Moon's Labyrinths

Jimin stayed in Sungyoon’s embrace for a very long time. She was afraid his warmth and his presence would disappear as soon as she separated from him.

However, this dream-like situation couldn’t last forever.

Someone interrupted them.

“Excuse me!”

These words were spoken in English, and not Korean.

The hesitation in the man’s voice was apparent as he interjected himself between the two.

“I’m sorry for interrupting your moment, but we have to carry out our mission soon.”

Jimin’s eyes widened. She carefully extracted herself from Sungyoon’s embrace and observed the owner of the voice.

She had never met him in person before, but she recognized his face.

He was the Connector who represented England—Sir Charlie Russell.

“… Sir Russell?”

“You're Jimin Hahn, his wife. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Russell greeted her, and it looked as though a knight was paying his respects to a noble lady.

Click!

“Did someone say Sir Russell?”

The front door opened, and Woosang and Woosung rushed out of the door with shocked expressions.

It seemed the people inside had already realized Sungyoon and Jimin were having a reunion.

Connectors were second to none when it came to hearing capability.

When Sungyoon had appeared before Jimin and she had called out Sungyoon’s name, Woosang and Woosung had jumped to their feet. They had explained what was going on to their mothers, who were glancing at them with quizzical expressions. The brothers had wanted to rush out of the house. They had so many questions.

How did Sungyoon manage to come back? What was he doing up until now? How dare he make their sister worry so much?

They were about to give him a piece of their minds, but their mothers had held them back. The two women wanted Jimin and Sungyoon to have their reunion in peace.

However, the brothers could no longer hold themselves back when they heard Charlie Russell had come for a visit.

“Ah? You're Woosang Hahn and Woosung Hahn?”

“T-that is correct, sir!”

The brothers were close to Hyunwoo, a Connector on the same level as Carlie Russell. Yet, their hearts had palpitated at the prospect of meeting another Connector who had reached the pinnacle of their profession.

“Yes. I've heard a lot about both of you.”

Russell spoke in a friendly manner.

However, the brothers couldn’t feel any friendliness in his eyes. It could be just their imagination, but they felt that those eyes contained a bit of coldness.

“What’s the big fuss?”

“Wow. It really is Sir Russell.”

Aiin and Hweeyoung followed the two brothers out of the house, and the last person inside the house did the same.

“I never expected a person of such noble character to come here.”

Sung Hyunwoo!

Hyunwoo slowly took stock of the situation, and his gaze came to a stop on Sungyoon.

“You're back.”

“Yes, I am.”

Hyunwoo spread his arms as he greeted Sungyoon.

“Welcome back. Your wife and your mothers-in-law were very worried. They can rest easy now.”

Hyunwoo pointed at the house.

“Why don’t you all come in? I want to hear your story. Let’s talk while we drink.”

“Ah! That won’t be possible.”

Russell was the one to answer Hyunwoo. He took a step forward. It was just one step, yet the mood in the backyard completely changed.

Jimin, who had reluctantly separated herself from Sungyoon’s arms, was confused. This was true for the brothers. Aiin and Hweeyoung, who were glad to see their son-in-law return, could only roll their eyes when the atmosphere suddenly turned cold.

The only ones unaffected were Sungyoon and Russell, who had created this atmosphere. Sungyoon moved to cover Jimin.

Hyunwoo looked at Russell.

“Is something wrong?”

“Is something wrong? Yes. To be precise, I have a bone to pick with you.”

Russell moved his hand.

The bright light of the full moon reflected off the sword in Russell’s hand. Everyone stopped breathing when they realized he was holding a weapon.

Hyunwoo furrowed his brows.

“You're on earth and on foreign soil on top of that, yet you activated your Gems? Have you lost your mind?”

“We are of sound mind. In fact, I want to flip that question at you.”

The speaker of these words wasn’t Russell. A man clad in sturdy battle gauntlets placed his hand on Hyunwoo’s shoulder.

