Chapter 43: Terms of the Deal
This wasn’t a problem that could be solved just by using money to block the media. If they weren’t careful, his son could actually receive prison time for soliciting murder. It wouldn’t end with just his son’s punishment—this would lead to Star Finance’s image being damaged and their stock prices falling.
“What do you want?”
Chairman Kim quickly assessed the situation and bowed his head. A faint smile appeared on Dohyuk’s lips. Dohyuk handed Chairman Kim the documents he had prepared.
“Please review and sign these.”
At the instruction to sign, Chairman Kim nervously swallowed. A contract that used his son’s solicitation of murder as leverage could hardly be favorable to Star Finance.
Chairman Kim took the documents from the envelope and, with a rigid expression, moved only his eyes to check the contents. Investment Contract for the Yeouido Project. From the title on the first page, it was already ominous. For Star Finance, even just the minimum 10 trillion won amount was burdensome, and they were still deliberating whether to invest or not.
“This is…”
About halfway through reading, Chairman Kim’s face became severely distorted. It was the section about the distribution of investment returns—it stated that Star Finance would only receive 30% compared to what other investors would get.
“I’m not forcing you. The choice is yours, Chairman.”
Dohyuk’s cold words were even more chilling.
“This is the price for my life. Even at 30%, you won’t lose money after investing.”
The tone suggesting he was being generous made Chairman Kim feel completely deflated. It meant that while other investment companies would receive 100% of the profits generated from the Yeouido project, Star Finance would only get 30%, and the remaining 70% that should have gone to Star Finance would be taken by Kang Dohyuk. Being told that this was the price for Dohyuk’s life left him speechless.
Chairman Kim closed his eyes and took a long breath. Who could he blame? It was his own foolish son who had dared to try to kill Kang Dohyuk.
“I’ll sign it. But I have one condition.”
At the word “condition,” Dohyuk stared at Chairman Kim. Though he didn’t utter a word, there was a sense of reproach suggesting that he was in no position to set conditions.
“I apologize for not properly controlling my son and causing this unfortunate incident.”
Chairman Kim bowed his head. However, he couldn’t continue to be pushed around by Kang Dohyuk and Dragon Holdings because of this incident. The condition Dohyuk wanted represented a tremendous loss for Star Finance. Based on the premise that the Yeouido project would succeed, he was demanding several trillion, no, tens of trillions of won as the price for his life. Yet, he did have some minimal conscience, it seemed, as he wasn’t trying to simply take the 10 trillion won investment without giving anything in return. Although it was only 30%, he was offering returns on the investment, so it was right to concede here.
“Give me the original file of that video you just showed.”
He firmly expressed his intention not to back down on this point. Dohyuk promptly deleted the video from his phone. Then he handed Chairman Kim a USB drive he had prepared in advance.
“This is the original.”
“Can I trust you?”
“If you fulfill the contract as agreed, I won’t have to visit you again for the same issue.”
At this resolute answer, Chairman Kim swallowed a sigh and went to his desk to fetch his seal. In any case, he had no choice but to trust Kang Dohyuk’s word.
After stamping the contract and putting it down, Dohyuk checked the document and then stood up.
“The video on the USB, please make sure to watch it until the end. You’ll see what I will do to Kim Seonuk if something like this happens again.”
Dohyuk added these words before leaving the chairman’s office. After the door closed, Chairman Kim let out a long sigh, returned to his desk, and plugged the USB into his computer. He found the video and played it. The first part was what Dohyuk had shown him earlier. He skipped that part and started from where the contract killer mentioned Kim Seonuk’s name.
When Dohyuk released the hitman, the man pulled out a knife and charged at him. But he was immediately subdued by Dohyuk. Watching this scene, Chairman Kim frowned. Kang Dohyuk, what kind of guy is he?
As the video continued, Chairman Kim suppressed a gasp. It showed Dohyuk shattering the hitman’s hand with a gun. No emotion appeared on Dohyuk’s face, either when he aimed the gun or when the hitman’s hand was destroyed. He was frighteningly calm and expressionless.
This was a warning. A warning that Kim Seonuk could be next.
Kang Dohyuk was definitely different from the typical second-generation chaebol. He wore the mask of a perfect elite, but inside he was more ruthless than a gangster. It might have been easier to deal with him if he had acted like an uneducated gangster or tried to resolve everything through legal means. But Kang Dohyuk didn’t lean either way.
The investment contract he handed to Chairman Kim was legally flawless and perfect. At the same time, by showing how he punished the hitman, he made Chairman Kim think of his son, Kim Seonuk.
He was perfectly cornering Chairman Kim, leaving him no escape, both contractually and psychologically.
***
Muryeong’s mansion was located in the mountains. There was a sign stating it was private property, and since cars couldn’t enter from that point, hardly anyone came inside. Even if someone happened to come by and see it, they would think it was a temple and pass by.
