What's Done Is Done
In the dim predawn hours a few days later, at Incheon Port, Seongjun, Myungwoo, and the other Gangryonghoe operatives stood waiting for someone. Seongjun peered through a pair of binoculars at the horizon and asked the man beside him,
“When did they say the kids would arrive?”
“They said 3:58,” Myungwoo replied, powering on his phone. The screen lit up, showing the current time as 3:50. “Eight minutes left.”
Seongjun lowered the binoculars. Myungwoo looked at him with clear worry.
“By the way, Director Shin got caught by the cops, and our Vietnamese operations are disappearing one by one. Is that really okay?”
“We can always expand the labs into other countries. The real problem is finding a chemist as good as Director Shin…”
“True. The way he cooked opium into product was on another level.”
Seongjun let out a long sigh and fell silent for a moment, deep in thought. Then he told Myungwoo,
“At tomorrow’s headquarters meeting, I’ll suggest we open a line to the Golden Triangle.”
“The Golden Triangle? I heard we’ve been focusing exclusively on philopon lately…”
“Apparently there are still plenty of old-school opium technicians over there. If we recruit a few and have them train our people, it should work.”
“Understood.”
Just then, a small boat glided into the harbor. One of the operatives spotted it and reported to Seongjun,
“Director, the boat is approaching.”
“I see it.”
A short while later the vessel docked. From it stepped Kang Jihun, Taehyun, Jaehyuk, Jeonghan, and the rest of the Gangryonghoe crew who had been in Vietnam.
“I’m sorry, Director. Director Shin is…”
Seongjun walked over to Jihun, who had bowed his head in apology, and gave his shoulder a light pat.
“It’s a heavy loss, but what’s done is done. You all worked hard out there.”
“I’m sorry, Director.”
“If you know you’re sorry, just do better from now on. Don’t let it get to you and screw up the job.”
“Yes, sir.”
Seongjun then turned to Jaehyuk.
“You okay? No injuries?”
“Yes. I’m fine.”
“You’ve been through a lot. Go home and get some rest. If headquarters wants to punish any of you, I’ll shield you as much as I can.”
As he spoke, Seongjun lit a cigarette. He offered the pack to Jihun.
“Want one?”
“No, I’m good.”
“Alright. Everyone, get in the cars and head home. Rest up.”
The operatives climbed into their respective vehicles. Seongjun took a final drag, flicked the cigarette butt to the ground, crushed it under his shoe, then got into his own car. The convoy carrying the Gangryonghoe men soon left the harbor behind. Once again the pier fell silent, as if nothing had ever happened, with only the sound of the wind remaining.
The next day, inside a mansion in Tokyo, Japan.
Katsuyama Junichi, boss of the Katsuyama-gumi, was speaking with one of his subordinates and disciples, Sakaguchi Taiki, in his private room. Taiki voiced his opinion respectfully.
Junichi sipped his tea in silence. Taiki pressed on.
“Disposal is unnecessary,” Junichi cut in calmly. “In any case, advancing into Korea was always going to mean clashing with Gangryonghoe.”
Taiki didn’t dare voice any further objection. Instead he thought to himself,
With that thought, Taiki watched Junichi, who sat with his head bowed in silent anguish, and spoke again with concern.
Junichi glared at him, but Taiki continued without flinching.
“Enough. Say no more.”
Junichi cut him off sharply. He clutched his head with his right hand, fingers digging in, and let out another heavy, tormented sigh.
“Chairman…”
For a long time, only silence filled the room. Finally, Junichi delivered his decision.
He stared at Taiki with firm resolve and added,
“Understood.”
“……You may leave.”
Taiki rose, bowed with perfect etiquette toward his master, and left the room. Even after making his decision, Junichi exhaled a deep sigh, clearly unhappy with it.
Meanwhile, at Crown Holdings headquarters in Seoul, South Korea.
The high-ranking executives of Gangryonghoe had gathered for a meeting. Kang Jiyong, the syndicate boss, sat at the head with the other top brass. Jaehyuk, who had come with Seongjun, scanned the room, eyes moving from face to face.
Choi Kyungsoo from Capital, Lee Dongmin from Construction, Seo Taeyang from Entertainment, Cha Jun-kyung from Trade… All the heavyweights of Korea’s underworld in one place.
He turned to Jeonghan standing beside him.
“Did your boss bring you too?”
“Nah. They randomly picked the staff who would attend with the directors. I just got lucky.”
“I see.”
At that moment, a familiar voice reached their ears.
“Fancy meeting you here.”
It was Kang Jihun—Jaehyuk and Jeonghan’s friend and the only son of Kang Jiyong. Dressed in a sharp black suit, Jihun approached with bodyguards in tow. Both friends were slightly taken aback by his unfamiliar aura.
Dressed like that, he really looks like the heir to Gangryonghoe. Hard to believe he’s the same guy who was a hopeless junkie in my previous life.
Recalling the drug-addled, staggering Jihun from his past life and comparing him to the man before him now, Jaehyuk said,
“Long time no see. That suit looks killer on you, man.”
“Suyeon picked it out for me.”
Jihun then turned to Jeonghan.
