TL: EKID
<Along the Forest Path Bar> is a quiet bar located at the entrance of a residential area near Jinjiang Park.
Though the sign read Bar, there was nothing upscale about the place, it gave off the vibe of a local pub, like a neighborhood pub.
<Along the Forest Path Bar> was located underground, requiring one to go down a set of stairs. The entrance and staircase were so narrow that if two men passed by each other, they would have to turn sideways to squeeze through.
I parked my motorcycle in front of <Along the Forest Path Bar>. F9 hyung parked the used Benz against the stone wall on the hill across from the bar.
F9 hyung took a gun bag out of the car trunk and walked toward the bar entrance.
“This must be your first time here.”
“Yes, have you been here before?”
“Twice, I think? Let’s go down.”
F9 hyung took the lead and I followed him down the stairs.
Clang
When we opened the door, a bell hanging at the entrance jingled.
Even though it was located on the basement level, the bar had a unique outdoor terrace. Because the building was built on a hill, there was a wide-open terrace with a view of downtown Dandong on the opposite side of <Along the Forest Path Bar>’s entrance. The terrace was fairly spacious, with three tables set up.
The bar wasn’t open for business yet, so there were no staff in sight, but a jazz song, “C’est si bon” sung by Emilie Clare, was playing from the speakers inside the shop.
F9 hyung entered a room without a door, set down the bag, and sat down.
“Sit next to me.”
I had no intention of sitting. I just placed my backpack on the seat next to F9 hyung and wandered around the bar, checking things out.
“It’s a congenital disease of The Company people. Prowling around everywhere like cats.”
“What kind of person is the owner here?”
“Don’t bother trying to find out. Just grab a beer from the fridge.”
Behind the bar table was the kitchen, and there was no one in there either.
I took two bottles of Harbin beer from the commercial fridge.
F9 hyung opened one with the opener on the table and drank straight from the bottle.
“Tsingtao beer is famous in Korea, but people here drink Harbin beer. It was the first beer ever brewed in China. Do you like Harbin beer too?”
“I’ve never tried it before.”
Inside the corridor connected to the side of the room, a door was visible. At first glance, it looked like a storage room.
Clunk
The door inside the hallway opened, and a man who looked to be in his mid-40s walked out.
“Daegun, you’re here?”
“Yes, I’m here.”
The man in the gray cardigan called F9 hyung ‘Daegun’.
Using real names is against The Company rules.
When I looked at F9 hyung.
“That’s not my real name. That’s just what he calls me.”
It seemed the bar owner had made up the name just like I had called him F9 hyung.
The man in the cardigan came into the room and sat across from F9 hyung. I followed behind and sat down next to F9 hyung.
“So, you’re the friend watching the Bridge.”
“….”
“The Old-man Choi matter didn’t go well. Just bad luck. Of all days, he had to go to the Suit Shop that day.”
“Wasn’t Old-man Choi a target of the Black Dragon Society?”
The man in the cardigan seemed to know well why Old-man Choi had died.
“Of course not. The Black Dragon Society still doesn’t know Old-man Choi’s identity. That’s why they sent Brown Bear Gang guys to the building where you are.”
Poor Old-man Choi.
Why did he have to go to the Suit Shop at that exact time?
Come to think of it, this man in the cardigan didn’t seem to be unaware of anything. He knew about the Old-man Choi incident, and about the Brown Bear Gang coming to my ops room.
“What kind of work do we need to do?”
F9 hyung asked the man in the cardigan.
“First, wait until evening. More people will be coming.”
“Sounds like a big one.”
“Youngest, you head to the Xianwei Hotel right now. Use this phone.”
The man in the cardigan ignored F9 hyung’s question and handed me a phone, wireless earphones, and a badge the size of a button.
‘A badge?’
I looked closely at the badge.
“It’s a body cam. Don’t take the camera with you, it’s too noticeable. The phone has GPS tracking, so always keep it powered on.”
The man in the cardigan was Dove No. 1. He gave the first instruction.
“Don’t do anything. Just observe. The target is the owner of the Volvo you photographed. He’s staying in Room 1305 of the Xianwei Hotel right now. You must not lose him.”
“Really, just observe and do nothing else?”
