Ri Su-jin
In Annam City, home to thirty thousand Korean-Chinese residents, I'd lived my entire life—elementary through university, even my current job at the city hall. Yet this was the first time I'd ever been cursed out by a fellow Korean-Chinese.
"I... Ri Su-jin, boss? You seem busy, so I'll be going now."
"..."
"I, I think I'll take my leave now?"
The Korean-Chinese man finally glanced at Ri Su-jin, gauging her mood. If he'd barged in just fifteen seconds later, I'd have already abandoned any lingering feelings for her and headed home. She'd have put her worries about me aside to welcome her business partner. She could've either disciplined the shameless owner or smoothed things over and sent him away.
Foreign sex work always put the broker in charge, but that didn't mean treating the owner like shit.
But that was no longer an option.
The Korean-Chinese man clutching his leather jacket seemed to realize he'd messed up—and that Ri Su-jin was in a foul mood.
"Ri Su-jin, boss... I think I got carried away for a moment. How is it your fault the girls went off-shift? There are too many difficult customers lately, and the girls keep disobeying, so I got frustrated and said that."
"Jang Guk-cheol. You."
"Please, just let me go!"
His name was Guk-cheol, I see.
Jang Guk-cheol was on the verge of sobbing. Where had the courage gone that let him barge in and slam his jacket down? Of course, the situation was bad. Ri Su-jin's enforcers had already blocked the door, and she stared at the floor with a face twisted by extreme regret.
As the atmosphere grew heavier, one of Ri Su-jin's underlings stepped forward.
"Noonim, who should we handle first?"
"Ri boss...! Please just let me go."
Guk-cheol wobbled as if about to kneel.
"This is so fucking ridiculous."
Ri Su-jin, the tall woman, slowly raised her head with a bitter smile. Her gaze landed not on Guk-cheol, but on me.
"Teacher Joo."
Still using the "teacher" title, I see.
But her eyes had changed. Her underlings crept toward me, ready to handle me first, but stopped instantly when she raised her hand. Her organizational control was impressive, even if her talent pool consisted of Korean-Chinese thugs and delinquents.
After a moment, what she spat out with an annoyed expression wasn't the usual bribery or threat—
"Teacher Joo Sung-hyun. This man here is named Jang Guk-cheol."
"Yes. I heard."
"What kind of person does he seem to be?"
She was introducing the compatriot who'd ruined her plans—the one tearfully pleading with her. Asking what kind of person he seemed now, after all this? It was a strange question.
'A businessman, this one.'
Ri Su-jin seemed to be giving me one last chance. A chance to ignore her real business and everything I'd witnessed here, and walk away.
If I'd answered, "I don't know. Just looks like a Korean-Chinese who likes jeon," I could've salvaged things. I could read her genuine desire to not get involved with me. But.
"Ri Su-jin, boss."
"I'm asking you. What kind of person does this man seem to be?"
"It's already too late."
"..."
"Your compatriots all saw."
Ri Su-jin's underlings and her business partner were watching this scene. If I walked away knowing K-International Marriage was a sex trafficking cartel?
"They'll all have suspicions."
"..."
"A witness exists who hasn't been bribed or threatened. Would they believe you if you said you sent me away because I'm a city hall official and you didn't want to deal with me? Who would trust a boss who leaves risks unaddressed?"
At my accusation, Ri Su-jin's lips pressed into a thin line. Her face showed her swallowing anger.
Her mind must be racing right now. She might be thinking of ways to bribe me, or considering threats through the connections she'd built over ten years in business. Maybe even extreme solutions.
Have the Korean-Chinese dispose of me and send me to China? That would end it. No need for elegant methods. Knock me out here, take me to their base, and stage it as an accident. If Annam City is too risky, take me to nearby Siheung and quietly dispose of me.
Not wanting to die, I prepared minimal safeguards.
When I lifted my phone, the Korean-Chinese flinched, checking Ri Su-jin's reaction. But I wasn't calling the police.
"Mayor Min Sung-bae? I'll accept your previous request. Whether it's establishing negative countermeasures or anything else, I want to help as much as my ability allows during the local elections. However, as compensation, instead of a special position title, please grant me a few personal requests."
He was the mayor of the city where Ri Su-jin and I lived. It was his secretary, Yoon Seo-young, who answered ("Really?"), but that didn't matter. To me, they were practically common-law spouses.
After ending the call, I handed my smartphone to Ri Su-jin.
"I just spoke with the mayor. In fact, I'm someone who gives Mayor Min Sung-bae occasional advice. If you don't believe me, call him back."
"What on earth..."
"I'm just trying to survive."
I subtly loosened my grip on the phone. Acting calm, but actually showing I was afraid of the Korean-Chinese organization... It worked. The thugs and delinquents relaxed slightly, sensing they didn't need to risk disposing of me—that I could be bought.
