My head hurts and my throat is parched.
I must have drunk too much with Daehun last night.
My memory of how I got back to the hotel was hazy.
I took a bottle of water from the fridge and drank it, but it wasn’t enough,
so I went out and had a bowl of hangover soup.
Pork backbone hangover soup.
In Seoul, you can eat hangover soup like this twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year.
People in Seoul are blessed.
To be able to eat something like this anytime.
I returned to the hotel with coffee in one hand.
I came back, but I had nothing to do.
No one to meet, either.
If I wanted to make plans, I probably could, but I didn’t want to.
I just wanted to be quiet for a while.
And it still felt like a bit of a hangover was lingering in my body.
Those damned bomb shots.
I wanted to lie down and rest.
I slipped into the rustling bed and lay down.
It had been a long time since I’d wriggled around in bed like this.
It was a life I couldn’t even imagine in the Philippines.
At this hour, who knew how many bastards would already have been coming and going from the suite that served as my home.
They would have been pounding on the door from the morning.
Why were there so many reports, and so many documents I had to sign?
They wouldn’t leave a person alone.
Sometimes I even wondered if moving my residence to a suite had really been the right choice.
Being in a space filled with silence seemed to put my mind somewhat at ease.
Everything that had happened in the Philippines felt like something from the distant past.
It was laughable, the way I had worried and racked my brains over that trivial matter with Department Head Nam.
So I spent a lot of money. I can just earn it again.
The rare sense of stillness was welcome only for a moment;
the silence that continued on and on instead made me uneasy.
So I turned on the TV.
I needed noise.
I might as well put on the news.
[Singer A was urgently arrested this morning on suspicion of drug use. Singer A, who has recently been enjoying sensational popularity...]
[Last night, a six-car collision occurred in Uijeongbu. A car driven by a man in his twenties struck a vehicle stopped at a traffic light, then collided in succession with the cars in front... It was revealed that the man tested positive in a drug screening.]
[Police arrested a man in his twenties who caused a disturbance by waving a weapon around while naked and then fled naked. Police are investigating him on suspicion of drug use.]
[An incident occurred in which a Vietnamese national suspected of drug smuggling escaped while wearing handcuffs. Police pursued the suspect through CCTV footage and other means, and the suspect was apprehended in Incheon after one day.]
[A gangster who caused an accident while driving a Rolls-Royce under the influence of drugs has been arrested. Mr. Lee, a man in his twenties...]
I turned on the news, and it was full of drug stories.
It was surprising.
This wasn’t the story the Ten Pro ace had told me last night.
It wasn’t just about celebrities, artists, and gangsters.
It was about ordinary people.
It seemed ordinary people were easily being exposed to drugs, too.
I hadn’t realized drugs had penetrated so deeply into daily life.
Even so, it wasn’t something to view only negatively.
The fact that drug news appeared so often meant that it was a “shocking story.”
It meant it was still something unfamiliar.
If drugs truly became widely distributed and widespread, things like this wouldn’t make the news.
Just like how Cheolsu next door getting blackout drunk and throwing up in the apartment entrance doesn’t make the news.
If drugs truly become normalized, accidents caused under the influence won’t appear on the news, either.
They’ll have become that common.
And people’s perception of drugs will change as well.
So Korea isn’t yet in a state of being steeped in drugs; it’s in the stage where drugs have started coming in and people are going, “Oh my, what a shock!”
It’s the stage where people are screaming all over the place because they’re startled by a situation they’re experiencing for the first time.
The solution is simple.
Cut off the routes through which drugs enter.
Since it’s hard to manufacture drugs in our country, all we have to do is stop what comes in.
If drugs just stop coming in, it’s over,
but there’s no way to stop them.
China keeps pushing drugs in.
Cowardly bastards.
If they want to make money so badly, they should sell it in their own country,
to a population of 1.4 billion. They’d hit the jackpot.
I don’t know why they’re selling to our tiny country instead.
Is the death penalty that scary?
You’re going to croak someday anyway, so wouldn’t it be better to go after doing what you want?
.
.
.
In the afternoon, my body felt stiff, so I ran along the Han River.
This really is the best.
The Han River stretching beside the walking path.
The wide-open sky, the skyline of buildings—the scenery was incredible.
On top of that, the path was well paved and maintained.
