#64

The meeting showed no signs of winding down, and only empty soju bottles piled up.

“What about Lee Seok-du and Lee Hyun-jun?”

Tae-heun broke the silence.

“Are you talking about the two of them, or the company?”

“Both.”

“Well, on the surface, they seem fine. But only bad things are left to come.”

Detective Oh took a sip of soju.

“Have you checked Lee Hyun-jun’s backers?”

“Well, there was no need to.”

Detective Oh chuckled lightly. Tae-heun narrowed his eyes.

“Lee Hyun-jun has been bragging about it himself. You know Korea Construction, right?”

“Yes.”

“You probably know that Chairman Han has a favorite grandson who is a drug addict among his many grandchildren.”

Korea Construction was a mid-sized construction company that had recently secured all the lucrative contracts available. Although it was labeled as mid-sized, it was so successful that it outperformed many large construction firms. Naturally, it had enormous slush funds.

The company that had a partnership with Korea Construction was none other than Dongbang Construction, the biggest rival of Ilgwang Financial. This was also the main reason why Tae-heun’s uncle had been struggling recently.

Originally, Chairman Han of Korea Construction and Tae-heun’s uncle were very close. Tae-heun’s uncle had sworn loyalty to him, but that loyalty did not last long. He hated wasting energy on things that had no future. Whether it was a person or a company, if he saw a downhill path, he would cut ties without hesitation.

Of course, it wasn’t a matter of cutting ties unconditionally. Even if he was pushed out for the time being, if he believed there was a chance to rise again, he would hold onto that connection even if everyone else abandoned it. His uncle’s judgment had never been wrong until now, with Korea Construction being the only exception.

Taking advantage of the rift between Tae-heun’s uncle and Chairman Han, the new chairman of Dongbang Construction, Shin Jeong-ho, squeezed his way in. It was Shin who helped Chairman Han during the difficulties of the IMF crisis, lending him a massive amount of money to ease his burden. Thanks to that, he became the de facto partner of Korea Construction.

Anyway, Chairman Han’s eldest son had three sons, and the youngest, Han Yoo-sung, was the drug addict grandson that Chairman Han favored the most. After Han Yoo-sung was born, Korea Construction supposedly soared. Han Yoo-sung had been immersed in drugs since he encountered them during his studies in the U.S. Even after returning to Korea three years ago, he couldn’t quit. Yet, Chairman Han favored the drug addict the most.

“That drug addict has been putting in effort with Lee Hyun-jun for almost a year.”

“Almost a year?”

Tae-heun raised his eyebrows.

“Yes. You know the members-only club that Lee Hyun-jun goes to? It seems he pretended to meet him by chance there and then provided him with drugs.”

“How did Lee Hyun-jun manage that? If he had stepped into the drug scene, we would have known.”

“That guy is clever. Thailand. The Philippines. Does that ring a bell?”

“Those are the places Lee Hyun-jun often goes to.”

“Yes. That’s right. We checked the immigration records, and it turns out that in the last six months, Han Yoo-sung and Lee Hyun-jun traveled back and forth to Thailand and the Philippines almost at the same time. It seems they met up there.”

Damn it. Tae-heun chuckled briefly.

The darkness was right under the lamp. Tae-heun and his uncle both knew that their son enjoyed entertainment there, but they never imagined he was doing such cute things.

Whether Lee Hyun-jun was using drugs or not, one thing was clear: he would go crazy for women. Was Han Yoo-sung any different? He had never seen a drug addict who only did drugs; regardless of age or gender, they would want to engage in all sorts of perverse acts under the pretext of drugs. In Korea, there were too many eyes watching, and the risks were high. But in the Philippines and Thailand, where perverts from all over the world gathered, no one would care what Han Yoo-sung did.

Lee Hyun-jun was quite something.

Tae-heun admired him.

“Chairman Han recently met with Lee Hyun-jun, introduced by Han Yoo-sung.”

“Are you saying he met him knowing he was the son of Lee Seok-du?”

“Yes. Lee Hyun-jun knelt before Chairman Han and apologized on behalf of his father. He said he was a different person from his father and asked him to trust him and give him another chance.”

