The Chairman Goes to Work Alone, Chapter 55
Everyone’s attention locked onto Gong Hyeongtae, whose presence looked like that of a gang boss at a glance.
"I didn’t get much schooling, so I don’t really know much about the law or anything like that. But."
Gulp. Gulp.
His hulking frame and gravelly voice took command of the room without effort, and the sound of people swallowing nervously rose from all around.
"I know full well that assault isn’t only about hitting someone. If we interfered with business, then we can take responsibility for that. But isn’t it going too far to swear at and talk down to a customer who came to repay his debt, even if you’re loan sharks?"
"Umm..."
"From where I’m standing, this doesn’t seem like something the police need to get involved in, detective."
Then Yoo Hobin quickly cut in and continued.
"If you look at the law, the debtor-creditor relationship in a lending contract with a loan agreement isn't a criminal matter, is it? It’s a civil matter. Wouldn't it be a problem for the police to interfere in a creditor-debtor relationship between private parties and side with one side or the other?"
"What did you say?!"
Detective Jo Taehyung’s voice rose for the first time. Wasn’t this bastard of a thug basically telling the police to stop taking sides and get lost?
"Detective Jo."
At that moment, an older detective who seemed to be the senior officer in charge of the scene called Jo Taehyung gently.
"...Yes, Inspector."
"Let’s hear the gentleman out a little more first."
"...Understood."
At the senior officer’s quiet admonition, Detective Jo Taehyung forced down the surge of irritation in his chest. Based on the way the inspector had handled things over the past three years, was this what they called experience born from years on the force?
No.
Jo Taehyung took it as a warning born from the senior inspector’s long detective instinct.
"Go on."
"Detective, we—no, two of our employees did, in fact, scatter money on the floor."
The branch manager Yoo Hobin carefully separated himself and Brown Bear Gong Hyeongtae from the person who had triggered the incident, neatly cutting the tail off so that if anything went wrong, only Kim Jooyoung and Ha Taeseon would be dragged into it.
And the police knew that better than anyone, but since Yoo Hobin’s words weren’t untrue, they nodded without saying much.
"But the real problem, wouldn’t you say, is the person who shouted and cursed at someone who came to repay money?"
"What? These people... I’ve heard enough. This is too much, seriously."
Team Leader Kim Donggeon, flustered, shouted in alarm and hurriedly swept his gaze over the office staff, searching desperately for help with pleading eyes.
"Look here. No matter how you slice it, this isn’t right. Do people who came to repay money act like that?"
"We were going to keep quiet if possible, but since the police are here too, I don’t think saying things like that is appropriate."
"That’s right. Right now, the company’s business operations are being seriously obstructed."
Realizing the situation was drifting in a strange direction, the other team leaders at AK Capital, who had been watching in silence, chimed in to support Kim Donggeon.
But...
"Yes, fine. Let’s say everything you said is right. Still, no matter how badly we acted, did we do something so terrible that someone had to point a gun at us while fearing for their life? Huh? Speak up. Am I wrong?"
Yoo Hobin stabbed at AK Capital’s sorest spot with all his strength.
"This isn’t the Eighties anymore, and no matter how chaotic the end of the century and the IMF crisis are, what kind of company points guns, not knives, at people who came to repay money? Just looking at the scale here, this seems like a proper lending company operating openly and on a large scale. Even if you borrowed money from a loan shark in Myeongdong, you wouldn’t get treated like this. Detective, isn’t that right?"
"That..."
This time, even Detective Jo Taehyung had nothing to say.
"Hmm... All right, everyone, calm down for a moment. Could you listen to me?"
The elderly detective who appeared to be the top-ranking officer on site drew everyone’s attention with a smile.
"From what I’ve heard from you gentlemen, this looks like a private creditor-debtor dispute. Depending on the circumstances, it could be seen as a matter between corporations, but fundamentally, it seems to be a civil debt issue, not a criminal one. So this is not the kind of situation the police, as a public authority, can respond to."
"B-but still..."
"Exactly. The detective is right."
Kim Donggeon stammered, looking at the police with a pitiful expression, but Yoo Hobin immediately echoed the senior detective’s words as though he had been waiting for them.
"Therefore, as the people's guardians who place public safety first, I think it would be right for us to investigate this gun incident first."
Thud.
At that moment, a female employee in the corner of the office, a fair distance from Gong Hyeongtae’s group, swayed and collapsed, and three or four chairs scattered around her toppled to the floor with her.
She was the one who had called security on the phone.
"Then we’ll be taking our leave. And the person who made the report today, and Team Leader Kim Donggeon here?"
"Yes?"
"Me?"
"Could the two of you bring your IDs over for a moment?"
The elderly detective skillfully checked junior employee Ha Taeseon’s and Team Leader Kim Donggeon’s IDs, wrote down their names, resident registration numbers, and addresses in his notebook, and asked, "Where do you work, and what’s your phone number?"
