74.
“Daehun. We need to take Seoul.”
Cough, cough.
Daehun, who had been eating naengmyeon in the hotel room, got it down the wrong pipe and started coughing.
Whether a strand of naengmyeon had gotten stuck in his throat, he hacked for quite a while.
“Whad did you shay?”
Whether a strand of naengmyeon was still lodged in his throat, his voice wouldn’t come out properly.
Even so, I didn’t waver.
“I said we need to take Seoul.”
Daehun let out a scoffing “Pfft” at my words.
“Stick to your Seoul naengmyeon and go to sleep. What do you mean, take Seoul?”
“I’m serious. It’s bad.”
“Mister. Stop talking nonsense and go sleep with your naengmyeon. Seoul isn’t a hamburger you can just eat whenever you feel like it.”
Daehun didn’t seem to understand the severity of the situation.
I pulled out the candy I had taken? stolen? swiped? from the college student earlier from my pocket.
“Job seekers were eating this.”
“What’s this? Isn’t it candy? Can I eat one?”
“Don’t eat it. Not if you don’t want to become a junkie.”
“Huh? A junkie?”
Only then did Daehun jump in surprise.
“That’s candy laced with drugs.”
“Really? There’s stuff like this? I’d only heard about it, never seen it before. If someone just gave me this, I’d never know? I wouldn’t realize it’s drugs.”
Daehun looked at the candy with curiosity.
“Right? But they say you can get stuff like this easily nowadays.”
“I’ve heard drugs are easy to get these days, but it’s more serious than I thought.”
“If job seekers are eating this, and office workers are eating it, and housewives are eating it too, is that okay?”
“No, it’s not.”
“Then shouldn’t we be the ones to stop it?”
“You crazy bastard. Why would we stop that? That’s for customs, police, narcotics detectives, and the like. Isn’t that why we pay taxes and live?”
“They’re not doing their jobs right. We have to do it, even if it’s us.”
“They’re probably struggling rather than incompetent. And Inbae. Let’s not forget our true nature. We’re gangsters and mobsters.”
“Keke. You’re the gangster and mobster, not me. I’m just a travel agency employee.”
“Stop bullshitting. What travel agency employee has devoured half the Philippines?”
“Devoured, my ass. I’m just living my life as a guide.”
“What guide? A lot of people in our organization consider you the de facto boss. Me too.”
“Don’t do that. People will misunderstand.”
“What misunderstanding? It’s the truth. Your role was huge in establishing us like this.”
“What did I even do.”
“I know. How hard you worked. So I’ll follow your words.”
“Huh?”
“I said I’ll try taking Seoul.”
“Really? So suddenly? You’re going to merge without a turn signal?”
“Yeah. I’d been thinking about it a little already. I hadn’t thought about taking all of Seoul like I am now, just wanted to test the waters for expanding into Seoul, but.”
“That’s good. Then just take all of Seoul this time.”
“It’s not as easy as it sounds.”
“We can do it together.”
“But there are a few things you need to know first.”
“What?”
“First, it’s going to be fucking hard.”
“Well… I admit that.”
“No, it’ll be much harder than you think. Even if we’re a massive organization controlling Jeolla-do and parts of Chungcheong-do, we’re nothing compared to Seoul. We’re only big in size; we can’t compete with Seoul in money. Even in scale, maybe 1/6? No, perhaps 1/10 of Seoul?”
“······”
“And there’s no point in taking Seoul alone. If it’s for money, taking even a corner of Seoul would be lucrative, but to stop drugs, you’d have to take the entire capital region, not just Seoul. You’d have to take Incheon too. You’d have to capture Busan too. It’ll be incredibly difficult, painful, and days of bloodshed will continue every day.”
“It’s no joke?”
“We absolutely lack the personnel, funds, and backing to wage this war. We probably won’t succeed. There’s a high chance we’ll be knocked down and collapse the moment we start.”
“So it’s a money problem after all?”
“Money is money, but it’s ultimately about people. Let’s say we get lucky and take a district in Seoul. We’ll take damage too. Do you think the Seoul bastards will wait until we’re all healed? When they see us bleeding, they’ll rush in from everywhere, glad for the chance. We don’t have the strength to overcome that. The cunning Seoul bastards will join forces to devour us.”
“Not easy.”
“The second thing is worse.”
“What’s the second?”
“Even if we go through all this trouble, we can’t stop the drugs.”
“Huh? What does that mean? If we take the capital region, can’t we stop it?”
“Let’s say we take Seoul, or even the whole country. All we can stop is the official distribution to establishments. Even that, only officially. We can’t stop dead drops, or employees at establishments selling secretly. We’re not the police; we can’t conduct crackdowns, and it’d only lead to fights.”
