8. You're the one who messed with the wrong person.
The next morning.
Choe Jiyeong wore an apron-style uniform emblazoned with a large bookstore logo as she organized the books that had arrived that day.
With so many books having come in, the colleagues beside her were all busy moving about, trying to finish organizing by the afternoon.
“Nngh.”
A groan escaped Choe Jiyeong’s lips as she lifted bundles of books tied with string and carefully wedged them into the display shelves.
One book was light, but ten or twenty together became incredibly heavy.
It was no wonder moving companies hated houses with too many books.
Since she’d been taking them out and putting them back on the shelves since morning, her arms and back were sore.
“Here’s some more.”
Gim Hyejin, a junior two years her junior, approached pushing a folding cart stacked high with books.
“Ugh. When is this going to end?”
Minhui, a co-worker who had joined the company with Choe Jiyeong, scrunched up her face.
“We were free for about two weeks, so I guess all the new releases got bunched up this week. Still, this is the last of it, so cheer up!”
“Ah, seriously. Today’s the day the magazines come in too. We have to take care of all the supplements as well, so it’s annoying enough as is—why did everything have to pile up on the same day?”
As Minhui kept grumbling, Choe Jiyeong comforted her from beside her.
“I said this is the last of it. Lunchtime is soon, so let’s finish up quickly. Then the afternoon should be easier.”
When the three of them gathered, Choe Jiyeong—ever-positive and never without a smile—always played the role of comforting the other two.
“Phew. Right. It’ll be even harder to work once customers start coming in, so we have no choice but to get it over with now.”
Minhui knew all too well that putting it off would only make it harder.
Just then, Minhui spotted a golden glint on Choe Jiyeong’s neck and her eyes went wide.
“What, what? I haven’t seen that before!”
“Huh. A necklace? Oh my, unnie! That’s from T Brand.”
Gim Hyejin, who was usually very interested in fashion and cosmetics, recognized it immediately.
“What? Really! It’s a luxury brand. When did you buy it?”
Under their barrage of questions, Choe Jiyeong smiled faintly and said,
“I didn’t buy it. I received it as a gift.”
“Wow. I’m jealous. It’s super expensive.”
“Someone who gives you a luxury brand gift… It must be a boyfriend! You’ve got a boyfriend, haven’t you!”
“I told you, it’s not.”
Choe Jiyeong waved her hand dismissively.
“Boyfriend, my foot. My younger brother bought it.”
“Not just a guy you call little brother, but your real younger brother?”
“Yeah.”
At that, Gim Hyejin spoke with genuine surprise.
“There’s a brother like that in the world? No, is he some kind of unicorn? He gave you a gift worth over ten million won. My brother curses me out when I ask him to turn off the lights before bed.”
“That’s because you’re calling him. Hey.”
Choe Jiyeong, who’d known it was expensive but not the exact price, opened her eyes wide.
“It’s that expensive? Over ten million won?”
“Yes. I wanted one too, but it was so expensive that I just left it on my wishlist. Thinking maybe I could buy it before I die.”
Gim Hyejin took out her smartphone and showed Choe Jiyeong the necklace on the T Brand website.
“Look at this.”
Minhui, who had stretched her neck to look alongside her, exclaimed, “Whoa!”
“10,900,000 won! Crazy, how many zeros is that? It’s really expensive.”
Choe Jiyeong couldn’t hide her surprise, never having imagined it was a necklace worth over ten million won.
The brand shopping bag had contained a warranty certificate, but Minseong had removed the receipt, so she hadn’t known the exact price.
“I wanted this so badly that I even went to a jewelry store. But copy products really can’t match the real thing’s weight. Especially the brilliance of this diamond! Cubic zirconia can’t compare at all!”
Gim Hyejin passionately enthused, looking as if she were about to shoot lasers from her eyes.
“Ooh.”
As Minhui also looked on with admiration, Choe Jiyeong was flustered and at a loss.
Thinking that a ten-million-won pendant was dangling from her neck, she suddenly felt uneasy.
Bzzt.
Right on cue, her smartphone rang.
“Hello.”
[Yeah. It’s me.]
Realizing it was Minseong, Choe Jiyeong immediately mouthed an apology to her colleagues and quickly moved to the emergency stairs.
“What on earth is going on with you!”
[What’s wrong?]
When Jiyeong shouted, Minseong instinctively tensed up.
Had those bastards already made a move?
No, if that were the case, there was no way Choe Jiyeong would be answering the phone so normally.
“The necklace! They say it’s over ten million won!”
[And here I thought it was something serious.]
Relieved that it wasn’t what he’d been worried about, Minseong replied flatly.
[So what?]
“So what? You little—! How am I supposed to wear something that expensive?”
Choe Jiyeong carefully tucked the pendant inside her clothes and asked,
“Can I return it?”
[No. Just wear it.]
