CTL 44

“…”

“About the person who killed the casino manager, I’m not certain, but don’t you think it’s likely the leader of the lounge bar?”

“Why do you think that.”

To the question asked as if he didn’t already know, Secretary Lim furrowed his brow and became lost in thought. Watching him, Yoongeon, who was smoking a cigarette, thought that this guy certainly had a good head on his shoulders. He had never explained in detail what had happened at the lounge bar, but it seemed he had skillfully obtained the information.

“If he decided to abandon Ko Yoonchul… getting rid of anything that could get the members arrested because of him would be the priority.”

“That would make sense.”

“They laundered money at the casino, and with that money, they would have purchased drugs at the lounge bar… so you can’t say they’re completely unrelated. If the police decide to dig into it, that matter will be exposed as well.”

“Hoo…”

He nodded and tapped the ash off his cigarette once.

“Yes, I think so too. However, I am also thinking that it’s not a very good idea for him to make an enemy of us, the largest business in the Shinhyun Group.”

It meant that turning Ko Yoonchul into an enemy was a risk for Park Taesoo as well. Ko Yoonchul himself was nothing special, but were the people backing him just ordinary people? However, Secretary Lim shook his head.

“He’s probably already judged you as an enemy. Since the Executive Director went and stirred things up several times.”

“Hmm.”

“You brought this on yourself, Executive Director.”

“Well, I suppose so.”

If Yoongeon had approached in a more moderate way, or had acted favorably toward Park Taesoo, something like this might not have happened.

“Making an enemy of the Chief of Staff’s son is dangerous, Executive Director. How about going to him now and asking for a reconciliation? You have to think about the future.”

“Well, we will end up reconciling with each other.”

The current cold war wouldn’t last long. That is, if Yebin becomes the chairman of Shinhyun Motors. Then, they would be able to reconcile. Because for Park Taesoo, as long as Yoongeon disappeared, there would be no need to be wary.

“Still, for now, there’s a need to prune some unnecessary branches.”

“Unnecessary branches?”

“I need to break his overly insolent spirit a bit.”

It was only natural for his spirit to be formidable since his father was the president’s Chief of Staff, but still, to handle him easily, it was necessary to drain some of his power. For the son of a public official, even a small flaw could be a great threat, so there was no need to take a step back by seeking reconciliation right now.

“How will you…”

—Rrrrr.

It was just as Secretary Lim was about to ask again, not understanding Yoongeon’s inner thoughts. His phone rang, and when he took it out, an unfamiliar number was displayed.

“Yes.”

[Little brother—]

He had secretly hoped it might be a call from Seohwi. Feeling inexplicably annoyed, he answered the phone coldly, and heard a voice call him affectionately.

“…”

[Geon, Yoongeon! Can’t you hear me?]

“…Ha.”

It was Park Taesoo.

[It’s me, Taesoo, Park Taesoo. You remember your hyung’s voice, right?]

Yoongeon exchanged a glance with Secretary Lim at that moment.

“What.”

[Do an errand for hyung just once. I’m asking you, okay?]

Yoongeon’s face hardened icily at the sound of Park Taesoo’s voice, who dared to mention something like an errand to him.

“An errand?”

[Yeah, my secretary, I sent him out for an external schedule right now. I don’t have anyone to run an errand for me. What, you don’t want to do it?]

“…”

[Right, asking a kid who grew up pampered to run an errand. Was hyung a bit harsh? Haha… Then if not you, you have that slave of yours, don’t you? Lim Seonwoong.]

Secretary Lim, who was listening to the call nearby, rolled his eyes, then quickly took out his phone, wrote a text, and showed it to him.

「Let’s at least heaR what it is」

“…What is it.”

If he followed his temper, he wanted to storm in right now and break his neck, but Yoongeon decided to listen to Secretary Lim for the time being. To his question of what it was, he spoke in a rather troubled voice.

[Uhh, what was it, I, uh, left my cigars at home. There’s no one to bring them to me. I don’t smoke any other cigars, and I’m having fucking withdrawal symptoms right now. Seriously, hyung, please save me, okay?]

It was a ridiculous reason. Wasn’t this openly telling him to act as an errand boy?

“Hmm… Sure, why not.”

However, Yoongeon pondered for a moment before answering nonchalantly.

[…Really?]

