The Pied Piper

“Get in! Arrest every last one of them!”
“Yes, sir!”

And so, the SWAT team entered Jo Hyeokjun’s villa on cue.

“Wh-what! Who are you! Do you know where you are!”
“Permission to fire in an emergency!”

It seemed my assumption that we wouldn’t actually hear gunshots was a miscalculation.

Bang, bang!

Occasionally, gunshots that felt like they would tear my eardrums rang out.
The same went for the screams.

‘The scale is even larger than I thought.’

At least a few hundred people scattered in a panic.
The police also sped up to chase them.
Thanks to that, the commotion also dragged on.
We had already set up camp on a back road that wasn’t easily noticeable.
It was because of my suggestion from a little while ago.

“The one who comes running ‘alone’ the fastest is the one who likely knows the most and has a loose tongue.”
“Yes, if they come this way, it means they’ve already scouted out an escape route. And their own life would be their top priority.”

And so, it was a place we had found after a long search before the SWAT team’s operation began.

“Attorney, Detective, come over here. I think I found a doggy door.”
“How did you find it? This is really well hidden. Most people wouldn’t know.”
“Then let’s wait here.”

Even after the commotion started, no mercenaries came this way for a while. It was because the location was quite far from the villa building.
It was when we had waited with a little more patience.
Choi Suhyeok, who had pulled his balaclava down to his neck, raised it to just below his eyes and tapped the car window with his gloved hand.
At the tip of his index finger, someone was approaching slowly, keeping a low profile and scanning their surroundings.

“Here he comes.”
“I’ll capture him alive.”
“Be careful, Mr. Lee Ilwoo.”
“You don’t have to worry.”

Lee Ilwoo got out of the car without a sound.
The man carefully lifted a plywood board that had been propped up behind a tree and found the doggy door under the wall.
And beyond that doggy door…
Was Lee Ilwoo.
After uttering the formidable words “capture him alive.”
The mercenary was quite flustered by Lee Ilwoo, who had suddenly appeared in the already dark night and blocked his view.
Even more so because it was difficult to identify friend or foe.

“Who are you, no one knows this path? Who sent you? What are you, ugh,”

Before the mercenary could even properly grasp the situation, Lee Ilwoo pulled him out of the doggy door in an instant.
And immediately choked him from behind, knocking him out.
Lee Ilwoo tied the limp man’s arms to his back with a thick cable tie and dragged him to the car.

Click.

“…It didn’t even take a minute.”
“It took longer than I thought.”

Lee Ilwoo replied to my admiration with an unfazed expression and threw the mercenary into the car.

Thump!

Finally, as Choi Suhyeok closed the car door, a perfect makeshift interrogation room was created.
Lee Ilwoo checked our balaclavas and gestured towards the man.

“Should I wake him up?”
“Yes.”

Swoosh.

Lee Ilwoo had only briefly touched the man, but the man who had been lying motionless began to flail.

“Wh-who are you guys! Who sent,”
“Be quiet. If you answer my questions properly, I’ll let you go. Only open your mouth when I ask.”

It was a threat I had given some thought to, but the two people next to and in front of me were looking at me with amused expressions.

‘Anyone can see you’re holding back laughter right now. Ah, this is embarrassing.’

[It’s okay, Attorney. You look very professional right now.]

‘Don’t tease me and be quiet.’

[Okay. I’ll just laugh a little.]

The man, unaware that our silence was due to us holding back laughter, swallowed hard.
And he uttered a classic line.

“…What makes you think I can trust you?”

I shrugged and gestured towards Lee Ilwoo with my chin, as if to show the man.
The man’s gaze shot to Lee Ilwoo.
Even though we were all dressed the same and had our faces covered, there was such a thing as a ‘vibe’.

“We could have gotten rid of you without a trace when we first spotted you, but we let you live. We have no intention of killing you now either.”
“You’re the bastards your boss sent, aren’t you? Let me go, you bastards!”

I didn’t deny it and let him misunderstand.
I slowly sank deep into my seat, crossed my arms arrogantly, and tilted my head at Lee Ilwoo.

“It seems he wants to die right now. Grant his wish.”
“Yes, sir.”

No matter how big the van was, there was nowhere else to run.
The man twisted his body and shook his head.

“Wait, wait! Wh-what do you want to know! If I tell you, you’ll really let me live, right?”
“I told you so.”

