Chapter 84: A cup of tea, a slice of cake (1)
Oh Hae-ryeon’s eyebrow tips drooped slightly.
“Team Leader Oh Hae-ryeon. When Hyeon-yul speaks like that, it’s not because he has some ulterior motive.”
Lee Jeong-min began to speak, glancing at Oh Hae-ryeon.
He understood, but it could lead to some misunderstanding.
“I know. Don’t worry.”
Oh Hae-ryeon raised the corners of her mouth.
How could she not know he was awkward with conversation?
“I’ll do it.”
“Understood.”
Seo Hyeon-yul replied without hesitation.
He could give permission, but the rest was Lee Jeong-min’s responsibility.
“I’ve given permission, but the rest will be judged by Teacher.”
He didn’t know much about medical knowledge.
He had seen Lee Jeong-min do it so many times by his side that he could at least roughly imitate that part.
When Oh Hae-ryeon’s gaze fell on Lee Jeong-min, he still looked uneasy.
“Team Leader Oh Hae-ryeon.”
“Yes.”
“Absolutely, it must not leak out. The moment Hyeon-yul’s identity is specified, I know they will target me.”
He didn’t know how he hadn’t been caught until now, but he was always prepared.
“I will die before I speak. I would rather die myself.”
At those words, Seo Hyeon-yul was surprised and sat up.
Oh Hae-ryeon was also surprised.
It felt like the first time Seo Hyeon-yul had shown such a significant emotional change.
“Why would Teacher… die?”
Seo Hyeon-yul’s pupils shook greatly.
To prevent that from happening, he had done everything he could.
He didn't know about other things, but he had used Kim Yu-jong, who was useful as an information broker, to desperately protect his information.
Just in case, he hadn’t made any contact with Lee Jeong-min himself.
The only time he had made contact was now that he had become a Black Eagle.
However, he wasn't the only one coming and going here.
Other people were also visiting frequently.
If there was one condition under which only he could be identified here, it was one thing.
Team 3.
As killing intent began to form in Seo Hyeon-yul’s eyes, Lee Jeong-min grabbed his shoulder.
“It’s a hypothetical. A hypothetical, I mean. Calm down, Hyeon-yul.”
“Don’t do it. You shouldn’t even do that.”
Seo Hyeon-yul grabbed Lee Jeong-min’s arm, and the corners of his eyes drooped.
“I dislike even that assumption. I’d rather I be in danger and burdened.”
“Hyeon-yul, it’s an assumption. It won’t happen.”
“Teacher. I am……”
“Calm down, Hyeon-yul. This was my fault.”
Lee Jeong-min apologized immediately.
It was something he shouldn't have said in front of Seo Hyeon-yul.
It was his mistake.
Knowing what he meant to Seo Hyeon-yul, his reason wavered in the face of the sudden rush of fear.
“I will too.”
Oh Hae-ryeon said with a smile.
Seo Hyeon-yul and Lee Jeong-min turned their heads to look at Oh Hae-ryeon.
“I would rather die than speak.”
“…Really?”
Lee Jeong-min stammered and asked.
“I don’t know how to make you believe me, but I know a foolish person who had power but did nothing and let the opportunity slip away. I don’t want to be like that person.”
Oh Hae-ryeon looked at Lee Jeong-min and conveyed her determination.
This was her purpose and her pride.
She wouldn't exist without it.
“I have power, and I know very well that now is the opportunity. So I will do it. I would rather die than speak.”
Lee Jeong-min slowly smiled at those words, which could only be seen as the truth.
Why now, of all times?
He could ask that, but it was also something he could propose because it was now.
He himself had seen a lot about Team 3.
Especially, hadn't he experienced firsthand, more than anyone, how Oh Hae-ryeon had treated Seo Hyeon-yul?
“I thought… I thought I would always be alone.”
“I can support you in anything. I have a lot of money too.”
Oh Hae-ryeon smiled and extended her hand.
“I feel reassured.”
Lee Jeong-min spoke and handed over the paper.
“I’ll be in your care.”
“I’ll be in your care as well. You mustn’t be upset even if I can’t come often.”
As Oh Hae-ryeon threw a joke, Lee Jeong-min chuckled.
As the atmosphere between the two softened, Seo Hyeon-yul lay down again.
He saw Oh Hae-ryeon move to another place, and Lee Jeong-min removed the bandage.
“Is there still pain?”
“Almost none.”
“Wait a moment. The blood has clotted, so I’ll change the bandage to a different one.”
“Yes.”
Seo Hyeon-yul blankly stared at the ceiling.
‘…Ah. It’s disconnected.’
Seo Hyeon-yul felt that the location of the villain who had given him the drug had disappeared.
