#210

Kim Sung-hwan stared intently at the mail in the darkness.

That bitch Kim Young-ja was really going too far.

Kim Sung-hwan couldn’t bear the fact that he had been outsmarted by Kim Young-ja of all people. How dare she send such filth to his house, to the sacred home where his wife and children lived. He wasn’t happy at all, even though that bitch, whom he had been searching for so desperately for the past two years, had contacted him on her own.

By now, Choi In-ho would be meeting her.

That stupid bastard and his wife were ready to give their lives for the videotape and photos of Yoon Ki-beom. He needed them too, but for different reasons than they did. He wasn’t going to use it to masturbate like Choi In-ho.

Kim Sung-hwan had money to receive from the people in that video. That videotape was Kim Sung-hwan’s slush fund and retirement money.

The money he had embezzled when the orphanage closed had run out. After buying the apartment, his spending had increased two or three times as much as usual to maintain his standard of living, and he had spent lavishly on his children’s private education, so money was flowing out like water. In the meantime, he had made a bad investment and lost a large sum of money. He was barely able to pay the rent for the unmarried mothers’ shelter he was currently running, but he never showed it.

As a result, his wife had no idea about this. She still regarded Kim Sung-hwan as an inexhaustible cornucopia, respected him as a great Husband, and considered him a proud Father to their children. Of course, she was still using her salary as pocket money, as before.

All he had to do was get that videotape back. With that, he wouldn’t have to worry about money for the rest of his life.

Sojak Building was located in the heart of Gangnam. As soon as Kim Sung-hwan saw the building, he wondered why that bitch Kim Young-ja would need to rent an office in such a building. He wondered if she had teamed up with a con artist and started a shell company. Whatever the case, it was clear that she had touched the orphanage’s slush fund. He had taken in a penniless woman, and she had repaid his kindness with betrayal.

There were similar office buildings sprouting up like mushrooms near Sojak Building. Most of the offices were lit up even though it was past 8 o’clock, and Sojak was no exception.

Kim Sung-hwan looked up at the 15th floor and sucked on a yogurt drink with a straw. The sweet and tangy liquid passed smoothly down his throat. He still hadn’t broken the habit of eating it with the the child at the orphanage. Of course, there was something else mixed in the yogurt back in the orphanage days. He chuckled at the thought of the liquid that made the the child and him go crazy.

To be honest, he was excited for the first time in a long time. He hated the sight of that bitch Kim Young-ja, but the moment he saw the name ‘Galilla’ written on the recipient of the package, he felt a thrill. It was clear that she had brought a welcome rain to his boring daily life.

What kind of conversation were they having inside?

Choi In-ho had taken a recorder with him, so he would find out soon, but he couldn’t stand not knowing right away.

What would that bitch Kim Young-ja demand in exchange for the data?

She was a money-grubbing bitch, so she would naturally ask for money. She might also demand that he never bother her again. Choi In-ho was the kind of person who would give Kim Young-ja a billion or two billion won if he could just get the data. But that would never happen.

He was going to have the data no matter what. He was going to give Choi In-ho a copy and get money from him.

Kim Sung-hwan told Kim Na-yeon very clearly over the phone.

Never agree to the offer, just listen to what she has to say and come back.

But they weren’t the kind of people who would listen to him. Choi In-ho and Kim Na-yeon still tended to mistake him for the deputy director from the orphanage days. Kim Sung-hwan vowed that this time, he would make those bastards realize who was in charge and who had the authority to give orders.

Two hours after entering the building, Choi In-ho’s car pulled out of the parking lot. Kim Na-yeon’s familiar BMW was also coming out of the building next door a little later. The two familiar vehicles passed Kim Sung-hwan side by side, but no other cars came out. No one was walking out of the building either.

He called Choi In-ho, but he didn’t answer. The same was true for Kim Na-yeon. They were probably avoiding his calls under the pretext of driving and meeting each other to discuss the matter. He wanted to drive to them right away and get the recorded cassette tape, but he had something else to do first. He was going to snoop around the office a bit. If Kim Young-ja was inside, he would say hello for the first time in a long time.

Instead of calling Choi In-ho again, Kim Sung-hwan left a voice message. Those bastards would never be able to accept any sweet offer Kim Young-ja made.

