SW | Chapter 14

The midday heat in Seoul was still intense. Inside the black luxury sedan parked in the open lot behind the peanut-shaped building in Cheonho-dong, the heat was almost unbearable. Before getting into the car, Guk Jiho casually suggested, “I’ll drive.”

“Just sit next to me.”

“Okay.”

Guk Jiho, who had been lingering near the driver’s seat, quickly climbed into the passenger seat at those words.

“Phew…”

The inside of the car was filled with stifling heat. It was a temperature that made it hard to step in comfortably. Guk Jiho leaned back quietly in his seat while waiting for the hot air to dissipate with the door open

Baek Haegyeon, who had been standing outside for a moment, got into the car and turned the air conditioning to the maximum. Hot air blew out for a while, making the earlier ventilation seem pointless.

“Aren’t you hot?”

Since returning to Korea, or more accurately, since Guk Jiho had decided to stay with Hwando, Baek Haegyeon had stopped using formal speech. It felt natural.

“I actually like this. It’s like getting physical therapy.”

“Jiho.”

While Guk Jiho was slouching in his seat, Baek Haegyeon called him.

“Yes, Boss.”

“When getting out of the car, open the door for me first. You get in after I do.”

Baek Haegyeon spoke in a calm, almost instructional tone. Though his words carried no particular emotion, the way he kept calling Guk Jiho by his first name felt oddly embarrassing.

“Yes, understood. My apologies.”

This was how gangsters handled protocol. They lived and died by hierarchy, so when serving their “hyungnim”, they did so with utmost sincerity.

Only Baek Haegyeon and Guk Jiho were in the sedan, but three other cars were lined up behind them. Naturally, the underlings must have seen Guk Jiho getting into the car first. Guk Jiho swallowed a sigh. Even as a rookie cop, he hadn’t been this nervous. It still didn’t feel real that he was undercover in a gang.

It’s all because the weather’s so nice.

Guk Jiho made an excuse to himself, even though no one was listening. It was a perfect autumn day. The sky was clear, and it was cool, and warm. It was the kind of weather that rarely came around.

The car stopped at a left-turn signal, ticking as it waited. Guk Jiho straightened his back. It was his first day as a member of Hwando, so he needed to stay alert from now on.

“By the way, Boss. Do they always have to follow us around?”

Guk Jiho suddenly asked. He had just noticed the gangster cars following them in the side mirror. Even though it was protocol and security, being undercover made it feel like he was being watched.

They were on their way to the courthouse. Since it was just a matter of following legal procedures, the two of them could have gone alone. But from what Guk Jiho had observed so far, gangsters never moved alone.

“Does it bother you?”

“Yes.”

“We need them today.”

“…Understood.”

Why would gangsters need to follow them to the courthouse? As Guk Jiho pondered this while looking out the window, Baek Haegyeon seemed to sense his curiosity and spoke up.

“There’s a property up for auction that’s worth a lot of money.”

Guk Jiho’s head snapped toward him at that clue.

“Ah, is this the thing that the nationwide mastermind is after?”

“It’d be great if we ran into him today.”

Baek Haegyeon’s voice carried a sense of relieved anticipation. He must have spent a long time digging into the organization and analyzing their interests to uncover this information.

Guk Jiho felt a little excited too. Though he wouldn’t be of much help, being part of the groundwork to catch the mastermind on his first day undercover made it feel like things were moving quickly.

He had only heard that the auction item was an expensive piece of land. He couldn’t believe these gangsters were brazen enough to step into the legitimate market, as if they weren’t afraid of the Korean police at all.

“I’ll keep my eyes wide open and watch everyone’s movements closely. Someone like the mastermind…”

“Can’t hurt. But the mastermind won’t show up.”

“Yes… I guess he wouldn’t reveal himself so easily. But, boss, is it okay to talk like this in the car? In Russia, we spoke freely, but in Korea, there’s a risk of wiretapping, and cars have black boxes that record audio, right?”

“When it’s just the two of us, feel free to speak comfortably.”

