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Chapter 7

A heavy book was dropped onto the table. The worn out cover showed signs of abuse. The cover had been thrown open, slightly creasing more in the process. I watched from the sides warily as Yeosang aggressively flicked through the book, eyes scanning for something. The flicking had stopped and he brought his finger down, jabbing it into the page and requested me to pass the pen and paper. He scribbled down the names and contacts of interest. The book had been slammed shut and the table underneath rattled. I pitied the book as it had been pushed to the side not-so-gently after being subjected to a brutal opening. The paper was filled with different organisations and businesses. The numbers meant nothing to me. 

"Right right," he clapped.

I snapped out of my stupor and watched him tinker with the telegram, tapping the morse code input without hesitation and no mistakes. A little beep sounded and Yeosang sat back, watching the receiver part of the telegram. Moments passed and the receiver had tapped and the message began to print. 

You nerd.
No regards, 
Lune Group

Yeosang nodded with great satisfaction. 
"Now you try." 

Although I had watched the whole process, it had been wiped out of my memory before I even stood next to the telegram. Yeosang had selected another line to send a radio message to. I clumsily fumbled with the radio frequency dial to match the coded numbers. With the message, I struggled to recall morse code but hopefully it should've sent, 
Hello, I'm new to the telegram
Regards, 
ATZ personnel

Yeosang stood from the side and his little smile made me doubt if I tapped the sender correctly. The receiver began to beep and print a response, one line at a time.

Hello new to the telegram, I'm Steph. Telephones exist so why not use them instead. 
Regards,
Steph of Hyacinth Org.

I did not know whether to laugh or cry at the note. Yeosang peered over my shoulder and giggled. Did this person just send an overused dad joke over the telegram?

•••

The captain called for a group meeting. Everyone filed into the office and the captain stood in the centre with a slight troubled look on his face. 

"The Black Tiger Outlaws are making another move soon after downing the merged group." 

Everybody tensed and the air turned serious. There were no hints of playfulness. I had zero context of who or what had happened but it was concerning enough for a whole gathering. Since my arrival had taken some of the business burden off the captain's back, he focused on building rapport between groups. I had not been debriefed on the alliance members or the political climate of this geographical location but figured it concerned the security of the group. 

"The Black Tigers have tried to expand their territory but the alliance stopped them. Old members of downed groups betrayed the alliance or were forced to join. We're going to need more status reports and tighten security at night and early mornings. Any questions?" 
Nobody asked any, all nodding to the suggestion. 

"Now we address Yunho's situation. It was quite clear in our conditions that all traps were to be deactivated. I did further digging and found that they did not deactivate all the traps and that it was 'overlooked' so now we have this mess." The captain was beyond pissed mentioning the event. 

"Are you suggesting that the traps were planned?" Yunho piped in. 

"Not to that extent but I have my suspicions. We're going to need to stay vigilant but we cannot afford to drop business. I still have to take the calls for any order requests but it'll go through the telegram first if I can't reach it."