Heh heh. He felt like he was going to die of excitement.

He waited in the car until all the lights in Sojak Building were turned off. He looked at each car leaving the parking lot with binoculars and checked the figures walking out, but Kim Young-ja was nowhere to be seen.

Was she sleeping in that building?

She was capable of that.

She was capable of being mistaken that the building was safe. Kim Young-ja had been stabbed by a hitman he had sent in front of the entrance to a large apartment complex in the past. So she might feel that an office like this was safer. Whatever the case, it was good for Kim Sung-hwan.

After drinking about ten bottles of yogurt and going to the bathroom twice, the last light was turned off. A the man in a suit and a Woman also in a suit, a total of four people, walked out of the building. After that, there were no cars or people coming out of the underground parking lot or the entrance. He waited for another 30 minutes before taking action. Kim Sung-hwan was a patient person.

Shall we get moving?

Kim Sung-hwan shook his head from side to side once and put on his leather gloves. He checked that the pocketknife was in his pants pocket, put on the motorcycle helmet he had prepared in advance, and grabbed the Three-section baton, the same one used by the police, in his right hand before walking into the underground parking lot.

He ran down the steep slope and narrow road and arrived at the first basement floor. The parking lot was empty and there was no sign of anyone. But he was still careful. He tightened his grip on the Three-section baton in case he ran into a security guard. He carefully got on the elevator connected to the parking lot.

There was a CCTV camera in the elevator, but he didn’t care. He was wearing a helmet, so no one would know it was him.

The security guards stationed in buildings like this were only one or two at most, and most of them were old. Naturally, they were slow and their reflexes were dull. If he attacked them with the Three-section baton, they would fall without being able to resist. Even without the Three-section baton, the result would be the same.

Kim Sung-hwan had been practicing Hapkido for over three years under the pretext of protecting unmarried mothers and their fetuses. He had confirmed his skills through constant sparring and dozens of tests against homeless people, so he was sure of himself.

The elevator went up to the 15th floor without stopping once.

Ding- The door opened with a cheerful sound.

Kim Sung-hwan took out only one foot and looked down the hallway, and after confirming that no one was there, he got out of the elevator. The announcement, ‘The door is closing. Going down,’ was heard particularly loudly.

The offices were divided into two on the left and right, with four elevators in between.

If you got off the underground elevator that Kim Sung-hwan was on, ‘Hole-in-One Life Insurance’ was on the left and ‘World Trading’ was on the right. Kim Sung-hwan had only heard that it was on the 15th floor, but he hadn’t heard which company it was, so he went to Hole-in-One Life Insurance first.

Both companies had security equipment attached next to the entrance so that only employees could enter. Kim Sung-hwan, who had expected this, took out a card key from his pocket. It was a master key that he had obtained from a contractor in the past, and there was no building that he couldn’t enter with it. In particular, motels that used card keys were 100 percent passable. He rubbed the card key on his thigh and wished for good luck.

The door did not open. The light-emitting diode of the security system flashed red.

“Shit.”

He tried again, but the result was the same.

This time, he went to World Trading and put the same card key on it. Kim Sung-hwan, who thought it wouldn’t open, stared blankly at the automatic door that opened without resistance, and barely managed to step into the lobby just before the door closed.

He raised the goggles of his motorcycle helmet and looked around the office. The lobby had a carpet embroidered with ‘World Trading’, a small information desk, and a three-seater sofa. The glittering night view of Gangnam came into view through the long window at the end of the lobby.

Kim Young-ja rented this office?

He couldn’t believe it.

Kim Sung-hwan headed back to the life insurance office. The insurance company, which he could see through the glass automatic door, had a very large performance board attached to the wall in front of the entrance. Dozens of desks were attached to each other without partitions, and piles of documents were piled up on each desk. No matter how he looked at it, there was no way Kim Young-ja could run such an office.

Then the office he had seen earlier, which looked plausible on the outside, must be Kim Young-ja’s.

Kim Sung-hwan went back to ‘World Trading’, put his card key on it as if it were his office, and entered the lobby. A vending machine was lit up next to the information desk. Surprisingly, it was free.

Con artists are so generous.

Kim Sung-hwan pulled out a can of coffee and stood in front of another entrance to enter the real office. He sipped his coffee and put his card key on it. There was no response.

