The weather had become noticeably colder.
The season had already passed the tail end of autumn and was crossing the threshold into winter. The sound of wind striking the windows had grown fierce, and the trees in the garden dropped their dry leaves, revealing bare branches.
Outskirts of Seoul. A secluded logistics warehouse not even marked on maps.
The rusted iron door slowly opened, and a black sedan slid into the darkness as if being sucked in. On this pitch-black night, this place that no one visited was a workspace Dowon’s security team used unofficially.
The back seat door of the sedan opened and Dowon got out.
His appearance with his long coat tails fluttering was an outfit that didn’t match the grease-stained warehouse. His glossy shoes and three-piece suit were perfect as always today too.
Guided inside, he entered the building. In the center of the blocked-off warehouse, he could see a man tied to a metal chair.
Step, step. At the approaching footsteps, the man with matted hair lifted his head. It was Gye Sanghoon.
His appearance was a mess from being caught while fleeing, and he looked like he’d been starving for days. But his eyes alone were still alive and glistening.
“Oh my…”
Breathing roughly through his split lips, he rolled his eyes when he saw Dowon. His intention to quickly calculate and use his head to somehow escape from this predicament was transparent.
“Ah, I knew it. So it was Director Do.”
Gye Sanghoon was the first to acknowledge him and open his mouth.
“Since I got tangled up with that bastard Yeohwi, I figured I’d meet you once. Haha.”
Narrowing his swollen eyes, he showed a fishy smile.
“Ha… No, if I’d known it would be like this, I should have visited you first and at least greeted you. Why all this trouble making things difficult for each other in such a terrible state?”
Dowon indifferently pulled over a chair, placed it right in front of Gye Sanghoon’s nose, and sat down. The way he crossed his legs and placed his interlaced hands on his knee looked as cold as if he were dealing with a business partner in a luxury hotel lounge.
“A greeting.”
Dowon replied indifferently.
His gaze was directed not at Gye Sanghoon’s face but somewhere in the air.
“You destroyed my spouse to that extent and expected courtesy?”
“You misunderstand. I merely played the role of messenger, doing as President Do Jingyu ordered.”
Gye Sanghoon defended himself skillfully. His shameless tongue moved flexibly like a snake.
“How much I cherished Yeohwi… No, the young master like a son. Actually, my heart aches too. President Do threatened me so I had no choice but to follow reluctantly.”
“Cherished.”
Dowon’s eyes curved coldly.
“So that’s why you pulled out four fingernails? Because you cherished him so much?”
“Wh-what? That, that was those thug bastards acting independently because they’re ignorant! I really didn’t know. I just heard it would be a political proposal, so how could… Good heavens…”
Gye Sanghoon sighed repeatedly. He acted shamelessly as if he really knew nothing and even made his eyes glisten with tears. Glancing at Dowon to see if his words were working, he leaned forward and whispered secretly.
“Director-nim, I can’t endure being treated like this. I can’t die peacefully without repaying President Do Jingyu.”
“…”
“Anyway, punishing a lowly bottom-feeder like me will only dirty your hands, Director-nim. Rather, use me. If you spare me, I’ll become a double spy working for you, Director-nim.”
Gye Sanghoon’s eyes gleamed desperately. This was his way to survive.
“Do Jingyu’s slush fund ledgers, borrowed-name account management records… Whatever you need, just say the word. I’ve handled practical affairs too, so I know well where he hides those dirty and troublesome things. If I go, Do Jingyu won’t even suspect.”
Gye Sanghoon was confident. If nothing else, he was excellent at reading people. Finding people who were easily deceived to parasitize or exploit. Or changing his stance each time to survive. That was Gye Sanghoon’s tactic for living until now.
In his view, Dowon was a thorough businessman. He would choose immediate profit and victory over revenge for the injured Seong Yeohwi. After all, Seong Yeohwi was just a pretext to hang onto, and the real goal would be KD’s management rights.
“Please just trust me once. I’m absolutely not Do Jingyu’s person. I just had no choice but to follow, in fact I didn’t even want to do such terrible things. My heart aches thinking of Young Master Yeohwi. I’m someone who wants to send Do Jingyu to hell just as much as you do, Director-nim…!”
