“It will really only take a moment of your time. It’s just that I have a stake in the Gogo Nightclub.”
Well now. What does he mean by that?
Sticking a hand into my pocket, I bent down to get a better look.
Apart from the two in the driver and passenger’s seats, I couldn’t see anyone else.
Did it mean that, for something like this, he felt that he only needed three people…
Just as this thought passed through my head, I spotted the other black cars ominously idling along the sides of the road.
One, two, three…
That’s right. There’s no way a fucking ganster would want to meet a detective without this much backup.
While keeping calm, I asked Ma Eun-Tae a question.
“Where are you from? Bangmoon? Goomoon?
The Fork Gang or the Guma Gang.
If he had a stake in the Gogo Nightclub, that meant he must be one of the two.
This guy knew what I was really asking.
He replied with a grin.
“I come from Gomoon.”
The Guma Gang.
Just looking at his attitude and behavior, he must be an executive.
I’ve caught a big fish.
Although I don’t know if I’ll be able to reel him for now.
“I’ve heard that you are quite close to the man called Dal-Gon”
“Who told you that?”
“It’s just something that I managed to overhear from here and there.”
Someone must have eavesdropped on the conversation I had with Dal-Gon while I was escorting him.
But why on earth was the Guma Gang here instead of the Fork Gang?
Ma Eun-Tae craned his head out of the window and looked over at the empty lot on the other side of the road.
“Since the weather is so good, why don’t we have a short conversation over there. Over drinks, of course.”
Hah. Just look at this bastard.
He must have rotted away his own liver1 while tending the bar.
For him to fearlessly go looking for a detective on his own accord.
Fine. Let’s get drinks.
Bang-!
As a sign for him to follow me, I lightly kicked his car.
Apart from Ma Eun-Tae, the rest of the Guma Gang bastards reacted with fierce grimaces.
In truth, I was actually a bit nervous….
But there was no way that I was going to lose in the war of nerves.
With a calm look in my eyes, I tossed a one-liner.
“You’re buying the drinks.”
Then as I turned around, I pressed the button on the recorder.
1 In Korean, instead of the heart, the liver is the organ that’s used to describe when someone is afraid. If a man’s liver is shaking, that means he’s afraid. So for Ma Eun-Tae to have rotted away his liver, is a way to say that he must have lost all sense of fear.