Ri Su-jin, being smarter than her underlings, seemed to recognize it was an act.
"I understand what you mean."
She was telling me to leave. We'd talk later.
That ended our first meeting.
Now it was time to calmly present my terms. I had to.
They'd be doing the same to me.
"I... I think I'll be going now."
"No."
Guk-cheol, who'd been trying to slip out after me, was grabbed by Ri Su-jin's underlings. I had no reason to take care of him, so I left.
An hour later. Jang Guk-cheol's rest hotel.
"Ri boss... I think I lost my head for a moment. I won't do it again. I won't act so presumptuously in front of you again."
Ri Su-jin ignored Jang Guk-cheol, who was kneeling and frantically apologizing, and slowly surveyed the shabby interior of the establishment.
A rest hotel on the third floor of an old commercial building in Seonbodo-dong. The very establishment where Jang Guk-cheol had shown up and caused a scene while I was confronting Ri Su-jin.
A typical low-cost, high-turnover place. Girls had to handle at least two clients a day to make money. Six girls, all Korean-Chinese, standing in a line watching her every move.
In truth, they were mid-to-lower-tier Korean-Chinese girls. Women too questionable to charge over 100,000 won, divorcees, women pushed out of offices in their early thirties. And younger, decent-looking girls who knew their boss was shit and frequently went off-shift.
"Boss Jang. I've connected nine girls to you over the years, correct?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
"200,000 won introduction fee per girl, and 300,000 won monthly for address falsification services to renew their stays. ...So far, Boss Jang has paid me a total of 50.6 million won. I even gave you a one-month grace period when you were late on management fees last year, right?"
"Huh."
Jang Guk-cheol frantically wiped his hands. Ri Su-jin ignored him, only looking at the ledger.
A business partner who'd paid 50 million won. Among Ri Su-jin's 47 establishments, he was the lowest tier. A partner who employed compatriots too questionable in looks, body, and age to offload elsewhere—essentially a recycling center. In her legitimate international marriage business, he'd be "borderline matching" grade. Men over 50 with debt, or farmers without land. A partner whose disappearance wouldn't financially impact her.
And yet, such a worthless person...
"Caused an unbelievable accident."
Ri Su-jin still couldn't believe it. Of all times to show up.
Jang Guk-cheol, the girls he managed, and even the Korean-Chinese reporter waiting to be introduced to them—all watched her every move. Proof she held immense power over their livelihoods.
"Ri boss...! Honestly, I don't really know what I did wrong. But... ah! That Korean guy. Should I dispose of him? Would that make up for it?"
"No. There's no way he'd fall to you."
Ri Su-jin had no intention of forgiving Jang Guk-cheol, who'd drawn attention. Just bad timing? In a way, yes. The sobbing Jang Guk-cheol wouldn't know who Joo Sung-hyun was. In fact, Ri Su-jin didn't fully know either—only that he was someone to avoid.
Jang Guk-cheol was the one who'd ruined that.
Ri Su-jin couldn't forgive his attention-drawing. She didn't want anyone who'd been exposed to Joo Sung-hyun nearby.
"Take the girls. You, follow that man."
"Ri Su-jin, boss! That much I can't allow, I can't!!"
Jang Guk-cheol, eyes wild, lunged but was subdued by Ri Su-jin's underlings. For a brothel owner, losing his prostitutes was like losing everything. Especially for an incompetent owner who couldn't source his own staff.
"Take them."
But Ri Su-jin ruthlessly took them. The girls left without complaint.
Ri Su-jin's punishment wasn't over.
"Tomorrow morning, 8:40 AM, flight to Yanji."
"Y-you... you're telling me to leave?"
"Yes. KE831. I'll book the ticket."
She decided not to say the meaningless words "leave and don't come back." She'd arrange it so he couldn't return to Korea. Just ask the Yanji-Hunchun line broker to put him on the entry-exit blacklist. Simple work. Not because of Ri Su-jin's local influence, but because Korean-Chinese were inherently vulnerable.
Jang Guk-cheol knew this, which is why he desperately clung to her.
"Please, just this once, as fellow compatriots!"
That "compatriot" nonsense. Now wasn't the time for compatriot appeals.
Ri Su-jin found the compatriot-pleading trash even more disgusting.
"As compatriots, please forgive me. Will you forgive him?"
"Yes, noonim."
"Just this once... Ah! Don't hit me! Cough-!!"
Jang Guk-cheol was beaten for about ten minutes by Ri Su-jin's underlings before being good packing his bags.
Hakko rest hotel closed, prostitutes reassigned, the troublemaking owner sent to Yanbian. That part was easy. The hard part was now.
'Joo Sung-hyun.'
Someone she genuinely wanted to avoid, but now unavoidable. She had to strike before being struck.