Sector 1 🛡 yungi [▶]

3

"You don't need to do that."

Seonghwa grimaced in horror as he watched Mingi deliberately injure himself with rose thorns. It was the third time in the last ten minutes, and Seonghwa couldn't agree with Mingi's insistence that this would help their mission. Hongjoong had already explained that Mingi would disguise himself to enter the residence of the foreign youth they spotted yesterday, gathering information about the drug kingpin while proving their suspicions. However, what Mingi was doing seemed excessive, at least to Seonghwa, since San, who had been sitting quietly in the corner, showed no reaction.

"I've seen villagers who just returned home looking for firewood multiple times. At least three obvious scratches on their arms or faces. It seems commonplace. And now, what I'm portraying is not just a villager. If the young man from yesterday is a drug kingpin, he's clever enough to be suspicious of why a homeless person has a smooth body and face," explained Mingi. "Besides, as long as it's not poisonous, I think it's okay."

Mingi crushed the rose thorn stems, then threw them into the trash bin. With deliberately dirty fingers, he tousled his thick black hair, trying to make it look messy. His disguise was perfect – shabby clothes, messy hair, dirty face, and hands with wounds. Actually, all of this was Mingi's idea, as Hongjoong had only asked him to disguise himself as someone lost in the forest.

"It's almost evening; you should hurry," Wooyoung said, handing Mingi his phone. "You're lucky; this sector isn't too far from his house. At least you can easily get back. Want me to accompany you?"

"No need." Mingi put his phone in his pocket. "Who knows what I might find on the way. Maybe some clues or something. Besides, we don't know how wary this young man is. Maybe he's sensitive to the sound of vehicles. Well, a kingpin should have that trait."

At five minutes past six, Mingi left Sector One, the place where he and other members usually stayed when something needed to be addressed in the village or the forest. The entrance and exit were as secretive as in several other sectors, known only to the members.

Mingi was thankful for his decision to walk alone to the house of the young man he was targeting. The evening atmosphere in the forest turned out to be quite calming. He was used to hearing the chirping of sparrows in rural areas. But here, it sounded like more than four types of birds joining in the ambiance.

It took about fifteen minutes for Mingi to emerge from the thick trees, and the ground beneath his feet felt drier than before. He had almost forgotten his intention to check the roads, to look for anything suspicious, so captivated he was by the evening atmosphere in the forest.

The sun had set when Mingi spotted the house he was heading to. Right on time. At least Mingi wouldn't have to deal with the confusion of finding his way in the dark.

Again, the typical rural smells entered his nostrils. Carefully, he walked past the low fence in front of the house, letting his bare feet feel the much softer grass. He sighed when he reached the wooden door made of bamboo fragments. He knocked.

"One moment!"

To Mingi's surprise, the response came quickly. He immediately put on a sad expression, with both eyes welling up with tears, the result of his effort not to blink for a few moments earlier. Mingi was about to mess up his appearance again when the door in front of him opened.

If judging something from appearances alone was Mingi's principle, he would be sure that the person in front of him was not the drug kingpin he was looking for. His face did not reflect someone involved in criminal activities; in fact, it seemed the opposite.

Mingi had seen this young man from a distance yesterday. But seeing him up close made him surprised. If not for the body shape and the fact that he lived alone in the forest, Mingi might have thought this was a woman.

His big round eyes blinked several times, examining Mingi. His fair, smooth face was slightly stained, mostly with charcoal, Mingi presumed. He wiped his hands with a loose green shirt he was wearing.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "Did something bad happen? You look not okay. Did you get lost?"

Mingi didn't expect the target of his mission to be this good, even though he thought that the reaction he got was just an act.

"My family kicked me out of the village. Not many people there know me, let alone want to give me a place, even temporarily. I was confused about where to stay, so I went to the forest to find food, but it didn't go well." Mingi explained his situation, lifting both his arms, showing a few scars, pleading, even if only pretending.

But the response Mingi got was better than he expected.

"You can stay here," he said, still with the same worried and scared expression. He reached for Mingi's wrist, examining his wounds. "Thorns from plants, right? They should be treated soon, afraid they'll get infected. Come on, let me help you clean them. Maybe you should sit down too."

Once again, Yunho reached for Mingi's wrist, leading him to sit on a bamboo chair he made himself a few months ago. Carefully, he wiped Mingi's wounds, cleaning the remaining blood, and bandaged them with another clean cloth.

"Lucky the wounds aren't deep."

"Thank you." Mingi hesitated.

Yunho nodded slowly. "I didn't get much from the forest today. There are only a few taro roots. I hope that's enough for you. Ah, before that." He got up from his seat, walked hurriedly into another room separated by a wooden partition, then returned with clothes. "You can wear my clothes. When you're done, just wait here."

Once Yunho left, Mingi resumed his mission, scanning the surroundings with his gaze. Nothing seemed suspicious. However, this was just a superficial view, touching the surface. Mingi was still quite convinced that Yunho had a secret place in his house, a place to store drugs or any information related to it.

With various possibilities of where Yunho might hide drugs, Mingi changed his clothes, wearing a simple, thin, and cheap long shirt Yunho gave him.

Cheap.

Mingi understood enough about high-quality clothing. With Yunho's job as a potential drug kingpin—still within the realm of possibility—he wouldn't buy a cheap, poorly-stitched dress like this. Yunho should have more than enough money to buy branded clothes from the proceeds of his work.

"Eat first. I'll prepare your bed."

Yunho returned with a plate of steaming taro roots he had just finished steaming, then entered another room where he had previously taken clothes.

This was a confusing beginning, Mingi thought. Perhaps he would get information more easily than he suspected, or perhaps the opposite. From his perspective, Yunho was a kind and innocent young man who easily accepted a stranger into his home, even treating him so well when what he had wasn't much. Mingi admired his kindness.

But on the other hand, he was also suspicious. He thought that perhaps Yunho's kindness was just a façade. That, in reality, Yunho was a person with a bad personality who could easily manipulate others.

"My friend sometimes comes here and stays. He also helped me gather money to buy this mattress. Not bad, right?" Yunho emerged from another part of the room, carrying a rolled-up mattress and a mat and blanket. He neatly arranged the woven mat beside the chair, placing the mattress and the folded blanket on it. "Sleep here."

"Are you alone?" Mingi asked, although he himself didn't understand why he was asking that.

"There's another mattress. Don't worry; I wouldn't offer a place if I wasn't sure it could comfortably accommodate. The other one is usually used by my friend when he comes here. You can use it as long as you're here."

Mingi didn't ask much or protest anything. Besides being tired after spending the last two weeks searching for drug warehouses, he also wanted to stick to his role. It looked more natural and convincing to Yunho that he was just a poor young man, exhausted, and seeking shelter.

He would continue his investigation tomorrow.