The Puppeteer’s Gambit

Why do people want to belong to a crowd?
Come to think of it, the reason is simpler than you might think.
It’s anonymity.
A part of a group, not an individual.
The opinion of a group, not a single person.
The age-old proverb, ‘the nail that sticks out gets hammered down’, may sometimes be close to the truth.
Because if you abandon your name and blend into the community like a number, you can hide yourself.
And so, you won’t receive any disapproving glances.
Jumping on the bandwagon was sometimes beneficial, and sometimes convenient.
The man thought as he looked out the window.
This was a cafe in Gangnam where you could look down on the crowd in one glance.
A short while after he had fixed his gaze beyond the transparent window, a familiar figure got out of a car.
It was the person the man was waiting for.
The person looked around with a frown and then entered the building with a large stride.

‘Twenty-seven seconds.’

That was the time it would take for the other person to come up to the 4th floor, if he had taken the elevator that was on the 1st floor.
He kept his eyes on his watch and quietly gauged the time.

‘5, 4, 3…’

The man raised his head then.

‘2.’

Ding.

At that moment, his eyes met with the person who had opened the door and appeared.

‘1.’

The person flopped down in the seat opposite him with an irritated expression. As if he didn’t care if his high-end suit got wrinkled.
It was a habit ingrained in his body.
The person drank the coffee that the man had pre-ordered, also with a somewhat annoyed expression.
As he was accepting the situation that someone had prepared for him with great familiarity.

‘You shouldn’t eat anything so carelessly.’

But the man just thought, and didn’t say a word until the other person spoke first.
The person took a sip of coffee, let out a sigh full of dissatisfaction, and put the cup down on the table.

“Haa, do we have to meet in a place like this? It’s crowded, there are a lot of people, and it’s noisy. I know a good place.”
“Because it’s a place that you know well, CEO Hyeon. So those people also know you well.”

The man raised his hand and flicked a water droplet that had formed on the transparent cup.
The water droplet that had been hanging at the very top fell, creating a path.
The man clenched his smooth fingers into a fist again and hid them.

‘I can’t tell what he’s thinking.’

Hyeon Yeongje always had that thought when he faced the man.
He couldn’t tell what he was thinking, what kind of calculation he was acting on.
Even he, the representative of a law firm that was one of the best in South Korea, couldn’t find out the man’s information, but the man’s face was strangely similar to a certain man he loathed.

“…But in a place like this, we could be caught on CCTV.”
“Don’t worry about such trivial things.”

The man smiled, raising the corners of his mouth handsomely, and gestured to the surroundings with his eyes.
The noise that was spreading from all around blocked their conversation like a curtain.

“Isn’t the sky so clear today?”
“It’s a little cold, but it’s not snowing, so I think it’s fine. It’s so hard to drive when it snows, these days.”
“At this rate, it seems like it will be spring soon.”
“It’s so scary how time flies. Oh, the coffee is here. I’ll go get it.”

The man was silent for a moment and then took out a small device from the inner pocket of his neat suit.
And he shook it lightly towards Hyeon Yeongje.

“What is that?”
“Hmm, to put it simply, it’s a jamming device? The cameras within a 50-meter radius are as good as dead, so you don’t have to worry.”

Hyeon Yeongje had a question.
Of all the radiuses, why the accuracy of 50 meters?
Based on Hyeon Yeongje’s experience, all of the man’s very light actions were based on calculation.
The man, who had read his question, moved the cup, which was full of water droplets, to the side and placed his hand on the table.

Swish.

“On average, the video range of a CCTV is 50 meters. It’s a distance where you can continuously identify a person’s facial features and gait, and use it as ‘evidence’.”

From behind him, the conversation of the group who had gone to get the drinks and desserts that had just come out was heard.

“Oh? What’s wrong with the camera? The screen keeps getting blurry.”
“You too? It’s been like that for me too.”
“It was fine a moment ago… Is it broken?”

The man smiled quietly.
But there was a question in that smile.
Are you satisfied now?
Hyeon Yeongje reluctantly nodded.

“I’m a little tired of hiding now.”
“What do you mean by that all of a sudden?”

He was flustered when the other party, who had not shown his face once since their first meeting, had suddenly contacted him, and he was also flustered by that expression of feeling bored with everything.
The man frowned slightly and looked at Hyeon Yeongje again.
The languid boredom that had filled his face until just now had completely evaporated.

“Because they keep chasing me closely. A few tails were attached to ’12-7′ a while ago. It seems they’re not complete fools. Thanks to that, I’ve been enjoying myself a little these days.”
“…If that place has been exposed, shouldn’t you not be showing your face like this?”
“Why should I?”

The man looked at Hyeon Yeongje with a look of pure curiosity.

“If an intruder comes into your house, you should set a trap, not get angry.”
“……”
“If once isn’t enough, then twice, three times, until they die.”

The man smiled.
Hyeon Yeongje somehow felt that smile to be chilling.
At this moment, he felt a certain foreboding.
That he hadn’t shaken hands with this man, but had fallen into his trap.

Beep, beep, beep!

“Fire! There’s a fire!”
“Everyone, run!”
“Get out quickly!”

Beep, beep, beep, beep!

