I answered Hamilton’s question with a faint smile.
“No matter how much we analyze the data, we just can’t make sense of it. There’s absolutely no profit for you, Mr. Kim Muhyuk. And we already know you’re not the kind of man who moves without a profit.”
“Well, there are tis when I move even if it ans taking a loss. Like when I’m helping the United States, for example. You seem to have misunderstood .”
As I replied with composure, Hamilton frowned.
“Don’t play word gas. Because of this, the White House is in chaos. Ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia and the Western European countries have maintained friendly relations—but now, they might return to a state of tension.”
“As the Russian governnt announced, it’s a matter of commission fees. They failed to reach an agreent, so they stopped the supply.”
“Co on, Mr. Kim. After your call with dvedev, he imdiately convened a cabinet eting. Are you seriously telling that’s a coincidence?”
My expression stiffened before I realized it. How much do they know?
So they’re aware that I spoke with dvedev.
That ans they have an informant inside the Kremlin—or else...
“Don’t tell you’re wiretapping ?”
“Of course not. How could anyone wiretap you, when you’re covered in anti-surveillance devices stronger than those used at the BH?”
“......”
Hamilton sneered and kept talking.
“Not only the United States, but also Britain, France, and every governnt involved knows that you’re connected to this. This could hurt your business. We need to know the truth—if only to help you.”
He was trying to dig for information under the guise of helping . I almost laughed.
Still, the fact that multiple governnts knew ant there was either a rat in the Kremlin—or Valence was pulling the strings behind them all.
“You’re right, Ambassador. I have nothing to gain from this. You think I’m involved because I talked to dvedev, but that’s not it. He called to ask my opinion as Gazprom’s second-largest shareholder, and I simply told him to do as he saw fit.”
“Mr. Kim Muhyuk.”
He quietly said my na, but I continued without caring.
“Western Europe is dependent on Russian energy right now, isn’t it?”
“What are you—”
“The United States can’t be too pleased about that.”
Hamilton bit his lip, speechless.
So much for the intimidating Arican ambassador—he was an open book.
“Don’t pretend otherwise. Before coming to question , shouldn’t you have checked what kind of benefit Arica could gain from this? No, wait—you must have already figured it out.”
Hamilton looked at , confused.
“In two days, the supply will resu. Shouldn’t you do sothing before that?”
“So, the cutoff lasts until tomorrow?”
Instead of answering, I shrugged.
“Three days...”
“Russia can’t keep the cutoff going forever. It’s just a performance—a way of saying, ‘We can do this anyti we want.’ So, Ambassador, what do you think you should do now?”
Even after I’d spoon-fed him the answer, he only sat there, hesitating.
I couldn’t tell whether he was slow or just overly cautious.
Since the answer was obvious anyway, I decided to give him a nudge.
“Ambassador, there’s no need to think too hard. Iraq. Just tell Washington that. They’ll understand. Ti’s running out.”
I tapped my wristwatch lightly. Hamilton glanced at it and gave a small sigh of awe.
“...Now I understand why Washington pays so much attention to you.”
I just smiled in response.
“I’ll take my leave first.”
Hamilton stood up, and I rose with him.
“It was nice eting you, Ambassador Hamilton.”
“The pleasure was mine.”
After shaking hands, Hamilton walked away briskly.
Manager Ma ca in holding my coat.
“Did the conversation go well?”
“More or less.”
“Patrick called during dinner. He wants to et tomorrow morning.”
I nodded as I started walking.
“Tell him to co to Pyeongchang-dong tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, sir.”
As I stepped out of the Myeongdong Hotel, the cold winter wind hit my face.
The next day, Patrick showed up looking like a beaten man.
“Ha, you must’ve had a rough ti lately. You look awful.”
“......”
Patrick bit his lip tightly.
I picked up my coffee cup and inhaled its aroma. The coffee slled especially good today.
“So, what did you want to talk to about?”
“I’ll support your side at the shareholders’ eting this week.”
“That’s all?”
If that was it, I was disappointed. I set down my cup and crossed my legs. Patrick quickly added, flustered.
“After the shareholders’ eting, I’d like to exchange my shares for your Yahoo shares.”
“Yahoo? You’re asking for three tis the premium.”
“The stock price of Ilseong affiliates isn’t exactly stable right now, is it? And the semiconductor war—the chicken ga—is finally coming to an end.”
Thanks to his Wall Street experience, Patrick knew how to read the flow.
He was right: the U.S. governnt had started intervening in the semiconductor market’s chicken ga.
After nearly a year, the winner was Joongwoo Electronics.
They had overtaken Ilseong Electronics to beco number one in mory semiconductors.
“Fine. Let’s do it.”
The Yahoo shares were ones I’d bought during the Nasdaq crash.
With Google closing in fast, it was about ti to unload them anyway.
A company that couldn’t adapt would inevitably collapse—and selling now would yield profit.
“I’ll call Jas in.”
I pressed the call button, and Manager Ma entered.
“Call Kyungyeong in.”
A short while later, Ma brought in Han Kyungyeong. As soon as he saw Patrick, Han feigned surprise.
“Oh my, Vice President Patrick, you look terrible! You need so herbal dicine.”
His joking tone made chuckle.
“Enough jokes. We’re going to exchange Dreamhigh’s Yahoo shares for the ones under your proxy. Even if we can’t sign a formal contract yet, we can at least draft a morandum, right?”
“MOU? That we can do without a lawyer.”
“Take him and draft it now. Set a date for the exchange.”
It wouldn’t have legal force, but an MOU would at least prevent him from backing out.