“Ah. I figured…”
[Anyway, I called because there’s something I need to tell you.]
Her younger brother only ever called first when he wanted to borrow money.
Was it the same this time?
Choe Jiyeong, suddenly anxious about where he’d gotten the money to buy a ten-million-won necklace without hesitation, asked quietly,
“What is it?”
[I lost my smartphone. So I won’t be able to contact you for a few days. Don’t call the police or make a fuss for no reason.]
“Then just go to a store and buy one right away.”
[Since I’m buying a new one anyway, there’s a model I want, but it’ll take a few days to get it in.]
Minseong made up a rough excuse on the spot, knowing she wouldn’t believe it.
The moment he realized they had tracked him by his location, he had immediately turned off his smartphone.
“Nothing’s really wrong, right?”
Even without a woman’s intuition, Minseong’s current behavior was highly suspicious.
[Nothing like that. I’ll contact you as soon as I get a new line.]
Minseong quickly hung up before Choe Jiyeong could say anything more.
“This way, she won’t worry even if she can’t reach me for a while.”
Minseong set down the receiver, took out the SIM card from his smartphone, and folded it in half to destroy it.
Then he exited the public phone booth next to the bus stop.
After checking that no one was watching, Minseong looked around, then threw the smartphone and SIM card into a trash can at the bus stop and disappeared into the crowd.
***
Gang Giljung, team leader of the Narcotics Unit at Gangnam Police Station, asked the team members entering the office.
“Did anything turn up?”
Han Jongseok, a veteran detective, shook his head and replied.
“They move like a cell organization. We’ve been poking everywhere, but nothing concrete has turned up.”
“You know the higher-ups are on edge because of the string of drug incidents?”
“Who doesn’t want to catch them? We need leads before we can do anything.”
Knowing they had been repeating overtime and stakeouts for over a week already, Gang Giljung couldn’t push his team members any harder.
“It’s not just cocaine. There’s intel that liquid marijuana cartridges and ketamine—commonly called Special K—are being distributed, centered around Gangnam clubs. Find out who the suppliers are.”
Ketamine, also used as an anesthetic, was a drug with powerful pain relief and hallucinogenic effects.
Perhaps because its hallucinogenic effects were strong, it was spreading rapidly.
The team members, with even more work piled on, answered in deflated voices.
“Yes. Understood.”
Seeing that, Gang Giljung rose from his chair and said,
“We’re all working to make a living, so let’s go get a meal. How about some spicy bean sprout rice soup to clear our heads?”
“Sounds good.”
“I was hungry since I’d just had bread and milk for breakfast during the stakeout.”
“Is the team leader treating?”
Gang Giljung chuckled at Han Jongseok’s question.
“You know it. Let’s go, everyone.”
“There’s no one but you, Team Leader.”
“I love you, Team Leader!”
“You only say that at times like this.”
Gang Giljung looked at I Seunghun, the youngest team member sitting at the end, who was on the phone, and said,
“Rookie. Wrap it up and let’s go.”
“Oh. Yes.”
I Seunghun nodded while covering the receiver with one hand, then spoke in a deliberately annoyed voice,
“If you keep making prank reports like this, you’ll be in big trouble later, understand?”
I Seunghun hung up with an irritated expression.
“This guy is completely crazy.”
“What’s up?”
“It’s a ridiculous tip. He’s doing all sorts of crazy things because he has nothing better to do. It’s a waste of manpower and taxes.”
“What? You answered a tip-off call like that?”
When Gang Giljung’s expression hardened, I Seunghun replied with an aggrieved look.
“But it was really irritating! He said five men parked a black Starex in front of the police station and were doing drugs!”
Among the team members crowding around asking what was going on, Han Jongseok let out a hollow laugh.
“In front of the police station?”
“Yes! So you can imagine how absurd it was.”
“Well, of course it’s a prank call.”
Another team member chimed in, and I Seunghun nodded repeatedly.
“That’s what I’m saying. What kind of crazy bastard with nowhere else to go does drugs in front of a police station?”
I Seunghun passionately argued that no matter how crazy the world was, that just didn’t happen.
Hearing him out, Gang Giljung felt that I Seunghun had reason to react sullenly, so he didn’t scold him further.
“Still, what if a complaint comes in later? Be careful not to slip up when taking calls.”
“Right. Those kinds of crazies always hold grudges.”
Han Jongseok chimed in and patted the rookie’s shoulder to cheer him up.
“Yes, sir!”
I Seunghun sprang up, lightening the mood.
“Alright, alright. We were about to go eat, weren’t we? The team leader said he’s treating.”
“Wow, you caught that perfectly even while on the phone.”
“Hehe. Can’t miss out on a free meal.”
Being the youngest, I Seunghun’s quick mood changes were his strong suit.
So the team members all gathered and were just leaving the police station’s main gate to go to their regular rice soup spot when Han Jongseok pointed ahead with a start.