At the quick reply, it was Park Taesoo who seemed surprised and hesitated to answer.

“Is there any reason I can’t? It’s not a difficult favor.”

[…]

“Wait. I’m on my way.”

Yoongeon spoke sweetly and then hung up the phone. Then he threw away the burnt-out cigarette and headed for the parking garage. Contrary to his gentle tone, his face was a veritable winter storm. Anyone could see he was so pissed off he looked like he could kill a man at any moment.

“Go to that bastard’s house and get the cigars. Since he asked for them, we have to bring them.”

“Yes, Executive Director.”

As he got into the back seat of the car, Secretary Lim replied while starting the engine. Park Taesoo hadn’t told them where his house was, but the car found its way without any trouble. Fortunately, the house wasn’t far from the hospital, so they arrived quickly.

“I will be right back with them.”

After Secretary Lim got out of the car, saying he would go get the cigars, Yoongeon looked out the window and then suddenly picked up his phone to check the time.

“…It’s the middle of the workday.”

It wasn’t as if they had been in frequent contact, but Yoongeon found himself just staring at the chat window. His face was slightly red as he looked at the few messages there.

Yoon Seohwi: Because it seemed like you were worried

Seohwi’s voice was layered over the short message he had sent. Imagining his voice worrying about him made him feel strange for no reason. He tried to calm his heart, but it wasn’t easy.

Then again, thinking about it, it had always been like that. Suppressing his feelings for Seohwi had never once been easy. Yoongeon’s heart fluttered at words he uttered without much thought, and hadn’t Yoongeon spent all day assigning meaning to his unintentional actions, lost in thought?

“…Haa.”

Thinking about it, it truly was… a pathetic thing to do. He was so consistently servile, then and now, that it was enough to make him let out a hollow laugh.

“Executive Director, I’ve got them. I will start driving now.”

But fortunately, the thought didn’t last long. Thanks to Secretary Lim’s timely return, he was just barely able to break away from his reverie.

“When I said I was here for the cigars, they gave them to me very naturally. It seems like this has happened more than once or twice. But, hmm…”

Secretary Lim furrowed his brow slightly as he spoke while merging onto the road.

“She said, ‘Vice President Ko Yoonchul hasn’t been coming, has he?’. The housekeeper at that house.”

“…Ha.”

“I was really surprised. It seems Vice President Ko Yoonchul ran errands for him often.”

So he’d acted like this.

Separate from his own dislike of Ko Yoonchul and Chairman Go, seeing others treat those who shared his surname carelessly made his anger surge. Not only that, he was also angry at Ko Yoonchul for meekly running errands when told. You have the surname Ko, yet you do things with no pride, no dignity?

He suppressed his seething anger. Though he knew he had to endure it for now, the rage that threatened to erupt didn’t easily subside. He found a ballpoint pen in the console box, clipped it to his upper pocket, and then took out and swallowed a headache pill that was next to it. The anger had brought on a headache without any warning.

A short while later, Yoongeon arrived at a small office. He fiddled with the pen clipped to his upper pocket and looked at the building’s exterior, which was even more shabby than he’d expected, before stepping inside. He shook his head at Secretary Lim’s question of whether he was going with him and moved alone. The building where his office was located didn’t even have a common elevator.

“He’s putting on a show of being poor.”

Park Taesoo, the son of a public official, harbored political ambitions. Planning to officially prepare his run for office after the current administration changed, he filled his visible surroundings with shabby things to project an image of being upright, incorruptible, and down-to-earth. For someone doing all that, he had bought the entire building and was using it all by himself, though.

Yoongeon climbed the stairs and stopped on the 4th floor. The office door, standing alone without even a common sign, was firmly shut, but the faint moans coming from inside clearly indicated someone was there. Yoongeon opened the door without hesitation and went inside. The person gasping in Park Taesoo’s arms was startled and curled up.

“Eung, haah… Wh-who? Park Taesoo, wh-who is it?”

The person, so surprised he couldn’t even properly stifle his moans, was Jang Joonghyun, who had once climbed on top of Yoongeon and rocked his hips.

“Ha, shit… you’re so fucking tight…. You’re here?”

“Crazy, fuck, hey, ah, ahh…!”

Park Taesoo greeted him nonchalantly but didn’t stop his thrusts. Jang Joonghyun, who was just being taken while held in his arms, suddenly flinched and trembled. While reaching climax, clutching Park Taesoo tightly, he muttered quietly, “Bastard.”

