Midday Guest Chapter 22

Kim Sunwoo was a man who had readily agreed, saying “Let’s do it,” to the words of a representative who suggested they make a huge killing with the Taesan Country Club construction and live the rest of their lives enjoying themselves.

‘What should I do to help?’

‘We just need to be able to buy up the Yonggung-ri land somehow. We’re asking that of you.’

‘The size is too big. How do you plan to handle the funding?’

‘Why are you acting like an amateur? If the funds were going to be circulated through official channels, we wouldn’t have come all the way here.’

‘…’

‘We’re asking this of you because it’s a difficult task, aren’t we? Yes?’

‘Ah, this seems like a losing business…’

It was true that it would take a lot of effort, but it was also true that it would be a waste to miss it. No matter how much one struggled after setting up a business in the back alleys, there was a limit to the position one could reach. If he missed this opportunity, it was obvious he would have to live out his life as the representative of a moneylending office that owned the second floor of a building completed in the 1950s. He kept thinking that perhaps this job was the last chance to come into his life.

‘Fine. Let’s give it a try.’

‘Your personality is quite refreshing. Well then, I look forward to working with you, CEO.’

To fill the lack of funds, Kim Sunwoo used his head a bit. First, he created an online gambling site that would become the center of this project and headed to the casino at the Cheongun Hotel Resort. It was so convenient and good, being in the very next village.

He played several games at tables with high stakes. And after getting close to the big spenders he played with, he told them about the online gambling site and made them play by betting even larger sums of money.

After gathering funds this way, he made a plan to enter into the Yonggung-ri construction.

As a rule, transactions proceed smoothly only when one side is placed in an unfavorable situation.

The method Kim Sunwoo suggested was to make the people of Yonggung-ri village give up their land themselves. The method was simple. It was to lure the villagers into using the games by spreading spam messages that contained the link to the illegal gambling site.

The more people had worked diligently all their lives, the more easily they fell for the temptation. Being ignorant of how to deal with addiction, they didn’t even know how to control it.

Afterward, things flowed like clockwork.

Taking over land deeds at a low price instead of the debts that had snowballed was as simple as swimming while touching the ground.

However, the plan that had been flowing well began to turn into a mess with the appearance of Cha Seokjoo, the man said to be the right hand of Chairman Kang Changsik, the head of Cheongun.

By what means he used, Cha Seokjoo knew not only the fact that Kim Sunwoo had planted employees in the casino, but even the fact that they were in the middle of taking over the Yonggung-ri land.

Funds, personnel, plans.

Everything he had painstakingly designed began to shake.

Was that all? Even the subordinates planted in the Cheongun Hotel Resort were all eliminated, and the only mid-level executive or higher remaining was Jang Munyeol, who had become a hand-cripple.

It was at a point where it was safe to say the organization was not just torn apart, but dismantled. Because he was in a hurry and had pushed several houses that were under construction too hard, an accident even occurred.

The death of Mr. Park from the mill fell into this category.

‘I should have waited until he pulled the maximum amount of loans.’

Mr. Park, who had been shouting that he could pay it back when told to either put out the money or, if not even that, the house deed, was pushed back in a physical struggle and fell right over.

He died without any bleeding or visible wounds; it was truly a case of bad luck. He still hadn’t found the reason why the incident, which seemed to be wrapping up nicely as a suicide, was overturned overnight to result in that state.

Kim Sunwoo, gritting his teeth, gulped down whiskey straight from the bottle and set it down. On the laptop on the table, a CCTV video was playing, which he had obtained by rushing out since dawn and bribing several civil servants on the Taesan line. The video clearly contained the image of Mr. Park from the mill being hung from a rafter under Kim Sunwoo’s lead.

“Munyeol, who did you say was the guy who made you like that?”

Jang Munyeol chewed and swallowed the painkillers without water. A bitter smell vibrated inside his mouth.

“Are you talking about Cha Seokjoo?”

Jang Munyeol continued as he held up his bandaged hand.

“He’s a complete madman. The guys under him are the same kind of madmen. I heard he held an executive title at Cheongun Group, so I thought at most he’d go to jail; I really didn’t know things would end up in this state.”

Jang Munyeol, who had been ranting for a while, poured out curses while glaring.

“If only I hadn’t been caught then…”

“Then?”

“Yes, hyung-nim. I mean the day we were withdrawing from Cheongun. I had succeeded in shaking off the pursuit team and hiding in a warehouse of some house in Yonggung-ri. It was truly, absolutely, a situation where no one could find me, but…”

The old house he had entered to hide his body. While he was hiding in the warehouse of Haeundang, there must have been a conspiracy going on outside. Otherwise, how could they have entered the warehouse all at once and grabbed him by the neck?

