Chapter 100: Who Was Chasing
Dan Tae-geon’s office was as flamboyant and hollow as his desires.
The gleaming mahogany desk that looked newly delivered and the massive leather chair that completely enveloped the body flaunted the owner’s power and authority.
He stood by the window, looking down at the Myeong-dong streets that would soon fall into his hands.
“This ti, the bleeding was heavy, but I can fill it back up soon enough.”
A single mistake. Because of that one mistake, he had been stripped of half his fortune by Jeong Tae-soo.
But thanks to that, under Jeong Tae-soo’s protection, he alone was able to move funds freely. In tis like these, when other private lenders were licking their fingers with no cash on hand.
The throne of Myeong-dong was now empty. He thought it was only a matter of ti before he took that seat.
A sharp knock shattered his thoughts.
“Co in.”
One subordinate cautiously opened the door, entered, and bowed his head.
“President. Just now, Baek Min-woo entered Cheon Sang-do’s office.”
“……What? What did you just say?”
Dan Tae-geon frowned deeply and slowly turned his body, glaring at the subordinate.
The subordinate swallowed dryly and lowered his head even further as he reported.
“We confird Baek Min-woo entering Cheon Sang-do’s office……”
“That bastard showed up again?”
“Yes. Didn’t you order us to keep watch on Cheon Sang-do’s office? To see who cos and goes.”
It had been his own instruction, but the discomfort evoked by the na Baek Min-woo made Dan Tae-geon raise his voice without realizing it.
“So?”
“Fortunately, we have soone who knows Baek Min-woo’s face and confird him going in.”
Dan Tae-geon’s expression hardened further. The fountain pen in his hand crunched and shattered with a dry sound. As he recalled the strange interest Jeong Tae-soo had shown in Baek Min-woo, his teeth ground together.
“We don’t know what happened after that.”
“Get your internal surveillance straight. And keep an eye on that old man Yang Sobo’s movents as well.”
“Yes. Understood.”
“And keep the boys ready to move at any ti. The mont I give the order, they should be able to storm Cheon Sang-do’s office imdiately.”
“Yes, President.”
After the subordinate left, Dan Tae-geon ground his teeth as he muttered Baek Min-woo’s na.
From the beginning, Cheon Sang-do hadn’t even been on his radar. His true target had always been Baek Min-woo alone.
“You little punk. I’ll make sure to get back what I lost because of you—with interest.”
Unlike back then, now Yang Sobo, who could have protected Baek Min-woo, had his hands and feet bound. Dan Tae-geon thought there was no better opportunity than this.
The vengeance pooling in his eyes burned with a chilling intensity.
Cheon Sang-do looked at with an earnest gaze, as if asking to present a plan.
“Leave Dan Tae-geon alone for now. In any case, from your position as well, a full-scale confrontation would be difficult right now. You don’t have any cash, do you?”
All of Cheon Sang-do’s cash was tied up in the banks. The only currency he could move at the mont was dollars.
Cheon Sang-do nodded heavily. His shoulders sagged.
“That’s true, yeah. But if we just sit on our hands like this, there was no point in cleaning up the securities firm and coming back here in the first place.”
“At most, a month. No—there are only a few weeks left now. The account freeze will be lifted soon.”
At my sudden remark, Cheon Sang-do looked at with a puzzled expression.
“The account freeze will be lifted? You really think the governnt will loosen its grip on money that easily?”
“They won’t have a choice.”
To calm his anxiety, I continued in a voice filled with confidence.
“Mr. Yang is mobilizing Overseas Chinese in North Arica to lobby the U.S. governnt. After all, a country receiving aid froze the assets of the citizens of the country providing that aid. Of course, given Mr. Yang’s current situation, it ended up being aningless.”
“What do you an by that?”
“Just know that sothing like that happened. I’ll explain everything later.”
It still wasn’t ti for word to get out about what situation Yang Sobo was in. Even with his hands and feet tied, his na still carried weight, making him a useful card for now.
I kept silent about Yang Sobo’s circumstances and continued.
“No governnt can keep money frozen forever. The economy would be completely paralyzed. They’ll probably start by unfreezing small accounts step by step.”
I paused briefly and looked straight into his eyes.
“President Cheon. What do you think will happen once the account freeze is lifted?”
“……Money’ll start moving.”
“Yes. Money will circulate. But would you, President Cheon, put your money back in the bank again?”
Cheon Sang-do shook his head vehently.
“Absolutely not. Who knows when the governnt might snatch my money again! You’d have to be crazy to deposit it.”
“Exactly. Businesspeople will think the sa way. Then banks won’t have money to lend, and their thresholds will get even higher. In the end, people who need money will turn their eyes back to Myeong-dong.”
Cheon Sang-do slapped his knee. Vitality returned to his eyes.
“That’s right. Exactly. If they can’t go to the bank, they’ll have to use private loans! Of course!”
“Right now, Dan Tae-geon is the only one securing cash under Jeong Tae-soo’s protection. He’s probably using this opportunity to rake in obscene profits with absurd interest rates. Do you know roughly how much he’s charging?”
At my question, Cheon Sang-do pulled out a worn notebook from his desk drawer.
“Damn, I couldn’t believe it even after seeing it, so I asked again several tis. These are the interest rates I heard from so businesspeople I’m close with when they were crying bloody murder. For ordinary companies, it’s 25 percent per month, with advance interest deducted. And for desperate ones who need money imdiately, they slap on interest equal to half the principal in just ten days. Completely insane. He’s killing people.”
“As expected. Interest is just an excuse. His real aim is to swallow the companies whole.”
At my cold analysis, Cheon Sang-do furrowed his brow.
“Then what, we’re supposed to just sit back and watch while he eats up all of Myeong-dong?”
