Chapter Text
CHAPTER 01
Down On My Knees
In a dark alley, a young man runs hastily. His sweaty, scared face frequently looks back to where he ran off, and every second seems to be like a ticking bomb in his ear. He needs to run away as fast as he can, or else it will be the end of him. Whoever is running after him must not catch him.
As he was running away from someone, he spotted a right corner where he knew he could hide in. Without wasting any second, he immediately dashed towards that corner and stuck himself against the wall. He could hear the footsteps of the person he was running away from growing nearer and clearer.
He shouldn't be caught; whatever happens, he shouldn't let that person get him. From what he remembered, he saw two people running after him, but as the distance became greater, he noticed that the other person disappeared, leaving the other person who was currently chasing after him.
The other person must have realized that they shouldn't leave the patrol car alone, so he went back and left his partner. The young man thanked under his breath that he's being chased by one person; having two could have been difficult to deal with.
The young man peeked against the wall and saw the person wandering his eyes around. It seems like the person is not familiar with this place considering how he didn't bat an eye in the corner he was hiding in. Seeing him, it made the young man laugh in disbelief.
"How can a police officer be so dumb?" He muttered as he laughed and peeked behind the wall. He got even happier when the police officer decided to take the left corner. Now, he can freely run away. This was easier than what he thought!
He unglued himself from the wall and snorted at the sight of the police officer running in the wrong direction. "Oh no, today is not your good day, Mr. Police Officer!" He squealed. He was about to take a step when he heard something odd behind him.
Nothing was there with him when he went to that corner; it must have been the wind. But it's the sound of keys hitting each other. Before he could even shrug it off, his biggest fear suddenly appeared behind him.
The young man could only freeze when a hand touched his shoulder. At that moment, he knew that he was doomed. It couldn't be a ghost; it's not his imagination; someone is really there behind him. He grew more anxious, his vision trembling in fear of whatever was going to happen next.
Then a voice, a mocking voice, echoed against his ear, and it was then the young male realized that there was no escape.
“Minors are strictly prohibited to roam around during curfew hours, no? ”
The young man exhaled shakily, his eyes trying to look at the other person through his peripheral vision. This man was not the same police officer who ran off in the wrong direction; this must be the officer who, he thought, went back to the car. He provoked him, but how did he even find this corner?
“I… I didn't d-do anything wrong…! ” He defended. The man beside him hummed in question as if he didn't hear what the young man said. He leaned closer to the young man and stuck his ear out.
“What? I didn't hear you! Can you repeat what you said? ” He knew that the man was trying to make fun of him. As the police officer was waiting for his answer, the young man took the opportunity to look around and find a way to escape. It should be easy; he just needs to get this man away from him.
While the police officer was not looking at him, he wouldn't know what the young man would do next. Without wasting a second, the young man used all his strength to push the police meters away from him and swiftly turned around to break free. He did! He finally broke free!
‘Ha! Dumb bitches! How can a trained police officer like him not defeat me—’
But it was unfortunate enough for him to not know that the man who caught him happened to be a cheetah with gorilla strength. In a brief second, the young man was kicked swiftly at the crook of his neck and quickly went unconscious. Just like that.
The police officer took a deep huff and shook his head. “If you had repeated what you said earlier, you wouldn't be in this state. "Yikes," He said. He crouched down to check the severity of his kick on the young man's neck, wincing when he realized that he had kicked too hard.
“Oh shit… hyung will be very mad at me…” He clicked his tongue after his words. With enough strength, he lifted the young boy off the ground; thankfully, the boy was not too tall and heavy like what he expected. The young boy was rather light as a feather; it feels like he's carrying a baby.
While judging the boy's weight, the previous officer who was called dumb suddenly appeared in the same corner and bent his torso 90 degrees to recover his breath. “The b-boy… huff… is not in there! He must have… huff… run off somewhere—”
But he couldn't finish his words as soon as he stood up properly to talk to his co-officer. Seeing the same young man in his co-officer’s arm unconscious, his eyes immediately widened and his blood rushed through his entire system.
