Chapter 21 – Sacrifice

Mo Yeon and Jin Woo were dragged back to the room that they are being held in. They were about to be unceremoniously thrown into the bed when a voice said,

“I will not do that if I were you. I’m sure you’ve heard the voice of the man Sung-min spoke with a while ago. I can assure you that that man doesn’t back out on his words. So do yourself a favor and stay on his not so bad side. You don’t want to be pinpointed by his son as the one who hurt him and his mommy don’t you?”

The man looked at the person who spoke and in a gentler manner released her and Jin Woo. The man then walked towards the door and left the room. Mo Yeon crouched down to hug her son, who is now crying uncontrollably,

“Shhh sweetie, don’t worry everything’s going to be fine” she said in the best soothing voice she could muster at that moment.

“Mom-my they’re the bad wolves” Jin Woo sniffed and continued, “they want to hurt you and me.” The child then wiped his tears and looked at his mother straight in the eye and said, “But I’m sure daddy will save us. Won’t he mommy?”

Mo Yeon caressed her son’s hair and in a brightest smile she could show said, “Of course so let’s just wait for daddy okay?”

“Mommy’s right Jin Woo” the same voice they’ve heard a while ago said. The sound made Mo Yeon whirl around and she came face to face with Yoo Ri. Her eyes turned to slits as she looked at the woman behind them. She walked towards the woman and looked her straight in the eye. Then in a low and cold voice asked,

“What are you doing here? How can you do this to Si Jin’s son?”

Yoo Ri looked at her with resigned eyes and said, “Mo Yeon, I will explain everything to you later. But first, you and Jin Woo should eat first. I brought you food. The two of you haven’t eaten anything since this morning.”

Mo Yeon still hasn’t let her guard down, “Why should I trust you?”

Yoo Ri looked at her straight in the eye and in sterner voice replied, “Because just like you and Si Jin my father’s past has also caught up with me, forcing me to make decisions and choices to protect my family. And just like the two of you, I am here to end it all.”

Mo Yeon’s forehead creased at what she heard and gave the woman a curious look.

“Wait hold on, so what you are trying to say is that the real Atty. Jung Ji Hoon is dead?” Dae Young asked Si Jin in disbelief.

Si Jin who decided to inform the Alpha Team of what he knows nodded solemnly. He surmised that it is best if everyone is on the same page information wise about this case, “The Atty. Jung Ji Hoon that we all met is not the real Atty. Jung Ji Hoon.” His statement was met with creased foreheads of the rest of the Alpha Team and Maverick.

It was Piccolo who voiced everyone’s question in their minds, “Big Boss, what do you mean?”                   

He cleared his throat and continued, “The person we’ve met is his twin brother, Kim Joon Min. The real Atty. Jung Ji Hoon has been dead for quite some time now. Kim Joon Min impersonated his brother before Atty. Jung’s arrival here in Seoul. According to my investigation, Atty. Jung found out that the leader of the syndicate happens to be his adoptive father’s assistant, Kim Sung-min. Prior to returning to Seoul, the real Atty. Jung has been closely investigating the deaths of the CIA personnel that were involved in the syndicate’s case handled by my father, Atty. Kang Seong-jin , Mo Yeon’s father and Director Jung. It was then that he was able to find evidence pointing to Kim Sung-min.”

“Hold on, didn’t Director Jung notice anything different with Atty. Jung?” Dae Young asked.

Si Jin sadly shook his head, “Apparently Director Jung and Atty. Jung were never close. The director was too focused on his work and Atty. Jung was pretty much raised and taken cared of by Director Jung’s wife and adoptive mother who passed away before Atty. Jung went to law school.”

“How did Atty. Jung die and is Director Jung already aware of what happened?” Harry Potter asked.

“Yes, the director has been informed. He was devastated to say the least and also regretful. He said that had he formed a closer relationship with his adopted son then he would have known that it is not him that has been with him these past few months.” He took a deep breath, “Atty. Jung was murdered by Kim Sung-min and his own brother Kim Joon Min. Joon Min was also adopted by Kim Sung-min. However since Sung-min joined the CIA much later than Director Jung and Atty. Kang they didn’t get to know Sung-min on a personal level. It was only when Ji Hoon and his adoptive mother visited the CIA office once that he realized that he and Sung-hoon separately adopted a set of twins. Since Sung-min realized the danger of having this information known he decided not to reveal it. In addition he already proved himself as a reliable agent by helping eliminate some of the smaller groups competing against the syndicate. In that way he could kill off competitors and avoid suspicion at the same time or so he thought,” Si Jin replied then continued, “However, a senior field agent of the CIA started to get suspicious of him and as soon as he was able to get proof against Sung-min he was supposed to turn him in. However, Sung-min killed that agent on the night of their mission against the syndicate. That man was…. ”

“Atty. Kang Seong-jin, Mo Yeon’s father” Dae Young finished for him.

Si Jin solemnly nodded, “That’s right. Atty. Kang was not sure of the extent of the syndicate’s influence over the CIA and decided to enlist the help of my father to unravel the truth about the group but Sung-min was able to get ahold of the information and killed Atty. Kang during the operation.”

“But Big Boss, what made you suspicious of the Atty. Jung we just met and Kim Sung-min?” Dae Young said.

“Remember that time I was doing a lot of intelligence gathering while you were injured and the rest of the Alpha Team focused on providing security for Jin Woo and Mo Yeon? I decided to review the CCTV camera footage of where Tae Min and Ji Su were attacked. One of the gunmen was accidentally unmasked and I thought that the man looked like Atty. Jung. I had the footage processed to get a clearer picture and it revealed that it was indeed him. In addition, I started to get suspicious as he was insistent on getting Mo Yeon and Jin Woo’s custody from me even though he knows of the current situation. When Director Jung and I spoke privately, he admitted that he found it strange as well. However, he dismissed it as caused by his son’s growing affection to Mo Yeon. I continued my investigation and in the piece of the map that Tae Min and Ji Su left is another embedded code that they left for me. I was able to decipher it and it led me to a safe that according to the caretaker was only allowed to be accessed by either me or Mo Yeon. The safe contains documents of evidence they were able to gather for the past few years including pertaining to the death of the real Atty. Jung. Apparently, Tae Min and Ji Su had suspicions about the changes in the behavior of the Atty. Jung they met here in Seoul so they started investigating and that’s when they found out what really happened. On the day they were attacked they were supposed to report to me the situation and to return Jin Woo. But unfortunately, we all know what happened” he finished with a sad look on his face.

“Tae Min and Ji Su, still loyal to their duty until the end” Snoopy said with a wistful look on his face.

“But Big Boss, why is Kim Sung-min and Kim Joon Min very keen on getting his revenge against you and Atty. Kang? I mean to go to the extent of doing all of this just to protect the syndicate, it doesn’t make sense” Harry Potter asked.

Si Jin took a deep breath before answering, “Sung-min’s wife and biological son died on the day of the joint operation conducted by the CIA and NIS against the syndicate. Sung-min’s wife died protecting him while his biological son who is younger than Joon