While Yigyeom was working part-time, Kwon Taejung met Secretary Baek for dinner after a long time. When Yigyeom mentioned meeting his sister and brother, Kwon Taejung found Baek Jinwoo’s surprised expression amusing, smiled as if he remembered something, and adjusted his posture.
“How’s things on Goo Daebom’s side lately? Well, it seems quiet if there’s no special talk reaching me.”
“Yeah, there’s no significant movement, but a few days ago, he came to Daramdong, shook the front door of Yeon Yigyeom’s house a few times, checked that no one was there, and left.”
“He hasn’t come to his senses yet.”
“I also put security guards around the café as you suggested, so if he comes there, we’ll get an immediate call.”
Exhaling an annoyed breath at Baek Jinwoo’s words, Kwon Taejung tapped the table with his fingertips.
“I just need to bring this to a complete end now. Even though I wanted to resolve it before, I couldn’t because Yigyeom insisted on handling it himself. But now, the situation has changed.”
Kwon Taejung took out his phone, found Goo Daebom’s number, and pressed the call button. Along with three or so connection beeps, an unpleasant voice was heard when the call was abruptly cut.
“Uh, Taejung-ah. It’s been a while. What’s this all of a sudden? Call after giving me a chance to talk.”
“It’s been a while, fuck it. What, memory loss? Didn’t you come to someone’s funeral a while back, was it last year?”
“Taejung-ah. Why bring up the past? I apologized back then. Since then, I haven’t shown up in front of Yeon Yigyeom, and I’ve been quietly keeping to myself. If I keep doing this, it’s a bit frustrating.”
Frowning at Goo Daebom talking about keeping quiet while there was a record of him visiting Daramdong a few days ago, Kwon Taejung leaned back behind the chair, barely managing to control his emotions.
“Enough. Come out now.”
“Now? Why suddenly? I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Damn it, if I say come out, you come out. I’ll send you the location, so bring Yigyeom’s ID by nine. For every minute you’re late, I’ll destroy one thing you own.”
After saying what needed to be said, Kwon Taejung hung up and sent Goo Daebom the name of a private bar he sometimes visited when he had important matters to handle. As someone involved in shady dealings, he would undoubtedly know exactly where it was without needing a detailed explanation.
“Going alone?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll come with you. I’ll be outside.”
“Fine, then. If I don’t come out in thirty minutes, come in. He might piss me off so much that I either killed him or am about to.”
“We’re almost done with the demolition. It needs to go smoothly so you can find a new place, and you and Yeon Yigyeom can get along well. There’s nothing good about causing more trouble here.”
While other words didn’t particularly register, the part about not causing trouble so he could get along well with Yigyeom was loud and clear. Suppressing his frustration, Kwon Taejung checked the time. There were about thirty minutes left until nine, so he felt like he needed to start moving.
As soon as they entered the bar, the owner greeted Kwon Taejung respectfully and guided them to a private room without saying a word. Even without words, the owner knew exactly where it was as he swiftly brought drinks. It seemed that Goo Daebom, having sensed the smell of money, quickly arrived, taking his seat. Kwon Taejung leaned against the back of the chair, looking disdainfully at Goo Daebom who spoke politely and even used honorifics.
“Oh my, our Chief Kwon Taejung is here.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“I’ll pour you a drink first. You’ve come all the way here; you should have a good drink before leaving. I’ve prepared something good, very expensive.”
Looking at Goo Daebom, who was eying the liquor bottle, Kwon Taejung pushed the glass in front of him away.
“I didn’t come for a drink, so forget it. Also, update me. No one’s drinking that shit these days. Don’t show off that gangster vibe.”
“Oh, Chief Kwon again. Truly, you’re different from gangsters. How dare I think of following in the footsteps of our esteemed Chief. Please forgive me generously.”
“Cut the crap and send it to my account or my number.”
“Oh, you’re so refreshingly straightforward. I had prepared a discount for this year’s interest…”
“Don’t talk shit, and don’t deduct a single won. Take a photo of everything and send it all.”
