PHUW 103

Thud! Thud!

He struck the man’s head again and again. The phone’s edge cracked, the skin split, and blood seeped out.

Catching his ragged breath, Jeong Mok pushed back the hair falling into his face with the back of the bloodied hand still holding the phone. He stared at the dazed boss.

“I’ll ask again. This time answer properly. That fucker you just called, who is he.”

“I… I really don’t know! I only know him as the boss, I don’t even know his name. He just said Haeri owed him money! Told me to call when Haeri got in touch! That’s all I did, I swear!”

The boss trembled and shook his head, he immediately started crying.

“And I’m supposed to believe that? Where did they take Haeri.”

“I-I really don’t know. I don’t, I really don’t… ugh.”

When Jeong Mok raised the hand holding the phone, the boss flailed both arms and screwed his eyes shut.

“Vice Chairman. Please hold yourself.”

Chief Ahn had appeared at some point and stepped in.

And not only him. Behind the two sedans that had brought Chief Ahn and the security team, two black SUVs rolled up. It was the protection team. Counting Chief Ahn, eight men had gathered.

“Clear the area. Get the injured and those two over there to the designated hospital ER.”

At his orders, the protection team pulled the boss off Jeong Mok and moved to secure the terrified workers. The boss was loaded into a vehicle, but the employees were the problem. More precisely, the savage dog snarling furiously at them.

A vet had once said Gom-i might be a mix of Bernese Mountain Dog and Ovcharka. The Ovcharka or Caucasian Shepherd, was a giant guard dog. Gom-i’s massive frame, usually friendly like a herding dog, and his cold, ferocious temper when unhinged, fit the Ovcharka exactly. Even seasoned handlers would not lay hands on one carelessly.

“Vice Chairman, you’ll need to call off the dog.”

Seeing the protection men falter, Chief Ahn appealed to Jeong Mok.

“Gom, come here.”

Jeong Mok called, and the cunning beast, as if he had never been raging, trotted straight to him. Only then did the terrified worker relax. Two protection men came to support his shaking legs. The other worker was half out of his wits.

“Shall we head to the hospital first. You need treatment. Speak about compensation once the lawyer arrives.”

“I-I need to call my wife.”

“You can call on the way.”

The guards’ tone was kind, but their manner was not. It was no different from forced abduction, and the employees looked around anxiously. The boss, slumped on the floor like he would faint, was in no condition to look after them.

“Call 119. And the police too.”

“Yes, yes. We’ll do that.”

Nodding, the large bodyguards paired off, gripping each employee by the arms and shoving them into cars. The boss was already inside. With the three secured, the protection car pulled away.

At the hospital, they would first offer free treatment and compensation, then press for silence and minimizing the incident. If things went badly, they would not hesitate to use threats backed by power. It was routine work for the protection team.

Meanwhile, the security team went around to the nearby shopkeepers who had been peeking out. They would tell them it was a minor scuffle, warn that if they reported or filmed anything legal action could follow, and hand out business cards under the name of a paper company, asking them to contact them first if there were complaints.

When a leash was fastened around Gom-i’s neck, Chief Ahn stepped closer.

“What happened here?”

“Isn’t that what you’re supposed to find out and report back to me?”

Jeong Mok handed him the Gwanrim Motors boss’s phone.

“Start with the one he just called. Pull all the traffic camera footage. The suspect’s vehicle is a gray van, they fled that way.”

“Yes. Already in progress. With the time this clear, we’ll get word soon.”

“And check Gwanrim Motors for any record of Haeri’s address or old phone numbers.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Jeong Mok jerked his chin toward the bespectacled man in a checkered shirt and windbreaker standing behind Chief Ahn.

With a bulky laptop tucked under his arm, the man headed for Gwanrim Motors, scoping out the payment terminal and the old laptop in the shop. After a few clicks with a mouse grimy with oil, he pulled up the customer list. As expected, it had Haeri’s old number, but it was a prepaid phone, untraceable.

“Even if you have to search the ends of the earth, find Ahn Haeri.”

“Yes. Understood.”

Chief Ahn pulled out his phone and dialed somewhere.

Jeong Mok looked at the fallen motorcycles, wondering if one of them might be Haeri’s. Gom-i sniffed around the area.

“Chief Ahn.”

“Yes.”

“That bastard said he could find stolen goods. The one who took Ahn Haeri.”

“Stolen goods?”

