The Witness ➳ Taegyu

36. His Secret's Unveiled

Date: June 10th

It's been exactly a month since Taehyun left the police force. He knew now that if he got out of this alive, the justice system would be extremely unlikely to show him mercy.

As the bargainer, he hasn't killed anyone other than a few members of Black Reaper if he had reason to. He has commanded his subordinates to kill a few times already, but that's the extent of the killing he's done outside of the group.

His job as the bargainer was to handle deals and conflicts with other criminal organizations and handle the money flow and meetings. He was the strategist for the economy within Black Reaper and the person who dealt with the aftermath of assassinations or heist jobs done by the other two commanders. The bargainer was always the most well-paid member after the boss because of the incredible responsibility.

Taehyun was actually surprised that they let him have the position that was so detrimental to the success of Black Reaper back. It meant that Kami and Seojun trusted him, and while his conscience was hurting because he was actively betraying and taking advantage of their trust, he always tried to remind himself it was for the sake of the people.

Black Reaper was a group that hired people with nothing left to lose to make their organization run smoothly. People who needed money or something to do with their life. They needed these people to do the morally wrong things that no one with an ounce of self respect could do. Black Reaper was a group that was home to many people who lost everything, and were willing to take things from other people in return for the privilege to keep living.

What was Black Reaper's goal? Taehyun never knew, and the other commanders didn't either. They wanted to be a well-known group, but why? Why did Taehyun's father take this group so seriously to the point where he basically grew an empire out of it? Taehyun knew his parents were struggling for a while and that's why they started producing and selling illegal substances, so he thought that maybe it turned into a small organization of people who were also willing to do such things for money.

After so many years, the organization grew into a nationwide clusterfuck of people having to respect their superiors, while no one deserved respect because of the heinous crimes they've committed.

Black Reaper was a group that relied on its members and its economy, and Taehyun assumed that the only reason Kami and Seojun were still running it was for the money. But to subject themselves to that level of criminal status and keep running a huge organization full of crime was insanity. What was the point without Taehyun's father? What was the point after they got raided by the police a few years ago?

They should have just given up.

Regardless of how much he hated them and everything they did, he still did his best to seem loyal to them. That's why he went to events with them and was friendly, even if the commanders weren't really expected to be friendly. Like today, he was in a rundown area of Daegu watching a drag race. They never interested him, mainly because they were illegal and highly dangerous.

He overheard some of his subordinates talking about it though and decided to join them.

The sky was black, as well as the long street, except for headlights and few street lights here and there. Everyone was cheering, some booing when their bet lost, and for a moment Taehyun thought it was fun. He lived his life protected by bodyguards of Black Reaper at his father's request, and as a cop, he obviously was never able to do something like this.

"Flashy outfit, Captain Kang."

He turned around and his eyes widened when Beomgyu's father was standing there. "Mr. Choi, what brings you here?"

"Usually, we leave races like these alone unless we know drugs are involved." He rested his hands on the fence next to Taehyun and the boy's heartrate picked up. "We usually have more important things to worry about. We got a tip that members of Black Reaper would be here though."

"Is that so?" He looked forward and didn't flinch at the gust of wind that the car zooming past sent at him.

"It's a funny story Taehyun. We arrested a member who knows quite a lot about Black Reaper. He told us a lot of classified things, and some of them, I couldn't believe. Like the fact that the car that caused the crash that killed my son was driving the pregnant wife of Black Reaper's boss. That woman died, but her child survived. His name is Kang Taehyun." Taehyun looked down at his hand that was cuffed to the chief's.

A/N: Get Dazai OUT of your head lmao.

"How lucky I am that you know me," Taehyun chuckled. "What I look like, what I sound like. You even saw my badge and my ID back when you were in the hospital."

"It's a good thing I did. I came here expecting to find members of Black Reaper, but to find you was a miracle, especially because you're usually in Seoul, aren't you?" Taehyun nodded. "Can I ask you something? Your mom died because of me, and back in the hospital, you knew that. Why didn't you take it out on Beomgyu or I?"

Why would he? Oh, right. Mr. Choi didn't know who he was. He didn't know why he became a cop or why he rejoined Black Reaper.

"It wasn't your fault. It was the members of Black Reaper."

His hand was suddenly pulled as the man started dragging him away. "I'm not gonna listen to you try to defend yourself by being nice."

"You asked a question, and I gave you an answer."

Taehyun didn't see any other members of Black Reaper on the way to Mr. Choi's car, and he was read his rights before being handcuffed fully and forced to sit in the backseat. He watched the way the cop went to radio the station and stopped. He should have told them he apprehended a member of Black Reaper.

"You know, Sir, using brute force against someone you're arresting who isn't resisting in the slightest is pretty bad. I would never do something like that-"

"Just shut it, okay? Stop talking about being a cop. I don't want to hear it. I'm confused about how you even became one in the first place."

It was Chief Kim. He saved Taehyun and gave him a new life full of freedom, love, and the joy of helping people. Taehyun gave all of that up. All that happiness, all that love, his colleagues, Beomgyu. He gave it all up, as well as the rest of his life, just to save everyone.

He wasn't gonna let it end here. Not without destroying Black Reaper.

"Sir, I became a cop to atone for my crimes in Black Reaper. No one else knew about what I did for a long time. I'm not gonna sit here and defend myself at all, but I only ever did bad things because I would be hurt if not. During the raid on the main building, my father was killed, and I was asked to become a cop to help defeat Black Reaper. I've been helping ever since. They saw my face not long ago though after assuming I was dead all this time, and they attacked the police station to get me to come out. They wanted me to join them again. I'll admit that I've committed crimes since then, but it was only to keep their trust long enough for me to come up with a plan. I've been communicating with another captain of the police force in a language we made up. We're trying to figure this out. Also, the commanders of Black Reaper have something called the "No Harm List". Anyone on it cannot be harmed. Chiefs of Police can't be on it, but Beomgyu and your wife both are."

After a while of silence, he finally spoke. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"There are a few police in Seoul who know. You can also ask Beomgyu."