Chapter 263: How About Using the Triad?

“Welcome home. You must be tired from the trip,” my mother greeted me at the front door with a bright smile.

If I told her the truth about what had happened in Switzerland, she would probably faint from fright. A white lie was the best way to put her mind at ease.

“This business trip to Switzerland went smoothly. Nothing difficult happened.”

“That’s good. You must be exhausted, so hurry upstairs and wash up.”

At that moment, Cha Hyeonji, who was holding Saho in her arms, asked curiously,

“Oppa, did you buy another suitcase in Switzerland?”

When I left for Switzerland, I had taken only one suitcase with me. Since I had returned with two, Cha Hyeonji’s curiosity was perfectly understandable.

“This suitcase has presents for you and Mom.”

“Oh, really? What’s inside? Is it something special?”

“Of course. The combination for the suitcase is 1234.”

After answering in a restrained tone, I picked up one of the suitcases and went up to the third floor.

Knock, knock, knock.

I had barely finished showering and was about to lie down on my comfortable bed when Cha Hyeonji knocked on the door and rushed inside.

“Oppa, what the heck is going on?!”

“What are you talking about? Get to the point.”

“The suitcase you gave me is full of designer goods from brands I’ve never even heard of!”

I recalled what had happened the previous evening at Zurich International Airport.

On my way to the gate to board the CIA Director’s private jet, I ran into Director Jean-Philippe. He handed me a large suitcase, saying it was a gift for my return home.

I politely declined, saying it was too valuable, but he insisted. Thinking it would be disrespectful to refuse a second time, I gratefully accepted the gift.

Assuming there was nothing particularly unusual inside, I hadn’t even bothered opening the suitcase, but contrary to my expectations, it had been packed with outrageously expensive luxury goods.

Realizing that telling her the truth would require a long explanation, I decided to change the subject.

“You know how rich I am, don’t you?”

“And a cheapskate like you bought several bags that each cost more than 100 million won?”

“What?!”

No matter how composed I normally was, even I couldn’t help being shocked this time. How could anyone not be astonished by a bag that cost more than 100 million won apiece?

“I looked them up online just in case. Every single one of those bags costs more than 100 million won!”

“What kind of bag costs that much?”

“Seriously? There are plenty of bags in the world that cost more than a billion won! Oh, right! There was also a whole set of designer watches in there, and each of them costs hundreds of millions of won!”

“Is that true?”

“I’m telling you it is! Now spill it. What the heck is going on?!”

There was no helping it. I had to reveal at least part of the truth.

“Well... An acquaintance gave them to me.”

“The total value of all those designer goods is several billion won, and you’re saying someone just gave them to you?”

After confiscating the assets hidden by Gabriel and his accomplices, I had handed Switzerland 68.5 billion dollars in cash, 3 billion dollars in bonds, and 638 kilograms of gold bars. So I had every right to receive a gift worth a couple billion won from Director Jean-Philippe.

Still, if I told Cha Hyeonji the whole truth, the consequences were all too predictable.

“Like Grandpa always says, there’s no such thing as a free lunch.”

“You mean you did this acquaintance a favor and got the gifts in return?”

“Yeah.”

“Then hurry up and tell me what kind of favor you did for him!”

Cha Hyeonji was exceptionally intelligent and had an extremely logical and persistent personality. If I gave her a vague answer, everything could go sideways.

In a difficult situation like this, the best solution was to take a firm stance.

“The less you know, the better.”

“Even if something happens to me, that’s my problem, so tell me!”

“Sorry, but it’s a state secret, so I can’t tell you.”

“Well, if it’s a state secret, then I guess there’s nothing you can do...”

Without arguing any further, Cha Hyeonji reined in her curiosity.

Just as I was thinking how incredibly lucky I had been, Saho sauntered into the room.

As though she had suddenly remembered something, Cha Hyeonji immediately scooped Saho into her arms.

“Oppa, what happened to Saho?”

“What’s wrong with him?”

“When you left for Switzerland, he was skinny, but he came back as a total fat cat!”

“Don’t tell me...”

