Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Royal Family 15-4
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President Bang Yeong-il of Bang Yeong Construction was someone who normally wouldn't have any reason to be at work at this hour.
The current time was seven fifty.
The operation was clearly scheduled for seven thirty.
By now, he should have been getting a call, but the delayed contact was starting to make him uneasy bit by bit.
Should he make the first call?
As that thought crossed his mind...
- Riiiing... riiiiing...
Bang Yeong-il hurriedly answered the ringing phone, a little flustered.
- Uncle, it's Dong-seop.
"Why are you calling? What is Chang-su doing?"
- Hyung Chang-su isn't getting up.
"What bullshit is that? Not getting up? What about the job? How did the job go?"
- It failed!
"Failed? What's there to fail at?"
- But it did fail.
"What the hell is that? Who did I tell you to grab? Or beat up? I said just scare him a bit. How does that fail?"
- But we did it.
"You son of a bitch! Put Chang-su on!"
- I told you, he's not up.
That was when it happened.
Sounds of scuffling came from the first floor, and three men entered the office.
"What the hell are you guys?"
The two subordinates who had been sitting on the sofa immediately stood, shoving their bulk forward.
But,
- Thwack! Thwack!
The man leading the way twisted his body lightly left and right, landing two hooks that sent the two subordinates staggering and collapsing right there.
And seeing that, Bang Yeong-il finally realized something was wrong.
But he was still the boss.
He had to put up a front.
"What the hell? Who are you bastards from?"
"From Dongdaemun. You're Bang Yeong-il, right?"
Do... Dongdaemun?
Two words flashed into Bang Yeong-il's mind.
Viper, Dongdaemun.
He dealt in construction services, but he was no stranger to the fist life.
So there was no way he hadn't heard the two hottest names in the underworld right now.
But Bang Yeong-il wondered for a moment why Dongdaemun, then remembered that the Dongdaemun Viper had recently taken over Mapo.
And that his own office was in Mapo...
"I asked if you're Bang Yeong-il."
"Y... yes. I'm Bang Yeong-il."
"Let's go. The boss wants to see you."
In that instant, Bang Yeong-il resigned himself to everything.
In this line of work, sometimes you had to swallow poison knowing it was poison.
The call he'd received yesterday was like that.
He'd been thrilled to pick up from the Taesung Construction Business Operations Team Leader, someone who rarely answered even one in ten calls, but instead of joy, a chill ran down his spine.
And sure enough.
After hearing the details, he was certain it was poison.
Poison he couldn't refuse.
'Fuck, this is why you don't get involved in chaebol business...'
But regret always comes too late.
Bang Yeong-il, having resigned himself completely, followed the three men down the stairs without any resistance.
Seo Ji-hyeok, who had gone down to the first-floor lobby to buy coffee, made a call, and Jang Woo's voice answered as if he'd been waiting.
"It's me. You checked?"
- Yeah. Taesung Construction Business Operations Team Leader Park Woong-jo.
"Anything else?"
- Nothing much. He said just scare him. Smash some car windows or whatever... you know.
"Did he know who I was when he set this up?"
- Yeah, he knew it was poison and swallowed it anyway.
"Got it. Handle the rest yourself. If he knew it was poison, he's prepared for the consequences.
- Yeah, gotta pay the price for the poison. I'll take care of it. By the way, hyung, you okay?
"What?"
- Feels like annoying shit keeps popping up. Want me to stick some guys on you? I'll pick bodyguards or military types.
"Nah. I wander alone precisely because I want them to touch me."
- Alright. Call anytime if you need. I'll have 'em ready.
"Thanks. Hanging up."
The moment the call ended, Ji-hyeok arrived at the coffee shop.
Being near the company, a few people at the tables stood and bowed to him as he entered.
Ji-hyeok greeted them one by one, ordered two coffees to go, and called Eun-seok while heading out.
"You cleaned up?"
- More or less.
"More or less? What's that mean?"
- Just... cleaner than my room.
"Good enough. Bring the car to the entrance."
- Now?
"Yeah. Now."
- Got it. On my way.
Looking at the ended call, Ji-hyeok tilted his head slightly.
'This guy's starting to creep up on me a bit?'
To be precise, it was less creeping and more showing familiarity.
Not that it was bad.
Since he'd decided to keep him around, this was far better than constant fear and wary glances.
Ji-hyeok shrugged it off for now and waited for the car at the entrance.
Moments later, Eun-seok pulled up, and Ji-hyeok got in, handing him a coffee.
"This for me?"
"Don't get all touched by a chaebol third-gen buying you coffee. Gives me chills."
"Heehee... Thanks. Where to?"
"Taesung Construction."
"Yes, sir."
Eun-seok, a bit excited, drove a little aggressively at first, earned a scolding from Ji-hyeok, and arrived at Taesung Construction with a pout.
Taesung Construction was a subsidiary of Taesung Corporation.
Last year's annual revenue was twelve trillion won, ranking second in domestic construction firms' capacity and order volume, yielding first place to Mirae Construction, but no one disputed its status as a top-tier domestic and international builder.
The CEO of that Taesung Construction was Oh Sang-gyu, who until a year ago had led Taesung Trading's overseas plant division.
He couldn't hide his surprise upon receiving Ji-hyeok.
"What brings the Chief of Staff all the way here..."
"I was nearby on business and called on a whim. Glad you're in, so I stopped by."
"Ah, I see."
But as he exchanged light greetings with Ji-hyeok, Oh Sang-gyu gradually relaxed.
"A significant portion of construction's overseas revenue comes from Trading, right?"
