Trash Coiner Gets His Lesson / The Friend's Daughter Who'll Do Anything
The beef kept sizzling on the grill, and the soju glasses kept getting refilled.
"Ah, this bastard's still no fun. Seriously, you don't drink at all? First time seeing you in ages and this is what you pull?"
Lee Jong-man chided Han-seok, who sat across the table from him.
"Sorry, sorry. I'm on the night shift, so I probably shouldn't drink. And I've got somewhere to be soon anyway."
Han Dong-jin said.
"Fair enough. Can't argue with that. How about a soft drink then, Han-seok? Sprite? Coke?"
Lee Jong-man and Jin Hyun-woo frowned at Dong-jin, grimacing.
Jong-man had been tapping the table with his finger in silence when he finally opened his mouth.
"Han-seok."
"Yeah?"
"Do you still have what happened in high school weighing on you, by any chance?"
The gazes of everyone except Han-seok crossed busily back and forth.
"Ha ha. Honestly, it's not exactly easy to forget."
Jong-man let out a long haaa— of a laugh.
"Come on, man, that was over thirty years ago. We did all that just to have a little fun. Right? We were buddies. Truth is, you've forgotten all about it too, haven't you? You're over it now, right?"
"Buddies? To have a little fun?"
A crease formed between Jong-man's brows.
Han-seok spoke.
"I don't think of any of you as friends. The only reason I came is because Dong-jin said he'd be paying. I'm here for the free beef. Lee. Jong. Man."
It was the same taunt Ahn Sung-chul and Jang Min-jun used to lob at Jong-man back in the day, over and over.
"You fucking bastard!"
He shot up from his seat. Even with his body's age rolled back to youth, the belly fat earned from decades of alcohol and meat was formidable.
Han-seok checked the time on his phone.
"Ah, that was a good meal. But I've got somewhere to be, so I'll head out. Let's all make sure we never have to see each other's faces again, alright? Honestly, it makes me want to puke."
He rose from his seat and left the room.
Ha Kyeong-sik stood up too.
"I'll get going as well. Thanks for the food, Dong-jin."
He hurried out of the restaurant.
Kyeong-sik caught up with Han-seok as he stepped out of the building.
"Han-seok."
"Oh. Why'd you come out? Go back inside and keep shoveling meat down your throat until you choke to death."
"Hey. I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"All of it. Everything back in high school. I'm truly sorry."
"You knew back then that what you were doing was wrong. And you did it anyway, didn't you? You're apologizing now just so you can feel better about yourself."
"Thirty years of anger compounds at interest. Forgiveness doesn't come cheap after that."
With that, Han-seok started walking down the sidewalk.
Kyeong-sik hurried after him.
"Hey. You're walking? I'll give you cab fare. Take a taxi."
He pulled a 50,000-won note from his pocket and shoved it into Han-seok's pocket.
"Oh. Thanks."
"I heard about your situation. Building maintenance work, was it? Yeah. If you start over with the right mindset, you can make it work. You of all people. The you I remember."
"Give me another 50,000 and say that again. Then it might actually feel sincere. Can you do that?"
"You little shit. You used to be so straight-laced. You've gotten real cheeky."
"So what do you do these days?"
"Me? Coin trading's been good to me. I get by. Hey! You've got at least some savings put away at your age, right?"
"Didn't you hear Dong-jin mention my business failed like five times? ...Not much, no. Why?"
"Even if it's not much, you can still take out a loan. Hey. Do exactly what I tell you."
He pulled out his phone and opened a crypto app.
LUMIVEXEN 240 KRW ▲ +3%
"Buy this. Put every won you've got into it. Next week it lists on another exchange and it's going to hit 5,000. That's a 20x return, minimum."
"Oh. And you're not buying it yourself, I take it?"
"Hey, I went all-in on this already. Look."
He showed off his account balance.
Han-seok pressed a hand to his forehead.
"Wow, insane. You bought 2 billion won worth? You're loaded, man."
"Not exactly. I told you, I'm all-in on this thing.
I staked my life on it. Moved out of the apartment I owned into a rental and sank my entire net worth into it. Anyway, trust me and buy this. Got it?"
Oh, I trust you completely. I know exactly what you staked your life on.
"Can I take another look at that chart from before?"
"Huh? Uh, sure."
Kyeong-sik pulled up the Lumivexen coin's chart.
"Hold on a sec."
Han-seok took out his phone and dialed somewhere.
"Yeah. Yeah, it's me. Mm-hm. Tell them to begin."
