“Uuugh…”

Hwang Tae-su woke up with a hangover.

As he got older, his body wasn’t what it used to be. Back in the day, he could drink crates of soju without a problem.

He gathered his senses and looked around.

He had a habit when drinking. Whenever he got drunk, he would end up at Madam Kim’s karaoke bar.

But for some reason, this wasn’t the karaoke bar.

“Where am I?”

It was a place he had never seen before. It felt like a room in a very shabby inn.

“Ugh, my head hurts. Hyung-geon.”

Hwang Tae-su called for Go Hyung-geon. He was the one who had stayed by his side until the end last night.

“……”

But there was no response.

“That bastard. He must’ve slipped away.”

Back in the day, this guy used to be quick on his feet, but as he got older, all he did was come up with tricks.

Where the hell is he?

Grabbing his throbbing head, Hwang Tae-su got up and stepped outside. And then he was shocked.

“Looks like you slept well.”

“Huk! Seo-jun?”

“Seo-jun?”

“No, I mean… Why is the President here?”

“You don’t remember?”

“Remember what?”

“I see. You don’t remember.”

At that moment.

Someone came out of the bathroom.

It was Hyung-geon.

“Oh? President, you’re awake?”

“Hyung-geon. Why are we at Seo-jun’s…?”

No, why does my mouth keep calling him Seo-jun?

Slapping his mouth that was acting on its own, Hwang Tae-su spoke.

“No, are we at the President’s place?”

“You really don’t remember?”

“Remember what? I drank and went home. I remember you taking me back.”

He did drink a lot of makgeolli. So it was true that he got drunk.

But he remembered clearly.

He had been supported by Hyung-geon, left the store, and then collapsed inside his home.

“It seems you had a dream.”

“A dream?”

“Boss, you were incredibly drunk last night. You couldn’t even stand properly. And then…”

Hyung-geon leaned in and whispered in his ear.

“You were a complete disaster.”

With those words, memories he had tried to forget—or perhaps alcohol had made him forget—came floating back.

-What else would I call him but Seo-jun?

-Seo-jun said he’s still open!

-Seo-jun! Bring me another bottle of makgeolli!

As the memories resurfaced, Hwang Tae-su covered his mouth.

“I’m sorry, president!”

He bowed deeply.

“Just eat some hangover soup.”

Seo-jun gestured toward the table. Now that he thought about it, the smell of bone broth had been lingering in the air.

As he carefully sat down, Hyung-geon set the utensils. Watching this, Hwang Tae-su glanced at Seo-jun and spoke.

“You idiot, serve the boss’s utensils first.”

“Huh? Oh, yes!”

Just as Hyung-geon finished setting the table…

Someone else walked out of the bathroom.

“The finest high-tech sensor!”

“Huh?”

“If you use the toilet, you should flush it!”

“Oh? I didn’t flush?”

“The toilet was crawling with death worms!”

“I’m sorry!”

Shaking his head in dismay, the bathroom cleaning duty officer, Park Yeon, approached the table and spoke to Hwang Tae-su.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Huh? Oh, yes.”

“Thanks to you, I ended up sleeping here too.”

“Ah, then that shabby-looking room earlier…?”

“I don’t know about any shabby rooms, but that’s where I stay.”

“Oh, my apologies.”

“It’s fine. Didn’t you also let me use the elevator? Lending you a room for a night is nothing.”

“Thank you.”

Nodding, Park Yeon turned to look at Seo-jun.

“Is this that thing?”

“It is.”

“…Ugh. I didn’t think you’d really boil it.”

“It turned out pretty good.”

“I won’t eat it.”

As Seo-jun shrugged, Park Yeon glanced at his watch and spoke.

“Well then, enjoy your meal. I’m busy, so…”

“Where are you going?”

“It’s time for my show.”

With that, he darted back into his room.

“He’s a drama addict,” Seo-jun added.

