Chapter 33: Murderous Intent
Despite everything, Dohyuk remained calm. He had no idea what Yeon could see anyway. Death threats weren’t anything new to him, so he wasn’t particularly concerned. If someone tried to harm him, he would simply pay them back twofold.
“This is different from before. Something serious might really happen.”
“Who’s supposedly doing this?”
“That’s why I’m trying to at least reduce the energy of this bad connection, since we can’t identify who it is.”
Yeon pointed at empty space. It was frustrating that whatever Yeon could clearly see was invisible to him. Perhaps if he could see it too, he might understand why Yeon was so anxious.
“You said this isn’t something new anyway.”
“That’s true, but…”
Yeon’s gaze followed the direction his finger was pointing. Dohyuk was genuinely curious about what those blue eyes were seeing.
“I have a bad feeling.”
“It’s just a feeling.”
He’d expected Yeon to argue that the intuition of someone with supernatural abilities was different from that of an ordinary person, but Yeon seemed to know there was no point in explaining further and just bit his lip, turning his head away.
“Let me stay by your side.”
It was an unexpected request.
“Let me stay as close to you as possible during the presentation or whatever it is.”
Dohyuk frowned, wondering if Yeon was planning to interfere with that “bad connection” or whatever it was when he wasn’t looking.
“I won’t do anything strange that others might notice.”
He seemed aware that his gesture of grabbing threads from thin air would appear bizarre to others.
“Do as you please.”
Today, Yeon was dressed in formal attire. Director Choi had suggested it because casual clothing would stand out too much, and following his advice had been the right choice. Even so, Yeon’s eye and hair color were noticeable, but since foreign investors would be attending today’s presentation, he might blend in well enough.
Dohyuk contacted Director Choi, instructing him to arrange a seat for Yeon at his table right in front of the stage. After finishing the call, he turned to Yeon and asked if that satisfied him. Yeon nodded, but his face remained tense.
***
– Execute at the Yeouido business presentation today.
Kim Seonuk checked the short message several times before putting his phone in his jacket’s inner pocket. As the representative of Star Finance, he was attending today’s Yeouido business presentation along with his father, the chairman. Originally, Star Finance wasn’t going to be involved in this project, but Kim Seonuk had persuaded his father using the materials he had received. At the last minute, they had contacted Kangsan Construction and received an invitation to today’s presentation.
“I heard Dragon Holdings wasn’t keen on having people from the financial sector attend?”
Another financial company representative sitting at Kim Seonuk’s table frowned.
“How much money do they even have?”
When an older man clicked his tongue, someone else dismissed his comment.
“You should know better. There’s talk of underground funds circulating in the billions. Dragon Holdings only recently started operating in public, but since Chairman Kang Mansik’s grandfather’s time, there’s no one in the business world who hasn’t received help from them.”
“Isn’t it because they’re not respectable enough to appear in public?”
The person who made the last comment glanced around cautiously. Though no one said it outright, it was apparent that everyone was thinking, “After all, they’re just gangsters.”
In reality, Dragon Holdings had confidently stated that they could proceed with the Yeouido project using only government subsidies and their own funds. However, Kangsan Construction wanted to increase the number of investors if possible. It was a strategy to reduce risk in case they ever had a falling out with Dragon Holdings. Fortunately, Dragon Holdings didn’t insist on proceeding independently. While Chairman Kang Mansik expressed dissatisfaction, Kang Dohyuk stepped in and accepted Kangsan Construction’s proposal.
‘They know that whatever others invest will be a drop in the bucket compared to Dragon Holdings’ funds anyway.’
The man who had approached Kim Seonuk had said this with a wide smile. It meant that the presentation was just for show, and everything would proceed according to Dragon Holdings’—or more precisely, Kang Dohyuk’s—wishes.
That couldn’t be allowed. Kangsan Construction was only partnering with a gangster company because they needed Dragon Holdings’ financial power to proceed with the Yeouido project. If this presentation ended well, many investors would change their minds and step forward to invest, which might make it possible to proceed with the project without Dragon Holdings.
Kang Dohyuk only needed to be used as a chess piece to make this presentation successful. If he were eliminated afterward, Dragon Holdings would be thrown into chaos, and they could naturally be pushed out of the Yeouido project.
If only Kang Dohyuk disappeared, everything would be solved. Just Kang Dohyuk…
Despite repeating this to himself, Kim Seonuk’s mouth kept drying from nervousness. After downing several glasses of cold water, others at the table glanced at him, asking what was wrong.
The host announced that the presentation would begin shortly. Once everyone was seated, the stage lit up brightly. With the sound of clicking heels, Baek Hyeri stepped onto the stage.
“Hello, I’m Baek Hyeri, Planning Director of Kangsan Construction. First, I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who has shown interest in the Yeouido project by attending today.”
