TTD 141

141

“We’re going to a party, and we didn’t tell you because we thought you wouldn’t like it.”

“A party? With who?”

Wang Lun nudged Wang Han. You tell him, hyung. So Wang Han reluctantly explained the situation.

“Actually, I met Veronica in Japan recently. She was traveling with friends, so I gave her my number and told her to contact me if she came to Korea. We all know her friends too.”

Ja-kyung wore a blank expression as he thought. Who was Veronica? Suddenly, he remembered Kang Il-hyun swinging an ax.

[Was Veronica’s body that voluptuous? My dick is quite voluptuous too, want to see it?]

Ja-kyung’s face crumpled like paper, and Wang Lun laughed at the sight.

“Remember? You two dated. She had quite the voluptuous figure.”

Just as Wang Lun traced curves in the air with his hands, Ja-kyung covered his mouth.

“Don’t ever mention that name around Kang Il-hyun. Not if you don’t want me dead.”

Wang Lun pushed away Ja-kyung’s hand and nodded.

“I know. That’s why we didn’t tell you. But Veronica, she wasn’t like that. She wants to see you. As soon as we met, she asked about you first. She wanted your contact info, but I played dumb and said I didn’t know it.”

“Good job.”

While the three chatted about pointless old stories, the car stopped in front of a building. It was far from the busy district, with few people around and most shops closed. Several thugs stood in front of the building holding clubs.

“Those bastards must have known we were coming.”

“The club probably contacted them. But there aren’t as many as I expected. Did they underestimate us?”

“Just because there’s only three of us, right? Wei, stop eating chips.”

Ja-kyung rolled up his half-eaten bag of chips, stuffed it in the seat back, and brushed off the crumbs. He then gulped down some water to wet his throat and selected tools from the bag beside him. There were guns, daggers, machetes, and axes, and as he pondered what to use, Wang Han, watching ahead, said,

“Should only one of us go in?”

“Hyung, are you scared?”

“Just don’t think we all need to go.”

Ja-kyung leaned forward between the seats and stretched out his arm. He suggested rock-paper-scissors, loser goes in, and Wang Han nodded in agreement while Wang Lun smiled confidently and agreed.

Meanwhile, Wang Han signaled to Ja-kyung with his eyes. Understanding the meaning, they both threw paper at the start of rock-paper-scissors. But Wang Lun threw a rock. He always said a man should use his fists, actually used his fists most when fighting, and always started with rock in rock-paper-scissors.

When Wang Lun lost, he glared at them both alternately. He accused them of rigging it, but Ja-kyung pretended not to hear and handed him an ax. Ah shit. Wang Lun got out of the car without hesitation, tucked the ax behind his waist, and strode toward the building. Ja-kyung unwrapped a piece of gum, popped it in his mouth, and watched the scene with his arm draped between the seats.

“Here they come.”

When two thugs guarding the entrance walked toward Wang Lun, he knocked them down in one hit without hesitation. Seeing this, Ja-kyung laughed.

“That’s right, a man uses his fists.”

How long had it been since Wang Lun went inside? Ten minutes, twenty minutes passed with no sign of him. Staring ahead intently, Ja-kyung muttered while grabbing a knife. I’ll go check. Wang Han suggested going together, but someone needed to stay with the car in case of emergency. But just as they were about to leave, Wang Lun called.

“Hyung, you okay?”

[Of course. I’m Wang Lun.]

After laughing heartily, he made a strained grunting sound.

[Wei, there’s a cutter in the car trunk. Bring it in.]

“A cutter? The one for cutting steel bars?”

[Yeah.]

Ja-kyung hung up and went to the trunk. Wang Han got out too, and they both grabbed the cutter and entered the building. As they descended underground, a musty smell hit them hard.

From the entrance, bulky figures lay fallen one after another along the corridor. There must have been a fierce fight, as blood was splattered everywhere and ax marks were clearly visible on the walls. As they continued on, voices could be heard from the very end.

