Remodeling
Man, this is seriously uncomfortable.
Every time I moved, Scott scanned our surroundings. He was clearly trying to protect me, but it only made me feel more self-conscious. He might know how to fight, but he knew nothing about executive protection. I could say that with absolute confidence as a former ace of a private security firm.
Leaving the hospital room, I pulled out my phone and sent a message to Kevin, the drug dealer in the Philippines, through an encrypted messaging app.
My reason for buying drugs was simple: to take down Geumho-pa. To lure them out of their stronghold.
In Gunsan, Geumho-pa's home turf, Dae-hun stood no chance if he challenged them in their core businesses—distribution, construction, gambling, and loan sharking. On top of that, the local authorities seemed to be entirely in Geumho-pa's pocket. Continuing to charge head-on would be like throwing eggs at a stone wall. Therefore, we had to change either the game or the playing field.
A business Geumho-pa was interested in but had no experience with, and one that was independent of regional boundaries. That was drugs.
Fortunately, from my conversations with Dae-hun, it seemed Geumho-pa was highly interested in the drug trade. There were wiretapped recordings of them traveling back and forth between Hong Kong and the Philippines, preparing for something. That was 100% drugs. They wouldn't be smuggling rice cookers like in the old days.
Listening to the recordings, their frequent trips to the Philippines, Hong Kong, and China suggested they were trying to secure a supply, but they had clearly failed so far. If they had established a solid drug route, they would have focused on a single source. Because they couldn't secure one, they kept poking around in different places.
However, it wouldn't be easy for them.
Anyone can buy drugs, but not easily. Purchasing them in wholesale quantities like one kilogram at a time is exceptionally difficult. First of all, finding a supplier is hard enough. Even if you do, they don't just sell to anyone. Since a single mistake could expose their entire operation, suppliers are extremely cautious with new clients. How would they know if the buyer is an undercover detective or Interpol? They only sell when there is absolute trust.
Second, they must respect their existing distribution channels. For instance, if a supplier already has a distributor in Korea, selling to another distributor in the same region would violate basic business ethics. Even fried chicken franchises guarantee a minimum distance between stores. While you can't stop a competitor from opening next door, you won't see two stores of the same brand side-by-side. Drug dealers operate under the same principle. They might not care what other labs do, but they prefer to grant exclusive regional rights to their buyers. It is a baseline agreement of sorts, though it might vary slightly in massive metropolises.
In my case, I was able to contact Kevin easily thanks to La Fei, and our mutual trust had been forged over a long period of deliveries. No dealer would sell to someone who just showed up out of the blue asking to buy drugs. Kevin wanted to verify that context.
Wait, are drugs really this cheap?
Honestly, I had never bought drugs before. I had never used them either. I had only ever delivered them. I had heard that buying them locally was cheap, but I never imagined it would be this inexpensive. Seeing tiny paper bags sell for ten million won in Korea, I had assumed they were incredibly costly. I thought a kilogram would cost at least fifty to sixty million won, even at wholesale. At this rate, I could afford to buy a bit more. It wasn't like they would spoil.
I returned to Seoul. It had been a while, and I wanted to drop by the Seoul office. Of course, it was running perfectly fine without me, but I still wanted to see it. Although I rarely showed my face, I was still the CEO.
Stepping into the office after so long, it looked completely different from what I remembered. Back when I first leased it, I had worried it was too spacious, but now it felt cramped. Desks filled the room, and people packed the spaces between them. When they told me they were hiring, I had simply nodded, but it seemed they had brought on quite a few people. Then again, considering the sheer volume of work processed daily, it was definitely not a job for just one or two people.
The employees were all busy with their respective tasks—answering phones, writing documents, and holding meetings. I watched the scene quietly.
"Assistant Manager Kim. The team departing on the 14th. Have you confirmed all their departures?"
"Yes, everything is confirmed."
"Since you're an experienced hire, I'm not too worried, but remember, we are a luxury tour agency. It's different from standard tours. We have to provide meticulous care. If we get caught up in minor complaints, it gets difficult."
"Understood."
"Just keep one thing in mind. Our clients are eight years old."
"Pardon? Eight years old?"
"Our clients are eight years old. That means they might be fickle, complain about the side dishes, or get lost."
"Ah..." Assistant Manager Kim seemed to understand immediately.
"On the flip side, would you ever leave an eight-year-old unsupervised?"
"Of course not."
"Exactly. That's why we have to be incredibly attentive."
"Putting it that way makes perfect sense."
"Great. Let's do our best."
"Yes, ma'am!"
I stood there, dazed, watching their exchange.
"Oh my? Look who it is! Boss?"
Manager Jang Yun-mi greeted me warmly. Although we spoke on the phone several times a day and messaged constantly, seeing her in person felt different. It was good to see her.
"What brings you here? You didn't say you were coming."
"I had some business in Seoul, so I decided to drop by."
"Hmph, you never came no matter how much I asked you to visit. Are you here to meet a girlfriend or something?"
"I came to visit a friend in the hospital."
Manager Jang looked taken aback.
"Oh, what happened to your friend? Was it a serious injury?"
"No, he's fine now. He's recovering."
"That's a relief. Well, would you like to receive the business report first, or greet the staff?"
"No, before that, let's have a quick chat."
I led Manager Jang into the conference room.
"First of all, what I wanted to discuss is... I'm thinking of promoting you to CEO."
"Pardon?"
