Chairman Do Jeahyun Takes the Field
I’m translating the chapter directly into the required HTML format and preserving the established names, tone, and paragraph structure. I’m treating the scene break as a styled divider and keeping the dialogue in separate paragraphs as requested.CHAPTER_TITLE: Chairman Do Jaehyun Takes the Field
A massage shop in Jangandong, Dongdaemun District, Seoul.
What had once been a jjimjilbang had been converted into a three-story massage parlor, and dozens of broad-shouldered men in white robes were sprawled through the place, enjoying the sauna and massages.
VIP room of the massage parlor.
"...Museong?"
The man lying face-down on the bed as he received a massage picked up his phone.
"So... you want me to set up a meeting between the old man Kim in Gangbuk and Kim Baekho, not with them, but with Chairman Do, the man who newly took over the Baekho Faction?"
Jeong Taeyang, the boss of Gangnam's Taeyang Faction, twitched a brow.
"All right, I got it. I’ll decide the time and place."
Jeong Taeyang closed the phone and got down from the bed. Then the curtain to his room drew back, and a hulking man with slicked-back hair came in and bowed his head.
"Boss. Shall we leave now?"
"Tch. We’re out. Pull everyone back."
"...Understood."
"Tell the boys not to start trouble in someone else’s neighborhood, and to just keep quiet, get their massage, and leave. Give them some pocket money too, for their trouble."
"Yes, boss."
"I’m heading out first. Come back after you’ve stayed a while."
"Are you sure you’ll be fine alone?"
Without a word, Jeong Taeyang waved a hand and left the massage shop. As he drove for a while, he called someone.
"Hey, little brother who only remembers his big brother when he needs something."
"You’re the one who calls first whenever you make trouble, so I don’t think you’re in any position to say that."
The voice on the other end belonged to Jeong Taeseong, the riot police captain at Mapo Police Station.
"Oh? Even if I’m your half-brother, I’m still your brother. You’ve got a long memory for a bastard who hasn’t been beaten in a while, huh?"
"Have you ever won against me?"
"I’ve been too good to you, and now you want to act up? Come on then. Let’s see it. Huh? Let’s hear you beg for it."
"Go ahead, then."
After trading meaningless chatter for a while, Jeong Taeyang chuckled and turned the wheel.
"Damn punk, I was thinking I’d swing by and show my face for once, but I guess I’ve got to turn around."
Jeong Taeyang’s car turned at the end of Mapo Bridge and headed back toward Gangnam.
"Enough small talk. Let’s get to the point. What the hell is this Do Jaehyun guy, or this Chairman Do? Is he really some Hankuk University Law School graduate?"
"Yeah. He’s my classmate. Unusual, isn’t he?"
"I haven’t met him yet, so I can’t say. All right, what am I supposed to do here?"
"Do whatever that Joker bastard wants."
"Joker?"
"Ah, right. Do Jaehyun’s nickname is Joker. You never know which way he’ll fly off, and he’s the kind of bastard who could blow up a ten-billion-won gas station with ten thousand won worth of gasoline, just like the Joker. Heh..."
"A gangster can’t afford to lose face. You’re telling me the great Jeong Taeyang should bow his head?"
Jeong Taeyang’s smiling face hardened.
"I’m not telling you to bow your head. Brother, have you ever lost when you listened to me?"
"That’s a different matter."
"That’s why you’re a thug."
"What was that, you bastard?"
"You’ve never lost when you listened to me, right? If you don’t listen to Jaehyun, you’ll be so pissed you won’t even be able to sleep."
"Why."
"I told you, he’s the kind of guy who can turn a hundred thousand won into ten billion. Just trust this rude little brother once."
"...Then I’d better go see him."
"Huh?"
"I said I’m going to see this nephew, or Joker, right now."
Jeong Taeyang’s car made another U-turn on Mapo-daero and headed for Myeongdong.
Office of Yeonhui Credit Union.
"Yo~."
The man walking up to Kim Museong while he was smoking with three or four thugs at the front entrance of the office tucked into the alleys near Yeongdeungpo Station raised a hand in greeting.
"Chairman Jeong...?"
It was Jeong Taeyang, the boss of Gangnam’s Taeyang Faction.
"What brings you here all of a sudden?"
Kim Museong dropped the cigarette from his mouth into a drain and bowed to Jeong Taeyang.
"I told you. I decide the time and place. The old man Kim is inside, right? That friend called Chairman Do should be here too."
Kim Museong immediately grasped Jeong Taeyang’s intent.
"This way. Come in."
"Haha, our Museong’s grown up a lot, hasn’t he? I thought you’d still be clueless. Is this what they call seeing someone in a new light?"
"... "
Jeong Taeyang opened the office door.
