The Price of Silence
Once I finished notifying the broadcasting stations about the current situation, it didn't take long for the sound of countless sirens to echo around the Manse Welfare Center. The police had arrived.
'Just as I thought.'
There are always those in the media who are in bed with the police. The moment I fed the stations such a massive scoop, the police caught the scent of the incident as well.
'Those bastards are one hundred percent complicit, too.'
I was certain that the Busan police and the prosecution were all cut from the same cloth. Why? Because we had already rescued hundreds of people. Judging by the state of the facilities inside, the tyranny at this welfare center hadn't been going on for just a year or two. At a rough estimate, it had been at least five years. That meant it had been happening throughout JD’s term, and in some cases, it was possible that even P was involved.
'Did something like this happen in my past life, too...?'
Surprisingly, my intuition was correct. I just hadn't known about it. Because the welfare center incident had been minimized by JD and handled with extreme discretion, surprisingly few people knew of it. But in this timeline, because they had kidnapped Choi Cheolmin, it was impossible to bury it quietly.
I had already made up my mind not to bow to JD. With a detached expression, I watched the police cars racing toward us, sirens wailing violently.
A moment later, the police and the reporters arrived almost simultaneously. Camera shutters clicked incessantly, aimed at the victims being protected. Microphones were shoved forward without a pause. The police tried to block them, but my bodyguards didn't stop the reporters—they only blocked the police.
"What do you think you're doing right now!"
A middle-aged officer wearing two hibiscus flowers on his collar approached me, his face flushed with rage. Two flowers meant a Superintendent General. While the current Busan Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner was a Senior Superintendent General (three flowers), the commissioner in this era was held by a Superintendent General. Whether it was a Superintendent General or a Senior Superintendent General, the fact that the Commissioner himself had appeared, rather than a local station chief, was proof that the police were in total chaos.
However, I merely looked up at Choi Buseok, the Busan Police Commissioner, with a bored expression.
'The Commissioner is involved, too? If that's the case, there's a very high chance the prosecution is connected as well. Of course, it's still too early for the prosecution to show their face.'
Unaware of my thoughts, Commissioner Choi Buseok shouted again.
"I asked you what you think you're doing!"
I was the Chairman of the YK Group. Someone at Choi Buseok’s level couldn't possibly fail to recognize the face of the most powerful figure in the country, so he was showing me the utmost courtesy he could muster under the circumstances. Of course, this was only the "utmost courtesy" for the current situation. In normal times, Choi Buseok would have been bowing his head and offering a servile smile. But now, I was holding his Achilles' heel. Naturally, he couldn't offer genuine, gentlemanly respect.
"I don't really feel like talking. Not to incompetent police who didn't even try to properly rescue my family member when they were kidnapped."
"W-w-what did you just say?"
Choi Buseok didn't know the details of the situation. The information relayed to the Busan police through their informant at the broadcasting station was only that "Chairman Choi Yoon-gi of YK Group has occupied the Manse Welfare Center." That was why he couldn't help but look bewildered at the mention of a YK blood relative being kidnapped.
"Did you not know, even though we filed a report? My second uncle went missing, and we reported it to the police, but the police didn't give us a single update for fifteen days. So, I mobilized all the resources at my disposal to find him myself. If I had been even a little bit later, he would be dead."
I shook the pistol, which my bodyguards had collected and placed in a clean plastic bag, in front of Commissioner Choi Buseok. It was a pistol that would clearly have Go Yuseung’s fingerprints on it. The Commissioner reached for it as a conditioned reflex. He intended to take it once he got his hands on it. But my reflexes were far faster than the middle-aged Commissioner's; I didn't let him take it and handed it back to my bodyguard.
"What are you doing? That is evidence..."
"Evidence should be handed over to someone trustworthy."
"W-what? Are you saying you can't trust me?"
I wanted to say, 'Of course I can't trust you, you son of a bitch,' but I managed to hold it in and replied like a gentleman.
"There are hundreds of people who were being abused at this welfare center right now. Looking at the number of staff working here, it would be impossible to manage them all, right? That means there must have been people who escaped, yet I have never heard of this place. In that case, the conclusion is obvious, isn't it? It means the police and the prosecution are connected to this welfare center. And you, Commissioner, are not an exception to the list of suspects."
After hearing an analysis that would surprise even the gods, Commissioner Choi Buseok’s face turned beet red.
"No, w-w-what are you... Are you s-s-suspecting me right now?"
He was so angry, and the hit was so precise, that all Choi Buseok could do was shout. But the answer to this bluster didn't come from me.
"Why is it so noisy here?"
A voice came from behind Commissioner Choi Buseok.
"Which son of a bitch... Gulp!"
Commissioner Choi Buseok, who had been turning around to vent his annoyance, suddenly gasped.
"A-a-a-an-gi-bu Director!"
