Chapter 42: Warning
Monday. As soon as he arrived at work, Kang Sunhyuk called for Lee Seojin.
“Did you find anything?”
To the question with an omitted subject, Lee Seojin silently nodded.
Last week, Kang Chahyuk had visited Kang Sunhyuk again. Saying he just dropped by because he was bored, he made small talk about nothing important as usual.
‘Don’t you think it’s a bit strange? That guy Kang Dohyuk keeps around. Whether he’s a bodyguard or a sugar baby or whatever, he seems pretty special to Kang Dohyuk. Besides, he even threw himself in harm’s way to protect Dohyuk, right?’
Kang Chahyuk had casually suggested that he might be Kang Dohyuk’s weakness. Nothing more, he didn’t add anything else, but after Kang Chahyuk left, Sunhyuk fell deep into thought.
‘Whether he’s a weakness or not, if Dohyuk has a special relationship with that guy, wouldn’t that prevent him from getting married?’
Sunhyuk seemed concerned about the marriage talks with Baek Hyeri. Thinking that the guy would be hospitalized after being shot, Sunhyuk had ordered Seojin to find him by any means necessary. If he was Dohyuk’s weakness, now was the opportunity while Dohyuk had sent him away.
Seojin had contemplated whether he should inform Dohyuk about this directive but ultimately decided not to report it. The person who might be special to Dohyuk… he hated him.
“Here it is, sir.”
Lee Seojin placed a sheet of paper in front of Sunhyuk. There wasn’t much to discover. Just that he was a shaman belonging to a shamanistic group called Muryeong, and information about what kind of organization Muryeong was.
“A sha-man?”
Sunhyuk’s voice trailed off at the completely unexpected fact.
“Ha, a shaman… Kang Dohyuk brought in a shaman? Has that bastard lost his mind?”
Seojin understood Sunhyuk’s reaction. He too couldn’t readily accept it when Director Choi told him that Yeon was a shaman. Even if his mother, Cha Seonyoo, had brought him in, it was strange that such a cold-headed person would accept the very existence of a shaman.
“It seems he genuinely has spiritual powers. After all, it was he who protected Managing Director Kang from the sniper that no one else had detected.”
That shaman had saved Dohyuk’s life. If Dohyuk had been shot that day… just the thought made his heart sink. He was grateful that Dohyuk’s life had been saved. But he hated the possibility that this incident might make Dohyuk value him even more.
It was Seojin who had been watching over and holding Dohyuk in his heart for a much longer time. He couldn’t accept that someone who suddenly appeared—a shaman, no less—was burrowing into Dohyuk’s heart.
“Spiritual powers… ha, really.”
Even while letting out a derisive laugh, Sunhyuk couldn’t take his eyes off the information about Muryeong.
“Here, how do we contact them? Let me try placing a request too. Preferably with the guy Dohyuk kept around.”
Seojin had expected Sunhyuk to react this way. And since he’d mentioned that the man might be Dohyuk’s weakness, Sunhyuk would naturally want to get his hands on him.
“It seems contact is only possible through Lee Seoyoung, the representative of Hovan Gallery.”
At the mention of a gallery, Sunhyuk immediately frowned. He was someone far removed from the arts, except perhaps for combat sports. He probably had never even been to the entrance of a gallery. So how would he create a connection with the representative of Hovan Gallery to contact Muryeong?
“Any other ways? Don’t they take direct requests? Like a website or something?”
“Since they only deal with a select few key figures in politics and business, there’s no publicly available contact information.”
“So what am I supposed to do?”
Sunhyuk put down the paper with irritation and tapped his fingers on the desk. Watching him, Lee Seojin closed his eyes briefly and took a breath.
“I found Muryeong’s headquarters. Whether they’ll accept a request if we go there is uncertain, but…”
Sunhyuk’s face brightened at Seojin’s answer.
The day after drinking at Director Choi’s house, Seojin woke up a little past 5 AM. He had planned to leave quietly since Director Choi had mentioned going to work. As he was tidying up the sofa and turning to leave, his eyes were drawn to some documents pushed to one side of the table.
Muryeong.
That word was clearly written there. Based on what Director Choi had told him the previous night, it wasn’t hard to guess that the director was investigating Muryeong. His hand naturally went to those papers. As he flipped through them, he took out his phone and snapped photos. Inside was not just information about Lee Seoyoung, the representative of Hovan Gallery, and her connection to Muryeong, but also an address.
After returning home, he searched the address online, but there was nothing on the map. It was just a mountain area. The satellite images showed the same. It was strange that an address existed at all. Director Choi wouldn’t have written down a meaningless address.
Eventually, he drove out to the location himself. Halfway there, despite signs warning “Private Property, No Trespassing” and barricades, he continued on. Surprisingly, at the address that he had thought was just a mountain, stood a huge traditional Korean house. The length of just the outer wall was immeasurable. For something like this to exist and not even appear on satellite images… He realized that Muryeong’s scale was much larger than he’d thought, or that the powers backing them were not to be taken lightly.
