Chapter 1608. Pushing Forward (3)

“P-please don’t hurt me! I’m sorry! I made a terrible mistake!”

A man in a tracksuit groaned loudly. “What the... Mister Director, are you deaf? Why are you not listening to what I’m saying? You’re supposed to be running an orphanage, so how could you be so slow on the uptake?”

“I’m sorry! I will never do it! P-please, please! Sob, sniffle...”

“Hah, this fella...” The tracksuit man squatted to match the eyeline of the kneeling and sobbing man. “What’s the point of begging like this after what you did? You shouldn’t have done that terrible thing in the first place. Besides all that... You think this is some kinda children’s make-believe courtroom or something? You think we’ll let you go if you say you’re sorry?”

“...!”

“Why don’t you say something, you piece of sh*t!”

Slaaaaap!

The tracksuit man slapped the kneeling middle-aged man’s cheek. The latter’s lips burst, and his broken teeth went flying out of his mouth.

One of the burly men standing behind the tracksuit man grimaced and said, “C-Chief Lee? The Assembly Master told us not to kill him...”

“Don’t worry, this piece of trash won’t die from this, okay! It’s me hitting this f*cker anyway, not you morons. Of course he won’t die from that!”

The tracksuit man, Lee Hyeon-Su, snapped at his underlings, then scowled at the kneeling middle-aged man.

“Let me ask you something, Mister Caregiver... Oops, I mean, Mister Director. Why did you have to do that? I mean, we’re talking about little kids here. Little kids!”

“I, I’m so sorry! I must’ve lost my mind back then! Please forgive me! I swear, I’ll repent for my crimes for the rest of my life!”

“Hah~, this fella. You sure know how to say the wrong thing, don’t you? Do you really think you repenting for it will erase all the trauma those kids will suffer for the rest of their lives? No, you dipsh*t. They will have to live with all those sh*tty memories because of you. You can beg for forgiveness all you f*cking want, but that ain’t gonna change anything. Wouldn’t you say?”

Lee Hyeon-Su grinned brightly.

“Since that’s the situation here, just turn yourself in, okay? Don’t you think that’s the simplest solution to everything there is? Just confess and pay for your crimes the traditional way.”

The kneeling man urgently nodded. “Yes, yes! I will! Definitely!”

“Oh, so you will?” Lee Hyeon-Su nodded back. “So you will walk into a jail on your own to reflect on your crimes?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Great! Then, you see that? Hop right in.”

“...? I’m sorry?”

The kneeling middle-aged man turned his head to look at the spot Lee Hyeon-Su was pointing at. A van with a wide-open door was parked there, waiting.

“We’ll give you a comfy ride.”

“B-but... Shouldn’t I speak to my family and put my affairs in... order first...”

“Argh, don’t worry about minor stuff like that, ‘cuz we’ll take care of all those things. We’re pros at putting people’s affairs in order, you see?”

“...”

“What’s wrong? You think we’re gonna put you in order, too?”

“N-no, I...”

Slaaaaap!

Lee Hyeon-Su suddenly slapped the middle-aged man again, then grabbed the latter by the hair and slammed his face into the dirt. Not stopping there, Lee Hyeon-Su even began kicking the downed man mercilessly.

“You stinking piece of sh*t! Do you have! Any! F*cking! Idea! How much I’ve been trying to hold myself back?! Yet you dare get on my nerves?! You f*ck, Imma kill you good today! You’ll see!”

The martial artists observing this scene rushed in and tried to drag Lee Hyeon-Su away.

“Let go! I said, let go! Or else!”

“...Chief, please calm down. The boss told us not to kill him, remember?”

“He won’t die from my kicks!”

“No, he will really die at this rate. We also want to rip this piece of human filth apart, you know? But the boss said we can’t.”

“Hah... F*cking hell.”

Lee Hyeon-Su spat on the ground before yanking out a packet of cigarettes from his pocket. After mouthing and lighting his cigarette up, he squatted again and groaned loudly.

“Hey, fellas.”

“Yes, Chief?”

