Chapter 170
As I was gathering information from my sources in Bucheon about the circle the children were talking about, I heard a loud noise.
It was Latte shouting.
“Mouse number one, is that how you’re going to work!”
“I’m sorry!”
“What? Get over it!”
“Tsk, tsk!”
Apparently, they’re getting the education they deserve.
Since they’re going to school on weekdays, she has an ambitious plan to continue this “education” every weekend and even train baristas to work at the cafe.
Apparently, they’re skipping school every time, but hey, it’s…….
“If this was Niflheim, you’d already be dead! Do you understand?!”
Uh…….
“This is coffee?! I could put water on charcoal right now and it’d taste better than this! The beans are so poorly grounded!”
“Heh, heh!”
“Aah!”
“Dip!”
……I think that’s a little radical.
Is this Niflheim…….?
At that moment, I heard a refreshing sound of singing coming from the area where the children were being educated.
When I turned around to see what was going on, I saw Han Ji-yeon, the number one mouse, holding a cell phone with a flashing light and looking confused.
“Rat 1, is this an important call?”
“Well, it’s…….”
She looks at Latte with a confused smile.
“Uh, I think I got a call from the circle.”
“Huh?”
Latte was momentarily stunned by the suddenness of the situation, then she looked in my direction, unsure of what to do.
“Let’s check…….”
I walk over and look at the phone’s screen.
A name flashes across the screen. “Branch asshole.”
“Branch leader?”
“Yep. He’s the manager of the circle in charge of us.”
“Hey, wait, you’re saying that? Are you crazy?”
Ki Min-ho quickly shuts Han Ji-yeon’s mouth.
At the same time, his screams echo through the air.
“Get your hands off me!”
“Shut up! If you say anything more, you won’t just be beaten, you’ll die!”
“Kids, kids. Calm down…….”
Suddenly the mood was strange.
“Take it.”
Hearing my words, she looks at me with trembling pupils.
I nod my head to indicate that she should trust me, and she slowly moves her finger to pull the call button to the side.
-What the fuck do you think you’re doing, not bringing me money at this hour?
A gruff voice echoes from inside the warehouse.
-Do you realize that the deadline is today? Are you protesting because you want to rummage?
Han Ji-yeon flinches as she makes a ‘hic!’ sound in a very nervous voice.
-Why aren’t you answering!
At the same time, Ki Min-ho, who was next to her, snatches the phone away.
“Branch manager. This is Ki Min-ho.”
-Why don’t you assholes……come over right now?
“I haven’t met my quota yet. As soon as I fill the quota, I’ll go back──.”
-Back?
The man’s voice, which was full of anger, turns cold.
-You mean you haven’t met your quota, do you think I’m funny, eh?
“It’s not like that, branch manager──.”
I snatched the cell phone from Ki Min-ho’s hand.
“What? Wait!”
“It’s ──.”
The atmosphere on the other end of the phone changed, as if they had realized that the caller had changed.
-……Who are you? That doesn’t sound like my kids.
A voice filled with wariness.
The reason for taking the phone from Ki Min-ho wasn’t that great.
“Wait for me, I’ll be right there.”
I just wanted him to know who was coming.
After hanging up and tossing the phone in the backseat, I looked at the kids and said.
“You guys stay here, I’ll be back in a minute.”
“Wait, you’re really going to go there? You could really get yourself killed!”
Kim Hyun-soo was freaking out when he heard me. Then I heard a chuckle from his side. I could hear her laughing.
“……?”
“Oops. Sorry.”
Latte returned to her stern teaching assistant mode as if nothing had happened.
It wasn’t hard to guess why she was laughing.
The idea of me being killed by the neighborhood thugs was a funny one.
“You guys don’t have to worry, we just need to blow up their hideout.”
“……A club in the back of Harlem Street in Cheonan, Card and Rabbit. That’s where they hang out.”
“Han Ji-yeon!”
“If we don’t go, we’ll die anyway!”
Judging by Ki Min-ho’s genuinely surprised reaction, Han Ji-yeon’s address must be true.
“Card and Rabbit……Latte. Stay here and keep an eye on the kids.”
“Yes, Master.”
“And you’d better not step foot outside tonight, unless you’re hoping to die, too.”
The warning was given.
I’ve already given you shelter and a man to protect you, what more can I do for you?
From now on, if they realize that their lives come and go based on their choices, they won’t be able to leave so easily.
As I walked out of the warehouse Han Seo-joon quickly extinguished the cigarette and straightened his back.
“Have you finished your business inside?”
“Uh. I guess I should probably leave right away, but come to think of it, haven’t there been reports of youths going missing recently?”
In my recent family work, I’ve received several reports, and among them, a report of children going missing in Bupyeong or Bucheon comes to mind.
According to the report, the police didn’t take it seriously because they thought it was an adolescent runaway, but if……it’s where I thought their circle was, it was better to deal with it now.
