November 11th, 2023, 22:30

  The South State, Seoul, Kangnam-ku, the NIS building (the Counter-terrorism Unit 3 office)

  Assistant Manager Lee Hye-jin had finished attending the meeting and heard the news from Chief Ha Sang-man.

  “Is that true?”


  “They should be at the saloon at Pyeong-yang by now, ma’am.”


  “That’s good.”


  “So, why did they call for an officer’s meeting all of a sudden?”


  “I’ll explain. Please tell everyone to meet me at the conference room.”


  “Yes. Of course.”


  Soon, the agents from Unit 3 all gathered at the conference room.

  “They called for a meeting because our organization has just received urgent intel from Director Kang Hyuck of the Federal Investigation Bureau.”


  “The FIB?”


  “I’ll share the files now.”


  “Actually, there is a surveillance team called the ACS within the NIS that only deputies and above know!”


  “The ACS? Is that a department?”


  “Yes, it’s normally inactive. However, it operates in times of emergency, and it started conducting operations when Kim Jong-un woke back up!”


  “Whoa! Did you know about this too, ma’am?”


  “No! It was my first time hearing about it during the meeting too.”


  “Wow, we had a department hiding from us in plain sight……,” Chief Huh Sang-man seemed shocked and muttered to himself.

  “The ACS actually found out about the plans to assassinate the president. That’s not important, take a look at this!”


  The files Assistant Manager Lee Hye-jin handed out contained the profile of Special Agent Lee Byung-hoo from the FIB and his recent whereabouts.

  “Lee Byung-hoo? This guy, he was the prosecutor who was caught up in that marital scandal……”


  “Yeah, that’s right. That Lee Byung-hoo.”


  “But, why are we talking about him?”


  “The targets of the 24 ACS surveillance included Deputy Director Kim Hyung-chul of the FIB, and it seems he is related to the deputy director. There is another target on the list whom they have not located yet, and that is Jo Myung-rok from North Korea’s General Reconnaissance Bureau. There has been a report that Lee Byung-hoo made contact with Jo Myung-rok at Pyeong-yang.”


  “Does that mean Lee Byung-hoo could be related to the president’s assassination?”


  “That is a possibility! The ACS department’s existence and everything we are discussing is a class S secret, but due to the severity of the matter, the director has decided to share the intel with all agents.”


  Assistant Manager Lee Hye-jin explained for another 20 minutes. She talked about the targets from the ACS department who were under 24-hour surveillance, the progress of the surveillance, and those who were related to the targets.

  “So, Jo Myung-rok could be the keyman to the plans to assassinate the president,” Chief Ha Sang-man pointed out the main point of the conversation.

  “That’s it.”


  Chief Kim Youn-gyu, must have come up with something and clapped his hands. “Wait! If that’s the case, maybe the North Korean Foreign Intelligence Agents we are tailing could be related to them, too?”


  “Yeah! That’s the conclusion we came up with. Fortunately, Team Leader Park Gi-oong is already headed to Pyeong-yang. We might be able to arrest the ex-North Korean agents and find evidence related to the culprits who planned the assassination and their plans!”


  Assistant Manager Lee Hye-jin’s eyes gleamed. She seemed determined to achieve a result this time.

  “Ma’am! Shouldn’t we send in the rest of the teams within our unit?”


  “I was about to send in Teams 1 and 2. I need to speak to Team Leader Park on the phone first. Notify the team leaders of Teams 1 and 2 for me!”


  “Yes, ma’am.”


  “Now! Let’s finish the meeting and get back to work until the next orders come through.”


  Assistant Manager Lee Hye-jin pulled out her phone and called Team Leader Park Gi-oong.

  * * *

  November 11th, 2023, 22:30

  The North State, Pyeong-yang, Daesung-ku, Bipa-dong, Bipa Street (The Emperor’s Saloon)

  The boss of the ‘Jun-pyo Gang,’ Hong Jun-pyo, heard the news of how one of his lieutenants was thumped on his skull by some low lives disguised as guests and became a vegetable. He sent out all of his men to scour the entire city of Pyeong-yang.

  However, they never managed to catch the low lives as if they had vanished into thin air. The boss had sent in a large number of his thugs to The Emperor’s Saloon in case they returned.

  While every single thug within the building was tense, Oh Hyuck-soo emerged out of nowhere and started to cause chaos. One of the thugs with a shaved head had an intimidating look on his face and walked up to him.

  The shaved thug seemed to have just graduated high school and started to swear at Oh Hyuck-soo after pulling a knife from his belt.

  “You son of a bitch! Do you have a death wish? Huh?”


  Oh Hyuck-soo lost his cool and sighed, “Whew……”


  “Eh? Are you gonna answer me? Do you really want to die?”


  The shaved thug started to wave his knife around as if to use it.

  “Hey! Baldy! You’re obviously younger than me, is that how you talk to your elders? You better put down that knife!”


  While he dealt with the bald thug, the nine others surrounded Oh Hyuck-soo. It was difficult to face off against 10 thugs at once, but he had two team leaders at his back. So, he played it cool and smiled.

  “Hah! You idiots. You think you stand a chance if you use weapons against me?”


  Suddenly, Team Leaders Park Gi-oong and Youn Tae-jin walked past Chief Oh Hyuck-soo and the thugs. Team Leader Park handed a 50-dollar bill to the waiter standing near him.

  “Hey! How are the ladies tonight? You better serve us well.”


  “Yes, of course, boss! I’ll make it feel like you’re in heaven.”


  Team Leaders Park Gi-oong and Youn Tae-jin walked into The Emperor’s Saloon under the waiter’s guidance. Chief Oh Hyuck-soo became wide-eyed after he witnessed the scene.

  “Hey, you dumbass! Who the hell are you? You better get on your knees if you want to live!”