“They burst in like someone who knew I was hiding there. Whether that green, young kid snitched or what, fuck, it was so ridiculous. A 17-to-1 fight is only possible in movies; does that work in reality? I was dragged away helplessly, and for the price of siphoning money from the casino, they made a person’s hand into this state, fuck…”

Jang Munyeol raised his voice further, knowing that Kim Sunwoo was listening to the story.

“But lately, there’s been talk that Cha Seokjoo seems to have settled down in that house.”

“Cha Seokjoo was in Yonggung-ri?”

“It’s been quite a while. From what I’ve looked into, it doesn’t seem like he’s settled down completely, but more like he’s going back and forth between Seoul.”

“Which house?”

“Ah… it was a bit of an old house.”

“You bastard, every house in Yonggung-ri is old, then.”

Jang Munyeol tried to gauge something with his eyes, which were so swollen they wouldn’t even open properly. A young guy acted like the owner, and he seemed to be staying alone. And…

“It had a name. It was a house that had a sign put up in hanja.”

He let out a pained sound as he struck his neck repeatedly against the back of the sofa. He remembered that a plaque was attached under the eaves, but the problem was that he didn’t know how to read hanja. Thanks to that, the explanation went in circles.

“It was a hanok house and I think it had a small hill behind it. You probably know it too, hyung-nim. You know, that house where the pretty-faced boy lives.”

“…Haeundang.”

“Haeundang?”

“If you’re talking about a hanok guesthouse in this vicinity, there’s only Haeundang.”

Kim Sunwoo rummaged through a cabinet and brought out a file.

“As a matter of fact, I’ve been busting my ass because of this house.”

“Why is that?”

“The owner of this house is the number one landowner in Yonggung-ri. He even owns plots only along the prime coastal spots. Taesan coveted this place immensely. When they build the country club, they wanted to develop this side of the site into townhouses.”

“But why haven’t you started the work?”

“Access isn’t easy. There is a mortgage on it, but it’s less than 20%, and maybe because he’s a young guy, smishing is useless too.”

“…Ah.”

“The young guy doesn’t drink, and there are no women. He just works all day in that hanok house. Planting flowers or receiving guests. Seeing as he pays back the interest and principal regularly, it seems he handles quite a bit of money… but since he shows no interest in other things at all, there’s no hook to catch him with.”

Kim Sunwoo looked at Jang Munyeol while tapping the armrest of the sofa.

“How far has the work on the mill progressed?”

“It was almost at the final stage but… it’s difficult to harvest now because the attention of the police is focused there. I’m truly sorry.”

“Did you not do the paperwork?”

“I was out of it. While I was getting surgery, Park’s son started the inheritance process and also…”

“Ah, this guy is so slow. What are you going to do now if you blow that? I’m already dying because the funding source is blocked.”

“I’m truly sorry, hyung-nim. Even I didn’t expect things to go this far.”

“Go and take responsibility and get it back.”

“Yes, hyung-nim.”

“Don’t just answer. I said, get it back.”

“I-I understand.”

Kim Sunwoo struck Jang Munyeol with whatever he could grab. He, who was silently taking the pouring curses and violence, quietly let his eyes shine.

He needed a place to turn the attention to. Whether it was a house, a person, or whatever it was, he just needed to find one thing. Jang Munyeol’s eyes, looking at the documents on the table, flashed like a viper’s.

“Hyung-nim, I’ve heard an interesting story, though.”

“What is it, you bastard?”

Jang Munyeol lifted the whiskey bottle and poured for Kim Sunwoo while cautiously checking his mood.

“The day before yesterday, a subordinate told me while he was in the police station detention cell. He said the owner of Haeundang had been to the police station. And when he was leaving, he said he went back side-by-side with Cha Seokjoo. It’s not just a one or two-time thing. I heard they even eat meals together and such.”

“…What?”

“Because no matter how much I think about it, it’s strange. Doesn’t the timing of this overlap oddly? My being caught by Cha Seokjoo after hiding in Haeundang is one thing, and the police being outside right now is another.”

“… .”

“It seems the way things are going began to get really strange after those guys stopped by the police station. Even the forensic team coming to take fingerprints and interviewing visitors—the chaos started exactly from then, didn’t it?”

Kim Sunwoo lifted the whiskey glass and moistened his lips. After the glass was lowered, the corners of his mouth were twisted upward.

“…That son of a bitch.”