The Vanished 100 Billion Won (4)
"W-what is this?"
Facing the bewildered bodyguard, Jung Woo-ho wore a look of mild confusion. "You know what it is, don't you? It's money."
"I know that much, sir. I mean, why on earth are you giving this to me..."
"I'm trying to help you retire early."
If you were smart enough to be a bodyguard, you were smart enough to read the room. The bodyguard swallowed hard, his throat dry.
"Take that money and leave this mansion. And I don't think I need to tell you what you should do next, right?"
Keep your mouth shut, close your eyes, and live quietly. The bodyguard understood the implication perfectly. He swallowed again and looked down at the apple box in his arms. It was packed with thick stacks of 10,000-won bills. It had to be over 200 million won—honestly, it was tempting.
"Is this... a test, sir?"
It was a pragmatic thought, but Jung Woo-ho explained it simply.
"Look around you. Haven't you noticed that the number of bodyguards has dwindled strangely?"
Chairman Jung Woo-ho’s mansion was massive. It used to be crawling with bodyguards sent by other chairmen, but now, the thirty-plus men were nowhere to be seen; it looked like fewer than six remained.
"W-where did everyone go?"
"They left. They took the money and left for a new life."
As of 1985, the per capita national income was 2,400 dollars. The average annual salary was about 2.1 million won, yet Jung Woo-ho was handing over 250 million won. It was effectively 100 years' worth of salary for an average citizen. Not ten years—one hundred. The bodyguard felt his heart hammering against his ribs.
"Hmm."
Jung Woo-ho suddenly reached into the apple box and pulled out two stacks of cash.
"W-why...?"
The startled bodyguard clutched the apple box as if it were a sacred relic, casting a resentful glance at Jung Woo-ho for taking the money back.
"People who are slow to decide often lose the benefits they could have had. The longer you hesitate, the more these stacks will disappear. But if you decide right now, I’ll return these as well."
Jung Woo-ho, tapping the two stacks of cash against his palm, was the very model of a businessman who knew how to manipulate the hearts of men. If it weren't for the existence of Yoon-gi in Korea, Jung Woo-ho—who had fled from North Korea with no connections and no money, only to build the 8th largest conglomerate in the country—would have been considered a man of unparalleled ability.
"Hmm."
Jung Woo-ho reached his hand toward the apple box the bodyguard was holding again.
"N-no, sir!"
"Why not?"
"I'll... I'll leave!"
At the bodyguard's answer, Jung Woo-ho smiled and tossed the stacks of cash back into the box.
"Whoops!"
Afraid of dropping the money, the bodyguard lunged to catch the stacks, and the box was once again complete with 250 million won.
"You must leave Seoul with your family right now. Don't contact anyone. Not your relatives, not your friends. Just live in Gyeonggi-do or the countryside for five years. Then, there won't be any problems. If you live quietly and someone still tries to harm you, come to me immediately. I will do whatever it takes to help you."
The bodyguard bowed his head at Jung Woo-ho’s confident words.
"T-thank you, sir."
No matter how loyal a bodyguard to a chaebol family might be, the greed for money is impossible to suppress. If the master this bodyguard served had heard this and offered more than 250 million won, he might have hesitated. But based on his experience and common sense, there was zero chance of that happening, so he chose the profit.
"Go on."
"Yes, sir. Please stay healthy..."
The bodyguard hurried out of the mansion, and Jung Woo-ho looked at the few remaining guards. Throughout the night and into the morning, Jung Woo-ho cleared all the other chaebols' bodyguards from his property. Then, he made a call to Choi Cheol-gyu.
"Ah, President Choi. I have something urgent to discuss. Could you possibly come to my residence in secret? If possible, I would prefer Chairman Choi to come instead of you."
It was Choi Ki-hyun who arrived at Jung Woo-ho's residence, not Choi Cheol-gyu. Of course, he didn't come alone. Behind him were armed bodyguards, former U.S. military personnel. Since they were special forces veterans, it would take at least an army battalion—no, a regiment—to raid Choi Ki-hyun right now without using heavy artillery.
"Thank you so much for coming."
Choi Ki-hyun shook his head at the bowing Jung Woo-ho.
"Not at all. I heard the general situation from Yu-jeong. Honestly, it's hard to believe, but..."