It seemed he had been killed by someone.
He wasn’t curious about who killed him.
‘It’s there.’
However, the location was identified.
He was satisfied with that.
‘Let’s rest today.’
Seo Hyeon-yul closed his eyes to prevent overwork.
“…Good morning.”
Seo Hyeon-yul said, sitting on Kim Yu-jong’s bed.
“……What are you saying.”
He mumbled and turned his body.
“Do you not know what I’m saying?”
When Seo Hyeon-yul called Kim Yu-jong, he blinked his eyes and then turned his body again.
He slowly raised his head.
Upon making eye contact with Seo Hyeon-yul, Kim Yu-jong caught his breath.
“Don’t install too many CCTVs. It’s troublesome in many ways to keep breaking them.”
At the mention of CCTVs, Kim Yu-jong was startled and sat up.
Looking around, the place was full of broken debris.
“CCTVs, recorders, wiretaps, I don’t know why you’ve installed so many things. Is it perhaps because of me?”
“…Ah, no. How could that be?”
“I confirmed that you even installed them on the window. The security system is quite meticulous. This is the 17th floor, by the way.”
Seo Hyeon-yul stared intently at Kim Yu-jong.
Kim Yu-jong swallowed dryly.
‘This damn quick-witted bastard.’
Why did he come again?
Why was he coming so often?
“Any good news lately?”
“…Good news?”
“Yes. Anything is fine, so please tell me.”
Seo Hyeon-yul brought a chair and sat down.
Kim Yu-jong, taking the hint, got up and came down from the bed.
He voluntarily knelt and looked at Seo Hyeon-yul.
His matted hair, pressed down from sleep, the eye gunk he hadn’t managed to remove – everything was a mess, but Kim Yu-jong didn’t care.
“…That drug you gave me back then.”
“Yes.”
“I found out where it’s produced. They’ve been releasing it strangely these days. There were several production sites.”
“By any chance, is this place among them?”
Seo Hyeon-yul took out his phone and showed the location.
“…Just a moment.”
Kim Yu-jong hesitated and then examined the map closely.
‘Huh…?’
“Bring it.”
At Seo Hyeon-yul’s instruction, Kim Yu-jong stood up from his seat.
In the spot he vacated, Seo Hyeon-yul yawned.
His eyes drooped heavily.
‘Switching day and night is really not something one should do.’
Seo Hyeon-yul waited and looked around.
He lowered his gaze and looked at the bed.
Something was different.
Seo Hyeon-yul used darkness to move the bed mattress.
“Here……”
“What is this?”
Seo Hyeon-yul looked at the gold bars.
It seemed there had been a recent transaction.
Kim Yu-jong was terrified.
‘How… how did this mad dog know about this?’
It was a gold bar he hadn’t yet put in the safe.
He had just put it here in a hurry.
“Did you sell my information?”
“Ah, ah, no! Absolutely not!”
Kim Yu-jong shook his head and then knelt.
He had to speak well before that mad dog tore him apart.
“Then what else did you sell?”
“I… as an, an information broker……”
“Information broker. Yes. I heard you became an unrivaled information broker. Who made you that?”
Seo Hyeon-yul had already taken out a dagger and was waving it.
“……The person right in front of me!”
Kim Yu-jong shouted desperately.
‘……Damn it, you did that? You go around killing all the information brokers you don’t like, so there aren’t many left!’
Because it was something he couldn’t say out loud, Kim Yu-jong endured it as if he were dying.
“What information did you sell?”
“……No, I, I have information related to that Black Eagle.”
“Yes.”
“Someone wanted it, so I sold it.”
“Is it updated information?”
At the question of whether he had planted another mole, Kim Yu-jong hurriedly shook his head.
“It’s not that, but, um, I heard something strange.”
“Something strange?”
As Seo Hyeon-yul tilted his head, Kim Yu-jong lowered his voice.
“They say there’s a villain among the Black Eagles.”
“There’s a villain?”
“…This is a bit difficult to investigate, so I just mumbled through it, but does that even make sense?”
“Who bought that information?”
When Seo Hyeon-yul asked, Kim Yu-jong, instead of questioning, suddenly came to his senses.
He had to tell him.
That was right.
“First, it was a new face. The information I had related to the Black Eagle was low-value, so I was thinking of just discarding it, but my subordinate brought me a post.”
Kim Yu-jong carefully moved and brought his phone.
He clicked the link in the message, but it had disappeared.
“It was this site, but, um, it seems to be gone now. I sent several others besides this, but I think they were all written from the same place.”
Click.
Seo Hyeon-yul immediately took a picture so the address was clearly visible.
He planned to hand it over to the Black Eagles later when he had time.
