Chapter 44: Care to Defect?

TL: LittlePeach

A few days ago, while asking me for the favor, Chae A-ra had mentioned one thing.

'The truth is, there is much ugly talk about that broker. They say if someone displeases him, he strikes their name off the list right before the defection, and that he pockets the money and then claims it never arrived....'

The man standing before me was that very rotten broker, Yu Jong-pil.

He was a man with a striking smile, one that might as well have been painted onto a mask.

"My, what a fine night, Comrade squad leaders. I don't know what has you all so worked up, but since I've arrived late anyway, allow me to put a good offer on the table."

"What offer?"

"I'd like to buy up every last one of the remaining defectors. The money is ready, as much as it takes."

"...What?"

The first to react weren't the North Korean squad leaders, but his fellow defection brokers.

A man standing nearby grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Hey, Jong-pil. You show up late and now you're muddying the market?"

"That's right. Can't you see we're all standing in line here?"

Sour reactions or not, Yu Jong-pil simply flashed a beaming smile and flicked his tongue.

"Come now.... Gentlemen, let's be honest with ourselves. With everyone buzzing that UN Security Council sanctions will be tightened any day now, once that freight train leaves, when exactly do you suppose another one will cross into Dandong?"

"Why would you even bring that up...."

"Frankly, the fewer chances there are to escape, the more defection fees will double, even triple. If we don't seize this opportunity properly, do you really think we'll get another shot at serious money?"

"The nerve of this man!"

With a confident smile, Yu Jong-pil was echoing the very argument the North Korean squad leader had been spouting just earlier.

The defection brokers exchanged wary glances, until someone cleared his throat and raised his voice.

"Ahem! Even so, this violates every code of the trade! No matter how much you promise to pay us later, we have no intention of reading you our ledgers! Do you even understand that, pulling a stunt like this?"

"That's right. Even if you buy up every last defector, how do you plan to connect them with their families?"

Within the defection system, the broker's role is absolute.

If a deal fell through on-site over money, standard practice was to postpone the defection to the next opportunity and send the person straight back to North Korea.

Swap brokers on the spot, and all contact with the family would be severed then and there.

"Heh heh. There are ways."

But Yu Jong-pil simply brushed such professional ethics aside.

I didn't know why, but he seemed convinced that one way or another, the board was tilted in his favor.

"Anyway, well! What do you say, squad leaders? I'll buy up every last one of the remaining defectors."

"Hmm.... So you are saying you will buy my goods at four thousand, is that it?"

"Four thousand? Of course. That much money is nothing."

"Heh. Good, good. A fine idea you have had."

"Four thousand a head, correct? Here, count it for yourself."

At that, the North Korean squad leader who had been huffing and snorting just moments ago stepped forward, his face lighting up.

He hurriedly counted the bills, and before long, beaming from ear to ear, he personally dragged over two defectors.

"Good. These two are yours now. Take them."

"C-Comrade squad leader. This man is not the broker we made arrangements with."

"And so what? Are you saying you would rather go back to Chosun, then?"

"N-no. It's just...."

The defectors' opinions counted for nothing here.

The other squad leaders scrambled toward Yu Jong-pil as well.

"Hey, buy up all my goods too."

"Mine as well! Give me the same price per head and I will sell you the whole lot."

"But of course. As long as the goods are sound, I'll take them all off your hands."

"Damn it all! I sold mine off too early.... What a waste."

"Heh heh. That is what you get for jumping in first."

The squad leaders lined up in high spirits.

At this rate, Yu Jong-pil was going to sweep up all ten remaining defectors single-handedly, and the brokers began whispering among themselves with stricken faces.

I couldn't just stand by and watch any longer.

"There's one person I need to take. The name is Chae Ji-jun. That one man, I'd like to buy."

As I stepped forward, Yu Jong-pil turned to look at me.

He gave me a once-over, his expression puzzled.

"Oh? A face I haven't seen before?"

"That's right. I'm a broker who normally works out of Russia."

"Russia? There's a defection route through Russia?"

"Of course there is. Spasibo."

"...What?"

"Siba." [TL Note: "Spasibo", Russian for "thank you", sounds like the Korean curse ssiba, i.e., "fuck".]

"...."

Yu Jong-pil, who had been merrily raking in defectors, furrowed his brow.

Well. Fuck.

"Chae Ji-jun? That one is in my hands."

Whether I went around muttering "fuck" or not, the North Korean squad leader who had been about to unload his goods cocked his head back with a crooked look.

"How much more can you pay?"

"I'll pay a thousand dollars more."

"...What?"

"Five thousand dollars. Hand over the goods."

I jerked my chin with all the confidence of a hard-worn defection broker.

At my unhesitating answer, a strange silence settled over the tent.

Yu Jong-pil seemed to size things up for a moment, then let out a scornful snort at me.

"Then I'll bid double for that one man."

"Huhk."

"Is he insane...."

The brokers around us groaned in disbelief.

Double meant ten thousand dollars.

Considering that defection brokers typically collect about ten thousand dollars from a client, he would be buying at a dead loss.

"You'll buy at double?"

"Yes. Because if I buy at double, I have a feeling you'll buy those goods off me at triple."

Well, well.

He seemed to have quite a lot of money.

'This is exactly the kind of moment money is earned for.'

Of course, when it came to money, I wasn't about to lose either.

I gave a light snort.

"Then I'll raise it to triple."

"Is that so? Then quadruple."

"Five times."

"...."

Yu Jong-pil, about to push the price even higher, hesitated for a moment.

As if that hesitation disgusted him, he wiped the smile clean off his face and glared at me.

