By Zephyria 4 a.m. The sun hadn’t risen, and the artificial lights that brightly illuminated the streets were all asleep. On the empty road, a black sedan, as dark as the night, was silently speeding along.
The heavily tinted sedan, with its interior hidden from view, created an even more eerie and suspicious atmosphere. But no one paid it any attention. Only the drunks wandering the streets glanced at it briefly, and those glances, devoid of any real intention from the start, quickly faded away.
The slowly moving sedan came to a stop in front of a commercial building. In the street where even the streetlights were gone, the only light, the headlights, went out, and a gloomy darkness enveloped the area.
Soon, with a click, the door opened. From inside the door, which opened wide like the gaping maw of a monster, two men emerged. They were both dressed in jet-black suits, and the man who got out of the back seat, in particular, was wearing an entirely dark shirt underneath, making him look like a grim reaper.
“The fourth floor of the building, General manager.”
The man who got out of the driver’s seat quickly stepped onto the sidewalk. At his words, the man who got out of the back seat tilted his head up and scanned the building.
There were far more foreign signs with incomprehensible meanings than Korean ones, and unorganized wires were tangled messily. The broken windows here and there didn’t just look like the business was closed for the night, but like the traces of a long-abandoned place after closure. Following the traces that showed it was a considerably old building even in the darkness, the man’s gaze stopped at one spot.
‘Tailored Loans Capital’
The only place with lights on in the entire area. It was the fourth floor of the building that the man in the driver’s seat had mentioned.
“…….”
Lee Do-hyeon, staring up at the commercial building with sharp eyes, where only the lights were on and no sign of life could be felt, put a cigarette in his mouth. As he reached into his inside pocket again to take out a lighter, a square Zippo lighter suddenly appeared in front of him. Chief Yoon, the man who had gotten out of the driver’s seat a moment ago, lit it for him as if he had been waiting.
“Don’t do things like this. It’s not like I’m some gangster. It looks cheap.”
Lee Do-hyeon, who deeply inhaled the cigarette until his cheeks were hollow, grumbled in a displeased voice. Tsk, clicking his tongue and glaring, Chief Yoon put the lighter away and laughed.
“Aren’t you taking my kindness too negatively?”
“Don’t do what I tell you not to. You’re doing things I didn’t even ask for.”
“Think of it as one less troublesome thing to do. Good things are good, right?”
“Good? I’m so tired I could die.”
“Then why did you insist on coming at this hour?”
“Chief Yoon, you know that it’s better not to attract unnecessary attention.”
Seeming both tired and annoyed, Lee Do-hyeon frowned deeply and exhaled cigarette smoke. The smoke, spreading like the Milky Way in the night sky, quickly dissipated into the air. He put the cigarette dangling from his fingertips back in his mouth and stared at the building with a blank expression.
It was inevitable that the construction industry was associated with organized crime. Although times had changed a lot, there were still many companies that secretly used their fists. Younggang Construction was one of them. There was a reason why so many people, fooled by their slick operations, denounced Lee Do-hyeon with words like ‘gangster.’
Now, with so many eyes watching, he sat elegantly at his desk like any other businessman, signing documents, but just a few years ago, Lee Do-hyeon was the one who rolled up his sleeves and cleaned up the mess himself. Perhaps that’s why secretly delivering apple boxes didn’t suit his temperament.
Well, this should be fun.
“I guess you can’t change your roots.”
Lee Do-hyeon, who muttered to himself, threw the half-smoked cigarette to the ground without hesitation. After grinding the butt with his well-polished shoes, he took a short breath as if shaking off the stale smoke left in his mouth. He entered the commercial building, exuding a cold aura.
As expected of an old building, there was no elevator. As he climbed the stairs, which were cracked and patched up everywhere, a man in a suit stood stiffly at the top. As soon as he saw Lee Do-hyeon, the man bowed deeply and immediately opened the rusty iron door.
Bright light poured out. Lee Do-hyeon, instinctively frowning, stepped inside.
Inside the rectangular room, with all the partition walls removed, desks and computers were lined up just like any other office. There was also a leather sofa that looked quite expensive, but no one was sitting on it.
