Those Called Parents - 2

This was no joke.

"Holy crap… what is all this…?"

"Insane… a place this high-end is seriously dangerous…!"

Park Daeseok and Geum Gangsan were just as stunned as I was.

From the outside it looked scorched and ready to collapse, but the interior was decked out like a full-blown casino. And the real surprise? This was only the first floor. There was a second and a third.

"Is there something you're looking for? Just say the word and I'll show you around."

It was the same man who'd greeted me at the entrance. Apparently it was obvious this was my first time somewhere like this.

"I came out of curiosity, but I've never really done this kind of thing. What's the easiest game?"

"The easiest… that would be the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠game they call the Queen of the Casino."

"Queen of the Casino?"

"This way."

I could handle poker or blackjack well enough, but nowhere near the level of real gamblers. Everything else, I didn't know at all. Still, there was one game I could manage.

"The rules are simple. You just guess which numbered pocket the ball lands in. You can bet on a single number, two, three, four, a whole row, the ranges written here, or even just red or black—same as odd or even. The higher the odds of winning, the lower the payout. Watch a few rounds first, then take a seat. You can exchange for chips over there."

"Daeseok. Go swap one of the bags."

"Huh?? Uh… over there?"

"Follow me."

"……"

The man dropped the polite speech the second he turned to Park Daeseok, barking orders and leading the way. While they were gone, I stood in the crowd and watched how the game actually ran.

"Aww…"

"Damn it…!"

"Shit!!"

Every time the ball dropped into a pocket and the wheel stopped, sighs and curses ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠drowned out any cheers. This clearly wasn't a game that relied on luck alone. There had to be some mechanism in that roulette wheel so the dealer could nudge the outcome whenever it suited them. But I was confident. I believed in beginner's luck.

"This place is a total rip-off…! I swapped three hundred million and they took thirty million in fees…!!"

"Ten percent isn't bad."

"What do you mean not bad…! That's more than my entire annual salary…!!"

"I raised your pay this time, remember?"

"Ah…"

"Sigh… why'd we even bring this guy?"

"It's reassuring having him around."

"Reassuring is all he is! This is mortifying…!"

"Ahem, ahem!"

Park Daeseok coming back with the chips briefly drew a few stares, but the spinning roulette wheel pulled everyone's attention right back.

"Oh my~ a seat just opened up over there. Shall we?"

"Sure."

A few people who'd been betting on their feet tried to sit, but the man blocked every one of them and I took the chair.

"Bets, please."

The dealer's words barely left his mouth before red chips flooded the numbered squares. Five million won apiece. I didn't have any of those. My chips were seven blue ones at ten million each, four green ones at twenty-five million, and one black chip worth a hundred million. I started light—one blue chip. Lucky number seven.

"Aww, it's an eight…!! Man, so close! Go again!"

"I told you eight felt good…!! Bet on eight this time!"

"……"

Getting this worked up over a single round? Park Daeseok and Geum Gangsan were more hyped than I was, and from the moment the next betting window opened they never took their eyes off my hands.

"Hey, you're putting that much…!"

"That's a rich guy for you—bold! It's eight this time! Guaranteed!!"

I put down three blue chips. Number eight, just like Geum Gangsan said. Of course the ball landed way off on thirty-four and wiped us out.

"You little bastard…!!"

"H-hey, if I tell you to do it and you actually do it, that's on you! Let go of me, man!"

Park Daeseok grabbed Geum Gangsan by the collar behind me. It wasn't a big enough scene for the man to step in. Still, I needed them calm.

"Settle down. It's my money."

"But thirty million…!"

"Bets, please."

The dealer's voice came again and red chips started landing all over the table. He still hadn't spun the wheel—he was waiting for my bet.

Clack— clack—

I rolled the chips in my fist, thinking it over for a moment.

Thud!

The second my chips hit the felt, gasps rose around the table.

"Oh~"

"Whoa~"

"Holy…"

"A hundred million?"

"That's not a first-floor bet."

Every eye in the room locked onto the table and the wheel. I pretended not to care and snuck a glance at the dealer's face. The flesh under his left eye twitched—just barely. The wheel spun, and the chips I'd put on two numbers at seventeen-to-one vanished.

"You crazy bastard, stop already…!!"

"Stop what! Keep going! Let's ride this once!! You—go swap the rest for chips!"

"You shut up! You lunatic!!"

Park Daeseok had come to his senses and tried to stop me, but with Geum Gangsan cheering me on I put down the last three blue chips. This time I went for better odds—a four-number corner, eight-to-one.