“Just make sure the badge is on properly.”
The man in the cardigan handed over a blurry photo.
“This was captured by the CCTV when they checked into the hotel. There are three people in Room 1305.”
In the photo, there were two men and one woman. The young man and woman in the image were holding briefcases commonly referred to as 007 bags.
All three of them were wearing sunglasses, so it was hard to see their faces clearly, but they appeared to be North Korean government officials.
“The middle-aged man without a bag is Target No. 4. The Company is keeping a close eye on him, so don’t make any mistakes.”
“Yes.”
“What’s in your backpack?”
“A camera and a pistol.”
“Leave the backpack behind. If you get stopped for inspection, say you’re a tourist.”
I fastened the badge to the collar of my field jacket and stood up.
The rookie Dove, who had only been guarding the Yalu River Bridge, finally received a proper mission.
***
The Xianwei Hotel is the best hotel in Dandong.
I had been sitting in the lounge cafe, sipping an Americano and reading a magazine for two hours. The magazine was in Chinese, so I had no idea what kind it was.
It didn’t matter what kind of magazine it was.
My eyes were fixed on the hotel’s revolving door and elevator.
My phone rang. The screen displayed the caller as No. 1.
When I answered, I heard the cardigan man’s voice through the wireless earphones.
-The footage is coming through well. Also, order some cake or another drink. You’ve had just one coffee for two hours. The staff is glaring at you.
‘Even if it’s China, this is still a hotel. The staff shouldn’t be glaring at customers.’
That’s what I thought, but I went ahead and ordered a ham and egg sandwich and another Americano.
At 6 p.m., just as I finished the sandwich and took a sip of my now-cold Americano, three burly men walked in through the revolving door.
Anyone could tell at a glance they were gangsters. One of them even had a tattoo reaching up to his neck. All three of them were holding briefcases.
As they got into the elevator, I stood up from my seat.
I needed to see which floor they got off on.
I watched as the elevator numbers went up.
9…10…11…12…13
The elevator stopped.
After confirming it stopped on the 13th floor, I walked into the restroom.
I pulled up No. 1 from my recent call list and dialed.
“Did you see them?”
-They’re Black Dragon Society. Looks like a drug deal is going down at the hotel today.
“When will you be arriving?”
-Listen carefully. After the deal, the target might move. Keep your eyes on the Volvo in the parking lot. We won’t be able to move until after 8 p.m.
The call ended.
There was still an hour and fifty minutes left until 8 p.m.
‘Shit. This shouldn’t be a big deal, but I’m still nervous.’
Maybe it was because it was my first mission since joining the NIS.
After leaving the restroom, I went down to the parking garage via the emergency stairs.
It wasn’t hard to find the Volvo with the license plate <Pyongyang 85-1055> in the basement parking lot.
After confirming the Volvo, I walked toward the ground-level vehicle exit while lighting a cigarette. My motorcycle was parked in the surface lot. Once I reached ground level, I lit the cigarette.
Phew~
Standing next to my motorcycle, I smoked and kept watch on the entrance to the underground parking lot.
***
Room 1305 at the Xianwei Hotel.
Wang Yudong, the Dandong branch chief of the Black Dragon Society, and Wu Shi were standing in front of the door.
Ding-dong
A subordinate who had followed Wang Yudong and Wu Shi pressed the doorbell.
Click
The door opened.
“Come in.”
A woman who appeared to be in her late twenties opened the door and spoke.
The room was quite spacious. The young woman led Wang Yudong to the sofa.
Seated on the sofa was the middle-aged man who had appeared on CCTV.
“Did you bring the money?”
“We brought it. Two million U.S. dollars.”
They were conversing in Chinese.
At Wang Yudong’s signal, Wu Shi and another Black Dragon Society subordinate placed 007 bags on the table.
When the three bags were opened one by one, they were packed with bundles of 100-dollar bills.
“Headquarters in Shenyang asked us to let this go just this once, but such a thing must never happen again.”
“Don’t worry. If anything like this happens again, it’ll be my head on the line.”
Shenyang refers to the Black Dragon Society’s headquarters. The headquarters decided to wrap up the recent incident by repaying North Korea for the lost drug payment from the Peace Gas Station.