In a flash, another Connector had moved up behind Hyunwoo.

“You….”

This man was fully armored, so Hyunwoo couldn't see his face. However, Hyunwoo recognized the armor.

“Danny Bruce.”

“Correct! Don’t think about doing anything funny. Russell and I went through the trouble of coming here for you. Even you won’t be able to win against the two of us. Your Device and Gems have been confiscated. Even if you were able to get some past inspection, it’ll take you some time to activate the Gems. If you do anything I consider suspicious, I’ll break your neck. Don’t think about running away either. This place is surrounded, of course, by armed Connectors.”

“Ah! Please don’t provoke him too much, Mr. Bruce. At the end of the day, you're here to help us. The only ones with the authority to arrest him are us.”

The front gate opened, and two men entered.

Both had scraggly beards, and they looked unkempt. This image was reinforced by their eyes, which showed great fatigue.

“It has been a while. Hasn't it, Mr. Sung Hyunwoo?”

“… I see. The fact that you guys are here means the government recruited you guys.”

“Recruit? Please don’t put it in such strange terms. It's our job to arrest suspected criminals. Of course, we did bring outside help since the suspected criminal is a Connector. Sir Russell and Mr. Bruce are third-party helpers. They aren’t part of the government. You should already know this since you’ve done similar work before.”

“S-suspected criminal! That’s nonsense! What crime did Mr. Hyunwoo commit!”

Woosung apoplectically yelled. After his father, Jungbum, had gone missing, Hyunwoo had stepped up to fill the shoes of the missing Jungbum. Hyunwoo had become a father figure for both brothers. Therefore, even the usually level-headed Woosang lost his cool.

However, the detectives who had come to arrest Hyunwoo spoke in a cynical voice.

“That is why we are arresting him. We want to investigate if the accusations are true. Moreover, it isn’t just him. Hahn Woosang and Hahn Woosung, we are arresting the two of you too.”

“What?”

“It isn't just you three. We are arresting all the members of Fabion. The whole company is under suspicion.”

The detective let out a sigh as he spoke.

“In fact, I’m the one who wants to ask you the question. What did you guys do?”

Stunned expressions appeared on the brothers' faces as they looked at the detective.

Hweeyoung, Aiin, and Jimin were at a loss for words. The situation had devolved too quickly. Right now, they kept opening and shutting their mouths as if they were goldfishes.

“Well, my curiosity can be satisfied at a later time. Let us arrest them for now.”

The detective clapped his hand, and four Connectors entered through the front gate and roughly arrested Woosang and Woosung. The two of them didn’t put up a fight; they weren't in the state of mind to do it either.

“S-sungyoon. What’s going on!”

Jimin grabbed Sungyoon’s arm. She was happy that her husband had come back alive, but her father’s best friend and her brothers were about to be arrested.

“Don’t worry about it. Nothing will probably happen to your brothers. They are being arrested to check some facts.”

No one thought the two brothers were deeply related to the plot that brought about their father’s death.

It was possible that a faction of Fabion Connectors was unaware of their company's shady dealings. This was Sugyoon’s guess.

“B... but!”

“Please wait! I’ll explain everything after this.”

Sungyoon had a calm expression on his face, but he felt anxious.

‘Why did Sung Hyunwoo have to be here of all places?’

This was a plan to round up Fabion’s troops in one fell swoop.

Even though the remnants of Armstrong city's leadership had acquired a method that would allow the survivors to return to Earth, the return journey hadn't taken place yet.

Only a small number of people, including Sungyoon and the Mayor, had returned to Earth.

They had done their best to keep a low profile as they contacted every country in the world. They told the leaders of each country about what had actually happened on the Moon. They had done this so that they could make a wholesale arrest of every Fabion member.

The past few days, every person connected to Fabion had been under tight surveillance. It was to make sure none of them could run away. The Korean government decided the day and time when all the members of Fabion would be arrested.

