Chapter Text
Revenge was a dead end, an illusion that led nowhere, they said. Jisung had stopped counting the number of times those words had been said to him, as if simple truths could erase his pain. But none of those voices carried the weight of what he had experienced at the age of 14. None of them had felt the sense of his world collapsing in a single night. None of them had known the emptiness, the void left by the loss of both his parents. For Jisung, revenge was not just a goal. It was a necessity, a duty, a sense of justice.
His father and mother had died in a terrible car accident. His father, who was driving at the time of the accident, had been unable to avoid the truck coming in the opposite direction. It had crashed into their vehicle head-on at very high speed. It had all happened very quickly. The impact was so brutal that the medical team could do nothing for them when they arrived at the disaster site.
That day, Jisung was on a school trip. When he returned, his grandfather had come to pick him up. Jisung remembered that the trip had been silent. He had asked him why his parents hadn't come to pick him up.
His grandfather remained silent, but Jisung saw a tear roll down his cheek.
When he entered his grandparents' house, his grandmother was accompanied by a male and female police officers. At that moment, he was informed of his parents' death.
He was just a child. Learning of his parents' death so suddenly had a profound effect on the young boy.
Jisung had never really grieved. From the age of 15, he had wondered about the circumstances surrounding this tragedy. His father was an extremely careful and attentive driver. He never drank excessively, as he didn't particularly enjoy alcoholic beverages or spirits. The accident had happened late at night. The police had suggested that he might have fallen asleep for a few seconds.
But, again, his father was a very vigilant person. If he had felt tired, he would have pulled over to the side of the road to rest, or his mother would have advised him to do so. Many scenarios played out in the child's mind, but none of them seemed right. For him, something was wrong with this case involving his parents.
At the age of 16, he was convinced of one thing: someone had deliberately killed his parents.
The man, who was driving the lorry at the time of the incident and who caused the accident, said something to the police officers that was not noted by the inspectors: "I felt my eyelids getting heavy even though I had just slept for three hours. I couldn't react in time. I lost control of the steering wheel and brakes in a matter of seconds."
This man had been under the influence of drugs. His medical examination report had mysteriously disappeared, but Jisung had read about the effects of the drug online and even asked a doctor about them. It all matched up. Either the man had lied to the police when he said he hadn't been drinking or taking drugs, or someone had drugged him.
A few months after this discovery, the lorry driver was brutally murdered. Three stab wounds and a bullet to the head.
The Lee Group’s signature.
This mafia group was one of the five major families that ruled the Korean mafia. It was one of the most influential and powerful families in the world. The Lees had been active since the late 1950s and continued to operate behind the scenes. For years, the Korean federal police had been trying to put the leaders of this group in prison, including the current leader, Lee Minho.
However, the group was clever and skilful and could not be caught so easily.
There were numerous accidents and incidents involving the Lee group. Murders, gang retaliation, missing persons—this group spread fear among the Korean population. The organisation had adopted a kind of signature when killing traitors or those who did not repay their debts: they would stab them cruelly three times before shooting them in the middle of the skull.
Jisung could not be certain that the group intended to target his parents or the lorry driver directly. In any case, if his parents had died and he had been left an orphan at the age of 14, the Lee group would have his parents' blood on their hands.
Jisung was determined to take revenge. And he had had ten years to prepare for it.
At the age of 18, Jisung passed the national police examinations with distinction, achieving a record-breaking average score. He had worked tirelessly to pass them, locking himself in his room to study. He had achieved his goal.
In just two years, he had quickly earned a reputation within the capital's police force. He worked at a police station in one of the city's rich neighbourhoods and had managed to solve countless cases and arrest criminals. Some would even say he was a real prodigy. He was in perfect physical condition. He was very intelligent, and his logical mind was an advantage.
At only 24 years old, he was accepted into the South Korean federal police force, a high-ranking position, but one that was crucial for him.
Now he could finally carry out his plan: to destroy the Lee group.
He had done everything he could to get this position. From the age of 15, he wanted to get there, and he had done it. He had managed to put a large number of criminals in prison, even though he had less experience than the other police officers. His rapid rise through the ranks had made more than one person jealous, but he didn't care, because he had only one goal in mind.
At twenty-five, he finally got the one case he’d been chasing his whole life — the Lee case. He was going to bring down Lee Minho, the most powerful mafia boss in the world.
“Congratulations, Mr. Han.”
His superior — a man in his forties who clearly cared a great deal about his appearance — handed him the file, his expression perfectly serious.
“Your colleague decided to drop the investigation. According to him, Minho’s impossible to catch. I immediately thought of you — your former supervisors spoke highly of your skills.”
Jisung fought back a grin as he took the folder. Everything was there — the evidence, the old reports, every classified detail on the organization. At last, the case was his.
“This is a serious case, but also a highly dangerous one,” the man behind the desk went on.
“Several of our agents have died trying to bring them in. They’re ruthless and will kill without hesitation to protect their group.”
Jisung already knew all of this. What he wanted was to get out of that office and go through the file thoroughly. Perhaps it contained something he hadn’t yet unearthed about the group, or about Minho himself.
“I’ve also been informed that you prefer to work alone,” the forty-something continued.
“I’ll agree to that, but only on one condition: whenever you go out on a mission, you notify me. Another officer will be assigned to assist you. We’ve never let one of our agents operate solo, and you won’t be the exception. Is that clear?”
