Chapter 46 – Catastrophe [Preparation for Finish]

“Huh?”

Bae Seokjae widened his eyes and asked back.

Bae Geumseong lit a cigarette and spoke in a calm tone.

“If this were a stock, it’d be right to cut losses and get out by now. It’d be the liquidation phase. But people aren’t stocks. Especially not politicians.”

Bae Seokjae just blinked, unable to offer any particular response to Bae Geumseong’s words.

Bae Geumseong continued.

“Bu Mingang is definitely in a state no different from being delisted now. He’s gone beyond the point where someone else’s mistake can cover up his own. That man is finished now, you can see it that way. But your father-in-law, Yang Seongil, isn’t. He still has his uses.”

“…… Where, may I ask?”

“The northern Gyeonggi new city construction and the metropolitan area railway construction.”

“Ah……”

Bae Seokjae nodded.

Bae Geumseong took a final drag of his cigarette, exhaled the smoke, and stubbed it out in the ashtray.

“Since ’87, your in-law’s district has been held by the current ruling party line, except for once before YS’s three-party merger. Moreover, from 2000 onward, your father-in-law has held the seat consecutively.”

Bae Seokjae nodded.

“It’ll probably be safe until the next general election. Immediately, the ruling party will issue an expulsion or a recommendation to leave the party, but once things calm down a bit, they’ll reinstate him anyway. Then his political life is extended until the next general election. Moreover, the person who ran for Gyeonggi governor this time is from your in-law’s line. Your in-law’s influence will be quite significant in the new city construction bidding process.”

Bae Geumseong took out another cigarette and lit it.

“The metropolitan area railway, well, the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has the permit authority, but, through Yang Seongil, if we play our cards right, we could secure the section from northern Gyeonggi to Dongdaemun.”

Bae Seokjae nodded and opened his mouth.

“I hadn’t calculated that far. As expected, you’re amazing, Father.”

In that instant, Bae Geumseong looked at Bae Seokjae and chuckled.

He exhaled cigarette smoke and continued.

“There are some among the old-timers on the board who say things like that. If it weren’t me, but Eunjung who was managing the group, we’d be 12th in the business rankings by now, not 13th. They say because we split things half and half, no synergy is created, hence this state.”

“It’s nonsense from old geezers before dementia sets in. Don’t pay attention……”

Feeling Bae Geumseong’s sharp gaze, Bae Seokjae closed his mouth.

“Cut me off and interrupt one more time, and I’ll use your tongue as an ashtray.”

Bae Seokjae could only nod quickly.

“Anyway, to shut up that kind of nonsense, our Ilsin Construction needs to secure large-scale contracts. Only then will such nonsense stop coming from the old-timers’ mouths. He needs to be worth at least this much for the money I’ve poured in so far to be recovered. Understood?”

“…… Yes, understood.”

Bae Geumseong’s gaze then turned to the secretary who had been silently listening until then.

“Is there anywhere we can mobilize about 30 billion won immediately?”

“There’s about 40 million dollars we set aside last year, processed as losses under the pretext of failed investments in Tanzania.”

“Good. Then launder that cleanly, exchange it, and you take it to my in-law the day after tomorrow.”

“Yes, understood.”

Bae Seokjae, who had been listening to the conversation, cautiously opened his mouth.

“Um……, Secretary Ha, is it okay for you to deliver it personally?”

The gazes of Bae Geumseong and Secretary Ha simultaneously turned to Bae Seokjae.

Flustered yet resolute, Bae Seokjae continued.

“Lately, because of Rust House, there seem to be a few people paying attention to our side, so Secretary Ha personally delivering it might be a bit……”

Bae Geumseong looked at Bae Seokjae with a pitiful expression and asked.

“Then who should we send?”

“That is……”

“If it were 3 million won, we could’ve just called someone and had them do it. But hey, it’s 30 billion. Who on earth are you telling me to entrust this to if not Secretary Ha?”

“……”

“And has there ever been anyone besides Secretary Ha who has handled such matters this cleanly so far?”

“…… I’m sorry. I was short-sighted.”

Clicking his tongue at his son’s cowed appearance, Bae Geumseong then turned his gaze back to Secretary Ha.

“Anyway, I’ll talk to my in-law, so deliver it the day after tomorrow.”

“Yes, understood.”

Bae Geumseong exhaled cigarette smoke.

“Even if we can’t follow him on his final, thorny path, we should squeeze out every last drop of sweetness we can.”

June 4, 2018.

A night when reports about the ruling party ethics committee’s recommendation for Bu Mingang and Yang Seongil to leave the party were treated as more important than reports on the local elections.