It was flat and good for running, with convenience stores, restrooms, benches, and the like set up here and there.
Maybe because of the river breeze, the air seemed good too.
What was even better was that if you got tired while running, you could turn back at any time.
You could call a taxi, or take the subway or bus.
You could walk into the city center.
There really was nowhere like this.
It was the best course for running.
While running, I stopped by a convenience store along the way and ate something called Han River ramyeon.
I wasn’t hungry, but I just wanted to try it.
They said it was a trend.
Sitting on a bench by the Han River, eating ramyeon while looking out at the river, I felt like I understood why Han River ramyeon had become a specialty.
This was really ninety percent vibes.
As I ate the ramyeon, I saw all sorts of people in Han River Park.
People on dates, eating ramyeon.
People who had come out with friends, spread out picnic mats, and were eating chicken and beer.
People riding bicycles.
People exercising lightly.
Everyone was enjoying the Han River in their own way.
Watching those people made me think of the news I’d seen in the morning.
News stained with drugs.
It was a sign that drugs were entering everyday life.
As someone who had worked, however briefly, in the drug industry, I knew very well what the next step was.
The number of bastards shooting up in dark basements would keep increasing, and they would become addicts.
As the number of addicts grew, those shameless bastards would leave the basements and shoot up and enjoy drugs even in broad daylight.
These clean streets and parks would fill with drug addicts.
Instead of chicken and beer, people lying around high on drugs would fill this Han River Park.
Just like San Francisco had.
Just like Philadelphia and Seattle had.
Here in Seoul, too, drug-related problems would emerge as a major social issue.
I don’t live in Seoul, but I can come back anytime.
No, I want to come back.
Honestly, I like Seoul.
It’s partly because I was born and raised here,
but even after living in other countries and other cities, there’s nowhere like Seoul.
It’s clean and safe.
Its public service infrastructure is top-tier, and its public transportation is well developed.
Delivery services are good, and access to conveniences like hospitals and department stores is excellent.
You can even eat hangover soup twenty-four hours a day.
If nothing is done, this Seoul will be swallowed by drugs.
Thinking that a city like this might collapse left me feeling strangely unsettled.
If it were up to me, I’d want to stop it, but this wasn’t something I could do at my level.
I threw away the ramyeon I had been eating and began walking slowly along the Han River.
I took pictures, too.
I wanted to remember it for a long time.
The clean banks of the Han River.
The banks of the Han River that might be ruined at any time.
.
.
.
Violent Crimes Team 3 of the Jeonnam Metropolitan Investigation Unit held out in the car until dawn, but in the end they withdrew.
No matter how long they waited, Seo Daehun and Gong Inbae never came out.
No one spends six hours playing around at a Ten Pro.
They probably left through the back door.
They had lost them completely.
They couldn’t even begin to guess where they might be.
But they couldn’t just give up and go back like this.
Clutching at straws, they contacted people here and there and asked around for Seo Daehun’s whereabouts.
It would take some time before any replies came in, so in the meantime, they went to a sauna to wash up.
After washing, they felt considerably better.
To take care of breakfast, they stopped by a nearby bean sprout hangover soup restaurant.
Perhaps because it was early in the morning, the restaurant was empty.
Before long, a clear bean sprout gukbap came out.
“Ahh~ Nice. Clean. What do you think?”
“I think it’s good too.”
“But these bastards, it’s been ages since I contacted them, and they still haven’t replied.”
“If we get a call, are we going to keep following them around?”
“We have to. We need to get at least something out of this. We came all the way here.”
“Yes... that’s true.”
Corporal Lee Gyeonguk was reluctantly agreeing with his team leader, but honestly, he didn’t like this situation.
He already had more than enough work to do, but the team leader had told him to come along, so he’d had no choice but to come all the way here.
He had made him drive from Gwangju to Incheon, then to Seoul.
The driving and the stakeout had all fallen to Corporal Lee Gyeonguk.
All the team leader did was sleep beside him and nag.
Damn old bastard.
He just wanted to hurry back and do his regular work.
If, based on the circumstances, Gong Inbae really was a big shot and there was clear criminal activity, he would gladly join in.
He’d have to watch him even if it meant staying up for several nights.
But that wasn’t the situation, was it?
The team leader’s assumptions seemed far too extreme.
