TOIGC 92

Chapter 92 …

Two Kinds of Traitors (3)

Over twenty pairs of eyes snapped toward the source of the voice, but Choi Chul-gyu didn’t look burdened at all. Instead, he strode right up to his target, Im Si-chan.

180 centimeters tall, fair skin, and a crew cut, right?

Because his target’s features were so distinct, Chul-gyu spotted him immediately.

“The office door was locked. I figured you might be hanging around nearby, so I went looking, and I’m glad I finally found you.”

Faced with Chul-gyu’s slightly over-the-top friendliness, Si-chan gave a bewildered reaction despite his utter exhaustion.

“What are you talking about… Do you… know me?”

“Of course I do. How could I not?”

Si-chan couldn’t make heads or tails of what Chul-gyu was saying. He had entirely too many critical things to worry about right at that moment.

“Ah, you must be completely exhausted. Are your men all holding up okay?”

At Chul-gyu’s words, Si-chan glanced back at his subordinates and let out a heavy sigh.

“…Hab.”

A silent, weary sigh. Chul-gyu clicked his tongue as he looked at the beat-up, exhausted men.

“Tsk tsk tsk… You guys must have been through absolute hell. If you need a place to crash right away, I can go grab you some rooms at a local inn nearby. What do you say?”

The mention of an inn sparked a desperate look in the eyes of Si-chan’s subordinates, and Si-chan was never going to let that pass by.

I don’t know who this guy is… but I can’t refuse this.

Ultimately, Si-chan chose an option he never would have considered under normal circumstances.

“I’d… appreciate that.”

“Oh, don’t mention it. Come on, follow me closely.”

As Chul-gyu walked briskly ahead, his men trailed fiercely behind him like desert castaways stumbling upon an oasis.

“I’ve only got three rooms left…”

At the inn owner’s words, Chul-gyu rented all three rooms without a second thought. The men didn’t care at all that the quarters were cramped; they poured in and split up across the three rooms in a rush.

“Director, you should get inside and rest, too.”

Hearing Kim Ki-duk call out to him with bloodshot eyes, Si-chan managed a wry smile and shook his head.

“I’ll head in a bit later, so go on in and get some sleep.”

“Then, I’ll excuse myself first. I’m truly sorry about everything.”

Before Ki-duk could even fully step inside, the sound of the men already inside starting to snore filled the air. Even with the doors shut, the rumbling snores leaked right through into the front desk area.

“Could you… buy me a cup of coffee?”

At Si-chan’s weak request, Chul-gyu nodded.

“There’s a traditional tea house right next door.”

Prompted by the inn owner’s words, Chul-gyu shot Si-chan a knowing grin, and Si-chan nodded back.

The moment they stepped inside the tea house, two women in their late twenties sat down right beside Chul-gyu and Si-chan.

“Hey boys, can we get a cup too?”

Chul-gyu played along with a breezy grin.

“Come on, look at our current situation. This really isn’t the time for that.”

Pulling out two 5,000-won bills and handing them over, the women looked moderately satisfied and stepped back to create a quiet atmosphere, finally giving the two men a proper opening to talk.

“Enjoy your drinks.”

An elderly female owner set iced coffees down onto the table. Overwhelmed by a sudden, surging thirst, Si-chan drained his iced coffee in one go.

“Hoo…”

“Have this one too.”

At Chul-gyu’s prompt, Si-chan forgot to even say thank you and polished off the second iced coffee in a single breath.

“Hoo-oo… Thank you. My thirst just hit me out of nowhere…”

“Don’t sweat it. It happens.”

“That aside… To be completely honest, I haven’t the slightest clue who you are…”

Hearing Si-chan, Chul-gyu looked around. They were in the absolute corner table of the tea house—as far away from the owner’s counter as possible, with no other staff or customers nearby. Still, Chul-gyu lowered his voice to a whisper.

“Of course you don’t. We’ve never met before today.”

Seeing Chul-gyu lower his voice, Si-chan matched him, dropping his tone as low as possible. Thanks to that, their conversation became entirely inaudible unless someone leaned in close.