Now, there was a commotion in front of the mansion. Men in black suits stood in front of the tall gate, shouting for someone to come out. They thought the men would leave if ignored, but even after ten minutes, they didn’t give up and kept knocking on the door. Now they were even kicking and shaking the gate as if they were going to break it down by force.
“Muyeong-nim, what should we do?”
With the continuing noise outside, people inside Muryeong began to stir as well.
“Send someone to drive them away.”
One of the elders of Muryeong answered without hesitation. Following his words, two strong men who handled physical tasks within Muryeong, though they weren’t bodyguards, went outside the main gate.
“What do you think you’re doing!”
As they shouted, the men in black suits surrounded them as if they had been waiting.
“Why is the hospitality here so poor? When you’re called, you should come out promptly!”
The men from Muryeong frowned and glared at the casual, disrespectful tone. They looked ready to start a fight at any moment.
“Alright, stop it. We didn’t come here to fight, did we?”
Kang Sunhyuk appeared from behind the men in black suits. Until then, he had been sitting in the shade of a tree a few steps away, observing the situation.
“I came to meet the leader of this place.”
At Kang Sunhyuk’s words, the men from Muryeong frowned and looked at each other. They were bewildered by his confident request to meet Muyeong. Muyeong wasn’t someone who could be easily met, and Muryeong itself was not an organization that exposed itself to the public eye.
“Ah, tell them we’re from Dragon Holdings. We’ve already had people sent from here to us, so they should understand if you say that.”
The men guarding Muryeong’s mansion wouldn’t know what Dragon Holdings was. But they hesitated when he mentioned that Muryeong had dispatched a shaman to them. If they were already clients, it meant they knew this was Muryeong and had come looking for it.
One of the men ran back inside, telling the others to wait a moment.
“Someone from Dragon Holdings says they want to see Muyeong-nim.”
“Dragon Holdings?”
“That’s where there was an accident recently…”
Others looked at Muyeong for his reaction. Muyeong’s gaze turned toward the gate. Had they invaded all the way here from the place where Yeon had been sent? This wasn’t a matter to be taken lightly. How did they find this place?
Suddenly, he remembered the phone Yeon had been carrying. He had thought it wouldn’t matter since the power was off, but perhaps he had been too complacent.
“Bring them inside. But only one person—the client.”
Following Muyeong’s instructions, the man ran back outside. When told that only one person could enter, there was another commotion outside. Voices could be heard arguing about how they couldn’t send him in alone, not knowing what might happen inside.
“Do they think we’re like them…”
One of the shamans who peeked outside muttered in a voice full of discontent. Muyeong swallowed a sigh and told everyone to return to their rooms. Even if they were existing clients, it wasn’t good for the faces of Muryeong’s shamans to be known.
While waiting in the room, after a short while, the door opened with the announcement that a guest had arrived. Muyeong’s eyes narrowed as he saw the man entering. He wasn’t Yeon’s client. Having seen Kang Dohyuk briefly when he went to pick up Yeon, the impression was strong enough that there was no way to confuse him.
“Are you the leader here?”
When Muyeong simply stared without answering, the man seemed to take it as confirmation and smirked.
“I’m Kang Sunhyuk from Dragon Holdings.”
Not Kang Dohyuk, but Kang Sunhyuk. He did know the name Kang Sunhyuk. When taking Kang Dohyuk’s request, he had investigated his surroundings, and there was definitely a name, Kang Sunhyuk, listed as the Executive Director of Dragon Holdings and Kang Dohyuk’s half-brother. Despite Muyeong not saying anything, Kang Sunhyuk sat down on the cushion in front of him.
“You’re quite rude.”
“Ah, my apologies. I’m a bit lacking in that area. But I didn’t come to pick a fight, so you can relax those facial muscles.”
Kang Sunhyuk smiled with good humor. As he said, there was no sense of malice from him.
“I heard if I make a request, you’ll send a shaman?”
He didn’t seem to know that they didn’t accept just any request.
“Kang Dohyuk, ah, that guy is my brother. Anyway, he brought a shaman from here, and I heard they were effective, so I thought I’d make a request too.”
It didn’t seem like he had heard it directly from Kang Dohyuk. If he had, he wouldn’t have come barging in like this but would have made a formal request through Hovan Gallery.
“What kind of matter requires our services?”
He could have driven him away immediately, but since it involved someone who had made a request before, caution was needed. Unlike Kang Dohyuk, this man was still a figure from Dragon Holdings. The representative of Hovan Gallery, Lee Seoyoung, had described Dragon Holdings as a sleeping dragon. A dragon that had been sleeping underground for a long time but was now beginning to raise its head. If so, they shouldn’t create friction.
“It’s similar to Kang Dohyuk’s, I guess. That’s always the nature of our work.”
Somehow, it seemed like he was being evasive.
“So, can I specify which shaman I want? I need the one who was sent to Kang Dohyuk.”
Kang Sunhyuk smiled, raising the corner of his mouth as he locked eyes with Muyeong.
