Chapter – 07
[Uh…….]
At the suddenly dropped phrase “information manipulation,” Yeonhee hesitated for a moment. Cheonga’s stories often sounded random like this.
But that was only because the calculations in her head were so fast that she skipped the process and spat out the conclusion. When retraced, her logic had never once been flawed.
Unni must’ve seen something again.
Having reached that conclusion, Yeonhee immediately responded.
[I’ll recheck the log records. If I didn’t misread them last time, there’s definitely a non-negligible chance of manipulation.]
“Yeah, yeah. Please do.”
[But unni, this kind of information manipulation is impossible at the Cheonghwa faction’s level. They may be one of the top kingpins in Korea, but—]
Cheonga quickly interrupted as Yeonhee trailed off.
“So it’d be possible if it were a different kingpin?”
[Um. Is there really a kingpin bigger than Cheonghwa operating in Korea?]
“Well. Maybe Yamakudang or Beonchahoe are trying to break into the Korean market.”
Several drug trafficking organizations that had once attempted to expand their trade routes into Korea slipped from Cheonga’s lips.
“Or maybe… Yongyeonbang?”
The moment that name was spoken, a sharp intake of breath came from the other end of the call.
[Whoa. Unni……. That definitely shoots the probability way up, but Yongyeonbang is going too far. If they’re really aiming for Korea, then what we’re doing right now is basically stabbing a wild boar in the side with a single skewer, isn’t it?]
At Yeonhee’s words, a strained sigh escaped Cheonga.
“Yeah. They scare me too, honestly.”
In front of the return station at the hospital cafeteria.
Cheonga stared down quietly at the tanghulu skewer that had been handed to her.
“Ma’am, is the skewer too small? I’ll give you one more.”
Every Friday, the hospital cafeteria held a “No Leftovers Day” event. Seeing Cheonga—who had cleaned her tray more thoroughly than anyone else—the cooks smiled brightly and placed another skewer into her hand.
Now holding a tanghulu skewer in each hand, Cheonga let out a long sigh.
Of all things, tanghulu skewers.
Just looking at them naturally brought back the conversation she’d had with Yeonhee a few days earlier.
Yongyeonbang.
They were an enormous drug trafficking organization based in the Filipino-Chinese community.
Back when Cheonga worked at headquarters, she’d once been assigned to monitor key Yongyeonbang figures who had entered Korea.
Yet despite the fuss and full-scale preparations, their movements had been utterly unremarkable.
On the first day, they visited Gyeongbokgung Palace and Namsan Tower. The next day, they rode attractions at Lotte World. After that, they even did a PC café tour……
On the surface, it had been nothing more than a simple sightseeing trip.
But had they really left without doing anything?
Their movements had been clean, yet an unpleasant sense of unease had lingered.
At the time, Cheonga had requested additional investigation from Superintendent Jeong Taebong, then the head of the Narcotics Investigation Unit.
—It’s an awkward case to touch. Dig any deeper and we’ll get into trouble too. One more step, and this goes straight up to the NIS. Let’s not make a mess for no reason.
She’d been shut down flatly.
Which meant that even now, there was no way to know whether Yongyeonbang’s visit had been groundwork for a Korean expansion.
What if it really is Yongyeonbang?
If they were truly the ones who had manipulated Min Yusin’s information, then the situation was serious.
—Unni, that’s like stabbing a wild boar with a single skewer.
Cheonga stared blankly at the tanghulu skewers in her hands and sighed again.
Once, she had been the chief information analyst for a narcotics task force at headquarters, handling core intelligence. And now she was poking around drug traffickers with nothing but a skewer in hand.
She swished the tanghulu skewer through the air.
You think something like this could stop Yongyeonbang? …Could it?
The absurd thought made the corner of her mouth twitch upward.
And that was when it happened.
Perhaps she’d been too lost in thought. There was a dull thunk—a sensation of something piercing—followed by a short cry.
“Ugh!”
“……Huh?”
Wait. Hold on.
Did I just hit something?!
