The Way to Save the Crazy Returnees Chapter 41 - Lee Man-deuk (2)

 

 

“So you’re saying the brakes didn’t work properly? That the truck just kept speeding up?”

 

“That’s what I’m telling you!”

 

The truck driver, hospitalized in AMA Seoul Hospital like my grandfather, shouted as if he were the victim.

 

“The brakes wouldn’t respond! No—actually, it wasn’t just the brakes. The whole truck wasn’t listening to me! Even when I took my foot off the accelerator, the speed kept climbing. The brakes were useless! It felt like the truck was possessed by a ghost!”

 

“I see.”

 

I nodded as though I understood and asked,

 

“By any chance, did you see any lights?”

 

“Lights?”

 

“Yes. Sparkles, or something like that.”

 

“Hmm.”

 

The middle-aged man furrowed his brow, searching his memory.

 

“I don’t think so…”

 

I frowned slightly. The only reason I asked was because of Lee Man-deuk. His magic always came with one telltale sign: light and sparkles.

 

But if the driver hadn’t seen them… could it really not have been Lee Man-deuk’s doing?

 

Just as I was about to dismiss the thought—

 

“Oh! Now that I think about it, I did see something right before the truck went crazy!”

 

“What was it?”

 

“Sparkles!”

 

The man grew more animated as he recalled,

 

“At first, I thought it was sunlight bouncing off a window, but it wasn’t. If that were the case, the light should’ve come from the side—not directly ahead! Right?”

 

Technically, light could reflect straight ahead depending on the angle, but I nodded anyway.

 

His voice grew excited.

 

“It was like walking into a hall of mirrors—sparkles everywhere! I totally panicked! Maybe I imagined it, but I swear that’s what I saw!”

 

I see…

 

“Thank you for telling me. I hope this case gets resolved quickly.”

 

“Phew… I heard even AMA’s chairman, Kwak Jin-tae, was caught up in this mess. Can it really be resolved?”

 

“It can.”

 

Because I, his only grandson, would make sure of it.

 

“Well then, I’ll take my leave.”

 

“Alright. Give my regards to your father.”

 

“Yes, Uncle.”

 

Of course, my father had passed away long ago. The man only said that because I pretended we were connected through him.

 

If I’d used AMA’s name directly, he might have been too intimidated to speak. That’s why I played the part of a family acquaintance instead.

 

Naturally, he had never been friends with my father.

 

I had simply acted as if he should know me, shamelessly saying, “Don’t you remember me?”

 

At any rate, I got what I came for.

 

Even if the man had been mistaken, there were no tall buildings near the accident site—nothing that could have reflected light.

 

Then what exactly had the driver seen?

 

‘What else could it be?’

 

It was Lee Man-deuk’s magic. He always claimed he wasn’t a magician, that he had no power to cause accidents. Yet he was a genius when it came to stabbing people in the back. Smirking bitterly, I pulled out my phone.

 

—Yes, young master.

 

“I need to ask you for a favor.”

 

—Please leave it to me, whatever it is.

 

That utterly dependable voice answered, and I got straight to the point.

 

***

 

“What?!”

 

Lee Man-deuk froze the moment he arrived at work.

 

“What the hell have you been doing outside, Assistant Manager Lee?! All the client meetings have been canceled—because of you!”

 

The company was in chaos. Meetings with clients, canceled one after another. And the blame had fallen squarely on him.

 

“Canceled? Because of me?” he asked, dumbfounded.

 

“Don’t talk back!!”

 

His manager’s furious shout cut him short.

 

“Didn’t I tell you not to talk back?!”

 

The half-bald man jabbed a finger into his shoulder and snarled,

 

“What are you going to do about this, huh? How are you going to fix it?!”

 

Fix it?

 

‘How should I know?!’

 

Client meetings weren’t even his responsibility. He’d never once met with clients outside the office.

 

As his face twisted in frustration, his boss roared again.

 

“Look me in the eye when I’m talking to you!”

 

Startled, Lee Man-deuk flinched, hunching his shoulders and lowering his head in a show of fear. But behind that bowed head, his expression was twisted with resentment. His boss couldn’t see that, of course, and barked in exasperation,

 

“Since this all happened because of you, you’re the one who’s going to take responsibility and fix it.”

 

“…Excuse me, what?”

 

“You just said ‘yes,’ didn’t you? The president and I are counting on you. Don’t forget it.”

 

The sheer absurdity left him speechless. But his boss didn’t care—he simply jerked his chin at the door.

 

“You can go now.”

 

But Lee Man-deuk didn’t budge. He couldn’t.

 

They were forcing him to clean up a mess he hadn’t even caused. The sheer unfairness burned inside him, and he was just about to protest when—

 

“I said get out!”

 

His manager roared again.

 

Judging by his expression, if Lee Man-deuk lingered any longer, he’d start hurling whatever was within reach. Left with no choice, Lee Man-deuk scurried out of the manager’s office.

 

His worried coworkers, who had been waiting anxiously outside, rushed to him the moment he appeared.

 

“Assistant Manager Lee, are you okay?”

 

“No…”

 

He slumped his shoulders and let out a heavy sigh.

 

“What on earth happened?”

 

“The manager said every client meeting was canceled—because of me.”

 

“Because of you?”

 

One teammate’s eyes widened in disbelief.

