Chapter Text
Seokjin and Hoseok took their leave after the meeting. Considering how they were only in Busan the day before, they were not so thrilled to be on the road again. Because of this, they made a quick decision to get a driver to make things easier. Outside the war room was the perfect candidate.
Choi Wooshik was the team’s, for the lack of a better word, lackey. Earlier in the day he was told to fetch Yoongi to their office, but now they would recruit him to be their chauffeur. He was a trained agent but he was not dispatched to cases regularly. Taehyung had brought him in to be on the logistics side of their missions. Highly appropriate use now if Taehyung had to ask them where he went.
“Wooshik,” Seokjin said, getting the man’s attention. He was on his phone leaning on the wall. “We’re going to Changwon.”
“Why?” the man asked as he straightened his posture.
“We need a driver,” Hoseok supplied. “Be ready in 15.”
“Yes, sir.” With that, they descended to one of the garages in the facility and drove off to Changwon.
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Taehyung left the war room knowing the Director already made his way to his own office and agendas. He received a message on his phone that his two agents took Wooshik as their driver and backup personnel. Cursing internally, Taehyung was planning on sending Yoongi back to his quarters since the drive would take a while.
Entering the fishbowl, he saw that Yoongi was sitting on the big table by himself looking bored, but it seemed he came in after a tense conversation. Nobody paid him any mind. Alright, he thought, I can babysit for a while. Even though he himself needed a break after his exchange with the Director, Taehyung needed to put his focus on the new mission. They did not know who the device belonged to so they had to be careful and find out as much as they could before apprehending their suspect.
“Where did you learn how to hack?” Taehyung asked as he approached Yoongi on the table. Both Jimin and Jungkook stopped their tasks to listen in. Typical.
“They gave me a book on softwares and a computer when I was eight. They wouldn’t let me eat unless I showed them how to do each of the chapters,” Yoongi shrugged like it was the most normal thing to do to an eight-year-old. Deep inside of Taehyung’s heart though, he felt sorry for what he imagined Yoongi went through. He quickly shoved that part of his heart deeper and chastised himself. Yoongi was still part of the enemy. “They must have thought it was useless to feed me unless I gave them something in return. I’m sure they were glad when they finally found something I was good at.”
“They made you do other things before that?” Taehyung asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
Yoongi looked at the ceiling for a moment, seeming to recollect his memories. “Yeah, I was given a gun but I couldn’t shoot at targets fast enough or good enough. Martial arts were out of the question,” Yoongi paused before looking at Taehyung appreciatively. “I didn’t have your physique, I’m afraid,” he said before looking down and smiling at himself. “I got tired too easily for a kid. They did see that I was kinda good at math and pushed me to do computers. And now we’re here.”
Taehyung ignored Yoongi’s comments. “Is it possible then to hack into the Jayu’s database? We need to know who my agents are dealing with before they make contact.”
“The database existed before I even knew about it,” Yoongi said, pursing his lips. “I don’t know if it exists online on the cloud or offline in a computer or even a series of computers.”
“You’re telling me you know of it but you don’t know how to get to it. Sounds like an imaginary database to me.”
Yoongi looked at him incredulously. “If it exists, which I know it does, I have yet to find a way to access it. If it doesn’t exist, I’m a lunatic. It doesn’t matter right now, Mr. Hotshot. Is that your end goal? Find a Jayu employee list and arrest everyone on it? Because I don’t think your agents are gonna get it in Changwon.”
“What my agents will find Yoongi, is whether we should let you help us more.” Taehyung shot him what he hoped was an intimidating look, but the other man merely shook his head in disbelief.
“You keep telling yourself that,” Yoongi said in a soft voice, almost inaudible in the silence of the room. “It’s true I was never in contact with the leaders directly, but the fact is that they now know one of their men is missing, and they will hide deeper. What happens when you find the buyer? Do you think that will lead you to the Jayu’s base?”
Taehyung took a step forward closer to Yoongi, irritation starting to bubble under his skin. “When we find the buyer, I will make him talk. Like how I got you to talk.”
“By choking them right?” Yoongi asked dryly. Taehyung thought they were somewhat in a truce, but it seemed he was wrong. No matter how he approached the other man, it always went back to the beginning, forgetting any minute progress they made. “But I suppose you have your means as I have mine.”
Taehyung looked away and pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. As far as he was concerned, none of his team except the Director was aware that Taehyung attempted to suffocate Yoongi. He would not let Yoongi use that to his advantage.