“What do you mean by that…?”

“Because I work for Yaikai.”

“Pardon?”

Si-chan’s voice spiked for a fraction of a second, but he managed to choke back any further outburst. Physically and mentally exhausted as he was, carrying out a high-stakes, sharp-witted conversation was a struggle. On top of that, the shock of learning his interlocutor was from Yaikai completely scrambled his thoughts.

“The only reason I tracked you down is because I anticipated that Director Im would currently be in a tight spot.”

“… Anticipated… you say?”

“Yes. Truth is, once we found out you folks got tangled up in pro-North Korean allegations, we demanded a direct apology from Seth.”

“A direct apology…? What are you talking about?”

“We demanded that a Seth executive come down to Yaikai Department Store to apologize for what happened. In other words, our proposal was to settle things through official, formal channels. Once their interference in our internal affairs became undeniable, working-level negotiations were a necessity.”

What Chul-gyu was saying right now was 100 percent a lie. But his fabrication was built on a foundation of solid logic, and right now, Si-chan had neither the capability nor the means to distinguish whether it was true or false.

“Then Seth…”

As Si-chan trailed off, Chul-gyu gave a slow nod.

“Yes, exactly what you’re thinking. Seth completely denied any connection to you guys, and thanks to that, we lost any leverage we could have used over them.”

“Ha… Haha…”

Si-chan covered his face with his hands. Hot tears leaked out between his fingers, dripping down onto the ice in the empty coffee cup and streaking the inside walls.

Seventeen years of unwavering loyalty, and this is my reward? Was it really that hard for them to just say, ‘He’s not the type of man to do that’ on behalf of the company?

Si-chan wasn’t fundamentally a bad person. He had simply shouldered all the dirty work under the banner of “doing it for Seth.” Of course, that didn’t justify everything he had done up to this point, but he at least expected Seth to recognize his loyalty. Even if that expectation was nothing more than a meaningless, dead relic of the past now.

“So we went ahead and asked the police to just let you guys go. After all, the whole reason you were slapped with communist charges in the first place was utterly ridiculous.”

“Could it be…”

Chul-gyu offered a bitter smile and continued.

“It all started because Choi Hyo-dae screamed, ‘Long live communism, you bastards!’ while he was being grilled at the station. The police pressed him on who his backers were, and Hyo-dae panicked and blurted out your names.”

“Ha…”

Realizing that the hellish ordeal he had suffered in the basement was triggered by nothing more than some worthless punk spouting nonsense out of spite made Si-chan let out a deep, defeated sigh.

It’s pathetic enough that I got dragged into a red-baiting witch hunt over something this stupid, but my life being thrown away by Seth over the exact same thing is just…

Si-chan covered his face with his hands once more, dampening the inside of the cup again.

A moment later, as he dropped his hands from his face, his expression turned slightly puzzled.

“Wait… why did you bother asking them to let us go? There’s nothing in it for you, is there?”

True to his words, Yaikai had no logical reason to put themselves out for the police. Doing a favor like that meant owing the police a debt in return. Having played the role of a heavy-hitting fixer himself, Si-chan had a habit of never taking situations at face value, which made him look at Chul-gyu with lingering suspicion.

“Of course there’s something in it for us.”

“I fail to see what profit Yaikai stands to gain here.”

Chul-gyu flashed a warm, winning smile.

“Seth threw you away.”

“…That they did.”

“They threw your subordinates away, too.”

“…They did.”

“And that is precisely why President Ryu wants you.”

In an instant, Si-chan’s eyes snapped wide open.

“What on earth does that mean…?”

“Come on, why play dumb? Professional to professional. President Ryu holds your capabilities in very high regard. After all, you managed to pierce through President Ryu’s leadership and plant a mole right inside the secretariat office. How about it? You already know how well Yaikai treats its people, don’t you?”

The organization he had served had discarded him, and the safehouses where he kept his funds were completely locked down. On top of that, the accounts holding his operational slush funds had undoubtedly been frozen or reclaimed. Si-chan could feel that he had zero options left. Still, true to form, he wanted to test the waters.