“Dead drops?”
“Hiding drugs where people can’t see. Fire hydrants, gas pipes, outdoor AC units, flower beds, mailboxes—they hide them there in advance and when contacted, they tell them the location. They only use messengers for contact, so even if caught, no one knows, and there’s no supply chain.”
“These bastards are incredibly creative.”
“That’s why we can’t stop it.”
“So Daehun, what you’re saying is: taking Seoul is hard, there’ll be lots of damage, and the odds are low. And even if we somehow take Seoul while enduring all the damage, we can’t stop drug distribution? That’s it?”
“Exactly.”
It was different from the picture I had in mind.
I had thought if we just took Seoul, we could stop drugs, but apparently not.
I had thought if we locked down Seoul, bleeding if necessary, it would somehow calm down, but apparently not.
Then is there really a need to take Seoul?
If we can’t stop drugs, there’s no need to shed unnecessary blood.
And they say Seoul is hard to take anyway.
Even if we lock down establishments, customers trade among themselves a lot,
waiters secretly distribute for money,
and dead drops are a whole other story.
If customs fundamentally can’t stop it, it’s hard to even track how it spreads.
It’s an inherently secretive item.
Rather, when an organization brings it in bulk and distributes it, the distribution structure is clear.
It’s easy to track how much goes where.
When runners bring it in little by little, there’s no way to check how much or how they bring it in.
I needed to think of another way.
While I was pondering whether there was another good method, Daehun said something unexpected.
“But since the Boss ordered it, I’ll do it. Taking Seoul.”
“Huh? You don’t have to. Didn’t you say even if we take Seoul, we can’t stop drug distribution?”
“We can’t stop it. But how can I ignore an order from the Boss? We have to proceed.”
“No. Don’t do that.”
“We’ve been watching for the right timing too. Taking Seoul in a short period would be difficult, but if we take it slowly, we might find a way.”
“Don’t overdo it.”
“Don’t worry. The boys’ lives are as precious to me as my own. I don’t want to lead my own kids to death either.”
“You crazy bastard, that’s why I’m worried.”
“If we take Seoul, even if we can’t completely wipe out drugs, we can reduce them somewhat.”
“Hehehehe. That’s enough.”
“We can’t do it quickly. We’ll take it slowly.”
“Yeah. I’ll forget about it.”
I pondered for a moment, then pretended to take something from my suitcase while actually pulling a bag containing handguns from my inventory.
The bag contained several handguns, magazines, and bullets.
I placed the bag in front of Daehun.
“What? It’s not even Christmas, why are you giving me a gift?”
“Do I look like Santa? You think I’d give you a gift?”
“What is this?”
“Open it.”
Daehun, who checked the bag, was startled.
“Th… this. A… aren’t these guns?”
“You know how to handle them, right?”
“Of course I do. I’ve fired so damn many.”
“I know it’s hard. So don’t die. And don’t let the boys die either. If anyone acts up, shoot first and bury them. Better to get investigated by the police than to watch our boys die.”
“There will still be problems.”
“If you worry about that, you can’t do anything. Isn’t it better for our guys to be investigated than to get stabbed? Once decided, only look forward and run. If they act up, we’ll play it by ear and stand our ground. And try to establish ties in politics however you can.”
“Political side?”
“You said it yourself earlier. We have no backing. Make backing. Feed them. Buy them drinks, do anything for them. Give them everything. Give as much as you can. It’ll return to you several times over. Don’t be stingy with money spent on politicians. There are money-hungry politicians, but give it to them anyway. It’s still cheap.”
“Will this work?”
“Don’t bet on possibilities. You just do it until it works. What did we learn at the special forces school?”
“If it doesn’t work?”
“‘Make it work.’”
Seo Daehun remembered the motto he had forgotten.
The motto engraved at the top of the special forces school.
Thinking back to that time, his blood boiled.
He had been resting comfortably in the position of organization boss for a while.
Now Seo Daehun had become a challenger again.
*****
Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring. Ring, ring, ring, ring.
At the sound of the ringing phone, Officer Lee Gyeonguk of the Gwangsu Detective Squad of Jeollanam-do immediately furrowed his brow.
Another civil complaint call.
After returning from Seoul, these civil complaint calls had been pouring in.
If he put down the phone, it would ring immediately.
He couldn’t not answer.
If he didn’t answer the phone, he could face disciplinary action.
If he got disciplined now, it would be an obstacle to future promotions.
Officer Lee Gyeonguk wanted a long career as a police officer.
He didn’t necessarily crave success, but he didn’t want to leave a blemish over something so trivial.
He didn’t want even the smallest scratch.