The three major organizations in Seoul.
Gangnam’s Taeyang Faction boss, Jeong Taeyang.
Gangbuk’s first boss of the Kimhasa Faction, Kim Jungyeong.
And...
I, Do Jaehyun, chairman of the Baekho Faction in Jung-gu.
It was earlier than expected, but the heads of the three great organizations ruling the underworld had all gathered.
"Oh my, it’s been a while, old man Kim."
"Jeong Taeyang, why the hell are you here...?"
Kim Jungyeong shot to his feet when he saw Jeong Taeyang entering through the office door.
"Sit down, old man. I came as a guest too, so why bother standing to welcome me?"
Jeong Taeyang skipped past Kim Jungyeong and came over to me, extending a hand.
"Good to meet you, Chairman Do. I’m Jeong Taeyang, the man running a money-making business in Gangnam."
"I’m Do Jaehyun, the man making money."
"That’s funny. You’ve got a sense of humor, Chairman Do."
"Please, sit."
"Old man, let’s sit together. Guests should sit opposite the host."
With his easygoing grin, Jeong Taeyang shoved Kim Jungyeong, who looked grave, aside with his hip and claimed half the sofa for himself.
"What exactly are you two trying to do here?"
"What do you mean? We sat down to talk. If you’re uncomfortable, old man, you can get up."
"Listen here, Chairman Do."
Realizing he couldn’t get through to Jeong Taeyang, Kim Jungyeong turned his eyes to me instead.
"I made a promise. I said I’d give you what I owed. So why is Jeong Taeyang here now? You’re not planning something together, are you?"
"Old man, haven’t you been retired so long you’ve lost your edge?"
"You little punk."
At Jeong Taeyang’s second sneer, Kim Jungyeong could no longer hold back.
"Don’t show your teeth. Before I rip that mouth open myself."
Growling through ragged breaths, Kim Jungyeong rose from his seat with an expression full of anger.
"Chairman Do, if you cut this bastard’s throat for me, I’ll hand over the loan-sharking business and two nightclubs in Suyu-ri. We’ll handle the cleanup too."
"Good grief. You’re trying to snatch up Gangnam by tossing in two lousy nightclubs for a loan business worth a pittance? What, did Baekho Faction boys all get shot in the head?"
"That’s enough, Chairman Kim."
If I let this drag on, it would never end, so I had no choice but to step in.
"You too, Chairman Jeong. Settle down."
"What a shame. That was getting good."
"Fine, fine. For your sake, Chairman Do, I’ll stop. I’m the one who’d end up looking foolish anyway."
Kim Jungyeong moved to the seat beside me.
"I’ll say it again, then. I’ll hand over all the loan-sharking business and the two nightclubs. But the nightclubs are only to be transferred in shares; management stays with us. I won’t be tampering with the books."
"That isn’t what I want."
"Then what, you want me to strip naked too? If that’s what you want, we might as well finish this right now."
"What I want isn’t from Chairman Kim. What I do need is what Chairman Kim is offering."
I pushed the cold cup of coffee toward Jeong Taeyang.
"Since you’re here, Chairman Jeong, why don’t you join in and make this work for everyone?"
"Haha, suits me fine. Let’s hear it first."
Jeong Taeyang’s eyes shone with interest as he looked back and forth between Kim Jungyeong and me, then seized the opening and cut into the conversation.
"We’ll release Kim Gijung, boss of the Kimhasa Faction, and the action leaders too. Just send over a few actors who can shoulder the blame properly. And then..."
I took out a cigarette, slipped it between my lips, and lit it.
"We’ll transfer the loan-sharking business and the nightclub shares to the Taeyang Faction."
"What?! Does that even make sense?"
"Oh? Really?"
Jeong Taeyang and Kim Jungyeong’s fortunes reversed in an instant, and Kim Jungyeong, worked up into a frenzy, sprang to his feet and grabbed an ashtray.
"Don’t talk nonsense. You bastards were already scheming to..."
The Baekho Faction taking the shares was the price they had to pay for losing a war. But the Taeyang Faction taking those spoils was a result Kim Jungyeong simply could not accept.
By contrast, Jeong Taeyang had no reason to refuse money rolling straight into his mouth without lifting a finger.
"I’m not finished yet. The Taeyang Faction has something to hand over too."
"Haha, damn it. Did I make you think I was too easy to deal with?"
"Hmm..."
Jeong Taeyang’s expression changed. Kim Jungyeong, on the other hand, slowly set down the ashtray with a wavering face.
"Everyone calm down. You both should accept my proposal. If you’re gangsters, you’d care about pretexts and territory, but I’m not."
