#208

Even as the appointment time with Choi In-ho approached, Kim Sung-hwan was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he was planning to send Choi In-ho as a vanguard. Either way, there was no need to be impatient. It was expected anyway.

Seon-jae showered and changed clothes again in the hospital room. This time, he put on a crisp white pique T-shirt and summer white cotton pants that revealed his ankles. He chose light brown driving shoes. After combing his hair back and putting on his horn-rimmed glasses, he looked like someone with money. Of course, he was closer to a loafer than a capable person who earned money with his own hands.

It was 6:10 PM when Seon-jae, carrying the two boxes he had placed under the bed, arrived at the basement parking lot of the small building he owned. Mr. Kim, the parking guard, was waiting with a cart.

The parking lot was crowded with employees who had come down to the basement as soon as they left work at 6 PM sharp. There were quite a few cars leaving already, making the area chaotic.

Seon-jae took the private elevator straight to the 15th floor. Mr. Kim followed behind, pulling the cart loaded with boxes.

“Where should I put these?”

Mr. Kim, who had followed him to the executive office, asked.

Seon-jae pointed to the TV stand made of walnut, the same as the furniture in the executive office.

“Put them in front of the stand. I’ll take care of the organizing.”

While Mr. Kim was putting down the boxes, Seon-jae went to the next room.

The room was pleasant, unlike in the morning. There wasn’t a speck of dust in the air. The bathroom, generously covered with plastic, was as shiny as new.

“You must have worked hard.”

“It was nothing. It was quick.”

“What about the equipment?”

He asked, closing the bathroom door.

“I didn’t know what you would use, so I prepared a variety.”

“I only need a butcher knife and a pill press. The rest is cumbersome.”

“Shall I just bring those?”

“Yes. Hyung is the expert, so please get me something sharp.”

At Seon-jae’s words, Mr. Kim nodded with a blank face.

Mr. Kim was a man accustomed to such conversations.

He was born and raised in a family that ran a slaughterhouse in the countryside, and he held a knife at an age when others held pencils. Somehow, he ended up in the organization and lived doing the dirtiest of jobs. He sliced people instead of meat in cold freezers. However, he was not treated very well.

Then, he belatedly started a family and left the organization after offering two of his fingers. Having learned thievery, he made a living by butchering. This time, he sliced cows and pigs instead of people.

A the child was also born. A cute boy. Mr. Kim took out a loan at the age of forty to open his own butcher shop and moved from a small room to a small apartment. But he was scammed out of his deposit. The problem was that he knew nothing about fraud, even though he had associated with gangsters.

The house he had obtained with his life savings and bank loans was gone overnight. To make matters worse, the IMF crisis hit, and even the butcher shop fell into the hands of the bank. He was literally out on the street. Of course, with debt. Still, he did not lose hope. Because he had a the child, his wife and Mr. Kim gritted their teeth.

However, his wife, who had lost her lifelong fortune overnight, became ill, and Mr. Kim could not sleep a day without alcohol due to frustration. Not to mention being chased by debt collectors. Every day was hell. Then, the two of them heard shocking news.

While Mr. Kim and his wife were working late, the the child, who was left alone at home, died from carbon monoxide poisoning. It was no one’s fault, but the couple blamed each other. The once reliable and loving couple became worse than strangers.

Mr. Kim’s wife hanged herself shortly after an argument with Mr. Kim. When his wife was so depressed that she hanged herself, Mr. Kim was stealing petty cash to drink soju. He could not express his guilt in words. Mr. Kim lost his will to live.

But life was surprisingly tenacious. His wife was gone at once, but Mr. Kim did not. He was better with a knife than anyone else, but he could not bring himself to end his own life.

“Have the guest fill out the visitor log, and just leave him there until I contact you.”

“Yes, I understand.”

After Mr. Kim left the executive office, Seon-jae opened the box. He chose a videotape to lure Choi In-ho from it. Since he didn’t know what was recorded on the tape, he only checked the year and date written on the tape.

Among the dozens of tapes, there were many from 1984 and 1985. Since that was Yoon Ki-beom’s heyday, he was sure that his face would be somewhere. Since summer was the perfect time to strip someone bare, Seon-jae chose two tapes, 1985 July-1 and July-2, from the dozens of tapes.

Hoping that the disgusting content he imagined was recorded in it, he opened the TV stand and inserted the videotape.

After lowering the volume as much as possible, he stepped back from the TV and waited with his arms crossed for the screen to play.

It was as expected. No, it was more than expected. Pornography at least has direction, but this was raw.

“They don’t know shame. You fucking bastards.”

A feast of flesh continued. Surprisingly, no one covered their faces. As if they were so proud, they waved at the camera or showed a V sign. Among them, Choi In-ho and his wife, Kim Na-yeon, could be recognized at once.

The young Choi In-ho really resembled Yoon Ki-beom. Of course, there were obvious traces of trying to look alike, but at least they looked like brothers or cousins. The word “twins” was Kim Young-ja’s exaggeration.

Yoon Ki-beom was constantly smiling brightly, as if he was enjoying something. His voice, which had just passed puberty, was slightly light and high in tone, but it was still almost identical to Man’s voice.

