97
The man had come all the way into this alley today because of the Hammer Gang’s office. While Juhang was crawling with thugs from legitimate organizations to petty gangsters, the Hammer Gang guys had something they were particularly good at. Information gathering. Although there were organization brothers who usually worked with Ilsim Capital, when it came to digging up detailed information, the Hammer Gang’s intelligence network was necessary.
As soon as the man entered the building, the organization members sitting on the sofa all stood up in unison to greet him.
“Hyung-nim.”
“Hey, Jo-hammer.”
The Hammer Gang guys didn’t use special nicknames. They just called each other by adding a characteristic or surname in front of “hammer.” Big-hammer, Silver-hammer, Jo-hammer, Stone-hammer. Among them, Jo-hammer approached and bowed deeply to the man.
“Yes, hyung-nim.”
“I need you guys to look into someone.”
“Yes, just leave it to us.”
The man sat in front of the leather sofa, rummaged through his back pocket, and pulled out a piece of paper.
“Here.”
It was the customer information form that Taein had filled out at Ilsim Capital. Though it was a black and white photocopy, it was sufficient for conducting a background investigation. Jo-hammer took the paper and examined its contents.
“A loan customer…”
There was only one case when Yoon Donghwan personally came to the office to assign work. He only visited this place when major smuggling deals were ahead and related officials were changing… This was the first time he’d requested information on a loan company customer. Ilsim was only a loan company in name; in reality, it was a business whose purpose was money laundering. Why would he specifically want customer information from there?
Jo-hammer tilted his head and spoke with a puzzled expression.
“Hyung-nim… didn’t you give me the wrong one?”
“There’s no way I gave you the wrong one, is there?”
Jo-hammer knew better than anyone that this man usually made no mistakes. But he still spoke up because the scale seemed too small to use all the organization guys. Every time they received work from Yoon Donghwan, what fell to them was one big piece, but this didn’t seem like it would even be half of that. Jo-hammer, who had judged hastily, looked like he didn’t know what to do.
“Yes, hyung-nim. I know that. But we’re already short on cash as it is.”
Jo-hammer, worried about taking too little, was about to add with a troubled expression that such small jobs…
“We’d have to do nothing else for at least 2 weeks per case—”
“Look at this bastard?”
“…Ah… I’m sorry, hyung-nim. I’m just lacking… If you give me more time, I can do it.”
Jo-hammer nodded with a half-resigned expression. There was no choice. They’d have to reduce personnel and extend the period to make it work. It wouldn’t be profitable business, but they couldn’t refuse Yoon Donghwan’s request.
“Would two bills be enough?”
“Huh?”
“Two bills.”
One bill was 100 million, and two bills were 200 million. Jo-hammer gaped at the man, shocked by the unexpected amount offered. He didn’t understand why, but at a glance, that Kang something loan customer must be some company heir or something. Jo-hammer went “Uh, uh,” and gripped the paper tightly. Then he suggested to Yoon Donghwan, who was standing by the sofa, to sit down first.
“Hyung-nim, but first sit down…”
“What. Do you need something else?”
“No, that’s not it.”
“Then bastard, just start the work. How much time do you need?”
“Ah, one week. One week should be enough.”
Usually it took 2 weeks, but with two bills, even flying back and forth would leave plenty left over. He proposed a much shorter timeframe than usual.
“Wow, money sure is nice.”
“Aw, it makes us uncomfortable when you say that.”
“Instead of rushing just because the money’s good, don’t mess around. Look into everything properly. Properly.”
“That’s obvious, isn’t it, hyung-nim.”
“Right, I don’t have time to chat. If you need anything else, come to Ilsim.”
He seemed to have urgent business. Jo-hammer hurriedly answered “Yes,” and folded the paper neatly. He’d been holding it carelessly, but that wouldn’t do. Yoon Donghwan left only those words and turned to go. He swung the office door open and left, and the younger brothers’ greetings echoed belatedly through the office. Soon after, the younger brothers’ expectant gazes focused on Jo-hammer.
“These bastards really… Hey, Small-hammer. Look into a beef restaurant.”
“Yes!”
It had been a while since their last company dinner.
Taein had been staring blankly at the building the man had entered. Even if he had business, it would probably take an hour. Should he go to the employment office in the meantime? Just as he was having such thoughts because he couldn’t waste even an hour, the iron door opened and the man appeared. He looked to be in a better mood than when he went in. Though he came out earlier than expected, it seemed he’d finished his business well.
“Oh, this time you didn’t leave.”
The man said this as he walked over.
“You didn’t leave.”
He said something similar even after coming close.
