"Hi Daechul, sorry to bother you, but this is important", started talking Hansul. Daechul opened the car door and sat in the driver's seat.
"I am listening", he urged Hansul to continue while turning on the ignition.
"Not here", he was certain the man was shaking his head furiously. "I cannot risk police listening to this conversation."
Daechul hummed, agreeing with Hansul's reasoning, but also feeling a bit restless. He figured that if the man was behaving in such a secretive and careful way, there had to be a reason for that. He did not really think that Hansul was just leaving a trail for him to be betrayed in the end, as Daechul was extremely serious about the consequences, lest he disobeyed, but you couldn't be completely sure of things all the time. After all, both men met just a day or two earlier. Not that much time to get to know each other. Daechul had to be cautious, but he also did not want to lose a chance to get closer to Chungee. Hansul was the key element to this equation. They had to meet.
"Okay, meet me in the gang headquarters as soon as possible. I'm heading there now," declared Daechul, and the call ended.
His inspection of the cleanliness of the Go mansion would have to wait. This was much more serious compared to that, and Daechul told that out loud, when Kimoon picked up the call. The man was listening eagerly, assuring him that he would drive to the gang building as soon as he was through with his current job. Daechul thanked him and tossed his phone on the passenger's seat, putting more pressure on the gas pedal and concentrating on the road. All kinds of wild thoughts and theories swam through his head as the man was headed to his destination, all the if's and but's trying to soothe his curiosity as Daechul drove through the forest. Thick trees obstructed the sun and the sky, leaving the man in a dim atmosphere despite it being the middle of the day. A light breeze gently swayed the tops of the trees, drying them of the rain from the previous night. The scenery was calming, but Daechul was feeling far from tranquil with his restless mind coming into play.
About half an hour later, he finally reached the grey building. The man immediately killed the engine, took his carelessly dropped phone and hopped out of the car. He slammed the car door and stepped inside. A few of his men were working: answering phone calls, calculating the next best time for a shipment of more drugs, giong through their armory and so on. Daechul greeted everyone and asked to inform Hansul and everyone else that he was waiting in the meeting room on the fifth floor. Then he headed towards the elevator, pushing the call button and tapping the heel of his foot on the ground in impatience.
On his way to the office, Daechul called Sunmi, briefing her on the meeting and asking her to call and inform Jongil. The girl huffed in annoyance at having to talk with that man, but promised to do that nevertheless, also stating that both of them will show up there as soon as possible. The girl was surely not keen on being left out of such matters and she confidently made Daechul aware of that. The man agreed, knowing that arguing with Sunmi would be far too exhausting, and the line went dead.
Once he was on the fifth floor he stopped by his office to grab the big bottle of his favourite whiskey, a few glasses and a pack of cigarettes, immediately grabbing one to light it up. He sat down in a plush leather chair and leaned back, puffing smokes and trying to pass some time while waiting for everyone else. As it turns out, he was not alone for long. The first people to show up were Sunmi and Jongil, greeting Daechul and sitting down. Daechul offered some whiskey and cigarettes, but the pair declined both the proposals, making themselves comfortable in their seats.
"Do we know why Hansul wants to meet?" curiously asked Sunmi, as soon as Daechul was done with the nicotine stick and puffed the last puff of smoke.
Daechul shook his head.
"No, we don't. He was very brief when talking, fearing that someone could be listening to our calls."
Jongil frowned, stealing a look at Sunmi, who looked equally serious.
"It seems that the information is indeed serious if he is behaving this way. As much as I'm aware, no one is listening to the call conversations in Busan. The police are too busy to take time of their day just to sit with headphones on their heads and gossip about us. But some smaller gangs could be in on that, the possibility is just terribly small. However, I applaud him for being cautious", mused Jongil.
Daechul hummed, deep in thought. Jongil was right, it was not typical for gangs in Busan to use such an equipment, because most of them went straight for the kill, no planning or collecting much information, doing their businesses rapidly and without thought. Daechul pondered that this was one of the biggest differences that helped the Hyun mafia to take charge. Sungwoon was a careful, clever man, treasuring his men and business to just head into it without any sort of preparation. Daechul surely inherited Sungwoon's methods. That must be the reason his business was thriving.
About five minutes later the rest of Daechul's friends arrived. Kimoon, Jinwoo, Eunsang, Kangmin and Ilsung all but fell into the room, looking disheveled and completely out of breath. The action spooked Sunmi and she flinched, taking her manicured hand and plastering it right where the heart is.
"What the hell?!", she shrieked, making Jongil strain to contain his laughter, obviously entertained by the thought that this tough woman could be scared of something.
As the men stood up, still catching their breath, Kimoon looked around, clearly trying to detect if Hansul was there already.
"Oh sorry, Sunmi", he chuckled, "we were speeding because we thought that Hansul would show up first, and didn't desire to miss anything", he apologized while everyone found their seats.
Sunmi huffed, but she was not angry, a small smile playing on her red lipstick adorned lips, as if laughing at herself.
"How is the house?", asked Daechul while pouring himself some whiskey.
Kangmin shrugged.
"Well, it certainly looks much better, but the cleaners said that they won't be finished for a few more hours or so. Also, you cannot believe what their reaction was seeing the master bedroom for the first time. I'm pretty sure one of the women was fighting the urge to run and never look back," everyone chuckled while Daechul was sipping his beverage with a grin. He could surely imagine that happening, as it was a pretty similar reaction to his own. He only hoped that the cleaners would do their job properly and quickly before Maya decides to pay them a visit.
Everyone was chatting for about ten minutes or so, when Hansul finally showed up. He honestly looked frazzled. His hair was matted with sweat, face marred with wounds from yesterday, breath laboured. Despite all of that, the man calmly greeted each person and sat down on the second to last chair, immediately helping himself to some alcohol.
Daechul furrowed his dark eyebrows, feeling both confused and worried. As soon as he saw Hansul, he was mentally preparing to receive some very bad news.
"Hansul, talk. What happened?", he urged, trying to contain his impatience and remain calm.
The man turned his gaze straight towards the gang leader, finishing his glass of whiskey before opening his mouth.
"Sorry for a short notice," began, making everyone feel even more unsettled," but the matter is urgent."
"So we figured", impatiently said Sunmi, obviously the least patient out of everyone in the room.
Hansul sighed.
"My day started as usual. I woke up and checked my phone. There was a message from Chungee, demanding everyone to meet him as soon as possible. I was already nervous about being late, but the atmosphere when I arrived was even more eerie. Everyone was there. A total of six men, if you count me and Chungee. He looked almost paranoid, but most of all furious. I was feeling anxious, thinking that he maybe found out about my and Daechul's agreement, but pushed these thoughts aside as they weren't logical at all. He was not ectatic about me being late, but did not indulge into that very much. We started the meeting as always, finding a quiet place to sit. Then, he started talking about how one of us was a traitor, secretly working with Daechul, and I started getting dizzy from nerves. I thought, well this is it. This is how I die. But the traitor that I was talking about wasn't me."
Hansul paused, looking Daechul straight to the eye when he opened his mouth once again.
"Chungee said that the traitor's name was someone named Geun."