Abyss (2)
Abyss (2)
A large conference room of a major corporation.
Because the company was on the verge of going under, the atmosphere was dark and most of the lights were turned off.
The conference room mirrored that, and the expressions of the people sitting there—who looked to be executives and employees—were equally grim.
They weren't just dark; they looked vaguely anxious, too.
"Department Head, is this really going to work?"
"I told you it's fine~ People always spin things in their favor~"
At the department head's reassurance, the manager, anxious and sweating, just stared at his phone.
They'd said they would contact him by the end of the day, so he was endlessly waiting for a call that could come at any moment.
The two of them, along with the managing director, had just pulled off an unprecedented Triple Axel of tax evasion, embezzlement, and accounting manipulation by cooking the books.
And with an audit set for six months out, they had to clean up the mess somehow without getting caught.
For that, pinning it on someone would probably be best.
Ideally, they'd use an employee who knew the company inside and out,
but because of the recent management collapse, all the employees who knew the company inside and out had already jumped ship.
So the trick they came up with was to create an employee who knew the company inside and out.
They'd hire someone new and frame him as the culprit behind the tax evasion, embezzlement, and accounting manipulation.
But to do that, they needed a new hire.
What kind of idiot would apply to join a company that was about to be delisted?
And on top of that, to commit things like embezzlement the person would need to be in a key position, so they'd need someone with a proven level of ability.
The more they thought, the deeper they sank into a swamp where finding the right person became harder and harder.
"What'll happen to that friend?"
"The prosecution's seeking seven years... he'll probably get about five years inside, don't you think?"
Since they'd embezzled over five billion, they were roughly guessing what their own sentences might be.
"Once we pin it on him this time, we're fleeing overseas."
"Hoo... Paraguay..."
The manager was worried because he couldn't speak any language besides Korean and English.
Paraguay uses Spanish and Guarani as its official languages.
"Manager Kim might not know this, but do you have any idea what the cost of living is like there? It's one-tenth of Korea's. You can live like an emperor."
Their goal was to flee to Paraguay, which has no extradition treaty.
They knew full well that no matter how well they managed to pin it on someone else, they could still be put on the chopping block again at any time.
To that end, they'd already disposed of all their real estate and personal property—their house, their cars.
And through a broker, they'd prepared bundles of hundred-dollar bills.
"Still, we can only go if that gets sorted, Manager."
"Oh, come on. I told you not to worry. Even if this one doesn't work out, we've sown plenty of seeds, so relax."
The department head smirked and added, 'Manager Kim is great, but worrying too much is his flaw.'
The manager didn't even pretend to hear it and just stared at his phone.
*
Some time passed.
The manager had set his phone on the table and gone over to the coffee pot to get some coffee.
By a twist of fate, even though he'd been clinging to it for ages, no call came—
but as soon as he put the phone down to get coffee, a call finally came through.
"......! Manager Kim!"
Jolted awake by the faint ringtone, the department head shouted.
Only then realizing his phone was ringing, the manager came tumbling back, grabbed it, and hit the answer button.
"Student Hojun?"
- Hello, Manager...
Hearing the voice, which sounded a little gloomy, the manager's mind began to cloud over.
A mix of fear and vague anxiety that Hojun might be turning them down.
"Uh... yes. Did you give the offer some thought?"
- Yes... I'll do it.
At Hojun's immediate answer that he would do it, the manager and department head started celebrating with victory uppercuts.
The total absence of even a sliver of guilt was a demonic sight.
"Th... then..."
- In return...
Just as he was about to tell him to come to the company,
Hojun cut him off and spoke as if he had a condition.
- In return, please write up a written contract at a café.
"A cont... contract?"
- I think I have the standing to demand at least that.
"Ah... even so, that's...!"
Just as he was about to say no.
Thud! A chair creaked. The noise was clearly meant to make him look over, so the manager turned his head toward the department head.
"Manager Kim, just do it for him."
