TOIGC 88

Chapter 88 …

Daring to Use Me? (3)

“I do have a few candidates in mind at the moment, but instead of naming them right now, I’d prefer if you gave me another two or three days.”

“Are you planning to investigate on your own?”

“Yes. The initial intelligence came from Superintendent Seo In-pyo down at the Jongno Police Station.”

“Have you officially brought Superintendent Seo into our fold?”

“Yes, you could say that.”

“Secretary Ryu.”

“Y-yes, sir!”

Sensing a sudden shift in Yoongi’s tone, Geun-tae grew so tense that he actually stammered.

“What would you do if Superintendent Seo has already been bought off by someone else?”

“……!”

In an instant, the color drained completely from Geun-tae’s face.

“You’ve already concluded that the leak originated from within your own subordinates. Yet, it seems you completely failed to entertain the possibility that Superintendent Seo might also be compromised.”

“I’m sorry. I am deeply sorry!”

Yoongi gave a casual shrug.

“Well, I personally think the odds of Superintendent Seo being a double agent are slim to none. If he were playing us, he’d be in for a reality far worse than hell.”

As Yoongi crunched down on another plum, Geun-tae felt a fleeting, terrifying sensation that his own head was the one being chewed on.

“Even so, a healthy dose of caution never hurts. Recognizing a one-in-a-million possibility versus completely ignoring it are two entirely different things.”

“I understand. I’ll make sure an oversight like this never happens again.”

“Uncle.”

“Y-yeah?”

Truth be told, Chul-gyu hadn’t thought twice about the source when he heard it was Superintendent Seo’s report, so he looked just as caught off guard.

“You’ve established a solid line into military intelligence, haven’t you?”

“Ah… right, I have. Naturally, plenty of military brass are eager to cozy up to Jamsil and JSD.”

“Reach out to someone trustworthy within that network and have them run a parallel investigation into the targets Secretary Ryu is looking into.”

“I follow you. I’ll make sure it’s done right.”

“See that, Secretary Ryu? When you’re conducting an internal sweep, you can’t rely on a single source of intelligence. Getting reports exclusively through you is fine by me under normal circumstances, but it won’t fly during an investigation like this.”

“I’ll bear that in mind.”

“Good. Now, figure out who the culprit is and report back to me. Swiftly and definitively. Let’s wrap up our meeting here for today.”

Dismissed by Yoongi’s curt exit order, Geun-tae and Chul-gyu hurried out of the study with heavy, nervous hearts.

Do you actually already know who it is?

At Deok-bae’s casual mental prod, Yoongi shook his head.

“Not a chance. It’s not like I asked Grandfather to wiretap Secretary Ryu’s subordinates, after all.”

<True I’m about enough. furious it. just not surprised you’re>

“If a close confidant showed signs of actively betraying me, I’d have to chop their head off with an axe. But Secretary Ryu’s oversight is the kind of harmless stumble that doesn’t cause irreparable damage. Unless you’re a god, a rat is bound to slip into your ranks eventually.”

<Still, Seo, Superintendent a didn’t dressing-down for gave him on quite relying solely you you?>

“Because running on the assumption that Superintendent Seo’s info was infallible purely out of wishful thinking is a bad habit. Honestly, calling it a mistake is almost too generous; I was just giving them a necessary wake-up call for the future.”

As their business continued its aggressive expansion, both Secretary Ryu and his uncle would soon need to step up and handle responsibilities far beyond their current weight class. That was why Yoongi constantly tossed out sharp advice—because in the grand scheme of things, those two remained his absolute core pillars of trust.

“Well, finding talent is easy enough—you just pluck them out of the bowl whenever you need them, like picking out plums. Using an offer they can’t refuse, of course.”

As Yoongi popped another plum into his mouth with a faint smile, a sudden thought struck him, and he turned to Deok-bae.

“Care for a plum?”

Deok-bae certainly had strong culinary preferences.

Damn it all!

Reviewing the second batch of investigative reports handed over by Superintendent Seo, Geun-tae cursed under his breath.

All five of their bank accounts are spotless.

Geun-tae had leaked the details of the second branch project to a total of five subordinates. Unless those men were absolute idiots blabbing to their families in public, the mole had to be one of those five. Yet, running financial audits on all their accounts revealed zero traces of suspicious or unidentifiable cash deposits.

Could one of those idiots really have run their mouth to an outsider for free?

While a traitor driven by greed made sense, the terrifying thought that one of them might have leaked secrets purely out of sheer stupidity made his stomach churn.

