The meeting place was a rundown pool hall on the edge of Busan.
Lee Do arrived first, his hand hovering near his pistol as he scanned the dim room. No customers. No music. Just the hum of a single flickering light.
He'd been expecting fear.
Instead, he felt anticipation.
The door creaked.
Moon Baek walked in.
Tailored coat. Perfect posture. That infuriatingly calm smile.
If Lee Do hadn't known who he was, he would've mistaken him for a businessman.
"You're braver than I thought," Baek said, stepping closer.
"You're dumber than I thought," Lee Do shot back.
Baek chuckled. "Direct. I like that."
"You're flooding the country with guns," Lee Do said. "How many people have to die before you're satisfied?"
Baek leaned against a pool table, unbothered.
"I'm not killing them, Detective. I'm giving them a choice. Isn't that what your government promised them? Freedom?"
Lee Do's jaw tightened. "This isn't freedom. It's chaos."
"Chaos is just another word for change."
Lee Do's hand twitched toward his gun.
Baek noticed.
"Relax," he said softly. "If I wanted you dead, you wouldn't have made it here."
For a moment, neither spoke.
Two men on opposite sides of a war neither fully understood.
"You can't win this," Lee Do said finally.
Baek smirked. "Maybe not. But I can make them remember me."
He turned to leave.
Lee Do's voice stopped him.
"Why me? Why call me?"
Baek glanced over his shoulder.
"Because you're the only one worth playing with."
And then he was gone.