#89

Damn it. So many have come.

Feeling offended, Tae-heun looked down at the group of men who were a head shorter than him, and unexpectedly locked eyes with someone. It was Nam Ji-hoon. It was obvious he was part of the suit-wearing crowd inside the bar. Regardless of who was leading the development of the Silver Town in Namchon-ri, it was clear that gangsters were involved. This meant that the person who was a friend of the village chief in Namchon-ri was also a fraud.

Thinking that there would soon be wailing here as well, Tae-heun narrowed his eyes. The only relief was that the old drunkard didn’t seem to be in danger of being scammed by them.

Spit. He spat.

“Hello, hyung. It’s been a while. I’m Nam Ji-hoon, a friend of Yong-jun. Do you remember me?”

Nam Ji-hoon looked at Tae-heun, raising the corners of his mouth, but actually greeted the man instead.

The man turned to the source of the voice a moment later and nodded, saying, “Oh, I remember.” Nam Ji-hoon grabbed the man’s hands with both of his and flashed that unpleasant smile.

“I heard you’re meeting Yong-jun and Mu-jin on Wednesday?”

“Huh? Oh.”

“If another opportunity arises, please be sure to include me.”

“Sure. If there’s a chance, let’s meet.”

“Definitely. By the way, do you remember me? We met at the room salon in town last time.”

Nam Ji-hoon naturally extended his greetings to Tae-heun after the man.

“Nice to see you, running into you here.”

Tae-heun shook Nam Ji-hoon’s hand. The grip was quite strong. Nam Ji-hoon’s gaze lingered briefly on Tae-heun’s wristwatch before disappearing. This damn watch. He had worn it to impress the man, but the man didn’t even glance at it and only served as eye candy for the others.

“But what brings you here?”

When Nam Ji-hoon asked while looking at Tae-heun, the man answered instead, “I had some business with the elders of this village.”

“I have a personal favor to ask.”

He pretended to have come for someone he was meeting, not because of Tae-heun. Perhaps the man sensed that the atmosphere was unusual. It was uncertain.

“Now that I’ve taken care of my business, I was going to drop you off and head home. Take care.”

The man hurriedly said his goodbyes.

“Already? That’s a shame. Please be careful on your way back, hyung!”

“Yeah. Say hi to Yong-jun for me.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that kid. He’s doing well. Thanks to whom, I wonder.”

As he said this, Nam Ji-hoon looked at Tae-heun.

How reliable.

Even if they weren’t dating, they were probably close enough to share favors, so seeing the bruise on Kwon Yong-jun’s face wouldn’t have made him happy.

Nam Ji-hoon watched as the man and Tae-heun helped the old drunkard into the car. Soon after, he noticed a few other men with a similar vibe gathering around him. Nam Ji-hoon attempted to make a phone call to someone, leaving them behind. It felt uneasy, but he didn’t show it.

“Ji-hoon just got out not long ago. Hyung Dae-ho said it might be better to be cautious, so he gave me a heads-up…”

The man trailed off, explaining the earlier situation. He seemed to have sensed something, but it turned out he had received a prior contact from Officer Oh.

“Thank you. I was wondering how to explain since I’m not from here.”

Even if Officer Oh had given him a heads-up, the man who spoke up at that moment was genuinely appreciated. No matter how much Tae-heun lied, he had no excuse for this visit. Anyone could easily misunderstand that he had come to look at land.

The old drunkard in the back seat only told them the location of his house and then sprawled out, snoring. And as if he had a sixth sense, he got out of the car as soon as they arrived home. The two exchanged glances, laughing at how the old man had such a strong homing instinct.

Tae-heun took out a box of beer and soju from the trunk and placed it on the old man’s porch. Despite having heard the earlier conversation in the bar, the man frowned and said, “Why did you buy so much alcohol?”

“At least let’s have a drink of Sikhye before we go.”

Just as they were about to leave, the old man brought out a plastic bottle of Sikhye from an old refrigerator he had set up on one side of the porch, stopping the two.

“Since you’re guests in my house, I can’t just let you go.”

Tae-heun tried to refuse, but the man wasn’t the type to let it go.

He immediately sat down on the porch and accepted the Sikhye offered by the old drunkard. Then he gestured for Tae-heun to sit down. Although he desperately wanted to go to town, he chuckled, thinking that this was part of the man’s charm.

“Just the other day, I was shitting bricks taking care of those kids during the IMF crisis, and now they’re living well enough to act like this. Damn it!”

The old drunkard spat as he talked about the group he had seen at the bar earlier.

“But you said you’re from Dongjam-ri, right? How’s Chairman Kwon doing?”

The old drunkard, who had been cursing real estate agents, suddenly asked about Kwon Il-taek. It wasn’t because he knew the man; it was as if he was certain that anyone from Dongjam-ri would know Chairman Kwon.

“Yes. He’s doing well.”

