The Father's True Identity
The meeting began like that.
“As you all probably already know from the news, President Shin has been arrested by the police. And most of our operations inside Vietnam have been dismantled by the local authorities.”
This was reported by Choi Kyungsoo, representative of Crown Capital, and executive director Ju Taeyeol.
“For now, the remaining businesses will be relocated to Thailand or the Golden Triangle using Executive Director Ju’s personal connections.”
“Someone I knew from my mercenary days is secretly running drug supply and prostitution out of a casino in the Golden Triangle. I asked him to make room for our organization.”
Gang Jiyong remained silent for a moment. His son, Jihun, stood beside him with a somewhat bitter expression, watching the meeting unfold.
“The Vietnamese operations will be run out of Thailand or the Golden Triangle. But what about the opium-related businesses—heroin, fentanyl, and the like—that President Shin was handling?”
The executives fell silent. Then Cha Junkyung, representative of Crown Mu-yeok, offered a suggestion to Jiyong.
“From what I’ve heard, several technicians who once handled opium in the Golden Triangle are now in hiding in Myanmar or Laos. We plan to head there soon with people from the hotel side to locate them.”
Ha Seongjun added, “Once we find the technicians, we’ll bring some of them to the Philippines to train new ones. If language becomes an issue, we’ll hire interpreters.”
“More importantly, what about the matter concerning Jawolbang?”
Gangryonghoe’s drug technician, Shin Jaeguk, had gone silent and was ultimately arrested because of the Taiwanese triad Jawolbang—or, more precisely, another triad acting on Jawolbang’s orders. No matter how close their current business partnership was, Gangryonghoe had no intention of letting it slide.
In response to Jiyong’s question, Seongjun reported on the Jawolbang situation.
“Since 2019 we’ve been gathering various pieces of information on Jawolbang from our sources. However, we believe it’s still too early to leak that information and provoke them.”
“That makes sense. The recent incident has drawn quite a bit of attention from law enforcement.”
“Exactly. We’ll continue collecting data, and once the media quiets down, we’ll use that information to restrain Jawolbang’s activities inside Korea.”
Jiyong nodded. “Good. We’ll end the meeting here regarding President Shin and the Vietnamese operations. Let’s move on to the next agenda.”
The Gangryonghoe executives discussed various criminal enterprises both domestic and international, along with their activities targeting the political and legal worlds. Jihun, listening to it all, wore an openly displeased expression.
After a long time had passed and the meeting finally ended, the Gangryonghoe executives filed out of the conference room. Low-ranking members like Jaehyuk and Jeonghan had been kept outside and were unable to obtain any information from inside.
The surveillance was too tight. There was nothing I could do.
Seongjun approached Jaehyuk and spoke to him.
“Fortunately, no one mentioned the failure. But you’ll need to perform well going forward.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“You’ve had one crisis after another right after arriving—fighting the yakuza, fighting the triads…”
“It has been quite eventful, sir.”
“Take a few days to rest at home and report back next Monday. Also, a bonus of around five hundred should hit your account soon, so keep that in mind.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Seongjun gave Jaehyuk’s shoulder a light, encouraging pat before walking away. As he strode down the company corridor with his subordinates, he pulled out his phone and made a call.
“Director Jang. This is Ha Seongjun.”
“Oh my, Director Ha. What brings you to call when you must be so busy?”
Jang Seongyun—real name Jeong Seunggyu—sat on a sofa in a leather jacket, smiling slyly as he spoke with Seongjun.
“It didn’t completely collapse, at least. Anyway, is the information I requested ready?”
“Of course. I actually just received some top-tier intel and was organizing it.”
“Top-tier?”
Seongyun grinned and explained what this top-tier information was.
“It turns out Jawolbang has a surprisingly close business partnership with the Mingtian Triad, a Chinese triad. As you know, Jawolbang enjoys massive support from most Taiwanese people because of its anti-China movement. But if the world learns that Jawolbang is in tight business with the Mingtian Triad—which has deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party…”
“If we add evidence of the various crimes they’ve committed against civilians, public support in Taiwan for Jawolbang will plummet. And once that support drops sharply, the Taiwanese government will have no reason to keep backing them…”
“They’ll weaken rapidly and collapse.”
“Thank you for the excellent information. Please organize everything and send it over. I’ll wire the payment immediately.”
“Thank you for your continued patronage.”
Seongyun ended the call. The person sitting across from him asked,
“Was that Ha Seongjun from Gangryonghoe?”
“Yes. One of our regular clients.”
Seongyun smiled softly at the man across from him, crossed one leg, and asked,
“By the way… I must say I’m quite surprised.”