At that very moment, Saho apparently sensed danger, wriggled free of Cha Hyeonji’s arms, and bolted.

After watching Saho’s suspicious reaction, Cha Hyeonji turned back to me.

“Tell me what happened to Saho.”

Ignoring my warnings, Saho had clearly spent his time in the Alps hunting wild animals to his heart’s content and stuffing himself. And he had run away because he was afraid I would get angry.

Cha Hyeonji still thought Saho was an ordinary domestic cat rather than a wild forest cat. For that reason, I couldn’t tell her the truth.

“While we were in Switzerland, he just lazed around and ate too much. That’s why he gained weight.”

Bzzzz—

At that moment, the phone lying on the bed vibrated.

I picked it up and looked at the screen. Contrary to my expectations, Lee Ujin’s name appeared.

After showing the screen to Cha Hyeonji, I answered the call.

“How did you know I was back?”

[I heard it from Tracy, got it?]

“And how did Tracy know?”

[You stayed at Chairman Bongard’s villa near Zurich during your business trip to Switzerland, didn’t you?]

“Ah, right. I completely forgot. Anyway, why are you calling?”

[Tracy and Gloria say they’re dying to see you.]

Tracy and Gloria were due to start working at KBH Investment soon. That was why they had arrived in our country a week earlier.

“I want to see them too, but I’m too tired today.”

[Didn’t you sleep on the plane while flying back to Korea?]

Throughout my entire business trip to Switzerland, I hadn’t managed to get a proper night’s sleep even once. On top of that, Director Griffin had kept pestering me throughout the flight home. As a result, my entire body felt like it was made of lead.

“Whatever the case, I can’t today. I’ll be busy for the next few days, so let’s meet over the weekend.”

[Well, if you say so, I guess there’s nothing we can do. See you this weekend.]

Click.

The moment I hung up, Cha Hyeonji narrowed her eyes and asked,

“Oppa, you know what happens to men who abandon their lawful wives, right?”

“You dummy, what lawful wife do I have?”

“What do you mean? There’s Sola unni.”

“Geez, you don’t know anything, yet you keep running your mouth. Professional Yun is just a colleague from work.”

“Yeah, sure. Mom said to eat something before you go to sleep.”

***

Ring, ring, ring.

A pleasant melody flowed from the phone lying beside my pillow.

Still half-asleep, I fumbled for the phone and looked at the screen. It was NIS Director Om Giyeon.

I forced myself to sit up in bed, cleared my throat, and answered.

“Director Om, what happened at this hour?”

[Leader Cha, I’m sorry for waking you. I’m with Commander Kwak Taesu right now.]

“It’s already past eleven at night, isn’t it?”

[We were talking with Commander Kwak and his son and lost track of time.]

We had arrived at Seoul Airport toward evening.

NIS Director Om Giyeon had personally come to meet us. Under the pretext of questioning Kwak Cheolhun, he had taken him away. In reality, he had taken him to meet Commander Kwak Taesu.

“I see. Was there something you wanted to tell me?”

[Commander Kwak very much wants to know exactly what happened at Kim Juchol’s house.]

In other words, he was asking me to come to the safe house where Commander Kwak Taesu was staying right now. Still, if I couldn’t avoid the whipping, it was better to get it over with sooner.

“I’ll leave as soon as I’m ready.”

[I sent a car for you, so you’ll be able to get here comfortably.]

After getting ready to go out, I went downstairs, where a premium sedan was already waiting with its engine running.

When he spotted me, Agent Hong Jongsu quickly got out and opened the rear door.

After exchanging greetings with him, I climbed into the back seat, and the driver smoothly pressed the accelerator.

“Agent Hong, aren’t you tired?”

“I slept very well during the flight from Switzerland to Korea.”

“Meanwhile, I couldn’t get a single wink of sleep because Director Griffin kept talking to me, so I really envy you.”

“Ha ha. Is that so?” Agent Hong Jongsu replied with an awkward smile.

***

“Leader Cha, welcome. Please come in.”

The moment I stepped out of the elevator, Commander Kwak Taesu, who had been waiting outside, greeted me.

