Chapter 220 - Soo Bin's Story (2): The Dungeon

"What did he witness?" KJ probed. He was anxious about hearing the story. His heart was racing as he anticipated what was about to happen. 

Soo Bin gave him a grave look. "Jinki turned up unannounced at Kiho's place," he said. "All he wanted to do was to return the money. But when he went there, the front door was ajar."

"He went in, tiptoeing around the house. There was no one in sight but he heard a strange sound coming from the bas.e.m.e.nt. Thinking that Kiho was there, he descended the stairs." 

"But inside that bas.e.m.e.nt, he witnessed the most horrific thing in his life. It wasn't a bas.e.m.e.nt. It was a dungeon." 

KJ could almost visualize it in his head as if he was the one who was inside the bas.e.m.e.nt. He could see his grandfather's stunned reaction upon entering it. 

"It was a chamber of horrors," Soo Bin whispered. "Young girls were locked up in cells, n.a.k.e.d. They were all catatonic. They were stuffed into the bars like cattle. The conditions they were in…all of them were bloodied and bruised. Their bodies were beaten up and repeatedly assaulted with various objects. Some were tortured for months. The smell of flesh and rotten bodies hung in the air, enough to make any grown man throw up in disgust."

"Jinki could not believe his eyes. These were the same girls who were kidnapped. He could not fathom what was going on. He passed by the cells, trying to get answers from the women but they only backed off from him. They were severely traumatized and the sight of any man was repulsive to them. Jinki ventured ahead until he came across one cell, where a group of men surrounded a girl tied up to a table. "

"The girl begged for mercy," Soo Bin wailed. "But the men did not have a shred of humanity in them. They were ravaging her as if she was a piece of meat. The girl's teary eyes fell on Jinki, who could only stare in horror. Her eyes begged him to save her but he stood there, stunned at what he was seeing."

"Suddenly, one of the men noticed Jinki staring at them. They immediately tried to chase him but Jinki somehow escaped the dungeon and ran for his life." 

Soo Bin paused to choke up his tears. "I remember that night very well. He came running to my door, banging it hard. It was one o'clock in the morning. I came out of the house to see a terrified Jinki. He was deathly pale. As soon as he entered my house, he threw up on the floor. I've never seen him like that."

"Once he calmed down, he narrated to me the entire story. Of what he had seen down there. I couldn't believe it at first, but I notified the police station. A team of detectives, including me, broke into Kiho's house. We barged into the bas.e.m.e.nt, only to find every of the girls dead. "

"It was exactly as Jinki had described. The girls were caged up like animals. Their dead bodies were piled up. They were in such dire condition that death was probably their only escape. All of them were shot dead. We recovered fifty corpses from that dungeon. None of us were able to sleep for nights. Little did we know that our nightmare was far from over."

"Kiho was a member of the Cartel," Soo Bin revealed. "The girls they had kidnapped were aspiring to enter the idol industry. They were blackmailed and forced into catering to several high profile clients in Busan. It was a profitable business and the police raid caused them a lot of losses. Furthermore, Jinki was a star witness in the case. If he testified, their business would have been over."

"One night, hitmen from the Cartel entered Jinki's house. Your mother, Sia, was visiting a friend's house. But your grandparents weren't so lucky. The men brutally killed them. Your grandmother was found stripped n.a.k.e.d in the bedroom. Her throat was cut so badly that she was almost decapitated. Your grandfather was hung from a fan. They tried to pass it off as a murder-suicide."

KJ could feel the bile coming up his throat. Listening to the tale made his stomach churn. He did not want to hear any more but Soo Bin continued to talk. 

"They were never caught. The next day when your mother discovered the bodies, she was beyond grief. Me and my wife tried to console her but she could not erase the sight of her parents' bodies from her memory. The bubbly girl who was the soul of the community suddenly became aloof and distant. She barely talked and no one knew what she was thinking."

"But then, she began to plot her revenge. Sia knew that her parents were killed by minions of the Cartel. She wanted to bring the entire organization down. She wanted to erase their whole existence. And to do that, she needed to get to the main person." 

"The President," KJ guessed. 

"Yes," Soo Bin confirmed. "No one knew who he was. It was impossible to track him down. But Sia kept on plotting her moves carefully. She observed the members of the Cartel for months. She left Busan and arrived in Seoul. She had a lead on Jang Kiho and began to search for him. Finally, she found him managing an a.d.u.l.t entertainment facility in Gangnam. She took a job there, observing the clients. With her beauty and wits, she was able to gain a lot of clients."

"For the next two years, she began to climb her way up the ladder. It was a slow process but Sia was patient. She knew that the top leaders of the Cartel were dying to possess her. A young and beautiful girl like her was attracting many admirers. But her eyes were on the top gun."

"Sia had removed all traces of her past," Soo Bin stated. "No one was able to guess that the sultry beauty was the same energetic girl we had once known. By then, I had been transferred to Seoul. I tried to trace Sia down, but to no avail. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that she had strayed down into a dangerous path."

"Finally, Sia's plan began to bear fruit. One day, a prominent politician invited her to a party which was hosted by the Cartel's President. That was the turning point in her life."