Why? Are you scared?
It was past 3 a.m.
Lee Daemyung of the Daemyung Detective Agency stared grimly at the surveillance caras and bugging devices on his desk.
These were not their own equipnt.
They had just found them by searching around the office entrance and the surrounding hallways.
"Is this everything, or is there more?"
He was asking Lee Young-seok, who had first discovered the cara.
This was also the man who had recently led the Kang In-hyuk assignnt on-site.
"For now, that's all. And since they're wireless devices, I looked for the transmission point, but these are high-range receivers, so I haven't found the source yet."
Lee Daemyung's expression darkened further.
The reason he had searched for devices like this was because he believed information had leaked out during the Kang In-hyuk operation in Andong.
Moreover, just a few days ago, Kang In-hyuk had visited Jeon Hae-in in person and used the fact that he knew her real identity to threaten her.
From Daemyung's perspective, there were simply too many suspicious circumstances, so he had no choice but to search the surroundings.
"You have no idea when these were installed?"
"They're not the self-storage type, but transmitting models. And as you know, security in this building is lax, making it difficult to check who has been in and out. I think they expected that and boldly installed them."
The Banpo Plaza General Arcade, where the office was located, was scheduled for redevelopnt along with nearby apartnt construction.
For that reason, the facilities inside were severely outdated.
"This is driving crazy... Judging by the devices, it'll be hard to trace their origin, won't it?"
"They're pretty easily available on the market, so it seems that way."
Annoyed, Lee Daemyung scratched his head furiously.
Not only had vital plans leaked, but now even their hideout had hidden caras set up around it.
That ant so unknown enemy had specifically targeted the Daemyung Detective Agency.
A heavy silence followed before Lee Young-seok spoke again.
"In any case... shouldn't we move the hideout first? If we're completely exposed, they might even be watching right now."
They had double-checked, but it was possible there was even more.
Lee Daemyung nodded.
"I've reported it to the Organization, so we wait—"
Ddiriririri―
As he was speaking, the intercom rang.
Behind Lee Young-seok were others who had been involved in this operation.
One of them checked the intercom screen.
Soone was standing there with their palm outstretched. Seeing this, the man seed satisfied and opened the door.
The person who entered was a sharply dressed young man with piercing eyes...
It was Baek Si-hwan.
"Are you CEO Lee Daemyung?"
eting Baek Si-hwan's gaze, Lee Daemyung looked at him with a slightly arrogant expression.
He guessed the man was much younger than him.
"Yes. I'm Lee Daemyung. You're from upstairs, right? Na and departnt?"
Baek Si-hwan's expression turned even colder.
"Intelligence Division, level 2. I'm currently on assignnt with a dostic corporation, and today I'm here as a ssenger."
Upon hearing this, Lee Daemyung's face hardened—he had reached over fifty but had never risen beyond Level 3 in the Organization.
"Hmph! You don't even look that old... already Level 2?"
"If you have the skills in the Organization, it doesn't matter. More importantly, is everyone here present who participated in the Andong operation?"
Baek Si-hwan's gaze swept across them.
A little uncomfortable now, Lee Daemyung let out a sigh.
"I told everyone to gather, didn't I? Besides, this is everyone who works out of this office anyway."
"Is all the equipnt gathered as well?"
"Naturally. Orders from above—I was thorough. So, where are we relocating the office? Seems like we'll need new IDs, too."
At this, his gaze shifted toward the office storeroom.
When Baek Si-hwan moved in that direction, Lee Daemyung opened the door for him.
Inside, various intelligence devices, as well as pistols and magazines, were on display.
"You've gathered everything well. I'll call in the standby team to move them out imdiately."
"We're moving out tonight?"
"There's no reason to delay."
Baek Si-hwan made a phone call sowhere.
Soon after, the intercom rang again, and n wearing uniforms labeled 'Areum Cleaning' entered and began moving out equipnt and firearms.
"Anything we can do to help?"
"... Yes."
"What is it?"
"Just stay put."
At the sa ti, Baek Si-hwan pulled a silenced pistol from inside his jacket.
Pshk— Psh-p-shk—
The trigger was pulled, and holes appeared in the heads of Lee Daemyung and those beside him.
When the others tried to react, the n in the Areum Cleaning uniforms pulled out knives and stabbed their chests and throats.
Thus, the seven n, including Lee Daemyung from the Daemyung Detective Agency, t their end.
"Make sure no traces are left. Clean it up thoroughly."
At Baek Si-hwan's quiet command, the Areum Cleaning workers gave a slight bow and moved even more busily.
And in no ti at all, nothing was left inside the Daemyung Detective Agency.
.
.
.
A few hours later.
In-hyuk was called out from his residence after receiving an urgent call from Hong Yu-geon of Charybdis.
The place he arrived was the sa Hangang Park parking lot where they'd t previously.
Thunk—
Hong Yu-geon got out of a large van parked to the side and imdiately seized In-hyuk by the collar, pushing him against a nearby car.
"You! What the hell are you doing with us?!"
The atmosphere was intense.
Despite being pushed by Hong Yu-geon's strength, In-hyuk calmly replied.
"What's wrong?"