"Department Head, even so...!"
The department head, who had her feet up on the table and was smoking a cigarette, sauntered over to the manager and put a hand on his shoulder.
Then, so her voice wouldn't be picked up on the other end, she pressed and held the mute button on the phone.
"That kind of stuff has no legal effect anyway."
"Really?"
"I asked Attorney Jeong from the legal team before she quit."
She hadn't asked for details, but she'd heard back then that it had no legal effect, so the department head nodded.
Seeing the department head's expression, the manager seemed to make up his mind. He nodded, then unmuted the phone.
He steadied his voice for a moment and continued, clearing his throat.
"Then, can you come to the café right downstairs right now?"
- I'll be right there.
The call ended at the same time, and the manager, who'd been impossibly tense, finally let out a deep sigh.
It was so loud it felt like the whole world was collapsing.
"Hoo... It's late in the game, but we're really lucky we found someone."
"Stay focused until the very end."
"Yes, Department Head."
The department head and the manager smirked, thinking they'd found the perfect sucker.
What was waiting ahead of them... there was no way they could possibly know.
***
"When should we raid them?"
"Seong-hwan-ssi, really... They haven't even put their fingerprint on it yet."
Already, Hojun and the person they called Manager were sitting together, busily writing something on paper.
And the red ink pad next to them made it clear they'd brought it for stamping a seal or taking a fingerprint.
The manager was stupidly unsuspecting of any recording devices or filming devices.
He must have also heard from some dumb bastard that illegally filmed and recorded material like that wouldn't be admissible as evidence in court.
But we weren't conducting any illegal recording or filming.
We were recording and filming evidence in the presence of two police sergeants and a court execution officer.
That person called Manager was probably a tail that could be cut off at any time.
The main body was likely a creature bigger than a Komodo dragon.
Still, that tail could only be cut off right after the audit.
If they got indicted right now for the Triple Axel of embezzlement, breach of trust, and accounting manipulation, they'd all get caught.
"Director, look. He's inked his finger."
"Is it time to raid them... Police Seonsaengnim, and Execution Officer Seonsaengnim?"
"Wow... I never imagined we'd personally raid something like this."
Once reporters started hammering at their keyboards, the internet would almost certainly explode.
And if it came out that the victim was connected to me and A-ra,
the entertainment industry would be thrown into chaos too.
The Director, the police, and the execution officers walked over slowly and positioned themselves behind Hojun, who was about to press his inked finger firmly onto the contract.
The manager, who already had red ink smeared heavily on his own thumb, eyed the Director, the police, and the execution officers with mild displeasure.
For reference, they were all dressed in ordinary plain clothes.
The sergeants were from Major Crimes Unit 1 of the Criminal Affairs Division, so plain clothes were standard.
The execution officers had no specific uniform, either.
"What is this?"
"We're from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency."
"We're from the Seoul Supreme Court Execution Officer's Office."
The man called Manager instantly went pale blue.
Maybe because he was flustered, he showed no sign of even trying to retrieve the most important piece of evidence.
To leave that unattended was beyond stupid.
"Hmm... Is this the contract?"
The Director snatched it up in a swift motion.
Now that it was in the Director's hands, there was no way that man called Manager could take it back.
If it had been the police or an execution officer, he might've been able to grab it and bolt.
He'd picked the wrong target, and solidly so.
"Th... that...!"
"Hmm... As expected, some incredibly damning content is written here. Police Seonsaengnim, would you like to take a look?"
Scoffing, the Director handed it over to the police.
Since the police officer was wearing a body cam, every detail of the contract was captured on the action cam.
Even if they somehow managed to steal the contract and burn it, it would be useless as long as the data remained on the police Seonsaengnim's action cam.
And taking it a step further, the Director pulled out her phone and made multiple copies of the contract.
"Sending..."
She sent it to the company's NAS and database, and also sent it to several PDs as a group.
For some reason, she sent it to me, too.