“……What?”
“Logically speaking, there’s no way something like that exists. It’s all bullshit. Just dressed up to sound plausible. Then and now, you’re so damn easy to fool. So easy.”
Gye Sanghoon stared intently at his phone screen as if Yeohwi’s shock didn’t matter to him at all. He anxiously blinked his monolid eyes while continuously touching the screen with his finger, refreshing it over and over.
“Deposit, deposit already……. I sent the photo. Hurry up, deposit already…….”
Yeohwi’s mind went cold.
It felt like the blood flowing through his veins had frozen in an instant. What came before betrayal or sadness was an eerily clear and cruel realization of reality.
He’d been tricked. It was a trap.
After being deceived all his life, he had been blinded by the sweet bait of family, by the hope of truth, and walked right into the trap with his own two feet.
“……You lied? Again?”
The sound of rain and rough breathing mixed in the empty concrete abandoned factory. His heart beat irregularly against his ribcage.
“Tsk tsk, what kind of vicious things would Chairman Seong do? That gentleman paid hundreds of billions in taxes during his lifetime. He was just a frustratingly good old man. But, seeing how even though he lived so virtuously, he ended up with dementia in his final years and couldn’t even control his own bowels and bladder, it makes you think there’d be no problem living a little sinfully either, doesn’t it?”
“…….”
“Well, it’s all in the past. But I really had the worst luck. I’d set up the whole plan and had everything ready, but who knew his mind would suddenly clear up on that day of all days.”
Ding! At that moment, a clear and cheerful notification sound rang from Gye Sanghoon’s phone. It was a creepily cheerful sound that didn’t match the gloomy atmosphere of the abandoned factory at all.
Gye Sanghoon’s mouth split wide enough to reach his ears as he checked the screen.
“Oh, it came in! Got it!”
Yeohwi’s eyes sharpened. Blood vessels bulged on his clenched fists.
Instead of standing there dazed, he quickly worked his brain.
“Ha! So you got the money? Who put you up to doing this?”
This was Gye Sanghoon, who had lived like a ruined person after completing his prison sentence. This wasn’t something he did alone. Someone had instigated it. Someone who had a motive strong enough to lure him here and take photos to report back. And someone accustomed to using money to manipulate people.
There was only one answer.
“Do Jingyu.”
Yeohwi spat out quietly.
“It must be the KD president. How much did he offer to get me here?”
Yeohwi glared at Gye Sanghoon and pressed him. His eyes were no longer those of a clear and innocent young master. Gye Sanghoon smiled bitterly and stepped back.
“I have no obligation to answer that. My job ends here. And son, you should fix that habit of trusting people. Even after this father taught you such a harsh lesson before leaving, you’re still like this, tsk tsk…….”
“……You piece of trash bastard!”
Yeohwi’s eyes flipped.
He had sold off his grandfather’s legacy, his parents’ deaths, and his own desperation yet again for money. He had been stupid to waver with hope because he’d given affection to this person. He’d been naive. How could he have been fooled so easily?
Having lost his rationality, Yeohwi vowed internally never to repeat such a mistake again and lunged at Gye Sanghoon like a beast. He immediately snatched his wrist and took away his phone.
“Hey! Give it back! This is my money!”
Gye Sanghoon struggled and pushed Yeohwi, but he couldn’t overcome the grip strength of an enraged Yeohwi.
Yeohwi finally confirmed the deposit screen.
Nonghyup 11/19 23:58
Deposit 50,000,000 won
Gold Number Corporation
Balance 50,000,000 won
23:58
It was obvious. A shell corporation he’d seen on Do Jingyu’s slush fund laundering organization chart. A ghost company.
Furious to the top of his head, Yeohwi hurled the phone at the wall. The screen shattered into pieces and muddy water splattered everywhere.
“You said son. For a mere 50 million won…… you sold me out?”
Yeohwi growled. His whole body trembled like an aspen tree, shaking with the sense of betrayal.
“Grandfather’s will, our parents’ lives, were worth only that much?”
“Shut up! It’s my money!”