He hung up.
"What did you need the chart for?"
Kyeong-sik looked at Han-seok.
Han-seok said:
"Five."
"Huh?"
"Four. Three. Two."
"Five-four-three-two? What's that supposed to be?"
"One. Ding. And—yap! Moon, you son of a bitch!"
That was the moment.
The Lumivexen chart shuddered up and down—
"Huh? What the—"
While Kyeong-sik stood there stunned—
Shoooooop—
the blue candles began plunging downward, one after another.
"Huh? Huh? Huh?"
In the blink of an eye, Lumivexen fell below 200 won, and before Kyeong-sik had any chance to react, it hit 150. Then 80.
"What the hell, Kyeong-sik? Why is this happening all of a sudden? Shouldn't you be selling?!"
"Fuck! What is this! WHAT IS THIS!"
Kyeong-sik wailed, his hands trembling violently.
62 won. 31 won. 11 won.
8 won.
"Aaah! AAAAAAHHH!"
Suddenly he dropped to all fours on the pavement and began wailing toward north, south, east, and west in turn.
Passersby stole glances at him.
A mid-size sedan approached from down the street and stopped in front of them.
Secretary Kim stepped out and opened the rear door.
"Kyeong-sik, I don't know what's going on with you... but pull yourself together. I've got somewhere to be."
"AAAAAAAHHH!"
"Don't give up hope, Kyeong-sik. You can always start over. You of all people can do it."
Han-seok patted the wailing man's shoulder and got into the car.
Secretary Kim closed the door with courteous precision and moved around to the driver's seat.
The sedan's wheels turned, and in moments it was gone.
A week passed.
Ha Kyeong-sik killed himself.
Apparently not even BD40 could prevent a suicide.
Han-seok hadn't manipulated the market himself.
His informant had dug up additional intelligence on Kyeong-sik.
Kyeong-sik had made his coin money through a private group chat that sold insider tips.
Han-seok mobilized his informants and immediately tracked down the whale cartel behind the pump.
The syndicate that had driven the coin from 20 won up to 240 was already planning the dump — they'd posted false intel in the tip channels claiming the coin would reach 5,000, and were lying in wait to crash it right on schedule.
Han-seok threatened the cartel into broadcasting that false tip into the very room Kyeong-sik belonged to, and into timing the crash according to his instructions.
Their operation wasn't large, so the blackmail wasn't difficult.
The manipulators were hardly kingpins; they were wired to an employee at the coin exchange.
One day, an animal's severed head appeared in the men's refrigerator at home, and their parents or family members began showing up injured "from somewhere or other," every single day.
Then someone approached them in secret and offered to slip them a little money.
Everything proceeded exactly as planned.
Besides, all they had to do was spread the tip and pull the trigger on the dump — it was practically a win-win for them.
"I'll put that 50,000 to good use, Kyeong-sik. Have a good fresh start in the afterlife."
Morning in Seoul, seen through the office's floor-to-ceiling glass.
It was snowing.
On Han-seok's desk sat two voice recorders.
He'd had them planted in the restaurant in advance.
They held every word the men had said when they thought Han-seok wasn't listening.
What they'd said matched the informant's dossier one hundred percent.
Assets, occupation and personality, health status, family relationships.
The vague plan in his head was coming into sharp focus.
'What are the odds — every single one of them has a daughter. And they're all pretty... and healthy... This is going to be fun.'
Ding.
A text message arrived on his phone.
"Ugh, spam bastards."
The corner of Han-seok's mouth curled upward. It wasn't spam — it was a coded message from his informant.
800 meant Kang Jae-hoon; 801 meant his daughter, Kang A-jin.
002 meant that of the several plans on file, Plan #2 had become executable. 513 was the serial number for one of the many buildings Han-seok owned.
In a single line, it meant: everything was set up at Building 513, ready to launch a certain plan involving Kang Jae-hoon's daughter, Kang A-jin.
The final 5 meant the fifth floor of Building 513.
Han-seok shrugged on his coat.
What Lee Jong-man had said at the restaurant surfaced unbidden in his mind.
— We did it all just to have a little fun. Right? We were buddies.
'That's right. This isn't revenge or anything like that. I'm doing this because it's fun for me too. And if it's fun, that makes it okay. Doesn't it?'
He left the office.
A girl with a face like a kitten glared upward.
"Fuck. Where is that bastard? Why isn't he here?"
"He'll be here soon."
"I have to get to my part-time job."