“No. On the contrary, this is a good thing. The more Dan Tae-geon runs wild like a rabid dog and draws public resentnt, the bigger the opportunity becos for us.”
Cheon Sang-do tilted his head, looking puzzled. I slowly curled up the corner of my lips and spoke calmly.
“On the day the account freeze is lifted, money will start circulating in the market. And the companies whose blood has been sucked dry by Dan Tae-geon will desperately look for a new source of funds. That’s when you appear, President Cheon. With terms far more reasonable than Dan Tae-geon’s. We beco their saviors. To the starving, even a lump of cold rice feels like a feast.”
I paused and reflected inwardly.
‘In my previous life, there was no one who could stop Dan Tae-geon’s one-man rampage. But now it’s different. I’m here. I can’t just sit back and watch that happen.’
If Dan Tae-geon was cut down, Jeong Tae-soo’s funding pipeline would undoubtedly take a hit he couldn’t ignore. This opportunity had to be crushed without fail.
“For now, we wait for the right mont. The deeper Dan Tae-geon digs his own grave, the stronger the fortress you’ll build atop it, President Cheon.”
Cheon Sang-do stared at blankly for a mont. Soon, a complex smile mixing admiration and exhilaration spread across his face.
“Heh, isn’t this killing two birds with one stone! Dan Tae-geon plays the villain and sets the whole stage for us, and we sit back comfortably, make money, and gather people. That’s what you’re saying, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Sounds good! Let’s go with what President Baek says! Let’s really turn this whole Myeong-dong floor upside down.”
Perhaps just imagining it felt good, because Cheon Sang-do laughed heartily. I followed with a small smile, took a sip of the now-cold coffee, and then asked,
“By the way, what happened with what I asked you to look into?”
“Ah!”
Cheon Sang-do took a docunt envelope out of the safe and placed it on the table.
“This guy’s situation isn’t good at all. Tsk. And to think he was once called the richest man in Gyeongseong.”
What I had asked Cheon Sang-do to investigate was Chairman Lee Jin-seong of Daejin Yanghoe.
I opened the envelope and skimd through the contents. Cheon Sang-do added further explanation.
“He got labeled an illicit wealth accumulator and was slapped with a fine of 30 million won. All governnt contracts were cut off, and bank loans were blocked too. Then the currency reform hit on top of that, so he got completely caught. There are rumors he’s running around everywhere borrowing money because the company can’t even pay next month’s wages.”
The docunts laid bare the miserable financial state of Daejin Yanghoe.
Despite possessing massive assets, not a single won of cash could be moved—a perfect case of complete ‘financial sclerosis.’
It was walking the classic path of black-ink bankruptcy.
‘So this is how it ends. Chairman Lee Jin-seong won’t even be able to settle the fine and will end up handing over the company he built his entire life to the state.’
Having fallen out of favor with the military regi, Lee Jin-seong’s later years were miserable. I gazed silently at the photograph of Chairman Lee attached to the docunts before speaking.
“So? What is Chairman Lee Jin-seong doing now?”
“He’s desperately looking for soone to take over the company. But who’d buy it? A company marked by the governnt. From what I hear, it’s dirt cheap—so cheap it’s ridiculous. He’s offering to hand over everything, including the factories and mines, as long as soone takes on the debt and the fines.”
Cheon Sang-do clicked his tongue.
“It’s a poisoned chalice. Swallow it wrong, and the whole family’ll be blown to pieces.”
“If you could remove the poison, it would beco an incomparably sweet cup.”
“What? Don’t tell President Baek is thinking of drinking that?”
Leaving behind Cheon Sang-do, who stared wide-eyed in shock, I continued examining the docunts.
The cent factory and equipnt in Samcheok, the listone mine and exclusive mining rights, and even the headquarters building on Taepyeong-ro. The estimated asset value alone approached 200 million won.
“Did Chairman Lee Jin-seong not approach Dan Tae-geon?”
“You think President Dan would be crazy enough to take that on? Are you really planning to take it, President Baek?”
“Opportunities to acquire a company like this at a bargain don’t co often.”
“The cent market is fiercely competitive, you know……”
“That was before the military governnt ca in. From now on, an era is coming where everything you produce will sell.”
“Even though it’s a company marked by the governnt?”
“It’s not the company that’s marked. It’s Chairman Lee Jin-seong who’s marked. For collaborating with the Liberal Party.”
I put the docunts back into the envelope and said,
“Please set up an appointnt with Chairman Lee Jin-seong for tomorrow. Sowhere quiet where we can talk privately.”
“Damn…… You really are going to eat it. You’re insane.”
“Then I’ll leave it to you. I’ll be heading back now.”
After leaving Cheon Sang-do’s office, I didn’t head to Yang Sobo’s house. My steps naturally carried across the bustling streets of Myeong-dong and into the dark alleys hidden behind all that splendor.
A faint but persistent gaze prickled my back.
From the mont I left Cheon Sang-do’s office, a single shadow had been tailing from a distance.
‘Who is it?’
I deliberately looped around narrow alleyways tangled like a maze.
It was a move ant to catch the tail, but the shadow neither closed the distance nor lost , clinging stubbornly to my trail. He wasn’t ordinary.
I made one final turn and headed into a dead-end alley with no streetlights.
The mont pitch-black darkness swallowed , I held my breath and slipped my body into the shadow of the wall.
After a mont, a faint presence was felt at the entrance of the alley. The guy had walked straight into the trap.
I moved like a beast. Silently, I approached from behind, wrapped one arm around his neck, hooked his leg with the other, and slamd him straight into the ground.
“Kuhk!”
A dull thud and a short groan burst out. Without giving him even a mont, I mounted him and twisted his arm, subduing him completely.
“Who are you, chasing ?”
My icy voice sliced through the darkness.
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