If Jung Woo-ho had approached them for a political marriage, it would have been easier to trust. But Choi Ki-hyun was flustered by the fact that he was acting this way out of pure infatuation. Of course, he had heard all about Jung Woo-ho's past from his daughter, Choi Yu-jeong. Still, he couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy.
"Chairman Choi, what do you think about most as you get older?"
To Jung Woo-ho’s somewhat abrupt question, Choi Ki-hyun gave a serious answer.
"Isn't it obvious? It's worrying about my children and my grandchildren. I worry about the company, too, but..."
"If you had no children and no grandchildren, would you still worry about the company, Chairman?"
"I couldn't stop worrying about it entirely, could I? It is, after all, the company that holds my life's work."
"Then, in a situation where you have no children or grandchildren, which do you think is more valuable: the value of the company, or the value of family as you feel it now?"
"Isn't that obvious? It's family."
"I feel the same."
It might have seemed like a Zen riddle, but Choi Ki-hyun could confirm Jung Woo-ho’s sincerity.
'He said his children were adopted war orphans and that he was infertile, so he must have really made up his mind this time.'
Thanks to the background information on Jung Woo-ho he’d heard from Yoon-gi, Choi Ki-hyun began to slowly accept Jung Woo-ho's actions. Of course, he hadn't fully opened his heart yet.
"I felt empty. No matter how much money I had, there was nothing to do. I don't have the hobby of drinking expensive liquor with women by my side, nor do I like sports like golf. Just a life of waking up, eating, going to work, coming home, and eating dinner. In this life, is money really that important to me?"
"..."
Choi Ki-hyun chose to listen instead of answering.
"When the kids I adopted felt like my real children, I lived my best for them. But after realizing they didn't think of me as a father, everything became hollow. Of course, the sense of responsibility remained. The responsibility of, 'Well, I adopted them, so I have to be responsible.' But the moment I saw Ms. Yu-jeong, I realized I had been thinking about it all wrong."
What Jung Woo-ho had realized was that he had been pursuing the shell of 'family' itself, not the essence of 'family happiness.' He had entered into a loveless marriage and adopted war orphans to play house. But now, Jung Woo-ho had decided to pursue 'happiness with the person he truly loves.'
"The moment I saw Ms. Yu-jeong, I realized what I truly needed to pursue. That is why I am doing this now to obtain it. Please, I ask you to trust me."
"Hmm..."
Choi Ki-hyun fell into deep thought, crossing his arms. However, something happened that left even Choi Ki-hyun in shock. It was the content written on the paper Jung Woo-ho handed him.
"This is the article that will be in the evening paper in 30 minutes."
"W-what is this?"
The body of the article had been 'adapted' from the contents of the luncheon. It stated that JD had accepted the amendment very positively, claiming it was for the sake of the people. If this article went out, it was clear that JD would no longer be able to balance between the chaebols and YK. Because the weight would shift to YK's side in an instant.
"Have you lost your mind? You know exactly what will happen if it's discovered that you leaked this article..."
"The other chaebols' stooges who were monitoring my residence have already been bought off. I promised them 200 million won in advance, and another 200 million won in a month. On the condition that they keep their mouths shut."
Jung Woo-ho had spent a fortune to block the eyes of other chaebols, including Han Ho-jun. Since it wasn't his own money anyway, there was no reason to spend it sparingly.
"That's not enough. Do you really not know what kind of place the ANSP is?"
"That is why I have burned my bridges."
Jung Woo-ho wore a determined expression. "If it's Chairman Choi, you can surely persuade the Director of the ANSP. I will die now if you don't save me, Chairman. So, please, save me. I have proven everything with all my might, just as I promised Ms. Yu-jeong."
"Hoo, this is really..."
After sighing for a moment, Choi Ki-hyun's hand reached for the phone on the table. And then...
Choi Ki-hyun began to dial the number for JSD's office.
Yoon-gi was in the garden of his sun-drenched house. Although the weather was a bit chilly, he was outside. And he was holding several water guns.
Yoon-gi nodded at Choi Deok-bae, who was floating around him and asking questions.
"The moment I make a decision, I end up seeing my family as targets to be used rather than family. I don't want to be that kind of person."
"From my grandfather's perspective, it's a remarriage, but he's marrying off his daughter, and from my aunt's perspective, she's meeting a marriage partner. If I intervene in that situation? That's the fast track to becoming human trash."
The reason Yoon-gi had temporarily put his plan on hold for this matter was because he truly cherished his family.