“You should call Suyeon once in a while. She’s been really worried about you.”
“I was planning to meet her after the meeting today and catch up.”
Just then, Choi Kyungsoo, representative of Crown Capital, spoke to Jihun.
“So Jihun’s here too?”
“Hello, Uncle.”
Kyungsoo glanced back and forth between Jaehyuk and Jeonghan before asking Jihun,
“Are you three close? You seemed to be chatting quite happily earlier.”
“Yes. We’ve been friends since our third year of high school.”
Taeyeol, standing behind Kyungsoo, stared intently at Jaehyuk.
He looks familiar…?
After searching his memory, Taeyeol finally placed him.
Ah, that kid from the Giant Bomb concert. The little punk who was glaring at me and the director with those weird eyes.
When Taeyeol’s gaze lingered on him, Jaehyuk deliberately turned his head away.
Damn… No matter how many times I see them, those eyes still give me the creeps. Maybe it’s worse because he’s the bastard who killed me and Jeonghan in my last life…?
“I see. Very well.”
With that, Kyungsoo moved away from the three friends. Taeyeol gave Jaehyuk one last quick glance before following his boss.
“So why are you even here?” Jaehyuk asked Jihun.
“Something like heir training, I guess…”
“Didn’t you say you didn’t want to inherit the company?”
“Inheriting the company itself isn’t the problem…”
Jihun glanced around, then spoke to his bodyguards.
“Could you give us a moment? I’d like to talk privately with my friends.”
“Of course.”
Once the bodyguards had withdrawn, Jihun told his two friends,
“Let’s talk outside. Too many ears in here.”
“Uh… sure.”
The three left the conference room before the meeting began. Once they were alone, Jihun continued.
“I don’t mind inheriting the company itself. The problem is what this company actually does for a living. You guys already know, right? What kind of place this really is.”
“We’re not clueless.”
“This might sound arrogant, but I don’t want to keep running the criminal side of the business. You could ask why I’m only saying this now after living off blood money all this time… Ha…”
Jihun trailed off with a heavy sigh. Jaehyuk and Jeonghan looked at him.
“We get what you’re saying. You just don’t want to be a gangster.”
“Are you worried that looking guilty about your family’s crimes will come off as pretentious to us or anyone else?”
“Because I knew what was going on and did nothing while enjoying all that dirty money… that’s the truth.”
Jeonghan cut him off.
“Think about it carefully. What could you have done back then, or even now? You only have the power your father gave you. Did you really think you could change your father’s company? All the connections you have are people loyal to your father—what exactly could you have done?”
Jeonghan looked straight at Jihun and went on.
“Blindly resisting a rotten reality isn’t always right. They say the straightest bamboo snaps in a typhoon, but reeds bend for a moment and then stand back up. Personally, I think it’s fine for you to go along with your father and the organization for now. If you really want to change something, build up your own strength first, then change it. Right now, you’re still weak.”
“Yeah. If you rebel against your father and the organization for no good reason… Even if your dad spares you because you’re his son, what about your uncles? They won’t let you get away with threatening their rice bowls. And it might not stop with just you getting hurt.”
At his friends’ advice, Jihun lowered his head. Jaehyuk added gently,
“For now, adapt to reality. Whatever you want to do… build your power first, then go for it.”
“Thanks for listening.”
Jaehyuk looked at his friend, hoping the burden on Jihun’s heart had lightened even a little.
Back inside the conference room.
Seongjun, seated at the table, checked the Rolex on his wrist. Kyungsoo asked him,
“With Director Shin Jaeguk gone, how should we handle the drug business in Southeast Asia moving forward?”
“I believe we should recruit skilled chemists and train our own personnel.”
“It would have been better if we had done that while Director Shin was still here. You’re in charge of the drug side of the business, Director Ha—why didn’t you prepare for this earlier?”
Kyungsoo’s tone was openly sarcastic, as if the entire situation was Seongjun’s fault for failing to have a contingency plan.
That son of a bitch hasn’t done shit for the drug business himself…
Cha Jun-kyung glared at Kyungsoo. The gaze of Baek San—former action leader of Gangryonghoe—watching from the side was equally cold.
“So from now on, we should put proper measures in place so this kind of situation doesn’t happen again.”
Kyungsoo snorted and stared at Seongjun.
“So you’re saying it’s time to fix the barn after the horse has already bolted?”
“Exactly. We have to fix it.”
Seongjun stared right back at Kyungsoo and continued,
“What’s wrong with fixing the barn after losing one horse? The guy who refuses to fix it will never be able to raise another horse again.”
Kyungsoo bit his lip tightly, clearly stung by the retort, then looked down and fell silent.
At that moment the conference room door opened and Hwang Mu-seok—Kang Jiyong’s secretary—entered. He was a massive man who looked to be in his late thirties, easily over 190 centimeters tall, with a face as fierce as a wild boar.
“The Chairman is entering.”
Almost before the words left his mouth, Gangryonghoe boss Kang Jiyong and his bodyguard chief Yu Dongseok walked in. Every executive in the room rose to their feet. Once Jiyong had taken his seat, the others sat down as well. Jiyong’s sharp eyes swept over them.
“Let the meeting begin.”