“Are you saying they are buying information about the Black Eagle?”
“That’s right. I don’t know the reason either. It’s just a bit strange, that’s all. …So, this wasn’t a business transaction, but something that happened while I was disposing of things I had. As you know, organizing isn’t something that can be done all at once. I’m trying to get out of this line of work, but there are many entanglements, and there are also people who keep giving me things, so I would appreciate it if you could give me… time.”
The more he spoke, the smaller Kim Yu-jong felt.
It was truly pathetic.
‘……Damn it. Damn it! Damn it!’
He didn’t know why he had to be like this, but he couldn’t help it.
He was really trying to sort things out, and it was also true that he needed time because the scale was so large.
“I know it’s difficult to deal with it immediately. There are those who want to sell information, and those who come to sell information. I don’t know about other areas, but you must quickly deal with anything related to ordinary citizens.”
“Yes. First, I will definitely handle that part quickly, within 3 weeks, no, 2 weeks. And this is where they produce the drugs.”
Kim Yu-jong, observing Seo Hyeon-yul’s expression, handed over the materials he had brought.
A map was printed on it.
Seo Hyeon-yul flipped through the map, then stopped.
‘There’s information I discovered.’
After work, he had gone to the location of the villain who had died while fleeing.
The place of death was a pub.
He had investigated internally, but there was nothing special.
However, it was clear that it was a place where villains gathered.
‘To be precise, it seems that place was one of their trading partners.’
Seo Hyeon-yul, holding the paper in his hand, pretended to take something out of his pocket and handed over the drugs.
He had smelled each of those drugs, confirmed them, classified them, and brought them separately.
He had obtained six drugs.
Among them, two were related to him.
He had found more than when he had been chasing them until now.
“Find out where these drugs are made.”
Kim Yu-jong couldn’t help but think as he looked at the drugs Seo Hyeon-yul handed over.
‘…He dominated the Poison King’s forces, and now he’s coveting drugs too?’
Isn’t he constantly asking for information related to drugs?
‘On the drug side… that guy is there, is this okay?’
There was a big shot who had such a large scale that he could be said to manage all drugs.
He himself had never seen him, nor did he know where he was located.
He was just called a drug dealer.
It might not be just one person.
Someone had called that big shot the king of drugs, and isn't there a story that he got angry and wiped them all out with drugs?
It was difficult to even distinguish if this was real.
In the first place, aren't drugs something that most people with the title 'villain' sell?
“I know there’s a big shot in the drug world too. Can you track him?”
“As I told you then, it’s impossible.”
Kim Yu-jong immediately shook his head.
He was sweating bullets, not knowing what that mad dog would say.
“Then, just find this. I’ll do the uncovering.”
‘……Really?’
Kim Yu-jong was bewildered, even as he doubted.
He had thought he would be pressured any moment, regardless of what happened to him.
‘Has he softened?’
As Kim Yu-jong’s eyes wavered, Seo Hyeon-yul smiled.
“You’ve washed your hands of it, haven’t you? Ah, you’re in the process of washing your hands of it, aren’t you? Is there any reason to do that?”
“……Ah.”
Kim Yu-jong immediately corrected his thoughts.
He wasn’t being lenient; he was just letting him off.
“If there are any factions harassing you, please let me know.”
“…Are you going to kill them for me?”
“If they are indeed villains. Since you’re washing your hands of it, I can do at least this much.”
‘It means I’ll die if I’m not…….’
Kim Yu-jong couldn’t stop the laughter that escaped him.
He had done all sorts of things to escape that mad dog, but he had come full circle and was back in his grasp.
Even if he moved houses, he found him; whether it was CCTVs, recorders, or wiretaps, he broke through all sorts of defense devices.
That bastard was a shadow.
A shadow he could never shake off.
Kim Yu-jong suddenly wanted to cry.
Honestly, he wanted to order someone to kill that bastard, but he didn’t have the courage.
Hadn’t he already been shattered once because of that bastard?
He had only been able to survive by giving him everything, his liver and gallbladder included.
‘Can I really live with this humiliation…….’
Kim Yu-jong held back his tears.
“Honestly, aren’t you also curious about who the big shot is that has a grip on the drug world?”
At the question Seo Hyeon-yul threw, Kim Yu-jong’s expression came alive.
‘Is he going to tell me? Really, is he going to tell me?’
Crazy.
That was the only thought that came to mind.
“I’m curious!”
Kim Yu-jong’s mouth moved.
Soon, he was startled and covered his mouth.
‘I… overdid it.’
Kim Yu-jong’s neck retracted into his shoulders like a turtle’s.
Gulp.
He swallowed dryly and looked at Seo Hyeon-yul with fear.