“Yes, understood.”

This was definitely one of the perks of Baek Haegyeon becoming the chairman of Hwando. The higher-ups were always worried about being betrayed by their underlings, so they’d dismantle black boxes to check.

“Do you have any other concerns or questions?”

For some reason, Baek Haegyeon took the initiative to address Guk Jiho’s curiosity. Guk Jiho brought up the first worry that came to mind.

“Yes. I’m a bit concerned that my speech might be too polite now that I have to mingle with gangsters.”

“Think back to your school days.”

Baek Haegyeon glanced at him while driving, then looked back at the road.

“Huh?”

“It’s not much different from how delinquents talk.”

Guk Jiho had always been mistaken for someone who “ran wild” in middle and high school. Whether it was because of his fierce appearance or his dry personality, the rumors varied.

‘Don’t crouch on the ground like that. If you sit and look up like that, it reminds me of the thugs I used to run into on the streets!’

‘I almost peed myself thinking Jiho was going to shoulder-check me just now.’

‘I used honorifics the first time I met Jiho. My mouth just instinctively started spitting them out as soon as I saw him.’

And so on. It was always the seniors who made a fuss, even when the juniors stayed quiet. Guk Jiho knew it was part of establishing hierarchy. The more they did it, the more he understood it as a command to stay low.

“I wasn’t a bully.”

His explanation was always the same.

“Right. You can’t tell by someone’s appearance.”

It was a straightforward acknowledgment, but it still managed to irritate him.

“…Yes.”

“Jiho, you’re sweating.”

Whether it was from sitting on the hot seat or from frustration, a bit of sweat had formed on Guk Jiho’s neatly groomed sideburns. As he scratched his cheek, Baek Haegyeon handed him a handkerchief.

It was a neatly folded square handkerchief. Guk Jiho took it and awkwardly wiped his sweat.

“You said you have a cat, right?”

“…Yes.”

Guk Jiho hesitated, then answered briefly. For a moment, he almost blurted out, “How did you know?” He didn’t know much, but he figured the gang hierarchy was stricter than the military. Asking too many questions was probably taboo. Regardless of how kind Baek Haegyeon seemed, it was better not to create any trouble.

“Where did you send it?”

“I left it with someone I know for now.”

“Good call. You’ll have to move to a new place soon.”

“Where am I moving to?”

“The company dormitory.”

“I’m an executive, but I’m staying in a dormitory?”

When Guk Jiho’s tone turned sulky, Baek Haegyeon smiled slightly and replied, “Let’s do it this way for now.”

“Yes, understood.”

Even though the air conditioning had only been on for a short while, the car had already cooled down. The green trees outside the window sparkled brightly. The light filtering through the leaves was mesmerizing. It was like a scene from a movie. It was a moment filled with so much freshness that just looking at it made you long for the sunlight.

First day at work, gangsters, courthouse duties. In a life filled with unfamiliar combinations of words, the scenery outside the window provided some comfort.

“What’s your cat’s name?”

The topic wasn’t over yet. Baek Haegyeon continued with a somewhat trivial question.

“It’s Gguk.”

“Your cat, Gguk. So, its full name is Guk Gguk?”

“Yes, well…”

Guk Jiho answered awkwardly. When he took the cat to the vet, he always wrote “Guk Gguk.” He had never called it by its full name, but he loved the cat enough to share his surname.

Whenever someone asked about the cat, he would talk endlessly and always show pictures. To others, the photos of Gguk that took up so much space on his phone all looked the same. But to Guk Jiho, each one was different.

“I’m sorry you had to part ways with Gguk.”

“It’s okay. My friend says he’s doing well. He has a calm personality. He’s not exactly the cuddly type, but it’s very well-behaved.”

While answering Baek Haegyeon’s questions dutifully, Guk Jiho found his kindness strange. He hadn’t come here lightly. He had prepared himself to endure even torture. Instead, his partner was unusually considerate.

Amidst the chaos unfolding around them, his partner was exceptionally gentle.