“Wooyoung! We're supposed to catch him, not put him in this state! What did I tell you about this?! ”
The aforementioned male smiled downwards and wiggled the boy in his arms in front of the other person, teasing him. “Come on, Yeosang-hyung, he'll wake up soon, trust me, yeah? ” Then he bared his 32-tooth smile to the stressed police officer.
The smile at the end didn't even help. Being the superior between them, it's his responsibility to take care of the task. But this is not the result he wanted. How is he going to explain to the higher-ups about this?
Arriving at the police station, the superior carried the unconscious boy towards the clinic and ordered the nurse-in-charge to check the boy's condition. Thankfully, it was expected that the boy would wake up soon. The higher-ups haven't arrived yet, so there's still time for the young boy to wake up.
Kang Yeosang, Gyeonggam (Senior Inspector) Kang of the Seoul Gangnam Station. He is the known superior assigned in the city's station and was known in Gangnam for his successful operations. Being the superior means he's responsible for his team's performance and the tasks the higher-ups give to them. But given his situation right now, standing in front of the unconscious alibi, he totally made the wrong decision of choosing that male to be his partner for this task.
“Poor boy, bet he’ll be traumatized as soon as he wakes up.” A tall male appeared next to Yeosang. “Just how strong was the kick? And it even left a mark? He's getting more dangerous, crazy.”
“I told him to avoid using his techniques during tasks like this, but everything I said must have passed through his other ear, Yunho-ah.” The tall male named Yunho couldn't agree more.
“But at least it made the tasks easier, though?" It usually takes time to catch young people, some of them would need weapons to use as a threat, but Wooyoung does it in just one kick.” Though what Yunho said was agreeable, Yeosang still thinks that it's dangerous and that using it should not be treated as a way to capture suspects!
A sound of someone's boots came running from behind Yeosang and Yunho, and before both of them could even figure, a loud voice greeted their peaceful ears.
“Yunho was right! I'm just so cool! ” Yeosang almost lost his balance when an arm swung around his neck, unlike Yunho, who managed to absorb the impact as soon as the loud male made contact.
“When will you ever learn how to control your loud-ass mouth, Wooyoung? Be professional! ” Yunho scolded, but Wooyoung only responded by mimicking his words, completely ignoring the seriousness Yunho tried to imply.
Yeosang didn't bother to react when Yunho purposely smacked Wooyoung's forehead and when Wooyoung asked for his sympathy. The argument between the two continued while the superior remained watching the unconscious boy. The boy really needs to wake up before the higher-ups arrive.
Yunho ended up accepting his defeat and then was kissed on the cheeks by Wooyoung.
Jung Wooyoung, the most chaotic but quick-witted police officer in Yeosang’s team. Like Yunho said, Wooyoung is the loudest person in the station; he never gets behind every latest news and is always the source of Yeosang's stress. Despite his loud character, Wooyoung has a great ability in physical activities. Ever since he was a kid, he was trained to master karate, judo, and taekwondo.
The special kick he had used earlier during the task was the technique he learned while earning the black belt in taekwondo. The aggressive spirit never left his body; he carried it until he finished college and trained to become a police officer.
Wooyoung was recognized because of his physical ability, and that's how he ended up being with Yeosang in one task. It wasn't the first time he used his special kick during work hours; to be frank, everyone in the station already knows how crazy his kick could be.
“Yeosangie-hyung, you're worrying too much! He's not a kid anymore, you see? I only used a 78% kick; it shouldn't be that severe!" Though he did find the kick severe earlier, Wooyoung needs to gaslight his dear superior to make that frown in his forehead disappear.
Yunho snorted, “You prick, it's like saying that the damage is 78%. Do you think you could overcome 78% hunger? Bet you can't, idiot.”
Wooyoung rolled his eyes at Yunho and looked at the unconscious boy after. This was the same boy who called Yeosang ‘dumb’, he has the right to protect his hyung at all costs. Even if Yeosang knew beforehand that he'd end up using his special kick, he still picked him to be his partner for the task.