“Oh dear, that man must have gone through a lot. His eldest son ruined two businesses, and he had to sell the land that had been in the family since his great-grandfather. It must have been tough for him. Tsk tsk. Do the creditors not come around anymore?”

Tae-heun was hearing this for the first time, and the man seemed to know the situation, saying, “Yes. It seems it’s almost settled.”

“Really? So the townspeople got their money back too?”

“Yes. It seems that’s almost all settled as well.”

“Oh, that’s good to hear.”

The old drunkard adjusted his sitting position.

“Chairman Kwon trusted me completely and invested everything from his seed money to pocket money, even the kids’ piggy banks, and then suddenly went bankrupt. How rotten must that feel? That guy, Choi, who wears the village chief’s hat, was just a lackey for Chairman Kwon, and then he slipped away? And then he got cleaned out because of his son. It’s all those kids’ fault. I fed them, clothed them, and educated them, but instead of being filial, they just eat their parents out. Tsk tsk.”

As the old drunkard talked about Chairman Kwon, he began to boast about his foresight in cutting ties with his own children. It was evident that he had been drinking since the early afternoon, and judging by his living conditions, it seemed like his children had been the ones to cut ties first.

Tae-heun was unexpectedly taken aback, learning about Kwon Il-taek and the entire village’s economic situation through the mouth of an old drunkard from Namchon-ri, not Dongjam-ri. At the same time, he felt he was beginning to understand why Choi Gi-cheol and the Eagle brothers were so desperate to sell their land. The village’s sentiment was particularly harsh, and it turned out it was all due to financial difficulties. In front of such people, he had been acting all high and mighty. Damn it. A sigh escaped him.

By the way, did the man also invest in Kwon Il-taek’s business? It seemed like a 100% certainty. If he was the type to sing praises of the chairman, he would have emptied out everything, even the kids’ piggy banks, as the old man said.

Had he received his investment back? He must have, or else he wouldn’t be so carefree. They say a rich person has enough to eat for three years even if they go bankrupt. Tae-heun recalled the faces of Kwon Il-taek and Jo Young-ae, who looked very relaxed.

After talking about children, the old drunkard, who had been passionately sharing stories of his youth, suddenly sprawled out on the porch, perhaps feeling the effects of the alcohol, and after chatting for about ten more minutes, he fell asleep. As they were about to leave him on the porch, the man insisted on moving the old man inside.

“Ki-beom, you’re quite a handful. What’s wrong with just leaving him here?”

Tae-heun grumbled as he helped the man. The man chuckled.

The two locked the door and left the old drunkard’s house side by side.

The man looked cheerful. He didn’t seem worried at all about the financial situation of Kwon Il-taek or the townspeople that he had just heard from the old drunkard. Perhaps the rumors the old man heard were exaggerated. After all, rumors tend to get blown out of proportion.

Still, he wanted to clarify.

“Ki-beom, can I ask you one thing? I know you’re tight-lipped, but just tell me this.”

While driving to town, Tae-heun pulled over for a moment and spoke to the man.

“About what the old man said earlier regarding the chairman, is it really all resolved?”

“Yes. It should be almost settled.”

The man answered immediately.

“Did you invest too?”

“…….”

Seeing the lack of response, it seemed he had indeed invested.

“Did you get your money back?”

“…….”

“Did you get it back?”

“No. Not yet.”

I knew it. Tae-heun frowned unconsciously. The man hurriedly continued.

“Instead, I received land in exchange.”

“Land?”

“Yes. The land we decided to farm starting next year.”

“So you received that land in lieu of your investment, right?”

“Yes. But it’s land that’s worth much more than the money I invested. After farming it for three years, it’s practically the same as getting my investment back with interest.”

The man claimed he hadn’t lost anything. In fact, he said it was a gain, and that Chairman Kwon was the one who had lost out. Although he didn’t quite believe it, the man seemed confident.

“Chairman Kwon doesn’t deceive me at all. So I hope you can trust me too, Tae-heun.”

The man said emphatically. Since he had said this much, it seemed pointless to ask more, and Tae-heun didn’t want to treat the man like a fool, so he nodded.

“Okay. I’ll do that.”

He smiled at the man and started the car.

But Tae-heun’s instincts were ringing alarm bells. He had seen, heard, and experienced enough throughout his life. The rumors the old drunkard had heard didn’t seem like exaggerations. It could be that the situation was even more serious.

Although the man said he received land instead of his investment, there had originally been an old man farming that land. If that old man hadn’t died, would the man have had this opportunity? Tae-heun was certain it wouldn’t have happened. Then he thought of the lease agreement that the man had supposedly signed with Kwon Il-taek. As the kid said, it was fertile land that everyone in the village had their eyes on. The children of the old man who had been farming that land had even gone so far as to file a lawsuit.

Was that land still owned by Kwon Il-taek? Was there a trap in the lease agreement? What if there was a hidden contract? Doubts began to spiral endlessly.