“Alright then, since you’re so helpful,” Taehyung drawled. “How would you find the Jayu’s base?”
“I’d need my own computer,” the man replied without a second’s guess. “And my box.”
“Then you better pray Seokjin and Hoseok find your buyer.” Taehyung needed to calm down. How dare he make demands like he knows everything? He was getting on his nerves, and that was never a good thing. Clenching and unclenching his fists, he decided he needed to sweat it out. “You two,” he said, startling Jimin and Jungkook, “have an early lunch with Yoongi. Keep him occupied, no computers. I’ll be back when our men arrive in Changwon.”
He left the room without waiting for a response. Picking up his bag, he rode the elevator to the second floor where the headquarters contained a gym. Regrettably, he noted he should’ve taken the stairs to clear his head longer. He changed into more comfortable clothes and wrapped his hands with bandages. Only a handful of people were in the gym at this hour. It was perfect.
He moved to a corner of the gym where a heavy punching bag hung. He held the bag steady and laid his forehead against the cool leather. He took a few breaths and focused his mind. His early training taught him to eye the punching bag for what it was and not as a person he wanted to hurt. He knew there were days when even that was difficult. With a last exhale, he stepped backwards. His right fist collided with the bag, the sound of which filled the room.
With every punch, his mind was filled with thoughts of a certain man with an affinity for computers. He aggravated him so much. Taehyung had been leading his team for years and now that he was one step closer to the end, it felt like he was back where he started. No clue and no leads.
He hated to admit it but Yoongi was getting under his skin and he could not tell why. He was certain that the man was helping them but at the same time, he kept more and more secrets than answers that Taehyung wanted to know.
He was also running out of time. Taehyung was able to convince the director that a task force was needed to combat the growing Jayu organization. If he and his team’s efforts remain fruitless, Namjoon would have to reallocate their resources to more pressing matters. Taehyung was not paranoid, but he dedicated his efforts into stopping conflicts before they became national security threats.
The Jayu fit the profile of being low key, doing multiple small-scale crimes. Claiming orchestration and responsibility meant that they were willing to escalate farther. But if what Yoongi was saying was true, that the organization was made to infiltrate and influence the government, then what power did he have to stop it? If they were buried deep inside the clutches of power, who was to say they were not in the NIS already? That Taehyung was not being watched at all?
His heavy breaths came as small fogs into the punching bag. A glance at his watch told him that he had been at it for more than an hour now. With a sigh, he took the bandages off his hands and sat against the wall facing a full mirror. It had been a long time since he needed to vent his anger like that. He was known for being ruthless, but that was only because he knew how to manage his emotions. An unstable agent was as dangerous as the enemy. He could not afford to lose control at any moment.
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Lunch was an interesting affair for Yoongi. On one hand, Jimin did not want to talk to him at all, while on the other, Jungkook was barely keeping himself quiet. If Yoongi was being honest, the kid looked like he was trying his best not to spill a secret. He really wanted Jimin to get that gag order off of Jungkook, but it did not feel like that would be helpful.
The cafeteria was on the ground floor. A handful of employees were already eating by the time they reached the hall. Jungkook gave Yoongi a tray for his food as they lined up, but the young man noticed how Yoongi was frowning at the food displayed on the counter.
“Do you need help with anything?” he asked.
“There’s just so many options,” Yoongi shrugged. “I never had to get to choose what I eat, you know?”
“Oh.” Jungkook grimaced, a little embarrassed. “Have you tried any of these then?”
Yoongi, not wanting to bring the mood down, simply shook his head no. It was true, he looked like he needed a sandwich. The last few months had him barely eating as he prepared his plans on top of the workload he had to complete. He decided to follow Jungkook’s lead and picked the stuff he put on his tray. He could not recognize some of them, but chose to give them a try anyway.
They sat at a table and ate in relative silence. Jimin and Jungkook were looking at their phones, and Yoongi was grateful because that meant they could not see how much he was loving the lamb skewers he got. Feeling a little flustered, he willed himself to eat more slowly.
“Yoongi-ssi—”
“Not here Jungkook,” Jimin chided with exasperation.
“Just let the kid talk,” Yoongi countered. He was getting tired and a little angry on the other man’s behalf. “I don’t understand why you have so much against him having a conversation with me.”
Jimin turned his fierce eyes on him. Yoongi did his best not to show he was affected. “I don’t trust you. And I don’t know why Taehyung is even entertaining the idea of having you on board. If it were up to me you’d be back in your room until we deem your services needed for the case. Or better yet, in a cell.”