Even now, the faint sounds of gunshots and screams could be heard from outside the car.
After a moment of hesitation, the man nodded.

“Tell me everything you know about how and why this started.”
“I, we just do what we’re told. They just told us to place a few gas tanks!”
“You’re speaking informally.”

Lee Ilwoo muttered in a low, sinister voice.
The man hurriedly tacked on the end of his sentence.

“…sir! I only knew it was the Prosecutor General’s house after I got there! Shit, I didn’t know it would turn out like this either! I’m serious, sir.”

This time, Choi Suhyeok spoke like a classic villain from a movie.

“Then there must be a guy who receives those orders from above. Is he in there?”
“That son of a bich Im Hyeongseok has already bolted. He didn’t even do it alone, but that bastard always gets the bonus, and Chairman Jo that old geezer is a real son of a bich too.”

The profanity overflowed.
To keep from laughing at the completely mismatched combination of words, I rubbed my mouth over the balaclava.

‘But it seems he has a lot of pent-up anger towards Chairman Jo.’

We didn’t threaten the man any further after he started talking.
But the man spilled the story as if he had been waiting for someone to ask.

“Even the contacts are always through that bastard Im Hyeongseok. I’ve been around longer than him, but that fcker…”
“The contacts go through him?”
“Yes, sir. Texts and calls, they all go to him.”

I nodded slowly as if I understood.
From the beginning until now, only one thing had registered as a lie.

‘So he already knew that Prosecutor General Nam Eunsuk was the target. Does he have a few more undisclosed priors?’

Swoosh.

I leaned forward and brought my face close to the man’s.

“Let’s say you placed the gas tanks. Then did that guy Im Hyeongseok or whatever his name is, install the bomb?”
“Yes, yes. That bastard is an explosives expert. He made a living as a mercenary overseas with that stuff before Chairman Jo called him in.”

The man avoided my gaze and gave me the answer I wanted.

“Then where is that bastard now?”
“He’s at the Ha-Hite Hotel in Yongsan.”

I had gotten all the information I could.
We exchanged a subtle glance.
Finally, I spoke to the man.

“I promised to let you live, so I will. Live a proper life now, okay.”
“Yes, yes… so are you letting me go?”

Contrary to the man’s expectation that I would nod, I gestured to Lee Ilwoo.
Lee Ilwoo lightly struck the back of the man’s neck.

Thwack!

The man slumped into the seat next to him.
Choi Suhyeok pulled down his balaclava, roughly seated the man, and fastened his seatbelt.

“Ah, this is stuffy. Ah. You’re a good actor, Attorney Cha.”
“I’ve reaped the benefits of watching a lot of movies.”
“Then I’ll take this one and a few others to the station, so please take care of that Im Hyeongseok guy. And the evidence too.”
“Yes, be careful.”
“Keep in touch.”

We also got out of the van and returned to our car.
In the meantime, Choi Suhyeok’s car grew more distant.

We changed our clothes in the car and headed for the Hite Hotel in Yongsan.

“…I can kind of understand why that mercenary was so heated.”
“I agree.”

[I’ve sent the room number by text. He’s at the hotel pool right now.]

As per Im Suho’s text, when we arrived at the hotel pool, I immediately understood why that man had spoken with such vehemence.
While they were stuck guarding some remote villa, not knowing who would come when, the other guy was like this at a top-tier hotel in Seoul.

“Hey, honey. I love your eyes.”

I checked the picture of Im Hyeongseok that Im Suho had sent once, then the man over there who was spouting cheesy lines to a woman with a wine glass between his fingers.

“The picture and the real person aren’t that different. Let’s go over there for now.”
“Yes.”

We sat down at the lounge near the entrance of the pool and ordered two drinks.
It was a direction from which we could see Im Hyeongseok’s movements at a glance.

Swoosh.

“Thank you.”

While on the move, I immediately contacted Im Suho and found out which room Im Hyeongseok was staying in.
That mercenary’s words were right.
Im Hyeongseok had been discharged from the special forces, spent a few years as a wandering mercenary overseas, and was now working only for Chairman Jo.
He was more conspicuous than I thought. From his bleached blond hair to his considerable height.
Lee Ilwoo, keeping Im Hyeongseok in his sight, held his glass and gently swirled his wrist.

