Argos

‘It’s always so crowded, no matter when I come.’

[Just looking at it is suffocating…]

To truly feel the hustle and bustle of Seoul, you have to come to Gangnam.
The suffocating crowds, the people with poor complexions worn down by work…
And the cars, so gridlocked that it’s faster to walk.
So much so that even Lee Ilwoo in the driver’s seat was frowning.
It was because we had already waited through the same signal for the third time and still couldn’t move.

“We still have time, so let’s go slowly.”
“…Yes.”
“At least it’s not the evening, so it’s only this bad. Are you hungry, Mr. Lee Ilwoo?”

It was a little before noon.

‘It’ll be lunchtime soon.’

I didn’t want to be a bad employer to Lee Ilwoo. I’d been doing a lot of self-reflection lately.
Lee Ilwoo shook his head lightly and scanned the surroundings.

“I’m fine for now. Are you hungry? Shall we stop somewhere?”
“I’m fine too. Let’s eat after we get back. We’re almost there.”
“Yes.”

We finally arrived at our destination, parked in the basement, and got out of the car.

Thud.

“The parking lot is more spacious than I thought.”
“I know. There aren’t many cars for a building of this size. Though driving to work here is probably a terrible idea…”

As Lee Ilwoo said, there were cars parked sporadically, about one every two or three spaces.

[Isn’t the parking fee expensive?]

‘That’s a reasonable thought, for once.’

[For once? Are you serious?]

‘It was a very reasonable thought, for a very long time.’

[Hah.]

‘But if my guess is right, this is probably just Im Suho’s building. He just moved locations.’

[A building this big? The property tax alone must be…]

‘If it’s Im Suho, he’s probably just paying it all, thinking it’s the right thing to do.’

It was natural for Gram to be shocked.
This building was quite a high-rise.
However, the elevator in the parking lot only went up to the first floor.

[Is there a reason you thought that?]

‘I know the extent of Im Suho’s wealth. Because I was his lawyer.’

[Ah, right.]

‘With that kind of scale, it wouldn’t be strange if he owned several buildings like this. He was also cleaner than anyone when it came to taxes.’

Something about that being the justice of the haves.
When I went up to the first floor with Lee Ilwoo, we could see people coming out for their lunch break.
We stood to one side and avoided the exiting crowd.
Lee Ilwoo looked back and forth between the gate and the entrance and asked me.

“Attorney, what brings you here?”
“The person I spoke to on the phone told me to come here. He’s someone you’ve never seen before, Mr. Lee Ilwoo. Though he’s helped us a lot.”
“Helped, you mean, perhaps…”

Instead of answering Lee Ilwoo, I smiled brightly.
After a few minutes of waiting in the lobby, a man who had gotten off the elevator alone called out to me from beyond the gate.

“Mr. Cha Yohan, over here.”

The tall man, dressed neatly like any office worker, waved at me as he called my name.

‘…Who was that again?’

Im Suho wasn’t that tall.
But the face was definitely familiar.

“Ah.”

After a brief moment of retracing my memories, the man who had been playing games at Im Suho’s PC bang came to mind.

Beep, boop.

The cheerful sound effects I had forgotten also echoed in my ears.

“Follow me.”

The man, dragging his slippers silently, opened the gate for us and stopped in front of an elevator.
It was the elevator he had just gotten off.

[Express to dedicated floors]

I looked at the sentence written on the elevator door for a moment and recalled a few hours ago.

[What’s up? I was relieved because there was no contact for a while.]
“Are you free today? There’s something I want to show you in person and ask about. It’s not about K. I’ve taken on a case.”
[What is it that you have to show me? That sounds scary.]
“It’s a program my client developed.”
[A program? I’ll send you an address, come there.]
“Not the Revolution?”
[Business was bad, so I closed it.]
“You were actually trying to run a business? That’s surprising.”
[I’m hanging up. Come to think of it, I’m busy today.]
“I’m kidding. By the way, I have someone with me. You already know who it is, right?”
[…Well, if it’s him, it’s fine.]

It definitely seemed like Im Suho had hesitated for a moment.
What was the reason? And why was it okay if it was Lee Ilwoo? Because he knew Lee Ilwoo’s entire past?

Ding.

Before my thoughts could deepen, the elevator arrived.
When the man placed his thumb on a small panel next to the buttons, the other buttons lit up.

Thud.

It didn’t even take a few seconds to reach the third floor.
Only the buttons from the 3rd to the 6th floor were lit up in white.

‘He must have chosen the lower floors on purpose. Just in case.’

[A terror attack?]

‘Yeah. The higher you are, the harder it is to evacuate.’

[But it seems too low. But then again, considering that Revolution… Mr. Im Suho must have a fear of heights.]

At Gram’s serious voice, I almost laughed out loud.

“Ahem.”

As I let out an awkward cough to hide my laughter, he glanced at me and scanned his fingerprint.
The automatic door slid open smoothly.
The inside, which couldn’t be seen from the outside, was revealed like a new space opening up.

[Wow, it looks like a cafe.]

‘This is completely different from last time.’

The Power Revolution PC bang, which had looked like it was on the verge of collapsing, was gone, and an unapproachable air of wealth flowed from every space.
It looked like a gallery, or maybe a cafe.

Thud, thud.

From the end of the clean, ivory-colored hallway, Im Suho, wearing a large gray hoodie with the hood up, slowly walked over.
The employee who had guided us here was already gone.

“You’re here faster than I thought.”
“Yes, it’s been a while since I’ve seen your face. Have you been well?”
“Same as always.”

