The Couple
The relationship between the Han Chae-kyung couple had deteriorated. The opening had been created.
I had arranged to meet the person who had come to me again only after a few days.
“Why are you here again…?” (19 / 317 / 21 hours ago)
It was Kwak Min-sun, Han Chae-kyung’s friend.
A former sponsor who had voluntarily handed over her gold phone to me to hide the infidelity.
The encounter was not pleasant. For Kwak Min-sun, it must have been even less so. I had casually mentioned the fact that her friend’s husband had been intimate with another man besides herself.
Even now, Kwak Min-sun looked at me with clear irritation.
But this time, I had not come to threaten her.
“Mr. Kwak Min-sun. The thing we were worried about has finally surfaced.”
I had simply come to use her for my own convenience.
“You said ‘we’ just now. Who are you referring to?”
“Yes.”
“To be honest, you’re not a public official, are you?”
“That is not the important point. Councilor Han Chae-kyung, the signs are starting to spread.”
Kwak Min-sun, irritated, had begun to walk past me but stopped abruptly.
She and Han Chae-kyung had graduated from the same high school and university.
But looking at the two of them now, the gap was enormous. Han Chae-kyung, who lived in a fifty-pyong apartment complex while using the ultra-luxury residence in Gangnam as if it were a villa. Kwak Min-sun, who lived in a twenty-pyong villa on the outskirts of Annam City while working at a call center.
Even recently, she had not been spared blackmail by me on Han Chae-kyung’s orders. The emotions Han Chae-kyung felt toward her…
“That fucking bitch?” (19 / 317 / 21 hours ago)
This one sentence could have summed it up.
I had come expecting trouble, but the tension turned out to be better than expected.
…
“Taehwa Industrial Development, CEO Kim Ho-chang.”
“Why are you asking about Chae-kyung’s husband?”
“The man who made Han Chae-kyung live like a noble. The one who allowed her to live elegantly in Annam City’s Daejang Apartment and commute to work in a luxury sedan with a driver’s daughter. I heard her husband has assets exceeding five hundred billion won.”
“There’s nothing to explain. I received the bouquet at the wedding, didn’t I?”
Kwak Min-sun’s lips pressed tightly together, and her eyes narrowed slightly.
Was she stressed because of a friend who had changed her life by marrying well? Or perhaps because she had just finished her shift and was more vulnerable than usual. Kwak Min-sun was a call-center employee. She handled eighty calls a day and received countless customer complaints; she must have had plenty of burdens.
Fortunately, I had pleasant news to deliver to her.
“Councilor Han Chae-kyung might be getting a divorce soon.”
Divorce. In the end, Kim Ho-chang was about to discard Han Chae-kyung.
Kwak Min-sun’s eyes briefly sparkled.
A faint expression of hidden joy. She clearly no longer saw Han Chae-kyung as a friend. Or perhaps she did not, but still wanted her to suffer as much as she did herself. I didn’t care about Kwak Min-sun’s motives.
As long as she moved as I wanted.
“They seem to be getting along well. Suddenly?”
“I don’t know the full details, but the emotional rift is already very deep. So… Mr. Kwak Min-sun, I need your help. In any case, once Kim Ho-chang divorces Han Chae-kyung, the councilor will fall. I want to escape before the ship sinks completely.”
“Why would I help you?”
Kwak Min-sun’s face brightened, then she crossed her arms with a stern expression.
She was refusing. But suppression was simple.
“Let’s not do that. Shall I go to your husband right now?”
“…Fuck.”
“After all, we have a common enemy in Han Chae-kyung. …I was forced to obey the councilor’s orders because of my father’s job and my performance review, and you, Mr. Kwak Min-sun, were investigated by the friend you trusted and had your phone taken. …Isn’t that unfair?”
Kwak Min-sun was still hesitating.
She disliked Han Chae-kyung, but it seemed she also disliked helping the woman who had once forced her to work.
So I had lightly scratched at her.
“If you refuse to cooperate with me, you will actually be helping Councilor Han Chae-kyung.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Kim Ho-chang’s assets exceed five hundred billion won. Probably… around a hundred billion of that was acquired or increased in value after marriage. That would become part of the property division. They have been married for seven years.”
“…No way.”
“The amount Han Chae-kyung takes in the division will be at least forty billion.”
Even if she is abandoned by her husband, she can still receive a clean forty billion or more through property division.
Kwak Min-sun’s eyes began to stir violently. Compared to five hundred billion, it might seem insignificant… but between the five hundred billion in her husband’s name and the forty billion she would have properly secured in her own name, which would be sweeter? Obviously the latter.
Simply being cut off meant that, from Han Chae-kyung’s perspective, it might even be a profitable deal. Kwak Min-sun was probably not aiming for that direction.
“We can stop it together.”
“We can block the property division?”
“Yes. Make him abandon her with nothing to her name.”
After a while of deliberation, Kwak Min-sun finally lifted her chin as if to hear me out.
“Tell me what you want me to do.” (19 / 317 / 21 hours ago)
I smiled and gave her instructions.
“Just send one message to CEO Kim Ho-chang. You know the number, don’t you?”
“That uncle is a really scary person…”
“I know.”
It was actually very simple. All I had to do was forward the script I had prepared in advance to Kim Ho-chang.
It contained no dangerous content.
