Changing the Target
I widened my eyes and looked back and forth between Myeongsuk and Minhwa. Minhwa was blinking those large eyes of hers in pure shock. The others stared at her as well, yet no one spoke. They were simply waiting for her story. Minhwa lifted a hand to her chin. Her fingertips trembled.
"Originally, when I moved into the villa I live in now, my father had planned for my mother to come with him. So he bought one unit. Then he suddenly decided he hated Seoul and changed his mind, and put the place on the market. Even after half a year it still wouldn't sell, so my father dropped the price well below market value and sold it."
The villa Minhwa lived in was such a high-end property that sales never came easily.
"He sold it through a real estate agent, and later I found out it was someone my husband knew. I'd only exchanged greetings with him once or twice, but not long ago I heard that man took his own life at home. The villa residents kept the rumor quiet so it wouldn't get out, but I heard about it through my husband."
Whoa… what was this? While I was still trying to untangle the mess in my head, Myeongsuk spoke.
"That's right. That man."
Did Myeongsuk already know? Had none of these connections been chance after all? Did that mean Myeongsuk had known everything from the start? And had she drawn Minhwa and Yeonsu into our order with some hidden purpose? I stared at her, incredulous. But she refused to meet my eyes.
"That man leaked the illegal information with truly good intentions. He simply couldn't stand by and watch while this enormous profit funneled into the operating funds of those black forces."
Minhwa stepped forward.
"Is my husband involved in this?"
I wanted to know that too. Wasn't he tangled up in every rotten scheme that came along? Myeongsuk wore an easy smile.
"We suspect him, but there's no direct connection. There are only traces of him linking Yeonsu and that civil servant."
Minhwa's face was pure disbelief.
"But why on earth…"
Myeongsuk shook her head as well.
"I don't know that precisely either. In any case, it's certain Minhwa's husband won't lift a single finger in this matter."
Minhwa still wore that look of shock and worry. Her mind seemed every bit as tangled as mine was right then. Myeongsuk's kindly expression vanished, and her eyes turned sharp once more.
"Anyway, Jo Byeongsu is someone who can resort to illegal violence. If we confront him head-on, since he enjoys the protection of powerful people, our order won't be safe either."
Confront him head-on? Did we even have the power for that? Whether Jo Byeongsu had backers or not, wasn't clashing with him by force itself impossible? Yongjin stepped in.
"First, the important thing is to redirect the arrow aimed at Gu Yeonsu toward something else."
"Something else?"
When I asked, Yongjin turned to me, pressed his lips into a hard line, and put on a solemn face. No. No way…
"That's right. First we take full transfer of that site from Gu Yeonsu."
Ugh… redirecting the gangsters' arrow toward us?
"We'll do it in the form of a donation to a religious organization… something like that. As long as we don't use the land for private purposes, there won't be any capital gains tax or acquisition tax or anything of the sort."
My voice rose a little.
"Taxes aren't the problem right now. Jo Byeongsu's next target will be us. It's not just about us—we already know that bastard's methods from everything we've discussed. He'll put pressure on our families."
Myeongsuk looked at me.
"Exactly. That's why we're trying to turn the arrow our way."
I stared at her.
"What… is this…"
Myeongsuk smiled.
"After that, our Jisin will take care of it."
Everyone looked at me.
"What is that supposed to mean…"
Myeongsuk didn't answer right away. Yongjin also smiled at the corners of his mouth as he watched me. The thought crossed my mind that these people might be planning to use me up and throw me away. I let the tension drain from my upright back and collapsed against the chair's backrest.
And so our meeting came to an end. Myeongsuk said she would reveal the purpose of each step as we took them, and Yongjin nodded. Minhwa looked a little shaken to learn that someone she knew was connected to Gu Yeonsu, but true to her nature she soon forgot and beamed again. The other women seemed to have little interest in the matter. Jeongmi in particular was showing her usual bright self. Surely that woman had known about this from the beginning and was playing some role, yet she was pretending otherwise…
Even as I moved to my quarters, my thoughts kept racing. The first thing that rose in my mind was my mother. If someone meant me harm, they would definitely reach for my mother first. I grabbed my coat and stepped outside. As I walked toward the river, Gwangsu followed two or three meters behind me. When I stopped, he stopped; when I walked, he followed. I decided I no longer needed to pay him any mind. He was simply doing his job, I told myself.
The reason I had come out alone was to make a phone call. I dialed my mother. It was late evening, so I wondered if her restaurant work was finished. She answered right away.
"You calling me first? That's something new."
Mother was that kind of person. I sometimes wondered whether she even possessed any warm love for her son. She was a single mother. I had asked about my father once. She told me she had been seeing several men at the time, so she had no idea which one was really mine. Honestly I thought that was not something a mother should say to her son, yet I was certain she knew the truth and simply did not want to tell it.
"Everything all right?"
I was not the affectionate type of son either.
"Everything's fine. You still going to school properly? Why'd you call? Need money?"
Yeah… every time I phoned my mother, it had always been because I needed money.
"No… nothing like that. Just checking in."
Mother laughed like a girl, a bright cackle. Thinking about it, she had given birth to me so young that she was around the same age as Myeongsuk now. After laughing for a long while she finally caught her breath and said,
"That's the funniest thing I've heard since the day you were born…"
I paused a moment, then spoke.
"Mom. I took a leave of absence."
The giggling voice cut off at once. A terrible silence stretched out. I heard her long sigh, then her lowered voice.
"Why? So what are you doing now?"
"I just… had a lot on my mind. Right now… I'm working part-time and stuff. Earning tuition while I figure out my future."
"I told you not to worry about tuition…"
A faintly scolding tone crept in, then she turned cold again almost at once.
"Fine. You've always managed on your own, so do what you want. Then I don't need to send this semester's tuition, right?"
"Not just this semester—don't send any more from now on. I found a good job, so I can cover all the tuition myself."
Silence again. Another heavy sigh.
"All right. I've got something in Seoul next month or the month after. Let's see each other then."
"What for?"
"Company training at headquarters. I'll be staying a few days. Planning to crash at your place."
I wanted to say something, but there was no way to compress this long story into a short one. While I hesitated, the call ended. My mother was a strong woman. Even as a single mother with a son, that fact had never been an obstacle in her life. She lived her life with her head held high. I had grown up watching that from early childhood, and I prided myself on having lived as an independent being from a young age.
It was not as if I could completely stop worrying, yet hearing her steady, unchanging voice eased me just a little. I turned and headed back inside. The women were scattered about looking at their phones or reading books; the contents of the meeting earlier seemed to have left them with neither worry nor shock. Still, I was their cult leader. I did not want to look like a small man fretting in front of them. So I made an effort not to show any more anxious or overthinking expressions.
In the days that followed, no one mentioned the matter again. Ordinary days passed, and there was no word from Gu Yeonsu either. Nothing in our daily life changed. Even the conversation we had shared in the meeting room that day gradually faded. That evening was the midweek gathering. Even though it was a weekday, people began arriving early. From my quarters I could already see many cars parked, and still more vehicles rolling into the compound.