The Office-Tel
The next day, after receiving the vehicle from the company, Manager Kim In-su headed straight for the officetel. It was the place he had handed over to Manager Park, so he even knew the front-door password.
Thud.
Once inside, Manager Kim frowned slightly. The damp, moldy smell told him at once that no one had been coming or going for some time.
“Is this not the right place?”
Inside the officetel, rows of cabinets stood ready to hold all kinds of documents, and there was even a large safe for the important files. But there was no sign that anyone had stayed here at all.
“……”
Manager Kim’s eyes gleamed as he looked at the safe.
The chairman is dead, and there’s no sign of where Manager Park or Choi Jeong-san disappeared to...
The urge to get greedy rose in him before he could stop it.
Our slush fund isn’t all in overseas secret accounts.
Only the larger sums were kept in foreign accounts. The funds used domestically were held in nominee accounts and in cash. And now that word had spread that Choi Jeong-san had supposedly blown the whole slush fund, there was no one left who could verify a reduced cash balance in the safe.
“...But not now.”
Choi Jeong-san and Park Jin-tae might have vanished, but they could always come back and check the safe.
“I hope they’ve gone abroad.”
Once it was confirmed that the two of them had fled overseas, he would have nothing to fear. He would be able to return all the documents and the safe’s slush fund while quietly skimming off a portion for himself. Until now, Kim In-su had judged it likely that the two men had gone abroad after going underground.
“Heh.”
With a pleasant little fantasy in mind, Manager Kim opened the safe.
Clink. Clink.
Beep-beep. Beep-beep-beep.
He swung the safe open without hesitation, then forced his eyes away from the gold bars and stacks of cash and sorted through the documents inside.
“One, two, three... fortunately, not that many.”
They were court registration documents for officetels that had been purchased in addition to this one. There was also a carefully maintained ledger for officetel management, complete with access codes and card keys.
“If I check three more places, that should be the end of it.”
Manager Kim’s eyes glittered again at the sight of the gold and cash in the safe, and he quickly shut it back up.
Thump. Click.
No need to rush.
If he handled the job properly, there would be a little something left over for him.
* * *
The officetel where Manager Kim found signs of recent visitors was the last, the third one.
“Bingo.”
The unkempt interior stank of a bachelor who had left things to rot. And there were plenty of clues left behind that could reveal where the two men had gone afterward.
“Oh?”
Among the scattered documents, Manager Kim spotted travel pamphlets for overseas destinations and a map of Europe, and let out a quiet cheer. The chances of them having slipped out of the country by sea had just gone up.
“Nice!”
If things had been normal, those materials should not have been left behind. But Manager Park had been careless with the cleanup because he had never doubted he would survive and return.
“What I need now is solid proof.”
Manager Kim immediately picked up his phone.
“Vice President James. This is Kim In-su.”
- Ah. Manager Kim. Has it only been a few days already, and you’ve found something?
“I wouldn’t call it certain. I’ve only just gotten a rough outline.”
- I see. Where do you think they are?
“I’m afraid I can’t say just yet. I contacted you first because I need one last confirmation before I can move forward.”
- Go ahead.
“I need to trace Manager Park Jin-tae’s vehicle. If it was reported stolen, the police should be able to locate it.”
- Ah. I hadn’t thought of that. Manager Park never returned the company car...
“Please file the theft report for that vehicle.”
- I’ll have Strategic Secretariat handle it. I’ll pass along word as soon as the police contact us.
* * *
A few days later, the Strategy Office was able to confirm the location of Manager Park’s car through the police, and Manager Kim rushed there at once.
“He came all the way to Sokcho...”
Manager Kim pressed the spare-key button he had received from the Strategy Office.
Beep.
The car parked in the harbor lot answered back. Manager Kim leisurely searched the interior.
It would be strange if anything were left in here anyway...
Just locating the vehicle was already a major gain. They had already confirmed through the Immigration Office that the men had not gone abroad. If they had left the country illegally, then Incheon or Busan was the more likely route. It would have been one of the exits to China or Japan. Sokcho was one of them too, but this was the route taken when slipping out toward Russia.
