"Aaaaargh!"
The spurting blood soaked the office floor. Heo Ki-hun howled in pain, and the complexions of the others darkened. Ah, Byeon Seong-ho, who was still unconscious and sprawled on the floor, was an exception.
"This fucking bastard is sowing discord until the very end. What? Elder Brother Sa-seong ordered this?"
Park Dong-soo, who wiped the blood near his eyes with the back of his hand, glared at the other two.
"You guys retire too. I can't let this slide anymore. Are you planning to not tell me who ordered this?"
"It is true that the order came from Elder Brother Sa-seong. We went to Elder Brother Sa-seong and asked for his permission to do this job."
"That is right. We will just retire, so... let us go."
At that moment, the youngest, who was keeping watch outside, rushed in and shouted.
"Detective Park has arrived!"
Park Dong-soo handed the knife to Yang Su-hyeong and spoke.
"You said Elder Brother Sa-seong gave permission. If that is a lie, you are really dead, you know that right?"
While Park Dong-soo was warning them with a chilling voice, Hyeon-seong's father walked in. Seeing the scene in the office, Hyeon-seong's father shouted in shock.
"Fuck, what is this!"
Seeing the blood flowing down my forearm, he ran over to me.
"Mu-hyeok, are you okay? Which bastard did this? Which bastard did this to you?"
"It just grazed me."
"Oh my, grazed my foot. You are bleeding this much. Doesn't it hurt?"
At this unusual side of Hyeon-seong's father, not only Park Dong-soo and his subordinates but all the gangsters present had looks of shock on their faces. After examining me for a while, Hyeon-seong's father turned his head with a fierce aura, glaring at the thugs and yelling.
"Hey! Park Dong-soo, you punk! Didn't I tell you not to tempt Mu-hyeok? Do you really want to eat prison food that badly?"
"No, Detective Park. What do you mean I tempted Mu-hyeok? He is not a kid who listens just because someone tempts him."
Park Dong-soo grumbled with an aggrieved expression. He looked truly wronged.
"Hah... but what is this mess? Why is that bastard Heo Ki-hun rolling over there grabbing his leg? What is this? Byeon Seong-ho, Kang-seok, and even Byeong-soo? Did all the Busan family members gather here to do what?"
"Didn't I just call Mu-hyeok to buy him something delicious since he came down to Busan after a long time? But then, they suddenly brought knives and tried to bury me. I could not just let them bury me quietly."
"This is not something I can cover up on my end."
Hyeon-seong's father sighed as if he had a headache and shook his head. I subtly intervened between the two and said.
"Father, please talk with me for a moment."
"Hey! Mu-hyeok, why are you still here instead of thinking about going to the hospital quickly? Go to the hospital first."
"I am not hurt badly. Anyway, let us go inside and talk..."
As I continued to stare, Hyeon-seong's father sighed and followed me into the inner boss's office.
"It is a mess in here too. It is really a relief you were only hurt that much, a relief."
We stood near a relatively clean desk and began our conversation.
"I want to have only the people opposing Park Dong-soo arrested. Who in the prosecution needs to be spoken to for this to be possible?"
"The prosecution... about the level of a Chief Prosecutor in the Violent Crimes Department? Why? What are you trying to do with Dong-soo?"
"I need some power in Seoul. Are you saying a Chief Prosecutor level would be enough?"
"If the prosecutor does not make an issue out of it, the job is easy."
Right then and there, I called Chief Prosecutor Yoon.
"This is Mu-hyeok, Chief Prosecutor. I called because I have a favor to ask." - A favor?
"An incident happened in Busan. Do you happen to have a prosecutor who listens well to you, Chief Prosecutor? It would be best if it was someone with the highest rank possible..." - If it is Busan, it is easy.
Wait a bit. I will tell them to contact you.
"Thank you, Chief Prosecutor." - No need to thank me for something like this.
Why act so distant between us?
"Hahaha, I will come visit you when I go to Seoul." - Let's do that.
After hanging up the phone, I looked at Hyeon-seong's father.
"Father, please roughly finish cleaning up outside. I will take care of the prosecution side so they can work in sync with you. I am sorry. For asking such a favor..."
At that, Hyeon-seong's father waved his hand and spoke.
"It is fine. Well, it is not like this is the first or second time I have cleaned up your messes, what is there to be sorry about? Let's have a meal before you go to Seoul. Gathering grandma and Myeong-soo's family too."
"Yes."
"And... do not get too involved with gangsters. Since you said you have a use for them, I will not talk long about it, but almost no one has ended up well after getting involved with gangsters."