“What surprises you?”
“Many things. The fact that you’re suddenly providing me with such high-grade information, for one… Anyway, many things.”
As he spoke, Seongyun took a sip of the energy drink on the table in front of him, then addressed the man sitting across from him—Ryu Baikan.
“By the way, is it all right for you to stay here like this?”
“Don’t worry. I’ve prepared a solid alibi.”
Ryu Baikan picked up one of the macarons on the table and ate it. Seongyun frowned slightly and asked,
“Is that any good? It’s too sweet for me…”
“I don’t usually eat them either… but today I’m craving sugar for some reason. Even after eleven years, whenever that day comes around, I end up wanting this lump of sugar.”
Ryu Baikan’s expression grew distant as he spoke. Seeing it, Seongyun could only look at him with eyes full of pity.
That evening, Jaehyuk, Jeonghan, and Jihun were catching up on the conversation they hadn’t finished earlier.
“So, is Suyeon doing well at the company?”
“Yeah. It’s a game company, so it seems to suit her perfectly.”
Jihun answered Jaehyuk’s question, and Jeonghan asked Jihun about a different topic.
“But do you two have any marriage plans? You’ve already been dating for over seven years.”
“I was actually planning to bring it up soon. I’ve already looked at rings for the proposal.”
“Oh. Kang Jihun’s proposal, huh… You’re not going to do something flashy like playing music in front of a huge crowd, right?”
“If I did that, even I’d cringe so hard we might all get sucked into a storm of secondhand embarrassment.”
Jihun then said to his two friends,
“How about I buy you guys a proper round of drinks tonight? What do you say?”
“Oh? Where are we going? Barbecue? Raw fish?”
At that moment, Jaehyuk suddenly remembered something and spoke to his friends.
“Ah, I’m really sorry, but I have something to take care of today. I’ll have to head out first.”
“What? Are you going to meet your girlfriend?”
“It’s not that. There’s another reason. Anyway, you two go ahead and eat. Let’s drink together next time. I got about ten days of vacation, after all.”
Jaehyuk caught a taxi nearby and climbed into the back seat. As the taxi drove away, Jihun watched it and asked Jeonghan,
“What do you want to do? Shall we go by ourselves?”
“Nah. I also got a decent amount of time off. Let’s drink together when we all have time.”
“Sounds good. Then let’s do that. Contact me when you’re free.”
“Okay. We’ll call Jaehyuk too and have a proper drink then.”
The two friends parted ways, promising to meet again soon.
In a bustling district of Seoul, the taxi carrying Jaehyuk stopped at the side of the road. Jaehyuk got out.
She told me to go to the Yes Club and look for the Pigeon, right?
Thinking that, Jaehyuk took out a USB drive from his pocket and examined it. It was the one Jin Gayoung had given him while he was carrying out his mission in Vietnam.
At the time, she had said that if he found the Pigeon at the Yes Club and gave the USB to a man named Jang Seongyun, he would receive the answers he wanted.
Jaehyuk slipped the USB back into his pants pocket and entered the Yes Club.
No matter how many times I come to a club like this, I never get used to it. There are also some shitty memories attached to it…
As Jaehyuk walked through the club, frowning at the loud music, a blonde beauty in skinny jeans approached him and shouted,
“Hey, you tall, dependable guy!! What brings you here?!!”
What the…? Is she suddenly hitting on me…?
Then Jaehyuk remembered what Gayoung had said and shouted back at the woman,
“I came to see the Pigeon!!”
The woman smiled brightly and replied,
“There are tons of pigeons in the park over there, so go look there!!”
She then disappeared into the crowd. Jaehyuk stared blankly at her retreating figure with a dumbfounded expression.
Feeling both ridiculous and hopeful that he might still pick up at least one useful piece of information, Jaehyuk wandered around the club.
“Park Jaehyuk?”
At that moment, the same blonde beauty who had told him to look for pigeons in the park approached him again, this time with a completely different aura, and spoke to him. With a haughty expression, she leaned close to his ear and whispered,
“Follow me. I’ll take you to the Pigeon.”
“Huh…?”
“You said you came to see the Pigeon.”
She turned and began walking. Jaehyuk followed her down to the club’s basement.
When they reached the basement, Jaehyuk saw a door. The woman placed her thumb on the door lock, entered a password, then brought her eye close to the lens mounted on the lock.
Why is she going through such an elaborate process…?
A moment later, the lock beeped and opened. She opened the door and stepped inside; Jaehyuk followed her in.
What the hell…? What is all this…?!
