The Masks We Wear

16

Jeong-hyeok was not the type to get stage fright before a performance. He preferred to channel his energy into practising, practising... and practising again. Once it was time for him to step on stage, he would have practised enough that his fingers could travel along the piano keys without thought.

He didn't get nerves before a mission either, back when he was a Division 11 agent in Switzerland. If he was well-prepared with enough research and had his Plan A, B, and C in place, Jeong-hyeok could walk into a high-stakes situation as calm as a monk.

But today was different, somehow.

He had many tasks to take care of today, but Jeong-hyeok didn't think that was why he felt tense. Right now, he sat at his desk in Cho Cheol-gang's department of the Security Bureau office. He knew for a fact that Cho Cheol-gang was out 'doing his rounds', in the man's words. His routine was such that he was out in the morning, and Jeong-hyeok had observed enough so far to deduce that 'doing his rounds' meant visiting the various gangs, stowaways, and minor criminals to collect 'security fees' – in other words, bribes in exchange for Cho Cheol-gang turning a blind eye to their activities.

Jeong-hyeok quickly input the last of the data he'd been able to download off of Cho Cheol-gang's personal computer. Cho Cheol-gang was smart enough not to leave any concrete traces of bribery, of course, but Jeong-hyeok had enough data to compile two documents.

One of them listed various multiple conviction criminals. He had tried his best to cross reference their arrests by other officers in the Security Bureau, compared to the quick releases under Cho Cheol-gang's watch. The other document listed confiscated goods stolen by gravediggers and robbers. There were two rows, with one containing the official list of confiscated items from Cho Cheol-gang's computer, and the second row containing the actual items which Jeong-hyeok had gone through in the Security Bureau storage, where there were noticeably less items compared to the official list.

This was circumstantial evidence at best, but Jeong-hyeok hoped that his father would be able to do something with it. He finished downloading the data into two USB sticks. One, he would hand to Kwang-beom to deliver to his father, the other he would hand to Jung Man-bok, a trusted officer who would be helping him with the wiretapping mission with Seri later in the day.

There was one more thing he hoped to obtain which would seal the deal. It would require a road trip to the compound where they had visited Seo Dan and Seri's stowaway friend last time.

But first things first: today he would deal with Cho Cheol-gang's lunch meeting with Mu-hyeok and Seri. Then he would think about how to obtain more conclusive evidence later.

Jeong-hyeok powered off his computer and pocketed the two USBs. Kwang-beom would meet him at the Security Bureau canteen, where it would hopefully look like a friendly catch-up between an officer and his former cadet, and nothing more. He arrived to find Kwang-beom already sitting there, nursing a cup of tea. As it was mid-morning, the canteen was pretty empty given that they only served drinks between breakfast and lunch

"Captain," Kwang-beom stood and saluted him.

Jeong-hyeok nodded in acknowledgement and gestured for him to sit again. "Have things at the office been well?" he asked, resting his arms on the table and covertly placing one of the USBs beside Kwang-beom's cup.

Kwang-beom quickly palmed the USB as he lifted the cup to take a sip. "Well enough, Captain. We've been doing a lot more combat training."

"So I've heard," Jeong-hyeok said, smiling the tiniest bit at the memory of his bout with Yoon Seri in the gym room. It's a smile of exasperation, Jeong-hyeok told himself, hurriedly putting the smile away.