The only man dressed in a suit slowly walked down the steps.
The bulky n who had gotten out of the vans followed behind him, each grabbing a weapon—wooden clubs, steel pipes.
“Do you know him?”
I asked Manager Ma beside . He slowly shook his head.
“I don’t recognize his face.”
Manager Ma had morized the faces of all key figures in Chunha Group.
If he didn’t recognize him, it ant the man wasn’t important.
By the ti they had almost reached us, I stood up from the chair.
Aside from the distant streetlights, the beach was nearly pitch dark.
Thanks to their noisy entrance, we could clearly see their faces—but they only recognized us once they got closer.
The man, having confird our faces—more precisely, mine—furrowed his brow.
“You? You’re the bastard who called?”
Instead of answering, I nodded.
“Ha! You little punk still wet behind the ears!”
Perhaps surprised by how young I looked, he let out a hollow laugh.
Then his expression hardened again, turning vicious.
“Hey. Do you even know who I am before you start talking shit?”
“I saw the na saved in Jeong Hancheol’s phone as ‘bastard,’ so I figured that’s what you were. So who are you?”
“What? You tiny little shit! What kind of mouth is that? You really wanna die?”
The thugs behind him stepped forward threateningly.
At the sa ti, my bodyguards moved as one, forming a protective line in front of .
Sensing sothing was off, the man glared at .
“Who the hell are you? Where’d you crawl out from?”
“What does it matter who I am? More importantly, you said you’re with Chunha Group. Is that right?”
“Ha! You know that much and still act cocky? Got more than one life?”
“My life is my concern. Just answer the question. Which division of Chunha Group are you with? As far as I know, there’s no company called Chunha Services in Chunha Group.”
I turned slightly and asked Manager Ma behind ,
“Isn’t that right, Manager?”
“Yes, boss. There is no such registered company.”
There was no company called Chunha Services under Chunha Group.
Of course, they did do contract work—but because the term “services” had a bad reputation, they deliberately used the na Chunha Security instead.
“Quite bold of you. Throwing Chunha Group’s na around like that.”
The man, who had been listening ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) to our conversation, tilted his head.
Then he narrowed his eyes and began examining our faces more carefully.
“W-wait a second!”
The suited man’s face drained of color the mont he recognized Manager Ma.
“C-could it be... Manager Ma?”
His voice trembled from shock.
Manager Ma didn’t answer—he just looked down at him.
Perhaps feeling the pressure from that gaze, the man hurriedly started babbling without even being asked.
“I-I saw you once... guarding the front of the hotel during a banquet... Let properly introduce myself. My na is Pyo Chiseong.”
After stating his na, he bowed so deeply his head nearly touched the ground.
The sudden shift in attitude was so absurd I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Seems like he knows you, Manager?”
“I don’t recognize him.”
“A banquet... that would’ve been when you were handling internal security, right? What exactly did you do at that hotel to scare him this much?”
“......”
The man who had been so arrogant just monts ago now stood with his head lowered like a rabbit before a tiger.
“Looks like you were pretty active back then.”
“......”
Manager Ma said nothing, looking slightly awkward.
I wanted to tease him more, but given the situation, I held back.
Seeing how completely submissive the man had beco, I didn’t even feel like getting angry anymore.
“Raise your head.”
But Pyo Chiseong didn’t move.
“Lift your head. If you ignore the boss one more ti, I’ll deal with you personally.”
At Manager Ma’s warning, Pyo Chiseong snapped upright so fast it made a sound.
“Y-yes!”
His posture was like that of a fully disciplined recruit. I let out a small chuckle and gestured.
“You planning to keep holding those dangerous things? We don’t mind, but still.”
“N-no! You idiots, drop those weapons right now!”
At Pyo Chiseong’s shout, the thugs hesitated, then quickly dropped their clubs and pipes.
“Everyone, get back to the vans and wait.”
“Boss, will you be alright?”
“Even if you all stayed, if he wanted to, he could kill every one of us. So go wait.”
“...Understood. Pick everything up and move.”
At the command, one of the n turned and relayed the order. The thugs gathered the weapons and trudged off the beach.
I beckoned to Pyo Chiseong, now left alone.
“Co here. Let’s talk.”
“Y-yes! Yes!”
He hurried over in a single step.
