A Change of Plans

January 9, 2021 (again) :

I stand in my living room shaking, holding my taser at a stranger who has entered my life, and has brought the past with him.

"Who are you really?" I ask fearfully.

… How did my past follow me all the way here?

The man's smile fades, and the look in his eyes becomes serious.

"I'm from the DTDA, short for the Domestic Terror Detection Agency." He answers as he pulls out his identification card.

I snatch it from him and study it to make sure it's real.

It is.

As I continue to double check the ID, he continues talking.

"Our main goal at the DTDA is to, as the name states, detect possible and present terrors in our country. Right now, the main terror is your former gang. Hallyu."

I throw it back to him and hold up my taser. He leans back slightly.

"Can you please put that away?" He asks, "It's kinda hard to have a conversation with someone when they're holding a weapon in your face."

I lower the taser and place it on the coffee table again.

I sigh.

"What do you need from me? I have nothing to do with Hallyu."

"I'm here to recruit you."

"Recruit me?"

"Yes."

"No thanks." I say walking back to my kitchen.

Thanks to him, I need to reheat my water for my ramen.

"Look. I don't want to be here either." He calls after me, "In fact, I should be arresting you right now. But the director of the DTDA looked into you and decided that you would be of help to us."

I turn around and face him.

"Why is the director of a Terror Detection agency looking to work with a former gang member? Especially me?"

"After closely observing your movements and the changes you've made in your life these past few years, he decided it was okay to trust you."

I scoff.

"He's trusting me based on that? How does your organization survive with a director who bases his trust on something as simple and fallible as that?"

"Don't talk bad about the director." He snaps.

"My bad." I raise my hands in mock surrender.

"He has his reasons. I thought it was risky too, so I took the liberty to observe you since your entry in Korea."

"How is that possible? If you did follow me, I would have noticed."

"I had some of my subordinates follow you, which wasn't too hard for them since all you do is work at the café and stay at home. Oh, and CCTVs also help."

That's one thing LA has that Korea doesn't… PRIVACY… If the agents were posed as customers, I probably wouldn't have noticed as I didn't think something like this would happen.

The kettle whistles, signaling that my water has finally boiled. I grab my ramen and peel off half of the lid. I pour the hot water in and turn on a timer for three minutes.

"Why are you making ramen right now? This is a serious conversation."

"If you want some you could just ask."

"No thank you. I don't need it."

"Suit yourself."

"Can you take this seriously? Or is the delinquent blood in you so strong that you can't listen to authority?"

Tch. I pout and look him up and down with a judgemental eye. He obviously knows nothing about gangs. If he did, he'd know that gang hierarchy and authority is unlike any other. Forget it. He's too much to deal with.

"Listen here, sunglasses. I'm not interested in reopening something I have shut away. There was a reason I left the gang, okay? Bye now."

My timer goes off. I bring the ramen over to the couch and place my ramen on the coffee table.

"Scoot over."

He looks at me, then to my ramen, and scoots over. I sit down with a sigh and begin eating.

"Will you just listen to what I have to say?" He asks.

I tilt my head to the left and the right, cracking it in frustration. I turn my head towards him and huff. I raise my eyebrows as if to say, "really?"

"What?"

I turn my head back and drop my chopsticks onto the table.

For a secret agent this guy is really dumb.

I place my right leg over my left leg and lean back on the couch with my arms crossed.

"So, you said that you're after the Hallyu gang?"

"Oh so you're ready to listen?"

"Just answer my question."

"Yes. The DTDA is after your old gang."

"Just call it Hallyu." I say impatiently.

"Whatever."

"Why is a government organization from Korea working on taking them down? They're in America, China, and Japan too. Shouldn't the bigger countries be taking care of it?"

"They should." He replies, "But we received intel that the gang originated in South Korea."

"Seriously? I didn't know that."

"You didn't?"

"Nope. Things about the leader were always hush hush. No one but a select number of people know about who she is and what she does."

"I see. That is to be expected."

"You said you got intelligence that Hallyu originated in South Korea right?"

"Yes."

"Where did you get that information?"

"Over time, we had agents in the past infiltrate the gang in each city and division."

"That's brave." I say with wide eyes. "If they get caught they're dead."

… Looks upset.

"Why do you think we're asking you to help? All our undercover agents were discovered and killed before they could leak important information. That's why the only thing we know is the origin of the gang." A fire fueled by hate lights up his eyes.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

He ignores me and continues his explanation.

"No one has been able to lay a finger on Hallyu. The gang is extremely well organized and completely hidden from outsiders. As you probably know, all the Hallyu members are loyal to their leader. The few we've arrested and interrogated remain silent and eventually end up killing themselves in numerous ways."

An uncomfortable silence fills the room.

"So-"

He cuts me off to continue speaking.

"Because of all the deaths and lack of information, we were about to close the investigation all together, until we found you."

HA! Cut me off, why don't you?

I suppress my annoyance and continue with the conversation.

"Am I that important to the investigation?"

"Yes. Because Hallyu originated in South Korea, America, China, and Japan have been putting pressure on us to take down Hallyu."

"Why are they doing that?"

"The governments of the other countries don't want to get involved with the gang."

I nod in understanding.

"Hallyu is not your ordinary gang that just anyone can oppose."

"Exactly. Due to this, the director of the DTDA decided that you would be our best chance to take down Hallyu. Recently, a special division was created around you and the intelligence you would bring us."

"Seriously? How does he know if I'll even accept?"

"He doesn't. This division is a temporary one."

"Temporary?"

"Yes. It is called division jeongdangseong*. It is dedicated solely to the take down of Hallyu. However, once Hallyu is gone, this division will shut down. So I assume that if you refuse us, the division will shut down, and many problems will arise for the DTDA."

Is he trying to guilt trip me? I tilt my head back in frustration. If I say yes, I just know I'm going to have to face everything I've been trying to run away from. How can I willingly go?

I look him in the eyes.

"I have one question before I make my decision."

"And what would that be?"

"Do you hate me?"

"What?"

"I said, do you hate me?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

I laugh at his confused face.

"I was a part of that gang, the one you're so intent on destroying. It makes sense if you hate me. But from my point of view, working with people and an organization that hates me is risky and could be fatal."

"That makes sense." He replies. "I don't know. All I know is that I hate that gang in general… so yeah, maybe that includes you.. but I'm willing to cooperate with you is it means taking down the gang that has terrorized so many people."

"I see." I pause before continuing my next sentence. "So, what do I get for working with you?"

He looks me in the eyes. "Are you agreeing to work with us?"

"It seems like I have no choice."

He smirks. "So you figured that out did you? You'll make a better agent than I thought."

"Don't underestimate me, sunglasses." I pout.

He turns his head away with a slight laugh.

"Hey. What do I get out of this partnership? Your organization gets information and another agent, but what do I get."

"You get the satisfaction of serving the greater good."

"Seriously?" I ask in disgust. "How lame."

"Don't worry. The director told me to tell you that while you work with us, the agency will pay for your living costs, including rent and pay the hospital bills you obtain through field work. They'll also pay you for your service."

I gasp.

I HAVE HIT THE JACKPOT.

I clear my throat to hide my joy.

"Sounds good." I smile. "You know, if you opened your explanation with that, I would have agreed to take this job a long time ago."

"Sure." He stands up and buttons his jacket.

"Let's go."

"Hold on." I say. " I need to finish my ramen."

I lean back on the couch and finish my ramen as he stands frozen hand resting on his jacket button.