“Same difference but ouch,” Yoongi said, no longer interested in his meal. “I believe Taehyung understands that he will not get far without my help, simple as that.”
“If anything happens to Agents Seokjin and Hoseok, it’ll be on your head.” Jimin got up from his seat and glared at Yoongi. “Best believe you will never set foot outside the darkest jail cell I can find.”
He turned around and left the table, leaving both men stunned.
“Must be a special day to be threatened twice before noon,” Yoongi said as he also got up, smiling at Jungkook. “He’s right though, we should talk somewhere more private.”
“I’m sorry,” Jungkook suddenly said.
“Why are you sorry?” Yoongi thought the boy had only treated him with kindness, albeit guarded at a few moments.
“I was one of those threats you mentioned,” he replied abashedly.
“You have nothing to worry about Jungkook. I’m actually grateful how you’ve been so nice to me.”
“I think the rest of them are being unfair to you, and I really do want to learn how you did the masking.”
Yoongi was endeared. It’s clear the kid was making an effort, and perhaps under a different context he would’ve taken him under his wing and taught him all he knew. “Captain’s orders said no computers. I don’t want you getting in trouble” Yoongi smirked as Jungkook’s face fell. “But I can tell you how I did it in theory.”
The younger man gave him a toothy grin. They cleared the table and started walking back to the command floor. Jungkook did not seem to have a bad bone in his body and his curiosity was endearing to Yoongi. He reminded him of a younger version of himself. Eager to learn, having something to prove. The only difference was Jungkook had a life and freedom. Yoongi did not think he had either of them.
They talked more once they got back to the fishbowl. While they talked about tech in the beginning, Yoongi got to learn more about how Jungkook became part of the team.
“I wasn’t aiming to become an NIS recruit,” he said. “Before my military service I was able to go to college earlier than most people and finished computer science a year early. While in SNU I took part in hackathons and coding challenges which were really fun but they got boring really quick. One night I was doing research on government data breaches and nobody figured out how hackers had infiltrated an NIS branch. So I gave it a go.”
“You gave it a go,” Yoongi repeated dumbstruck. “You hacked the NIS.”
“Yeah, absolutely,” Jungkook preened.
“You hacked this agency and you didn’t think you’d get caught or go to jail for it?” Yoongi asked with genuine concern. He was suddenly reminded of the other man’s youth. He was carefree and aloof, even talking to public enemy number one.
“I didn’t think about it to be honest. I thought since they didn’t catch the guys who did it first, they wouldn’t get me either.”
“But they did.”
“They sure did.” Jungkook’s cheeks reddened slightly. “I learned later that they built a team to track the hacks, but I was their first catch. It was so scary not gonna lie, they said I might go to jail, I was crying, but then they learned I was still in college after I explained myself. Next thing I know, I was showing them how I did the hack, which I think helped them narrow their search. They made me swear confidentiality then let me go.”
“Just like that?” Yoongi felt like he was not being told something important. Despite not knowing much about the agency, he at least knew that liberty came with strings.
“Yeah but not before he gave me an offer to be a recruit.”
“Who gave you the offer?” Yoongi asked, somehow already knowing the answer before Jungkook could even tell him.
“Deputy Director Taehyung,” Jungkook confirmed. “Or I guess he was like a senior agent at the time. Him helping the hacking investigations got him promoted I think.”
“If he catches the Jayu, I bet he’ll get Namjoon’s job,” Yoongi snorted.
Jungkook laughed so loud and contagious enough that Yoongi joined him albeit a little weakly. It was nice to make the kid laugh, he thought. So much better than the glares and sneers he had gotten in the past twenty-four hours—had it already been that long?
In the midst of their laughter, they failed to notice Taehyung entering the room. “What’s so funny?”
“Oh nothing,” Yoongi shrugged, tiny giggles leaving his mouth as Jungkook tried his best to compose himself.
“Uh-huh,” Taehyung said unimpressed. “My agents are heading to Changwon blind. As of now they do not have a specific target and that is a problem.”
He took a laptop out of his bag and pushed it towards Yoongi. It seemed to be a standard issue computer, not as high-end as the ones Yoongi have used throughout the years. Still, it was a little better than the general public can buy on the legal market.
“Can you hack phones?”
“Theoretically, yeah.” Yoongi took the laptop and looked at all its sides and edges before turning it on. This is so basic.
