He hurriedly moved forward, busy hands closing the front of his robe. Passing through the long corridor, he saw a man and a woman sitting in the middle of the spacious living room.
With his contorted face, Jae-young stood there staring at Seung-kwon and Ju-yeon. Judging by his thoroughly sour expression, he was extremely displeased.
“How did you get in?”
Jae-young opened his mouth in a calm tone. The two people sitting on the sofa with their heads close together looked up.
“Ask a proper question.”
Seung-kwon responded coolly. Jae-young was absolutely certain he had never given those two his door lock password. He glared at them in disbelief.
They clearly had picked the lock without permission. He wondered if apartment security could really be this lax. He had emphasized the need for better security several times.
Shaking his head, Jae-young moved his body that had been momentarily stationary. He walked to the counter and put a slice of bread in the toaster.
“Please, I’m begging you, if you want to come in, ring the bell and wait at the door.”
Trying to comfort his already ruined mood with meat seemed wasteful of expensive Hanwoo beef. Good food should be eaten in a refreshed state to fully appreciate its taste.
He took milk from the refrigerator to wet his throat. While filling his stomach with a banana that was sitting alone on the counter, the toaster ejected perfectly toasted bread.
“…Approaching him isn’t difficult, but what comes next is the problem. The longer it drags on, the more disadvantageous it is for us, so we need to finish this as quickly as possible.”
Jae-young listened to their conversation while biting into his toast. He thought he’d feel dissatisfied with carbohydrates instead of meat, but once he started eating, it wasn’t as bad as expected.
“You’ve been resting for half a year, and now you’re already starting a job?”
Chewing on his toast, he approached the sofa. He sat next to Seung-kwon and put his feet up on the coffee table.
Before leaning back, he picked up a bundle of documents and photos from the table. Oh, he’s handsome. He chewed and swallowed his toast along with his indifferent inner thoughts.
“Change your clothes before coming here. Ju-yeon is here too.”
A contemptuous voice came from beside him. Jae-young stared at Ju-yeon instead of Seung-kwon.
“What’s the big deal? Noona, am I making you uncomfortable?”
“Uncomfortable? If you stay that defenseless, you might get eaten up by noona, Jae-young.”
“Someone like noona? That would be a thank you.”
Jae-young laughed emptily and looked at the photo again. It seemed this was the man for the next job. He had the kind of looks that could have made many women cry.
With neat and pretty features, and what appeared to be a firm body hidden under a suit – perhaps he enjoyed working out.
Jae-young took another bite of toast. Taking his eyes off the photo, he scanned the documents containing information about the man.
Name: Sa Gong-hyun, Age: 33, Birthday: July 24 (solar calendar), Resident Registration Number: 890724-1…
“If he’s born in ’89, how old is he? 33? Wow… I thought he was in his late twenties at worst. He has a young face.”
“Look at the next page.”
Ju-yeon spoke from the front. Jae-young turned the page. Sebin Construction. A company name he remembered hearing before. And this man was the Executive Director of Sebin Construction.
Of course, that was his officially known occupation, but his hidden profession was…
“Our Gong-hyun hyung stays busy day and night.”
He was a gangster. Jae-young had thought they were just loan sharks who transformed into corporate gangsters, but apparently, their main income came from drug distribution. Jae-young let out a hollow laugh and turned another page.
“It’s a single character surname. His family name is Sa and given name is Gong-hyun.”
Jae-young raised his eyes when he heard a response to his mumbling. His eyes met Ju-yeon’s.
Though he’d barely eaten, he’d already lost his appetite. He should have grilled meat as planned regardless of his mood. He tossed the toast he was holding carelessly onto the table.
“So Sebin deals in drugs. Once a company grows this big, they must be playing in dangerous waters. You’re going after them? What kind of job is this?”
Though they say no profession is without dignity, Jae-young and his group had a job that was far from honorable. To put it indirectly, they were freelancers; to be more accurate, con artists.
Generally, they scammed black money or sold specific company information to competing firms at high prices. Sometimes, when circumstances weren’t favorable, they extorted money from gamblers – always targeting those who would find it difficult to report.