A dozen or so men were kneeling on the hard floor, trembling, and another half a dozen men surrounded them. When Lee Do-hyeon appeared, the gazes that had been frozen with tension all turned to him at once.
Some of the kneeling men lowered their chins and held their breath, while the men who had been surrounding them straightened their ranks and stood with their hands behind their backs. Lee Do-hyeon silently scanned them. His gaze was indifferent yet sharp.
“…….”
Eventually, Lee Do-hyeon looked away and slowly moved inside, surveying the interior. A Daruma painting hanging on the wall, a pot of flowers withered and dying, a dusty coffee pot, and a sofa scorched by cigarette burns. It was clear that they had tried to create a semblance of order, even if they had neglected the upkeep.
Lee Do-hyeon, sitting on the sofa that creaked and groaned, crossed his long legs and scanned the kneeling men as if admiring the flowers in a flower bed. There wasn’t a single one who didn’t have bruises or bloodstains, indicating that they had put up quite a fight. It seemed that his side had treated them quite roughly. Lee Do-hyeon, looking at the battered faces without blinking an eye, picked up a business card holder placed on the table next to the sofa.
SC
Kim Jin-guk
SM Cpiatal CEO
010–
Repeating the three names engraved on the crisp business card slowly in his mind, Lee Do-hyeon scanned the room with cold eyes. Then, suddenly, he stopped at one spot. A man wearing a flamboyant floral shirt, out of place for the weather, was fidgeting, not knowing what to do, and lowered his head.
“Kim Jin-guk?”
Lee Do-hyeon straightened his slouched posture. It was a trivial movement, but the men flinched as if they had seen a ghost.
“Kim Jin-guk, CEO of Tailored Loans Capital. Is he not here?”
When no one responded, Lee Do-hyeon called out the name again in a voice so low it was eerie. Again, there was no response.
Lee Do-hyeon, sighing in annoyance, pushed the inside of his cheek out with his tongue. Now, it wasn’t just the kneeling men who were watching his every move. Even those who were called ‘subcontractors,’ who were in charge of using their fists and shedding blood, began to cautiously watch Lee Do-hyeon’s every move.
“I know you’re all here, so why won’t you come out?”
Lee Do-hyeon, muttering as if to himself, nodded to Chief Yoon, who was standing next to him. Chief Yoon, who was already holding an iron pipe, handed it over without hesitation. Lee Do-hyeon lightly swung the iron pipe he received, as if checking its weight. The men’s shoulders flinched at the clanging sound of metal hitting the floor.
“Let’s not waste our breath saying too much. It hurts if you get hit in the same place again. And I don’t want to clean up corpses unnecessarily. We’re already short on manpower, so let’s go peacefully. Peacefully.”
The iron pipe, which had been tapping the floor, reached the ashtray on the table. The ashtray, full of yellow cigarette butts, fell to the floor. The sticky, dried phlegm, the soaked cigarette butts, and the broken shards splattered messily, and the man closest to it trembled as if having a seizure. Lee Do-hyeon, as if disgusted by the sight, pressed the man’s head down with the end of the iron pipe.
“Okay, now, if you don’t come out when I call you, I’m going to start breaking heads one by one. There’s no order to who goes first, so keep that in mind.”
The adults, unable to withstand the atmosphere that was stretched taut as if it would snap at any moment, began to bow their heads one after another. Lee Do-hyeon’s face looked quite bored as he watched them beg for their lives with slurred pronunciations from their swollen mouths.
“Kim Jin-guk.”
Lee Do-hyeon called out the name again. One, two, three. He counted calmly and slowly, then clicked his tongue. Just as he was about to lift the iron pipe with a face that said he was annoyed, screams erupted from all over. It was the moment when the iron pipe, which had been raised to the ceiling in an instant, was about to come crashing down.
“I, it’s me!”
The man in the floral shirt opened his mouth in terror. It was the man whom Lee Do-hyeon’s gaze had briefly rested on a moment ago. His face was pale with fear, and he crawled forward on his knees. Lee Do-hyeon, pausing, asked as if he didn’t know.
“Ah, you’re Kim Jin-guk?”
“Yes, yes! That’s right. I’m, Kim Jin, Kim Jin-guk.”
“Hmm, you answer well.”