Dowon looked at Gye Sanghoon silently.
That tongue wagging proposing a negotiation that wouldn’t work. The lightness of changing attitude for his own safety.
It was disgusting.
In Dowon’s mind, the image of Yeohwi covered in blood in the rain a few days ago, holding onto his clothes, flashed by.
‘But I, I held out…’
‘I said absolutely not. That I could never, ever sell you out, Dowon-ssi, even if I died…’
That foolish, stupid bastard didn’t sell out Dowon until the end even in the pain of having his fingernails pulled out. With no compensation or benefit, he held out with just his heart alone. Moreover, even though he wasn’t getting anything back at all.
But this son of a bitch was begging for his life with just a few wags of his tongue.
“…A double spy.”
Dowon slowly stood up from his seat.
He picked up a hammer from the heavy toolbox placed on the shelf. Under the dim lighting, the heavy metal object glinted bluish.
“Wait, Director-nim? My proposal isn’t bad…”
Bewilderment crossed Gye Sanghoon’s face. Because Dowon’s hand holding the hammer was too stable.
“The calculation doesn’t add up.”
Dowon forcibly pulled Gye Sanghoon’s bound hands onto the desk.
“W-wait! Director-nim! Calm down! My information is real! It has value that can’t be converted to money…!”
“Money?”
Dowon sneered. The corner of his mouth curled up coldly.
And without hesitation, he raised the hammer high.
Crack!
A dull bursting sound and the sound of bones crushing echoed through the sealed room.
“Kyaaaaaaak!”
A desperate scream burst from Gye Sanghoon. Dowon’s expression didn’t change one bit. Droplets of blood that splattered stained his coat collar, but he didn’t even brush them off.
“There’s still a long way to go to repay.”
There was no mercy in his eyes looking down at Gye Sanghoon writhing in pain, on the verge of fainting. Dowon threw the blood-stained hammer onto the table. Thud, the sound of the metal lump falling rang heavily.
***
Same time, KD Group President’s Office.
A space where classical music composed by Paganini flowed elegantly. Do Jingyu, leaning deeply into the finest leather sofa, swirled cognac in a crystal glass. The brilliant night view of Seoul spread outside the window lay beneath his feet.
“Gye Sanghoon, still no contact?”
When he asked, Executive Director Kim, the head of the secretariat, bowed his head and reported.
“I apologize, President-nim. Contact has been severed. From the circumstances… it seems Director Dowon’s side has secured him.”
“Tsk.”
Do Jingyu clicked his tongue. Rather than angry, he clearly looked disdainful.
“Stupid bastard. I gave him one job and he gets caught by the scruff? And yet he tried to take a cut.”
“What should we do? Should we try to extract him?”
“Leave him.”
Do Jingyu waved his hand dismissively.
“He’s just a consumable anyway. He got caught without any gains, so he’s useless. But… this time I gave Seong Yeohwi a beating, so it should serve as a warning to Dowon. He must have seen clearly what happens to those around you when you dare to displease me.”
He sneered as he brought the glass to his lips.
“That guy Wonah, tried to provoke me by making noise with prosecutors and media. Taesung Logistics? Let him dig all he wants. Does he think he can shake me with just one search and seizure show?”
To Do Jingyu, this incident wasn’t a crisis. It was just an annoying happening, or noise that could be resolved with money. He was arrogant. That the fortress of money he’d built up was solid.
“If he dares to poke a hornet’s nest, he should have been prepared to get stung. That young punk doesn’t know his place.”
Do Jingyu, sneering vilely, ordered coldly.
“Executive Director Kim, cut off Gye Sanghoon’s tail. Deposit records, call logs, don’t leave a single hair—erase everything. As usual.”
“Understood.”
“And regarding the Seong Yeohwi matter, frame it as something that bastard did independently, blinded by revenge against the Seong family. If we let him rot in prison for life, it’ll bury itself.”
Everything was under his control. The birthright of being a second-generation chaebol. The title of KD’s president. With money and power, there was nothing in the world that couldn’t be solved. At least that’s how it had been until now.
But just then. A sharp notification sound rang from the work tablet Executive Director Kim was holding.