"Yes. You could say all of it. We handle all of Trading's overseas plant projects."
"I see. A bit disappointing, then. You've lost the top spot since taking over."
"True, but I'm not getting too hung up on it. Better to use it as motivation to push forward."
From the conversation, it seemed Oh Sang-gyu was unaware of that morning's incident.
Which meant there was a real power moving construction behind the scenes...
"You have a Business Operations Team Leader named Park Woong-jo here, right?"
"Ah, yes. Is the Chief interested in him by any chance?"
The Future Strategy Office had initially pulled top talents from group affiliates, and continued to do so as needed.
That was the intent behind Oh Sang-gyu's question.
Whether they were poaching for the Future Strategy Office...
"Could I see him now?"
"Yes. One moment, please."
Instead of the intercom, Oh Sang-gyu picked up his cell phone.
He tapped the screen briefly and nodded.
"I told him to come up."
"Thank you. By the way, how was your relationship with President Byeon Hyeok-su of Trading?"
At Ji-hyeok's question, Oh Sang-gyu hesitated for a moment.
He had already heard about the clash between Ji-hyeok and Kang Jin-young.
And President Byeon Hyeok-su's rebellion as well.
But he soon gathered his thoughts and spoke firmly.
"He was my mentor. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say I learned everything about Taesung from him."
"The Myanmar gas field project—is that handled here? What's your take?"
"Reports have been coming up from the overseas division nonstop. About the realities in Myanmar. I judge it's not the path for Taesung."
"I see. I'll back you up. Be President Byeon's strength?"
"If the Chief says so, I have no reason to hesitate. The Myanmar deal is clearly Executive Director Kang Jin-young's misjudgment. It's not internal politics—it's Taesung's issue."
Ji-hyeok nodded at Oh Sang-gyu's response, and at that moment,
- Knock! Knock!
A bespectacled man opened the door and bowed.
"You called for me, President?"
"Yes, Team Leader Park, come in."
"Yes."
Park Woong-jo approached the sofa, sat across from Ji-hyeok, and had a somewhat sluggish face.
Like an eel...
Seeing Ji-hyeok, his expression was like, where have I seen him...?
But then,
"Team Leader Park, say hello. This is the Chief of Staff from the Future Strategy Office."
At Oh Sang-gyu's words, Park Woong-jo flinched and trembled.
And at the same time, Ji-hyeok leaned forward.
"You told them to scare me, right?"
"Ah... no... that..."
"Team Leader Park Woong-jo. Answer well. You get what that means, right?"
"Yes. I'm mortally sorry..."
"Shut up. Who?"
"Well... that is..."
"One more eye twitch, and I won't ask questions. Meaning I'll just end you right there."
"Director Shim Sang-cheol... Director Shim Sang-cheol."
Shim Sang-cheol?
Not a common name.
So naturally, one name surfaced in Ji-hyeok's mind.
"Shim Sang-cheol..."
As Ji-hyeok recalled the name, Oh Sang-gyu's voice came.
"He's the youngest brother of Assemblyman Shim Sang-seop, the current National Assembly Speaker. He's been in construction for ten years, and as far as I know, he joined when Shim Sang-seop was Chairman of the Land Infrastructure and Transport Committee. He's currently handling political and governmental relations."
Several names lined up in Ji-hyeok's mind.
Yeong-il Services' Bang Yeong-il, Taesung Construction Team Leader Park Woong-jo, Director Shim Sang-cheol. Assemblyman Shim Sang-seop...
And according to Chairman Kang Wook, Shim Sang-seop was the protagonist of the blue ledger.
Of course, now just a useless spent politician.
'Wasn't his turn yet, but the name comes up anyway.'
Shim Sang-seop wasn't yet in Ji-hyeok's revenge lineup.
But he'd come knocking himself.
No reason to put it off, then.
Ji-hyeok judged it wasn't bad to clean out all of Sangcheon in one go.
'Alright. So who moved Director Shim Sang-cheol...'
Of course, Shim Sang-seop might have moved his brother at someone's request.
But the scale didn't match.
Not kidnapping or murder, just a scare...
No matter how close to retirement, a National Assembly Speaker wouldn't move for something this petty.
There had to be someone else behind Shim Sang-cheol...
The most suspicious was Kang Jin-young, but that didn't fit.
No way she'd orchestrate something this minor just to scare him.
As Ji-hyeok pondered, Oh Sang-gyu's voice came.
"Chief. Shall I call Director Shim?"
"No. Just confirm he's in his seat. I'll go to him."
"Yes. I'll check."
Oh Sang-gyu tapped his phone screen again.
Moments later,
"Yes. He's in."
"What floor?"
"One floor down. Shall we go together?"
"You would?"
"Of course."
Oh Sang-gyu rose readily and headed to the door.
Ji-hyeok and Eun-seok followed, with the confused Park Woong-jo bringing up the rear.
The four of them descended the emergency stairs in a group and entered the fourteenth floor, drawing all eyes from the bustling employees.
"Oh! President!"
"Good day, sir?"
"President, what brings you here..."
Receiving greetings from passing employees, Oh Sang-gyu strode to the External Cooperation Office.
He stopped in front of the office with the External Cooperation Director plaque.
"Here it is."
But at that moment.
Ji-hyeok, who had been calmly following, suddenly kicked the door hard.
- Bam!
"Gasp!"
"Eek!"
No one had expected it—Oh Sang-gyu and everyone else cried out in shock.
Most startled of all was Director Shim Sang-cheol inside, on a call.
He gaped at Ji-hyeok, staring at the door panel flying toward him.