However, following his third instruction to Superintendent Seo—which involved running asset checks on the immediate family members and close associates of those five men—Geun-tae finally flagged a single anomaly.

You son of a bitch…

It was Choi Hyo-dae, a junior associate in the Yaikai Department Store secretariat.

Because Hyo-dae was a recruit plucked straight from the Samwoo Group’s elite secretariat pool—and because Geun-tae himself served as the head secretary—the betrayal cut infinitely deeper.

[Just give me the chance, sir, and I’ll serve you with absolute dedication!]

Hyo-dae was a young man supporting his widowed mother, originally scouted from the logistics division of Yaikai Department Store after building a spotless reputation for sheer diligence. Geun-tae had trusted him so implicitly that when Hyo-dae got married four months prior, Geun-tae had personally attended the ceremony and handed over a remarkably generous wedding gift.

And yet, exactly five million won of unaccounted-for cash had just been deposited into the bank account belonging to Choi Hyo-dae’s wife.

The depositor? An operative belonging to the Seth Group, as confirmed by both previous intelligence sweeps. Every single piece of circumstantial evidence pointed directly to Hyo-dae as the rat.

It’s almost 11:00…

At 11:00 AM, Geun-tae picked up his desk intercom and summoned Hyo-dae to his office.

“President Ryu, you asked for me?”

A sharp-looking young man in his late twenties walked in. He wore thin-rimmed glasses to correct a mild astigmatism, but his neatly parted hair and clean-shaven, youthful face gave off an immediate impression of trustworthiness. The subtle, pleasant smile playing at the corners of his lips was precisely why Geun-tae had originally hand-picked him for the secretariat.

“Ah, Hyo-dae. Come on in. We haven’t had a proper chat in a while, so I wanted us to catch up.”

Completely masking his murderous intent, Geun-tae motioned for Hyo-dae to take a seat across from him at the reception table.

“How is your mother holding up these days?”

At the mention of his mother, Hyo-dae widened his gentle smile and nodded.

“She’s doing wonderfully, all thanks to you, sir. She always tells me that any success I’ve found is entirely due to the President’s grace, and that I must serve you with absolute loyalty.”

“Your mother is far too kind; she’s practically gilding my face.”

“It’s the absolute truth, sir. I’ve never forgotten your kindness.”

“I’m glad to hear that. By the way, how is married life treating you? If things are getting too hectic at home with the newlyweds’ schedule, I can always adjust your shifts.”

At the mention of his newlywed status, Hyo-dae’s cheeks flushed slightly.

“It’s almost too much of a honeymoon phase if anything, sir. Sometimes I wish my work hours were even longer just to catch a breather!”

The casual banter flowed smoothly. Hyo-dae laughed, and Geun-tae laughed right along with him.

“So, why did you do it?”

The question dropped out of nowhere, completely out of sync with the relaxed mood.

“Pardon? W-what do you mean by that, sir…?”

“I asked why you did it.”

Geun-tae’s expression had gone entirely dead, stripped of every trace of amusement. Faced with the sudden shift, Hyo-dae stammered, wearing a mask of utter bewilderment.

“I honestly have no idea… what kind of joke you’re trying to make, sir…”

Watching Hyo-dae stubbornly play dumb, Geun-tae clenched his fist so tightly he practically chewed a hole through the fabric of his trousers.

“Did you really value your loyalty to me at a mere five million won?”

“Hk!”

As Hyo-dae’s face instantly turned the color of ash, Geun-tae swallowed back hot tears of fury.

Five million won. It was roughly equivalent to two years’ starting salary for a rookie employee at a premier conglomerate. While it wasn’t a trivial sum of money, it certainly wasn’t enough to justify plunging a dagger into your master’s back.

Yet Hyo-dae had done exactly that. And depending on how the cookie crumbled, that dagger was coated in enough poison to knock Geun-tae completely out of Yoongi’s inner circle. If he hadn’t caught it in time, this wouldn’t have been a one-time leak—the bleeding would have continued indefinitely.

“S-Sir… there’s a terrible misunderstanding here.”

“A misunderstanding? Cut the crap!”

Without warning, Geun-tae grabbed the heavy glass ashtray resting on the reception table and hurled it straight at Hyo-dae’s head. The ashtray grazed past Hyo-dae’s ear and slammed into the office wall with a dull thud, burying itself halfway into the plaster.