The sight of ANSP agents forcibly lowering the reporters' cameras, and the frost-like presence of JSD, who looked like he could make someone pee their pants just by looking at him. Choi Buseok stepped back three paces without realizing it and nearly bumped into me. But I stepped aside, and he ended up falling flat on his rear—a truly pathetic sight.
"Ah, Yoon-gi, can you tell me what on earth is going on here? Even our ANSP only narrowed it down to the region; we only recently pinpointed the welfare center itself."
What JSD had installed in JD’s office wasn't a real-time wiretap, but a simple recording device. After retrieving the device and realizing the Manse Welfare Center was involved in this incident, he had been horrified and rushed over. But upon arriving, he found the area swarming with black cars, my bodyguards setting up barricades with guns in hand, and a crowd of reporters and police. It was a situation that was hard to accept.
However, I navigated the situation with ease.
"I was lucky enough to meet someone who had escaped the Manse Welfare Center. I thought there was a nine-out-of-ten chance my second uncle had been kidnapped, so I decided that if the kidnapping group was nearby, I should look for them first."
"And you found them?"
I nodded.
"Yes. It had already been fifteen days since he went missing, so every second counted; I couldn't afford to follow the law. In fact, when my bodyguard entered the torture chamber, the vice-director of the welfare center was about to fire a gun at my second uncle."
"These crazy bastards..."
JSD felt his head spin. He had boasted to Choi Ki-hyun that he would definitely find him, but if it hadn't been for me, the best he could have found would have been Choi Cheolmin’s corpse. And that was only if he were lucky enough to find even that. Looking at the situation, it was clear the welfare center officials had intended to kill them to silence them.
"A-An-gi-bu Director..."
JSD’s fist slammed directly into Commissioner Choi Buseok, who was cluelessly trying to speak to him.
'Thwack!'
With that sound, blood sprayed from Choi Buseok’s nose.
"Argh! Ugh!"
JSD growled at the Commissioner, who was groaning in agony.
"What kind of son of a bitch are you! Such things are happening in your jurisdiction, and what the hell have you been doing? Did you take bribes from this welfare center, too? Huh?"
In reality, he was involved. But Commissioner Choi Buseok shook his head frantically.
"N-no. No. Absolutely not!"
"We'll find out after an investigation. You better pray you're not involved. If it turns out you are, I'll make you regret ever being born with skin."
After delivering that chilling threat, JSD turned his head back to me.
"Yoon-gi, those people tied up over there seem to be the ones involved. Can you hand them over to me? I'll find a way to make them open their mouths, no matter what it takes."
"Of course. Actually, I was waiting for you to arrive, Director. Although I was lucky enough to arrive slightly earlier, I trusted that you would arrive not long after me."
JSD looked slightly moved by my words of deep trust, but he quickly regained his composure and put on a serious face. With other police officers watching the scene, he couldn't afford to look soft.
"I'm glad you think so. Anyway, there are so many people involved, it will take time. So, let's begin the transfer of custody now."
"Yes."
As I nodded, the bodyguards pulled the bound officials to their feet, and as JSD nodded, ANSP agents began loading them one by one into the ANSP vehicles. And then, JSD disappeared as quickly as he had come. The only evidence of his presence was the blood from Commissioner Choi Buseok’s nose, sprayed across the ground like a mist.
'JSD must have been pretty flustered. He even raised the formality of his speech toward me.'
Recently, JSD had been using the 'hage' (formal-casual) style with me. But the tone he used just now was much more intimate. 'And those bastards who were just taken away will experience hell to match that intimacy.'
My prediction would soon become reality, but that wasn't what was important to me right now. Commissioner Choi Buseok had disappeared, supported by his subordinates, and now a police officer two ranks below him was standing in front of me, looking bewildered and not knowing what to do. All the while, reporters were surrounding me, clicking their shutters.
"Chairman Choi Yoon-gi, what on earth happened here?"
"Chairman Choi Yoon-gi, what happened at the welfare center?"
"Chairman Choi Yoon-gi, haven't you infringed upon public authority?"
It was true that I had armed my bodyguards and forcibly suppressed the welfare center, so there was a possibility of illegal activity. But that wasn't what mattered now. The situation had reached a point where even if JD tried to cover it up, he would never be able to.
* * *
"Please... let me meet the President..."
Baek Seohong was receiving treatment at the ANSP that far exceeded what he had done to his victims. Yet, his words remained the same from start to finish. He wanted to meet JD. Of course, that request wasn't going to be granted anytime soon. Because, from JSD’s perspective, Baek Seohong was utterly detestable.
If I hadn't rescued him quickly, he wouldn't have been able to face Chairman Choi Ki-hyun. As such, JSD treated Baek Seohong with extra care, and only when he felt it was "enough" did he decide to let JD and Baek Seohong meet.
And today. JSD found Baek Seohong, accompanied by JD and Choi Ki-hyun.
"Mr. President, this man has been asking to see you repeatedly, but I do not know the reason."
JD, having received the question from JSD, scrutinized Baek Seohong’s face carefully before opening his mouth.
"You... who are you?"