The Shadow Broker

‘K.’

The so-called ‘crime architect’.
Every time he came to mind, I couldn’t hide my questions about his whereabouts.
But when the story finally came from Im Suho’s mouth, I froze without realizing it.

‘Is he committing even more severe crimes?’

“…You mean you’ve found out who he is?”
[Well, not exactly.]

The more Im Suho’s vague answer continued, the more my brow furrowed.

“Then what have you found out?”
[The location of his workshop?]
“…It was impossible to even get his approximate location, so are you sure it’s a workshop?”
[Now… are you doubting me?]

The voice coming from the other end of the phone subtly changed.
I let out a quiet sigh and added again.

“I’m not doubting you, I’m doubting him. It could be a trap. They’re reckless enough to commit terrorism in the middle of the street.”
[Do you think I haven’t thought of that? That’s why I verified it several times. I even sent a few people. Thanks to that, I also found ‘Woo Huiseong’, so don’t worry.]

A name I hadn’t heard in a long time flowed from Im Suho’s mouth.
It was no exaggeration to say that most of the violent crimes happening in the underworld were under Woo Huiseong’s command.

“…Woo Huiseong there? Is Woo Huiseong involved in this too?”
[That’s for you to find out now, Lawyer Cha. Your request ends here.]

As Im Suho had said, he was a person who only provided information.
Just as I thought the call was about to end, another unexpected name flowed from Im Suho’s mouth.

[But I think you should be more worried about the man who’s always by your side than Woo Huiseong. Well, I’m sure you know by now, but that person is ‘Black’, isn’t he?]
“…Can you hack the National Intelligence Service?”
[Well, I didn’t hack the NIS, but I participated in building the NIS data network in the first place. I should have this much fun too, right?]

‘He treats the national intelligence agency like a toy…’

[Mr. Im Suho was a really scary person…]

Even Gram, who had expressed doubt every time I had said to be careful of Im Suho, agreed with me at this moment.

[By the way, did you leak information about ‘K’, Lawyer Cha?]
“What do you mean by that?”
[The NIS also knew about this information. My guys saw some suspicious people while staking out his workshop, and when I looked into it, they were agents.]

‘Is Lee Ilwoo looking into it? He seemed busy lately.’

[Well, that’s not my business. I just sent the location. Anyway, the request is really over now. Don’t contact me for trivial matters again.]

I thought that it would probably not happen, but I opened my mouth again, just in case.
It was a statement close to a provocation.

“What if it’s wrong information?”
[Hah, you’re really good at getting on people’s nerves, Lawyer Cha. Are you only like this with me? Or is this your original personality and you’re just putting up with it?]
“Who doesn’t put up with it? Everyone does.”
[Anyway, you never lose a word. I’ll take on any trivial matter for you then, so check it first.]

Before I could answer, Im Suho shot back in an irritated voice and hung up.

‘Was I too harsh? But you never know. It could be Woo Huiseong’s hideout, not K’s.’

An encrypted text message arrived, just like when I had returned from Japan.
The message was simple.

[Changil-dong 12-7]

‘I need to think about how far and to whom I should share this information.’

As I was organizing my thoughts and approaching the door to go down to the cafe, I felt a presence coming up to the office.

Chime.

“Mr. Lee Ilwoo? I heard from Lawyer Won that you had a schedule today. Are you finished?”
“It’s not that… Lawyer, I just got information about those guys from the company. It seems to be their base.”
“Hmm, let me guess. Changil-dong, right?”
“…How did you know? I came straight to the office as soon as I got the call…”

Lee Ilwoo looked at me with a rare dazed expression after hearing my question.

“Hmm, there’s someone who would know. Shall we go down first? Doyeong is here.”

And so, I took Lee Ilwoo and went down the stairs together.

“Bye, Doyeong. See you again.”
“Goodbye, uncles.”

Did they say that in the moments with children, one can forget their worries and regain their innocence?
I think that was right.
Just by having Doyeong among the usual people, the atmosphere had changed completely.

“So now the school is peaceful too. There are no kids fighting. We all line up well together. It’s all thanks to you, mister, no. Uncle.”

It was rewarding every time a case was over.
Though today was a little more special.
The pure appreciation of a child who had witnessed the change and impact was even more moving.
We had a pleasant evening and said goodbye to Doyeong.

“I’ll take Doyeong home and go home, so everyone, please go home. See you tomorrow. Ah, Ms. Seonghui. Thank you for packing Doyeong’s cookies.”
“Oh. It’s nothing, Mr. Building Owner.”

Perhaps because her business had stabilized, Ha Seonghui’s wit was improving day by day.
Thanks to that, we all burst out laughing.

“Doyeong, come again. I’ll make you something more delicious next time.”
“Yes, noona. Thank you for the cookies.”

Vroom.

After Won Youngoh’s car left, Ha Seonghui, who had been waving all along, turned to look at us.

“Aren’t you two going home?”
“We should, us too.”
“Oh, it’s cold. Then I’ll go in to prepare for closing! You two, please go home safely!”
“Yes, Ms. Seonghui. See you tomorrow.”

When even Ha Seonghui had disappeared, Lee Ilwoo opened his mouth.

“We’re going today, aren’t we? Given your personality, I thought you would, lawyer.”
“Of course. You seem to know me quite well now, Mr. Lee Ilwoo.”
“You were thinking about it at the cafe too. Though you were pretending not to.”

Hoo, as I exhaled, my breath turned white and scattered.
This winter feels particularly long.
I opened my mouth again when my breath had completely disappeared.

