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After deciding what restaurant they should go to, Choi Jong-Il called someone.
“There’s a patient in the building on Sejongno Street. He’s in room 2107. Take him to the hospital and make sure the police or the prosecution can’t interfere.”
It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
Choi Jong-Il dropped the call after passing on only the necessary information.
“Do you call that number for the police as well?” Kang Chan asked.
“If the headquarters contact them directly, the police will already be aware of the situation before they go to the scene. That eliminates the need for explanations.”
Kang Chan didn’t know they could contact the police that way.
The restaurant came into view after passing Gwanghamun[1] and driving for about ten more minutes. A restaurant emerged when they drove for about ten minutes after they passed the Gwanghwamun. The restaurant was a hanok[2] that had been renovated in a sophisticated way.
“Welcome.”
An easygoing elder pointed to the door inside the living room.
Rattle.
They opened the hanji paper door[3] and went inside, finding four cushions.
“Please stay here for a moment,” the elder said.
Kang Chan comfortably sat inside the room. He didn’t want the four of them to make a show out of trying to get the others to sit first.
Choi Jong-Il sat across from Kang Chan.
“Doesn’t this place take people’s orders?” Kang Chan asked Choi Jong-Il.
“I called ahead and ordered.”
When did he do that?
Kang Chan asked another question, “Can we smoke here?”
“Yes. There’s even an ashtray.”
“Great. I’m thinking of smoking after we eat.”
He felt as if he was just sitting in a room in a regular house.
“I did something wrong to the agents. Let me buy dinner to compensate for that,” Kang Chan added.
“Please don’t worry about it.”
Just as they had finished their conversation, they heard people outside the room. A small table was soon brought inside.
Kang Chan couldn’t help but smile a little.
Choi Jong-Il had said that this restaurant served hanjeongsik, but things like this should be called baekban.[4]
Just as Kang Chan was about to pick up his utensils, his phone rang. Oh Gwang-Taek was calling him.
“Hello?”
- Kang Chan, it’s me.
“Why did you call?”
- Did something happen to you at Sinsa-dong?
“I fought with the fixers that belong to a certain company. It was for something personal.”
- It wasn’t related to Bundang, was it?
Oh Gwang-Taek sounded somewhat tired.
“No. As I said, they were fixers of a company.”
- Alright. I just asked because three or four gangsters were among the people that were beaten up. I knew you were the one who did it the moment I heard what happened. If it’s okay with you, let’s meet up for a bit tomorrow.
“Tomorrow won’t work. Let’s see each other some other time.”
- Alright.
After Kang Chan ended the call, he scooped up a spoonful of doengjang-jjigae[5] and ate it. “This is amazing!”
“I’ve heard this restaurant is good. Seems like the rumors are true.”
Utensils could be heard being used throughout the room.
They talked about various normal topics while eating, which could be why it just took them thirty minutes to finish their food.
Lee Doo-Hee went out of the room and came back with coffee and an ashtray.
After Kang Chan lit up a cigarette…
“I’ll pay for lunch,” Choi Jong-Il offered.
“Why are you like this? I already said I’ll pay for it as an apology.”
“I just thought I’d offer anyway.”
Was Choi Jong-Il planning on asking him for a favor? From the sound of it, that didn’t seem like the case.
“I’m paying for this. You can pay for the next one instead.”
Their conversation ended with Choi Jong-Il smiling in response.
“Speaking of which, let’s change our bandages before we leave,” Kang Chan said.
Lee Doo-Hee went to the car and brought over bandages and medication. Afterward, all four of them changed their bandages into clean ones.
“What are you going to do now?” Choi Jong-Il asked Kang Chan.
“I’m thinking of going over to beat up Yang Jin-Woo.”
“Yang Jin-Woo isn’t a pushover. You should examine the material you received a moment ago from Choi Il-Kwon a bit more and look for an opportunity to use it. Meet Yang Jin-Woo after you find evidence that can eliminate all chances of him being able to run away.”
Kang Chan nodded.
In fact, meeting Yang Jin-Woo would already be difficult in itself, much like his meeting with Cho Il-Kwon. Just as Choi Jong-Il had said, even if they were to run into each other, it would be hard to take care of Yang Jin-Woo.
“Tsk, fine! Let’s call it a day. It won’t be bad for me to lay low while examining the material anyway,” Kang Chan answered, then stood up while thanking them.
Kang Chan paid sixty thousand won for the food.
After Kang Chan burned the photos of Yoo Hye-Sook in front of the hangari ashtray[6] outside the restaurant, he got in the car that Lee Doo-Hee was driving. He was then dropped off at the entrance of the apartment.
Kang Chan immediately went up to his house.
When he remembered the photos on Yoon Bong-Sup’s table, he unconsciously sighed.
What would he have done if he didn’t visit Yoon Bong-Sup and Cho Il-Kwon today?
At any rate, he should take care of Yang Jin-Woo quickly.
Ding.
Kang Chan got out of the elevator, walked to their unit, and immediately opened the front door.
“I’m back.”
Kang Dae-Kyung and Yoo Hye-Sook greeted Kang Chan from the living room.
“Welcome, Channy.”
“Welcome home.”
“Father, you’re home early.”
“I’m already resentful for having to work on a Saturday, so it’s only right that I come home early. Have you had lunch? What’s wrong with your hand this time?” Kang Dae-Kyung asked.
“Oh my, Channy! Did you injure your hand? How bad is it?”
“I’ve had lunch, and I just got scratched a bit while doing some good.”
“How could you get hurt when you’re doing some good? You should be more careful,” Yoo Hye-Sook replied.
Despite being scolded, Kang Chan was happy for getting to see Yoo Hye-Sook.