“What’s the deal with this boy, by the way? ” Wooyoung asked.
Yeosang crossed his arms. “He was suspected to be an alibi of a drug lord that the Gangnam Drug Control Unit is trying to track right now. We have to hand him to General Hwang as soon as the general and his team arrive.”
Wooyoung couldn't take his eyes off the young man. Maybe he finds him too young to be involved with such dangerous activities. But it's not new to him to witness young people being used for business; he had dealt with a few cases like this, and it's awful to discover that these things are still happening.
“You can go outside; I'll stay here and wait for him to wake up. Yunho-ah, take over the desk for me.” With that stern order, Wooyoung and Yunho didn't object and left the clinic.
“Have you eaten, Wooyoung? Damn, I'm hungry; I've been doing paperwork since morning!” Yunho stretched his arms as they walked towards the front desk. He waited for Wooyoung to respond, but he received no reply from the loud male. He looked over his shoulder to check the male—only to find out that there's no Wooyoung behind him.
Yunho huffed and continued stretching his arms. As expected from Wooyoung, that boy will always go off somewhere and annoy other people's worlds.
Wooyoung arrived at the other annex of the station. The station was divided into 5 areas: one of the areas was the clinic where Yeosang is, the other one was the front desk, the other one was for police officers like Yunho and him, the other one was for paperwork, and the last one was for the monitoring.
In the monitoring area, they work on several cases like investigating current issues in the city or discussing the current events that shall be taken care of first. Wooyoung found the area interesting, but he'd rather be in the field than sitting around.
He crouched down on the floor lower than the barrier of the cubicle and sneakily went to the third cubicle. He slowly peeked his eyes above the barrier and watched the person in that cubicle, waiting for the other person to notice him.
Noticing that the other person seemed to be really focused on his task, Wooyoung knocked his knuckles against the barrier, and he finally caught the attention of the other person—who flinched frantically and almost jumped out of his chair.
“Wooyoung-ah! You…! What are you doing here again?! Do you really have to come to me like that?” Wooyoung laughed in response. He stood up properly and leaned over the barrier, sending his hand over the papers that the other person was working on.
“Are these new cases, Soobin?” He asked. The other person named Soobin hummed in response.
Choi Soobin is another police officer in the same team as Wooyoung, but he's assigned to a different area, which is the monitoring. Having Wooyoung around became a usual visit for him, as the male often sneaks around and sticks his nose into different cases Soobin is assigned to deal with. The majority of the cases were already known by Wooyoung.
“What are these, though? ” Wooyoung picked up a folder and opened it with curiosity in his mind.
“It's the Busan Dokjeom Operation. General turned this up yesterday, and Yeosang-hyung assigned me to look this up.” Soobin responded.
Wooyoung turned all the pages. "There are no leads? Did the general forget how to turn up cases?” He asked with his brows furrowed. Sticking beside Soobin means he knows what goes around the monitoring area. This is the first time he saw a case that was entirely pure events and no leads were found.
“I don't know. General is gatekeeping the names.” Wooyoung could take a hint that Soobin is growing tired from the case. Looking up a case without leads feels like you're just reading a story without any characters at all. It must have been tiring for the poor Soobin, who had been working on many cases for the past few days.
Wooyoung thanked his decision for putting stress on his physical abilities instead of his mental ones. Seeing Soobin's eye bags underneath his eyes was enough to scare him. His eyes traveled from Soobin's eye bags to the papers he scanned earlier. The Busan Dokjeom Operation.
When he got home, Wooyoung locked the door behind him and went straight to the bathroom. Today was hella stress, but he thinks Yeosang was more stressed than him because of what he did. Thankfully, the young man did wake up before the General arrived, though what he did left trauma to the boy. The boy almost couldn't speak; that's why Yeosang had to use his full force.
He swiftly took off his police uniform, throwing it in the laundry, and went to the sink to stare at himself in the mirror. He had gotten thinner; that's what he noticed. His hands traveled behind his head to untie his hair, freeing his mullet hair from his ponytail.
Not long after, Wooyoung showered under the warm water, releasing all the tensions from his body.