"Initially, I hired you as a manager because I planned to travel back and forth between the Philippines and Korea. But things have changed, and I believe our structure needs to reflect that."
"Still, this is a bit sudden..." Jang Yun-mi was genuinely flustered.
"Nothing really changes. Just keep doing the great job you've been doing. The only difference will be your title. Oh, and your salary."
"Boss!"
"You can do it, right?"
"Of course I can. And I'll do it brilliantly."
"Also, the office is looking a bit cramped..."
"I was planning to bring that up later, but yes, we will definitely need to expand soon."
"Do you have any places in mind? We can move there."
"Actually, the third floor of this building has been vacant for a while. I've thought about whether we could use that space."
"That sounds like a great idea. I'll go meet the landlord."
"I can handle that myself."
"Manager—or should I say CEO? You're far too busy, CEO. I should handle things like this. Just leave it to me."
"Hahaha."
When I called the landlord to ask about leasing the third floor, he was ecstatic. It made sense if the space had been vacant for a long time. When I asked to see the space, he rushed over immediately to show me around.
It was the same size as the second floor, but the atmosphere was completely different. Unlike the clean, wood-toned interior of the second floor, this place was bare, with exposed concrete. The contrast was stark.
I told the landlord we would take it. He quoted a monthly rent of 800,000 won with a 20 million won deposit. Since the second floor was 1 million won with a 20 million won deposit, it was a fair price. However, I renegotiated a combined lease for both the second and third floors. We settled on a 30 million won deposit and 1.7 million won in monthly rent.
Now, it was time for the interior design.
"Hello?"
"Is this Mr. Kang Jae-ho?"
"Yes, speaking. Who is this?"
"Hello. I'm the person who leased your old office in Yugang-dong and bought your furniture..."
"Ah! The person who took over our old office?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Right. What can I do for you? If you're calling to ask for a refund on the furniture, you know that's not possible, right?"
"Hahaha, no, nothing like that. I wanted to inquire about an interior design project."
"An interior design project?"
"You designed our current second-floor office, correct?"
"I did."
"I'd like to design the third floor with the exact same concept. Would that be possible?"
"Sigh... Let me think about it."
At the time, Kang Jae-ho's interior design firm had gone bankrupt, forcing him to give up design and work as a manual laborer on construction sites. Being asked to design again seemed to put him in a difficult position.
After pondering for a long moment, Kang Jae-ho spoke.
"So, I just need to design it with the same concept as the second floor?"
"Yes, that would be perfect."
"Alright, let's give it a shot."
I returned to the Philippines to pick up the product I had requested from Kevin.
"Boss, I found the person you asked for last time," Patrick reported.
"Who?"
"The person to build the online gambling site..."
"Ah, right. Where is he?"
"I set him up in a small office and told him to get started."
"Good job. I'll meet him in a bit."
...
"My name is Nam Yong-woo."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Alex. Are you Korean?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"How did you end up here?"
"It's a long story."
"Well, stories don't matter much. We can get to know each other over time. Can you build an online gambling site?"
"That's my specialty. That's actually why I came over here in the first place."
"How long will it take?"
"Since I already have the source code and everything, it should take about a week."
"Excellent. If you need anything, just let Patrick here know, and he'll take care of it. Build it well."
"Then, Boss, what should we set the odds to?"
"The odds?"
"The probability of the players winning. Basically, all online gambling sites manipulate the odds. Honestly, it's impossible for anyone to walk away with money from these sites. Real casinos actually offer much better odds. Even if someone gets lucky and wins, they won't be allowed to withdraw their money. Eventually, the operators shut down the site and reopen under a different name."
"Does everyone do that?"
"Every single one of them."
"In that case, raise the odds."
"Pardon? What did you say?"
"Make it so the players can actually win some money. Not too much, but enough to keep them on the site for a long time. Can you design it that way?"
"So you want them to keep winning small amounts to give them a sense of satisfaction, keeping them engaged on the site for as long as possible?"
"Exactly. Very few gamblers can just win and walk away. They sit there until every last penny in front of them is gone."
"Oh... That's true. In the end, they always get cleaned out. It's just a matter of how long it takes."
"Precisely. So design it so people stay engaged. Make them feel like the losses are their own fault, not the site's. Make them feel like they just didn't have enough capital to hit the jackpot."
"I've been in this industry for a long time, but I've never met a boss like you. But are you sure about this? You might not make as much money as you think."
"We can just scale up the volume. The transaction fees alone should cover our operating costs, right? Let's minimize the illegal elements as much as possible. Don't just target Koreans; let's think globally."
"A global gambling site... Suddenly, I'm feeling incredibly motivated."
"I'm counting on you."
"I'll build you an absolutely mind-blowing site."
...
Returning to Gunsan, I showed the online gambling site to Dae-hun. The flashy, beautifully designed gambling site flickered on the screen.
"Are you really giving this to us?"
"Who said I'm giving it to you? It's a managed partnership."
"Still, this is incredible."
"This is just the beginning. We need to market it. People won't just flock to the site on their own."
"We should start by installing it in PC bangs so people can access it naturally."
"This site is 100% legitimate, with no rigged mechanics. And withdrawals are guaranteed."
"Seriously?"
"We're playing the long game here. So do a good job."
"I won't let you down. I'll do an amazing job."
"Here's the contact info for the developer. If any issues pop up on the site, contact him to get it sorted."
I handed over the beautifully crafted gambling site to Dae-hun. Now, it was time to go sell the product to Chairman Yoon Gi-hwan of Geumho-pa.