You're Late
The car parked in the shooting range lot pulled away the moment Kang In-hyuk climbed inside.
“Where to? Seoul?”
“No. Take a detour and use the road that gets us closest to the mountain west of the shooting range.”
As he answered, In-hyuk turned his gaze toward the mountain that encircled the range. Hong Yu-geon watched him through the rearview mirror and tilted his head.
“What’s over there?”
“A surveillance team. Or maybe… a sniper team.”
“You’re saying someone was watching us? How did the president know that? Now that I think about it, you found our hiding spot at the orphanage almost instantly too, didn’t you?”
The questions multiplied. On top of that, Hong Yu-geon had witnessed In-hyuk’s unexpected side only a few days earlier during the UID safe-house raid. Yet he still couldn’t get a clear read on the man’s true nature.
“I’m just a little sensitive, that’s all.”
“Seriously? You’re brushing it off with that lame excuse?”
“Drop it and drive.”
“You’re going yourself?”
“Why? Want to do it for me?”
In-hyuk was gradually sharing fragments of his hidden world with them, but many critical details remained off-limits. Unless the situation absolutely demanded it, giving precise orders was still difficult.
“The president refuses to use his own people and insists on handling everything personally.”
Of course, the real reason was that, in terms of skill, there was currently no one he could trust except himself.
Hong Yu-geon drove in the direction In-hyuk had indicated. Before long he turned onto an unpaved mountain path, continued a short distance, and stopped.
“You sure you’ll be all right?”
Even though In-hyuk had volunteered, Hong Yu-geon couldn’t help worrying.
Rustle— Rustle—
“When I find them, what do you want me to do? Just grab the comms and storage devices like we did at the last safe house?”
Rustle— Rustle—
“No. Do not engage under any circumstances. Take photos and bring them back. If you can identify them, even better.”
Rustle— Rustle—
“That’s easy enough. But what the hell have you been munching on by yourself this whole time?”
The noisy rustling of a paper bag had been coming from the passenger seat for a while now. Its owner was Van Hester, sitting right there.
Hong Yu-geon shot a sharp look at the bag in the man’s hand. Van Hester kept lifting chocolate-colored popcorn to his mouth. Then he silently offered the bag forward.
“Quieres?”
“Isn’t that stuff super sweet?”
“Not really.”
“You should’ve offered sooner!”
Apparently annoyed at being left out, Hong Yu-geon snatched a handful of popcorn and stepped out of the car.
In-hyuk, feeling a sudden wave of unease, asked cautiously.
“Van… where did you get that?”
“Mi-ah gave it to me.”
“…Ah.”
In-hyuk quickly turned to look out the window. By then Hong Yu-geon had already shoved the chocolate-colored popcorn into his mouth and immediately spat it back out.
“You’re late.”
Hong Yu-geon realized who had made the popcorn and whipped his head around to glare at Van Hester. He had tasted something with a similar flavor not long ago.
Instead of returning to the car, however, he continued down the path on foot.
While the other two watched him go, Van Hester kept eating popcorn and asked, “You mentioned you picked something up at the safe house. What are you trying to find out?”
He had heard the story from Hong Yu-geon.
In-hyuk had no intention of hiding it. “Their backers. But we came up empty.”
Just as he said, the information devices and communication equipment taken from the safe house had yielded nothing significant. Like the phones they had seized from Pyo Jun-woo’s crew before, they contained only surveillance logs on certain individuals.
It meant their opponent was meticulously concealing their own existence.
The same went for Baek Ji-woong, whom In-hyuk suspected was behind Baek Si-hwan. He still couldn’t understand what the WISE&WIRE Group lacked that would drive them to mobilize people willing to commit murder.
“Whoever they are, they’re thorough.”
“I agree.”
“You could lose your life… Are you really okay with that?”
“We’ve already drawn our guns. Now it’s just a question of who pulls the trigger first.”
“That bad, huh?”
Silence returned. In the awkward quiet, Van Hester subtly offered the popcorn bag again, as if asking whether In-hyuk wanted to try some. In-hyuk shook his head vigorously.
Soon afterward, photos arrived on In-hyuk’s phone, and Hong Yu-geon returned.
He climbed into the passenger seat and twisted around to look at the back.
“See them? Two guys. Recognize anyone?”
In-hyuk’s eyes were locked on the images displayed on the screen.
“They’re bodyguards working under Lee Jae-jun, who assists Tae Seok-ho.”
“If they’re with that faction, doesn’t that mean they belong to TSS? Then they should be following Chairman Tae Geon-seung’s orders. Don’t tell me the factions have already split even there?”
Hong Yu-geon had a decent grasp of the current situation inside Tae Shin Group.
“It split a long time ago. No matter how powerful Chairman Tae Geon-seung is, even he can’t completely stop his sons from making moves. The people below had to pick sides early to secure their futures.”
“Damn, it really is brutal. Anyway, they were using a VFS9300 model parabolic antenna and a condenser microphone to eavesdrop. They probably caught every word of the conversation between the president and the chairman at the range.”
It wasn’t an ordinary bugging device; this equipment was designed for long-range outdoor surveillance.
“They’re using some pretty high-end gear. Anything else?”
“Nothing else within visible range.”
“Understood. Let’s head back to Seoul. Carry out the rest of the schedule as planned.”
Having finished their business, they turned the car toward Seoul.
Chairman Kang Chun-gyu’s residence in Hanam, Gyeonggi Province.
A luxury sports car pulled into the gravel parking lot. The man who stepped out was Kang Chun-gyu’s only son and the heir to KQ Group—Kang Do-young.
His face, however, was twisted with displeasure. With a heavy stride, he brushed past the bodyguards and stormed inside.