  “God! Fuck! I swear I am going to murder those two once this is over.”


  Oh Hyuck-soo was the bait that drew the thug’s attention.

  “Damn it! I swear to god I am going to quit once this is over.”


  “What the hell did you just say? What’s with him?”


  “I wasn’t talking to you, you bastards!” Oh Hyuck-soo shouted and kicked the bald thug’s knife out of his right hand before kicking him in the stomach.

  Smack~ argh!

  The bald thug fell back from pain and shortness of breath, and the rest of the thugs rushed towards Oh Hyuck-soo.

  “Bring it on! Let’s see who is the last man standing!”


  While Oh Hyuck-soo faced off against the thugs, Team Leaders Park Gi-oong and Youn Tae-jin walked into a luxurious room in the saloon under the waiter’s guidance.

  “Hey boss, this is your first time here, right? Here’s my card.”


  The waiter politely handed Team Leader Park his business card.

  “Park Chan-ho? Who the hell uses such an outdated nickname at a time like this?”


  “Ha ha, I like baseball. If you need anything, boss, let me know. I can get you anything except for men.”


  “My ass! Hey! Park Chan-ho!”


  “Yeah, boss, do you want me to bring the ladies?”


  “No, bring the owner or the manager or whatever for this place!”


  “What? Why do you want that?”


  “Chan-ho, buddy! What’s with all the questions? We’re asking for them because we need to talk to them, don’t we? Get moving!”


  When Youn Tae-jin frowned, the waiter scratched his head and left. Soon, a man walked into the room.

  “So, I heard you gentlemen were looking for me?” A neatly dressed man greeted them with his hands inside his suit pockets.

  “Are you the manager of this place?”


  “Yes, I’m Manager Oh. What’s this about?”


  Manager Oh, who had been in the game for a while now, realized these men were no ordinary joes and dealt with them while stifling his rage. If the regulars acted this way, then they would already be half dead.

  “These guys were at this establishment a few days ago, right?” Park Gi-oong showed Manager Oh a few photographs.

  “I don’t know.”


  “You sure? How about this?” Park Gi-oong showed him another photograph. It was a still from the footage of the security camera at The Emperor’s Saloon with the North Korean agents.

  “I don’t recognize this one either.”


  “God damn it! Buddy, these photos are from the security cameras of this saloon!” Youn Tae-jin, who was hot-tempered, stood up and shouted at Manager Oh while pointing at him.

  “Oh! Our bar doesn’t have any security cameras.”


  “Ha! Right, I knew you wouldn’t talk easily.”


  “Hey, it seems you’re being a bit too rude, aren’t you? Where are you two from?” Manager Oh seemed to have lost his patience and frowned.

  “Don’t worry about where we came from. Tell us everything you know about these guys!”


  “God! I guess our guests are testing my patience…… Boys!”


  When Manager Oh called for his men, the thugs outside the room ran in with their weapons. Youn Tae-jin whispered to Park Gi-oong.

  “Hey! Should we just show them our IDs and handle things quietly? Or should we just beat the living hell out of them?”


  “It would be better to handle things quietly, but I don’t think we need to let them know who we are.”


  “Is that so? I guess we have no choice! Come on you bastards!”


  * * *

  November 11th, 2023, 23:00

  The North State, Pyeong-yang, Daesung-ku, Bipa-dong, Bipa Street (The Emperor’s Saloon).

  Park Gi-oong and Youn Tae-jin caused a scene and grabbed Manager Oh by the scruff to seat him on the sofa.

  Manager Oh was covered in bruises and asked in a quiet voice while looking at Park Gi-oong and Youn Tae-jin with half-open eyes, “Wha-, where, where are you guys from? Are you police? Or the Black Star Gang from Incheon?”


  “I thought we told you, we’re the ones asking the questions! Didn’t we?”


  When Youn Tae-jin raised his fist to hit him again, Manager Oh flinched.

  “Now! I am not going to ask you again. Tell me everything you know about these guys!” Park Gi-oong showed Manager Oh the picture again.

  “The, the thing is, those scumbags came here a few days ago and ran off after beating the previous manager to a pulp. We have been looking for him too every day.” Manager Oh finally spoke the truth.

  “Really? Did you search every county?”


  “No, no. We still have three counties left.”


  “Huh? Which ones are those?” Youn Tae-jin pulled up a map of Pyeong-yang on his phone.

  “Here, here, and here.”


  “Hey, how many thugs do you have under your command?”


  “Including the boys I have in Seoul, at least 200.”


  “200? Holy moly!”


  Youn Tae-jin glanced at Park Gi-oong. He smiled and spoke to Manager Oh after getting his face closer to the manager’s, “Great! Call all the other men you have in your crew and find them! But when you do, don’t do anything and just report back to us! All right?”


  “Wha, what, just let them be after we find them? Our boss ordered us to beat the living hell out of them when we did.”


  “You still don’t understand who is in charge, do you?”


  Park Gi-oong’s phone started to ring and the caller ID read Assistant Manager Lee Hye-jin.

  “Hey, Tae-jin! It’s Assistant Manager Lee. I’m going to take this call. Take care of him while I do.”


  “Okay!”


  “Hello. This is Team Leader Park.”
-

  Yes, this is Assistant Manager Lee.

  “You heard the news from Chief Ha, right?”
-

  Yes, I did. Ah! How are things going there?

  “Well! We ended up at a saloon, but I am sure they were here.”
-

  Really? That’s great. I suppose you need backup.

  “Actually, I don’t think we need backup for now. I can give you the details when we get back to our hotel.”
-

  Okay. Call me back when you do. I have something important to tell you as well.

  When Park Gi-oong glanced in Manager Oh’s direction, he was on his knees begging for Youn Tae-jin’s mercy.