“Haa… haa… Shit. So fucking good…”

Perhaps because Jang Joonghyun had climaxed, causing him to ejaculate as well, Park Taesoo panted.

“Hmm…”

And Yoongeon, who had been watching that whole charade with his arms crossed, spoke with a very intrigued expression.

“You can actually feel something with that little thing in you?”

“…”

“That’s amazing…”

No matter how Yoongeon thought about it, what Park Taesoo had seemed too small to satisfy anyone, but seeing him thrusting that little thing in and saying it felt good, it seemed that wasn’t the case.

“Fuck, what did you just say?”

“G-Ko Yoongeon…?”

“That’s right. Joonghyun, long time no see. Have you been well?”

Park Taesoo glared at him, flaring up, but Yoongeon just walked over to Jang Joonghyun, stroked his hair, and greeted him gently.

“You still like getting fucked.”

“…”

“If you want it even now, just say the word. I told you I could give you this, didn’t I?”

At his words, accompanied by a light pat on the cheek, Jang Joonghyun’s face turned deathly pale.

“I’m serious. I’ll make you lose your mind with pleasure.”

“…”

“I’m good, Joonghyun.”

Jang Joonghyun couldn’t answer Yoongeon’s words and just trembled.

“Should I do it for you now?”

“N-no, no… Ugh!”

It was when he tried to shake his head. Yoongeon forcefully gripped Jang Joonghyun’s chin, holding it in place, and stared intently into his eyes as he spoke.

“If I see a stomach-turning scene like this one more time, from then on, you’re playing with me. Did you say you’d take two last time? Don’t worry, I’ll make it so the thought of taking two never even crosses your mind for the rest of your life.”

“I-I’m sorry. I, I, I didn’t know anything. Really!”

Though his words were delivered like a joke, Jang Joonghyun, knowing it wasn’t, clasped his hands together and begged. He was streaming tears, unable to overcome his fear, but even at his pitiful appearance, Yoongeon just looked down at him with emotionless eyes.

“This is the last time. There won’t be a next time.”

“Agh…!”

Yoongeon grabbed him by the neck, lifted him up, and then carelessly tossed him aside. Jang Joonghyun, unable to even say that it hurt, hastily gathered the clothes that had fallen on the floor, put them on, and fled outside.

“Wow. What’s with your personality, seriously…”

Park Taesoo, who had been unable to say anything and was just adjusting his pants, finally spoke with a disbelieving laugh now that the situation was over.

“What could he have known. Can’t you tell just by looking?”

He was saying he had done it all himself. Yoongeon looked from the closed door back to him.

“That’s why he’s not dead, Taesoo.”

“…”

To think that a guy who still couldn’t grasp the situation like this could run amok. The world these days was indeed excessively soft and sloppy.

“You said you wanted to smoke a cigar.”

“What? …Gag!”

Yoongeon took a cigar from his pocket and shoved it into the mouth of Park Taesoo, who still hadn’t grasped the situation. Watching him retch loudly because of the cigar suddenly stuck in his throat, Yoongeon grabbed him by the throat, saying he couldn’t even handle this one simple thing, and pulled the cigar back out.

“Gag, cough…! Ugh!”

“Taesoo, you said you enjoy smoking these. Why can’t you smoke it even when I give it to you. Do I have to light it for you too?”

As he spoke calmly and tried to shove the cigar back down his throat, the restrained Park Taesoo freaked out and twisted his body. Yoongeon snorted and turned his face this way and that as he spoke.

“Usually, when you get put down once, you don’t come crawling back. It’s really strange.”

Look at Joonghyun, Yoongeon said.

“Sh-shit, stop it, I said stop!”

“Are you doing this because you think I can’t kill you in the end?”

That must be why he keeps challenging him. He keeps trying to provoke him because he thinks he has some pathetic power.

If Park Taesoo had known Yoongeon’s true nature, he wouldn’t have acted so recklessly. He would have watched himself and kept his distance. But because Yoongeon had also compromised and let go of many things to fit into the changed world, he still couldn’t grasp the situation. Though it was also because he himself was dense.

“If you know, then let go. Do you think you’ll be safe after doing this?”

“Aah… I’m so scared. I guess I’ll have to let go.”