Now it made sense. Why Lee Hyun-jun had been so arrogant. He had found a way to regain the valuable connections his uncle had ruined. It wasn’t for nothing that his uncle had turned a blind eye to Lee Hyun-jun embezzling over 3 billion won. It was obvious where that money had gone.

“It seems Chairman Han responded positively. Judging by the uproar from the new chairman of Dongbang, it must have been quite a scene. It was Shin who saved Korea Construction, and it was Dongbang that provided drugs to Han Yoo-sung. It’s a hard blow to the back of the head.”

Detective Oh smiled bitterly.

“Anyway, I really don’t understand these chaebols. If it were me, I wouldn’t associate with a friend who provides drugs to my grandson.”

He was speaking without knowing how much money and power corrupt people. They were a group of people who did all sorts of bizarre things without a second thought. Ordinary common sense would never comprehend them. Just because they received a high education in a wealthy environment didn’t mean they had a proper sense of ethics.

“So, is the scam that the chief of the Gyeonggi Provincial Police’s in-laws fell for going to be swept under the rug? It seems Chairman Han is involved too; at that level, it’s organized crime.”

“Ah, well….”

Detective Oh scratched his head.

“I truly apologize for that. The chief was making such a fuss that everyone was flustered….”

“Are you going to involve him too?”

“Oh no, not at all. To be honest, I did think about it, but it’s too urgent to include that case. The people we are trying to catch are not ordinary, and if we involve Chairman Han and his drug addict grandson, it will become a much bigger issue. If things go wrong, secrets could leak out. It’s not unreasonable for you to be worried.”

“Right. Of course, I should be worried.”

Tae-heun replied sarcastically.

Having risked his life to betray the organization at the word of the current chief, Tae-heun had been threatened and nearly abandoned. If he had trusted them without any preparation, it would have been like a bolt from the blue.

Did Detective Oh know what kind of mess they had created?

“Anyway, I apologize once again for upsetting you with that incident. Once everything is wrapped up, the old man will treat you to a big meal in Canada, so please take your revenge then.”

It was all in the past.

He couldn’t pretend it never happened, so he decided to keep it quiet.

The two tilted the last soju bottle.

With the promise to go up to the upper house together tomorrow to get some work done, the drinking session came to an end.

The rain stopped by dawn. The temperature quickly rose, making it muggy. Detective Oh went into the bedroom to get some sleep, leaving Tae-heun to sleep alone. If he had been with a man, he might have managed to get some sleep, but here, he couldn’t even think of sleeping. Instead, distracting thoughts troubled his mind.

Lee Seok-du and Lee Hyun-jun. And the new chairman of Dongbang, Shin Jeong-ho.

Shin was the one who had made a scouting offer even though he knew that Lee Seon-jae was Lee Seok-du’s adopted son. Unlike the seemingly dignified Lee Seok-du, he was openly a vulgar man. Despite holding the title of chairman, he had such a strong impression of being a gangster that he didn’t want to bow his head. However, Shin, who was used to others bowing to him, found even Lee Seon-jae’s attitude charming.

He was known in this field as a straightforward man with no grudges. He laughed heartily at Lee Seon-jae’s rejection and left him with the words, “You never know in life, so contact me if you need anything.” Along with a secret contact number.

Knowing that Lee Seon-jae could memorize numbers immediately, he burned the paper with the contact number in front of him.

“Are you telling me to become a traitor? That was his answer to Lee Seon-jae’s question.

He truly liked it. He was an honest man.

Shin Jeong-ho. The one who had reportedly gotten furious over Korea Construction might one day be of help to Tae-heun. Tae-heun mouthed the secret contact number that Shin had given him.

“What a remarkable number.”

He chuckled softly.

His thoughts about Shin ended there.

Tae-heun, who often thought about men, found himself thinking about a man again.

“I miss you.”

It was amusing to say such things about a man who was just a breath away.

“Damn it. That cop.”

He vented his frustration on Detective Oh, stretching his arms as if to embrace the man’s bare upper body, just like he had done when he held him close yesterday morning. He wrapped his arms around the air as if holding the man. He lifted his legs, this time binding the man’s lower body. Closing his eyes, he vividly felt the man’s smooth and firm body. Knowing it was crazy, Tae-heun tightened his arms and legs that embraced the air. He bound the imaginary man.

“You can’t escape from me. You said you liked me.”

He shook his lower body.