“How about we just bury this co*ksucker alive and get scolded for it later? I mean, the Assembly Master won’t beat us up half to death just because we disobeyed this once, right?”

“Well, it’s a tempting idea, but...”

“Hah~... This might be my first time feeling like crap for not being able to kill a bastard. Especially when it’s a slimy piece of sh*t like this guy... And he dares to call himself a human like me?! Y’know what, I don’t f*cking care anymore!”

“...! Sh*t, grab him! Stop him!”

“Let me go! You morons! I’m not gonna hit him again!”

Lee Hyeon-Su shouted in annoyance, and when the martial artists released him, he tried to fix his crumpled clothes.

“Huff, huff, fuu...!”

He sucked in short but deep breaths to calm himself down. Once he had regained his cool, he smiled brightly, then walked over to the downed orphanage director.

“Now, now. Mister Director?”

“...Y-yes, sir?”

“It’s time to choose. Will you die in this place today? Or will you confess to your crimes and get inside that van?”

“A-are you going to spare me if I get in the van?”

“I told you, we’ll stop hurting you if you confess! What the f*ck is the matter with you?! You can’t even understand something that simple?! How the hell did you even function as a f*cking adult until now?!”

“...I, I will do it.”

“Good! Hurry up and write everything down!”

“Y-yes, sir!”

The middle-aged orphanage director began writing every terrible thing he had done on a piece of paper on the ground. He even left a thumbprint stamp at the bottom of the paper, too.

Lee Hyeon-Su picked up the paper, confirmed its contents, and nodded coolly. “See how easy that was? You could’ve done this sooner and spared us the trouble, you know?”

“Y-yes, of course!”

“Now, get in the van.”

“...!”

Lee Hyeon-Su scowled angrily again. “Mister Director, think about it for a second, okay? If I was going to kill you, I’d have killed you already, not ask you to get inside that f*cking van. This is your last warning, you piece of human trash. If I look at your stinking mug for another ten seconds, I’m gonna lose it and tear your head off with my own two hands! And shove your severed head up your f*cking ass*ole! Get out of my sight! Now!”

The orphanage director said nothing, but still jumped up to his feet and dashed to the waiting van at full tilt. He tried to make the audience laugh by tripping and falling on his face twice during his run, but the lips of said audience members, including Lee Hyeon-Su, didn’t even twitch once.

Slam!

A waiting martial artist climbed in the van along with the orphanage director and slammed the vehicle’s door shut. That prompted the vehicle to set off right away, and it drove into the darkness of the night to disappear from everyone’s view.

Lee Hyeon-Su grunted. “Bloody hell... There sure are plenty of creeps in this world, huh.”

How could human trash like that bastard still walk around in broad daylight without getting caught already? Seriously!

Lee Hyeon-Su pulled his phone out and dialed the familiar number, a groan leaking out of his lips.

“...Yes, sir. It’s me, Lee Hyeon-Su. Yes, it’s done. Sorry? Eii~, I told you, I won’t kill the guy. And as promised, he’s still alive. When have I ever disobeyed your orders, sir?”

The expressions of the martial artists nearby grew weird just then, but they still wisely kept their mouths shut.

—Okay, so... How did you handle it?

“I made them write up signed & stamped confessions, sir.”

—I see. And where are they now?

“I’ve sent them to the docks.”

—Huh? Docks? Not the police stations?

Kang Jin-Ho sounded confused just then. Lee Hyeon-Su kindly explained his thought process.

“Sir, these bastards will only get a slap on their wrists even if they end up in Korean jails. The best we can hope for is five years behind bars, max. Why should we keep them fed in our jail with our own tax money? That’s a waste of our valuable resources.”

—I told you not to kill them.

“I promise you, I’m gonna kill them. No, I’ll just ship them over to America instead.”

—...? America? Why?

“If they are gonna serve jail time, it’s better to do so in an American jail, sir. My plan is to drop them in the middle of Nowheresville, USA, for a few days before getting the American cops to arrest them for messing with little kids. I hear that the inmates in American prisons just loooove kiddie molesters. Which means they will get a warm reception there.”

—Wait, what? You can do that?