A black luxury sedan quietly moved through the darkness in the underground parking lot of the Ilsin Group headquarters building.

The sedan circled around here and there to shake off any potential surveillance.

After about an hour of tedious and meaningless driving, the sedan finally began heading towards its original destination.

One hour and forty-five minutes after departing from Ilsin Group headquarters, the sedan entered the underground parking lot of an officetel in Seocho-dong.

The sedan’s engine turned off upon arrival in the underground parking lot, and the driver’s door opened.

Yang Seongil, who had been waiting for the driver, approached him with a smile and greeted him.

“Oh, long time no see, Secretary Ha. So, is your mother well?”

Yang Seongil extended his hand to him.

Secretary Ha bowed deeply in greeting and shook his hand.

“Yes, thanks to your concern. Please wait a moment, Assemblyman.”

Secretary Ha went straight to the trunk, took out two travel suitcases, and pulled them over to Yang Seongil.

“It’s 30 billion won, cleanly laundered. I divided it into two suitcases for easy carrying.”

Right there, Yang Seongil opened one suitcase.

As Secretary Ha said, the suitcase was neatly packed with bundles of 50,000-won bills and other untraceable cash assets.

Seeing this, a deep smile formed at the corner of Yang Seongil’s mouth.

Yang Seongil closed the suitcase.

“I’ll take them myself.”

When Secretary Ha tried to pull both suitcases at once, Yang Seongil waved his hand and took one himself.

“No need to show off your youth like that.”

“Yes, understood.”

Yang Seongil led the way, and Secretary Ha followed behind, pulling the suitcases.

‘……’

In the darkness of the underground parking lot, Siguk, who had captured everything with his smartphone camera, filmed the two until they disappeared into the elevator, then turned off the camera.

‘Must be pretty urgent.’

He never imagined Yang Seongil would come out to meet him personally.

At most, he had expected one of his secretaries or aides to come out, and because of that, Siguk had even considered breaking into the officetel just as he had broken into Bae Seokjae’s villa penthouse.

But now that Yang Seongil himself had come out to receive the suitcases full of money, and even opened one to check the contents, there was no longer any need for that trouble.

‘With such sloppy people doing politics, it’s no wonder that while other countries all made soft landings, ours alone accelerated recklessly and got devoured by Superhumans.’

Clicking his tongue inwardly at the pitiful and sloppy appearance of someone supposedly a prominent politician, Siguk turned on his heel.

‘Well, thanks to that, in this life I get to ascend to that ruling class position.’

Hiding in the darkness, Siguk silently slipped out of the underground parking lot.

June 5, 2018.

11:45 AM.

National Police Agency Intelligence Bureau Director’s Office.

The seated Director was staring intently at his smartphone screen with a serious expression.

The owner of the smartphone, Guro Police Station Intelligence Section Chief Cha Seonggon, Superintendent, stood quietly before him.

After staring at the smartphone for a long while, the Director let out a long sigh and returned the phone to its owner.

Receiving the phone back, Section Chief Cha quietly looked at the Director.

The Director closed his eyes, leaned his head back on the chair, and gently rocked his body back and forth.

A moment later, the Director opened his eyes, looked at Section Chief Cha, and spoke.

“So, this, along with the chat messages from that guy Yang Seungjun, came to you this morning, is that it?”

Section Chief Cha nodded and replied.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Is it the same guy who sent the club photos last time?”

“I think it probably is.”

“Hoo……”

The Director sighed and lightly tapped the desk with his fingers.

After being lost in thought for a while, the Director looked at Section Chief Cha and spoke again.

“First, send me all that data right now via message. And…… No. Tracking it probably won’t yield proper results this time either. For now, you go home today and rest. If the Guro Station Chief throws a fit, say you’re on an external assignment on my orders.”

“Yes, understood.”

Section Chief Cha sent the photos he had received to the Director on the spot, saluted him, and left the Director’s office.

Watching him leave, the Director once again looked at the photos sent to his own phone with a serious expression.

The first photo was a screenshot of a messenger chat between Yang Seungjun and his older brother Yang Seungmin.

In it, the two were clearly discussing the establishment funds for Rust House and the underage escorts to be sent to Yang Seungmin’s hotel room.

And the next photo.

A photo of two people meeting in what appeared to be an underground parking lot, talking, and exchanging suitcases full of money.

The problem was that one of them was Yang Seongil.

‘Why on earth is this coming to Seonggon……’

The Director ran through numerous possibilities.

Something seemed to be taking shape, yet nothing clear emerged.

Feeling a headache coming on, the Director closed his eyes for a moment, then called his secretary.

“Cancel my lunch appointment with the Jongno Station Chief today.”