"I’m Assistant Manager Ha Taeseon from Yeonhui Credit Union. As for my phone number, I live with my mother, so it’d be a bit awkward to give that one. Can I give you my mobile number instead?"
"Yes, go ahead."
"Yes... 016-111-2222."
"Team Leader Kim Donggeon?"
"N-no, why do you need my mobile number? What crime did I even commit?"
Unlike Assistant Manager Ha Taeseon, Team Leader Kim Donggeon backed away and dodged the question.
"We’re not trying to investigate you as a suspect caught in the act. It’s just a routine witness interview. We only need your contact information."
"I-I don’t want to. I’m calling a lawyer, a lawyer."
"You can do that at the station as well. Would it be all right to proceed with a voluntary accompaniment? Will you come with us?"
"No, why would I—"
"So please just give me your phone number."
"......"
"Understood. We already have your address, so the police may send you mail to your home or workplace later. That should be fine, yes?"
"W-wait."
Mail.
Even the thought that something this disgraceful might be sent from the police station made Kim Donggeon feel dizzy. If police mail came to his home...
"Oppa! What is this? Did you do something? The baby’s barely even had its first birthday, and what on earth did you do? You said you’d make me live well. You said you weren’t doing anything bad."
"Mr. Kim, what on earth is this? Why is mail coming from the police station? And what is this charge? Special robbery? S-special robbery? Honey, stop reading the paper and look at this. Mr. Kim, apparently..."
"Young man, what is this about? Explain yourself. Did you commit robbery?"
"I don’t know. Dad, am I getting divorced? What do I do now? My poor child, what am I supposed to do, sob sob..."
Kim Donggeon had nothing. Five years earlier, he had married a community college student he met at a nightclub after a one-night stand gone wrong, and had been living at his in-laws’ house for years, enduring their disapproval. Just as he was finally saving enough money to rent a place and move out, this happened...
And if the mail went to the office instead?
That might be slightly better than having it sent home, but that would bring its own set of catastrophic complications.
In a single word: ruin.
That one word explained everything.
"...I’ll give you the number. 017-666-4444..."
Having just come back from hell in the space of a few seconds, Kim Donggeon, his face charred blank and dead, gave the elderly detective his mobile number, and Detective Jo Taehyung handed out his business card to Ha Taeseon and Kim Donggeon.
"Then we’ll be withdrawing for now. I hope you can resolve this amicably."
* * *
"They’re leaving now."
Do Jaehyun took a sip of the warm chrysanthemum tea he had just ordered at the cafe and watched the police withdraw as if it had nothing to do with him.
"......"
"Aren’t you drinking? I ordered you the expensive ginger tea on purpose, and it’s going to go cold. It tastes awful once it does."
"Does it look like I can get this tea down my throat right now? Huh? Can’t you see this?"
Department Manager Lee Jinhee held up her phone and threw it at Do Jaehyun.
"Don’t throw it that hard. It’s a phone you bought not long ago. Since it was me, I caught it, but if it had been Team Leader Kim Donggeon, he’d have been all, ‘I’m sorry, Department Manager, the phone slipped out of my hand,’ while making a miserable face."
"......I’m not in the mood for jokes."
I knew that well enough.
If I’d been Lee Jinhee, this was the kind of incident that would have left me too restless to sit still. The one thing that might count as a relief from Lee Jinhee’s point of view was that as soon as the executive meeting held after lunch ended, the representative director and the other key executives all left the office and were no longer in the company.
But that also meant a time limit had been set. They had to fix everything before the executives came in tomorrow.
"If you’ve got eyes, then look. Can’t you see my phone is on fire right now?"
Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzzzzt.
Just as Lee Jinhee said, her phone was receiving nonstop text messages, and even now calls kept coming in.
AK Capital Management Support Office.
The caller’s name appeared on the screen.
"Looks urgent. Should I take it for you?"
"What?"
I, in plain view of Lee Jinhee, placed my thumb on the call button.
"You crazy bastard!"
Lee Jinhee reached out with a curse to snatch the phone away, but before she could stop me, I pressed the call button hard.
"Hello?"
The familiar voice of a female employee came through the phone speaker, and Lee Jinhee looked at me with a complicated expression, one that mixed resignation, confusion, and anger.
Still, she didn’t try to stop me or forcibly grab the phone away.
"Where are you right now? We’re in big trouble. Everyone’s looking for you, so why aren’t you answering? You’re not even reading your texts. Not only the debt collection department, but the other department managers are all in a frenzy. I don’t know where you are, but please get back to the office as soon as possible."
As soon as I picked up, the female employee poured out her words like rapid-fire bullets, and I leisurely took another sip of fragrant chrysanthemum tea before asking her, "Who is this?"
"Pardon?"
......
For an instant, silence flowed from the phone speaker.
"Huh? Isn’t this Department Manager Lee Jinhee’s phone?"