"It's simple. I was going to spread a rumor that Jung Woo-ho intends to donate his entire fortune to a foundation."
"Yes. If you sow discord like that, Jung Woo-ho's children will go crazy trying to inherit the fortune. They're already on bad terms; do you think they'll solve the problem through conversation? Or will they use physical methods? We already know the answer from the precedents of Seth and Shin-sang, don't we?"
Yoon-gi nodded.
"Yes. Nine times out of ten, we create a situation where Jung Woo-ho, who would be imprisoned somewhere, can escape. And if Jung Woo-ho finds out all the facts, what will he do? Will he care about inheritance and gifts?"
"We have connections that make sending a couple of people to the ANSP look like child's play. If we tell them we'll send the black-haired beasts who betrayed them to the ANSP, they'll listen to us very well."
Choi Ki-hyun clicked his tongue at Yoon-gi's wickedness. When he looked at his family, he wore angel wings, but when he looked at those who weren't family—especially enemies—he truly wore devil's wings.
"Since you must have discussed it with your aunt and decided, my prediction is that Jung Woo-ho will end up at the ANSP. And I'll just have to come up with a new strategy."
"We should treat him well. He's become family, after all."
There wasn't a hint of falsehood in Yoon-gi's smiling expression. Choi Deok-bae, who had been beyond flustered, looked at the water guns Yoon-gi had laid out.
"I'm going to play with them."
"I wanted to try playing with them when I was younger. But I didn't have the money to buy them."
"I see."
Anyone who has experienced the 90s, not the 80s, would know the gap in water guns based on the wealth gap. From 1,000-won water guns to 8,000-won ones. And the days when the rich kids would be the envy of everyone with their 20,000-won water guns. Of course, since it was the 80s, the performance of the water guns wasn't exactly great, but it was enough for Yoon-gi to reminisce.
"Come to think of it, you were looking at me just now and thinking things like 'Wow, what a wicked guy' or 'Wow, he's really trash,' weren't you?"
Choi Deok-bae was startled for a moment. Yoon-gi smiled at Choi Deok-bae, who couldn't hide his true feelings. A very wicked smile at that.
"What do you think is in this water gun?"
"No, it's jujube juice."
Yoon-gi aimed the water gun at the terrified Choi Deok-bae. And a moment later.
Squirt! Squirt-squirt! Squeeeak!
The stream of water flew refreshingly toward Choi Deok-bae and pierced right through him. Choi Deok-bae, screaming in earnest, collapsed to the ground and began to ascend to the sky little by little.
"It's a joke, a joke. It's just water. I didn't even ask you in the first place."
However, Choi Deok-bae's ascension didn't stop. As Choi Deok-bae's figure grew faint, Yoon-gi shouted as if he were suddenly flustered.
"G-Grandfather?"
"W-what is it? It's a joke, right?"
But Choi Deok-bae grew fainter and fainter, until he was barely visible unless one focused hard.
"N-no! G-Grandfather! No! N-no!"
And finally, Choi Deok-bae disappeared.
"Aaaaaaaah!"
Yoon-gi screamed. And then, suddenly, laughter was heard behind Yoon-gi's back. As Yoon-gi turned around, looking startled, he saw Choi Deok-bae giggling.
Even though he said that, Choi Deok-bae was honestly moved. When he was about to disappear, Yoon-gi had wailed. But...
"Did you enjoy it?"
"I asked if you enjoyed it."
There wasn't a trace of tears on Yoon-gi's grinning face. "I haven't been with you for just a day or two; do you really think I'd be fooled by that?"
At the sight of Choi Deok-bae clenching his fists, Yoon-gi giggled and began spraying the flowers in the garden with the water gun again. However, there was one fact Choi Deok-bae missed. Yoon-gi's hand, holding the water gun. The fact that his hand was soaked in sweat.
Evening. As soon as he got off the return flight after his state visit, what was in JD's hand was none other than the morning paper. The morning paper that his chief of staff had brought in a hurry.
[Your Excellency, the public's reaction to this paper that came out this morning is tremendous. It's impossible not to implement it...]
JD, having seen the headline of the newspaper, went absolutely berserk. Because 200 billion won had just vanished right before his eyes. Although he managed to return to the Blue House somehow because there were so many people at the airport, once he returned to his office, JD began to smash the place to pieces. And when he had calmed down a little, the first thing JD did was call JSD.
"Who the hell is the bastard who let that article be published!"