The sheer violence of the act laid Geun-tae’s volcanic rage bare, sending Hyo-dae cowering into a deep, trembling bow.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, sir! I just… I let greed blind me for a second…”

Though Hyo-dae was begging for forgiveness right before his eyes, Geun-tae knew the truth. Or rather, he understood the harsh reality: if the bastard hadn’t been caught red-handed, he never would have offered an apology in a million years.

Just as Geun-tae suspected, Hyo-dae had never in his wildest dreams imagined he’d actually get caught. Even elite corporate employees make sloppy mistakes—history proves it time and again, and Seth’s corporate spies were no exception. By trying to keep a leash on Hyo-dae through financial leverage for future use, Seth had inadvertently exposed him instead.

“As for your punishment… I’ll let you know after I’ve had time to think.”

Geun-tae picked up his desk intercom, and within seconds, several junior secretaries filed into the office with anxious looks on their faces.

“Take this bastard down to warehouse storage number one. Make sure he has plenty of water and food, but keep him locked up tight. Watch him around the clock so he can’t escape—and make damn sure he doesn’t do anything stupid. This takes absolute priority over everything else.”

[[[Understood, sir!]]]

Terrified by Geun-tae’s murderous aura, the secretaries hauled Hyo-dae out of the room by his arms.

“President Ryu! I’m sorry! Please, sir!”

Geun-tae didn’t bother giving him a second glance, leaving Hyo-dae to be dragged off to spend his days locked away in the bleak bowels of the Yaikai headquarters warehouse.

Damn it all…

Chewing down a bitter curse, Geun-tae picked up the phone to report directly to Yoongi.

“Good work.”

At Yoongi’s brief praise, both Geun-tae and Chul-gyu gave a slight nod of acknowledgment. Geun-tae even bowed his head respectfully toward Chul-gyu, grateful for the cross-verification help provided through his military intelligence contacts.

“Chairman, I await your instructions regarding how we should handle Associate Choi Hyo-dae.”

Carrying a quiet, crushing sorrow in his voice, Geun-tae waited for the verdict. Yoongi gave a slow, calm nod.

“Secretary Ryu.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

“Take this box, go straight to Choi Hyo-dae’s home, and leave its contents out in plain sight.”

It wasn’t a very large package—roughly the size of a standard post office box. Overwhelmed by a sudden surge of morbid curiosity, Geun-tae couldn’t help but ask:

“May I look inside?”

“Of course. You’re going to see it anyway. Better to get the shock out of the way now.”

There was a chilling, razor-sharp edge to Yoongi’s words. Cautiously, Geun-tae lifted the lid of the box.

“Hk!”

“Whoa, what the—holy—!”

Curiosity getting the better of him, Chul-gyu had leaned in to look as well, only to recoil in sheer horror, scrambling backward until his back slapped flat against the study wall like a cornered cicada.

“Ch-Chairman…?”

“Secretary Ryu.”

Yoongi stared straight at Geun-tae, a terrifying, serene smile on his face.

“When someone makes a mistake, you should be generous enough to forgive them.”

The chilling expression smoothly morphed back into that tranquil smile.

“But a traitor must be crushed so thoroughly, so mercilessly, that they don’t even have the luxury of regretting their betrayal. That is the only way to ensure no one else ever dares to follow in their footsteps.”

“B-But this is…”

“Secretary Ryu!”

For one of the rare times in his life, Yoongi dropped his relaxed demeanor and fixed Geun-tae with a stern, absolute gaze.

“Y-Yes, sir!”

“Do you honestly think Associate Choi leaked information only that one single time?”

Pierced by the cold logic behind Yoongi’s reprimand, Geun-tae squeezed his eyes shut.

“No… sir.”

“Choi is a traitor. I have zero margin for charity or mercy when dealing with traitors. Are you telling me you aren’t prepared to carry out my directives?”

“N-No, sir. That’s… that is definitely not it.”

“Then execute my orders. If you feel you can’t stomach it, just say the word. If you can’t, your uncle will do it. And if your uncle balks, I’ll handle it myself.”

For a long moment, Geun-tae stood frozen in agony. Then, slowly, he shook his head.

“No. No, sir. I’ll do it myself. This is… this is something I have to finish with my own hands.”

Swallowing down his grief first, and his simmering fury second, Geun-tae picked up the box and walked out of the study.

Choi Hyo-dae…!

Inside the box Geun-tae carried out into the hallway were pre-fabricated subversive materials supplied directly by JSD, meant to be planted whenever a thorough “ideological cleansing” was required.