The Despicable Broker
The consulting room of K-International Marriage, used only for legitimate counseling.
Ri Su-jin sat facing the man and felt an inexplicable sense of dread and revulsion wash over her.
“I, too, would like a fair and complete resolution. President Ri Su-jin.”
Joo Sung-hyun. A seventh-grade official in the Annam City Hall.
There had been an indirect connection between them in the past.
Ri Su-jin’s only younger sister, Ri Su-min, had once stood with this man in front of cameras during the “Alley Safety Campaign” poster shoot. Both had been new recruits—the city hall and the Annam Border Police Station—and both had the kind of faces that could be placed in front of a lens.
That had been the only tie between them.
If it hadn’t been for the surrogate, he would have had no reason to be linked to her for life.
Joo Sung-hyun was just an ordinary guy. Ri Su-jin herself didn’t understand why she found him so unsettling.
“I was introduced to a Cambodian woman last year through your package. She came as a divorced woman in her mid-thirties.”
“Ah… I see.”
“You brought her on a C-3 visa and finished all the marriage preparations in just two weeks. There was never an issue with overstay.”
The instinct was spot on.
It was clear that Joo Sung-hyun had mentioned “C-3” and “overstay” for a reason.
It was the standard method Ri Su-jin herself used when importing girls from abroad. The girls who came for purposes other than marriage.
They would receive a short-term visitor visa under the pretext of preparing for marriage to a Korean man, be brought in, and then strung along with any excuse. And during that time, they would make money.
What if the overstay was eventually denied?
Simple. Just send them home.
And package the poor girl as the one who had come all the way to Korea to get married only to be dumped at the last minute.
Joo Sung-hyun knew that trick. Knew it very well.
“I’m not very familiar with the regulations, but it seems women who engage in prostitution in Korea often exploit the system.”
He was asking because he already knew. Sharp as a shabu. A shabu man with eyes.
Joo Sung-hyun’s instinct… Ri Su-jin could feel it too.
But if that had been all, there would have been no reason to feel fear. There was something more.
Since she didn’t know what that something was, the tightness in her chest grew unbearable.
A public official…?
Public officials were supposed to avoid getting involved in such matters.
But if it was necessary for business, there was nothing she could do.
Last year, a detective from the Gyeonggi South Provincial Police International Crime Investigation Team had sniffed around Ri Su-jin’s company and stirred up trouble.
Fortunately, Ri Su-jin had friends who were stronger than any individual detective.
The detective who had been sniffing around had been easily neutralized—turned into a Southeast Asian woman who had made savage racial slurs.
Now he was probably patrolling somewhere.
It had been easy. If he couldn’t handle this much, how had he survived?
How many girls had she plugged into Annam, Siheung, Suwon, and Hwaseong? How many friends had she made in the process?
And yet Joo Sung-hyun wasn’t even a policeman.
‘But why…’
Ri Su-jin couldn’t grasp the source of the unease that had been creeping over her, and it made her feel even more uncomfortable.
She forced the corners of her mouth upward and smiled. Just like the time she had counseled a middle-aged man who had come demanding a marriage to a Ukrainian white horse and was throwing a tantrum over only two thousand won.
‘I have to get rid of him quickly.’
Ri Su-jin decided not to defy her instinct.
This man was dangerous.
If she had known from the beginning that he was this ominous, she wouldn’t have sent her siblings to warn him.
It was still not too late. A relief.
“Mr. Joo, I apologize again.”
So just disappear. Don’t act so arrogant.
“…There is nothing to apologize for. President Ri.”
Joo Sung-hyun’s eyes carried a trace of regret.
Perhaps he wanted money?
Looking at how he had taken money from Kim Ho-chang’s lackeys and done background investigations, he seemed to have a greed for money. If that was the case, she was willing to pay a reasonable amount.
But she didn’t want to hand it over.
It felt like offering a bribe or a reason.
It was best to just send him away.
Ri Su-jin moved into the formal exit procedure.
“Mr. Joo, I’m truly sorry.”
“How many times do you plan to apologize?”
“If you would like my subordinate girls to apologize to you in person, I will have them kneel. Will that suffice? I feel so ashamed before you, Mr. Joo.”
“There’s no need. I was the one who came here targeting the president’s rice bowl…”
He had said he wanted to explain, hadn’t he? Ri Su-jin didn’t need any explanation.
“It’s fine. There’s no misunderstanding on my part, nor is there anything for you to explain.”
Joo Sung-hyun rose cleanly and without fuss.
He had apparently judged that he couldn’t get what he wanted here.
The man wasn’t a truth-teller. More than that…
A public official.
Yes, a public official. Ri Su-jin found herself unconsciously recalling the days of the Yanan border.
She also remembered the compatriots who had suffered at the hands of the public officials.
One who had been wrongly arrested for a single mistake—three years in administrative detention, confiscated a phone that had been smuggled with unpaid customs duties, and been marked as a smuggler’s associate. Another who had argued with a public official over a tab of alcohol and been imprisoned, only to die suddenly in a cell.
It was ridiculous to think of public officials, she told herself.
But there was no other way to explain how she felt.
After living in Korea for more than twelve years, she had never felt this emotion before.
The true nature of the unknown revulsion? She didn’t want to investigate it.
“Get out quickly!”
Ri Su-jin wanted to end it. She didn’t want to give him any excuse.
****
The whore of the 999th floor. Ri Su-jin, the Chinese-Korean, showed no intention of handling him.
