He looked young, but it was definitely Moon Tae-beom.
"Master?"
At the repeated call, I came to my senses.
I put on a habitual smile as I looked at Mr. Shin's face.
"Ah, I was just thinking about something else. Let's go in. Are the employees behind you?"
"Yes, do you know any of them?"
"No. Is your business going well?"
While talking to Mr. Shin, my mind was still in turmoil.
Moon Tae-beom was definitely a Korean-Japanese yakuza.
The vanguard of the Japanese invasion of the Korean loan market.
The link between the Cheongpung Society and Japan.
Why is Moon Tae-beom with Mr. Shin?
I sat down on the sofa with Mr. Shin.
I glanced at his face again, pretending to look around, but it was indeed Moon Tae-beom.
"Why did you visit? Do you have any instructions?"
"No. Do I need a reason to come? I thought I was being too indifferent to the Myeongdong bosses lately, so I decided to make a round. Is it inconvenient?"
"Who am I to think such a thing? I am merely a servant of the chairman."
Is what this servant of the chairman saying true?
'That guy is the most unpredictable. He does what he's told, though.'
I recalled what my grandfather had said.
"You always show great loyalty to the chairman. But now it seems like it's time to show loyalty to me, doesn't it?"
"Haha. My feelings for the chairman are the same as my feelings for you, Master."
Hmm...
What kind of trick is this?
What is this kid's true identity?
I scrutinized Mr. Shin's face, but he was smiling.
"Let's see. I do need some people anyway."
"He's a capable guy. He's also very good at foreign languages, and he won't be lacking in serving you, Master."
"Seems that way."
I wrapped things up and got up from my seat.
"Leaving already?"
"I have to meet other bosses."
"Ah! I understand. But I think your security detail is too small. Isn't Manager Ma alone insufficient to protect you now?"
It was a meaningful statement.
I maintained a calm face and smiled.
"Don't worry about me. Manager Ma is still sufficient. I'll see you next time, Mr. Shin."
I left the office and stopped in front of Moon Tae-beom.
"Moon Tae-beom, right?"
"Yes, Master."
"Let's see each other often."
"It's an honor, Master."
I patted Moon Tae-beom's shoulder and left the office.
"Manager."
I called out to Manager Ma, who was driving.
"Yes, Boss."
"Mr. Shin Sung-il. You said there were no unusual points when you investigated him, right?"
"Yes, is something wrong?"
"Please investigate Moon Tae-beom as well."
"Understood."
I had thoroughly investigated the Myeongdong bosses.
I couldn't find any connection to the Cheongpung Society from the four bosses.
But Moon Tae-beom, a Cheongpung Society lackey, was there with Shin Sung-il, and he introduced him to me as a hometown junior.
At the very least, it meant that Shin Sung-il was connected to the Japanese yakuza.
"Let's meet with Double Blade next time. Cancel the appointment and let's go home."
"Understood."
I arrived home and went to my grandfather's study.
"Grandfather, it's Muhyeok."
"Come in."
I opened the door and entered, and my grandfather smiled as he put down the book he was reading.
"You said you were going to meet the Myeongdong bosses today, right?"
"I met Mr. Noeikseon and Mr. Shin Sung-il and came back. I postponed the meeting with Mr. Kim Hosik."
"Is something wrong?"
My grandfather tilted his head, sensing the unusual atmosphere.
"About the Myeongdong bosses. How much do you trust them?"
"How much do I trust them, you ask?"
"Yes."
"Hehehe, Muhyeok. I don't trust anyone except Myunghoon. Apart from the family, Myunghoon is the only person I trust."
"But why did you give them money and entrust them with managing Myeongdong?"
"······So something is going on, huh."
My grandfather, looking interested, got up from his desk and walked to the sofa, sitting in the seat of honor.
"Sit down. It sounds like an interesting story."
I looked at my grandfather in surprise at the invitation to sit.
In the study, no one except my grandfather could sit.
I had never sat in the study, not even once, in the past or now.
Even my uncles, Cheonyi, and Cheonji, the siblings, had never sat here.
Jiyoung was an exception, but...
"Grandfather."
"Hehe. What's so special about sitting?"
I silently bowed my head and sat down.
"In this study, the only people who could sit with me were the chairman of Ilseong Group, the chairman of Daehyun Group, and the chairman of Jungwoo Group. Do you know why?"
"I don't know."
"Because I had to tell them who held the leash of your group. Now, there are many financial institutions that lend money to companies at low interest rates, both banks and non-bank financial institutions. But it wasn't like that in the past. They ignored me, thinking I was just a lowly money player."
A cold smile appeared on my grandfather's face.
"I cut off their loans. During the second oil crisis. At that time, the CEOs of those companies came to me and bowed their heads, begging for money. That's when I made it so no one could sit in front of me in this study."
