Chapter Text
Chapter 1: A Loaded Gun
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Hwang Junho always knew his job would kill him. He just never expected it to be like this — standing in a run-down motel room in the dead of night, watching a man he thought he'd never see again press a gun to his own temple.
A man with a perfectly tailored suit and hair slicked back, perfect face only disrupted by some red dirt, not dirt he corrects himself, blood. — not looking like the same man he once knew, a man with casual, but expensive — open-collared shirts, relaxed blazers, and soft wool coats that screamed old money without trying. His hair messier, eyes warmer… not, whoever this man was trying to impersonate.
Woojin, Kim Woo-jin. The name he’d murmured once in the heat of a stolen night, back when they were just two men too drunk, too lonely, and too careless.
And now here he was, wearing a face Junho thought he’d forgotten, looking older, haunted, lips trembling as he cocked the hammer.
"I wouldn’t do that if I were you," Junho said, voice low, gun already in his hand, though it wasn't pointed at Woojin. Not yet.
Junho’s voice cut through the room like a blade. “What the hell is happening here?”
Gi-hun spun toward him, face pale and drawn. His eyes widened, recognition flickering there — not just at Junho, but at the uniform, the badge, the officer that once had asked about the card, the guy that was looking for his brother, which very likely have been murdered there too.
“This bastard is one of them.” — said Gi-hun looking dead in his eyes, as if it was an understanding between them. “He recruits people. Finds the desperate, the hopeless, drags them into a nightmare and leaves them to die for money. They call him the Recruiter.”
Junho’s stomach dropped.
He stared at the man — the one he’d known only in dimly-lit bars and stranger’s beds, someone he never asked real questions about. The brief flashes of money, the expensive watch Junho had never asked about, the bruised knuckles The no-contact information nor details. The monthly-long disappearances. And now this.
The Recruiter met his gaze, silent.
And everything clicked.
Junho’s stomach churned. His hand tightened around his gun. “How long?” he asked quietly, voice rough.
The other man didn’t flinch at the sound. “Junho,” he said, very calmly, like a memory.
“How long were you part of this?” Junho demanded, stepping closer.
The Recruiter’s laugh was bitter, hollow. “Long enough to forget what my life looked like before.”
Gi-hun’s eyes darted between them, suspicion thickening the air. “You know him?” looking at Junho with wariness.
Junho didn’t answer right away. His gaze lingered on the man in front of him — the lies, the nights, the things they never said. He thought about how easy it had been to let himself believe there was nothing dangerous there. Just a man with too many secrets and the same need to forget.
“It’s complicated,” Junho finally muttered.
Gi-hun scoffed.
“I came here for answers,” Junho said tightly, keeping his gun low but ready. “And either one of you—” he pointed his chin at the Recruiter, “—are going to give them to me.”
The Recruiter let out a shuddering breath and let the gun in his hand drop to the table with a dull clatter.
Junho’s voice softened, barely. “We need to talk. — said looking directly at Gi-hun. “I just need answers.”
Gi-hun hesitated, eyes narrowing. Then, reluctantly, he took the gun and held it in his waistband. There was a flicker of something — recognition laced with caution. He gestured with his chin toward a corner of the room, away from the Recruiter.
“Come here,” Gi-hun murmured under his breath.
Junho followed, wary.
When they were out of earshot, Gi-hun leaned in, voice low. “I remember you,” he said quietly. “That night in the rain. 3 years ago. You asked me about a man… said you were looking for someone who disappeared. I didn’t get it then, but now… you were close to this back then too.”
Junho’s throat tightened. He gave a small nod.
“I never forgot your face,” Gi-hun added. “Didn’t know what to say back then. But if you’re here now, with him…” he flicked a glance toward the Recruiter, “I need to know where you stand.”
Junho met his gaze, steady. “I came for answers. I’m still looking for my brother. I want to stop them.”
A tense silence stretched between them, weighted with shared trauma and unspoken grief.
Finally, Gi-hun gave a short nod. “Then we look for them. Together. No lies.”
Junho allowed himself a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.
They turned back towards the Recruiter, who was watching them both with a guarded, unreadable expression.
The war was coming near. But maybe, just maybe, they weren’t fighting it alone.
Gi-hun broke the silence first, voice rough, his gaze blank and unreadable as it settled on the man in front.
“What do we do with him now?
End of chapter 1