And he made a call somewhere.

A moment later, the other party answered.

“Yes, Hyung. I’d like to see you now if possible, is that okay? Yes, it’s urgent. Really urgent. Huh? The Commissioner General as well? That’s even better. Yes, understood. Yes, I’ll head there.”

A high-end Korean restaurant VIP room overlooking Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Three people sat before a dining table.

At the head sat the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency. To his right was the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner, and across from him, to the left of the Commissioner General, was the Intelligence Bureau Director.

Both the Commissioner General and the Seoul Commissioner were looking down at their smartphones with serious expressions.

The Intelligence Bureau Director simply watched the two of them quietly.

After a while, the Commissioner General placed his smartphone under the table, looked at the Intelligence Bureau Director, and spoke.

“This came to that Superintendent Cha, you say?”

The Intelligence Bureau Director nodded and replied.

“Yes, and not just that. Photos of the idol singer Ju Saetbyeol and Yang Seongil’s son Yang Seungjun also all came to Superintendent Cha first.”

“Why on earth did it go to that guy? He doesn’t have any separate connections or lines, does he?”

“That is also a mystery to us.”

At that moment, the Seoul Commissioner, who had been listening to their conversation, spoke up.

“Actually, an interesting story came from the Gangseo Station Chief.”

The gazes of the Commissioner General and the Intelligence Bureau Director simultaneously turned to the Seoul Commissioner.

The Seoul Commissioner continued.

“Last time, when Shin Majeok was kidnapped by the Gangnam Luxury Faction guys and then rescued, wasn’t he? I heard the detective in charge asked Shin Majeok a simple question. Who subdued the kidnappers? At that time, Shin Majeok stated it was an NIS agent.”

The Commissioner General nodded and said.

“I heard from the guys at the Central District Prosecutors’ Office too. I heard Shin Myeongjin also gave that statement there. That an NIS agent saved him.”

“At first, we dismissed it as nonsense. It could have been drug-induced rambling. But if you insert the NIS between the continuous tips about Yang Seongil’s side’s corruption being provided to Superintendent Cha and Shin Majeok’s sudden revelation, the context somewhat fits, don’t you think?”

“Hmm…… The NIS, huh……”

The Commissioner General stroked his chin.

The Intelligence Bureau Director spoke up.

“Come to think of it, we did receive intelligence recently that within the Blue House, they are considering the National Security Office Director as a potential next presidential candidate.”

The Commissioner General looked at the Intelligence Bureau Director.

The Intelligence Bureau Director continued.

“After all, the current mainstream in the Blue House are all people who were involved in student movements, labor movements, or democratization movements in the past, right? From their perspective, a chaebol scion or someone from a different faction holding the next presidency would be uncomfortable.”

The Commissioner General nodded.

“So they’re going to push the National Security Office Director as the next presidential candidate?”

The Intelligence Bureau Director nodded in response.

“Yes, seeing how the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Ministry of Unification are being excluded and the National Security Office is handling everything in recent US-North Korea or inter-Korean talks, it seems a sufficiently grounded story.”

“Hmm…… Right. Come to think of it, the current NIS Director is the National Security Office Director’s university junior, right? Hmm…… The NIS, huh……”

The Commissioner General stroked his chin and fell into thought.

The Seoul Commissioner and the Intelligence Bureau Director both kept their mouths shut, waiting for the Commissioner General to organize his thoughts.

After a while, the Commissioner General spoke.

“I’ll meet with the Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs this evening and talk, then, well, we’ll get an answer about the Blue House’s mood. Anyway, Bu Mingang is finished now. From our standpoint, we have no choice but to find a new line somehow. Whether it’s the National Security Office Director or a third party doesn’t matter. For that, we need action first.”

The Commissioner General looked at the Seoul Commissioner.

“Yang Seongil’s bribery, and Yang Seungmin’s mediation of underage prostitution and suspicions of being the real owner of Rust House. You investigate all of that.”

The Seoul Commissioner’s eyes widened.

“M-Me, sir?”

“Yes, we need to hit the media before the prosecution makes the first move.”

The Seoul Commissioner couldn’t answer immediately.

No matter how much Yang Seongil’s standing had fallen, he was still a sitting National Assembly member and someone who still had his own faction within the party.

Seeing his expression, the Commissioner General continued.

“However, leave an appropriate escape route. Prepare someone separate to take responsibility in case the investigation fails. That guy Superintendent Cha seems most suitable for that.”

The moment Section Chief Cha was mentioned from the Commissioner General’s mouth, the expressions of the Seoul Commissioner and the Intelligence Bureau Director instantly darkened.