“I’m pretty sure I’ve been told there is such a thing, but why is it suddenly…….”
“Because I think I found the cause.”
“……?”
Apparently tonight was going to be busier than I thought.
* * *
As I look out the window, I begin to notice the scenery slowly changing.
Unlike the Incheon Outer Area, the city center is unruly.
There were men scavenging in every alleyway and groups of people exhaling unidentifiable blue smoke along with groups roaming the streets with weapons strapped to their waists.
It was the stuff Harlem is made of.
“What can I do to help?”
Han Seo-joon’s voice came from behind the wheel.
“Support……?”
The corners of his mouth were uncharacteristically upturned and I quickly realized his intention.
“You’re joking, right?”
“Did I get caught? Of course you don’t need backup to deal with a bunch of bums like that.”
Was it because everyone I’d dealt with lately had been above a certain level?
The feeling I had now was more like I was going to clean up a mess.
“If that’s what you say, then I won’t call for backup, but I’ll be nearby in case something happens…….”
I couldn’t refuse because I was going into enemy territory, and if something happened to me, he, my dedicated assistant, would be responsible.
“Okay, I’ll call you right away if anything happens.”
“Of course, Master. Oh, it looks like we’ve arrived at the right place. There’s Card and Rabbit.”
The exterior of Card and Rabbit wasn’t much different from what I expected.
An old building, a neon sign of a rabbit on dull cement.
Around the neon sign, which blinked furiously to assert itself as if it were nearing the end of its life, were flies that could only be seen through blurry eyes.
───♪ ────♬
I can feel the vibrations of the music outside through the glass window.
It must be coming from the club in front of us.
I wonder what ugly truth this song is hiding.
“Master. We have a suspicious group approaching from the right.”
As Han Seo-joon said that, he looked shyly to the side.
When I turned my head to follow his gaze, I saw a group of guys with their hands tucked into their pants pockets walking toward us.
There were about three of them.
In retrospect, I realize that I probably deserved the attention of the hyenas because I was driving a luxury sedan into Harlem.
And I knew all too well how to get out of this situation.
Zeeeeeeeeeeeee-ing──
As I slowly lowered the window, they walked toward me, giggling.
“Hey, master. Did you get lost or something? Parking here is pretty expensive.”
“──Hey, is this how they treat guests in this neighborhood?”
“A customer?”
“Then why would a rich master come here in an expensive car? I’m here by invitation. Do you want to offend me?”
That’s how the original owner of this body Eugene Han Corleone would act.
“What the fuck, asshole, I’m a guest, get out of my way!”
“Yeah? Oh, yeah.”
You might think that I’m some kind of wealthy master of a backwater shop like this, but I’m not.
On the contrary, the better known you are, the more likely you are to hang out in back alleys like this.
And the guys who work here are one of the few who know this better than anyone else.
“We’ll open it for you, Master!”
I spit on the ground as I casually get out of the car, as the guys suddenly change their demeanor and start opening the back door to greet me.
“Are you guys having any fun today?”
“Yeah. There’s more people than usual and the water’s good, you won’t regret it.”
“Really?”
The guy looked a little dumbfounded at first glance.
It’s not that hard to increase his likability.
“Hey.”
“Yeah. Master.”
“Do you have a business card?”
“You mean a business card……?”
“Yes, business card. I feel good that you responded to me properly, so I’m going to play with your business card, so give me one.”
“……Choi, I’ll do my best!”
He immediately bent his waist at 90 degrees and handed me his business card with both hands.
It read “Card and Rabbit” in pink letters on a black background.
On the back was his name and title.
“MD Mapak?”
I thought to myself, what a cheesy name.
I was walking toward the entrance with him.
“Excuse me, sir. I was wondering about something.”
“Um?”
Mapak turned to me.
“What is it?”
“Well, it’s that…… is a membership club, isn’t it? That being said, there must be someone else who recommended this place to you, and I was wondering if I could get an invitation or the name of your acquaintance?”
In other words, this is a place where only people with shit on them come, and whose shit did you come in with?
I thought he was a moron, but then I realized that he might be pretty sharp or maybe he was just asking out of the blue.
“Then can I ask you a question?”
“What? You can ask me anything, master.”
So I turned and asked him.
“Where are all the kids you kidnapped?”
“……?”
“The kids who didn’t pay you guys the activity fee and were just taken away. Where are they?”
“……Who are you?”
His face, which had just been wearing a businesslike smile, contorts into a vicious grimace.
“I told you I’m a guest.”
He’s asking me again after I’ve already given him the correct answer.
Clearly, he’s an idiot.
“Oh, by the way, did you ask if I have an invitation?”
Of course I did, and I brought it with me.
“I’ve been let in everywhere else just by showing this, so I don’t know if that’s the case here?”
At the same time, the giant gun in the cube appears, casually pointing it at his head.
“This will let me in, right?”
Of course, if you want to say no, you can say no.
