They'd barely made it up the basement stairs when they heard it — a faint clicking sound.
The bookstore door swung open. Choi Tae-ho rolled in on his wheelchair, Oh In-muk following close behind.
Hyeon-ju muttered under her breath. "Why is he here? Of all times."
Choi Tae-ho wheeled himself toward the seating area. "Sit down."
Only Hyeon-ju sat. In-muk took his place behind Choi Tae-ho, while Joe, Geon-woo, and Woo-jin lined up behind Hyeon-ju.
Choi Tae-ho looked down at her. His expression hadn't moved. "What have you done? Locking people up in the basement — what is that?"
Hyeon-ju said nothing.
"You're not going to answer me?"
Woo-jin moved to step forward. Joe was faster.
"I apologize, sir." Joe bowed. "This is entirely our fault. Something happened last night."
Choi Tae-ho looked up at him. "What something?"
Joe looked at Hyeon-ju.
"I said, what was it?"
Hyeon-ju gave Joe a small nod. Joe straightened up. "We were tailing Yang Jae-myeong."
Choi Tae-ho's expression hardened. "Why?"
"Grandpa." Hyeon-ju spoke for herself this time. "The loan sharks out there are desperate to get their hands on Yang Jae-myeong. We find him for them, they pay us. Simple."
Choi Tae-ho let out a short breath. "You did all this for money?"
"Making money isn't a crime."
Choi Tae-ho shifted his gaze to Joe, Geon-woo, and Woo-jin, taking each of them in. "And what was your part in this?"
Before any of them could speak, Hyeon-ju cut in. "They're my friends. They're here to protect me. That's what they did."
Choi Tae-ho looked back at Hyeon-ju. A beat of silence. "I'm disappointed in you."
Hyeon-ju's face stiffened.
"Same." Her voice was flat. "I'm disappointed in you too, Grandpa."
Choi Tae-ho said nothing.
"You already knew something was off about Yang Jae-myeong. Didn't you?" The edge in her voice sharpened. "One word from you and Mr. Hwang would've handled it on the spot. So why did you just sit on it? You're frustrated with me? I've been more frustrated with you."
She turned to Geon-woo. "Take that bandage off."
Geon-woo blinked. "Sorry?"
"Now."
Geon-woo slowly unwrapped the bandage. The scar the boss of Smile Capital had left behind came into view.
Hyeon-ju pointed at Geon-woo's face and looked straight at Choi Tae-ho. "If you keep letting Yang Jae-myeong and Kim Jun-min run their scams, people like Geon-woo are the ones who keep paying for it. Every won you spend trying to help people goes straight into those men's pockets. If you actually want to help anyone, pull out the rot first. Starting with Yang Jae-myeong."
Choi Tae-ho's eyes fixed on Geon-woo's face and stayed there. "Who did that?"
"The boss of Smile Capital, sir." Geon-woo answered.
"His name?"
"Kim Myeong-gil. He had a long knife scar running down his left cheek."
Something shifted in Choi Tae-ho's face. He went still, like he was turning the name over somewhere behind his eyes.
"All of you, head home."
Hyeon-ju stood. Joe, Geon-woo, and Woo-jin fell in behind her.
She paused at the door and looked back. "We'll be going then, Grandpa."
Choi Tae-ho didn't respond. His eyes were still fixed on Geon-woo's face.
Hyeon-ju held his gaze for a moment, then turned and walked out. The others followed. The door clicked shut behind them.
In-muk stepped closer to Choi Tae-ho. "Sir — could it be a coincidence?"
Choi Tae-ho was still looking straight ahead. "Find out whether the CEO of Smile Capital is the same Kim Myeong-gil we know."
"Yes, sir."
---
Outside, the street was quiet. Hyeon-ju leaned against her car.
Woo-jin called out to her. "Juju."
Hyeon-ju laughed. "Getting comfortable, aren't we?"
Woo-jin shrugged. "You called us friends back there. Honestly? That felt good."
"So?"
"So I thought it'd be nice if we talked more casually. We're a team, after all. Juju."
Hyeon-ju tilted her head, smiling. "We're not a team unless we talk casually?"
"I'm just saying it'd be nice to feel more like one big happy family. Just a suggestion." Woo-jin grinned.
"If we're family, the oldest pays for the meal. So that's you?"
Woo-jin snapped to attention. "I deeply value formality, ma'am."
"I'll treat everyone."
Joe said it plainly. Hyeon-ju looked at him. There was nothing about him that read older than Woo-jin.
"Really? You're older than Woo-jin?"
Woo-jin turned. "Wait — are you saying I look old?"
"I'm kidding. Relax." Hyeon-ju looked back at Joe.
"Twenty-seven this year." Joe looked at Woo-jin. "You?"
"Twenty-six. Not that far apart." Woo-jin pointed at Geon-woo. "He's twenty-five, but he's from the 1107th class. I'm from the 1140th."
Hyeon-ju drew a breath. "So Geon-woo's your sunbae? How does that feel?"
Woo-jin snapped into a military salute, arm shooting straight up. "I deeply respect my sunbae!"