Even in low quality, Yoon Ki-beom shone. Even though he was not Man, Seon-jae was captivated by his charm. Even though he was a boy whose head was not yet dry, he was truly special. Seon-jae stopped the screen at the scene where Yoon Ki-beom was smiling brightly.

This should be enough to take Choi In-ho’s soul away.

Seon-jae put all the remaining materials except for the 1986 enrollment list, which was the year after Yoon Ki-beom left the facility, four randomly selected employee lists, and two albums into the safe and locked it. He turned the empty box upside down as if to show it off and threw the remaining materials into the other box. As a result, one of the employee lists was caught on the edge of the box with its mouth half open. It gave the impression that no one was interested in the data.

Seon-jae left the executive office as it was.

* * *

The guest, Choi In-ho, entered the lobby at exactly 7 PM. The middle-aged the man in an expensive suit filled out the visitor log with a leather briefcase in hand. After exchanging a few words with Mr. Kim, he took out his cell phone from his suit pocket.

Seon-jae was observing Choi In-ho on CCTV in the machine room on the first basement floor.

The cell phone vibrated.

I’ve arrived, where are you?

“Who is this?”

Huh?

“Who is calling?”

Choi In-ho was flustered to learn that Seon-jae’s tone and attitude had changed 180 degrees.

Was it someone else? He might have been suspicious. Choi In-ho looked down at the phone for a moment, then put it back to his ear and patiently said, “This is Choi Yun-beom, an obstetrician.”

Galilla Orphanage.

He added quietly.

“Ah, look at my mind. I forgot.”

A dissatisfied sigh flowed from the receiver at Seon-jae’s words.

“I’ll tell the guard, so would you like to wait in the office? I’m having dinner with our employees right now.”

Choi In-ho took the phone away from his ear once again with an expression that he had no idea who he was talking to. The deliberation was not long.

Yes, I will. How long do I have to wait?

“Well, let’s see.”

There was a moment of silence, and then,

“The dinner has just started. Well, I’ll get there as soon as possible.”

Seon-jae hung up the phone without waiting for Choi In-ho to say anything else.

Choi In-ho, who was looking down at his cell phone with a bewildered expression, closed the folder irritably. Then, he bit his lip and looked up at the ceiling. It was a typical way to hold back anger.

Seon-jae laughed briefly and picked up the intercom to contact the security office.

Mr. Kim was away from his seat to attach a tracking device to the car Choi In-ho had arrived in, so Mr. Park answered the phone.

Mr. Park was a specialist in welcoming guests. Starting with handing out flyers in a beggar group, he had done all kinds of begging, and then traveled around the country selling cheap goods or medicine, and later switched to jobs that defrauded land and money. Of course, he handled people very well, regardless of gender or age. He also had great patience. Naturally, he was the most handsome of the three, Kim, Lee, and Park.

Mr. Park took the guest to the private elevator. In the meantime, the notice in front of the elevator had disappeared. So, Choi In-ho didn’t know he was on the private elevator.

The difference between the private elevator and the general elevator was the presence or absence of the number 4. The private one did not have the number 4, and the general elevator included 4. So, if you took the private one, you would actually arrive on the 14th floor instead of the 15th floor, but everyone passed by without knowing if they didn’t look closely.

Choi In-ho in the elevator was constantly biting his nails. It was a pretty bad habit for an obstetrician.

Mr. Park, who got off the elevator and walked to the office, opened the automatic door with a card key and said, “The view is amazing because this is the top floor.” It was a deliberate attempt to impress Choi In-ho with the fact that it was the 15th floor.

Mr. Park let Choi In-ho inside and grumbled, “There’s no girl at the desk either. They all went to eat.”

Choi In-ho carefully examined the words “World Trading” embroidered on the carpet and the company name wrapped around the glass door. Then, he stood in front of the window at the end of the lobby and looked around. Mr. Park went to Choi In-ho’s side and babbled unnecessarily, saying, “The night view here is the real deal, but it’s still bright outside because it’s summer.”

Choi In-ho did not even respond with agreement or disagreement.

Mr. Park kindly spoke to him without paying attention.

“You may be bored, but please wait on the sofa.”

Choi In-ho finally moved when the guard bowed to his waist and guided him to the sofa. He sat in the very center of the three-seater sofa and scanned the magazines on the sofa table with his eyes.

“Sir, what kind of drink would you like?”

“I don’t need a drink.”

“The President told me to treat you well. Coffee? Green tea? We also have Job’s tears tea. We also have alcohol.”

“I don’t need it.”

“Would you like some water?”

“No. I said I’m fine.”

Choi In-ho was annoyed.

Without paying attention, Mr. Park offered several more times, but Choi In-ho refused in the end.

Mr. Park made a very apologetic expression and left Choi In-ho alone in the lobby and left the entrance. As soon as the automatic door closed, he raised his middle finger towards the office.

Choi In-ho sat on the sofa and listened quietly, and as soon as he heard the elevator door closing, he took out his cell phone.

“Na-yeon, it’s me.”

He called his wife.

Oh, he was a loving husband, wasn’t he?