"... "
"Really? So what makes you different? Old man Kim lost the fight, so he has to spit out whatever’s demanded of him, but I’m not in that position. Why should I listen to you? I don’t see any pretext, and I’d say I’m stronger too."
"Chairman Jeong, you came here alone too."
"What?!"
At that moment, the door to the Yeonhui Credit Union office opened, and Red Dog and Gilwoo walked in.
"Chairman Jeong, do I really look like some gangster who cares about meaningless pretexts?"
"... "
"Not a gangster? Then what you do is so foul even thugs would look clean beside you. No, wait. Maybe a street rat?"
Unlike Kim Jungyeong, who had enough experience with me to know what kind of person I was, Jeong Taeyang didn’t lose his composure.
"Those eyes are alive. That’s the guy who took down the Baekho boys at Helios Nightclub, right?"
Jeong Taeyang glanced at Kim Museong and Shin Gilwoo standing behind me, then curled up the corner of his mouth.
"But listen, Chairman Do."
Jeong Taeyang slipped off the jacket of his suit.
Even hidden beneath a black suit and white shirt, his body was built like a fighter’s, sturdier than most martial artists.
Functional muscle, perfectly forged for real combat.
His lats were especially well developed, a hallmark of someone who had trained in kendo.
"I’m not the same as the Baekho or Chairman Kim here. You say I came alone? So what are you going to do about it? If you’ve got confidence, come at me."
Jeong Taeyang rose, flexing and loosening his hands as he taunted me and Gilwoo, but as expected of a former soldier, Gilwoo did not react until I gave the order.
"Chairman Jeong."
I took Jeong Taeyang’s hand as smoothly as if we were shaking on a deal.
"Muscle, punching power, toughness. Those are all things anyone can train. I understand you’re confident in a fight. But..."
I pressed down lightly on Jeong Taeyang’s hand.
"Huh...? Huh?"
Jeong Taeyang strained hard enough for his face to flush red, but he couldn’t match the strength in my arm, and his stance began to collapse inch by inch.
"You bastard...?"
When Jeong Taeyang, startled, tried to throw a punch, I shoved at the back of his knee, pinned his chest with my shoulder, and twisted the hand I was holding just enough to break his balance.
"No human can train his joints. Guest privileges end here. From this moment on, I’d appreciate careful attention to your words and actions."
"... "
"You understand, right?"
"...Yeah."
The atmosphere turned a little awkward, but the effect was there. Freed from my grip, Jeong Taeyang straightened his posture and sat back down at the table, unlike a moment ago.
"Thank God I didn’t bring the boys. Damn it, if they’d seen that, I’d have been too embarrassed to show my face."
"Chairman Do, let’s wrap up the business talk."
"Sure. Chairman Jeong."
"Go ahead, Chairman Do."
Now even the way Jeong Taeyang addressed me had added the polite honorific.
"All of Chairman Kim’s loan-sharking business and the shares in the two nightclubs in Gangbuk. I’ll hand all of it over to Gangnam. In return, Chairman Jeong will give me the entertainment company you own, along with all the shares you initially invested in the major entertainment business."
"What?!"
Jeong Taeyang’s eyes went wide.
He wasn’t shocked because he couldn’t accept my offer.
He was shocked because my offer was far too favorable to him. Not later, perhaps, but at least for now.
"Chairman Do, you said you graduated from Hankuk University Law School, right?"
"Yes."
"Back in high school, I had exactly one teacher who used to say he’d be the one to turn me into a proper man..."
Jeong Taeyang grinned and extended his hand toward me.
"The teacher told me to listen carefully when smart people talk. So let’s do it that way."
"It won’t be a bad deal for Chairman Kim either."
"Heh. Could it get any worse than this?"
"You broke the truce and launched a surprise attack on the Baekho Faction. The fact that you’re still sitting here in one piece is already a gain, isn’t it? And..."
I handed my phone to Kim Museong.
"Go outside, dial 35, and call them. Tell them I’m asking for a favor, and to give Kim Gijung, the boss of the Kimhasa Faction, and the key people a few days of questioning at most before releasing them."
"Yes, Chairman."
Kim Jungyeong and Jeong Taeyang both gave a slight shudder.
"I’ve already given Chairman Kim what he wanted too. Those shares were going to be handed to me anyway. What does it matter what I do with them?"
"... "
"One year."
"Huh?"
"One year?"
"For the next year, there’ll be no stabbing each other in the back or the front, whether openly or in secret."
The corners of Jeong Taeyang and Kim Jungyeong’s mouths twitched.
They probably had plenty to say, but I had no intention of entertaining their opinions.
They couldn’t imagine it now, but one year from today, they wouldn’t be able to fight even if they wanted to.
"I’ll take that as agreement from both of you."