Episode 4 #5
“Thank you for looking after him. I don’t know Dirk well.
He’s the kind that finds someone and rides their coattails.
I don’t have much time for ass lickers. He ran through his good will over here in Europe, but got himself established in Oceana and a bit in North America.
Best of my knowledge, he’s never even set foot in the Yadro.
Honestly, I wouldn’t know his name except for the bad taste he left in some mouths over here. ”
“Add mine to the list. He’s pushing for intel directly from me on my target.”
“Tell him to fuck off.”
“Oh, I did. Just concerned it’s not sticking and he should know better. So, what’s making him find his balls now?”
“Perhaps it’s who’s making him find his balls.” On the other end of the phone it sounded like Alexi was pouring himself a drink.
Sevastyan wandered over to the window and looked out on the view. He could just make out the frozen lake through the buildings. “Fair point. I’ll keep an eye out.”
They wrapped up their call, Alexi asking to be kept up to date on Lisa.
Rei approached with his tablet. “Bak Sahyuk has a whole life under the name Jun River, including his primary residence.”
Sevastyan’s eyes sharpened. He took the tablet, swiping through the pages Rei had up. It was a quick and dirty preliminary search, but the fact of the matter was clear. “What’s the earliest known date of him using this name?”
“About two years after Jun became a trainee at Bak Gyeong’s company.”
“So, Gyeong gave Sahyuk access to . . .”
“Jun River is a United States citizen,” Rei broke in.
Sevastyan paused, finger hovering above the tablet.
If Gang Junseo was one and the same as Jun River—a United States citizen—and Bak Sahyuk had just been apprehended, then Jun knew he was a United States citizen and had taken steps.
But how had Bak Gyeong and his company BBB3 gotten his hands on Jun as a child?
Jun would have had to choose at eighteen which citizenship to keep.
South Korea didn’t allow dual citizenship.
“Did Jun want to be at BBB3?”
Rei shrugged. “It was where he was. He liked singing and dancing and writing his own music. Sometimes he was sad. We all were. Idol training is strict.”
“Was he ever threatened with being sent home?”
Rei cocked his head to the side, eyes sliding away, a line in his forehead. “Not that I ever heard. He was good. Really good. We all knew he was going to debut. Like me. It was . . . just going to happen.”
Sevastyan sat down on the couch and spread his arm out over the back. “Let’s map this out. Jun’s timeline, the timeline of when we can see Bak Sahyuk using the Jun River name, Jun’s career, BBB3, and whatever we have on Dirk.”
Rei grabbed pencil and paper and spread it out on the coffee table.
It took until nearly morning before every piece of data was sketched out. Sevastyan stared down at the connections. There was a story there, but not definitive proof.
Rei wrapped his arms around his legs, sitting on the couch looking at the map.
“Bak Sahyuk was in the United States eleven years before Jun started as a trainee. That means he was in the United States when Jun would have been born here, if he was born here. Bak Sahyuk only starts rising in the ranks of the Merchari three years after Jun starts training at BBB3, which is around ten months after Jun started working consistently. The evidence is circumstantial, but what if Sahyuk gave Jun to BBB3, not the other way around? What if Sahyuk had all of Jun’s identification information that he would need to fake a United States identity already?
And he just needed Jun out of the way to use it. ”
Sevastyan rubbed his face. “Or worse, he got Jun out of the way and found a way to fund his rise in the Merchari using the proceeds of Jun’s work at BBB3 at the same time.”
“Jun wasn’t stolen. He knew how he came to South Korea. Sometimes I think he was waiting for someone to come back.”
“In which case, we’re looking at a parent or parents.”
Rei nodded.
Sevastyan leaned back and closed his eyes. “So where does Dirk fit into all this?”
Rei’s body weight shifted forward on the couch beside Sevastyan.
“If he’s riding on someone’s coattails like Master Alexi thinks, then he’s reliant on someone who needs Jun back.
BBB3, or Bak Gyeong needs Jun and 5N back or the company will go bankrupt.
5N is the big group holding the whole place together.
But . . . it could also be Bak Sahyuk. If Jun’s work started funding Bak Sahyuk back when he was twelve, who knows how much money Sahyuk might be siphoning off. ”
“So, Dirk and Sahyuk.” Sevastyan rubbed his face.
“Dirk must be getting desperate. If Sahyuk is taking funds from BBB3, but Bak Gyeong isn’t paying his debts to the Merchari, which is why he had to put Jun up for sale in the first place .
. . Fuck, they’re all playing each other.
The Yadro will demand their cut before Sahyuk takes his part of the pie, but Sahyuk has his own group under him that relies on him.
Jun’s the golden goose.” Sevastyan dropped his hands and looked at Rei. “That was insensitive. Sorry.”
Rei grimaced. “I was wondering, did Jun know all the money was going to Sahyuk?”
“Probably not.” Sevastyan pulled Rei closer and his slave leaned into him. “Good work.”