“Yes, sir. We’ll just forge a few documents and then alert the relevant American law enforcement officials. We can say that these bastards were tourists but just couldn’t keep their pants on around little kids.”

—Oh...

“Don’t worry, sir. I’ll take care of everything on this end. It’s not like I’ll kill these bastards or sever their limbs, anyway. No, all I’m trying to do is ship these people, all of them in one piece, to American jails with better facilities than Korean ones. Kyaah~, this is something only an angel would have thought of doing, sir. Angels, I tell ya!”

For some reason, Kang Jin-Ho stayed silent this time.

“In any case... You can trust me on this one, sir. I’ll take care of everything perfectly. Nothing to worry about here. Please remember that I’m the one and only Lee Hyeon-Su.”

--...Sure. But I still want periodic updates, okay?

“Understood, sir!”

Lee Hyeon-Su ended the call, then ruefully smacked his lips.

“Tsk! I’m telling you, our Assembly Master has gotten too soft these days. To think he’d want us to keep these f*ckers alive! If it were his old self, he’d have them stand in a line, then cut their heads off in one sword swing.”

He then glanced at the martial artists behind him.

“Don’t you all agree?”

“Actually, I think it’s you who has gotten a bit more extreme, Chief...”

“Me? You must be sleepwalking, man. Don’t you know I’ve gotten a lot mellower these days?”

“...Yes, let’s say that’s the case, Chief.”

Lee Hyeon-Su chuckled, then pulled out his phone again. “Okay, now let’s see... We still have to deal with... two more people today? Damn it. Let’s hurry and wrap it up before the dawn breaks.”

“Yes, Chief!”

When his escorts climbed into the car in a hurry, Lee Hyeon-Su tossed his cigarette on the ground and stubbed it out.

Bloody hell. These are not even human beings.

***

After ending the call, Kang Jin-Ho dazedly stared at his phone. Jo Gyu-Min, who had been listening in on the call after it was put on speaker, slowly shook his head helplessly.

Kang Jin-Ho muttered, “He must be the devil himself.”

“...Actually, I think the devil might kowtow to him and call him Big Bro, Chairman.”

“Cutting off a limb or two would’ve been simpler, though.”

“Sorry? Uhm, that’s also a bit...”

Jo Gyu-Min’s jaw fell in stupefaction.

Of course he understood why people’s responses would get a bit extreme in this situation. Any sane person would’ve reacted that way to such a terrible revelation, after all.

Didn’t Jo Gyu-Min also feel the urge to rush outside the office, grab the bastards, and shove them inside a concrete mixer or something right after reading the results of the investigation?

Even then, this was a bit...

“...Chairman, why is his idea of punishment so creative?”

Lee Hyeon-Su wanted to ship the bastards off to the United States of America, falsify a crime, then even buy off the American cops. Why would he go to such trouble to punish a group of child molesters, though?

“I don’t know if his drive is something else, or if he’s far too passionate about unnecessary things...”

Kang Jin-Ho tutted. “It’s probably both.”

“...I guess you’re right.”

Jo Gyu-Min chuckled helplessly.

Whatever it is, they sure are an amazing group of people, aren’t they?

Some people in this world couldn’t be punished properly through the law. Jo Gyu-Min agreed that even if the police had arrested them, the punishment would be negligible, to say the least.

That was why it felt so refreshing to watch a group of such bastards getting the punishment they deserved.

“Well, we’ve already secured the paperwork for the transfer of the orphanages, anyway,” said Jo Gyu-Min. “I’ll speak to the officials in the relevant government departments and wrap everything up as cleanly as possible. However, before I pay them a visit, it might not be a bad idea for you to speak to them at least once.”

Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes. “Who do you have in mind?”

“Mm... Would the minister in charge know what’s going on?”

“I don’t think so?”

“Then... Do you have the private contact number for the Prime Minister?”

“Uh? Do I even know his number?” Kang Jin-Ho furrowed his brow. “Whatever. I can just order Chief Lee to handle it.”

“...”

Jo Gyu-Min suddenly felt like he was in an alternate universe.