“Ah…”

Seo-jun lifted his spoon. This was dragon bone broth that had been simmering since last night.

Since it was his first time making it, he hadn’t expected much, but it turned out to be quite delicious.

It had a richer and deeper flavor than regular bone broth made from cow bones.

Perhaps because dragons weren’t monsters, there was no toxicity either.

As Seo-jun took his first bite, Hwang Tae-su carefully lifted his own spoon and tasted the broth.

‘Oh…’

He couldn’t help but let out a sound of admiration.

It felt like his stomach was instantly soothed.

Normally, he would add salt to his bone broth. Without salt, it tasted bland.

But this one didn’t seem to need any extra seasoning. Adding salt might even ruin the rich flavor of the broth.

As Hwang Tae-su hurriedly ate, Go Hyung-geon also picked up his spoon.

‘Delicious!’

Hyung-geon also started eating rapidly.

The traffic light turned red.

Swish—

The car came to a stop.

As he watched the red light, Hwang Tae-su spoke to Go Hyung-geon, who was in the driver’s seat.

“Did you enjoy your meal?”

“Yes. It was much better than anything from a high-end restaurant.”

“Right?”

“Yes.”

“He is really good at cooking, it’s strange.”

The light turned green. As the car smoothly moved forward, Hyung-geon glanced at the rearview mirror and spoke.

“By the way, President.”

“Roll down the window a bit, I need a smoke.”

—Srrrk!—

The window slid down. Hwang Tae-su, with a cigarette in his mouth, asked,

“So, what is it?”

“That bar owner.”

“Seo-jun? Ah!”

—Slap!—

“Seo-jun ssi?”

“I don’t mean to be rude, but why do you act so cautious around him?”

“Haven’t you heard from Jin-soo?”

“You mean Kim Jin-soo?”

“Who else do we know named Jin-soo? Yeah, that Kim Jin-soo.”

“Ah… no, I haven’t heard.”

“You know he was hospitalized, right?”

“Of course, I do.”

“Then do you know why he went straight down to the countryside after being discharged?”

Well, wasn’t it because dealing with the boss was an absolute nightmare?

Hyung-geon held back the words he wanted to say.

“I have no idea.”

“Sigh… Considering he didn’t even tell you before leaving, it must have been a serious trauma. And the fact that no one else is talking about it just makes it more obvious…”

“Huh?”

“Never mind. Some things are better left unknown. Hand me the ashtray.”

Hyung-geon took the ashtray from the cup holder and handed it over. Hwang Tae-su tapped his cigarette, letting the ashes fall.

The falling embers reminded him of that day—when he had collapsed, completely spent.

“Ha… I’m screwed. Royally screwed.”

Damn it.

“Maybe I should just quit.”

Go Hyung-geon was on guard duty, armed with a rifle, alongside his close friend Kim Si-hyun.

Guard duty was as dull as it gets. Most of their time was spent chatting to kill boredom.

Hearing Si-hyun’s words, Hyung-geon smirked.

“Do you know how many times you’ve said that?”

“Thirty-five-forty-five times, dumbass, what are you gonna do about it?”

“You sure know yourself well. If you were really going to quit, you would’ve done it already. Stop saying it all the time.”

“…Got chewed out by the President again today.”

Hyung-geon chuckled.

“What for this time?”

“I spat in his coffee.”

“Did he catch you?”

“No. He just said it tasted terrible.”

“Pfft. That’s better than getting caught.”

“Ha… I really wanna quit.”

“Still, where else would you find a president like ours? The pay and bonuses are generous.”

That was true. That’s why, despite constantly saying he would quit, Si-hyun never actually did.

He knew there was nowhere better.

Then—

They heard movement from inside the office.

It had to be Hwang Tae-su.

The two straightened their postures.

“Kim Si-hyun.”

“Yes, boss.”

“Your leg okay from getting chewed out earlier?”

“It’s fine, sir.”

“Liar, I know it’s not.”