He looked like a freshly trained soldier under strict discipline.
I glanced at Manager Ma again and let a faint smile curl at the corner of my lips.
Manager Ma subtly avoided my gaze.
His expression was as calm as ever—but I could tell.
He was extrely embarrassed.
Still, I wiped the smile from my face and asked,
“How do you know Jeong Hancheol?”
“I t him in prison. He listened well and did whatever he was told, so I had him run errands while we were inside.”
Pyo Chiseong went on at length, explaining how he first t Jeong Hancheol.
“After I got out, about a year later, he was released too. He ca to find and asked if he could work for Chunha Group as well.”
“Let’s clarify one thing first. Are you actually affiliated with Chunha Group? There’s no company called Chunha Services.”
“Well... I’m not a full-ti employee... I run a subcontracting business that takes on jobs...”
Glancing nervously at Manager Ma, Pyo Chiseong trailed off.
But it was obvious why he used the na Chunha Services.
In the end, he had nothing to do with Chunha Group—just a subcontractor doing outsourced work from Chunha Security.
“Then that’s settled. But according to Jeong Hancheol, he’s about to beco a full-ti employee of Chunha Group. Is that true?”
“Co on, no way. Even I couldn’t get into Chunha Group...”
“Then what exactly is he relying on to act like that?”
Pyo Chiseong pressed his lips shut.
At the sa ti, Manager Ma began unfastening his cufflinks.
That small action made Pyo Chiseong flinch as he stamred,
“I-I’ll tell you! I just... wanted to squeeze so money out of him. I told him to bring 1 billion won if he wanted to get into Chunha Group.”
What the hell is this now.
I glanced at Jeong Hancheol, who was lying there like a corpse, then looked back at Pyo Chiseong.
“He believed that? 1 billion isn’t pocket change. He was willing to burn that just to get into Chunha Group?”
“...To people in this line of work, Chunha Group is a dream job. Whether you work or not, the salary cos in regularly. And if you complete assigned tasks properly, bonuses are guaranteed. But most importantly, you’re free from police pressure.”
I looked down at Pyo Chiseong’s clenched fists.
A dream job, huh.
The irony was ridiculous.
Setting that aside, I decided to keep listening.
“So what were you planning to do once you got the money?”
“Well... a deal is a deal. I was going to introduce him to the person who gives us jobs.”
“But earlier you were speaking in dialect, and now you’re using a Seoul accent?”
Pointing out what had been bothering , the man scratched his head awkwardly and laughed.
“Haha... I was actually born in Seoul and moved to Busan as an adult.”
Seeing him joke around like that, I couldn’t even feel angry anymore.
I shook my head and returned to the main point.
“So if you introduce him to that person... can he actually get into Chunha Group?”
“Chunha Group isn’t so neighborhood mom-and-pop shop. There’s no way that would happen. If I kept all the money for myself, it might cause trouble later, so I’d take half and pass the other half upward—just for show.”
“So in the end, you were just planning to scam him.”
“If you put it simply, yes.”
When I get back, I’ll need to pay attention to this kind of thing too.
I glanced at Manager Ma, and as if he understood what I ant, he nodded.
“Were you aware that Jeong Hancheol has been causing trouble in Yeongdo?”
“Trouble? No, I didn’t know. I knew he was doing private lending... but he told to wait while he gathered money through that.”
There wasn’t a trace of deceit on Pyo Chiseong’s face.
So he really had no idea what Hancheol had been doing in Yeongdo—he had just planned to squeeze him dry and discard him.
“Where is your office? Do you have a base of operations in Yeongdo?”
“No. Our office is in an apartnt complex, and the staff are stationed elsewhere. We don’t know anything about the Yeongdo side.”
“Then I suppose you don’t know where the person who originally handled lending here disappeared to either?”
“Huh? There was soone before? Hancheol told he was a local and that he’d resu his old work once he got out.”
So he really knows nothing.
There’s nothing more to squeeze out of this guy.
“Alright. You can head back now. Oh—and I suggest you change the company na ‘Chunha Services.’ You might end up seriously hurt otherwise.”
“Y-yes, understood. I’ll change it imdiately. I was rude earlier—I apologize.”
Pyo Chiseong bowed deeply to .
When he cautiously lifted his head, his gaze drifted past —to Manager Ma standing behind.