Sure enough, the skewer she’d been swinging was embedded squarely in someone’s back.
A broad back trembled slightly, the sugar-coated red fruit wobbling sweetly with the movement.
Unfortunately, Cheonga felt a strange sense of familiarity with that back.
Then its owner turned around.
The white coat fluttered as he turned, the scene unfolding like slow motion.
As expected, it was Min Yusin.
With a deeply crumpled expression, he slowly pulled down his mask and met Cheonga’s eyes. Then his gaze dropped to the fruit skewer sticking cleanly through his coat and into his back.
His face twisted even further as he looked back at her.
“…Are you out of your mind?”
Cheonga’s lips trembled.
“Wow…… Ah. No? Haha… wow. Why is this… stuck here? ……It’s not tofu or anything, but it went in so easily……”
Why was it that she always ended up saying nonsense whenever she faced Min Yusin?
She didn’t know.
“Was the mop not enough? Now you’re stabbing people front and back like some kind of—”
“Ahhh! No! Of course not!” Cheonga flailed her hands wildly.
Yusin bit down on his lip as if his back hurt badly.
His Adam’s apple bobbed several times.
Under the menacing glare looking down at her, Cheonga instinctively took a step back.
One step.
Then another.
“I’m really, really sorry!”
Leaving the tanghulu skewer still stuck in his back, she turned tail and bolted.
This was already the second time Cheonga had inflicted bodily harm upon Min Yusin.
As a result, she was suffering from some fairly serious aftereffects.
“Oh… what do I do.”
Her steps halted abruptly as she pushed a cart piled high with cleaning supplies. She stared down at her own hands.
The sensation of the skewer sinking into Yusin’s back at lunch yesterday still lingered in her fingertips.
Did it really pierce him?
Seriously, does human flesh pierce that easily?
Really?
No matter how suspicious Min Yusin was, sticking a skewer into his back like that had crossed a line.
Especially when she wasn’t even sure he was an enemy yet.
He could very well be an ordinary civilian with no connection to drugs at all.
And if he was connected to a kingpin, then things were even worse.
It meant she’d essentially exposed herself to him.
No matter how much she agonized over it, no convincing solution came to mind.
All she could do was mutter to herself all day long.
“What do I do? Hehe, I’m doomed. What do I do. Hngh. I’m sorry.”
“Huuuh. What am I going to do.”
What else could she do?
Until her thoughts sorted themselves out and she came up with a brilliant solution, all she could do was avoid Min Yusin for a while.
Unfortunately, even that plan failed sooner than expected.
“Unni, how about the annex cafeteria today? They say they’ve got a special menu. I’ll buy coffee too!”
Worried she might run into Yusin, Cheonga had deliberately trekked all the way to the distant annex.
And yet—
“……”
The moment she scanned her meal card, what she saw was the back of Min Yusin’s head as he ate.
He was impossible to miss.
He was tall, his head oddly small, his back absurdly broad, and his neck lines far too defined…… You couldn’t not recognize him.
Holding her tray, Cheonga stood frozen in the serving line, agonizing.
Would it be better to just run?
But then a loud voice shattered her hope.
“Bokseon! Why aren’t you getting food? We saved you a seat—come over here!”
The unnies, already seated, waved cheerfully and slapped the empty seat they’d reserved. The loud noise made Yusin’s shoulder twitch. It definitely did.
“Ahaha…… haha…… ha. Y-yeah, I’m coming.”
Her mind went blank.
So blank that she ladled soup where rice should go and piled up ssamjang instead of meat—yet she didn’t even notice.
To reach her unnies’ table, she had to pass by Yusin. There was no other route.
Cheonga bit her lip and stepped forward.
Just pass by like you don’t know him. Yeah. Don’t make eye contact. Stay quiet.
Each step felt excessively cautious.
Unaware of her turmoil, her unnies smiled brightly and waved at her.
Their gestures felt like they were signaling him directly, and Cheonga’s insides burned with panic.
Kingpin (총책): Slang or investigative term referring to the head of a drug trafficking operation.