“Lee Sangjin’s house is near here, isn’t it?”

“Yes. About ten minutes on foot that way.”

Chief Ahn pointed toward the uphill road the village bus had taken around the retaining wall.

“Then they must be connected. No, they are connected. Since they couldn’t find Lee Sangjin’s girlfriend, they went after Ahn Haeri.”

Bzzz.

At that moment, Chief Ahn’s phone vibrated. Instead of answering a call, he opened his messenger app. Captures from traffic cameras came in one after another.

“Vice Chairman, it looks like your guess was right. Between the time you called from the public parking lot and the next call you made, a suspected kidnapping vehicle was caught on a speed camera heading that direction. We checked the plate. Gray Super Rex, 2020 model. It’s currently headed into Gyeonggi Province.”

“Send me the live location.”

Jeong Mok opened the rear door of the sedan Chief Ahn had come in. Gom-i leapt up as if he had been waiting. Jeong Mok headed straight for the driver’s seat.

“Wouldn’t it be better if you didn’t drive yourself?”

“……”

Jeong Mok climbed into the driver’s seat without a word. Chief Ahn hurriedly called a security man over, got the smart key, and rapped on the passenger-side window. When Jeong Mok rolled it down, Chief Ahn tossed the key in. At the same time, the sedan roared off down the road, ignoring traffic lights and oncoming cars entirely.

***

Lee Ducheol was in a foul mood.

“Fuck. Why the hell did you pick up that call, you idiot.”

While his mind had been elsewhere, the fool had gone and made trouble.

“I thought it was the boss calling. The caller ID said so.”

“Why the hell would the boss call. And even if he did, why would you blurt out whether we’d met him or not.”

“I just…”

“Haa. Answer one more call and I’ll smash your fucking wrist.”

“Is that really worth getting that mad over?”

“Damn right it is. You think we’re some school pickup service or what?”

Lee Ducheol snapped irritably.

Next to him, the kid they had shoved down kept anxiously looking around. His breath ragged roughly through flaring nostrils. He clearly had plenty he wanted to say. If not for the duct tape over his mouth, he would have been screaming nonstop. Since he thrashed so much despite his bad leg, they had bound his wrists and ankles tight with duct tape too.

This wasn’t the plan. How had it come to this? Things had gone completely sideways.

Lee Ducheol tugged roughly at the velcro of the protective suit he’d borrowed, smelly and uncomfortable, and muttered.

“The guy with him was Hyeonsan Vice Chairman. You dumb fuck. That’s why we’re wearing these stupid caps, masks, and guard-dog suits. To handle it quietly. So why the hell did you answer. What’s in that head of yours, decoration?”

“How was I supposed to know.”

“Then where the fuck were you when I spelled all this out.”

In the back seat, Ducheol smacked the head of the man in the passenger seat.

“Ah, fuck! Why hit me?”

“Because retards like you deserve it.”

“Ah, fuck’s sake! Quit it already!”

The one who had been drawling constantly finally snapped, turning around and glaring.

“Hey, brothers, cut it out. I can’t hear the GPS. Ducheol, you too. What’s done is done. We just need to finish fast.”

The driver tried to calm them down.

“Hey, don’t say his name with the kid listening!”

“You’re gonna take care of it anyway.”

The driver realized his slip and covered it up clumsily.

“Fuck it. Better dead than sick.”

“Then go die now. I could go for yukgaejang.” (spicy beef soup)

The man in the passenger seat smirked. Ducheol ground his teeth, swearing he’d bury that bastard first when this job was over.

Bzzz.

The phone tucked in his chest buzzed. The driver checked him in the rearview. Ducheol raised his hand, signaling for quiet. This time even the passenger shut his foul mouth.

“Ah, yes, Chief.”

Clearing his throat, Ducheol dropped his usual quick tone and imitated the lazy drawl of the fool in the passenger seat.

–The appointment time has passed. How long do you expect us to wait.

“Why so hasty. Everything has its order, right. Hahaha.”

–It’s hard to believe you, ha.

“Let’s talk later. I’m on the move.”

Click.

The line cut without a reply.

“Fuck. What an arrogant prick.”

“These days everyone thinks they’re someone. As if there’s any real difference between them and us.”

The passenger immediately backed Ducheol up. Being a small house team, they were often looked down on.

“They’ve got the money though. A big client promising a hundred million. We ought to treat them right.”

The driver, easygoing as ever, shot a cheerful look at the passenger.