I Won't Back Down This Time (2)
"Director, you can't do that!"
At the urgent interjection of Vice Director Go Yu-seung, Baek Seo-hong glared at him with eyes like daggers. "What did you say, you bastard?"
"No, no, that’s not it. It’s too early!"
Baek Seo-hong looked at Go Yu-seung, who was correcting himself, with a puzzled expression. "What are you talking about?"
"The scale of this matter is just too massive. Currently, the YK Group is effectively the number one conglomerate in Korea, and Chairman Choi Ki-hyun is a man the President trusts deeply. Since that man has personally sent word to the Director of the ANSP to find his second son, we’ll be in deep trouble if we try to silence him by murder."
It wasn't that Go Yu-seung had a sudden change of heart or felt that killing Choi Cheol-min was wrong. Both the director and the vice director were men who had built their wealth through the Manse Welfare Center by exploiting people to a degree that they could hardly be called human. In such a state, there was no way they would suddenly start empathizing with the suffering of others.
"Hmm..."
Having taken Go Yu-seung's advice, Baek Seo-hong calmed his excitement for a moment before speaking again. "So, you're saying we should contact the President and act according to his instructions?"
Go Yu-seung nodded. "Exactly. If the President tells us to release him, doesn't that mean he’ll find a way to create an excuse for us? The President will never be able to abandon us."
"True, that goes without saying."
The reason Baek Seo-hong and Go Yu-seung were so confident was simple.
[Because this facility is one of the places used to create JD's slush funds.]
During the military regime, even if a perfectly healthy person suddenly disappeared, their families couldn't dare to vent their grief. The moment they did, another family member would simply vanish as well. While many records of crimes from the military era have been lost, those who suffered back then still grit their teeth whenever they think of those days. A president inducing human trafficking to create slush funds? It sounds like something that would only happen in a South American country, but it existed in South Korea as recently as the 70s and 80s, and in fact, "island slaves" still exist to this day. Of course, as the marketability of sun-dried salt has declined, the demand for island slaves has dropped, but that doesn't mean human trafficking itself has disappeared.
"For now, I must report this to the President. It would be troublesome if he died right now, so treat his wounds well and make sure he’s fed."
"What should we do about the buyer?"
Hearing this, Baek Seo-hong raised his voice in annoyance. "Are you kidding? There are plenty of 'products' lying around, so why are you worrying so much? Just throw anyone in there and say that’s the guy. What’s the problem?"
Baek Seo-hong's cold, murderous voice echoed through the director's office.
"Damn it!"
JD, alone in his office, threw his phone to the floor the moment he hung up a call.
CRASH!
The phone, hitting the bare floor where there was no carpet, shattered with a loud noise, but JD’s anger wasn't appeased, and he looked around frantically. However, JD couldn't call anyone. Matters related to the Manse Welfare Center were the ultimate top secret, something he couldn't even tell his Chief of Staff.
'Those dog-like bastards. They didn't even properly identify who they kidnapped?'
JD had just heard for the first time that Choi Cheol-min had been kidnapped. In the first place, Choi Ki-hyun had asked JSD, not JD. Currently, JSD was effectively at odds with JD. Because of that, JSD hadn't reported it to JD and was tracking Choi Cheol-min independently. This was the penalty JD had to pay.
'Damn it, there’s no time!'
If he had heard the report earlier, he would have found a way to scheme. For example, he could have framed a criminal organization for the kidnapping and pinned the crime on them. But now, he had absolutely no time. Baek Seo-hong had reported that the ANSP might find them at any moment. In such a situation, it was virtually impossible to manipulate the case while deceiving the ANSP as well. Even JSD didn't know much about the Manse Welfare Center. To be precise, it happened because JD had ordered him not to pay any attention to it at all.
'Should I give an order to JSD? No, if I do that, JSD might tell Chairman Choi the truth.'
JD had long since stopped trusting JSD. He trusted Choi Ki-hyun, but he didn't trust JSD. That was why he considered the possibility that if JSD reported to Choi Ki-hyun, and a furious Choi Ki-hyun aimed his blade at the Manse Welfare Center, it would reveal JD's involvement.
It was January 1987. They had to decide whether to hold the presidential election this year or amend the constitution for permanent dictatorship. If the Achilles' heel of the Manse Welfare Center were exposed in this situation, he would never be able to hold onto power.
JD racked his brain desperately.
'What do I do? How can I achieve the best result?'
However, there were only two paths left for JD... no, only two.
One was to listen to Choi Ki-hyun and discard the pawns Baek Seo-hong and Go Yu-seung. This would mean giving up the money source that was the Manse Welfare Center and bearing the brunt of the revelations from those involved. But he would be able to maintain his relationship with Choi Ki-hyun as it was now.
The other was to make it so that "nothing ever happened." If the existence of Choi Cheol-min simply vanished from the Manse Welfare Center? Since the point of contact between the two would disappear, JD could save face by telling Choi Ki-hyun he "did his best," and he wouldn't lose his money source.