Opening the door, Ja-kyung and Wang Han couldn’t hide their shock at the scene before them. There were prison-like iron bars, and several people were locked inside. There were both men and women, all trembling in fear in the unlit space.

“What is this?”

A woman clutched the iron bars and wailed.

“You’re detectives, right? We- we were kidnapped! There were more people before, but they were taken somewhere, and now only we’re left! Please save us!”

Everyone was clamoring to be saved. Ja-kyung gestured for them to be quiet and examined inside the cell. Have you seen this person? He pulled out a photo and held it up, and a man wearing glasses pointed to the back.

“I think it’s that man…”

The people scattered to the sides, and someone lay crumpled in the corner like a dead mouse. That’s him. I saw his face when he came in here. That man hasn’t been able to move at all since yesterday. They said they broke his legs. Detective, please help us get out of here!

“First, stay quiet. Step back.”

Just as Wang Lun was about to cut the large lock hanging on the iron bars with the cutter, Ja-kyung grabbed it. While everyone looked on in confusion, Ja-kyung approached the bars.

“Everyone here knows Lee Man-soo, right?”

They all held their tongues with terrified expressions.

“We’re here to catch that bastard, so you can speak honestly. He’s the one who imprisoned you, right?”

In the silence, the woman who had screamed for help earlier spoke up again.

“That’s right! That bastard locked us up! That fucking son of a bitch!”

“Is there anyone here who worked under Lee Man-soo?”

As people looked at each other, the man crumpled in the corner hesitantly raised his hand.

“Me… I was his legal counsel. I also briefly handled accounting. There was another friend besides me, but that friend…”

The man trailed off, seeming to choke up as he lowered his head. Ja-kyung approached him and stared intently.

“If I save you from here, can you testify in court about everything you’ve heard and seen?”

The man’s eyes widened.

“What? No. I can’t! I’ll really die if I do that.”

Ja-kyung smiled calmly.

“Then there’s nothing I can do. We’ll have to leave you here.”

“Can detectives do that?”

“Who said we’re detectives? We’re not detectives.”

Everyone started urging the man with desperate expressions. Help us. We need to get out of here alive first. Won’t these people protect us? But the man couldn’t make a decision easily, and Ja-kyung checked his watch.

“I’ll give you one minute to decide. But if you say you’ll testify, I’ll make sure to protect your life.”

After contemplating, the man nodded, and Ja-kyung signaled Wang Lun to cut. The lock fell to the floor with a heavy thud, and as the door opened, people began to pour out one by one. They seemed unsteady, as if they had been here for a long time. Meanwhile, as the so-called attorney tried to sneak away, Wang Han blocked him and grinned wickedly.

“You need to stay.”

“O-of course. I’ll stay right here.”

After everyone left, Ja-kyung went inside and laid the man in the corner straight, checking his breathing. When he called his name, the man tried to open his eyes but closed them again. Though thin and gaunt, he matched the man in the photo.

His legs were severely swollen from being broken, and he had other serious external injuries as well. Since moving him recklessly would obviously do more harm than good, they called 119. As sirens began to sound in the distance, the three took the lawyer and left the building.

After they got in the car, police cars and 119 emergency personnel arrived shortly after. The man was loaded onto a stretcher and soon left the scene in an ambulance. As they were about to leave with only police cars remaining, they spotted a black sedan in the distance that entered and then quickly reversed out.

Ja-kyung called the lawyer to look outside.

“Is that your boss’s car?”

“Not the boss, but his left-hand man…”

Hearing this, Wang Lun turned around.

“Should we follow?”

Ja-kyung shook his head while looking at the police cars and said they should go to the hospital first. It seemed priority should be checking on their safety at the hospital, since those guys might try something there. Then, on the way, he called the security guard at the main house, but upon hearing about his brother’s condition, the guard broke down crying and couldn’t say anything.