Yoongeon let him go with a push, his expression unchanging, and then moved in close. Because of this, Yoongeon appeared extremely domineering.

“I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

“…”

“Let it go just this once. I won’t do it again, hyung.”

His mouth was apologizing, but his attitude was not.

“Hyung, what’s wrong. I said I was sorry. Your younger brother is apologizing, and you won’t even accept that? That’s hurtful.”

“Seriously, fuck, stop flapping your gums when you’re not even apologizing, you son of a bitch.”

Unable to bear the pressure, Park Taesoo shot to his feet, grabbed a document that was lying shabbily crumpled on the desk, and threw it at Yoongeon. Yoongeon, with a face that showed no pain at all, feigned injury with an “Ouch,” then picked up the document that had fallen on the floor and examined it. With one hand in his pocket, sitting askew, he looked it over. It was a report on the candidates for semiconductor tariff exemptions in the United States.

“Take a good look at that.”

Park Taesoo said, sneering at him.

“The U.S. side said they’ll only include three places. Do you know what that means? It means everyone is desperate to get one of those spots.”

“Hmm…”

Park Taesoo spoke triumphantly to Yoongeon, who was examining the report.

“The VIP is a bit gullible, and the person closest to him is my dad.”

“…”

“If I just say one word to exclude Shinhyun, my dad will definitely do as I say, and you guys are finished. You’ll plummet immediately.”

Would it really happen like that? Was this guy naive or just stupid?

Yoongeon clicked his tongue inwardly.

No matter how gullible the president was, there was a limit, and no matter how much he loved his child, the Chief of Staff didn’t get to that position for nothing. If Shinhyun were to be excluded from this list and go bankrupt as Park Taesoo said, the subcontractors under them would go bankrupt in a chain reaction. Would he really do that? Park Taesoo was overestimating his own value too much.

“I called you here to give you a chance. You know?”

“Aha…”

He sighed at Park Taesoo’s stupidity and sat perched casually on the desk.

“What are the terms?”

Whether he was angered by Yoongeon’s nonchalant reaction, Park Taesoo glared at him as if to kill him, but not for long. Having called Yoongeon all the way here despite knowing the risk, there must have been a good reason.

“That bastard Ko Yoonchul, he seems to know a lot, and it’s making me really uneasy.”

“…”

“Get him out of my sight. That’s all.”

He said that he was planning to run for office soon and didn’t want to leave a single small blemish. If he didn’t want to leave one, he should have behaved himself in the first place. Yoongeon didn’t like him bothering innocent people now, but he didn’t let it show and nodded.

“Are you telling me to kill him?”

“That’s right.”

“…”

“An addiction treatment center? Don’t make me laugh. You can never quit that for life. Once you step in, it’s over.”

He smirked even with a look of pity on his face.

“Yoonchul doesn’t want to go in, right? Let’s just make it easy for him.”

Seeing him talk about killing Ko Yoonchul and what not, it seemed Park Taesoo was not the one helping him right now.

Yoongeon sighed. Now the only one left was Go Taejeong, but no matter how he thought about it, it didn’t make sense for him, who had distanced himself from Ko Yoonchul all this time, to suddenly step up and help. Besides, he didn’t like Park Taesoo treating him like an attack dog as if it were a matter of course. How dare he try to use him like that? His insolence was beyond words.

The damn tariff exemption that Park Taesoo was holding and shaking had no power over Yoongeon. His side had already received an invitation to the White House. He had expected this since it was being kept confidential, but it was clear that the Korean government was reluctant to get deeply involved. It was probably because they knew about the oppressive system in Korea that those at the top were trying to designate.

The U.S. government, which wanted to form an alliance with large corporations in countries like South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan to block the indiscriminate expansion of Chinese companies that had recently been growing at a frightening pace and becoming a threat, would not be pleased with the Korean government trying to designate and put forward companies according to their own tastes. That’s why they were still unable to grasp the situation and were belatedly engaging in the futile act of trying to include or exclude companies among themselves.

Yoongeon’s business trip schedule was already set, and even if the government were to say they would exclude Shinhyun, they would meet again at the White House dinner. Of course, from Shinhyun Motors’ perspective, it was good for the future to appear as if they were receiving as much government assistance as possible. There was nothing to be gained from making an enemy of the government.