The fire alarm grew more and more intense, and people’s screams became sharper and sharper.
The 1st floor of Changil-dong 12-7.
The fire that had started on the 8th floor easily engulfed the building.
The acrid smoke that had spread up and down along with the flames slowly and thickly settled, obstructing vision and breathing.

‘I thought he would have done something, but I didn’t think he was this crazy…’

It was just a few minutes ago.
The moment I pulled the handle of the safe, I felt a recoil from inside, as if the handle was being lightly pulled.
As soon as I felt that recoil, I let go of my hand, but…

‘Who would have thought that the wall would start to burn?’

The fire literally started from the bottom of the wall.
In an instant, the acrid smell of burning oil filled the space.

‘The smell of gasoline is so strong. Is this place so important that he’s trying to burn everything down? Or is it just a threat?’

Without even a moment to be lost in questions and thoughts, the alarm went off again.

Beep, beep, beep, beep!
Swish!

The fire sensor detected the heat, and the sprinkler also madly poured water, but the fire, fueled by oil, showed no sign of going out.
In fact, it created a cloudy, hot steam.

“Lawyer! Detective Choi!”

The fire, in just a few seconds, climbed the wall, burned the ceiling, and rose even higher.
Screams were heard from all around. It seemed to be people from other floors.
I quickly put the evidence deep into the inner pocket of my coat.

“Mr. Lee Ilwoo! Don’t come in! Detective Choi! We need to get out of here quickly!”

In fact, it was a relief that Lee Ilwoo had broken the door down.
We weren’t trapped in a sealed fire scene, and we didn’t have to waste time opening the door.
But Choi Suhyeok, who would have normally acted most nimbly in a situation like this, didn’t move.

‘Why has he been like that from a while ago?’

“Detective Choi!”

At my urgent shout, Choi Suhyeok slowly turned around.
He was reaching his hand forward.
The light created by the fire near Choi Suhyeok flickered on his face at a fast speed.

‘His expression is…’

Thump, thump, thump!

While I was running towards Choi Suhyeok, who was on the opposite side, Lee Ilwoo soaked his coat in the water pouring from the sprinkler.
After that, he tore his shirt, likewise soaked it in water, and handed it to us as we were approaching the door.
The black bulletproof vest that Lee Ilwoo was wearing underneath was revealed.
I covered my nose with the shirt that Lee Ilwoo had handed me and likewise handed one to Choi Suhyeok, who had barely come to his senses.
We immediately checked the fire shutter on the lower floor, but it was useless.

“It’s no use. Those guys must have done something.”

The shutter, which should have closed automatically in a fire, didn’t budge.

“Then we have to get down as quickly as possible! Close all the emergency doors to prevent the fire from spreading! And check if there are any people on the other side!”

Following Choi Suhyeok’s shout, we checked the emergency doors and quickly went down the stairs with the people we had found.

“Is anyone there!”
“Here, here!”
“This way! Come down this way!”
“We’re saved! Thank you!”

And so, after checking each floor, we arrived at the building lobby with about a dozen people we had found.
The people who had come down with us collapsed in the lobby and coughed.
The fire had not yet reached the lobby.
In fact, it was closer to a pool of water that had collected from the sprinkler.

“Cough, cough.”

Among the various coughing sounds, a voice that was close to a scream pierced my ears.

“Why not! I said I’m going in! I am!”
“You can’t! The fire is getting stronger! If you go in now, you’ll burn to death!”

I saw a woman crying and shouting in front of the building door where the evacuated people had gathered.

“My child is still inside! My child’s friends said my child couldn’t get out of the academy! Aah, Hajin! Let me in!”
“The fire truck will be here soon! Just until then!”
“My child will die before that! Please let me in, please!”

A few people held her back with sad expressions.
Because they couldn’t let someone die in front of them, relying on an uncertain probability.
I looked around and shouted loud enough for the woman to hear.

“What floor is the academy on!”

At my question, the woman, who was among the people who were stopping her, stretched out her hand urgently and shouted.

“The 3rd floor! It’s a piano academy on the 3rd floor!”

At that answer, I immediately entered the real estate office with its open door.

“Sir! I don’t know if you’re here, but I’m going to use some water!”

And I turned over the water cooler’s water bottle and poured it all over myself. Lee Ilwoo, who had understood the meaning of my action, hurriedly grabbed my arm.

“Lawyer! It’s too dangerous!”
“When we came down earlier, the fire hadn’t spread that much on the 3rd floor. I’ll be right back. There’s no time to lose. In the meantime, please watch this place, Mr. Lee Ilwoo.”
“But still, lawyer!”
“Take me too! Hajin!”
“Ma’am, you can’t!”

Swish!

While I was having a standoff with Lee Ilwoo, Choi Suhyeok turned over the spare water bottle that had been on the floor and poured it over himself.

“Detective! You’re in danger too! You have to stop him!”

At Lee Ilwoo’s words, Choi Suhyeok nodded.
Choi Suhyeok had now returned to his usual self.
He grinned at me, who was now a drenched rat.

“Yes, it’s dangerous. So this kind of thing is originally done by a detective, not a lawyer, Lawyer Cha.”

I also smiled at Choi Suhyeok, who was soaked from head to toe, and answered.

“Where is there a profession when it comes to saving a person?”
“The fact that you never lose a word even in a moment like this, really.”

And so, our eyes met, and we jumped into the smoke that was even thicker than before.