“I am… a traitor to another camp, in a manner of speaking. If someone like me goes over to Yaikai, will I actually be treated properly… or even allowed to function?”

Chul-gyu wore a deeply reassuring smile once again.

“Our president told me this: [When someone betrays our side while standing on our side, they must be crushed. But when someone from the opposing side inadvertently betrays their own people, you embrace them. Because a man like that will do whatever it takes to prove his loyalty.]”

“A traitor…”

As Si-chan muttered to himself, Chul-gyu quickly pressed on.

“If you jump ship to us, Seth will conveniently forget that they abandoned you and brand you a traitor. But precisely for that reason, we know we can trust you.”

Si-chan covered his face with his hands again. But this time, the cup wasn’t getting wet. Instead, a series of muffled chuckles caused the thin glass to vibrate irregularly.

“Well now… It seems I don’t really have a choice in the matter, do I?”

“However, I have no intention of short-changing your compensation because of that. All I want is a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ Which will it be?”

Si-chan straightened his posture, looked straight at Chul-gyu, and asked:

“Who are you, exactly?”

“Ah, I suppose my formal introduction is a bit overdue.”

Chul-gyu had intentionally held off on introducing himself, but playing it off like he had simply forgotten, he straightened up as well.

“My name is Choi Chul-gyu. Have you ever heard of me?”

“Ah… the man known as the second-in-command of Yaikai Department Store…”

“That’s me.”

Si-chan felt a deep sense of validation knowing that Yaikai’s actual number two had come out personally to scout him.

“Just one last thing… What happens to my men?”

“What use is lopping off the limbs and keeping only the head? We welcome all of you. At the very least, I guarantee you conditions far more stable than anything you’ve had up to now.”

Finally, the walls of suspicion Si-chan had built crumbled away. Even though those walls hadn’t fallen due to the absolute truth, Si-chan chose to step into Yaikai’s camp, and he would likely never know the full reality of what had happened.

Even if I find out the truth as time goes on, I won’t regret this past choice.

Hiding his true inner thoughts, Chul-gyu reached out his hand. Si-chan grabbed it firmly, stepping aboard the ship named Yaikai.

“Listen up! A real man is all about muscle! You need muscle to keep a household peaceful! Hey, you over there! Aren’t you always lagging behind in bed because your upper-body strength is lacking? You specifically are doing ten extra push-ups!”

At the command of Cha Pil-gyu, Yoongi’s bodyguard and resident muscle-man, the singled-out man let out a groan and dropped to the floor to start push-ups.

This was the daily routine for Im Si-chan and his entire crew.

[Since they’re people who won’t have much to do for a while, work their physical stamina to the bone.]

Who could dare refuse an order from on high? Subjected to three days of hellish physical conditioning, Si-chan and his men were practically breathing fire from exhaustion. Was this a South Korean special forces boot camp?

Yet despite the brutal strain, the men didn’t harbor any real complaints. Decent housing and a solid living allowance. The rewards handed to them the moment they threw their lot in with Yaikai allowed them to quickly cast aside Seth and place their full faith in Im Si-chan’s decision. Naturally, the work they would eventually do probably wouldn’t differ drastically from their old days at Seth. But getting paid well versus actually feeling recognized were two entirely different worlds, and because of that, they began melting into Yaikai’s ranks much faster than expected.

“Honestly, the Chairman’s knack for pulling people into his orbit is simply incredible.”

Yoongi merely shrugged without offering a direct reply, but Fernandez didn’t press the matter further. Instead, he simply asked Yoongi about the reason he had been called over.

“What’s the occasion for calling me out here?”

Fernandez was currently standing inside a building completely devoid of commercial tenants. They had rented out a third-floor taekwondo studio just to use as a makeshift training ground for Si-chan’s crew.

“It’s about time we built our second branch.”

After pausing to glance inside the taekwondo studio, Yoongi turned away, headed down the stairs, and slid into a waiting car. Fernandez quickly followed and hopped in beside him.

“Is there any specific directive regarding the second branch?”

“Yes.”

Yoongi nodded and continued.

“Care to teach me a little about painting a bigger picture?”