“Team Leader. Look at that.”
Gang Giljung turned to look where Han Jongseok was pointing and stopped in his tracks.
“There’s really a Starex parked there?”
Sure enough, a black Starex was parked conspicuously in the outdoor parking lot of the building right across the street.
“Wow, what a coincidence.”
“Should I buy a lottery ticket today?”
“Well, Starexes are common.”
While the team members chattered, Gang Giljung narrowed his eyes and stared at the Starex.
“Shall we go take a look?”
At Han Jongseok’s suggestion, Gang Giljung thought for a moment and nodded.
Because he had a nagging feeling he couldn’t just pass it by.
Having worked as a detective, he had benefited from this kind of gut feeling more than once or twice, so he couldn’t simply ignore it.
Gang Giljung crossed the street with his team members.
“There seem to be people inside.”
Han Jongseok said, peering through the front window.
“Really?”
Though it was tinted, he could make out the outlines of people inside.
“Excuse me.”
Gang Giljung lightly tapped on the side window.
But when there was no response, Gang Giljung hesitated for a moment, then grabbed the handle and opened the Starex’s side door.
“Excuse me.”
When the door opened, everyone’s eyes went wide at the scene.
“Oh!”
“What the…”
Men were sprawled across the seats as if drunk.
When Gang Giljung hurriedly checked them, none of them had any focus in their pupils.
And with disposable syringes scattered on the floor, it was enough to make anyone think of the word “drugs.”
“Team Leader. This looks like cocaine.”
I Seunghun discovered several plastic bags of white powder and picked one up.
“No way. That call was real?”
“What the hell do these guys do?”
Flustered by the unexpected situation, Gang Giljung soon came to his senses and shouted.
“Hey! What are you doing! All of you! Arrest them immediately and secure the scene!”
“Yes, sir!”
“But what about our rice soup?”
“You screw-loose bastard. A guy who’ll die eating nothing but rice soup his whole life.”
They joked with their mouths, but the detectives moved faster than anyone.
Watching his subordinates move in perfect unison as if on cue, Gang Giljung crossed his arms.
Just when he was anxious because the higher-ups were breathing down his neck and there had been little progress, this was like a windfall.
‘This is a rice cake rolled right in.’
Gang Giljung, who had been grinning internally, suddenly thought of a question.
Who on earth had made that mysterious tip-off call?
***
A woman’s hand moved gently over exposed muscles.
The man’s upper body, covered in a large dragon tattoo, was solid muscle, and his broad shoulders and numerous small scars spoke of a rough life.
Sun Chunlan lay face down on the bed with a towel covering his lower body, receiving a massage from a woman.
As the female masseuse’s hands moved from his back, shoulders, and spine toward his side, He Long, his ever-present bodyguard, entered the massage room.
“…”
Once the masseuse tactfully withdrew, Sun Chunlan looked at He Long with half-opened eyes.
“There is something I must report urgently.”
“Speak.”
At his annoyed tone, He Long approached and lowered his gaze.
“Brother Zhang Wangxing and four organization members have been arrested by the police.”
“What?”
Sun Chunlan’s eyes flew open and he raised his upper body.
Thanks to the massage oil, his muscles twitching with every movement were all the more visible.
“What do you mean, all of a sudden?”
“We don’t know what happened, but they were caught on the spot, intoxicated on drugs with their car parked in front of the police station.”
So absurd was it that Sun Chunlan was left speechless for a moment.
“These crazy bastards.”
A loud shout burst from Sun Chunlan’s contorted face.
“I told them to track down the money and the goods, so what the hell have they been doing!”
Sun Chunlan spoke to the bowing He Long.
“We’re going to Montana, so get the car ready immediately!”
“Yes.”
After He Long quickly answered and went out, Sun Chunlan roughly swept his hair back.
“Damn it. What the hell happened?”
Soon after.
A black Benz carrying Sun Chunlan stopped in front of Montana, a famous Gangnam nightclub, accompanied by an escort vehicle.
He Long got out first and opened the door, and Sun Chunlan emerged from the back seat with a stiff face.
Then Hua Ziyuan, a middle manager in charge of running Montana, bowed deeply along with his subordinates.
“Welcome.”
Brushing past the greeting, Sun Chunlan moved to enter the nightclub when his smartphone rang.
“Hello.”
Only then did he realize he had answered without thinking, but the call was already connected.
[I wonder if you received my gift well.]
Sun Chunlan furrowed his brow at the unfamiliar voice.
“Who is this?”
[He was caught in the act, so he’ll have to spend at least a few years in prison. If you want to come at me again, send proper men.]
“…!”
Realizing it was about Zhang Wangxing’s arrest, Sun Chunlan gripped his phone and stopped in his tracks.
Then he spoke, eyes fierce.
“You bastard, you know who I am and you still do this!”
[…Do I really need to know that?]