"That guy you had us investigate! What the hell kind of bastard is he?!"
"... You an Baek Si-hwan?"
Charybdis had attached themselves to Baek Si-hwan under In-hyuk's direction after finishing the investigation at Daemyung Detective Agency.
"He went into that office and killed everyone in there!"
"... Killed? How do you know that? You didn't clash with them, did you?"
All the office windows were deliberately blocked from view.
Whatever happened inside would be impossible to know from the outside.
"The crew from Areum Cleaning went in and hauled out everything. But the people who had arrived first—Lee Daemyung and those planning to kill you—vanished as if into thin air. What do you think that ans?"
As soone who specialized in tracking and intelligence gathering, Hong Yu-geon had figured out what had happened.
"Couldn't you have lost track of their movents?"
"Even after seeing this?"
A phone was thrust in front of him, with footage in red and blue tones. It was from an infrared cara.
Among the items being carried out by several people, there were multiple long objects lit up in red.
Even a glance showed that those shapes looked far more like people than ordinary objects.
"You carried around equipnt like this too?"
"These guys tried to stage accidents out in the open to kill people. But that's not what matters now."
In-hyuk kept his eyes on the footage as he spoke.
"Looks like they're cleaners. But if you're not planning to hurt , can you let go?"
"... Tch."
Reluctantly, Hong Yu-geon released his grip and stepped back.
"I'll have to look into Areum Cleaning, too."
"What about Baek Si-hwan? Not going to tell who he really is?"
"You think I know?"
"If you didn't, you wouldn't have told us not to plant anything on his house or car! And you didn't warn us to keep a certain distance for no reason. You clearly had an idea!"
Charybdis had sensed just how thorough Baek Si-hwan was when tailing him.
He wasn't the kind of person one could dismiss as a typical security guard.
Moreover, when Baek Si-hwan visited the Daemyung Detective Agency they had been watching, they'd been even more shocked.
And after tonight, things had only gotten stranger.
"Hmm... At least we know he's dangerous. And that even more dangerous people are behind him."
Even In-hyuk himself had not fully identified Baek Si-hwan or the organization behind him.
All he had learned was that they'd infiltrated major dostic corporations, and that they all seed to have a strange tattoo along the inside of their left ring finger...
"You knew from the start that people like that were targeting you?"
"No. As I started organizing what had happened to one by one, I realized they all originated from the sa place."
It all began with the accident at the KQ Group's Chairman Kang Cheon-gyu's autobiography launch party, and the attempt on his life by the security guard Pyo Jun-woo.
Chasing and taking care of that had revealed yet another hidden enemy.
He had let him go after stabbing him with a knife, but...
While In-hyuk was mulling things over, Hong Yu-geon finally spoke up.
"So in the end, are you saying they used KQ Group's Jeon Hae-in's failed request as an excuse to clean house?"
"That's probably it. Honestly, I didn't expect them to move so quickly and decisively, either. But if you ca alone... is Van Hester tracking them?"
There was no sign of anyone else in the car from which he'd just exited.
"He followed them until just now. But because hardly any cars are moving at this hour, it might have been risky, so he's heading back here. This is the last checkpoint."
Hong Yu-geon showed him his phone screen with a map and coordinates.
"Near Paldang Bridge, huh? Maybe there's a spot over there to dump bodies?"
"So, what are you actually trying to do against such dangerous people? Don't tell ... you want revenge or sothing?"
"Why? Are you scared? If so, you can back out now. You've already helped, so your outstanding salary and danger pay will be delivered without a hitch."
At that mont, Hong Yu-geon sighed deeply and wrinkled his brow.
"Don't you understand how serious this is? This is a whole different level. If they're using cleaners, you could be eliminated without a trace!"
In-hyuk let out a faint, bitter laugh.
"If I hadn't considered that, I'd already be dead."
"Don't you think you've just been lucky so far? There might not be a next ti."
For whatever reason, Hong Yu-geon's voice was full of agitation.
In response, In-hyuk stared back with cold eyes.
"Like I said before, if you want to back out, go ahead."
"Haa... So you're really going to go to war with them?"
"You know full well that if I don't make a move, they'll kill first. To survive, I have to try sothing, don't I?"
Hong Yu-geon thought about what had happened in Andong, and how In-hyuk had even gone so far as to threaten Jeon Hae-in directly.
But by now, just as In-hyuk had said, he had crossed a point of no return.
If nothing else, Jeon Hae-in's side could be held back for the ti being by In-hyuk's real status, but who could say for how long?
"You even threatened them, so they'll retaliate harder than before. Do you have a plan?"
"If I didn't, why would I have set you and Van Hester on Baek Si-hwan?"
"Seriously, what is that guy?"
"He's the gateway to those targeting . So decide. I need to know whether to keep planning as I have or change course."
From the start, he hadn't expected to see things through to the end with Charybdis, whom he'd hired for intelligence gathering.
They had worked together in a previous life, so he was well aware of their tendencies and limits.
Hong Yu-geon let out another sigh and stared In-hyuk down.
At that mont, Van Hester rode a motorcycle into the parking lot where the two of them stood.
User Comments
0 comments from readers