Taein looked up at the man who was a head taller than him, then ran one hand through his hair. He’d thought the man had kept him waiting because he had something to say, but there didn’t seem to be anything particular. The man’s face had been carrying a faint smile since earlier. Taein lowered his eyes, met the man’s loosened shirt, and looked completely to the side.
“Do you know how absurd I felt that day?”
At the man’s voice, Taein’s eyes looked up again. The man was raising both eyebrows high as if he’d never been smiling.
“You agreed to meet and then didn’t show up for over 30 minutes. Even when I brought you from JAM in that state, you just ran off like that.”
“I said I was sorry about that. I said I was out of my mind.”
“Hey. I wasn’t finished talking.”
“……”
“Especially running off like that was fucking problematic.”
“……”
“I let it slide that day too because you were acting so out of it.”
“……”
“But when I can’t reach you, it’s fucking infuriating, right? How dare you take my money and disappear?”
“I didn’t disappear, I lost my phone—”
“Ey, that’s just an excuse. If you don’t have a phone, you should have walked to Ilsim. Or you know my hotel. You could have come there and called for me, couldn’t you?”
With so many things that needed to be resolved, it was true that he hadn’t thought deeply about Yoon Donghwan. Taein added quietly as if making an excuse.
“I was going to find work and… contact you. I needed to ask about the interest anyway. And…”
He was thinking about whether to mention the money in his pants when the man spoke first.
“You were going to find work and then contact me? How exactly were you planning to find work? Were you going to contact me in about 3 years?”
“I’m not that kind of person. I’ll pay back the money somehow.”
At those words, the man’s face twisted sharply.
“It’s not about the money. This is about credit, about trust. Kang Taein-ssi.”
“…Yes, I understand. But I can pay back the money.”
Feeling like he was drawing a line first, Taein also spoke formally to convey his will. At this, the man’s face twisted again.
“Oh my. Look at all this. Didn’t you eat some Juhang friend or something? You keep speaking formally whenever you get the chance? What’s this? Some new kind of construction scam?”
“No… no.”
Construction scam? That was ridiculous. Taein cut off the man’s words to say no.
“But. Why do you keep distancing yourself whenever you get the chance? Going to run away again?”
“It’s not like that.”
“What good does it do to say it’s not like that? You need to give me trust.”
“……”
“During those days when you kept your mouth shut, you should have given me at least something like that.”
Taein was about to apologize again but clamped his mouth shut. The man had been saying since earlier that he wouldn’t accept verbal apologies, that he’d rather Taein stay quiet. Taein forced his mouth tightly shut and looked into the man’s eyes. Setting aside how things got tangled up, the man seemed more heated about not being Taein’s priority. That’s why he was getting heated about every little thing. Since he himself always comes first, that’s understandable.
Taein looked at the man and just bowed his head slightly. Instead of words, he bowed his head to express his apology.
“Kang Taein.”
Looking at Taein like that, the man spoke those three syllables.
“…Yeah.”
Taein answered.
“Do you know what you did most wrong?”
“……”
“This damn… me.”
Usually a name would follow, but the man didn’t know his name. For a moment, choosing a name seemed troublesome, so he substituted it with “me.”
“You fucked this me and then just ran off like that.”
“…What?”
“The weird things you said the night before.”
“…What…”
“And now you come out and say you’ll contact me when you find work.”
“That was because I—”
“Fuck, thinking about it, I can’t choose just one.”
“……”
“…Come with me for now.”
Making a gesture to come here, the man turned around. He seemed to be heading toward the car parked right in front. Taein stood with a troubled expression, then pressed his temple firmly with his hand. He needed to go to the employment office first. There didn’t seem to be any way to appease the man’s mood either. And he was financially entangled with that man.
Taein looked at the man who had already started the engine and was making a “beep beep” horn sound, and frowned. When he rubbed his face like that, his mind seemed to clear up a bit, but the situation in front of him remained the same.
Having no choice, Taein took steps and opened the man’s passenger door.
“Sorry, but could you at least tell me where we’re going?”
“Why?”
“…I need to find work today, so I don’t have much time.”
“No, ha… just get in first.”
Everyone thinks only of themselves. A man who had climbed to that position would be even more so. For him, finding work was the most urgent, but for the man, his own feelings were more important. What was he planning to do? Surely he wasn’t thinking of burying him in the mountains? To collect at least a few days’ interest? Even if he threatened him like that, he really didn’t have a single penny. In anxiety and confusion, Taein clenched his fist and, unable to withstand the pressure from the man asking “Won’t you get in?”, got into the passenger seat.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