“It’s really fine!”

“Seriously, why can’t you just brew a decent cup of coffee? Look at Hyung-geon. His coffee-making skills are top-notch.”

“I’ll be more careful, sir!”

“It’s lunchtime now. Go eat with Hyung-geon.”

With that, Hwang Tae-su pulled out 200,000 won from his wallet and handed it over.

He was definitely the generous type. His wallet tended to open whenever he felt like it.

“Thank you, sir!”

“Brat.”

As Hwang Tae-su walked away, Si-hyun turned to Hyung-geon.

“What do you wanna eat?”

“Jajangmyeon?”

“Aren’t you sick of it? We had it yesterday, the day before, and basically every other day.”

“Then… ramen?”

“For fuck’s sake.”

“Dude, then what else is there?”

“Use your damn brain. Find something different. We’ve been eating the same crap every day.”

At Si-hyun’s complaint, Hyung-geon suddenly recalled the mugwort pancake and bone broth soup he had a while ago.

‘That was seriously good.’

Especially the fried rice ordered by a late-night customer—it had looked incredible. The smell had been mouthwatering.

‘Fried rice with a bit of booze would be perfect.’

“Hey, come on, what is it?”

“Got it. I just remembered a place.”

“Where?”

“Just follow me. Man, you talk too damn much.”

Park Jin-hoo was patrolling with Go Kyung-soo as usual.

The streets were quiet.

“It’s unusually peaceful today.”

“Wish it was always like this.”

“Right? I heard a cop got shot in District 13 yesterday.”

“That was Oh Jung-sik. He was my classmate at the police academy.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah. I was planning to visit him after work. The bullet barely missed anything vital, thank god. Otherwise, he would’ve died a painful death thinking about his kids.”

“He got lucky.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

Just then, Kyung-soo spoke up.

“Huh? Aren’t those Hwang Tae-su’s guys?”

“What the…?”

Something about their destination felt familiar.

“Why the hell are those guys heading to ‘One Drink’?”

“Let’s go check it out.”

Jin-hoo nodded.

‘One Drink’ was a place he had recently taken a liking to. Something about it made him feel at ease—relaxed.

But now, Hwang Tae-su’s thugs were heading there with heavy footsteps.

Something was definitely about to go down.

Or maybe it already had…

Moments later, the two officers cautiously stepped into the establishment.

And they saw—

Contrary to their expectations, the thugs were sitting quietly at a table.

Cops versus gangsters.

An awkward yet intriguing sight.

As Lee Seo-jun placed a plate of fried rice on the table, he thought to himself.

“Here’s your fried rice and beer.”

“Thank you.”

Seo-jun returned to the kitchen. Meanwhile, Kim Si-hyun eyed Park Jin-hoo, who was casually fiddling with his rifle.

“Why the hell are the cops here?”

“How should I know?”

“We haven’t done anything shady, right?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Then what? Why are they just sitting here? Are they out of their damn minds?”

Normally, cops avoided stepping into District 12 unless necessary.

Police uniforms made them instant targets.

But these two had walked right in.

Fully armed.

Si-hyun felt uneasy.

“Just ignore them. We haven’t done anything wrong. The boss is even running a scholarship program now, cleaning up our image. What could they possibly arrest us for?”

“If they wanted to, they’d find something, dumbass.”

Kim Si-hyun pointed to Hyung-geon’s waist.

A smuggled Glock 17 was tucked there.

Hyung-geon stiffened slightly.

“Well… yeah, but aside from the illegal firearm, we’re clean.”

The Hwang Tae-su gang had stopped their high-interest loan schemes. They were now lending at reasonable rates.

So there was nothing to worry about.

“Still feels off.”

“Forget it and eat. If you worry before eating, you’ll get indigestion.”

“Fair point. Then I’ll start with some booze.”

Si-hyun poured beer into his glass and downed it in one go.

“Ahh—!”