Thump.
After finishing his check of the car, Kim In-su turned his gaze outward. The CCTV at the entrance to the parking lot came into view.
“Check item number one.”
One hundred percent chance they went to Russia. In that case, they’ll have arranged for a boat, right?
This time, Manager Kim’s eyes moved toward the harbor.
“Add it to the checklist.”
Finally, if he checked the harbor CCTV from that day as well, he would be able to confirm the men’s final trail.
* * *
James had arrived at Choi Jeong-pil’s home at Manager Kim’s summons. And Manager Kim laid a black approval folder down before the two of them.
“This is the report on my investigation up to this point.”
“……”
Choi Jeong-pil did not want to open it. If it contained proof that Choi Jeong-san was still in the country, he was afraid he would never be able to forgive his brother.
But James could already guess exactly what the report contained.
“May I look first?”
“Yes. You can go first, nephew.”
James did not seem to intend to read it alone; he lifted the report from the table. The first page contained printed photographs of CCTV footage.
“Where is this?”
“It’s the Sokcho harbor where Manager Park’s vehicle was found.”
Rustle.
After the photo from the parking lot surveillance camera came another, showing two men heading from the harbor toward a boat. But there was no image that could identify the vessel they had boarded.
“So the two of them took a boat?”
“Yes. We believe they went out onto the high seas on an unregistered vessel.”
“Destination unknown?”
Manager Kim had written that he could not determine where the two men were now.
“It’s likely they boarded a ship in the East Sea bound for Russia, but even if they entered Russia, it would still be difficult to pinpoint where they went after that. Manager Park has wide connections overseas, so it’s also possible they crossed into Europe or the Americas. Broadly speaking, East Asia is still within the possible range as well.”
“So for now, we can’t know... but at least it seems certain they’re not in the country?”
“Yes. We can’t know why they left the country in such strict secrecy, but we do know they left. The time they boarded the boat was the first day of the chairman’s funeral. Right before the obituary article was published.”
At Manager Kim’s firm answer, Choi Jeong-pil let out a long breath.
“Hoo.”
He took this to mean his brother had a valid reason for missing their father’s funeral. James, as if he had not heard Choi Jeong-pil’s sigh, turned back to the front page of the report.
“But why is it only Manager Park who’s pulling a suitcase here?”
“Pardon?”
“They went abroad without authorization, but they couldn’t have known how long they’d be staying overseas. And you’re saying everything the two of them took fit into a single suitcase?”
James seemed to be analyzing the situation with sharp precision.
“Uh...”
“You did confirm the vessel heading for Russia at the time, correct?”
“I couldn’t verify that far...”
“Then you can’t be certain they even left the country?”
“……”
James was lowering the credibility of the report and throwing the whole matter into confusion.
“Is there no chance they went to Ulleungdo?”
“Ah!”
Right. There was still a possibility they had gone to Ulleungdo.
Of all the islands you could reach by boat from the East Sea, only Ulleungdo fit.
“It may be a slim chance, but it’s possible.”
“Then we’ll need to search Ulleungdo as well. You’d have a hard time doing that alone, so I’ll send more Strategy Office staff.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
James then pointed out another part of the report.
“Three outside officetels. Added to the existing one, that means there were four bases I didn’t know about?”
“...Yes.”
“And the existing officetel is full of TY Group’s dirty secrets?”
“That’s correct.”
“The three newly discovered officetels should be disposed of immediately, and I’ll have the existing one cleaned up through the Strategy Office. We’ll handle it through Director Kang Dong-hwi now that he’s taken over the Strategy Office. My grandfather passed away honorably after returning all his wealth to society, so we can’t stain that now.”
“……”
Manager Kim could already see the gold bars and bundles of cash flying away into thin air.
“Manager Kim, you’ll come with me today and verify that first.”
“...Yes.”
Damn it. I should have taken my share first...