“You’ve never done it before?” Jungkook asked, already interested in this turn of events.
“It takes a little while and kinda annoying doing it,” Yoongi answered with a shrug. “Mostly I just don’t like invading people’s privacy.”
“That seems very hard to believe,” Taehyung said, annoyance starting to form on his face.
“It’s true!” Yoongi exclaimed. “You never want to see some things people have on their devices. It gets ugly real fast.”
“Well I need you to find out who the phone belongs to. If my agents are facing someone dangerous and they get hurt I will—”
“Throw me in jail and let me rot,” Yoongi finished for him. “Yeah, yeah I get it. No need to be told more times than necessary. But why me? Surely you trust Jungkook more than me to do anything.”
“I don’t want it to look like the NIS is doing the hacking. But Jungkook will be supervising, making sure you’re not actually tipping the buyer off. We need him alive for questioning.”
Yoongi examined Taehyung. The Deputy Director seemed to be in a more relaxed mood despite sparring lightly with Yoongi. His hair was damp like he just got out of a shower. Yoongi thought it might have to do with Taehyung just dealing with him with one other person, and not being under the scrutiny of the whole team.
“No promises though. If it’s a burner phone, there might not be enough info on it to pin it down to a person.”
Taehyung gave an unfriendly smile. “I’m sure you can come up with something.” He looked around the room as if looking for something. “Where’s Jimin?”
Yoongi looked at Jungkook who also did not look like he wanted to answer that. “Threw a tantrum at lunch and left,” Yoongi ultimately replied.
Taehyung’s eyes narrowed. “What did you do now?” he asked with venom in his voice.
“It was me! It was me,” Jungkook interjected. “He got mad that I wanted to talk to Yoongi-ssi. I think he’s in his lab right now though.”
“He’ll come around eventually,” Taehyung sighed, before looking at Yoongi pointedly. “I suggest you don’t engage with him at all.”
“You make him sound like a wild animal,” Yoongi uttered.
“For your sake, he might as well be,” Jungkook chuckled. Yoongi did not quite understand what he did to get that level of ire from the man. While it was not a problem for now, he could influence the way the rest of the team dealt with Yoongi.
“That’s enough. Start working on the phone. I expect details when they get to Changwon.” Taehyung left the room to who knows where, but Yoongi had a feeling he went to find Jimin.
“Is he always that bossy?” Yoongi asked Jungkook as he copied the IP address they found earlier.
“Not often, but he’s been in that mood since we found your lead. I think he just really wants to get to the end of this.”
“Must be annoying at times,” Yoongi commented.
“Yeah but he’s a really good team leader most of the time. He just gets really focused on a mission. One time though he took us all to dinner for team bonding.”
“Huh.” Yoongi decided that Kim Taehyung was one interesting man.
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Taehyung found Jimin in his lab. It was on the floor below, but heavily secured. Only Jimin and Taehyung have access to it. Inside were lab benches and fume hoods. Chemicals and apparatuses on the shelves. Jimin himself was bent over one of the benches doing a chemical test.
“I thought I told you to keep watch over Yoongi,” Taehyung announced.
Jimin was silent for a moment, focusing instead on the task before him. “I don’t want to be around him,” he decided to say.
“You're defying orders now?” Taehyung teased. “What’s really going on?”
“Jungkook is getting close to him. None of us really had a knack for what he can do, but now someone understands his language. I’m afraid he’ll get close to someone we can’t trust at all.”
“And your solution to that is to leave the two of them alone? I must say they were getting along quite well earlier.”
Jimin frowned and finally faced Taehyung, turning around on his lab stool. “It’s just so sudden, Taehyung. You seem adamant in making him, I don’t know, a part of the team already. You sent two agents on a goose chase without verifying the tracking he did. I trust you but I just can’t trust the guy at all,” he sighed. “Something is not sitting right with me when he’s around.”
“I’m having them hack the phone right now.” Taehyung did realize during his punching spree that Changwon is a big place, and it was imperative that they get a more specific target. He decided to put his faith in Yoongi's ability to hack.
Jimin raised his eyebrow. “I thought they couldn't do that.”
“They couldn’t track the owner, but they could find who the phone belongs to based on the contents of the device. It’s a bit of a gamble but we’ll know more soon.”
“A gamble,” Jimin snorted. “Two members of our team are almost in Changwon, Taehyung. They don’t know what they are up against. They could be in danger there. What exactly will you have them do?”