In the living-room sofa sat Kang Chun-gyu, chairman of KQ Group.
“You’re here.”
“…Father.”
Kang Do-young stood awkwardly between the entrance and the living room. Kang Chun-gyu, his expression deeply uncomfortable, spoke slowly.
“You begged me to let you push the entertainment business with such ambition. What the hell is this mess?”
He had been summoned because of the scandal that had exploded at Lifestar Entertainment.
Of course Kang Do-young knew why. Still, convinced he could somehow talk his way out of it, he tried not to look cowed.
“It was unavoidable. How was I supposed to know the Ignis members had been hiding it before they even joined our side?”
At those words, Kang Chun-gyu’s brow twitched.
“You didn’t know?”
“It’s the truth! You’re not seriously going to trust reporters over your own son, are you?”
The media was currently tearing into Lifestar Entertainment, the KQ Group subsidiary. The main focus was the claim that its representative, Kang Do-young, had concealed the illegal drug use within the male idol group Ignis.
“In that industry they say there’s no smoke without fire, but this case is different, isn’t it? Besides, I have eyes and ears of my own!”
“Father!”
Just then the front door opened and Jeon Hae-in—Kang Chun-gyu’s wife and Kang Do-young’s biological mother—rushed in.
“Honey! Do-young!”
She had heard the shouting from outside.
Kang Chun-gyu’s frown deepened at the sight of her.
“Stay out of this.”
“Why are you being like this? Everyone makes mistakes at work! How much are you going to punish the boy over one error!?”
“Mistake? Do you even know how much money this kid has blown on this incident before you open your mouth?”
The funds poured into acquiring and merging twelve entertainment companies and building Lifestar Entertainment’s foundation had exceeded fifty billion won.
Of course, the sudden surge in popularity of Ignis and several other affiliated celebrities had briefly offered hope, but the illegal drug allegations had shattered everything overnight.
“It’s not like we’ll die without that money!”
Jeon Hae-in fought desperately to shield her son.
Kang Chun-gyu let out a long sigh and addressed Kang Do-young, who was hiding behind her.
“Enough. Starting tomorrow, you will resign from every position at headquarters and Lifestar and report to KQ Fabric.”
KQ Fabric was a subsidiary of KQ Department Store, itself an affiliate of KQ Distribution.
“Father…!”
“Go to KQ Fabric and take charge of the project currently underway. Succeed and I’ll promote you again. Fail, and don’t even think about coming back up.”
Kang Do-young, who had been about to turn back to his mother, quickly thought of an excuse.
“This isn’t entirely my fault! Over at Tae Shin Asset Management, that Kang In-…”
“Be quiet.”
Jeon Hae-in cut him off, as if she had anticipated whose name would surface. She also couldn’t allow her only son to be demoted to a mere subsidiary, so she stepped forward again. Once Kang Do-young had fallen silent, she continued.
“Are you really going through with this? What exactly are you telling Do-young to do there!”
“I already told you—make the project a success.”
“Even so, how important can work at a subsidiary possibly be? If that’s how it is, just send him to retail or shopping instead… No, the department store is where I have my own people…”
“And do what? Bury any problems that arise from below, just like you did at headquarters and Lifestar?”
“But…”
“Shut your mouth! If Do-young won’t do exactly as I say, he can quit everything!”
Kang Chun-gyu’s unyielding shout left Jeon Hae-in biting her lip. Without resolving the Lifestar Entertainment disaster, there was no way to overturn Kang Do-young’s demotion.
Yet fixing a situation in which roughly fifty billion won had been thrown away was impossible in the short term.
“Calm down first.”
“Calm down and then what? Will anything change?”
“You have to consider Do-young’s position. If he’s sent to a subsidiary instead of an affiliate, what will the people below think? What about the executives and shareholders?”
Jeon Hae-in was worried about the position her son would inherit when he eventually took over KQ Group.
“I never should have placed him at the top from the beginning. Let him learn the fundamentals again from the ground up.”
The arrogant expression that usually dominated Kang Do-young’s face had vanished long ago. He was now too busy worrying about his fall to a subsidiary to speak.
After carefully reading the worsening atmosphere, he finally made his decision.
“If I perform well at KQ Fabric, you’ll really promote me again?”
He knew his father would not change his mind no matter what he said.
“Yes.”
“…Understood. I’ll go to Fabric. But please let Secretary An come with me.”
Kang Chun-gyu’s brow, which had begun to relax, crumpled again.
“Didn’t I bring that fellow back specifically for this entertainment project? Now that it’s gone south, he should return without complaint. Yet you want to take him with you?”
“I don’t know the situation there, and I haven’t grasped the Fabric workload yet. I need at least one person who can help me, don’t I?”
“And if you take him, can you actually do the job properly?”
The atmosphere grew even heavier.
Kang Do-young kept his head lowered, his mind racing.
“I’m going to Fabric exactly as Father ordered. So please understand my position as well.”
“Hah… I’ll consider it. Go on out. Director Noh will explain the Fabric matters on your way.”
…
Kang Do-young’s footsteps headed outside.
Jeon Hae-in, who had been watching, raised her voice with a deeply furrowed face.
“You’re really going to treat Do-young like this? He’s your only son!”
“…It’s because you act this way that the bastard turned out like this!”
“Wh-what?”
“If you don’t want to destroy KQ, stay quiet. If you interfere and give any more useless help, there won’t be a single thing left for Do-young!”
Having finished speaking, Kang Chun-gyu rose and walked out to the garden. The sun had already set; only the streetlights beyond the wall illuminated the mansion.
He watched with an unreadable expression as Jeon Hae-in followed him out without a word and headed straight for her car.