The path chosen by JD, who was facing a presidential election this year? It was all too obvious.
"Hey, bring me another phone!"
JD shouted toward the outside of his office, and as soon as the phone arrived, he locked the door and called the Manse Welfare Center again.
"Take care of it without a trace. Don't leave any evidence."
They say walls have ears and fields have eyes. Even though he had closed the door, both the birds and the mice had already heard JD's words.
The news often reports that skeletons have been found in the hills. And surprisingly, the culprits behind these skeletons are sometimes caught. That’s why hiding evidence of a crime in the hills is something only amateurs do. Real criminals dispose of evidence at construction sites. And if the skeletons are discovered decades later during redevelopment? Construction companies, blinded by money, usually make the skeletons disappear. In short, they are evidence-destroyers who work for free. Therefore, the future where Choi Cheol-min became one with the nearby construction site was decided. No, it was about to be decided. Because it hadn't happened yet.
"I'm sorry, but what can I do? You should have chosen not to be unlucky. Why did you live so crudely when you were born into the YK Group? What on earth did you do to your family?"
Choi Cheol-min had been starving for half a month, so his face was gaunt, but his belly, arms, and thighs still had some fat. Because he had lived the life of a commoner, eating large quantities of low-quality food, he had been unable to manage his health.
"Hey, don't tremble. People die eventually, don't they? So don't feel wronged just because you're dying a little early."
At Go Yu-seung's words, Choi Cheol-min trembled and shed tears. He had never regretted his past actions more. If he had just quietly watched Yoon-gi carry on the family line? At least he wouldn't be going through this.
"Alright, I'll be special and send you off in one shot."
Surprisingly, Go Yu-seung reached for the pistol in the drawer of the torture room table. But suddenly, a commotion erupted from the basement hallway. Even the sound of gunfire rang out.
'Wait, I haven't even fired the gun yet...'
Go Yu-seung looked back and forth between the gun in the drawer and the small glass window on the torture room door.
'Wh-what is this? That’s the sound of an automatic rifle?'
It was a rapid-fire sound, distinctly different from a pistol.
'What is this? Why am I hearing English?'
The sounds didn't match at all, and Go Yu-seung, unable to make a proper judgment, just stared blankly at the small glass window. And a moment later.
BANG!
The door to the torture room was blown open by the combat boots of a heavily armed white soldier, and at the same time, Go Yu-seung instinctively grabbed the pistol from the drawer.
BANG!
It wasn't Go Yu-seung who fired; it was the white man in military uniform. He hit Go Yu-seung's hand with pinpoint accuracy, and thanks to that, Go Yu-seung screamed and fainted. In movies, people never faint when shot in the hand, but in reality, being shot in the hand is more than enough to pass out. Thus, Choi Cheol-min was able to avoid meeting his end at the hands of Go Yu-seung.
However, that didn't mean his fear had vanished. There was no guarantee that the man in military uniform wouldn't shoot him. But the white man just looked at him without moving, and Choi Cheol-min began to lose track of the situation. About a minute passed like that.
Suddenly, Yoon-gi appeared in the torture room.
"I've come to save you."
His tone was extremely dry. But to Choi Cheol-min, Yoon-gi felt like more than a savior at that moment.
"I'm sorry..."
Finally, Choi Cheol-min's apology, filled with the regrets of his entire life, reached Yoon-gi.
The Manse Welfare Center incident. Yoon-gi had mobilized all the bodyguards under his command to rescue Choi Cheol-min. In truth, he had wanted to wait because JSD was searching so diligently, but there was no time. Because Choi Deok-bae had informed him, "Hey, he looks like he's going to die in a few minutes." It was fortunate that he and his bodyguards were already waiting around the Manse Welfare Center; if he had been watching from Seoul, Choi Cheol-min would have been 100% dead.
'I managed to save him because time was tight, but...'
Choi Cheol-min was currently in a van Yoon-gi had prepared, receiving treatment from a doctor he had brought along. 'The problem isn't that.'
The Manse Welfare Center hadn't just kidnapped Choi Cheol-min. Regardless of gender, age, or whether they were elderly or children, hundreds of people were being forced into labor within the facility, and they were all being subjected to brutal beatings and abuse with equal cruelty.
'What do I do...'
Yoon-gi's vehicles and bodyguards surrounded the Manse Welfare Center. Inside that circle, hundreds of victims were shedding tears under the protection of the bodyguards, recording the things they had endured. It had been only 30 minutes since he rescued Choi Cheol-min. But Yoon-gi had no more time to think. It was time to choose a solution.
'JD has already given me the clue.'
Yoon-gi had received the contents of the call between JD and Baek Seo-hong through Choi Deok-bae. In other words, the nail had been driven into how JD thought of YK. That was why Yoon-gi decided not to back down this time.
"Connect to the broadcasting stations, one by one."
The car phone installed in the limousine began to fiercely and sequentially connect calls to the major broadcasting stations.