“Why did you come out to meet me?”

“Such an honored guest has come to visit us. How could I possibly wait inside?”

“Ha ha! Commander Kwak is absolutely right.”

Jo Ilcheol, Deputy Director of North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau, who was standing beside Commander Kwak Taesu, smoothly joined the conversation.

After shaking hands with everyone who had come to greet me, I entered the safe house serving as Commander Kwak Taesu’s residence.

As soon as we sat down, Commander Kwak Taesu expressed his gratitude.

“Leader Cha, thank you very much for saving my son.”

“I think it would be more appropriate for me to thank Kwak Cheolhun.”

“I don’t understand what you mean at all, Leader Cha.”

“Once you hear what I have to say next, you’ll understand perfectly.”

“I’m all ears.”

After briefly considering how to structure the conversation, I began speaking at a measured pace.

“You’ve already heard from Kwak Cheolhun that he was kidnapped by a Colombian drug cartel, correct?”

“Of course.”

“There was a drug lord in Colombia named Gabriel. Three years ago, he was arrested in a joint operation by the FBI and the Colombian regular army, and he is currently serving a life sentence in prison.”

“I see.”

“Kwak Cheolhun was kidnapped off the street together with Gabriel’s son, Vitor Gabriel. The kidnapper was Antonio, one of drug lord Gabriel’s direct subordinates.”

“What was Antonio’s purpose in kidnapping my son and Vitor Gabriel?”

“Gabriel hid part of the money he earned from the drug trade in Switzerland.”

I explained only the most essential details to Commander Kwak Taesu regarding the reasons behind the kidnapping of Kwak Cheolhun and Vitor Gabriel. Even so, because of the sheer amount of information involved, the explanation took quite some time.

“...In the end, we confiscated the assets Antonio, Jourdain, and Manuel had accumulated through drug sales.”

“And they simply handed over the money?”

“They had distributed drugs on such an enormous scale that they couldn’t avoid either the death penalty or life imprisonment. I used that to offer them a plea deal.”

“Ah, now I understand.”

“Our country, the United States, and Switzerland divided the confiscated assets according to the extent of their respective contributions.”

“I’m curious. How much did our country receive?”

How could I possibly tell him outright that we had received more than 100 billion dollars in cash, 16 billion dollars in bonds, and 5 billion dollars’ worth of diamonds?

“I can’t go into the details. I can only say that our share was extremely substantial.”

“Either way, congratulations.”

“Thank you. If Kwak Cheolhun hadn’t been kidnapped by Antonio’s gang, we never would have been able to obtain such a substantial sum. Because of that, I’m planning to give Kwak Cheolhun 5 billion dollars.”

“What did you say?!”

Everyone present, including Kwak Cheolhun himself, froze in utter astonishment. They all understood perfectly well just how astronomical a sum 5 billion dollars was.

“Kwak Cheolhun, is 5 billion dollars too little?”

“No! Absolutely not! Not at all!”

Kwak Cheolhun frantically waved his hands, vehemently denying it.

At that moment, Commander Kwak Taesu spoke up, clearly wanting to make a counterproposal.

“As payment for saving my son, I’ll give Leader Cha 5 billion dollars myself.”

I knew perfectly well that Commander Kwak Taesu was a straightforward and principled man. That was precisely why I had anticipated such a counterproposal and prepared Plan B in advance.

“As far as I know, you and Deputy Director Jo still have many loyal subordinates in North Korea. How about giving that 5 billion dollars to them instead?”

“I would gladly do that myself, but we have no way of transferring money to our subordinates in North Korea.”

“There is a way,” NIS Director Om Giyeon interjected before I could.

“How?”

“When defectors send money to family members they left behind in North Korea, they use brokers. If we use them, transferring the money would be possible.”

However, I had a different opinion on that.

“Director Om, from what I’ve heard, those brokers charge enormous commissions. Besides, if the North Korean authorities uncover the brokers, it could lead to disaster.”

“Hmm... That is indeed a problem. Then what should we do?”

“How about using the Triad?”