Grinning as if to please Kwon Taejung, Goo Daebom quickly tapped his phone. Kwon Taejung checked the vibration sound and sent the message to Baek Jinwoo. A short unpleasant sound echoed in the quiet room. Looking at the notification from the bank app, Goo Daebom, who had caught the scent of money, quickly came forward, stood up, and politely handed the documents with the ID to Kwon Taejung.
“Oh, our Chief Kwon is truly different. Repaying 3.2 billion with 4 billion. I always knew there was something about Yeon Yigyeom’s face value.”
“Don’t mention Yigyeom’s name.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Here’s Yeon Gyuhak’s ID. Please handle it yourself.”
Taking the documents from Goo Daebom, Kwon Taejung sighed softly when he saw the ID inside. Finally, the moment when the relationship between Goo Daebom and Yigyeom was ending had arrived.
“If you appear in front of Yigyeom again, you’ll die without warning.”
“I doubt that will happen. Our debt relationship is severed, and there’s no reason for us to meet again. Even if we cross paths on the street, I’ll pretend not to know.”
“I can’t trust your words, so sit down. There are still things you need to do.”
After Kwon Taejung grabbed the promissory note and sent a message, Secretary Baek soon entered. Secretary Baek placed paper and a pen in front of Goo Daebom.
“All debt relationships with Yeon Yigyeom have been resolved, and I won’t visit again or harm him. Please write a pledge to that effect. Also, we intend to record this process. Will you agree?”
“Oh, a pledge! I need to write that. I haven’t written a pledge just once or twice. I’ll write it neatly. And what’s this about recording? Does it have legal significance?”
Goo Daebom, noticing Secretary Baek starting to film, silently wrote down what he had heard earlier on the paper. Demonstrating that he wasn’t lying about being good at writing pledges, he added more content to the document and handed it to SecretaryBaek . Secretary Baek , after checking the content, soon handed the pledge to Kwon Taejung.
“You seem to have written a lot.”
“Well, I did. How many years has it been since I did this? There’s no house without a pledge written by me.”
Kwon Taejung glanced over the text that Goo Daebom had written. It mentioned that in the event of misconduct, Goo Daebom would transfer all shares of Royal Capital to Kwon Taejung and step down from the representative position. After writing his name, address, and the date below, Kwon Taejung signed the pledge. Soon, Goo Daebom went through the same procedure.
“It’s notarized, so don’t try anything foolish.”
“Yes, of course. You should keep it. Will there be anything else I need to do? If there is, please let me know.”
Kwon Taejung, showing that he was happy to receive the money and didn’t want to see Goo Daebom’s face any longer, handed the promissory note and pledge to Secretary Baek.
“Secretary Baek, give me five minutes.”
“Yes? Chief.”
Seeing Secretary Baek shaking his head as if it couldn’t be done, Kwon Taejung chuckled, pushed him out, and closed the door. After sending the secretary out without accompanying him and closing the door, Kwon Taejung smiled awkwardly at Goo Daebom, who was looking at him, then took a step back.
“… Chief. Taeyoung-ah. I’m still hurt from the time we met at the funeral home. I still have a bruise.”
“Why did you hit Yigyeom?”
“I… I really didn’t hit him much. He might be sweet to you, but damn it, he subtly pissed me off.”
“Oh, subtly pissed you off, so you hit him.”
“Yeah, well, sometimes that happens. I didn’t know why my hand moved like that. It’s not like I intentionally wanted to hit him.”
Kwon Taejung’s fist landed directly on Goo Daebom’s abdomen. Unable to use much force, Kwon Taejung, after kicking the sprawled Goo Daebom with his long legs, lifted his leg and put it on Goo Daebom’s stomach. He took off his watch, put it in his suit pocket, and sighed. Goo Daebom, anticipating that he would be punched in the face, raised both arms to guard his face.
“Get up.”