Rattle-rattle-rattle—

The ball bounced around the spinning wheel and then sucked straight into a pocket, like a magnet had pulled it in.

"Oh my~ one pocket over and you'd have taken home two hundred forty million. Truly a shame."

"Yeah."

Four rounds. One hundred seventy million gone. All I had left were four green chips at twenty-five million each.

"There are more bags in the car, right?"

"More bags…"

"Ten of them. Three billion total."

"Hmm…"

While clueless Park Daeseok floundered, sharp-eyed Geum Gangsan picked up my act and fed the lie without missing a beat. In reality we'd only brought the two bags, and there was no more money. The whole performance was for the man standing beside me and the dealer. Lose a few hands, look like a mark. Letting a first-timer win a little so they get hooked—that was the golden rule of illegal gambling dens. Or so the movies and dramas said. Reality might ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be different. If so, I'd chalk it up to a taste of the action and go do what I actually came for. Three hundred million wasn't that much money to me anyway.

"Hey, are you seriously going again…?"

"That worried?"

"Of course I am… this isn't small change…"

"It is to me."

"Don't brag about being rich…!"

"Sigh… if you're that worried, fine. If I lose this one, we'll go grab a drink."

Park Daeseok fretting over me made the whole scene even more natural. This might be the last bet. Win here and I walk with three hundred million including the fee. Lose once more and they get a three-billion-won mark to reel in. Which way it went was up to the man beside me and the dealer. Of course, the real key was placing a bet they could afford to let me win.

I slid the remaining four green chips forward.

"I saw people doing it like this. What happens if I bet this way?"

"That's a line bet. You've covered the six numbers across these two rows."

"Payout?"

"Five to one."

"Even if I win, it's only five hundred million. Should I just pick a single number?"

"No, no. Stick with it. Even on a test, your first answer is usually the right one, hahaha~"

"Fair enough."

The moment I tried to shift to a higher-risk bet, the man who should have been pushing me toward it stopped me instead. Because he was planning to let me win. Like I said—if I won now, it was five hundred million. Move to a single number and they'd owe me thirty-five times that: three point five billion. Way too much risk for them.

Rattle-rattle-rattle—

The wheel spun and the ball started bouncing, rolling around the rim. Behind me, Park Daeseok and Geum Gangsan each clamped a hand on my shoulder and leaned in like they were about to dive onto the wheel itself. They were heavy as hell…!

Clack! Clack! Thud-thud!

It was time. The wheel slowed, the bouncing ball slipped between the frets and sucked into a pocket—and the cheers exploded.

"Woooooo!!!!"

"Aaaah!! We did it! We did it!!!"

"Gangsan!!"

"Daeseok!!"

Slap!!!

Like a scene straight out of a basketball manga, Park Daeseok and Geum Gangsan roared behind me and smashed their hands together. The people who'd bet alongside me and the crowd that had gathered around all clapped and congratulated us. The man playing shill clapped right along with a delighted grin.

"Oh my~ congratulations, sir~ hahahaha!"

"Thanks. It's only five hundred million, though."

I didn't even pretend to be happy. Deadpan as a stone. A smile crept onto the man's lips. He'd decided I was an even bigger fish than he'd thought. But that was as far as it went. My gambling was done.

"Daeseok, go cash it out."

"What?! You're not playing more?!"

"Hey! Ride it! Ride the wave! Your luck's hot right now! You've got to go for it!"

"I'm good. I'm done."

"W-wait a moment! Sir, just like your friends said—the energy's just starting to come in. Walking away now would be such a waste!"

"Yeah. I'm done. The rule with gambling is you quit when you're ahead."

"What the…!"

The panic on his face was obvious. No—he was furious. So what? With this many customers around, were they going to beat me up over winning a little money? Refuse to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cash my chips? They couldn't do either. Not here. Not now.

"Whoa… so this is why people gamble… making money is ridiculously easy…"

"Sunwoo~ that landed so perfectly, how about we split a share each?"

I'd swapped three hundred million for chips and bet a hundred million on the last spin for five hundred million. Subtract the chips I'd put down and I'd recovered my stake plus three hundred million on top. And I had a use for that money. If things had gone poorly I'd have used the remaining bag I never converted to chips—but everything had gone smoothly. I'd gotten a taste of the action and come out ahead.

"Oh my~ where are you rushing off to…"

"What took you so long? We've been waiting forever."