Seojin showed Sunhyuk the photos he had taken that day. After looking at them, Sunhyuk let out a long “Hmm” through his nose, then smiled and stood up.
“What’s there to think about? Let’s go and confront them directly.”
It was just like Sunhyuk. A massive estate existing in a place not even shown on maps. Dohyuk would have recognized that this meant it shouldn’t be recklessly messed with. That’s why even though he had sent that Yeon person away, he was still watching quietly.
But Sunhyuk was simple-minded. He instructed Seojin to prepare his men immediately, canceled all his appointments, and got ready to go out.
***
Kang Dohyuk visited Star Finance without any prior notice. The lobby staff was flustered when he said he came to see the Chairman without an appointment. Thankfully, due to his position as Managing Director of Dragon Holdings, they contacted the Chairman’s office.
“He says you may come up.”
Dohyuk had planned to go up even if rejected, but fortunately, the Chairman of Star Finance agreed to meet him. When he arrived at the Chairman’s office, secretaries greeted him respectfully.
“The Chairman is waiting for you inside.”
One of the secretaries knocked and opened the door to the Chairman’s office. The Chairman of Star Finance rose from his seat and greeted Dohyuk with a smile.
“What brings Managing Director Kang all the way here? If you were coming, you should have called ahead. Fortunately, I had this time free, but if not, you might have wasted a trip.”
Though he was smiling pleasantly, he subtly criticized Dohyuk for coming without an appointment.
“I checked your schedule before coming, Chairman.”
The Chairman’s face hardened at Dohyuk’s curt reply. He seemed wary, wondering how Kang Dohyuk, a Managing Director of Dragon Holdings, knew his schedule.
“No need to be surprised. I can find out the schedules of most major corporate executives at any time, not just yours.”
“Hah…”
Chairman Kim exhaled in disbelief at Dohyuk’s boldness. Regardless, Dohyuk sat down on the sofa without asking for permission. When he gestured toward the seat opposite him, the Chairman’s face stiffened further.
From his perspective, a young man barely old enough to be his son, and only a Managing Director from another company at that, was behaving arrogantly toward him.
“You lack manners.”
The Chairman’s tone changed.
“Do I?”
Dohyuk responded calmly. Chairman Kim’s eyes narrowed, likely wondering why this young man was so arrogant.
“I don’t need manners with someone who has a murderer for a son.”
At this unexpected statement, Chairman Kim frowned. He seemed unable to grasp what Dohyuk meant. Dohyuk took out his phone and played a recorded video.
In the video, a man was tied to a chair. Chairman Kim furrowed his brow. He had heard rumors that Dragon Holdings had origins with gangsters, but he was displeased that they were doing this to him.
“Watch it until the end. It’ll be beneficial for you.”
Dohyuk warned in a low voice. It soon became clear from the dialogue that the man in the video was a contract killer.
[Tell me who your client is.]
It was Kang Dohyuk’s voice threatening the tied-up man. Chairman Kim glanced at Dohyuk’s face as he watched the conversation intimidating the hitman. He had thought Dohyuk only pretended to be proper, but now he realized he wasn’t much different from Kang Mansik, and he had to restrain himself from clicking his tongue in disgust.
After a bit more back-and-forth with the hitman, the name “Star Finance’s Kim Seonuk” came from the hitman’s mouth.
“That’s absurd!”
Chairman Kim turned off the video and shouted.
“Why are you slandering people! What has my Seonuk done!”
Chairman Kim genuinely believed the video was fabricated by Kang Dohyuk. His son couldn’t have done such a thing. Why would a son raised with everything he could need commission a murder? This was Kang Dohyuk’s scheme. He didn’t understand what grudge Dohyuk held, but his head heated with anger.
“You think it’s slander?”
Despite facing the fuming Chairman, Dohyuk remained calm. His black eyes turned to Chairman Kim.
“Will others think so too? I’m going to file charges against Kim Seonuk for solicitation of murder. This video will be made public in court, and naturally, the man in the video who tried to snipe me will also stand trial. Of course, so will Kim Seonuk.”
At Dohyuk’s quiet voice, Chairman Kim’s face turned pale.
“Whether he commissioned the hit or not, Kim Seonuk himself knows best. If you need time to talk with your son, I’ll wait.”
Dohyuk gestured toward the Chairman’s phone, suggesting that if he didn’t believe him, he should confirm it directly with Kim Seonuk. Chairman Kim couldn’t even suppress a groan. The fact that Dohyuk was acting like this meant that his words, the content of the video, were true.
“Right now, we and Kangsan Construction have blocked the media, but the fact that there was an actual sniper incident at the Yeouido business presentation is already known to those who should know. Have you thought about what would happen if rumors spread that Star Finance’s Kim Seonuk commissioned a murder?”
Dohyuk warned of what was to come in a calm voice, without any variation in tone.