 

“But why would you even be meeting clients?”

 

“Exactly.”

 

“You always head straight home after work. There’s no reason you’d ever get involved with them.”

 

“That’s what I’ve been saying!”

 

Lee Man-deuk muttered, his voice brimming with indignation.

 

“So… what are you going to do?”

 

“With the manager that furious, what else can I do? I’ll have to meet the clients myself and try to reschedule.”

 

Even though he still had no idea what mistake he was supposed to have made.

 

“This is a real headache.”

 

As he let out another deep sigh, his colleagues tried to comfort him, but repairing broken business relationships was no easy task.

 

—We’re terribly sorry, but the president has instructed us not to answer any calls under your name, Mr. Lee. Our apologies.

 

“Wait—please, hold on a second!”

 

Another rejection. He had lost count of how many times it had happened, and despair weighed heavier with each one. At this point, he was genuinely curious: what had he actually done wrong?

 

“Assistant Manager Lee, are you alright?”

 

At his team leader’s worried question, Lee Man-deuk’s voice trembled.

 

“Team Leader… maybe I should just hand in my resignation.”

 

“Do you think the higher-ups would even accept it?”

 

Probably not.

 

His face twisted bitterly.

 

With things at this stage, he wanted nothing more than to slam the door on everything and storm out of the company.

 

‘Should I just do it?’

 

After all, if he tampered with people’s memories, it would be as if none of this had ever happened.

 

‘Or maybe I should just tweak their memories a little…’

 

Just enough to make them recall that the cancellations weren’t his fault.

 

‘It wasn’t even my fault in the first place.’

 

The dangerous thought lasted only a moment before he shook his head. Memory wasn’t something to tamper with carelessly. A single mistake could make the situation spiral out of control.

 

‘There’s no helping it.’

 

It was unfair, but he had no choice but to handle it himself. In the end, he grabbed his coat and stood. He would visit the clients directly.

 

But even that wasn’t simple.

 

“We’re very sorry. The president has asked that you schedule another appointment and come back later.”

 

As if appointments could be made that easily!

 

He swallowed his curses and pleaded.

 

“Please—there has to be some way!”

 

But the answer was the same.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

Damn it!

 

His face twisted into something so dark that the employee flinched. Quickly, though, he smoothed his expression into a smile.

 

“Understood. Please tell the president I’ll visit again another time.”

 

“Yes, I’m truly sorry.”

 

The receptionist bowed repeatedly, though none of this was her fault. Still, that fleeting glimpse of his ugly expression had been enough to unsettle her.

 

“It’s alright. I’ll be back another time.”

 

Leaving those words behind, he walked out of the building.

 

“Ha, damn it.”

 

The moment he stepped outside, he shoved his bangs back and spat bitterly,

 

“Why the hell is it raining now?”

 

Hadn’t they said the rainy season was over? That we should be careful of the heat?

 

‘Nothing ever goes my way.’

 

His frustration boiled over, and he barely managed to suppress the urge to scream.

 

Calm down. Calm down.

 

If the clients kept refusing to see him, he could always use magic. For now, though—

 

“Victory…”

 

He would clear his mind by listening to their song. Just as he slipped in his wired earphones, a past conversation flashed through his mind.

 

“If you ever run into trouble, use this business card.”

 

Did he already know I’d end up in this kind of situation?

 

Narrowing his eyes, Lee Man-deuk pulled out the card.

 

[WF Ent.

CEO | Kwak Yoon-hoo

010-□X34-▲X1□]

 

“Hmm.”

 

Lee Man-deuk hesitated. Could he really call Kwak Yoon-hoo over something like this? Would he even be able to help?

 

But the hesitation didn’t last. He quickly picked up the phone, though a flicker of doubt crossed his mind—what if no one answered?

 

“Hello? Is this CEO Kwak Yoon-hoo?”

 

To his relief, the call went through

 

***

 

Exactly one week after the accident, Lee Man-deuk called me.

 

After causing that crash and injuring my grandfather, he still had the nerve to dial my number. I had to admit—it took guts. Of course, he had no idea that I already knew everything.

 

Perhaps because I didn’t speak right away, he asked again, carefully:

 

—Isn’t this CEO Kwak Yoon-hoo’s number?

 

Despite the grating tone, I answered in a cheerful voice.

 

“Yes, that’s right. Who’s speaking?”

 

—This is Lee Man-deuk. You gave me your business card before…

 

His voice trailed off. I replied smoothly,

 

“Ah, yes. I remember.”

 

Though I’d recognized his voice from the start, I pretended not to and spoke in a welcoming tone.

 

“What can I do for you?”

 

—You told me to call if I ever ran into trouble. I was wondering if you could help me out.

 

He rushed to explain.

 

—For some reason, every company we’ve been working with suddenly refuses to meet with us.

 

It was the result of me pressuring the firms doing business with his company under the AMA name.

 

Still—help, was it?

 

The word was almost funny, but I kept smiling as I replied,

 

“Of course I’ll help.”

 

After all, since he’d stabbed me in the back, it was only fair I return the favor.

 

—Really? Thank you so much!

 

The damned magician sounded as thrilled as a drowning man who’d just grabbed a lifeline.

 

Little did he know the rope was rotten.

 

As his repeated thanks rang in my ear, I let a sly smile curl at my lips.

 

“But there’s one condition.”