After showering, he walked out from the bathroom wearing a full robe with his hair tied into a ponytail again. He slumped down on the couch and fetched the remote from the coffee table. He switched to different channels at first until he heard news about crimes, and he stopped there. He placed the remote back in its place and grabbed the cigarette next to where the remote was placed.
When the cigarette was lit, he threw the lighter on the coffee table and leaned against the couch. He laid his head on top of the sofa’s head before blowing a heavy smoke from his mouth; along with the fading smoke was the stress he had bottled up today. He closed his eyes for a bit while his ears remained open to consume the news.
But then, something piqued Wooyoung's attention.
“...The Busan Dokjeom Operation was said to be the lead behind the unsuccessful construction of the Gangnam Arena. The Gangnam police team is currently monitoring the case of this event and we will be providing more updates in the next segment…”
Wooyoung looked intensely at the screen, staring at the blank photos that were labeled as unknown leads. The stress from earlier that he thought he had killed resurrected in his system. He shouldn't be that involved since they weren't assigned to take the matter of the case on their hands, but it's killing him inside.
He blew another amount of smoke before he stood up from the couch and went straight to his work desk. He bit the cigarette in his mouth as he turned on the computer in front of him and went straight to Google, hoping to find possible answers.
Search: Leads of Busan Dokjeom Operation.
Given that the case is transferred to their team, the Busan team might have failed to uncover the case. If that's the case, why isn't the general making an intense move to solve this case? Why give it to the monitoring team instead of the inspectors?
Results:
Busan Dokjeom Operation: What is happening to Busan and how is this related to BDO?
Was the Busan Dokjeam Operation case transferred to Gangnam? How big is this case?!
Why are there no leads in the Busan Dokjeon Operation case? Who could be the leads?
Wooyoung blew another smoke before tapping the last discussion link. The screen transferred him to a new tab, and discussions immediately blew up.
Why are there no leads in the Busan Dokjeon Operation case? Who could be the leads?
Who could be the leads? Do you guys have any ideas?
From Sora: I heard from my uncle, who was a police officer in Busan, that the leads could possibly be the government. The construction was unsuccessful because they corrupted the promised funds!
- Jiwo replied: Makes sense! Who else could be the culprits if it's not the government? It's awful to discover that those crocodiles ran off with our taxes!
From Hanseul: I have friends in Busan, and they told me that the Busan Dokjeom Operation was led by mafias in Busan. I'm not sure if they are serious, but they claimed that they have seen people (who they claimed to be part of the mafia) moving around the city every night to do their operations.
- Jaeil replied: I'm from Busan, and yes, I also witnessed suspicious people moving around the city every midnight. I've heard rumors from my friends (who are working in the government) that there's another group sponsoring the Gangnam Arena.
- Doyoung replied: I think the operation was led by the Choi family.
- Hanseul replied to Doyoung: Choi Family? Care to elaborate, boy?
- Doyoung replied to Hanseul: I used to live in Busan back when I was a kid, and my grandparents told me about a big family, which is the Choi family. My grandpa told me that I should stay away from them because they are part of mafias.
- Jaeil replied to Doyoung: Is there any links or news about this Choi Family?
- Doyoung replied to Jaeil: You can't search for them anywhere. But you can try on darkroom.com . Some people discuss mafias on that website.
- Jaeil replied to Doyoung: Omg thank u!
Wooyoung didn't waste a second; he tapped the link, and he was sent to a website called Dark Room. As he scrolled down, his stomach turned the moment he saw the posts on the website—full of disgusting content that he wished he had never seen.
“Who in the flying fuck would watch this kind of videos?” He muttered as videos of unimaginable content flashed across his eyes. Yeah, it was named "dark room" for a reason.
He snapped off from judging the contents and went back to his initial intentions, the Choi family. He typed the name in the search bar and hit enter. Results came in, but something made him upset.
“What? I need to pay? Tsk…” He leaned against the chair and pushed his hair back. Did the General happen to use this website and end up paying a large sum of Won to unlock this information? Is that the reason why he's gatekeeping the names? Does Yeosang have to pay the General for the names?