[Hello. CEO Kim Ho-chang. I’m Kwak Min-sun, Chae-kyung’s friend. As you know, I recently caused a misunderstanding with Chae-kyung and suffered as a result. I have handed over all the materials I was holding, and I don’t have any copies. I deleted everything. I don’t bear any grudge against Chae-kyung either. I understood that Chae-kyung was preparing for a private-life risk in preparation for next year’s election. Please convey that I will definitely keep the promise.]
It was just an oddly reassuring message that I would keep my loyalty to my friend, Han Chae-kyung.
It was the kind of thing that could easily be ignored.
But to Kim Ho-chang right now… it would feel very different to the CEO of Taehwa Industrial Development, who had a drip attached and was receiving detox treatment.
Materials held, no copies, private-life risk.
He would probably be very interested in what those words meant.
Beep—
Kim Ho-chang actually called Kwak Min-sun immediately after.
“Pick up.”
I gestured for Kwak Min-sun to answer. Of course, I would support her.
“Oh my. What kind of material? Did you not know? I assumed you would naturally know it since you’re the CEO. Did you know from the beginning and met her anyway? …Oh. If I misunderstood, just pretend you didn’t hear! It seems Chae-kyung didn’t even tell you, does she?”
Good. More.
“I’m sorry, but if I speak carelessly, I might get caught by Chae-kyung… No, no. I’m really sorry, but I can’t tell you. It’s not that I’m ignoring you, but I’m afraid Chae-kyung might be a bit scary. What if I misinterpret that I was casually playing around with her?”
I shouldn’t pry too much. But I needed to drop a bait at the right moment.
“Ah… if you do that, I’ll be in trouble…”
That was enough. I signaled to Kwak Min-sun to act right now.
“That’s… well, you’re keeping the real secret, aren’t you? Chae-kyung’s aide… isn’t it? Just an ordinary civil servant? Anyway, I handed over everything to the young man who came to look for me on Chae-kyung’s orders. Since my own job was at stake, I had no choice and just handed it over honestly. I never had any intention of causing trouble for Chae-kyung in the first place.”
The call continued for a little over three minutes after that.
Fortunately, Kwak Min-sun had fulfilled her role perfectly.
Honestly, there wasn’t much of a role to play. She whined that she couldn’t tell the truth, casually mentioned that Chae-kyung was her friend, subtly dropped coordinates, and hung up. She also subtly leaked my presence. Not a single piece of proper information was given, but it didn’t matter.
“If I told you everything, it would backfire instead.”
It was best to let Kim Ho-chang figure it out himself.
After the call ended.
“So this is the end?”
“Yes. Thank you, Min-sun.”
“I had no choice, but what is this anyway…”
“You’ll understand soon.”
Even though he was already driven crazy by impotence, he had been provoked by a wife sixteen years younger, and now the suspicious behavior of the wife’s friend had been reported to him.
If I were Kim Ho-chang, I would investigate it immediately.
Regarding the truth that his wife, Han Chae-kyung, was hiding.
…
And the next day.
“Mr. Joo Sung-hyun, I’m afraid I need you to accompany me.”
It was 10 p.m. Someone had come looking for me while I was at home.
His age was around the forties, wearing a suit, with a short haircut and a sharp demeanor that suggested smooth social functioning.
I guessed who had sent him and, honestly, the quick response made me glad.
I didn’t show it, instead frowning.
“You just barge in and what… Are you crazy?”
“I’m sorry, but I need you to come with me right now.”
“Why me?”
“I am the person sent by President Kim Ho-chang. I understand that you are working with Councilor Han Chae-kyung, the president’s wife. Is that correct?”
Fortunately, the staff didn’t get angry and quietly pressured me.
I clicked my tongue a little here. Something seemed to be sticking.
At that, the staff gained confidence, pushed a foot through the door, and stared at me intently. It seemed he was implying that if I didn’t follow obediently, we would both end up in a tiring situation.
“President Kim Ho-chang… why does he want to see me?”
“Just come. It will be good for you, Mr. Joo Sung-hyun too.”
“…”
“Our president has only a few questions.”
He was a subordinate, and Kim Ho-chang, who had been caught on the bait thrown through Kwak Min-sun, was not the one to be beaten.
I pretended to lose, eventually followed him out with a sigh.
“Are you asking me because President Kim Ho-chang wants to see me for something?”
“You’ll understand once you go.”
“…Shit.”
Throughout the drive, I washed my face with dry water and spilled curses and sighs.
A middle-level civil servant summoned for an important visitor.
Even though he was suddenly called in the middle of the night, he was dragging his feet. That was me. Because I was actually a middle-level official, I didn’t even need to disguise it.
Shortly after, the place I arrived was a single room at the university hospital.
“President. I’ve brought him.”
“Hm. Go out.”
The patient in hospital gown greeted me.
On one side of the hospital room, his wife—73 / 887—was staring at me with wide eyes. She hadn’t expected me to be summoned.
Kim Ho-chang and Han Chae-kyung.
A couple who had been supporting each other for eight years as an entrepreneur and a politician.
If they hadn’t gotten entangled with me, they might have swallowed Annam City at the next election. They had been seriously eyeing the mayoral position while combining money politics and political maneuvering.
But now they were just a couple on the verge of catastrophe.
“Honey. Why is Joo Sung-hyun… here?”
“I called him. There are a few things I want to ask this friend.”
I had simply moved the timing forward slightly.