“Hey..” Donggab entered the O-shin restaurant VIP room and found his good pal nursing a bruised cheek with a bag of ice. “So, did you truce with Kush?”

“Reluctantly…” Dokki admitted. “We homie-shook weakly. Don’t know if that’s is considered a truce. He left with Sim D after. Gill left just a while ago. Where’s President Bang? Wasn’t he with you?”

“Yeah, he’s still up at the roof garden. He wants to take a longer breather.” Donggab replied and then wondered aloud. “Dude, what happened to your cool ? I was surprised you fell for that comment from Kush.”

“Dude…You have no idea how long I have been waiting to punch his handsome disrespectful face. That comment was just a little push to get me my satisfactory punch.” Dokki admitted.

Just then, Donggab’s right-hand man, Zino came rushing into the private tatami room.

“Boss, there’s been a situation.” Zino reported. “I need to check the garden rooftop now.”

“What happened?” Donggab asked as he and Dokki quickly followed Zino to the rooftop.

“Were you guys on the rooftop a while ago?” Zino asked instead.

“I was.” Donggab replied. “Was chatting with President Bang earlier. What the is going on, Zino?”

Soon Donggab found a quiet and empty garden rooftop and asked. “Where’s President Bang?”

Zino scanned the entire rooftop before walking slowly to the edge of the rooftop as Donggab and Dokki followed suit.

“There..” Zino said as he looked down to the ground floor where a crowd surrounded a crashed car with a body lying on top of it. Donggab gasped at the shocking sight of his most respected clan leader lying dead after falling from his rooftop garden.

“How could this happen?” Donggab asked himself.

“When were you with him here, boss? And was there anyone else you saw here?” Zino asked Donggab.

“About….a half an hour ago? And I saw no one else.” Donggab disclosed.

“..” Zino shook his head. “That’s not good. The cops are on their way now and they’ll definitely be looking for evidence on who was last seen with him!”

The 3 men looked at each other as a simultaneous thought ran through them.

“CCTV!” the 3 of them noted.

====

Donggab rested his head on the table as his eyes started to give way to tiredness. It had been hours of interrogation at the police station. He was even cooperative enough to have his lawyer go home while he went through a lie detector. And now they had him sitting in the room waiting for another 2 hours. He heard that the other clan leaders were also brought in for interrogation and hoped that none of them had betrayed him or set him up for Old Bang’s death that he had to stay this long in the room. The CCTV that they found was of no help too as it seemed to have been distorted after the scene where Donggab was leaving the rooftop after a friendly hug with a still-alive Old Bang. Whatever happened after that was gone. There was no video showing how Old Bang jumped to his death.

Donggab opened his tired eyes as soon as he heard the door to the interrogation room opened. A familiar face approached him. It was Detective Yang Donggeun, or to Donggab and some of the triad leaders call him, YDG. Donggab was glad to see the detective. He was after all, a good friend of his. Detective YDG was a so-called beast cop. The kind of cop who spoke the same lingo as the triad. He built a peaceful relationship with the mafia, the kind where as long as the triad did not cause any major trouble, the detective would play good cop with them. But if they went too far, YDG would spare no mercy and play bad cop. Donggab developed a strong friendship with the detective after he cooperated with the detective to bring down a foreign triad invested in heavy drug abuse that killed about 20 refugee-es some years ago.

The detective turned off the camera in the interrogation room before he took a seat opposite Donggab.

“Here’s the thing, Donggab. You are the prime suspect here since there is only evidence of you being last seen with Old Bang and it happened within your premises. You have at least 5 witnesses who said they saw you leave for the rooftop and Old Bang followed you there.”

“That is the truth. But I did not kill him.” Donggab repeated his stance.

“Yes, I believe you. Dokki was your only alibi during the time of death. But the fact that the CCTV was tampered in your premises and was not able to capture anything showing the cause of death puts you on the front line as prime suspect.” YDG reminded and then added some interesting news. “But…there is now evidence that can prove your innocence.”