“Mr. Im Suho’s abilities seem to be far greater than what I knew and saw in the past.”

He continued, creating ripples in the blue cocktail without spilling a single drop.

“Information is like that, isn’t it? You can’t get it just because you want it. There were times when I had to put someone’s life on the line as a price…”

When you quit a job you’ve dedicated yourself to for a long time and look back at the past, a sense of futility sometimes washes over you.
Especially when you see the past through the present.
I knew that fact as well.
I wasn’t very good at comforting, so I just spoke as calmly as possible.

“Technology like this is developing every day, and Mr. Im Suho is at the pinnacle of it. It’s just that the methods are different. Just like there’s information you can only get by word of mouth.”

Lee Ilwoo stopped his hand and looked at me.

“There are times when I’m scared by how amazing Mr. Im Suho is, but at those times, I actually feel relieved.”
“Relieved?”
“Yes. Mr. Im Suho is also a person who knows justice for the greater good. Not his own justice. There’s nothing as scary as conviction.”

As I said that, I stared at Im Hyeongseok over my glass.
As if trapping him within the transparent glass and the red liquor.

“That person over there, who tried to kill so many people and is laughing like that, must have his own convictions too.”

All day long, the news reported on the ‘Prosecutor General Nam Eunsuk Terror Attack’.
At first, it was just reported as an ‘explosion accident’.
As time passed, suspicions grew, and reporters who had obtained bits and pieces of information excitedly wrote articles.
So there was no way Im Hyeongseok didn’t know.
Just then, Im Hyeongseok got up from his sunbed and walked past us into the hotel.

“Shall we go too?”

We left our untouched cocktails and followed Im Hyeongseok.
A different elevator, and the same floor.
Looking at Im Hyeongseok’s back, who was about five steps ahead of us, I opened my mouth.

“I think this business trip will be shorter than I thought.”
“I agree.”

Click.

The moment Im Hyeongseok opened his room door with a key card, Lee Ilwoo disappeared from my side.
He pushed Im Hyeongseok into the room in an instant and subdued him so he couldn’t resist at all.
All I had to do was pick up the key card that had fallen to the floor and follow him inside.

Clink.

When I inserted the card into the wall, the lights came on.
I could see Lee Ilwoo, pressing down on Im Hyeongseok’s waist with his knee and his head with his hands, completely subduing him.

‘What a relief that Mr. Lee Ilwoo’s convictions are also for the greater good…’

The busiest people these days are probably our country’s news channels.

“It’s the same story on every channel.”

Won Youngoh clicked his tongue with a look of satisfaction.
And for good reason; the news we had been waiting for was everywhere.

[It has been revealed that Chairman Jo Hyeokjun of Korea Defense instigated the terror attack on Prosecutor General Nam Eunsuk, causing a shock.]

“Still, I’m glad it seems to be getting resolved now.”

Jeong Donghyeok handed me a mug filled with the fragrant scent of coffee.
I smiled and took the cup.

“It was a relief that Prosecutor General Nam Eunsuk reacted as expected. And Im Hyeongseok too.”

As expected, Im Hyeongseok had backed up all of Chairman Jo’s contacts.
That wasn’t all.
He had even left a video of himself installing the bomb at Prosecutor General Nam Eunsuk’s house.
I passed all of this on to Baek Soeun.

[I really feel like I’m going to faint every time I get a call from you, Attorney Cha. Wow, to bestow such a scoop upon me… How can I ever repay this favor?]
‘You can repay it by spreading this fact far and wide, Reporter Baek.’
[That’s my specialty. Just leave it to me.]

As she had promised, Baek Soeun’s article was portrayed as a report for the public good.

<Why Did a Chaebol Chairman Instigate a Terror Attack on a High-Ranking Public Official?>
<Revealing the Identity of the Instigator of the Prosecutor General Nam Eunsuk Terror Attack>

With headlines that were impossible not to click, Baek Soeun released all the materials one by one, with a time lag.
Not only to keep people’s eyes on the case, but to eventually have the fact flow to the public broadcast news as well.
Won Youngoh, looking at the large picture of Jo Hyeokjun on the screen, spoke again.

“Chairman Jo is finally getting a taste of his own medicine.”
“But it’s not over yet. There’s still more to come.”

The current commotion was just laying the groundwork.