After bowing, she turned on the beam projector. A satellite image of Yeouido appeared on the screen.
“Please refer to the materials placed on each table. This Yeouido project, jointly promoted by Kangsan Construction and Dragon Holdings, aims to transform Yeouido into a Manhattan-like district by turning Yeouido Saetgang into a tourist attraction and changing all of Yeouido’s residential apartment areas into commercial districts through land use rezoning.”
Next, the screen showed examples of several streams that had been transformed into tourist attractions, such as Osaka’s Dotonbori and the Chicago River. She introduced plans to create a modest yet cozy special tourist district utilizing the stream, and even options for using Han River water taxis.
Then she presented the plan to transform the aging apartments near Yeouido into a commercial district. The plan was to create a city landmark by building skyscrapers over 70 stories tall and guiding the area toward becoming a mixed-use residential and business space.
“Reconstruction is not such a simple matter. Demolishing all existing apartments… How will you handle residents’ opposition, and how will you manage the housing crisis during the construction period?”
As soon as Baek Hyeri finished her explanation, someone pointed out problems with the project. Government officials also nodded with serious expressions. This project had been discussed for a long time but hadn’t been initiated not only because of funding issues but also because of anticipated resident opposition.
“I’ll explain that part.”
Kang Dohyuk, who hadn’t been visible until then, entered the presentation hall and answered. Everyone’s attention turned to him. Even though he was just walking across the middle of the hall, there was an overwhelming charisma about him. Perhaps because of his black suit and red tie, he seemed even more intimidating.
Kim Seonuk gulped. Finally, Kang Dohyuk had appeared in the banquet hall. He looked around, but no one was showing suspicious movements that might indicate they were planning to attack Dohyuk. Security guards prepared by Dragon Holdings were guarding each entrance to the presentation hall like an iron wall.
How on earth were they planning to kill him? Although he had commissioned the job, he was anxious because he hadn’t been informed about the method.
“By the way, who’s that man standing beside him?”
The person sitting next to Kim Seonuk pointed at the man standing beside Dohyuk. He’d assumed it would be Director Choi and turned to look, but it wasn’t. It was an unfamiliar face. A foreign investor? His appearance was so striking that people were murmuring about it.
Dohyuk seated the person who had entered with him in the front row, then climbed onto the stage alone. He gave a slight nod to Baek Hyeri to indicate she’d done well, and she smiled, bowed her head in return, and handed the microphone to him.
“It’s natural to be concerned about the friction with existing residents as Yeouido becomes more tourism-oriented and business-oriented with finance at its center.”
Kang Dohyuk readily acknowledged the earlier criticism. People murmured, wondering how he planned to proceed with this project.
“That’s why I mentioned transforming Yeouido into Manhattan at the beginning. These won’t be simple mixed-use buildings. We plan to eliminate the concept of Korean apartment villages and upgrade and differentiate residential areas by creating ultra-high-rise mixed-use apartments built in commercial areas, with each building having a different design. For this, we’ve contacted world-famous architectural designers to give each building its own character…”
While Dohyuk’s explanation continued, Yeon looked around. With so many people present, the threads entangled with each of them were complexly intertwined, making his vision confusing. Just trying to find the threads connected to Dohyuk among them was making him feel dizzy.
It seemed better to focus on his senses rather than his vision. He closed his eyes and regulated his breathing slowly.
Since this morning, one of the black threads connected to Dohyuk had started emitting a strong, sinister energy. This was something Yeon had never seen in this life, but he could recognize it from his past life memories. This was murderous intent.
He wanted to tell Dohyuk not to go anywhere today and just stay home. His home would be safer than open spaces like the company, and he wanted Dohyuk to stay there at least until he could do something about this bad connection.
But Dohyuk wouldn’t even let him touch the bad connection itself. His nonsensical reason was that he didn’t like seeing black energy flowing up Yeon’s body. As a result, after leaving it alone for a few days, it had gotten worse, yet Dohyuk still didn’t care even when Yeon told him there was now clear murderous intent.
Could one of Dohyuk’s bad connections be present at this presentation today? If so, they would certainly try something. Something lethal that could threaten Dohyuk’s life…
Feeling a strong evil energy, he opened his eyes. One of the black threads connected to Dohyuk was stretching straight in one direction.
Who is it? Where are they?
Just as he was about to turn his head in the direction of the thread, it suddenly tightened with a ping sound, and black energy poured out. It darkened the surroundings and then engulfed Dohyuk.
“N… No!”
His body moved before his mind could. The moment Yeon leaped onto the stage and embraced Dohyuk, the glass beside the stage shattered with a crash.
*Reference material: Naver “Real Estate Study” Cafe post, “Manhattanization of Yeouido”