Officer Lee Gyeonguk glared at the team leader sitting next to him once, then picked up the phone.
“This is Officer Lee Gyeonguk of the Jeonnam Provincial Detective Squad.”
- I think the neighbors are fighting. They’re cursing at each other, yelling about killing and dying. Please dispatch someone.
“Yes. Understood. I’ll connect you to 112.”
- Why 112? Can’t you handle this directly?
“Yes. I’m sorry, but that’s not our jurisdiction. 112 will send officers. I’ll connect you to 112.”
- You have nothing better to do than eat bean sprout gukbap in Seoul, and you can’t help a civil petitioner who’s struggling and trembling in anxiety and fear, so 112? Are you hoping I get tired of being passed around and give up? What if I tremble in fear and get PTSD? If I get hurt because of the neighbor’s fight, will you take responsibility?
“That’s not it.”
- I’m very displeased with this consultation. I’ll file a complaint.
“Yes yes. I’m sorry. I’ll connect you to 112.”
- Forget it.
The moment he put down the phone, it rang again.
“This is Officer Lee Gyeonguk of the Jeonnam Provincial Detective Squad.”
- I’m calling to report a broken-down car here.
“I’ll connect you to Traffic.”
- Can’t you dispatch directly from there?
- You go around eating gukbap but can’t fix a broken-down car?
- How can you be a public servant with this mindset?
“Yes yes, I’m sorry.”
Officer Lee Gyeonguk, who had barely finished the call from someone threatening to file a complaint, glared at the team leader once and went outside to smoke a cigarette.
Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring. Ring, ring, ring, ring.
The phone rang again.
Team Leader Moon Gangsu remained in the office, but he didn’t answer the phone.
His expression was vacant and blank, as if his soul had left his body.
He just sat leaning back in his chair, as if he didn’t want to do anything.
These days, not only the Violent Crimes Unit 3 members, but the entire Gwangsu Squad—no, the entire Jeonnam Provincial Police Agency—was looking at Team Leader Moon Gangsu with gazes full of hatred.
Because of the civil complaint calls.
After the day he met Seo Daehun, civil complaint calls had been pouring into the Jeonnam Provincial Police Agency.
Not prank calls.
Literal civil complaint calls.
But they called the Jeonnam Provincial Police Agency, not 112.
Aren’t reports usually made to 112?
They solved the complaints they could solve, but there were many that were difficult to solve directly.
They were too far to dispatch directly, and when they said they’d connect them to 112, the callers got angry, asking if the bastards who went to Seoul to eat gukbap couldn’t even come this far when the petitioner was struggling.
At first, they didn’t know what that meant.
But before long, they learned that Team Leader Moon Gangsu had caused an accident.
The Jeonnam Provincial Police Agency was at a point where normal work was impossible due to civil complaint calls.
Some departments unplugged their phone cords to continue work, only to get caught by audit teams conducting surprise inspections, and entered disciplinary procedures.
That audit team also got a civil complaint and dispatched, apparently.
Still, the phones rang endlessly.
Work was paralyzed by civil complaint calls, and the number of disciplined officers increased.
So the eyes of other officers could never be kind.
That was why they looked at Moon Gangsu like trash.
.
.
.
Moon Gangsu felt wronged.
He honestly admitted it.
There had been a slight sense of overreach.
But there was no visible crime; who knows what would come out if they dug?
Even those noble-looking chaebol chairmen—if you bring them in and dig for a few hours, something always comes out.
You hold them with that, and if you keep roughing them up during the investigation, more keeps coming out.
That’s the basic investigation manual.
Everyone does it that way.
Honestly, Gong Inbae is suspicious.
You saw him doing that folded bow at the funeral.
There’s definitely something there.
Nothing is known publicly, but it makes no sense to treat someone like that just because you’re classmates.
Then he should have done that for all 216 classmates from the same intake.
The two served in completely different places during their military service.
And yet they say he did that because they’re friends?
It’s not believable.
So he wanted to dig into his background.
It was just a hunch.
If he followed him around a bit, he felt he could catch something big.
But instead, he got his own tail caught.
Honestly, when Seo Daehun said he’d make things happen, he scoffed.
What could that punk accomplish by making things happen?
He’d probably cause accidents everywhere and get into fights.
If he caused minor accidents, he’d actually be grateful.
He planned to round them all up using that as an opportunity.
He thought if he caught them and dug, something else would come out.
But civil complaint calls?
He never imagined it.
Yeah. He could endure civil complaint calls.
But the gazes of his fellow officers were truly unbearable.
In an instant, he had become the police agency’s biggest headache.
He was seriously contemplating whether he should quit the police.