Kang Chan changed into comfortable clothes, then inserted the USB that he had received from Cho Il-Kwon into his computer.
“Ha!”
This son of a bitch!
Kang Chan initially thought Cho Il-Kwon had organized the remitted money into charts. But no matter how stupid Cho Il-Kwon was, there was no way he wouldn’t know what jargon like H1 Statement of Accounts, fixed costs, and current assets meant.
Kang Chan looked through all the documents just in case Cho Il-Kwon had secretly written the remitted money in any of the tables, but they were all just titled ‘balance sheets’ and ‘income statements.’
Kang Chan couldn’t help but smile bitterly.
It was a crime that he didn’t check the evidence even though he was up against someone smart and clever.
He smiled again when he opened the documents that he had placed in the inner chest pocket of his jacket.
Under the title, which was along the lines of ‘H1 Statement of Accounts Per Subsidiary’ the target sales and amount of sales they achieved were organized, looking nice and neat.
Ah! That son of a bitch!
‘What was he going to do if I had checked this on the spot?’
If anything, Kang Chan thought Cho Il-Kwon had balls of steel for risking his life in such a way.
Should Kang Chan visit him at the hospital? Since Choi Jong-Il had admitted Cho Il-Kwon to one anyway, he could just go there quickly and…
Tsk!
Kang Chan decided to just be thankful for now that he managed to protect Yoo Hye-Sook. He then made engraved in his mind not to make this kind of mistake again against Yang Jin-Woo.
“Channy! Let’s have dinner!”
Kang Chan rubbed his eyes twice just in case his eyes were glinting, then went out to the living room.
***
While Kang Chan was having breakfast on Sunday, Kang Dae-Kyung and Yoo Hye-Sook said that they didn’t have any special plans. For some reason, though, Yoo Hye-Sook’s phone kept ringing, and none of the conversations ended quickly.
“Mom seems very popular,” Kang Chan commented.
“I personally think it’s good to see her that busy,” Kang Dae-Kyung replied.
Kang Dae-Kyung glanced at the master bedroom, then asked, “Nothing else is going on, right?”
“Yes.” Kang Chan momentarily hesitated, wondering if he required Kang Dae-Kyung’s help with protecting Yoo Hye-Sook. But the moment he saw Kang Dae-Kyung’s worried eyes, Kang Chan decided to take care of this without him.
Buzz— Buzz—Buzz—. Buzz— Buzz—Buzz—. Buzz— Buzz—Buzz—.
Kang Chan’s phone, which was on top of his deck, started to ring.
“Seems like it’s your turn this time. Go answer it quickly,” Kang Dae-Kyung said.
Kang Chan hurriedly went into his room.
“Hello?”
- What are you doing?
It was Seok Kang-Ho.
“I’m just loafing around.”
- Let’s go out. Why don’t we go to Misari? We always go there at times like these. Let’s have a cup of coffee there, then grab some lunch.
Kang Chan agreed to the plan. Kang Dae-Kyung and Yoo Hye-Sook had told him that they didn’t have anywhere to go today anyway.
“Sure. Should I come out now?”
- I’m in front of the apartment.
Kang Chan hung up while smiling slightly, then called Choi Jong-Il.
- It’s Choi Jong-Il.
“I’m going to go to Misari and have a cup of tea. I called you because I’m worried about my mother. Instead of following me, just protect her.”
- I reported to my superiors yesterday, so more agents have been assigned to your parents since this morning. Twelve of them even have your mother as their sole responsibility. I was actually going to ask you to introduce two of them to your mother.”
“You want me to introduce two agents to her?”
- They’re female agents that are in their mid and late twenties. Please tell her that one of them was dispatched to manage the Foundation from the Prime Minister’s office, and I hope we can come up with a believable excuse that would let the other agent guard your mother from a close distance. As for your father, six agents have joined his company as salespeople.
Kang Chan felt like he had received a tremendous gift. The worry taking up a part of his heart seemed to have somewhat shrunk.
“Thanks. They said they’re just staying at home today, so I’ll think of a good excuse and introduce the agents to her tomorrow.”
- Are you meeting Mr. Seok Kang-Ho?
“Yeah.”
- I see. So that’s why I saw the security guards that are in charge of protecting Mr. Seok Kang-Ho earlier.
“Why don’t we have everyone greet each other and have a cup of coffee?”
- We’re all going to have to write a detailed explanation or get a salary deduction if we do that.
Kang Chan smiled lightly and hung up the call in a good mood. He changed into jeans and a comfortable shirt.
“Father, I’m going to see my teacher for a moment.”
“Did something good happen?”
“Yes! Something really good happened.”
Kang Dae-Kyung didn’t pry further. “Be careful, okay? I’ll tell your mom that you’ve gone out, so feel free to go now. She’s talking to someone on the phone.”
“I’ll be back.”
Kang Chan felt much better.
1. Gwanghwamun is the main and largest gate of the Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, South Korea. It’s located at the three-way intersection at the northern end of Sejongno Street. It is the landmark and symbol of Seoul’s long history as the capital city of the Joseon Dynasty ☜
2. A hanok is a traditional Korean house that was first designed and built in the 14th century during the Joseon dynasty ☜
3. the hanji paper door is a door in hanoks made out of hanji paper, which is made out of mulberry trees in ancient Korea ☜
4. Literally defined as ‘white rice,’ baekban refers to home-cooked meals that consist of a bowl of rice, soup, and side dishes ☜
5. doengjang-jjigae or soybean paste stew is a traditional Korean stew made primarily with soybean paste among other ingredients ☜
6. a hangari is a traditional Korean jar with a narrow top and bottom and a bulging middle. It is made out of baked clay and is used for preserving pickled foods. A smaller version of the traditional hangari can also be used as an ashtray. ☜