Drugs worth two million U.S. dollars become twenty million dollars once they enter Incheon. If a conflict with North Korea causes disruptions to the drug operation, it would be a greater loss for the Black Dragon Society.
“When can we receive the goods again? Our client is waiting.”
The young North Korean woman, who had been counting the money in the bags, nodded once she confirmed it was indeed two million dollars.
“Someone with the goods will contact you today.”
The middle-aged man said this to Wang Yudong.
“And this money is for the last deal. Don’t forget that payment for the new deal must be made on the spot.”
“We’ve already prepared payment for today’s goods, so there’s no need to worry.”
They had already received instructions from the Black Dragon Society’s headquarters in Shenyang.
Go to the Xianwei Hotel, deliver the two million dollars, and pay for the new batch of drugs on-site, just as they had always done before.
“You still haven’t found the culprit?”
“We’ve received photos of vehicles and motorcycles that passed through the national road around that time from the Public Security Bureau. We’ll catch them soon.”
“Since we’ve received our money, if you catch the culprit, the goods belong to the Black Dragon Society.”
‘Unlucky bastard.’
The middle-aged man’s words left a sour taste for Wang Yudong.
“I guess it takes an incident like this for me to see Director Choi in person. Let me know when you come to Dandong again. I’ll treat you to a good place.”
“Servants loyal to the Party don’t accept personal hospitality. Take care, Comrade Wang.”
After even his invitation was brushed off, Wang Yudong couldn’t hide the displeased look on his face.
But what could he do?
The man was the director in charge of narcotics at Office 39 in North Korea.
‘Hmph, acting like he’s too good to dine with a Black Dragon Society Dandong branch chief just because he’s an Office 39 director?’
The North Korean woman escorted Wang Yudong to the door.
Wang Yudong and his group left Room 1305.
After sending off the Black Dragon Society members, the young woman spoke to the man referred to as Director Choi.
“Director, you didn’t need to meet with them in person.”
“I wanted to see what kind of people they were.”
“…”
“Song-kyung, the meeting with the Agricultural Bank of China is tomorrow, right?”
“Yes. It’s at 7 p.m.”
Lee Song-kyung was the name of the young woman who came with Director Choi.
She knew very well.
She knew just how much pressure Director Choi Young-gil was recently under from his superiors regarding foreign currency earnings.
That was why he had quickly wrapped up the gas station incident with the Black Dragon Society by agreeing to accept repayment for the lost drug money.
“Would you like to rest for a while?”
“No. Let’s go to the safehouse.”
After the deal with the Black Dragon Society ended, Director Choi Young-gil wanted to head to the safehouse in Dandong.
***
Around 6:40 p.m., the Black Dragon Society guys came out through the hotel’s main entrance and walked toward the surface parking lot.
The one who appeared to be their boss was muttering to himself the whole time, clearly upset about something that happened in Room 1305.
‘Looks like the deal is done.’
Which means the people in Room 1305 might move soon too.
From this point on, I had to stay sharp.
The Black Dragon Society guys walked toward where I was.
One of them, the one with the neck tattoo, briefly made eye contact with me. Then he followed his boss and got into the Benz.
Of all places, the car they came in was parked near where I was.
‘I got a good look at your faces. I’ll make sure to get revenge for Old-man Choi later.’
The Benz they were in didn’t leave right away. They kept the engine running and stayed there for five minutes. The boss was probably still ranting inside the car.
“Just get the hell out already.”
I muttered quietly to myself while looking down at the ground.
Eventually, the Benz started moving and exited the hotel.
About ten minutes after the Benz with the three Black Dragon Society members had left,
Clunk
The Volvo pulled out from the underground parking lot.
Then it paused in front of the hotel entrance, waiting for a left-turn signal.
“Fuck, this is bad.”
I immediately put on my helmet and got on my motorcycle.
Then I called No. 1 right away.
“The target is on the move.”
-You must not lose him.
“When are you coming?”
-We’ll hurry as much as we can.
“The location tracking is working properly, right?”
-Don’t worry. Just follow them without getting spotted.
As the left-turn signal came on and the Volvo moved, I followed right behind it.
I didn’t know then.
That the Benz, which I thought had already left, would come up behind me.