Gye Sanghoon frantically rushed to pick up the phone that had fallen to the floor. He was making a fuss searching through the muddy water for a phone in the darkness.
“You stupid bastard. It’s a national loss for a demented old man and a ten-year-old kid to have such a large amount. If I’d had that money, I would’ve used it much more usefully than the likes of you. Do you even understand?”
“So in the end, it was all about money. Back then, and now too.”
“That’s right, fuck! Money! It’s money! Humans are all about money anyway! Who wouldn’t want to be chairman? Would anyone want to be a flunky wiping the chairman’s ass!”
Gye Sanghoon finally found the broken phone and wiped the dirty water off with his sleeve. He clutched it preciously to his chest and cackled while mocking Yeohwi. It was a maniacal laugh.
“Bwahahaha! It’s all over anyway. Do you think you’ll be able to walk out of here safely? Huh? Why do you think I called you here, son?”
At that moment, a thunderous sound rang from the huge rusted iron door at the factory entrance. Beyond the gates of hell opening left and right, blinding headlight beams poured in fiercely, paralyzing Yeohwi’s vision with whiteness.
The rain pouring outside the building reflected in the light, looking like tens of thousands of white arrows were falling.
Vrooom!
Three black vans that had been waiting outside burst into the factory with rough engine sounds. The tires scraped the ground, causing water to spray, and the vehicles stopped in a semicircle as if surrounding Yeohwi. Then the doors opened and men in black suits poured out.
Each wore masks or caps pressed down, and carried weapons like steel pipes or wooden clubs in their hands.
“Seong Yeohwi.”
Among them, a skinhead man who appeared to be the leader walked over calling Yeohwi’s name. He alternately looked at the photo in his hand and Yeohwi’s face as if comparing them, then seemed to judge it was him and put the photo in his chest.
“Pity, for someone so young. You’ve upset someone you shouldn’t have touched.”
He made dull sounds by tapping his palm with the steel pipe, tap, tap. His bald head glistened, wet from the rain. Up close, he was incredibly tall, and a black skull tattoo was engraved on the back of his head.
“Well then, I’ll be going now. Good work, everyone.”
Gye Sanghoon shamelessly made his escape toward the door where the shutter had lifted. Yeohwi glared at the skinhead with venomous eyes. A fierce light shone from beneath his long eyelashes.
“You bastards must be sent by Do Jingyu too. What does that old man want?”
“This bastard’s got a foul mouth.”
The skinhead laughed slyly.
“What he wants. What he wants……. The president wants you to become obedient.”
As he flicked his finger, the suited men tightened the encirclement. A huge shadow swallowed Yeohwi. Yeohwi slowly stepped back.
“Until you’re willing to devote your loyalty and move for that person, you’ll have to receive some education from your hyungs today.”
“Loyalty?”
“You know, like a spy? That kind of thing. Leaking information that the president needs, and conversely planting information the president wants…….”
“You’re telling me to betray Dowon-ssi?”
“Betrayal, you say. Damn, this bastard sure talks harshly. We’re just asking you to work together for the president, you know?”
Yeohwi’s pupils wavered. The form of violence before his eyes was too massive. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t afraid. But he didn’t collapse.
He couldn’t become a burden to Dowon. Absolutely, he hated being a hindrance to him more than death. He’d rather get beaten if beaten, but didn’t have even a fingernail’s worth of intention to play the puppet role Do Jingyu wanted.
“……Then tell the president. I’m a bit expensive.”
“What. The conversation’s going faster than I thought. How much?”
“The KD presidency.”
“What?”
“Didn’t you hear? Tell Do Jingyu I’ll think about it if he steps down from the president’s position.”
If he got caught like this, it was over.
As his head got excessively hot, at some point it felt like it passed a critical point and conversely started cooling down. His concentration rose to the limit with survival instinct, and rather his vision opened up and his surroundings became clear.
The factory’s structure, the abandoned machines. And the worn-out metal ladder connecting to the second floor caught his eye.
“Grab him!”
As the skinhead flicked his finger, the suited men began to approach closer. Yeohwi watched for an opening and kicked the old drum barrel next to him with all his might.