After completing a job, they would lie low until things calmed down before quietly planning another one. Though they made their living through dangerous work, it was a different story when the target was a drug smuggler.
These guys have connections in every country. Jae-young swallowed heavily and looked at Seung-kwon.
“The drug import routes and ledger.”
“Hyung, have you started working with the cops?”
Jae-young frowned, displeased. In reality, there was no way Seung-kwon would work with the police, so his sarcasm stemmed from uneasiness.
“Not cops. There’s someone who wants to buy it.”
“Who?”
“Logan Pierce. An American man, apparently quite famous among mafia circles. Seems like he’s starting business in Korea… The information that Sebin is distributing drugs also came from him.”
“He contacted you directly? How does he know you?”
“Kwang-do connected us.”
Shin Kwang-do. Kwang-do was an acquaintance Seung-kwon knew from his time in Busan. Jae-young had seen Kwang-do so few times he could count them on one hand.
Why would Shin Kwang-do connect such a big figure to Seung-kwon? Why not take the job himself?
“Are you sure about his identity?”
Seung-kwon nodded once in response to Jae-young’s suspicious question.
“I checked separately. The information about them selling drugs is correct.”
“How much is he offering?”
“Five million dollars.”
“Five million dollars…”
Jae-young murmured. How much was five million dollars? About 1,100 won per dollar? It was an enormous amount. His toes wiggled on the table.
If they didn’t fail, this would be a sweet job. He continued to worry. Regardless of how scary it was, it smelled dangerous.
He listened to any story that could help with work, regardless of its nature. He had quite a few acquaintances in the same industry, some of whom were gangsters.
Jae-young recalled all the underground stories related to drugs he could remember. No matter how much he thought about it, there wasn’t a single one about Sebin.
If they weren’t established in drug distribution, why target Sebin specifically? Moreover, the commission was a huge sum of five million dollars.
As Jae-young sat with a serious face lost in thought, Seung-kwon adjusted his sitting position. His eyes showed that he understood what Jae-young was worried about.
“Think about it, Jae-young. Sebin was a small to medium-sized company at best. But look at them now. In just a few years, they’ve hit mid-tier and now they’re shoulder to shoulder with major corporations. They even recently acquired Hansung Trading. Do you know what this means? It means they’re going to seriously start selling drugs now. They’ve unofficially acquired several companies.”
“…”
“That bastard Sa Gong-hyun was originally an unknown third-rate thug. But as soon as he established himself, the organization suddenly started growing. There’s definitely something fishy about Sebin, but even the police can’t touch them. Why?”
“…”
“Because there’s no evidence. It seems like they’re making waves somewhere, but there’s not a trace of water splashed around. Does that make sense? They’re not even a major organization, yet at Sebin? Currently, Sa Gong-hyun is the backbone of Sebin, and I guarantee that with that level of cunning, soon Sebin will monopolize that entire field. That’s why their information is worth up to five million dollars. Which means if we succeed, we could get even more. And while we’re at it, if we divert all the money he’s laundered, that would be best.”
It was a plan that was glossy on the surface, befitting a con artist. He had almost been tempted by hearing just the conclusion without the process. Jae-young, who had been running his tongue along the inside of his teeth, opened his mouth.
“I don’t think he’ll just sit there and take it. Let’s say we somehow succeed. Then what?”
Seung-kwon, who had been explaining with all sorts of hand gestures, suddenly snorted.
“What’s there to worry about? If worst comes to worst, we’ll leak information to the police and leave Korea. After this job is done, we won’t have to worry about empty bank accounts until we die of old age.”
“His underlings might move on his behalf.”
“Would the cops move for just any information? We’ll have them raid the scene. We’ll definitely be on a boat within an hour.”
Seung-kwon tapped his crossed legs with his hands in his pockets.
“By the time they clean out our accounts, we’ll have bought enough time to track them. The world is incredibly vast, Jae-young. You know how simple it is to create a new identity.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