Choi Jeong-pil was still in the middle of being startled by James’s new, deft way of handling things.
“...He’s better than his brother.”
“There are probably not many people worse than that man.”
“...Fair.”
“Then I’ll be going.”
James offered Choi Jeong-pil a parting nod and turned right around.
“If you confirm any additional details, send them separately to me, Manager Kim. I’ll hear the rest through Director Kang.”
“Yes. Let’s go.”
* * *
After arriving at the officetel with Manager Kim, James went straight to the safe.
“Open it.”
“...Yes.”
There was regret all over Manager Kim’s hands as he opened it.
I got greedy for nothing.
Thud.
Inside the safe, the same gold bars and bundles of cash he had seen before greeted him.
“That’s a lot for emergency money.”
“It was funds to be used in case of need.”
“For example?”
“They could be handed to politicians during election season...”
The bearer bonds, which Manager Kim had originally not dared to covet, were meant for that sort of use.
“There are times when unexpected prosecutorial investigations make judicial trading necessary.”
The gold and cash were there for moments like that.
“So the assets stored here have no owner, then?”
“Strictly speaking, you could say they belonged to Chairman Choi Tae-yeong.”
But he was already dead.
“And after that, they were inherited by Young Master Choi Jeong-san.”
That bastard’s dead too.
James had planned to stash everything in his inventory, but he decided to leave a small reward for the man who had diligently finished his work.
“How much is all this?”
“...Cash is 2.9 billion won. There are thirty-five gold bars, each one kilogram, and twelve bearer bonds, each worth 500 million won.”
“Bring me a bag.”
“...Yes.”
Manager Kim brought over a hard-case briefcase he had prepared for transporting money, and James stuffed it full of cash bundles. He even squeezed a few gold bars into the remaining space.
“This is your share, Manager Kim.”
“!!”
“I’m not an inflexible man. I think someone who’s working hard for TY Group, even after the grandfather is gone, deserves this much.”
At times like this, no further words were needed.
“Thank you!”
His body swayed under the weight of the heavy bag, but Manager Kim felt as if he might float away.
This man is on another level!
It was the greatest generosity he had ever seen, greater even than what Chairman Choi Tae-yeong or President Choi Jeong-san had ever shown.
“If you can’t find traces of the two men on Ulleungdo, then search Russia, Europe, and the Americas as well.”
“...Pardon?”
Expanding the search area would not only reduce the chance of finishing quickly, it also meant there might be no leads at all, and going abroad in that state would be nothing more than a waste of time.
“I’m not telling you to work harder. Even if the two of them came back, there’d be no place left for them in TY Group anyway. I mean you should look around at a leisurely pace, as if you were traveling the world. Think of the money I gave you as travel expenses.”
“Haha...”
It was an instruction that eased the burden on his mind as well.
“I’ll handle the remaining valuables in the safe myself, and I’ll leave the officetel cleanup to Director Kang.”
“Yes. I’ll hand this work over to Director Kang later.”
“Go on. I’ll summon the Strategy Office first. Even if we’re cleaning it out, we still need to check what’s in here.”
Before Director Kang Dong-hwi and the Strategy Office staff arrived at the officetel, James emptied the safe cleanly.
Whoosh.
The gold bars and cash vanished from inside, leaving only the bearer bonds behind.
Those need to be cashed out fast...
The bearer bonds were never going to become some politician’s slush fund.
Thud.
“Vice President. I brought only trustworthy staff.”
Director Kang Dong-hwi arrived with the Strategy Office employees.
“Good. Let’s start clearing things out here. Make a list of the documents and sort them through. Once I’ve got the summarized materials later, I’ll decide what to keep and what to destroy.”
“Yes!”
“Oh, and Director Kang. Can you handle this?”
What James held out to Kang Dong-hwi was the set of twelve bearer bonds.
“That’s 6 billion won in total. There’ll be a fee, but it shouldn’t be difficult.”
Slush-fund size tended to scale with company size.