Since this was a serious matter, the other countries didn’t hesitate to make their resources available to the Korean government.

Charlie Russell and Danny Bruce's secret visit to Korea proved that other countries were fully cooperating in this matter.

However, Sungyoon hadn’t known that Sung Hyunwoo would be visiting Jimin's family when the plan was would be executed.

‘Still, it doesn't look like he plans on taking any hostages.’

They had been really fortunate. Since Bruce was near Hyunwoo, it was unlikely that Hyunwoo could take a hostage.

Despite knowing this, Sungyoon remained tense.

Suddenly, a ringtone broke the silence.

Hyunwoo took out his phone and accepted the call. A nervous voice came from the other side of the phone.

“… I see.”

Hyunwoo disconnected the call before the caller could finish his words. Then, he asked.

“Were all members of Fabion arrested like this?”

“It was very hard for us to maintain secrecy. Do you know how much trouble I faced in secretly entering Korea? I’m too famous.”

Bruce made invidious remarks.

“Well, let’s go. Our work is done here. Hey, Detective! Let’s hurry this up.”

“Alright.”

The detective shrugged. Onlookers had started to gather around the house, and there was no good reason to drag this out. At the detective's signal, the Connectors started to take the suspects into custody.

“Wait... wait a moment!”

Hweeyoung got in their way.

“At the very least, tell us why you are arresting Mr. Hyunwoo and our sons!”

The detective let out another sigh. The woman was being rude, but he wasn't offended by her actions. He had sighed because he really didn’t want to answer her question.

“Mr. Sung Hyunwoo and the Fabion Connectors have been accused of committing many crimes, including murder. There's a chance that your sons participated in the crimes. That's the reason for the arrests.”

“M-murder! Who did they kill!”

The detective smacked his lips.

“Mr. Hahn Jungbum.”

“… What?”

“Mr. Sung Hyunwoo is being accused of killing your husband, Hahn Jungbum. Well, murder isn’t the only thing he's being accused of.”

Tul-suhk!

“M-mom!”

Aiin sank to the ground. Woosung, who was about to rage at the ridiculous accusation, became surprised.

He wanted to rush to his mother, but he was being detained. Hweeyoung didn’t fall to the ground like Aiin, but it was clear that her legs were shaking.

“H...he killed whom?”

Hweeyoung looked at Hyunwoo. Her face had turned pale as if she had seen a ghost.

“Bullshit! Why would have Mr. Hyunwoo killed my father!”

Woosung raged, but he didn’t possess his Devices and Gems. He couldn’t do much against fully armed Connectors.

Unlike Woosung, Woosang was calm. However, there was violence in his eyes.

“You are accusing Mr. Hyunwoo of killing our father, and you think we had something to do with it too?”

“The truth will be found out through an investigation. Also, we do not believe the two of you had any hand in killing Mr. Hahn Jungbum. However, you are Connectors affiliated with Fabion, so it doesn’t change the fact that you have to be put under scrutiny too.”

The detective spoke in a calm manner.

However, it seemed the detective was worried about Hweeyoung and Aiin. He was worried about how they were holding up.

“I’ll take care of them.”

Jimin also lost all strengths in her legs. Sungyoon held her in his arms, and he approached Hweeyoung and Aiin.

“Please do so.”

The detective looked a bit relieved as he slightly lowered his head towards Sungyoon. Then he started to take the three suspects to the police station.

“Mr. Hyunwoo.”

Sungyoon was helping his mothers-in-law when he threw a question towards Hyunwoo in a low voice.

“Did you really kill my father-in-law, Hahn Jungbum?”

It was the question that he wanted to ask Hyunwoo directly after hearing the story from Plu-El.

However, Hyunwoo kept his back towards Sungyoon, and he didn’t answer the question. He slowly walked out through the front gate under the watch of Russell and Bruce.

The common that had arrived under the moonlit night was concluded like that.