I waved a hand dismissively.
“It’s fine. I was a bit irritated too, so I spoke harshly. Just go back to what you were doing. And stay away from this area.”
“Yes. Yes, I will.”
Manager Ma really is terrifying, huh. The guy couldn’t even move properly.
Just as I was about to wrap things up, headlights appeared in the distance.
Soon, a car stopped under a streetlight, and a man jumped out. Judging by how he didn’t even properly close the door, he must have been in a hurry.
He looked around before spotting us and quickly ran over.
“Huff... huff...”
He was breathing heavily from how fast he had run.
“P-President Kim Muhyuk.”
Oh? How does he know ?
I glanced at Manager Ma, and he whispered quietly enough that only I could hear.
“I contacted headquarters earlier. I told them to send the person in charge of Yeongdo here imdiately.”
That explained why the man in front of looked so flustered.
I crossed my arms and quietly observed him.
After catching his breath, he stood with both hands respectfully clasped, waiting for to speak.
“You’re from Chunha Group?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“No need to be so tense. I called you because I had a few questions. Will you answer them?”
“Of course. Please ask anything.”
He was even more disciplined than Pyo Chiseong—clearly headquarters had already briefed him thoroughly about .
“Then do you know who the person next to you is?”
He looked at Pyo Chiseong and shook his head.
“I don’t.”
“He’s the owner of a subcontracting company working under Chunha Group.”
“I see. Did this bastard happen to offend you, sir?”
The man from Chunha Group glared at Pyo Chiseong like he wanted to kill him.
Pyo Chiseong flinched and shrank under the gaze.
“No, nothing like that. We resolved things peacefully, so let’s leave that aside. The thing is, I ca back to my hotown for the first ti in a while and was having drinks with so friends...”
I briefly explained the situation.
As I continued, the man’s face visibly turned pale.
“I’m sorry. This is our fault for failing to manage things properly. I have committed a grave offense. Please forgive .”
He imdiately dropped to his knees.
If I let him be, he looked ready to start banging his head on the ground, so I stopped him.
“It’s not sothing you need to apologize for to that extent. Anyway, were you aware of a moneylender nad Jeong Hancheol?”
“Yes. We keep track of all the people doing private lending in the market. But I truly didn’t know he was harassing rchants. We’ve had strict orders from above not to get involved in market affairs...”
That’s the problem with guys who rely on fists instead of brains.
Give them one instruction, and they’ll follow only that—nothing more.
“Well, that was my request, so you followed it well. But you still should have offered protection. What happens when the tiger disappears and the hyenas move in?”
“This will never happen again.”
“Do you know the guy who handled lending here before Jeong Hancheol?”
“The previous one... do you an soone nad Jongbu?”
“That’s probably him. I heard he suddenly disappeared, and Hancheol took over all the debts.”
“I’ll look into it. That part wasn’t on our radar.”
“If possible, find him and bring him back. I hear he’s better than that piece of trash over there.”
The man nodded repeatedly.
When you’re dealing with soone reasonable, you can actually have a calm conversation like this.
How nice.
“Then can I leave this guy to you? Make sure he never shows his face here again.”
“Of course! He won’t be able to walk around Yeongdo—no, anywhere in Busan—ever again.”
Looks like they trained him well. That was a satisfying answer.
I nodded in approval and gestured.
“Good. Then you may go. I’ve taken enough of your ti.”
I handed off Jeong Hancheol’s fate and turned to Jeong Jinseok, who was standing stiffly beside .
“You won’t be seeing that guy around here anymore. So explain things properly to your mother.”
Jinseok, who had been staring with his mouth open, snapped back to his senses and nodded repeatedly.
“Yes, yes. I’ll tell her.”
“Just keep doing what you’ve been doing. Nothing changes.”
Seeing him still slightly intimidated by , I let out a small laugh and ruffled his hair.
With his hair now a ss, Jinseok looked at cautiously.
“Is that... really okay?”
“Yeah, it’s fine. No matter what I do, to you I’m still Muhyuk hyung, aren’t I?”
“Of course! To , you’ll always be hyung!”
“Loud voice, huh. Alright, close up the shop and head in. I should go ho too—Grandma will be waiting. I’ll co by again.”
I ruffled his hair once more, then left the beach and headed back ho.
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