Yo Han had ordered some take out, since they all had been to nervous to have dinner before they went on their infiltration mission.
The television was on, showing one broadcast, two laptop's were standing on the table, showing shows of the other two corrupted stations.
"And did our other part of the plan work out?" Ba Reum asked father Ko, who had to stay home because with his handicap he would have hindered them more then helped.
"Yes, detective Sang is informed. He left right before you returned". Father Ko said, glad that he could have been of assistance in their plan. "Moo Chi went to join him, just to be sure he has the necessary back-up."
The take-out arrived, and Yo Han made sure to tip the delivery guy.
They were just distributing the bowls of noodles with black bean sauce when the first commercial showed a part of a meeting with Shin Young Choi.
"Look, it worked." Father Ko said, pointing at the screen. During the dinner they saw several more on the other two broadcasting stations.
"So, now we only have to wait until it goes viral. Hopefully we even get some foreign press on it as well, that will increase the pressure." Ba Reum said, slurping his noodles.
"In the meanwhile, what do we do?" Hong Ju asked, "Moo Chi is still wanted, and I believe he might still be in danger, just like you father."
"I'll have to stay under." Father Ko said, "together with my brother. After he helps out Sang, he'll come back to here."
"If you don't mind the guest room, you can stay here." Yo Han said, "since me and Hong Ju have long working hours, we are out most of the time."
"That would be great, thank you." Father Ko said. "We'll try to keep out of your way."
"And you Ba Reum?"
"I'll go home. I'm not on their radar, so I should be safe." Ba Reum had to admit, that it had been fun and exciting to work as a team, but the last few days had been filled with so much excitement that he felt exhausted. He really wouldn't mind some privacy and rest.
After the meal was finished, he bid them all goodnight, happy to go home now. The drive home was silent and Ba Reum could feel the exhaustion creeping up on him.
When he drove past his house, looking for a spot to park, he saw that the lights in his house were on.
"Fuck? Did someone find out?" he wondered. He drove a bit further, only parking his car a distant away and carefully made his way over to his house, making sure that no one was sitting in any cars.
He wondered, was it OZ, that had found out who he was, or was it someone from the press, who wanted to have a story because they thought his mother had passed away.
His muscles were taut with tension when he snuck closer to his house, sticking with the shadows, making sure to never step into the lights of the lampposts. He pressed close to the wall and went to a window.
When he looked inside, the tension seeped out of his muscles. It were just his friends, sitting in his kitchen. But why were they here?
"Fuck." He said to himself. In all the excitement he had nearly forgotten that they thought his mother had died. They must have been worried for him and because his phone hadn't been loaded in a couple of days, his battery had been empty and they had no way to contact him.
They must have worried so hard about him, since he had promised to turn up at Bong Yi's as well. He wondered how long they have been waiting for him, since he hadn't been home for almost 2 days. He didn't know how long they had been searching for him, but they were still up waiting for him around 4 in the morning.
A warm feeling blossomed a bit in his chest. His friends really cared for him. They would be pissed at him though. He winced, perhaps he should've stayed with Yo Han a bit longer.
He swallowed and decided it was best to enter the house and let them voice their concerns about him. Hopefully they wouldn't be too mad.
He opened the door and immediately all his friends looked at him.
"Oh god, you are okay." Chi Kook said and stood up and hugged him tightly. Ba Reum was surprised. Even though he and his friends had always been close, these sudden moves of affection never really happened.
"Yes, I'm okay." He said, lifting his arm and patting Chi Kook on the shoulder. He thought that Chi Kook would let go, but instead Dong Koo and Bong Yi hugged him as well.
"We were so scared that they found you." Bong Yi said, hugging even harder. Ba Reum could swear that he felt one of his ribs crack.
"They?" Ba Reum asked, warning bells ringing in his head.
"OZ."
"Wait, how do you know about them." Ba Reum said, pulling back from his friends and looking at them. They weren't involved with them, were they?
"We saw the laptop on your desk, with the movie of father Ko on there." Dong Koo pointed back at his bed room, "you had forgotten to lock the laptop. Afterwards we saw the flash drives and we looked through them."
Ba Reum looked at them, sweating a bit. He didn't really know how much to tell them. They should have never found out. Knowing put them in danger. They should not have to be put in danger because of him.
"We didn't mean to invade your privacy," Bong Yi said, seeing Ba Reum's expression, "but we saw a movie of Father Ko, who was obviously kidnapped, and we wanted to make sure that nothing happened to you. Especially after we heard that your mother…" Bong Yi said, trailing of at the end. Did Ba Reum even know about his mother yet? She knew what her grandmother had said, but was that truly how it went, or did she really die?
Dong Koo took a step closer to Ba Reum again, holding his shoulders.
Bong Yi shared a look with Chi Kook. They had forgotten to tell Dong Koo about what her grandmother said. The movies on the TV and the following social media had stolen their attention.
