jeonghan entered the hideout, the sniper lowered the rifle, got into the driver's seat, and drove the truck toward the building.