Flag Episode 2

The girl’s voice was as sharp as a snake’s fangs, laced with pure venom. “I’ll take anything, except murder.”

Two months before the hidden gate swung open, a sleek luxury sedan pulled up at the dead-end alley in Gilsang-gu, Seoul.

Near the rundown real-estate office that everyone in the neighborhood treated like a second home, the alley led to a convenience store so empty that even the locals had stopped visiting.

Nothing wrong with the owner’s reasons, but the peeling posters, the dust piled on every shelf, and the general air of neglect made it obvious the place was barely alive.

So only one person dared to climb the stairs, pushing aside every suspicion that might have stopped him.

The stairs leading up to Echo Research were covered in a cheap, mismatched red-and-yellow vinyl that looked like it had been slapped on by a graffiti crew. Yet the woman who climbed them wore elegant middle heels that clicked with quiet luxury.

She wore a tailored blazer over a crisp white shirt, wide-leg slacks, and a leather handbag slung over one shoulder. Her sunglasses hid eyes that missed nothing.

At the second-floor door of Echo Research, a man slumped in a folding chair, thumbs flying across his phone. He glanced up lazily.

“Looking for a job?”

The middle-aged woman didn’t answer. She simply stared straight ahead, her posture screaming she couldn’t be bothered.

By the time the discomfort in the air was thick enough to choke on, one of the two bodyguards behind her stepped forward and answered for her.

“We’re here for the CEO. Please arrange a meeting.”

The voice was crisp, authoritative. The man on the chair scanned them from head to toe, then pointed at the wall plastered with faded stickers.

“Short on cash, or chasing tail?”

“I want to see the CEO.”

“Our team leader is out right now. You’ll be waiting a while. You sure you’re okay with that?”

Even though the woman’s irritation was impossible to hide, the two bodyguards remained unfazed. Anyone could see they were high-rollers with serious money and influence. Still, the casual welcome was almost insulting—until the woman realized this was apparently the new normal.

“No team leader. The CEO.”

The middle-aged woman finally lost her patience and snapped, “I want to see the CEO.”

The man shrugged and went back to his phone. “Our CEO only sees people he’s already met. If you don’t have an appointment with the team leader, you should leave. Looks like you’ve got the cash. We’ll send you off nicely.”

“Extortion? What a gangster.”

“Hey, even the insurance fraud guys have heard of us.”

The woman’s breath hitched at the man’s brazen attitude, but she recovered quickly. She leaned close to one of the bodyguards and whispered. The neatly groomed man approached and handed over a card.

“We’ll meet with the team leader. From Core Investment.”

Core Investment.

Even people who didn’t follow the markets knew the name of South Korea’s respected financial powerhouse.

Two secretaries showing up at this rundown office to demand an audience with the CEO of Core Investment told the man everything he needed to know.

He clicked his tongue, then jerked his chin toward the heavy metal door behind him. “Left-hand office on the third floor. Knock like this—knock-knock-knock! Got it?”

The man gave the rhythm of a lifelong Korean, rose, and opened the door.

The hinges creaked. Light flooded the stairwell.

The interior of the old building—built in the 1980s—had thin frosted-glass walls and aluminum sliding doors. Every office was separated by cheap partition walls. Most stood empty, but here and there people moved behind half-drawn wooden partitions. From somewhere inside, faint, unwanted screams leaked out like they had been rehearsed for years.

The cheap detective-agency cigarette smell and the cloying air-freshener scent made the woman’s stomach turn, but she swallowed it down.

They knocked on the exact door the man had indicated. A faint blush of shame rose on her cheeks, but she kept it in check.

They were here to open this door.

“Ah, you’re early.”

She stepped inside and the door slammed shut behind her.

The rumor was that Echo Research was just a fake detective agency. In truth, its real name was Echo Chaser.

The name meant “those who chase echoes.” They hunted erased records and data that should never have been lost.

People who knew the truth sometimes called them Echo instead of Echo—because “chaser” sounded less like a sleazy private investigator and more like something from a thriller.

But the moment the door opened, the woman’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief.

The man who greeted her looked like the textbook business-gangster type. He wore a sharp suit, but the tie was missing because his shoulders were too broad. His rolled-up sleeves revealed thick, colorful tattoos that covered every inch of skin.

The woman ignored the handsome smile on his face and dropped herself onto the plush sofa with a theatrical sigh. The man on the couch licked his lips, flashed a playful grin, and sat down across from her.

“Welcome. We usually keep the office door closed unless we have an appointment, but the scent of money brought you right to us. Haha. Are you the Executive Director Lee I-ryeong?”

The man was in his early forties. Too young for a career criminal, and too clean-cut for the streets.

His easy smile was charming. He added a dramatic “ooh” and shot up, pressing the button on a vending-machine-style coffee machine that looked like it belonged in a roadside restaurant.

With a hiss of steam and a rich, roasted aroma, the coffee began to brew.

Lee I-ryeong found the over-the-top act and overly warm demeanor strangely mocking.

…Now that I think about it, did I even tell him who I am?