“Get out quickly.” (999 / 2,071 / 10 years 3 months ago)
She had sent him away and now planned to kill him?
If she followed the identity she had guessed— the pimp disguised as an international marriage brokerage—she had more than one way to torment him.
But she didn’t intend to do that.
Ri Su-jin’s only purpose was to drive him out as quickly as possible.
While the underlings were bringing him in, she had made a few calls to check on him. Or was it simply because she was fed up and acting like this?
Either way, he had not made any threats, nor had he attempted any blackmail.
He hadn’t even made an offer.
She could have forced one. After all, the man who imported foreign girls and ran the business was a confirmed broker.
But he was not a man who even considered opposing her. He was simply a businessman who had sent his siblings to clumsily start an argument and that was all.
She was not righteous enough to approach him with the idea of eliminating a prostitution broker for the sake of public good.
So she had decided to just see him gone.
“Goodbye.” (68 / 420 / 6 months ago)
“Who on earth is still here at this hour… Ah, yes! Safe travels.” (42 / 984 / 11 months ago)
“Who is that person? Where are they going?” (1 / 117 / 23 hours ago)
“Quiet down. There are many funerals.” (999 / 2,071 / 10 years 3 months ago)
Vietnamese whore, Chinese-Korean whore, Cambodian pure love.
And the farewell from the Chinese-Korean super-whore who surpassed her own employees.
The path to the exit…
If the opportunity arose later, she intended to package it neatly and report it to the authorities.
She didn’t want to watch a Chinese-Korean whore happily continue importing girls.
“I’ll be going.”
“It won’t be easy to see you again, I suppose. Safe travels.” (999 / 2,071 / 10 years 3 months ago)
Reaching out toward the entrance with a bright smile, Ri Su-jin bid farewell.
She had been about to let him go quickly, as requested.
“Business is over. Hey, President Ri! I have some serious things to settle with you today!”
A fellow Chinese-Korean had burst in. The atmosphere instantly turned hostile.
“Ah.” (999 / 2,071 / 10 years 3 months ago)
“President Ri, because of the girls you introduced, the business is in ruins! Those damn whores sneaked out the back and sucked me dry while I was gone! How am I supposed to handle the responsibility?”
A look of emptiness settled over Ri Su-jin’s face.
The appearance of the invading Chinese-Korean was remarkably typical.
Roughly in his mid-fifties, wearing a flowery shirt and a leather jacket. He ignored the polite attempts of Ri Su-jin’s employees and went on a rampage.
“Hey, President Ri! Answer me! Do you know how much I’ve lost because of those worthless people?”
“Fucking… haha.” (999 / 2,071 / 10 years 3 months ago)
“Laughing!? At a time like this?” (20 / 411 / 11 months ago)
The Chinese uncle complained that Ri Su-jin had laughed, but in truth the smile that had been on Ri Su-jin’s lips was gradually disappearing.
“Eating money all the time! Showing off because you think you have some power!?”
“……” (999 / 2,071 / 10 years 3 months ago)
“Even between compatriots, this is how it is? Why am I the only one being screwed over!”
The Chinese uncle threw off his leather jacket and slammed it to the floor, looking deeply aggrieved.
He was the kind who would only get angry but would never dare to confront his junior, Ri Su-jin.
From that attitude alone—and the conversation just now—one could sense the gap between them.
Ri Su-jin held absolute dominance. The fact that she was not simply a broker who handled paperwork proved it. The man had probably been waiting for business to end, bullied and bullied again, before barging in. He wanted to strongly plead his grievances.
At this point, the employees’ atmosphere had also grown heavy.
“President, are you angry?” (1 / 117 / 23 hours ago)
“You go home first. I’ll call the girls, President.” (42 / 984 / 11 months ago)
The employees had apparently been divided into legal and illegal sections.
The Cambodian pure love and other whores were hurrying out the back.
While keeping an eye on Ri Su-jin, the Chinese-Korean whore made a phone call somewhere.
Even in the midst of all this, the president, Ri Su-jin, kept her gaze fixed only on him.
“Mr. Joo.”
“President Ri! How can you not look me in the eye when a person is speaking!? Do I look like a joke to you!? How can this be between compatriots…” (20 / 411 / 11 months ago)
“Compatriots?” (999 / 2,071 / 10 years 3 months ago)
Ri Su-jin glared at the compatriot uncle with visible displeasure.
She was certainly irritated. The brothel owners were at fault for the whores sneaking out the back, not the broker. Why was she the one being made a fool of…
But the real reason for Ri Su-jin’s disappointment seemed to be that a client had arrived right before she was about to throw him out.
Because she had finally learned the true nature of her business.
And circumstantial evidence and on-site observation were two different dimensions.
“Mr. Joo… Have you seen everything?” (999 / 2,071 / 10 years 3 months ago)
“Yes. I understand the situation.”
“In that case, you should have said you saw nothing… hah.”
Laughing hollowly, Ri Su-jin gave a curt gesture.
A few men had come in as if waiting, and the whores who had been wearing the face of a marriage counselor had closed the door and drawn the blinds. The uncle who had been causing trouble had realized the atmosphere was strange and fallen silent, picking up his leather jacket…
“Fucking shit-bags.” (999 / 2,071 / 10 years 3 months ago)
Ri Su-jin removed her mask.
The man standing before her was no longer simply a Chinese-Korean super-whore.
A powerful figure in a multinational prostitution cartel disguised as an international marriage brokerage.
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