I turned and introduced Lee Ilwoo, who was standing behind me, to Im Suho.

“Ah, this is Mr. Lee Ilwoo.”
“A pleasure.”

Im Suho looked tired and roughly rubbed the dark circles under his eyes below his horn-rimmed glasses.
Even so, he didn’t forget to give me a light glare.

“No, I’m not well. Whenever I’m about to get some rest, I end up like this because of Mr. Lee Ilwoo’s employer. Still, it’s a little nice to meet you in person after only hearing about you.”
“…A pleasure to meet you too.”
“I don’t know if we’ll see each other often in the future, but please take care of me.”
“…Yes.”

Lee Ilwoo showed a rare look of reluctance.
Smiling at that, I spoke to Im Suho.

“How did you know about the employer thing?”
“It’s been a while since you made Aegis, hasn’t it? I know all the news about you already. I even know where you’ve been today, so let’s get to the point quickly.”

He stretched his arms out wide and started walking ahead.

After walking for a while, Im Suho briefly looked up in front of a door with no handle.
As if in response to his action, the door opened.

Swoosh.

Inside, a space large enough for about twenty people appeared.
There was not a single person, only various electronic devices, including computers.
A single chair was visible under the numerous monitors.
Im Suho guided us to a white table in the room.

“Sit.”

I sat down and started asking the questions I had been curious about.

“When did you move here? It seems like it’s been a while.”
“Well, I said before that I’d handle your business as if it were my own. I moved then.”
“It has been a while.”

Im Suho glanced around and then looked back and forth between me and Lee Ilwoo.

“That place was originally just for taking requests. I’m not a fan of crowds, so I was there on purpose…”
“It was a pretty empty neighborhood.”

Most people had moved out due to redevelopment.
Though in reality, Im Suho had bought the entire neighborhood to empty it out.

“We all know that bastard is crazy, don’t we?”

Im Suho frowned as if the mere thought made him shudder, and spoke again.

“If that bastard stages another terror attack disguised as an accident, it would be difficult to respond there.”
“Still, I didn’t think you’d come to the middle of Gangnam. A building full of various companies. I thought you’d hate it because there are so many people.”

Im Suho put his arms behind his head and spoke as if it were no big deal.

“I still hate crowds. And more accurately, sharing my space with other people.”

‘As expected.’

Im Suho let out a tired yawn and stretched once more.

“This building was originally rented out like this. But when I thought about it, there are already a lot of other companies, so no matter how much electricity I use, it doesn’t really show on the surface.”

Im Suho added that the reason the last place was a PC bang was the same.

“If a normal company or a private home uses that much electricity, people from the power company come out. That’s just a hassle, so I just moved on that occasion.”

So even that collapsing Power Revolution had a plan.
I feel like I can still remember the stench of that place.
Im Suho continued to speak nonchalantly, his face the same as it was then.

“112 and 119 are fast here, so at least I have one less thing to worry about. And the employees like it here too.”
“Is it just you on this floor, Mr. Im Suho?”
“Yes. It’s probably more comfortable for them to be separate after living together. They’re all just living here like it’s their home. Me too.”

While we were talking, I knew that Lee Ilwoo was quietly observing the surroundings.
Im Suho probably knew that too.
Im Suho stretched his body and pointed to a monitor on the ceiling with his fingertip.

“And the biggest advantage of this neighborhood is that right there.”

In the small, divided screen, the road we had just been on and the street where people were strolling were visible.

“Is that a CCTV screen?”
“Yes, those are all my eyes. Even Argos would be jealous.”

Looking at the monitor, I briefly thought of Argos from mythology, who had a hundred eyes.

[He’d definitely have a reason to be jealous. That one can even zoom.]

While I was trying to hold back my laughter at Gram’s lighthearted comment, Im Suho waved his hand and pointed at my bag.

“That’s enough catching up. Let’s get to the point, quickly.”

I explained Lee Donghyeon’s case and handed my phone to Im Suho.

“I have a client who is unfairly detained, and he said he told the police about this, but they didn’t believe him, saying it was fabricated.”
“Fabricated?”
“Yes. It’s also omitted from his statement. I’m curious if this is that shoddy, or if you can really fabricate a cloud drive like the police said. And the emails too.”
“Well, it’s not impossible. But it’s quite a hassle. It requires a lot of detailed work.”

Im Suho scanned the cloud screen I showed him and then stared at the phone with a slightly more serious expression.
Im Suho soon took out his own phone from his pocket and checked the screen for a moment.

“Hmm, wait a minute.”

Im Suho stood up from his seat and plugged a cable into his phone.
Immediately, a jumble of letters appeared on the monitor.

Tap-tap-tap.

Every time he moved his fingers quickly, the letters on the screens changed slightly.
Im Suho’s expression did as well.
Im Suho, who had been fixing his gaze only on the monitor for a few minutes, swiveled his chair around.

“You’ve brought something more interesting than I thought. Enough to make seeing your face after a long time worthwhile.”
“What is it that’s making you say that?”
“First, to conclude, it’s not fabricated. The time records all match up.”

‘Then how could the police have been so sure?’

I had a bad feeling about this.

“That client was detained because of gambling, right? Not that he did it himself, but for opening and distributing an illegal gambling site, or something like that.”
“How did you know?”
“That person must have been completely ignorant about this side of things. Anyone who’s experienced it even a little would have known.”

Im Suho pointed to the monitors full of text with his thumb.

“This is a distribution program. To be precise, a probability manipulation program.”