"Ba Reum, I'm sorry, but your mom, she passed away." He said, fully expecting a break down from Ba Reum. He was quite sure that Ba Reum didn't know about it yet. Otherwise he wouldn't be so calm and collected.
"Oh, I know, don't worry." He said, shrugging of the hands on his shoulder and going to the kitchen and taking the thermos "Is this coffee?" he asked and poured himself a cup.
Dong Koo was looking at him with a face full surprise. How can Ba Reum act so flippant about this.
He looked at Bong Yi and Chi Kook and they were trying not to look at him in embarrassment. They knew something, and they forgot to tell him.
"Come, take a seat. It's time that I tell you some things." Ba Reum said, gesturing to the chairs around the table.
Ba Reum told them his story, his connection to OZ and how he had find out about them. He told them how he had made sure his mother was taken to safety before they could try to kill her again.
"But won't the killer run off now? Once they discover that OZ knows about them and have been protecting them, won't that give them a warning." Dong Koo asked after the explanation, glaring a bit at his other two friends. They should have told him about Ba Reum's mother.
"They have probably been arrested already." Ba Reum said, "Before we broke in the broadcasting stations, Moo Chi called detective Sang. After father Ko informed him about what happened and showed him the movies, he immediately went to arrest the murderers. No prosecutor alive would refuse a warrant now."
The police station was in a complete uproar when Sang and Moo Chi came in with a fifteen year old boy and his father, claiming them to be the culprits of the recent murders.
In the ensuing panic, two detectives tried to arrest Moo Chi, who socketed them in the eye and ran away, the two detectives following, leaving Sang standing there with the two culprits.
A minute later they returned, having already lost Moo Chi.
"I can't believe you did that." Detective Sang sniffed at them, looking down at them for their behaviour and went towards the jails to put the two people in.
The 15 year old just looked in front of him, stoic and cold, but the father pleaded that they weren't guilty. He shouted about police brutality, indignant.
"You haven't seen recent tv right?" the chief said, showing one of the clips showing the man's house, two figures sneaking out.
"It isn't me." The man kept saying. The chief ignored him and ordered an arrest warrant, so that they could legally interrogate these people.
It came in a record time of fifteen minutes.
It was obvious that no one wanted to be accused of working for OZ and that they wanted to culprits to be cleaned up together with OZ. The chief knew that in the next few weeks a lot of things were going to be shaken up. He could feel the stress headache already coming up.
They interrogated both the father and the son separately. Both kept on claiming that they were innocent.
The father cried and his voice begged that they had made a mistake and that he was innocent.
The son stayed eerily blank and told them that he never killed an innocent person.
Seeing as all the evidence pointed in their direction, they were held in jail.
The political world was shaken up as well. Shin Young Choi was arrested, but refused to confess. All the OZ members were put on an wanted list. They barely had any names, but they had their faces.
Screenshots taken from the movies were distributed and they were quickly. rooted out. Too many of them were connected to the police force.
When they interviewed doctor Cha she was in tears, not understanding how her husband could ever do something as cruel as that, and to guide their young son in his footsteps, that was not to be understood.
Why would he ruin their family like that. Detective Sang looked uncomfortable, but what kind of mother didn't notice her son turning into a violent killer.
Ba Reum saw the news and felt like he could breathe a bit better now. He was quite sure that the two murderers would be convicted. The teen would probably have to go to an institution, were it would be assessed at adulthood if he was safe to be let go in society.
The father would be probably sentenced to death, but would practically spend his life in jail instead.
His phone suddenly rang, he picked it up, and at the news, he dropped his cup to the ground.
"Your mother woke up."
Ba Reum immediately took the car and drove off to the hospital his mother was staying in. Since she was still in the other hospital, that meant an hour driving. When he finally arrived at the place, he rushed to his mother's room.
When he saw his mother lying on the bed, her eyes open, looking tired but alert, he ran towards the bed and he fell to his knees next to her.
"Mom." He cried, not silent tears, but loud and violent sobs of relief. His mother just stroked the top of his head, whispering that it was all okay. It took him a few minutes before he got himself out of control.
"Mom, I missed you." He said, his mother gave him a tired smile.
"I missed you as well." She said, holding open her arms to give him an hug. He moved forward and hugged her gently, mindful of the wounds.
"I was afraid that you would never wake up." Ba Reum said, "I was afraid that they would have succeeded in killing you."
"I know sweetheart, I know, but I heard they caught the culprit." She said, "I'm safe now."
"Yes. They caught them, the father and the son." Ba Reum said.
"What do you mean the father and the son?" she asked, startled.
"Don't you remember what happened. They broke in and tried to cut you open." Ba Reum asked, wondering if she got amnesiac post-traumatic stress syndrome or something.
"I remember. It was a son and a mother, not a father." Ba Reum's face blanched. Shit, they made a mistake.