Han Kyungyeong nodded and said to Patrick,
“Let’s head to Dreamhigh Korea branch. We’ll sign the MOU there and have a drink after. We may have started off on bad terms, but we can still build a good relationship, don’t you think?”
As expected, Han knew exactly what I wanted.
If we could get close to Patrick, we might eventually reach Valence’s true master.
Watching the two, I took an envelope from my desk drawer.
“Patrick, take this. I don’t think I’ll be needing it anymore.”
I tossed the envelope in front of him.
When Patrick opened it with a puzzled expression, photographs slipped out.
“W–what the—!”
Patrick’s voice rose as he looked at them.
They were photos of his wife and daughter playing together.
It had taken so effort to find them—thirty minutes of digging, maybe.
“I don’t need them anymore, so you can stop worrying. But if you hadn’t brought the answer I wanted today... well, I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.”
I finished speaking and gave Han a look.
“Co on, Vice President Patrick. Let’s go. I’ll show you the real Korea today.”
Patrick, still dazed by the photos, finally ca to his senses.
He gathered the photos with trembling hands, stuffed them back into the envelope, and followed Han out.
Before he left, I asked one last question.
“Ah, by the way—have you heard from Seo Jaehun?”
“No. No contact at all.”
I nodded faintly. Han, quick on the uptake, led Patrick out of the study.
Once they left, I walked to the window.
A few minutes later, the garage door opened, and two cars drove out of Pyeongchang-dong.
Han and Patrick’s cars.
“How should I use this guy...”
I’d finally caught Valence’s tail again. Would its master really let this one go?
A dog that had bitten and then gotten caught with its own weakness exposed—
The cars disappeared from view, but my thoughts only grew heavier.
* * *
“We’ve arrived.”
Patrick opened his eyes from the back seat.
“Ugh...”
He was so drunk he could barely speak.
The driver, unfazed, said casually, “Then I’ll take my leave.”
After the driver stepped out, Patrick stayed inside for a long ti.
Eventually, the back door opened, and he stumbled out, swaying toward the elevator.
Suddenly, a heavy blow struck him from behind, and he collapsed.
“Damn, this bastard took his sweet ti.”
The man who’d just clubbed him muttered, swinging the bat again for good asure.
Monts later, another car pulled up. Two n got out and lifted Patrick’s limp body.
“Load him in the trunk. Let’s go.”
“Yes, sir, Chief.”
Following orders, the two n shoved Patrick into the trunk.
The car sped out of the underground parking lot and headed for the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province.
“Chief Jeong, what took you so long?”
At a secluded mountain lodge, a man approached as Chief Jeong arrived.
“You think I wanted to be late?” Jeong slamd the trunk and grumbled.
“This bastard wouldn’t show up on ti, that’s why.”
“You didn’t kill him, right?”
“Co on, it’s not my first job. I hit him just enough to keep him alive.”
Jeong grinned.
“Well, I wouldn’t expect less from you. No tails, I hope?”
“Of course not. Took the long way here.”
“Good. Hand him over to and go have a drink with your family.”
The man took a thick envelope from his coat and handed it to Jeong.
Jeong peeked inside and grinned wide.
“Ah, thank you so much, Manager Han!”
“Just don’t cause trouble. Go enjoy yourself.”
Shaking his head at Jeong’s sloppy salute, Manager Han turned to the stiff-looking n nearby.
“Take him to the basent.”
The trunk opened.
Patrick, still unconscious, was dragged away toward the basent.
“I’ll be going then.”
“Alright. Drink in moderation and take tomorrow off.”
“Yes, sir!”
Chief Jeong got into his car with his n and drove away from the lodge.
Once they were gone, Manager Han pulled out his phone and made a call.
“Vice President. It’s Han Jiho.”
— “Go ahead.”
“He’s been brought to the basent.”
There was a short silence on the other end.
“What should I do?”
— “I’ll co down later.”
“Understood. I’ll keep him alive until then.”
Ending the call, Han Jiho clicked his tongue toward the basent.
“tsk, why did he have to provoke the Vice President...”
* * *
“What...?”
I lifted my head sharply at Manager Ma’s report.
The newspaper in my hand crumpled under my grip.
“Patrick’s gone missing.”
“Patrick’s missing? The shareholders’ eting is tomorrow!”
“Yes, sir.”
“You didn’t have anyone tailing him?”
“You told us not to keep close surveillance, so we only watched from a distance. We confird he went ho after parting with President Han yesterday.”
“You’re sure he went ho?”
Manager Ma lowered his head.
“We confird it with the driver who dropped him off at the underground parking lot. He said Patrick was too drunk to stand, so he parked and left.”
“One of our n?”
“No, sir. A driver from the bar. Apparently it’s routine—drunk custors often get dropped off like that.”
If it had been one of our people, he never would’ve gone missing.
After a brief pause, I gave an order.
“Wake Kyungyeong up and bring him here.”
A little later, Han Kyungyeong arrived, reeking of alcohol.
Still half-asleep, he asked, “What’s going on?”
“I was about to ask you that. How much did you drink last night?”
As he sat down, Manager Ma handed him honey water.
He gulped it down and finally seed awake.
“We got along well. So, yeah, I had a few drinks. But he disappeared?”
“Nothing strange last night?”
“None at all. We just talked about Wall Street and built so rapport. There was no serious conversation, and he had no reason to vanish...”
Han muttered, puzzled.
Then a face flashed through my mind.
“No way... He wouldn’t be that crazy, would he?”
Seo Jaehun.
That madman with eyes that never showed emotion suddenly ca to mind.
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