Lee Do-hyeon, smiling sarcastically, carelessly put down the iron pipe he had been about to swing. Clang. He kicked the iron pipe rolling haphazardly on the floor with his toe and lifted the business card holder he was holding in his other hand. Although he was no longer in immediate danger of having his head smashed, the man, already weighed down by considerable intimidation and fear, instinctively begged for his life.
“P, please spare me. I was w, wrong!”
The sweat streaming down the man’s back soaked his shirt. Another man, who had almost had his head smashed just moments ago, was breathing heavily as if he was about to faint. But Lee Do-hyeon didn’t even glance at the scene. He simply picked up a business card with eyes that held no emotion and slowly rolled it between his fingers.
“Kim Jin-guk, isn’t this our first time meeting?”
“Yes? Yes, yes… that’s, right.”
“You’re apologizing to someone you’re meeting for the first time, so you must have a lot on your conscience.”
With those words, Lee Do-hyeon tossed the business card as if throwing a paper airplane. The crisp business card cut through the air and flew quickly before hitting the table and falling.
“Or, do you know who I am, so you’re acting like this?”
“…Yes?”
“Just kidding. You looked too stiff.”
“Ah… ha, ha……”
The man, forcing a smile along with Lee Do-hyeon, who was smiling faintly, swallowed hard. His expression showed that he didn’t know where the joke started and how much of it was sincere.
“Anyway, you look terrible. My guys have had these habits since a long time ago, so it seems they couldn’t control themselves, but I’ll apologize for that. I’m sorry.”
Lee Do-hyeon, who was smiling alone in the stiff atmosphere, gestured lightly. The burly men who had been watching the situation with their hands behind their backs suddenly rushed forward. Some of the kneeling men screamed in terror, but they simply grabbed Kim Jin-guk’s arms and dragged him to the sofa.
Kim Jin-guk, who had suddenly been seated on the sofa, rolled his eyes with an anxious expression. He glanced at Lee Do-hyeon, who he was facing, not even noticing that his legs, which had been kneeling for hours, were numb.
“It’s not that big of a deal, I just came to see what kind of bastard you are. I’ve only been receiving reports in writing every time, so I was itching to see you in person.”
Lee Do-hyeon put a cigarette in his mouth. He made a silent gesture asking if Kim Jin-guk wanted one, but Kim Jin-guk refused. Without offering a second time, Lee Do-hyeon immediately lit it and asked, exhaling acrid smoke.
“You know that South Korea has the most con artists in the world, right, President Kim Jin-guk?”
The question, thrown out in a grinding voice, was a strange one. But the message it conveyed was clear. Thorns that reminded the listener that he was a con artist were embedded in the words.
But Kim Jin-guk didn’t seem to understand. Perhaps he was disoriented from being beaten out of nowhere, he just kept rubbing his sweaty hands on his knees and stammering.
“The fact that those statistics came out means that all the con artists got caught.”
“Wh, what are you saying… I don’t really.”
“It means that only smart bastards can pull off scams without getting caught.”
As soon as those words were finished, Kim Jin-guk’s eyes darted around busily. Lee Do-hyeon, staring intently at him, put a bite mark on the cigarette filter and continued slowly.
“Well, I still want to praise you for your efforts. You didn’t use borrowed-name accounts that everyone else uses, and you went through the trouble of running around on foot every time. Is that easy to do in this day and age?”
“Wh, wh, what… are you guys cops?”
“Hmm. I thought you had some brains, but I guess not.”
Lee Do-hyeon, exhaling smoke with a frustrated sigh, clicked his tongue.
“Have you ever seen a South Korean cop beat a suspect?”
“…….”
Kim Jin-guk didn’t say anything. He was still breathing heavily and rolling his eyes, his face suggesting that he thought it would be better to face the police. Lee Do-hyeon, saying that there was no need to talk for long, flicked the shortened cigarette butt.
“Who came up with the idea of doubling the interest rate?”
“What are you… talking about?”
“Didn’t I just say it? Only smart bastards can pull off scams without getting caught.”
“…….”
“Stop pretending you don’t know, since your head isn’t in good shape. I know everything.”