Donggab looked up at the detective in surprise and relief.

“There was a suicide note found in Old Bang’s body.” YDG revealed. “Forensics have been investigating if it was really his hand-writing and they have just given us the report that it is indeed Old Bang’s writing.”

Donggab was shocked. “NO WAY! Old Bang would never kill himself! The man loved his life!”

“The suicide note stated him as being depressed after his wife died of cancer 2 years ago and that he could not get over the depression.” YDG revealed.

“It’s bull-! This is a in set-up, hyung! Someone forged some suicide note and pushed him off the roof!”

“Donggab, listen to me!” YDG said. “Would you rather we investigate you and your clans or close this case as a suicide case?”

“Old Bang did not commit suicide! He was murdered!” Donggab gave his statement of justification again.

“I know that and I could investigate further but you will be locked up here since you are the prime suspect while the investigation goes on and we won’t know how long it will take.”

“!” Donggab cursed as he rubbed his head roughly.

“Or… would you rather find the killer your own way?” YDG suggested.

“Of course I want to find the murdering er myself!” Donggab stated.

“Then I have to close this case as suicide, Donggab!” YDG stated the only unjust but best choice.

 ====

The funeral was a big affair. Donggab and Dokki walked through the huge hall where several triad bosses and even some well-known politicians sat. Donggab and the bosses acknowledged each other with polite nods. Towards the front, nearer to the alter was a bigger table where several unfamiliar men-in-black sat.

“Must be Old Bang’s squad from LA.. The King of K-town’s gang.” Dokki reported his suspicions to Donggab.

Donggab noticed a good-looking young man sitting at the head of the table staring straight at him. At the side of the boyish young man was a tattoo-ed dude speaking close to the young man, possibly reporting to him on Donggab’s introductory bio-data. Donggab held the young man’s stare until he reached the alter. He bowed together with Dokki at the alter paying their respects to President Bang. They then turned to the left to find Old Bang’s only living family member – his 29-year-old daughter.

It was the first time Donggab had met her. He had met Old Bang’s wife few years ago but never his daughter who had been living in the US. All those marriage jokes between him and Old Bang gave him the impression that Old Bang’s daughter had to be someone no one wanted to marry. But Donggab thought differently now that he saw her as a beautiful woman whom he could imagine a long line of suitors fighting to win her heart and hand in marriage. When Old Bang said his daughter was gorgeous, he was telling the truth. When Old Bang said she had his superior genes, Donggab begged to differ. She had most of her late mother’s genes. She was bare-faced, wearing the formal mourning black dress, her eyes sore from crying and her dark brown hair was bundled up. Yet she was still the prettiest girl in the funeral hall.

“Ahem…Let me introduce..” Gill interrupted Donggab short moment of trance. He did not notice Boss Gill was standing next to Old Bang’s daughter all this while.

“Donggab, meet Old Bang’s daughter, Yubin.” Gil introduced. “Yubin, this is the chairman of our Brothers-in-arms clans and the clan leader of Seoul, Shin Donggab. That’s Dokki who takes care of Southern Seoul.”

The 2 men bowed politely to Yubin.

“My condolences..” Donggab said to Yubin. “Your father was a great man and has been a respectable father figure to me.”

“Thank you..” Yubin responded. “If I may, can I speak to you in private, Donggab-sshi?”

Donggab agreed and Yubin led him to a private room outside the funeral hall.

“I heard you were the last person my father was with before his death.” Yubin asked when they were alone.

Technically, yes. Questionably, no. Donggab would wish to say but instead he decided to just nod.

“Do you believe my father committed suicide?”

“No…” Donggab admitted.

Yubin then walked closer to Donggab. Her face only an inch away from his as she stared into his eyes for a long while. Donggab found himself unwittingly relishing the smell her fresh fruity breath but it was her painful eyes that took him in completely.

“Then did you kill him?” she asked, her eyes still piercing into his without blinking.

A/note: I know. Finally, Yubin appears!