Inside, Jaehyuk’s eyes landed on neatly organized cables and an array of extremely high-spec computers. He looked around with wide eyes.
Is the owner of these computers a professional hacker?
“Boss. A VVIP guest has arrived.”
While Jaehyuk was staring blankly at the woman calling for the boss, the door to one of the rooms opened. A man with red hair, neatly dressed in a suit—Jeong Seunggyu, also known as Jang Seongyun—appeared. In his hand was a document envelope.
When the woman saw Seongyun in a suit, her eyes widened and she asked,
“Boss, why are you wearing a suit? It doesn’t suit you at all??”
“An important guest is here. It would be inappropriate to dress like I usually do.”
“Well… he is an important guest, I suppose.”
Jaehyuk stared at Seongyun for a moment, then asked,
“Are you… Jang Seongyun…?”
Seongyun smiled gently as he looked at Jaehyuk.
“That’s right. Why don’t we sit down and talk? There’s a lot I want to discuss with you.”
“Do you know me?”
“Of course. I’ve been watching you for years. This is our first time meeting face to face, but I—we—have been watching you for over ten years.”
Having said that, Seongyun introduced himself.
“My name is Jeong Seunggyu. Jang Seongyun is an alias, so don’t worry about it. Just remember that Jeong Seunggyu is my real name.”
“Ah, yes…”
Seongyun then gave instructions to the blonde woman standing beside Jaehyuk.
“Miss Min. Bring some drinks and snacks. Something with electrolytes, no carbonation or caffeine.”
“Understood.”
The blonde woman called Miss Min moved off somewhere. As Jaehyuk walked with Seongyun toward the sofa, he asked,
“But… how do you know me?”
“The team leader talked about you a lot. He never stopped bragging about his extremely capable son and his idol-pretty daughter.”
“So… the team leader you’re referring to… is my father?”
The two sat down on the sofa. As he took his seat, Seongyun told Jaehyuk,
“Correct. To put it simply, your father is a black agent like us. An NIS black agent.”
“A black agent?”
“You know, like James Bond or Jason Bourne.”
Jaehyuk couldn’t comprehend what he was hearing. The fact that the father he thought was dead was actually alive was confusing enough, but learning that his identity was an NIS black agent left him stunned. Having heard the true identity of the father who had never appeared before his family since Dahyun was born, Jaehyuk asked Seongyun,
“How can I believe those words?”
“Yes, it must be hard to believe right now.”
Seongyun held out the document envelope he had been carrying.
“For now, you can read this file and then decide whether to trust us or not. Just know that this file was genuinely obtained from the NIS. There isn’t a single piece of false information in it.”
Subject: Park Minhyeok
Position: Former Black Ops Team Leader — Bukdutchilseong
Missions: Numerous classified operations involving North Korea, China, Russia, Japan, and international terrorist and criminal organizations.
Family: Han Sejin (wife), Park Jaehyuk (son), Park Dahyun (daughter)
Additional Records: Complete academic records of Park Jaehyuk, course lists from police university, duties performed while serving at the National Police Agency, and all investigative data collected on the subject.
Team Members: Jeong Seunggyu and the woman encountered in Vietnam are confirmed members of the Bukdutchilseong team under Park Minhyeok’s command.
Jaehyuk carefully examined the file Seongyun had handed him. The documents were marked “Level 1 Classified” and contained a dense record of his father Park Minhyeok’s personal information. They also detailed the secret missions Minhyeok had carried out over the years, as well as his family relationships.
There are countless classified missions involving not only North Korea but also China, Russia, Japan, and international terrorist and criminal organizations.
“The Level 1 Classified marking is used only by the military and intelligence agencies. It’s not something a criminal syndicate like Gangryonghoe could easily obtain.”
Jaehyuk slowly turned the pages. The documents also contained information on Park Jaehyuk himself, his younger sister Park Dahyun, and their mother Han Sejin. When he turned another page, he found a file containing every piece of information they had gathered about him—his school records, the courses he had taken at the police university, the duties he had performed while working at the National Police Agency. Everything.
He also saw confirmation that the man sitting in front of him, Jeong Seunggyu, and the woman he had met in Vietnam were both members of the Bukdutchilseong team led by Park Minhyeok.
Realizing how thoroughly these people could gather information on a single individual, Jaehyuk asked Seongyun,
“What exactly do you want from me?”
“What we want from you isn’t that big. We simply want you to trust us. That’s all.”
Jaehyuk placed the documents on the table. For now, he decided to listen to what the man had to say, even if it meant being deceived.
“Then why are you telling me about my father’s identity?”
“Because your father asked us to. He wanted us to tell you that he is still alive.”