Geon-woo reached over and pulled his arm down. "Okay. I get it. Can we go eat now?"
Hyeon-ju nodded. "Let's use Grandpa's card. What do you want?"
"Rib eye." Geon-woo said.
"Then you're paying."
"Barbecue buffet." Woo-jin said.
Hyeon-ju looked at him. "A barbecue buffet?"
"I know a really good place."
"Sure, let's go."
Woo-jin stepped out in front and waved them along. "Let's go!"
---
The restaurant was loud and warm, thick with the smell of charcoal and sesame oil.
Hyeon-ju sat across from Woo-jin, Joe beside her. The grill sat cold and empty in the center of the table. Geon-woo had gone to fetch the meat from the buffet counter.
"How long have you known Geon-woo?" Hyeon-ju asked.
Woo-jin leaned back. "I don't think that really matters, honestly. Knowing someone a long time doesn't automatically make them your friend."
Hyeon-ju nodded.
"What matters more is whether your paths have run in the same direction. Even a short conversation can give you a real understanding of someone." He paused, turning his glass in his hand. "It's like boxing. You trade punches and you learn who the other person is. One hit — 'so that's the kind of life you've lived.' Another one back — 'well, this is how I lived, you punk.'" He smiled. "Everything's in there. Who you are, what you've been through."
Hyeon-ju looked at Joe. "What about you? You three came in together — did you know them before?"
"Met them before joining. We used to go to the same restaurant."
Woo-jin's smile faded slightly. "Smile Capital bastards destroyed it."
Hyeon-ju was quiet for a moment. "Sounds like we were all destined to run into Smile Capital." She looked at Joe. "What did you do before this? Military?"
"I'm from Japan. Came here six years ago for medical treatment." He paused. "It didn't work out. So I stayed, kept looking for options, and eventually ran out of money. Started working as a bodyguard."
Hyeon-ju looked at him. "You're sick?"
Joe smiled faintly. "You could say that. I was a boxer too, like those two. Retired at twenty-two. Parkinsonism."
Hyeon-ju had noticed his hands trembling sometimes. She'd never thought much of it. Now she understood. She opened her mouth, then closed it. Nothing she could think to say didn't sound hollow.
Geon-woo came back and set two full plates of meat down on the table. "They had pork belly and beef brisket. Grabbed both."
Woo-jin's eyes lit up. "Good call."
Geon-woo laid the first pieces onto the grill. The fat hit the heat and started to spit and sizzle. He adjusted the pieces with his tongs, watching the edges carefully.
"So," Geon-woo said, not looking up from the grill. "Are you and President Choi related?"
Hyeon-ju looked at him. "That came out of nowhere."
"I've been curious since the beginning, Juju." Woo-jin reached for a piece of garlic and dropped it onto the grill beside the meat.
Hyeon-ju watched the garlic start to brown. "Short version."
A beat passed.
"I was diagnosed with spinal cancer when I was eight." She picked up her glass. "Cured by ten, but my dad died somewhere in between. Got sent to an orphanage."
"How old were you when he passed?" Woo-jin asked.
"Nine." She set the glass down. "I hated the orphanage. Ran away. Got so hungry at one point that I ate leftover jjajangmyeon someone had left out on their doorstep." She said it plainly, without embarrassment. "Worked at bars with other runaways for a while, but I couldn't keep it up. Went back. Then at seventeen I got transferred to a different orphanage. Grandpa was the director."
Geon-woo flipped the meat. "President Choi?"
"Yeah. He said he built it because he wanted to do something good." Hyeon-ju watched the steam rise off the grill. "He was especially kind to me. At first I honestly thought something was wrong with him." She let out a short laugh. "But eventually I understood. He meant it. Kendo, riding a motorcycle, everything I know how to do — Grandpa paid for all of it. Because I had nothing."
Woo-jin slid a piece of cooked brisket onto Hyeon-ju's plate without asking. She picked it up and ate it.
Geon-woo put a fresh batch of pork belly on the grill. He was quiet for a moment. "I could tell right away that he was a good person." The fat began to sizzle again. "I started working part-time jobs in middle school to pay off my dad's debt. At some point it reached a hundred million won." He set the tongs down on the edge of the grill. "I just went completely blank. I know exactly what that number feels like sitting on top of you." He picked the tongs back up. "When President Choi handed me that money and told me to pay it off, I decided right then. I was going to protect him no matter what."
The table was quiet for a moment, just the sound of the grill and the noise of the restaurant around them.
Hyeon-ju reached over and turned a piece of pork belly that was starting to char on one side. "Grandpa used to tell me — if you want to know someone's character, open your heart first. A person with real depth will recognize that sincerity and give it back. Someone shallow will just try to use it against you."
Geon-woo nodded slowly.
"You're a good person, Geon-woo." Hyeon-ju said.
Geon-woo said nothing. He just moved the cooked pieces off the grill and laid fresh ones down. His ears had gone slightly red, though whether that was from the heat rising off the charcoal or something else was hard to say.