"...Do you actually have that kind of money on hand?"

"Here."

Without so much as a blink, I pulled a fat envelope of cash from my pocket.

I had withdrawn a massive pile of cash, just in case.

I even had another envelope in my pocket besides this one.

"You see how thick it is?"

"...."

"I bid five times. Are you going higher?"

"...Tch."

Unwilling to admit he had backed down, Yu Jong-pil clicked his tongue and jerked his gaze away.

He hadn't brought that much cash to begin with, and he knew perfectly well that bidding six times here would never balance the books.

When I turned to the North Korean squad leader with a smile, he was standing there dumbfounded, mouth hanging open.

"Here, count it. Twenty-five thousand dollars."

"Uh, uhh...."

"H-hey, hey. Buy mine at that price too."

"I'm not buying anyone but Chae Ji-jun."

"I will cut it to half that price for you, eh?"

"I said I'm not buying."

"D-damn it all...."

While the squad leader hurriedly counted the bills, the other squad leaders shot us envious glances.

"Hey. That fellow buys one man at that price. Is it not only right that you buy our goods at the same?"

"...I can't do that. You know full well I'm already paying you a premium as it is."

"You damned bastard...."

Now it was the other squad leaders' turn to start pressuring Yu Jong-pil to buy at the same price.

For Yu Jong-pil, it must have been maddening beyond belief.

The nearby brokers, apparently getting some vicarious satisfaction from my cash-flexing, were snorting away with smug delight.

"Q-quickly, take him before I change my mind!"

Soon a gaunt young man was led before me by the squad leader's hand.

Studying his face calmly, I could see that his straight, high-bridged nose faintly resembled Chae A-ra's.

"What's your name?"

"I-it's Chae Ji-jun."

"And your older sister's name?"

"Chae A-ra.... I heard she has gone to South Chosun."

I couldn't think of anything more to ask beyond that.

Then, at that moment, Kite No. 3's voice came through the radio.

-A-ra has a long scar just below her tailbone, on the left side. Ask him how she got it.

Unbelievable. Just because the two of them play husband and wife and he's seen it all, he dumps the embarrassing question on me.

I gave an awkward smile and cleared my throat.

"I hear your sister has a scar somewhere on her body. Do you happen to remember the story behind it?"

An awkward smile crept across the young man's lips as well.

"Aha, ha.... Honestly, that sister of mine, spreading such an old tale.... When she was about ten, she took a bad spill on the ice and it left a long scar just above her left buttock."

Kite No. 3 sent no further transmission.

With that, it was all but confirmed that the young man before me was Chae Ji-jun.

The most critical first objective was successfully achieved; the only objective left was for Owl No. 8 to get his photographs.

"There. You've been through a lot. Shall we go? To meet your sister."

"Y-yes, understood."

While Owl No. 8 and Kite No. 3 kept watch over the situation, all we had to do was slip out of here.

And so, with my arm around Chae Ji-jun's shoulder, just as I was about to step straight out of the tent...

Bang!

"...Hm?"

Bang! Ratatat!

Sudden gunfire, at a timing no one could have predicted.

"Wh-what? What is happening, you fucking bastard!"

"Have the laborers stirred up some trouble?"

Not pistol fire. It was the distinctive rattle of North Korean standard-issue rifles firing on automatic.

Instinctively, I turned toward the freight train.

"Fire! Shoot them dead!"

"Let's go! Follow me!"

"Scatter! Run, quickly!"

In that moment, I saw the dozens of people who had been hauling cargo beside the train surge in one direction all at once, in a screaming tide.

In some of their hands were the rifles of the very North Korean soldiers who had been bullying them moments before.

"Oh boy."

I knew instantly what had happened.

A mass defection, in the most literal sense of the word, had begun.

-Th-this is Owl. The laborers have staged an armed revolt. Part of the North Korean force guarding the train has been shot dead, and most of the laborers are attempting a mass breakout beyond Dandong Station!

Owl No. 8, lying in wait inside the rail yard, shared the current situation.

Under the tent where the brokers were gathered, things were moving fast as well.

"W-we'd best be going now. Good luck to you all."

"Wait! All of you bastards, stay where you are!"

"Wh-what kind of dirty trick have you lot pulled?"

As one broker tried to slip out of the tent amid the sudden turn of events, a North Korean squad leader shoved a muzzle in his face and screamed.

"Eek! Wh-why point the gun at us...."

"W-we know nothing about this! It seems the laborers over by the freight train seized weapons and started a riot. Instead of pointing guns at us, wouldn't it b-be better to hurry over there and reinforce them?"

Bang! Ba-bang!

As the gunfire kept ringing out, only a heavy silence hung under the tent.

The North Korean squad leaders must have felt like they were standing in the middle of a sinking ship.

'What do I do about this?'

First, I hid Chae Ji-jun behind me, using my own body as a wall.

If it came to it, I would have to draw and respond, but then every muzzle would swing my way, and I couldn't guarantee Chae Ji-jun's safety.

-This is Kite. Ready to engage the North Korean squad leaders if necessary.

Kite No. 3's voice came through the radio as the situation spiraled deeper and deeper into an inescapable mess.

And then, suddenly.

"Ah."

A good idea popped into my head.

"Well, since it's come to this, care to defect too, all of you?"

"...What? Defect?"

"Yes. Everyone here was waiting to get matched up anyway. Isn't it a perfect fit?"

In that instant, the tent was swallowed in silence.

Everyone stared at me blankly.

My proposal came so far out of nowhere that even the gunfire outside seemed to fade away.

*****

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