Gong Inbae and Seo Daehun’s actions could be understood well enough by common sense.
They already knew that Seo Daehun and Gong Inbae had been classmates at the Special Warfare School.
And Gong Inbae’s father had passed away, so Seo Daehun had acted as chief mourner with him.
People who wanted to curry favor had come to pay their respects.
That was all.
What else was there besides that?
Ah, a lot of people came from the Philippines?
Since he was someone who worked in the Philippines, people from the Philippines came to offer condolences.
Someone who worked in America would have people come from America,
and someone who worked in Japan would have people come from Japan.
The team leader seemed to take something so obvious as though it weren’t obvious at all.
No matter how much the police were in a profession that required suspicion, this seemed like the wrong direction.
The woman named Jang Yunmi, who had been the chief mourner yesterday, had also come to Gong Inbae’s funeral.
She ran a travel agency.
She had business dealings with Gong Inbae.
Naturally, Gong Inbae had no choice but to come.
But after hearing some rumor somewhere, the team leader kept spouting nonsense about Gong Inbae being the real power behind the Daehun Faction, or a faceless boss.
It would be fine if he only spouted nonsense, but he dragged Lee Gyeonguk around too.
Not wanting to respond, Lee simply lowered his head and kept shoveling bean sprout gukbap into his mouth.
He wanted to go back already.
Then an unfamiliar voice sounded.
“Is the food here any good?”
When they turned their heads, Seo Daehun was standing there alone.
Both Lee and the team leader were startled.
Seo Daehun naturally sat down at their table.
“If the bean sprout gukbap is good, I’ll order one too. If it’s not, I’ll go somewhere else. Seoul is great in every way, but there are lots of places where the food doesn’t suit my taste. Jeolla-do is the best when it comes to food.”
“The broth is pretty clean. You can order one.”
Unlike Corporal Lee Gyeonguk, who had tensed at Seo Daehun’s appearance, the team leader answered Seo Daehun smoothly.
As far as Lee knew, the team leader had exchanged greetings with Seo Daehun a few times.
“Boss, one bean sprout gukbap, please.”
After ordering the bean sprout gukbap, Seo Daehun looked at the team leader and asked,
“But Team Leader. Did I do something wrong to you?”
“Huh? Something wrong?”
“Yeah. You’ve been following me around so much that I thought I must have committed some huge crime. I was so scared last night I couldn’t sleep. See these dark circles? My skin is ruined from lack of sleep.”
“Ahem.”
“If I’ve committed a crime, get a warrant issued and take me in. If not, let’s stop here. It’s not like I’ve ever done anything to upset you, Team Leader.”
“Hahaha. Listen to this bastard talk. At this rate you’ll be giving me orders soon.”
“Team Leader, your hearing has gotten pretty bad. I’m giving you an opportunity right now. You’re surveilling a civilian, aren’t you? Civilian surveillance is illegal, right? So before I report you, I’m giving you a chance to correct your own mistake. It’s not like we’re only going to see each other for the next year or two. Let’s keep it reasonable and move on.”
“What? This fucking bastard really says anything he wants in front of the police.”
Angered by Seo Daehun’s words, the team leader shot to his feet and shouted.
Because the team leader stood up, his chair toppled backward, but fortunately there were no other customers in the restaurant.
Only the owner, who appeared to run the place, watched them with anxious eyes.
But Seo Daehun alone looked calm.
“Isn’t that much something I can say? I’m just telling you not to break the law, so is that really something to get so angry about? Don’t you think so, Corporal Lee Gyeonguk?”
Seo Daehun suddenly asked Corporal Lee Gyeonguk, who was beside him.
Corporal Lee Gyeong-uk was already surprised that Seo Dae-hun knew who he was, but he was even more shocked when he asked him a question.
“Uh...”
As the flustered Lee Gyeong-uk stammered, Seo Dae-hun even gave him the answer.
“Don’t answer. No answer will lead to a good outcome.”
“So, are you stopping here? Or are you going to keep going?”
“Hahaha. Interesting.”
The team leader set the fallen chair upright again and sat down on it.
“Seo Dae-hun. Now that the Dae-hun Gang is doing well, you think there’s nothing in the world to be afraid of? Arresting a little shit like you would be nothing. How about it? Want to try on a pair of silver bracelets, even now? You’ve never worn them before, right? There’s a brand-new model out this time. Want me to put them on you?”