“…Did Lawyer Won notice?”
“Hmm, no. Probably not. His gaze was entirely on Doyeong.”
“Then that’s fine. Let’s go now, us too.”
“Just in case, let’s go in my car. I have some things I’ve prepared.”
“Ah. What on earth this time… I’m already scared…”

As soon as I met Lee Ilwoo’s determined eyes, the feeling of the bulletproof vest I had forgotten about came back to life.
But Lee Ilwoo, whether he knew my inner thoughts or not, smiled with a proud face and added.

“You’ll be warm if you wear it.”

A short while later, we arrived at Changil-dong.
Me and Lee Ilwoo, and finally…

“It must be a talent to pick only the days I’m off. Why on earth did you call me here again?”
“Because the only police officer I can trust is you, Detective Choi.”
“Enough with the sweet talk. Just be careful.”

It was Choi Suhyeok, whose fatigue was flowing from his entire body, not just accumulating.
He lightly rubbed his tired eyes, but did not let his guard down.

[What’s going on? I feel even more scared because it’s been a while since you’ve contacted me.]
“You must have been waiting for my call, Chief Inspector Choi. I’ve been a little busy lately too.”
[I know. Thanks to you, the news was noisy again, but it’s not that, is it.]
“I’ve found out something about those guys. ‘K’.”

Choi Suhyeok, as if he had no choice, appeared at the address I had sent him on time.

“But how did you find out this address?”
“One of the most important things for a lawyer is connections.”
“You always try to gloss over it at times like these. Be careful of your surroundings. So you don’t make a sound.”

After a short sigh, Choi Suhyeok immediately started his main job.
Lee Ilwoo silently headed towards the back of the building.

“I’ll go and take a look.”
“Yes.”

I had already scanned the surrounding area with a satellite photo in the car using the equipment Lee Ilwoo had prepared.
I had memorized the entire map in my head and had even figured out all the escape routes in case of an unforeseen situation.

‘Of course, I’ve also figured out our escape route.’

Lee Ilwoo had gone to confirm that escape route and the escape route.

“There’s no sign of anyone, but are we going in when that person comes back?”
“Just a moment.”

Thump.

I took out what Lee Ilwoo had prepared as a spare from the trunk of the car.

“…Why is that coming out of there?”
“Hurry up and put it on. Just in case.”

The thing that Choi Suhyeok was looking at, alternating between me and it, with a terrified expression was…

“I said, why is a bulletproof vest coming out of there.”
“We’ve already confirmed that those guys know how to use a gun, so we have to be prepared too. I’m wearing one too.”

Choi Suhyeok took the bulletproof vest from me with a dazed expression.

“If it’s a person who requires this much preparation, shouldn’t we be calling SWAT instead of going in ourselves?”
“Can you call them?”
“……”
“Then it would be a commotion from the start, which would be perfect for escaping. Let’s go in by ourselves.”

It would be nice if we could call them.
But we both knew very well that we couldn’t.
While Choi Suhyeok was putting on the vest under his coat, Lee Ilwoo returned.

“Everything is clear. If you’re ready, let’s go in.”

‘Now that I’m aware of it, I get it. He really doesn’t make a sound.’

Choi Suhyeok, as if he had the same thought, quickly scanned Lee Ilwoo.

‘Choi Suhyeok’s intuition is too good.’

“Are you wearing one too?”
“Yes. I’ve checked again, but the building is ordinary. Too ordinary. But I’ll go in first. You two, please follow me at a little distance.”
“Yes, Mr. Lee Ilwoo.”

As Lee Ilwoo had said, the building was ordinary.
It was just an ordinary building with all sorts of shops.
So much so that it seemed to have no connection with crime.
We moved from floor to floor, checking every corner.

‘What is this… Huh?’

I stuck my head out from the stairs and discovered something.
I had discovered a faint red light from the upper floor.

“Let’s go up.”

I went up the stairs first.
When we finally arrived at the floor where the light was flowing, we were able to find a difference.

“This floor isn’t shops.”
“It seems one company is using the entire floor.”

I raised my index finger to the two who were whispering in a small voice.
Then I tried to open the door that was full of red light, but it didn’t open.

Rattle.

“It seems to be locked. I don’t see a door lock or a keyhole…”
“Lawyer, just this way for a moment.”

I obediently followed Lee Ilwoo’s hand gesture and stepped back.
Lee Ilwoo put his ear to the door for a moment and checked the other side.

“There’s no sign of anyone. But just in case, be careful.”

Thump, thump!

Lee Ilwoo, who had taken a deep breath, kicked the door a couple of times, and the door broke and fell backwards.

CRASH!

Even with such a big commotion, there was no sign of anyone.
But Lee Ilwoo and I acted cautiously.
Because we had experienced the voice phishing incident once before.
Hiding on the wall next to the door, we waited for a moment.
The red light pouring from the open space was even clearer.

‘Come to think of it, this member…’

If Choi Suhyeok hadn’t appeared in time then, it probably would have been a big problem.
And so, some time passed.

“I think it’s okay to go in now. I’ll be guarding here, so you two go in and come back.”
“Yes, I will. Thank you, Mr. Lee Ilwoo.”

Choi Suhyeok and I hurriedly looked around inside.

‘There’s so much evidence.’

I first looked for the more intense red lights.
Then I stopped and found Choi Suhyeok, who was standing still.

‘What’s wrong? Did he find something?’

But since it was Choi Suhyeok, I wasn’t very worried.
As I was opening and checking all sorts of places again, I found a safe hidden in a closet.
But the condition of the safe was a little strange.

“Detective Choi, there’s a safe here… It’s open. It seems they’ve already left.”
“Lawyer Cha, just a moment,”

The moment I touched the handle of the safe, flames shot up from the wall.