My grandfather often got lost in such memories.
As the national economy grew, and banks and non-bank financial institutions started lending money from abroad to companies at low interest rates, the number of times large company CEOs came to my grandfather decreased.
There were still outstanding loans, but the large companies were not taking out new loans.
"Such a day will come again, Grandfather."
"At that time, you will sit in this seat, Muhyeok. I also need to rest now."
"Grandfather."
"By inviting you to sit, I mean to have a conversation with you on equal terms. So, what happened with the Myeongdong bosses?"
My grandfather, who seemed to be changing the subject to avoid any objections, left me no choice but to speak.
"Mr. Shin Sung-il is suspicious. I strongly feel he is connected to Japan."
"Seong-il? What could that guy have to do with Japan? He was just a country bumpkin who wrestled."
"Even you might not have noticed if he had hidden his true identity for a long time."
"Hmm... Seong-il is unpredictable, but he's not a smart guy."
"That's why I plan to eliminate him."
I thought about it on the way from Myeongdong to Pyeongchang-dong.
"Eliminate?"
"Yes. I don't want to waste my energy on Mr. Shin. If it feels off, it needs to be eliminated. It's also a warning to Double Blade and Viper."
"Hmm..."
My grandfather sighed and closed his eyes.
"Do as you see fit."
It took a while for him to answer.
"Yes."
"Can you do it?"
"Manager Ma has taken over half of the power from Manager Ha, and I also have some gangsters helping me."
"Park Dong-su, right?"
"Yes."
"Can you trust him?"
"I don't trust people easily either. He's still very useful for now."
My grandfather's warm smile made me feel warm too.
"Grandfather. About the loans to the top 20 groups. Can they be recovered now?"
"Hmm. They can be recovered at any time. Why do you ask?"
"I want them to be recovered."
"Let's think about it slowly. Most of them are convertible bonds at the top of the circular investment structure, so they can be converted to stocks at any time. Don't worry."
"But if they change their governance structure at any time, they could become worthless, right?"
"I'm not dead yet. If there are any signs, we can act then. We can get the money back, and we'll need to take revenge, right?"
"Understood."
I bowed to my grandfather and left the study.
After returning to my room, I gave instructions to Manager Ma.
"Let's deal with Shin Sung-il. Bring Mr. Shin and Moon Tae-beom to the factory and handle the rest as you see fit. You can get help from Mr. Park. Try to coordinate with him."
"Understood."
Manager Ma answered without any hesitation, despite the sudden instructions.
"How long will it take?"
"Since it's the first time working with Mr. Park, it will take about two days."
"Leave the outskirts to Mr. Park. Don't worry about the small fry; focus on Shin Sung-il and Moon Tae-beom. Make sure to secure them."
"Understood."
Manager Ma bowed and left.
I called Park Dong-su.
- Dong-sang!
I smiled slightly at Park Dong-su's usual voice.
"I have a job for you. Work with Manager Ma. He will give you the instructions, and you just need to handle the outskirts. It's not a difficult task, so don't be nervous."
- Got it. Ah! And we took over the redevelopment site. There was some resistance, but we managed to take it over without major issues.
"I expected as much. See you after the job is done."
- Sure. Dong-sang!
A few days later.
I arrived at an abandoned factory in the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province.
It was drizzling around the factory. I got out of the car with a slightly troubled expression.
To be honest, I had underestimated the task.
'I had a bad feeling about this.'
Manager Ma's forces suffered some damage, but the organization led by Park Dong-su, which was responsible for the outskirts, suffered significant damage.
"Phew... Is Park Dong-su weak, or is Mr. Shin's power stronger than I thought?"
"I'm sorry."
"No, Manager. I'm not asking for an apology. I'm just saying that even with the combined forces of my two organizations, we suffered damage."
As we walked towards the factory, Manager Ma explained under the umbrella.
"Without Mr. Park Dong-su, we would have suffered significant damage. We easily entered the building, but suddenly they attacked the outskirts, where Mr. Park was stationed. If Mr. Park hadn't stopped them, we would have been trapped in the building."
Fortunately, we secured Shin Sung-il and Moon Tae-beom.
I felt a chill down my spine thinking that if I had only sent Manager Ma, I might have lost him.
"Let's go in."
The sound of the iron gate opening in the abandoned factory, surrounded by farmland, was loud.
I entered with Manager Ma.
Manager Ma's subordinates, whom I had seen a few times, were standing around and slowly moved back. They were badly injured.
I stared at Shin Sung-il and Moon Tae-beom, who were tied up and lying on their sides.
Looking at their faces, I was certain that Shin Sung-il was connected to the Cheongpung Society.