“I’d be grateful if you did. How did you know I like new releases? Did you find that out through surveillance too? Seriously, with all this surveillance. But Team Leader, when I file a complaint, I’m not going to the police. Why would I go to the police and make things good for you? I’m going straight to the prosecution.”
“What? The prosecution?”
“Team Leader. You know the prosecutors are sweating bullets right now, don’t you? Because they’re saying they’ll give investigative authority to the police. But then a report comes in about illegal police surveillance? They treated an ordinary citizen like me, with not a single prior conviction, as a criminal? They’ll start investigating immediately. You know what prosecutors are good at, right? Leaking. They’ll leak everything to the media. The media will lap it up and write it all down. Then what will the police do? They hate things getting noisy, so they’ll cut off the tail right away. They’ll say it was an individual acting alone, that it had nothing to do with police command, and dismiss you or suspend you from your position. Why take that kind of risk just to catch someone like me? If you just stay still, we’ll take care of things on our own.”
“You little bastard. The way you talk is getting more and more insolent. I’m barely holding myself back right now. If I snap, it’s your fault.”
“What kind of bullshit is that? You’re the one causing the trouble, and it’s my fault? Try saying that in front of a judge. If you say, ‘Your Honor, I am innocent. This all happened because Seo Dae-hun talked like a fucking prick,’ what do you think the judge will say?”
“What do you think? He’ll say I did well and should’ve beaten the shit out of you.”
“Ooh, overflowing with confidence. I like it. Okay. I’ve fully understood your opinion, Team Leader. Then we’ll have to act differently too.”
“What can you possibly do?”
“No, think about it. Seeing as you came all the way here to surveil me, it’s not like the RIU has so much free time that they can follow me around this far. Why is the Jeollanam-do Provincial Police Agency’s RIU eating bean sprout gukbap in Gangnam, Seoul? Because you have nothing to do, that’s why. I’m thinking I should make some work for you. Now that I think about it, for gangsters, we’ve been way too gentle all this time, haven’t we? I tried my best not to cause trouble, but all that effort has become meaningless. Whether I’m careful or act like a piece of shit, you treat me the same. So is there any need for me to be careful?”
“You... If you do this, I really might arrest you.”
“Fuck, then arrest me if you want. How am I supposed to live if I’m scared of this? You keep scaring me and threatening me, saying you’ll arrest me like this. But listen, Mun Gang-su. If you’re going to arrest me, steel yourself before you do it.”
“What? Mun Gang-su? Am I your friend, you fucking bastard?”
“If you were my friend, do you think I would’ve let you do something this stupid? I would’ve made you into a proper human being before that. Forget it. I have nothing more to say to you. If you want to drag me in, bring a warrant. You know where I am, don’t you? You did all that surveillance, so you should know. Come find me.”
Dae-hun rose from his seat.
He turned toward the entrance as if to leave, then turned back again as though he had forgotten something.
“Mun Gang-su. Everything that happens from now on is all your fault. Got it? You fucking son of a bitch.”
As Dae-hun left, he placed a 100,000-won check on the counter.
“Boss, I’ll pay for that table. I’m sorry for making a racket. Keep the change. I’ll come back another time for the bean sprout hangover soup.”
Only after Seo Dae-hun left the restaurant could Corporal Lee Gyeong-uk finally let out a breath.
When he looked at the team leader, he was sitting there blankly, as though his mentality had been completely shredded.
His eyes had lost focus.
Whether in terms of logic or the situation, this was a case where the team leader was completely in the wrong.
This really was illegal surveillance carried out under the name of monitoring.
Even so, Lee Gyeong-uk felt that Seo Dae-hun’s behavior was strange.
The Seo Dae-hun that Lee Gyeong-uk knew was not that kind of character.
He had been closer to a chivalrous hero, but today he had suddenly turned into a thug.
Lee Gyeong-uk wondered why.
.
.
.
Seo Dae-hun walked out of the bean sprout gukbap restaurant.
Only after leaving the restaurant did reality hit him once more about what he had done.
‘You lunatic.’
He wondered if he had charged in for no reason, but it had been necessary.
It was not something the usual Dae-hun would have done, but Dae-hun had boldly pushed ahead.
To turn their eyes away from In-bae, this was the only way.