Yes. She had.

“I need to know who killed my daughter and why.”

Before the coffee finished brewing, she cut straight to the point.

Confronting this man directly was beneath her pride, but she had no choice—someone had already let it slip.

The man waited for the last drop of coffee to fall into the cup, then carried it back and set it in front of himself instead of her. He took a loud slurp.

What a jerk.

I-ryeong’s left lip twitched violently.

“Hmph. Let me introduce myself first. Team leader Kwak Dong-cheol of Echo Chaser. You’re asking about Yoon Jun-hee, who passed away last February?”

Without any hesitation, Dong-cheol took a loud slurp of his coffee.

“We operate on a one-on-one basis, so the assistants will have to wait outside.”

Both bodyguards stiffened at his casual tone, but they quickly scanned the cramped room and realized the walls were lined with hidden cameras.

Lee I-ryeong gave a tiny nod of approval.

“Wait in the hallway.”

The order was polite, but the underlying irritation was impossible to miss.

Once the bodyguards were gone, I-ryeong took the documents and envelope from her handbag and set them on the desk. Since the man had jumped straight to the main issue, she had no intention of wasting time.

“To be precise, I don’t want to know how my daughter died. I want to know why. What reason was there that she had to die? And who was responsible. I…”

“You suspect the Sa family, don’t you? You’ve underlined every name in bright red.”

With a shrug, Dong-cheol took the file and began leafing through the private-investigation notes with mild interest.

One of the documents listed the family relationship: Sa Hee-eon.

Sa Hee-eon was the young potter everyone in the art world knew. He lived in seclusion, rarely showing himself outside his own studio, except for official events.

Yet the sheer glamour of his background and appearance had made him a magnet for the public’s gaze.

Dong-cheol let out a low whistle as he studied the attached photos. “Damn, he’s stunning. But if he’s Sa Hee-eon, he must be from the Sa conglomerate, right?”

Lee I-ryeong smiled crookedly and narrowed her eyes. “Five billion won upfront. Prices can go up as much as you want. I know you’re not an idiot. Parents who’ve lost their children will do anything. You know who I am.”

“Five billion is nice, but the real issue is the success fee. How much do you expect?”

“Double. Ten billion. Total fifteen.”

“Hmm… but you don’t just want the truth, do you? The moment I saw you, I knew there was something extra. We don’t like secrets. Clients have to be honest. Only then can we do our job honestly.”

The mix of informal and polite speech finally shattered I-ryeong’s patience.

“Fuck! You’re a money-crazed gangster! I need proof that Sa Hee-eon killed my Jun-hee! I’ll take anything. If you can’t find it, make it up. Burn down the world if you have to! Echo Chaser can do it!”

“Holy shit, your voice is loud.”

Dong-cheol rubbed his temple, buying time. This was a straightforward request, yet the amount offered was too small to make the Sa conglomerate an interesting target. And there was no information on Sa Hee-eon at all.

Normally they would have planned this for weeks. But who would volunteer to take on this kind of danger? Revealing a murder was one thing. Manipulating one was another—risky enough to shake the entire organization.

He decided to throw in one more bet.

“It’s all good, but the fee seems a bit low compared to the risk…”

“Why? You think it’s not enough?”

“I can already picture the whole thing in my head… maybe we should add a danger premium.”

With a swift motion, Dong-cheol rubbed his thumb and forefinger right in front of her eyes. I-ryeong closed her eyes for a moment, then wrote “X2” next to the success fee on the documents.

“Double the success bonus. That should cover a decent building in the capital area. More than that is unnecessary.”

The second the number was written down, Dong-cheol’s face lit up.

“Whoa! Our client knows what they’re doing. This is a huge win if we pull it off, but if we fail, we all die. Even the madam might be in danger, but we’ll handle that part beautifully.”

He laughed cheerfully and began sorting through the papers. Then he pulled out a single sheet labeled “Contract.”

It was not the contract for starting the investigation.

I-ryeong frowned deeply at the man in front of her. So this was the “desk”? Was there actually a separate entity?

She had expected something like this, but anger surged when she realized she had just spilled the full story to this nobody.

“Stop joking around. I’ll burn this before I sign.”

Her voice had gone low because she was clenching her teeth. But Dong-cheol was Dong-cheol. He could smell arrogance from a mile away.

“No need to worry. We handle every job smoothly. Sign here and we’ll contact you immediately. The actual handler will be the one to reach out.”

A dazzling smile lit I-ryeong’s face as she scrawled her signature on the document and stood up.

“I’ll accept your kindness. I’ll expect progress reports from your side, and you’ll decide on the method.”

“Of course. We’ll do our best.”

Dong-cheol bowed deeply as though he had never heard of the words before, sending her off with a smile.

Only after the woman and her bodyguards had left did Kwak Dong-cheol let out a long sigh and drop onto the sofa.

Then he scowled at the photo inside the file.

That was when a soft footstep sounded behind the sofa.

A beautiful young woman leaned over the backrest and reached for the documents.

“I’ll do it,” she said.