Jisung nodded, already thinking he’d find a way around that problem. He didn’t want anyone interfering with his investigation — he’d always worked alone. And with this one, especially, he wasn’t going to let anyone ruin his plan.
“Good. You’re dismissed.”
At his word, Jisung stood, ready to leave."
He made his way to the office door, holding the file firmly against his chest.
Placing a hand on the doorframe, his supervisor added, “Make sure you do this properly, Han. We’ve been attempting to dismantle the Lee Group for more than thirty years.”
He was well aware of it. Since his parents’ death, he had been determined to see Lee Minho brought down.
But he gave him a brief smile to reassure him, and finally, he left the office.
𓆰𓆪
Jisung greeted the caretaker of his building, who was repairing the door leading to the stairs. The lift had not been working for several months now, so he had to climb five floors by foot.
Fortunately, his job required him to be in excellent physical shape. Five floors did not tire him. He was not even out of breath when he entered his appartment.
Jisung lived alone and had no pets. His grandfather had passed away when he was 20. He didn't want to continue living alone in the big house where his grandparents had lived. So he sold it and, with the money, was able to buy a small flat in the centre of Seoul. The building was dilapidated, but Jisung had done some work on his own place to make it more welcoming. He felt comfortable there. It was modest, but he rarely brought friends or dates back to it. It was his home.
He took off his shoes at the door and put on fresh socks so as not to dirty the floor. He placed his bag on one of the chairs at the dining table before heading straight for the kitchen. He poured himself a glass of cold water. Leaning against the counter, he stared at his bag. The file was inside, but he hadn't touched it yet. He had waited until the end of his working day to go home so that he could read it in peace.
He could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins. It was just a file. Nevertheless, he knew it was the key to launching his plan of destruction against the Lee group. He was only missing a few pieces of the puzzle. He worked for the federal police and was even highly regarded. However, he did not have access to all files. Some were sensitive cases, such as Lee Minho's. The information contained within was confidential and must not leave the walls of the federal police under any circumstances. Only the inspectors in charge of the file could access it. Now, he had become the chief inspector of the file. Dozens of colleagues who had worked on it had failed, but he knew that with his unwavering determination, he could succeed. And he was going to do so.
With the glass clattering behind him, he decided to go and fetch the file. Once he had it in his hands, he walked towards his office.
Anyone discovering this room for the first time would have been startled. Its walls were plastered with photos, sheets of paper and red threads, like in action films where the protagonist is a detective searching for a serial killer. The method was well known and even renowned for finding dangerous individuals or solving complex cases. The threads were used to link the elements and connect them together. The evidence, photos, parking tickets, restaurant receipts, and contracts helped to remember what had happened on a specific date. This provided an overview and a clear chronology of events.
At his grandparents' house, he had started to build a board. When he moved, the evidence had accumulated so quickly that he needed an entire wall. Soon, all three walls were covered.
And in the middle of it all, the name “LEE MINHO” was written. There was no photo, no information about the leader of the Lee group. He was the most discreet man in the world, operating from the shadows or through his henchmen. All Jisung knew was that he had become the head of the group at the age of twenty-two, after the death of his father, Lee Kangdae. Now he was twenty-six. He didn’t know what he looked like or how he behaved. The man was a complete mystery.
Fortunately, Jisung had gathered enough information to understand how his group operated.
Jisung sat down behind his desk and opened the file. He thought he would find a photo of Minho, but the detectives didn't have one either. He swore under his breath, thinking that things had already got off to a bad start.
He spent more than three hours reading the entire file. Three-quarters of the information was already posted on his wall. However, he learned a lot about the Lee group's territory, the activities they engaged in, but above all, their method of recruiting new members.
That was exactly what he was looking for: to be able to enter the group.
On paper, it all seemed easy. Yet he knew that it was something that could cost him his life. The Lees' methods were the cruelest in the mafia world. The group and its members came above all else, and if they discovered he was a mole, they would not hesitate to murder him with three stab wounds to the abdomen and a bullet to the head, the Lee family's signature.
For the next three days, Jisung stayed locked up in his home so he could create a new life for himself and prepare to rejoin the group. He had asked one of his colleagues to delete all of his personal information that the Lees might find if they searched for him. Thanks to his recent position, he had the right to do so. Only the Korean federal police would know his real identity.
So his name was no longer Han Jisung, but Kim Jisung. In South Korea, 187,893 people had the same first and last name as him. He also had his place of birth, but not his age. He was an orphan (which was the only truth in his file). Because of this, the Lees could not question any members of his family about his real life. He was single. He had extensive street knowledge, having lived there until he found himself a decent apartment. From a young age, he had stolen from small shops, then moved on to robbing passersby as they withdrew cash from ATMs. At twenty, he had served two years in prison for jewelry shoplifting and burglary.
He had a good case file that the group was going to stumble upon. He was convinced that this file would help him join the group.
A month later, he knew: he was ready to send a request to the Lee group to join the organisation without them knowing that he was a federal police officer seeking revenge against the leader.
The mission was extremely dangerous, but crucial. Its objective was not to strike quickly or hard, but to penetrate the heart of the system, get as close as possible to the core — Lee Minho — and slowly, very slowly, implode it from within.
Like a parasite, he would infiltrate Lee Minho's perfect system, feed on it, and poison every fibre of it, slowly and meticulously, until the whole thing collapsed in on itself.
He was no longer Han Jisung, the child shattered by the pain. He was both a shadow and a weapon. And that weapon had only one target. Lee Minho.