I simply nodded my head. As I went out to the main office, the eyes of Park Dong-soo and the others gathered on me. Hyeon-seong's father clicked his tongue at the empty air repeatedly, as if he was still dumbfounded by the situation.
"Phew... you guys should have held back. I should send a few of them to the hospital first instead of the police station. Let's see... where is the phone, Dong-soo?"
"Father, my phone..."
"Put it away. Why use an expensive phone?"
Hyeon-seong's father returned to his Detective Park persona and made a call somewhere using the phone on the office desk. A moment later, Detective Park's team members walked in.
"Oh my, Detective Park. What in the world happened here?"
"Stop with the nonsense, Jjang-gu, you take the kids who need to go to the hospital with you, and I will take the rest. Let's clean this up quickly."
"Yes!"
"Ah, and do not touch Dong-soo's guys."
"Excuse me?"
"Everything has been cleared with the prosecution. What are you doing not cleaning up quickly?"
The detectives separated the people and dragged them outside.
"Mu-hyeok, see you later."
"Yes. Take care, father."
"And, Dong-soo."
"Yes, Detective Park."
Hyeon-seong's father glared at Park Dong-soo with a displeased look.
"Do things properly. If anything happens to Mu-hyeok, I will make sure you never get out of prison for the rest of your life. You know what I am saying, right?"
"I understand."
"Tsk."
Hyeon-seong's father clicked his tongue once and went outside. When the detectives dragged out all the main culprits and accomplices of the attack, only Park Dong-soo's subordinates remained.
"Take the injured kids to the hospital, buy meals for the rest, and send them back to their lodgings. Give them some pocket money too."
"Yes! Brother."
Yang Su-hyeong took the subordinates and went outside. Only three people remained in the office: myself, Park Dong-soo, and Lee Sang-geun.
"Phew... Elder Brother Sa-seong gave the order? I do not know if I should believe this."
"Boss. Let's check the facts first."
Park Dong-soo quietly stared at Lee Sang-geun's face as he answered.
"Phew... I have a lot to talk about with you too, right?"
Park Dong-soo, who had been sighing heavily, looked back at me.
"Mu-hyeok, I am completely out of it today. I will contact you in a few days. I am sorry."
"...I understand."
"Hurry up and go. I need to have a chat with Lawyer Lee here, and clean things up, so let's see each other next time."
"Yes."
Like that, without achieving my goal, I left Park Dong-soo's office and returned home.
After Kim Mu-hyeok left, Park Dong-soo and Lee Sang-geun, left all alone, found intact chairs and sat down.
"Hey! Since when have you been carrying around a sashimi knife? It did not look like you have only used a knife once or twice."
"Well... Since leaving the orphanage, I have lived like that. Somehow I ended up passing the bar exam and becoming a lawyer."
"Why did you not tell me? We are all alone, but it is not right that you are keeping a knife strapped to your ankle. It is not like I gave you permission, this is an issue of trust between us."
Park Dong-soo, looking at Lee Sang-geun's face with a serious expression, swept his hand across his own forehead.
"Speak truthfully. Otherwise, one of us will have to die and leave here today. It is because I am in a truly foul mood today..."
"I did not feel the need to specifically tell you. I have never once harbored bad thoughts toward you, Boss. When you first came to find me, I asked you. I asked if you were going to make me a lot of money."
"..."
In the silence, their gazes met. Lee Sang-geun lowered his eyes first and bowed his head.
"I need money. I have many children I need to take care of. To feed them, I had to become ruthless."
Lee Sang-geun pulled out the sashimi knife he was carrying again and handed it to Park Dong-soo. Park Dong-soo took it and quietly looked at Lee Sang-geun.
"If you are uneasy about me carrying a sashimi knife around, you can use that to cripple me right now. Instead... you have to take responsibility for me until the end."
Lee Sang-geun had a resolute look in his eyes. Park Dong-soo, who stared at the sashimi knife without saying a word, handed it back to him and spoke.
"Put it away. Not telling me was the problem. I have never once had such thoughts while working with you, so tell me from now on. I do not want to go through something like this again..."
"Yes. Boss."
"You called me Brother just fine earlier. Keep calling me Brother. Just call me Boss in front of others, you get it?"
"Yes, Brother."
The inside of the office became silent once again. Park Dong-soo, who had been silently lost in thought with a bitter expression, suddenly asked.
"What do you think? Do you really think Elder Brother Sa-seong tried to put a hit on me? No matter how much I think about it, I do not understand. I supported him all throughout his time in prison, and I am even taking care of his family. He should not do this to me, right? Did I do something wrong?"
The voice of the lamenting Park Dong-soo was trembling slightly.