Back in the day, Kang Jin-Ho was someone who never let other people handle his businesses for him. He even refused the chauffeur-driven luxury car sent by Chairman Hwang Jeong-Hu and resolutely commuted on his bicycle.

Yet, after the worldly affairs had jaded him... Here he was, busy ordering people around with a flick of his finger!

Of course, it wasn’t as if Jo Gyu-Min was dissatisfied with this development. Because the one being ordered around was Lee Hyeon-Su, after all!

In his honest opinion, Lee Hyeon-Su needed to work his butt off some more. So that he could become more human before it was too late!

“...I’ll be honest, Mister Jin-Ho. I didn’t think things would progress this quickly.”

“We shouldn’t be wasting time on a matter like this,” said Kang Jin-Ho while lighting up his cigarette.

Since he didn’t know, he couldn’t have acted. Now that he knew, though, he simply had to act as swiftly as possible. After all, what other terrible things would those people have done if he had delayed taking action by a little bit?

Lee Hyeon-Su also knew this, and that was why he had dispatched as many Assembly members as possible to deal with this matter in one fell swoop.

Jo Gyu-Min frowned slightly. “Will it be okay, though? Their acquaintances will most likely report them missing come tomorrow, after all.”

“It’ll be fine,” Kang Jin-Ho replied without much concern. “He’s a top-tier expert in this kind of thing, after all...”

“...”

Jo Gyu-Min suddenly realized what kind of person Lee Hyeon-Su actually was. To think he’d been acting like a brat to a guy like that all this time...!

Yup, I better watch myself.

Jo Gyu-Min swore to treat Lee Hyeon-Su like the Big Bro that he was the next time they’d meet. And even treat him to an expensive meal, too!

“In any case, I’ll shutter those orphanages up and transfer the orphans to our new facilities that are up and running,” said Jo Gyu-Min.

“Mm!” Kang Jin-Ho coolly nodded.

“But I’m not sure if we’re making the right call... Kids going through such trauma tend to be either very hostile or deeply wary of strangers, after all...”

“Even so, there’s nothing to think about here.”

Kang Jin-Ho slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke.

“I wouldn’t have started this if my intention was to accept only the easy-to-handle kids just so that I could feel like I’ve made a difference. We’ll accept them since things are just as challenging in other orphanages.”

“Of course.”

Jo Gyu-Min nodded back. He couldn’t help but view Kang Jin-Ho in a renewed light just then.

I can’t describe it, but... Mm...

For some reason, he felt proud right now.

Jo Gyu-Min always had a strong hunch since Kang Jin-Ho’s younger days that the latter would go on to do many great things later in life, but...

The feeling he got now was that Kang Jin-Ho had become a great man already, just in a slightly different sense than what Jo Gyu-Min had originally envisioned.

Kang Jin-Ho glanced at Jo Gyu-Min. “Then, are there any other problems I should be aware of?”

“No, Chairman. From this point on, I’ll do my best and take care of everything.”

“Mm.” Kang Jin-Ho nodded, then stubbed the cigarette out on a nearby ashtray. He then got up to leave. “Got it. I have other businesses to attend to, so...”

“Of course. I’ll speak to you again later, Chairman Kang. And you have nothing to worry about.”

“Mm.” Kang Jin-Ho gently smiled, then headed to the office’s exit. “...! Ah!”

“...? Is something the matter?”

Kang Jin-Ho stopped in the middle of turning the doorknob, then looked back at Jo Gyu-Min.

Jo Gyu-Min tilted his head in confusion.

“I’m always grateful for everything you’ve done, Chief Jo.”

“...”

Kang Jin-Ho opened the door and exited the office.

Clack.

When the door closed with a soft clack, Jo Gyu-Min’s head fell slightly.

Life can be so...

It could be so amusing and bittersweet at the same time.

If he hadn’t met Kang Jin-Ho, his life would’ve unfolded in a different direction.

Yup, I’m going to work even harder than ever before.

Because he wanted to be more helpful to that man.

Jo Gyu-Min got up and headed to his computer. It seemed he’d be pulling yet another all-nighter today.