His tongue played with the cigarette in his mouth as he contemplated. Should he continue? He sure can cover up the sum needed to unlock the information, but what if he regrets it later on? But if he does pay to unlock it, he can help Soobin and Yeosang with the case.
Wooyoung huffed and made a final decision. He ended up paying an amount of 50,000 won to access the information. He blew another smoke and stuck the cigarette between his index and middle finger. He leaned slightly to read the contents.
The Choi Family Bloodline
South Korea’s Biggest Mafia Line
Reading the second line widened Wooyoung's eyes. So mafias do exist in his country?
“Hold on… Choi Yeonjun? That Choi Yeonjun back then? He's… a member of the mafia?” Wooyoung uttered in disbelief. He scoffed and licked the corners of his mouth, purely in question due to what he just discovered. “So I made war with a son of the mafia back then? Thoughtful of him to keep me alive all this time.”
He could clearly remember how heated things were between him and Choi Yeonjun. They were never on good terms, instead, they are labeled as the great enemies of all time. He had always hated Choi Yeonjun because of his awful personality. And now, he discovered an even more awful truth.
He sipped on his cigarette and blew smoke. “He's dirtier than I thought.” He mumbled, staring at Yeonjun's picture with rage. There was a hint of joy building inside his stomach, and he knew exactly why he was happy deep down. ‘You are dirtier than me, Yeonjun-ah.’
Next to Yeonjun's picture is another sibling named Choi Beomgyu, but a label was put underneath his profile saying “Voluntarily Inactive” which means this boy, the youngest Choi, might have chosen to not engage in dirty work. Seeing his picture with him wearing a uniform, Wooyoung believed that the youngest Choi must be still in university.
After the youngest Choi, Wooyoung's eyes quickly shifted to the other Choi in the first line. From the looks of it, he must be the oldest Choi. He looked more mature compared to the other two Chois, and his eyes held a bold, deep glare. Not only that, but his whole aura felt different for Wooyoung.
The oldest Choi planted a weird, eerie feeling in Wooyoung's system. Even if it was just a picture, Wooyoung could feel the stare piercing in his face. Wooyoung couldn't deny the fact that those sharp eyes matched perfectly with the male’s overall features—his eyes weren't the only ones that were sharp; his jaw... those cheekbones... the nose... and not to mention the visible broad shoulders that were barely shown in the picture.
Wooyoung, somehow, ended up staring at the oldest Choi’s picture. How can a mafia be so… masculine? He suddenly remembered the reflection of himself in the mirror earlier, comparing himself to the oldest Choi—he definitely lost.
“Is he the Grand Duke of the North? He literally mogged his siblings with just one picture.” He commented. He leaned against his chair this time and blew another smoke. Underneath the profiles of the Choi siblings, there was a label tagging them as “Part of Choi Mafia Bloodline” with another tag under the oldest Choi’s profile saying…
“The Successor.”
Unfortunately, the oldest Choi's name was left blank. But that part is not yet important for Wooyoung. The owner of the post claimed to be the son of the Chois' main bodyguard back then, but his father died after a tragic accident, and the Chois were not able to protect his father, so he posted the info about the Chois to avenge his father.
Wooyoung paid less attention to the owner of the post; instead, he saved a screenshot of the family tree, hoping that it would be helpful sooner. This will be a big help to Soobin; at least his money won't go to waste!
After making sure that everything was saved, he stared at the photo again, and the same eerie feeling attacked his body again. The photos could be made out of AI, and the whole post could possibly be made to scam people, but his instincts were telling him the opposite thing, especially when Choi Yeonjun exists in the bloodline.
If the General decides to choose Yeosang's team to solve the case, Wooyoung will end up facing these people behind the screen. Not only Choi Yeonjun, but also the oldest Choi, who looks like he can kill.
Busan Dokjeom Operation, the known operation group around South Korea. No one really knew who the people behind this operation were, but tonight, Wooyoung uncovered a possible truth.
Down on my knees