Seon-jae chuckled and turned up the volume to hear the conversation in detail.

“I don’t think it’s Kim Young-ja? I was wondering because the address was in Gangnam, but it’s too fancy. The view is amazing because it’s the top floor.”

Choi In-ho quietly got up from his seat and checked once again to see if there were any guards.

“World Trading. Uh. Wait a minute.”

Then, he picked up the “World Trading” advertising booklet placed between the luxury fashion magazine and the economic journal.

“I guess it’s an investment company. Did that bitch sell the data? What if she did? Could this be a trap?……. Uh. Right? Yeah, there’s no way that bitch would do that. Yeah. She’s right. I was too sensitive.”

Choi In-ho continued, flipping through the nearly 20-page all-color flyer.

“It’s a Japanese company. Uh. I think this is a branch office. There’s another branch office in the United States… Office? Wait a minute.”

Choi In-ho hurriedly got up from the sofa, stood in front of the automatic door leading to the office, shook the door, raised his arms, and then went back to the sofa.

“It won’t open. It’s not a ghost office. There are a lot of desks and computers, and it looks like they were working until just a little while ago. Uh. Uh. Uh? No, don’t. If he’s a money man, he’s actually easier to deal with. You know that better than anyone. Thugs are harder to handle. So. It’s advantageous for us. Uh. Okay, okay. Got it. If Kim Sung-hwan contacts you, just give him the basic information and say you don’t know the rest.”

Choi In-ho seemed to be planning to cut Kim Sung-hwan out of this deal.

This was good news for Lee Seon-jae.

“But where are you? Still? Ah, you should have come out earlier. I told you I was meeting at 7. Uh. Sojak Building. Uh. There’s a cafe on the first floor of the building right next door, so wait there. Okay. Text me when you arrive.”

Choi In-ho hung up the phone, opened his briefcase, and reached inside with both hands. Then, he pulled out a small voice recorder. Choi In-ho took out the tape from the recorder and checked it, even recording his own voice to see if it was recording properly.

“Thorough, our doctor.”

Lee Seon-jae picked up the intercom and called Mr. Kim.

“Chief, where is the building with the cafe?”

It’s Ace Building.

“Ah. Ace. Who’s close to the security guard there?”

Mr. Lee.

“Unexpected. It’s sudden, but please ask Mr. Lee to work overtime.”

Yes. I’ll contact him right away and tell him to come in.

“While you’re at it, put the ankle bracelet on him first, and tell him to buy some snacks and go. As soon as possible. A BMW will be going there soon.”

The ankle bracelet meant a GPS tracker. Husband and wife are one, but it was better to put a tracker on Kim Na-yeon’s car as well.

Lee Seon-jae passed on the license plate number of the car Choi In-ho’s wife, Kim Na-yeon, drove, along with her description.

“Tell them to just monitor her quietly.”

Lee Seon-jae put down the receiver, leaned back in his chair, and continued to observe Choi In-ho.

Choi In-ho often got up from the sofa and looked out the window, and when he sat down, he carefully examined the World Trading advertising booklet.

His cell phone vibrated. It was Attorney Park.

He asked if Lee Seon-jae was with someone, ‘Oh. Really? It’s already like that?’ and then abruptly,

Chief, I got Kim Cheol-soo’s picture, should I send it to you?

Lee Seon-jae immediately gave him the fax number.

A moment later, the fax machine made a loud noise and spat out a black and white sheet of paper.

Did you see it? The situation is very bad.

Lee Seon-jae could clearly picture the expression on Attorney Park’s face on the other end of the line.

I have things to discuss, so would you like to stop by the office later? I think I’ll be up all night.

“Yes. I’ll visit you late.”

Lee Seon-jae hung up the phone and looked down at the low-resolution black and white photo.

So, this is what Kim Cheol-soo looked like.

Kim Cheol-soo, naked and tied to a chair, was covered in blood, wounds, and bruises, not only on his face but all over his body. In the photo, Yoon Ki-beom and Na Jin-soo were smiling with their arms around each other’s shoulders, making V signs with Kim Cheol-soo in the middle. A kitchen knife, presumably the murder weapon, was in Na Jin-soo’s hand, and next to them, a terrified the child held a blood-stained paring knife, forcing a smile and also making a V sign.

There was no room for excuses. Anyone could see that they had killed Kim Cheol-soo.

Lee Seon-jae tore the paper and burned it with a lighter. He had destroyed the card that Lee Seok-doo held.

Uncle would have pinned all the blame on Na Jin-soo if Lee Seon-jae had only returned to Il-gwang. The Man’s confession would turn into a forced confession, and Na Jin-soo would also confess to framing Yoon Ki-beom. Perhaps Uncle had foreseen that far and made a deal with Na Jin-soo. Whatever it was, it would have been a very sweet offer for Na Jin-soo.

But Uncle was wrong.

Uncle wasn’t the only one who could get the man out.

Now, Lee Seon-jae held the key.

Lee Seon-jae observed Choi In-ho for about 30 more minutes before taking the private elevator and leisurely moving to the 15th floor. Ah, right, the 14th floor.

Chapter 209