Lee Do-hyeon, firmly dismissing the weak resistance, looked around. The office, far from being organized or tidy, was full of files and documents of unknown origin scattered on the desks and floor. It would take a considerable amount of time to have the underlings search through it. More than anything, it was impossible to predict how long it would take. He had secretly moved in the late hours of the night, being conscious of Kim Mi-hee and Lee Gyu-hyeon, so there was no more time to delay.
“Let’s see the ledger.”
“Th, there isn’t one.”
“Of course, you’d say there isn’t one. I know very well that I’ve never seen anyone tell the truth. So, I’m going to have to resort to violence.”
Kim Jin-guk’s eyes widened at the brutal content that didn’t match the polite tone. Lee Do-hyeon, making eye contact with him, held out his hand. Chief Yoon quickly took out a blade and handed it to him. The sharp blade, which looked like it belonged in an operating room, spun around between his elegant fingers.
“Let’s just do it with your fingers. You have ten of them, so cutting off one shouldn’t be a big deal, right?”
Lee Do-hyeon spoke seriously, as if giving sincere advice.
One of the burly men who had lifted Kim Jin-guk up a moment ago grabbed his trembling hand and slammed it roughly on the table. It was too late to struggle. All he could do with his body firmly restrained was clench his fist until his fingertips turned white.
“If you mess up, two will fall off instead of one.”
Lee Do-hyeon, forcibly opening the clenched fist, placed the blade on top of his short pinky finger. At the cold sensation that felt like it would dig in at any moment, a scream-like cry poured out of Kim Jin-guk’s mouth.
“I’ll, I’ll talk! So please, please!”
Kim Jin-guk sobbed, shedding thick tears without any dignity. Lee Do-hyeon, without retracting the knife, met his bloodshot eyes. The unspoken pressure that he would only be released if he spoke wrapped around Kim Jin-guk like a rope.
Lee Do-hyeon waited patiently for the man, who couldn’t speak properly because his voice was mixed with sobs, scraping together his patience. Kim Jin-guk, who had forcibly swallowed his sobs, fearing that his finger might fly off in the meantime, opened his mouth haltingly.
“There is… there is a ledger.”
“And?”
“Everything here is fake. The real one isn’t managed here. I, I heard that they manage it separately in case something happens.”
Lee Do-hyeon, who was about to put strength into the hand holding the knife because it wasn’t the answer he wanted, paused for a moment after hearing the man’s last words.
“Who did you hear that from?”
“I, I just did as I was told!”
“I know, and I’m asking who that is.”
“I don’t know his name. Ah, he wears glasses… he’s a man. He’s in his late 40s, about that……”
The man’s cloudy eyebrows furrowed askew. He seemed unsure even as he spoke himself. Lee Do-hyeon, ignoring the gaze that was looking up at him desperately, let out a hollow laugh as if he was dumbfounded.
“So, you’re telling me to search for all the men in their late 40s who wear glasses?”
“It’s… it’s true. That person took all the ledgers and loan documents. Please believe me. Please, please.”
Lee Do-hyeon, looking down at the face that had quickly become dirty with snot and tears with a displeased expression, removed the blade. After throwing the blade, which had not a single drop of blood on it, to Chief Yoon as it was, he ran a hand over his dry face and repeatedly sighed. What is this, you have to have the desire to cut off a finger to actually cut it off. He had given up the time he should have been hugging a soft and warm body and sleeping, but he felt a sense of emptiness because there was nothing worth salvaging.
Lee Do-hyeon frowned deeply, pressing his temples, then glared at Kim Jin-guk again. He was holding his perfectly good hands together, sobbing like a child. Annoyed by the rough voice, Lee Do-hyeon gestured to the men. He thought he might as well block his nose while he was at it. He was about to give the order when it happened.
As if something had come to mind, Kim Jin-guk widened his eyes and flailed his hands. Piecing together what he was mumbling, it was as follows:
“But, I’ve never come alone. I’ve seen someone else in the car.”
Kim Jin-guk shook his head vigorously, saying he could never forget. With a flushed face, he squeezed out his memories as if he were wringing them out.
Chief Yoon, who had been listening silently, looked at Lee Do-hyeon with a surprised expression. Lee Do-hyeon’s eyebrows twitched meaningfully as he was lost in thought for a moment.