"I'm really sorry, A-jin. Ever since I graduated, you're the only person I could ask for this. You could be in danger if you're alone and...
And Mi-hyun, that bitch? She got out of school and started giving me attitude, so..."
The two of them were in a stairwell landing leading up to the rooftop of an officetel building.
"Why the hell should I keep watch while you suck some guy's dick?"
"I'll give you 50,000 won. How about it? Hm?"
"You've got some nerve. How much do you make?"
"Huh?"
From that client or whatever he is — when he comes here and you blow him, how much do you get?"
"Fifteen... I get fifteen. I'm trying to work it up to twenty. So I'll give you ten."
"Are you a brain-dead idiot? Hey. You're getting twenty and you're offering me half of your cut? Ha... give me 50,000."
"Okay! Thank you. Hey, A-jin — while you're at it, you want to try it? If you do it like eight times a day you can pull almost a million won—"
"No way! I've never done it. Not once."
In that moment, footsteps sounded from below.
Someone was climbing the stairs. A-jin crossed her arms and furrowed her brow.
'What a disgusting-looking piece of shit.'
What came climbing up the stairs was — going by BD standards — a fifty-something man she'd never be caught dead with.
His lecherous, shadowed eyes slid back and forth between A-jin and her friend, dripping with desire.
"Rabbit?"
"Yes..."
Her friend nodded, glancing nervously at A-jin.
"Oral, fifteen?"
"Yes."
"I don't have a lot of time. Can we start right now?"
The man pulled down his pants.
The friend knelt in front of his crotch with practiced ease.
A-jin scrunched up her face and turned away.
The man spoke in little more than a whisper.
"Do you take it in your mouth by any chance?"
"Finishing in the mouth is twenty..."
"If I give you twenty-five, will you swallow?"
"I'm sorry. I can't do that."
"What about your friend there? Won't she join in? If you both take turns taking it in your mouths, that's thirty each — I'll pay sixty."
A-jin's eyes met her friend's.
"Wanna do it?"
In response to her friend's offer, A-jin shook her head without a word.
"Do it together. I'll pay eighty."
The man was apparently quite taken with A-jin's face.
"No— I said no."
A-jin shot him a glare.
Her friend was already gripping a cock no bigger than the man's thumb and stroking it with real enthusiasm.
The man stroked the friend's head and said:
"Fine, have it your way. Twenty for the blowjob. You'll at least let me kiss her and play with her tits, right?"
"Kissing is a little..."
"High-maintenance, aren't you. I'll give you twenty-five — kissing, her tits, and fingering her pussy. If she works hard, thirty."
"Yes. Thank you."
Before long the friend's head was bobbing in a steady rhythm, and sloppy, sucking sounds filled the quiet stairwell.
With nothing to do, A-jin leaned against the wall and stared at her phone.
A little later, she heard the sounds of someone licking something, and the rustle of clothes.
A-jin sneaked a glance over, pretending not to look — the man was rock-hard, sucking on her friend's breasts while his hand worked busily down the front of the girl's pants.
The friend was grimacing — whether in discomfort or in a struggle to hold back her moans, it was hard to tell.
Before long, she was sucking the man's cock again.
"I'm close."
"Yes."
The man groaned, and the friend caught his semen in her mouth.
"Ugh. Ptui, ptui."
She spat the load onto the marble floor.
Just then, they heard footsteps coming up from the bottom of the stairs.
The man and the friend scrambled to get dressed.
But contrary to expectations, it wasn't the client — the rooftop door burst open and a muscular man in his late twenties appeared.
He spotted the semen spat onto the floor and shouted:
"You fucking animals, in someone else's building—"
The man and the friend bolted down the stairs.
Meanwhile A-jin, who'd been hiding in the corner, tried to run too — but because she'd been deeper inside, the building's owner caught her easily.
"Got you at last."
"I—it wasn't me. I didn't do anything."
"Come here. We're going to the police station."
Han-seok tugged her arm, but A-jin dug in her heels.
She still had her part-time job to get to. Getting tangled up with the police would be a disaster.
"Excuse me. Excuse me. Just a moment, please."
"What."
"I really didn't do anything. I was just standing there."
"That's called being an accomplice."
"...Please. Just let it slide this once..."
A-jin's eyes darted back and forth rapidly. You could practically hear her brain running at full throttle.
The scheming little kitten, having finished her calculations, finally opened her mouth.
"I'll — I'll do it for you. Just once."
"Do what."
"I'll... suck it for you. Just once."