“Taeyoung-ah, let’s talk it out. Let’s talk it out, okay?”
“I hit you because you pissed me off. Understand?”
Kwon Taejung, watching Goo Daebom repeat what I said verbatim, chuckled and pushed him away. With only the secretary sent outside and the awkward laughter of Goo Daebom seeing him off, Kwon Taejung closed the door.
“…Huh?”
“With a fist?”
“Oh, no… just lightly…”
Kwon Taejung burst into laughter at the sight of Goo Daebom extending his fingers. And almost simultaneously, Kwon Taejung slapped Goo Daebom’s cheek.
Even if the cheek had torn apart, there was nothing strange about the friction sound. Without releasing any additional force, Kwon Taejung precisely scraped Goo Daebom’s cheek a couple more times. After seeing blood bursting from Goo Daebom’s mouth and inside, Kwon Taejung finally lowered the foot that had been pressing on his stomach, stood up firmly, and picked up the tissue on the table to wipe his hands.
Despite wiping away the face oil and saliva, the uncomfortable stickiness that wouldn’t disappear made Kwon Taejung pour the whiskey Goo Daebom had ordered onto his hands as if to sterilize them. He then wiped his thoroughly wet hands again with a tissue.
“Unfair? If you didn’t want to get hit, you shouldn’t have written that in the pledge. Violence is not allowed under any circumstances.”
Seeing the completely defeated Goo Daebom, Kwon Taejung laughed out loud, casually threw the whiskey-soaked tissue somewhere on his face, and turned around. Remembering the time he tried to hit Yigyeom and killed him, Kwon Taejung knew he had to stop here if he wanted to protect everything for Yigyeom. There was no reason to give up everything he had because of Goo Daebom, and he was well aware of that.
“Let’s go.”
“…Kwon Taejung, seriously.”
“Don’t say that you got hit by me. You know why. If you feel unfair, you can go to your house and tell your father if you can.”
Smiling, Kwon Taejung stretched out his arm, tilted his head here and there, and slowly relieved his stiff body.
“Stick people to him. If you see anything suspicious, let me know immediately. And when the demolition is over, let’s get rid of Royal Capital.”
“…Alright. We can notarize the pledge tomorrow, and what about the promissory note? Shall we handle it?”
“Oh, I’ll take care of that. I’ll give it to Yigyeom as a gift. Tell him to tear it up.”
Kwon Taejung, receiving the promissory note from the secretary, laughed at the insignificant piece of paper.
Compared to the pain and suffering Yigyeom endured during this time, the results were excessively light. Considering how difficult the time must have been because of this piece of paper, Kwon Taejung thought he should go back in right away and completely crush his face again. However, for the sake of my and Yigyeom’s future, he decided to endure. If Yigyeom became famous by constantly appearing in the news, his feelings might not be good.
“Jinwoo. What’s the best way to talk to Yigyeom? Should I give it to him and tell him to tear it up right away? Or should I wait until the day of the demolition?”
“It’s better to know as soon as possible, right?”
“That’s true, isn’t it? I’ll go and tell him before going to bed tonight. What if he cries?”
“I might cry too.”
“Oh, but it’s strange. I can imagine Yigyeom crying, but I can’t imagine you crying, Baek Jinwoo. And sorry, but even if you cry, I don’t think I can console you.”
Baek Jinwoo, who sat in the driver’s seat, looked at Kwon Taejung through the mirror as if he was a bit surprised.
“Sorry, Taejung. I don’t really… I don’t want your comfort.”
“Well, then go to Hyunjoon. He’s a doctor; he’ll comfort you well.”
“…Let’s not say such terrible things.”
Laughing out loud at Baek Jinwoo’s back, who shook his head as if he hated it, Kwon Taejung leaned back against the seat. Then, feeling overly light, he raised Yigyeom’s promissory note.
Now, Yigyeom’s suffering was truly over. Just with this, it was already valuable enough. Kwon Taejung thought that even this money spent today was the most valuable among the money he had spent in his life.