“Arrest the buyer and find the weapons. We’ll bring him here for more questioning and that will lead us to more information about the Jayu’s operations.”
“And we simply can’t get that information out of Yoongi?”
Taehyung was again irritated. He thought the team had already established that they need some proof before getting more out of the man. “You yourself don’t trust a word he says. If we find the weapons then we can try tracing the rest of it that was bought.”
“All I’m saying is you can question him more in the meantime, not fraternizing with our own.”
“Fraternizing, really?” Taehyung chuckled. Jimin’s protectiveness amused him.
“You know what I mean! I’m just scared Jungkook thinks he’ll get a friendship out of this arrangement. I for sure know you are not keeping him here after all is said and done.”
Taehyung internally agreed. Yoongi has no place in the NIS or free society. But he chose to ignore that for now and decided to focus on something Jimin said earlier. “You’re not just worried for Jungkook though are you?”
Jimin blushed and looked away. Taehyung was not the type to put his nose in people’s businesses, but he was always observant and nothing passes him anymore. While they were planning the Busan raid, Jimin wanted to join using an excuse to visit family but Taehyung knew he wanted to be there to support one of his agents.
“They will be safe, Jimin. They are experienced and will get the job done. We’ll have a more orchestrated plan once we identify our target.”
“You better make sure of it Kim Taehyung,” Jimin huffed.
“Why don’t you join us in command?” Taehyung offered. It didn’t do well that his team might fracture over distrust. He understood Jimin’s point but he needed his team to be all hands on deck.
“No thanks,” Jimin replied. “I have stuff to do here and I’m no help to those two anyway. Last time I sat next to Jungkook he tried explaining HTML to me. I’ll come up soon.”
“Alright then,” Taehyung said, taking his leave. Jimin meant well, but his position in forensics also meant that most of his assistance came after evidence was brought in. It was not the first time he confided that he felt useless during most cases. Taehyung just reassured him that most pieces of evidence they collected would not hold in court without his assistance.
Taehyung made his way back to the command floor and was surprised the two boys he left were not in the fishbowl. “Jungkook?” he asked loudly.
“In here!” a voice from the war room replied.
“Why are you here?” he asked as he took over the director’s previous seat.
“I like the big TVs,” Yoongi answered without looking away from the computer. All four screens were now filled with random information like call logs, text messages, and web histories.
“You hacked into the phone that quick?” Taehyung asked, clearly impressed. Even Jungkook would sometimes take the whole afternoon to do it. At least in the few occasions that called for it.
“Even faster if I had my programs installed,” the hacker replied. Taehyung dared not to ask more and focused instead on the screens.
“We think it’s a burner phone,” Jungkook said. “Whoever owns it has no contacts or photos saved.”
Taehyung got up and moved closer to the screen at the front of the room. One text line seemed to jump at him. “We will have JNB secured soon,” he read aloud.
“JNB has been mentioned a bunch of times in the texts,” Jungkook offered. He brought a bunch of texts on screen, highlighting JNB in each of them. “Do you know who that might mean?”
“Jinhae Naval Base,” Yoongi said sourly, popping up another text, reading, “JNB to be hit when the time comes.”
“So not a person,” Jungkook remarked.
“It’s a Korean Naval base in Jinhae District,” Taehyung confirmed. “Attacking the base would have international complications, not to mention public panic.”
“We don’t know yet if that’s what they plan with the weapons,” Yoongi said, showing more texts about gathering weapons in the city. “Some of these look like legal purchases.”
Taehyung took a moment to read the texts as well as search history pages. He suddenly tensed. “70% of South Korea’s defense industry is based in Changwon.”
“Are they targeting the entire city?” Jungkook paled. He grew up in Busan and visited Changwon a bunch of times when he was younger. He couldn’t imagine a widespread attack on the city. “We need to tell the director.”
“Yes, but not before we know more. I will brief him shortly, but you need to find the person behind these.”
“Done,” Yoongi said, pulling a picture of a high-ranking military officer. “Brigadier General Lee Dongwook. 43 years old. Stationed at Jinhae Naval Base—JNB.”
“This is terrible,” Jungkook exclaimed. “The buyer is from the military.”
“Alright let’s take a breath,” Taehyung suggested, also needing a moment to process this. He sent a text to both Namjoon and Jimin to reconvene ASAP. Nobody in his agency liked dealing with the military. The armed forces branch loved to think they could make their own rules. Any meetings he had with sergeants and generals always left him a headache as soon as he left the room. “Where is he located right now?”