"May I tell you my thoughts?"
When Park Dong-soo nodded his head, Lee Sang-geun cautiously opened his mouth.
"I think it was more of a scheme to build justification rather than a direct order given from prison. However..."
"You do not have to worry about my reaction, keep talking."
"If you continue to leave Lee Sa-seong alone like that, there is no guarantee that another group like Heo Ki-hun's will not appear. I believe your gentle way of handling things until now has also made them look down on you, Brother, and make their moves."
"Hmm."
Park Dong-soo had also felt something from this incident, so he could not deny Lee Sang-geun's words and nodded his head.
"You need to make a decision. You need to be more resolute. Even if you embrace those you can embrace, you must thoroughly incapacitate those you need to eliminate so they cannot harbor any other thoughts."
"Damn it... That Elder Brother Sa-seong too, why did he fall for such a scheme and break my heart like this?"
"..."
When he first said he would support Lee Sa-seong in prison despite his younger brothers' dissuasion, Park Dong-soo did not know that his actions of even taking responsibility for his family... would come back as a betrayal like this.
No...
In fact, he might have turned a blind eye to it even though he knew. That the era of romance was already over... Park Dong-soo shook his head as if trying hard to shake off his thoughts.
"Well, be that as it may. Phew~ When are we going to clean all this up? I was planning to have a chat with my little brother Mu-hyeok after a long time, but it is so embarrassing. How can I even look my little brother in the face?"
"Ha, haha."
"You saw it earlier too, right? How he beat that punk Byeon Seong-ho like he was going to kill him. Let me tell you about him. The words he said when he first met me..."
At Park Dong-soo's bragging about Kim Mu-hyeok beginning once again, Lee Sang-geun let out a sigh.
That evening.
A call came to my cell phone. It was a call saying they had been contacted by Chief Prosecutor Yoon and asking about what they had to do. I made an appointment to meet briefly near my house.
"Hello, I am Kim Mu-hyeok."
The prosecutor who appeared at the spot received my greeting silently and asked point-blank as soon as he sat down.
"What do you need me to do?"
I felt annoyance from his tone, which was stiff unlike what I had expected.
"By any chance... what university did you graduate from?"
"Is that important right now?"
It seemed Chief Prosecutor Yoon had just ordered him to contact me and handle the job blindly without properly explaining things. I put on a customary smile.
"I am Korea University class of ’93 from the law department. I asked because I wondered if you might be my senior."
"Oh, really? You were my junior."
At the mention of Korea University, his stiff face relaxed a little.
"I do not know how Senior Yoon explained it to you, but... this will not be bad news for you, Senior."
"Hmm..."
"If you wrap this matter up well, I will do my best to ensure that good news reaches you."
"Let's hear it."
I explained it fully, leaving out what needed to be left out and putting in what needed to be put in. The prosecutor, who had listened to the whole story, twisted his lips and smiled as if he understood why I had called him out.
"Ha, I should do this even without a reward. I will be able to properly round up the gangsters and lock them away. But you want me to leave the opposing side out of it?"
"Yes, the talks with the police side are already finished. You just have to work in sync with Detective Park, the head of the violent crimes squad at the Jungbu Police Station. They said they could not proceed with the work if it was not cleared with the prosecution side."
"Of course. The police cannot just mishandle a case as they please without orders from the prosecution. Understood. I will put some effort into it."
"Thank you."
After that, we had some small talk about school and then parted ways. Before parting, I made a promise to properly treat him to drinks once in Seoul. By the time I saw him off, the surroundings had already grown dark.
I let out a long sigh. It was a day where I desperately felt the need for a right-hand man like Manager Ha.
A few days later, Park Dong-soo contacted me. The place I went to was a food stall in Jagalchi.
"Little brother! Over here!"
When I opened the tent and poked my head in, Park Dong-soo, who was sitting inside, spotted me and waved his hand. I greeted Park Dong-soo with a smile, went inside, and took a seat.
"Well, I was sorry about last time. I did not know those bastards would act up right at that moment."
"It is fine."
I roughly shook my head and brought up the business I had not been able to finish last time.
"Didn't you say the cleanup in Busan is almost finished?"
"I did..."
"You need to finish cleaning up quickly and expand into Seoul, so when will it be wrapped up?"
"Once I clear up the Haeundae area, the cleanup is mostly done. After that, I can just leave the management to two trusted younger brothers. But why?"
Park Dong-soo poured me a glass of soju. I drank the alcohol I received and slowly opened my mouth.
"Before that, let's take care of Lee Sa-seong first."
The face of Park Dong-soo, who had been smiling, stiffened.