What is this? Kim Sung-hwan put his card key on it again, but there was still no response. The lobby opened, but the entrance to the office itself did not open.

What kind of place is this?

He grumbled and looked inside the office.

There were only about twenty desks in the wide office, but each desk had at least two monitors and at least three telephones. There were three wall clocks with different times on the wall. Below them were signs that read ‘Republic of Korea’, ‘United States, Washington’, and ‘Japan, Tokyo’. They had put a lot of effort into the interior to make it look like an investment company, but it was a multi-level marketing scheme. Kim Sung-hwan knew a few of these multi-level marketing companies that used global something or other to play tricks. He had been scammed by one of them.

A multi-level marketing scheme, shit.

It was just like Kim Young-ja.

Kim Sung-hwan felt like he was going crazy wanting to go inside, thinking that that bitch Kim Young-ja was inside. He also wanted to vent his anger at being scammed.

He didn’t hesitate for long. Now that he had come this far, he decided to do something reckless.

It wasn’t difficult to break the glass door. With this Three-section baton, he could easily break a car window, so this automatic door was no problem.

The obstacle was the clothes he was wearing. A short-sleeved shirt and shorts. If he broke the glass wearing this, he would be lucky to end up with a few scratches, but he could be seriously injured if he was unlucky.

Kim Sung-hwan, who regretted not wearing long pants, focused his gaze on the carpet in the lobby. He couldn’t help but think that this was an opportunity given to him by heaven.

Without hesitation, he cut out a generous amount of carpet. He used the carpet as a shield to protect his entire body and held the Three-section baton upside down. He placed the end of the handle against the glass door and struck it quickly. With a thud on the third try, the glass shattered and fell to the floor. The alarm did not go off.

Kim Sung-hwan threw away the carpet, removed the glass fragments attached to the door frame with the Three-section baton, and stepped into the office. If anyone was inside, they would have heard this sound. By now, they might have picked up the phone to call the police. Kim Sung-hwan ran as hard as he could and threw open the door that read CEO.

There was no one there. It wasn’t just that there was no one there. It was empty. Even though there was a free vending machine in the lobby, the CEO’s office was empty. There was no desk, no bookcase, not even a chair.

Kim Sung-hwan quickly left the room and looked around the office. All the computers and monitors were turned off. He picked up the phone he could see, but there was no sound from the receiver. He pressed the hook several times, but it was still quiet. The phone next to it was also out of order. He moved to another desk and picked up the phone, but there was still no sound.

Only then did Kim Sung-hwan think the office was too clean. He ran his finger over the computer and monitor, and black dust covered his fingertip.

It was a real ghost office.

Choi In-ho had talked with Kim Young-ja for two hours in this kind of office?

Maybe he was just satisfied with drinking free drinks in the lobby. Stupid bastard.

Kim Sung-hwan gritted his teeth.

Where the hell did that bitch Kim Young-ja go? There were definitely no cars leaving the parking lot. No one was coming or going through the entrance either. Only then did he realize that he had overlooked the fact that there was another entrance. In such a high-rise building, there were basically at least two entrances through which people could pass.

Shit. Just as he was getting pissed and hitting his helmet with his palm, the lobby lights turned on. At the same time, the shadows of people were cast on the carpet. It wasn’t just one person.

Before he knew it, three burly security guards were walking towards him through the broken door.

Shit. I’m fucked.

Kim Sung-hwan raised both hands.

This was a step back for a leap forward.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

Kim Sung-hwan said glibly.

“I was scammed by the CEO of this company. The son of a bitch who ran away with my money said he would definitely give it to me today, so I came looking for him, but he wasn’t here! So, without realizing it, I… I’m really sorry. I’ll definitely compensate for the damage.”

Kim Sung-hwan couldn’t finish his sentence and his face was slammed into the floor. He thought the helmet would lessen the impact, but he was wrong. He must have bitten his tongue as he fell, because he tasted a bitter taste of blood in his mouth.

Those son of a bitches. Tsk. I was going to let it go quietly, but I guess I can’t.

Kim Sung-hwan underestimated the three security guards in his mind, completely unaware of his situation. He imagined them kneeling and begging in front of him and tried to get up.

But he was slammed back to the floor and lost consciousness without knowing what was happening.

211 – Chapter Title Without Number