"……"

Not forever, exactly, but longer than I'd expected. I'd figured they'd come for us the second we stepped outside with the cash. Instead they made us walk all the way out to the empty lot that served as a parking area before they swarmed in.

"What are you waiting for? Show us in."

"Pardon…?"

"I said show us in."

"Where…"

I had nothing to say to these guys. I needed at least a mid-level manager.

"I told you we should've just bolted…!"

"Sunwoo, are you sure about this?"

We were taken to a small building behind the illegal gambling den. Honestly, it was scary. These people were real gangsters. But I had insurance in place, so I wasn't going to die.

Thud!! Thud-thud! Wham!!

The moment the door opened, the raw sound of someone getting beaten filled the room.

"Urgh…! Urgh…! P-please spare me…! Please… please…."

"I said bring the money you borrowed. The money."

"I-I'll find the money somehow, no matter what it takes… gah!!!!"

Just as expected. Geum Gangsan had confirmed he'd come here, but we hadn't been able to find him on the gambling floor. Lee Hayeon's father was right here—getting the living daylights beaten out of him.

"Hyung-nim, a word for a moment…"

"Who's this?"

"Well…"

The guy who looked like a mid-level manager heard a few words and immediately cracked the messenger across the face. Not my face—the face of the shill who'd been working me on the floor.

"Stand up straight."

"I-I'm sorry! Ugh…!!"

"Hooo…"

The mid-level manager raised his hand for another hit, then sighed and lowered it.

"I'll deal with you later. Hey, stick that bastard somewhere for now."

"Yes, hyung-nim."

"Urgh…! Uuurgh…!"

Lee Hayeon's barely conscious father was dragged through some door, and the mid-level manager wiped the blood off his hands and sat on the sofa.

"Have a seat for now, guest."

He crossed his legs with arrogant ease and tipped his chin toward a chair.

"The place is a dump, but it's better than standing."

"Hey…!"

"……"

Geum Gangsan went rigid under the mid-level manager's stare and the glares of the big guys around him, but Park Daeseok stood behind me without a flicker of fear. Reliable as always.

"So… you play for a bit and walk out with five hundred million?"

"Two hundred million, actually. After my own money."

"Whew~ you've got guts."

"Because I'm about to offer a deal that works for both of us."

"A deal?"

"Daeseok, give me that bag."

"Yeah."

Thud—

The duffel bag they'd filled at the cash-out counter landed on the table between me and the mid-level manager.

"Two hundred million. My winnings, minus my stake."

"The way you're talking, this isn't just you handing it back so we don't beat you… you said deal, so I'm guessing there's something you want from us?"

"Just a fingerprint on this."

"A fingerprint?"

I set a document board with papers inside next to the bag. Everything was covered except the exact spot where a thumbprint needed to go.

"Not you. The guy they just dragged into that room."

"Hmm… we'd need to know what kind of document this is before we—"

"Does money need a reason? Money is the reason."

"…Not wrong. You've got no manners, though. Go get his print."

"Yes, hyung-nim."

"Don't get blood on it. Wipe his finger clean, ink it properly, and stamp it right."

"Ha…!"

"Do what you're told. Unless you want to cough up two hundred million yourself."

"Ah… yes…."

I liked how well we understood each other. The guy who'd just taken a slap and was carrying the document board looked ready to die of injustice, but that was his problem.

Thud—

A short while later the mid-level manager tossed the returned document board onto the table.

"Deal done?"

"Done."

"Then as a freebie, mind if I ask one thing?"

"I'm the one who should be getting freebies. Two hundred million for one fingerprint—seems like I should be collecting."

"I'm the one letting you walk out in one piece."

"Hmm… okay. Freebie call."

"What's your connection to the guy in that room?"

"Just some bastard I want to beat to death."

"Aigo…. So much for collecting the debt through you. Freebie received. Get out of here."

I took the document board and stood. The second we stepped outside, a sigh of pure relief escaped me. Honestly, I'd been terrified. I'd put on a bold front because going submissive would have made things worse in every direction—but I'd been genuinely scared. Especially that mid-level manager's eyes. They were colder and more vicious than the Joseonjok loan sharks who'd taken Kim Jinsu.

"Fuck…! I thought I was going to die…!"

"Hooo…"

The moment we hit the parking lot, Geum Gangsan collapsed onto all fours on the ground. Even Park Daeseok, who'd stood behind me without a single tremor, dropped onto the pavement. And I leaned my half-buckled legs against the car and made a call.