Yoongi pulled up the map from earlier. The pulsing red dot seemed to be in a residential location. For now, at least. “He’s suspiciously nowhere close to the base,” he said.
“Suspicious how?” Jungkook answered, still in disbelief that their target just became harder to hit.
“Well for a high-ranking officer shouldn’t he be in the naval base drilling recruits or whatever?”
“That doesn’t matter right now. His location gives us a good window of opportunity. Call the guys,” Taehyung directed.
Jungkook connected their agents to the war room. They were still in the car, but they were seeing the same screen Taehyung had up in the war room. They did not have to wait long for Jimin and the Director to come back to the room.
“Taehyung, what am I looking at?” Namjoon asked, straight to the point.
“The arms buyer is a Brigadier General. As of this moment, his location seems to be in his residence. The agents are being routed there now.”
“They need back up. This could get ugly and I don’t want to be in talks with military people over this.”
“Director, I think that would give the general the wrong idea. We can’t absolutely point to him being the buyer just yet.”
“How is he your buyer then?” the Director asked. His hands gripped the chair in front of him harder. “How did you get this information?”
All eyes shifted to Yoongi. “He logged in to his official email on that phone.”
“You hacked the military?!” Jungkook exclaimed.
“Well not exactly. The app saved his email address and I just cross-referenced with the military’s directory.”
“That’s actually… legal,” Jimin commented.
“Yoongi, is the General aware that you hacked into his phone?” Taehyung asked. “If he’s already tipped off he might have left it somewhere and for all we know he’s gone.”
“Nope,” Yoongi answered with a gummy smile. He probably felt very accomplished at that moment. “My methods are clean.”
“Jungkook, care to comment?”
“It’s true,” the younger man nodded his head. “We tried it on my phone to make sure.”
“Jeon Jungkook—” Jimin started before being interrupted by Taehyung.
“Good. Agents Kim and Jung, what’s your ETA?”
“15 minutes sir. We’ll park somewhere close to not raise suspicion.”
“What’s your plan, Deputy Director?” Namjoon asked as he took in the information.
“Our agents will apprehend the Brigadier General and pose as NIS agents needing him to answer questions for an investigation,” Taeheyung answered in a no-nonsense tone. “I believe it is not a coincidence that he is stationed at Jinhae Naval Base in Changwon. The fact that the city is full of defense industry, crippling Changwon would be detrimental to national and international security. We need to know what he planned to do with the weapons and who else is involved.”
“Your plan relies on a willing suspect. Things can go south very quickly, Taehyung. We are now dealing with the military. Someone who’s supposed to be one of our own.”
“I understand, Director. But my agents will be able to handle him. They are the best in the field.”
“Do we have a facility in Changwon, Taehyung?” Jimin asked. “It’s a long way from there to here, and a Brigadier General might become difficult to handle once he thinks he’s been kidnapped.”
“It was a pleasant experience,” Yoongi said weakly. Jungkook elbowed him in the ribs, but he was hiding a small smile.
Taehyung chose to ignore that and looked at the screen. “We should have an office in the city. We’ll tell him his charges there then transport him here overnight. Jungkook, compile the evidence we have as of now and Yoongi, track where he has the weapons stored. Once we find that we can bring him here hassle-free.”
“If you are wrong, Taehyung, this will be an embarrassment for the entire agency. You are putting your credibility on the line, I hope you understand this.”
Taehyung did understand this. But he reviewed the messages they gathered. Someone with the technical knowledge of the naval base operations had to be a high-ranking officer. To be aware of Changwon’s defense industry meant that the same officer had to be in contact with people in that industry. All arrows pointed at the Brigadier General.
“Yes, sir, I understand. Even if he turns out not to be the Jayu arms buyer, he still bought a questionable amount of weapons from various defense companies in the city. As far as I know, that kind of purchase does not go through a Brigadier General.”
“I see you’ve made your case,” Namjoon sighed. “If he is brought here, I will do the questioning, is that clear? I will not make a spectacle of bringing a respected member of the military community away from his station on false charges.
“Of course, Director.” Taehyung knew which battles to fight, and this was not one of them. It did leave him feeling unaccomplished. Many of today’s successes did not result from his direct actions, only his decisions. He thought he should’ve gone to Changwon as well, but threw the notion away. He told himself he needed to be at home base.
A line broke through the silence in the room. It was from the agents. “Taehyung, we’re here.”