Chapter 54: He’s Not Even Worth Punching

"I..." Support Team Leader Heo Yeongjin scratched the back of his head in confusion.

Normally, Cha Jiham radiated absolute confidence, but for some reason, today he kept shifting from one foot to the other, looking unusually hesitant.

"Professional Jiham, is there something you want to tell me?"

"The thing is... I need to step out for an urgent personal matter."

"I see. And what's the reason?"

There was no way I could say I was going to meet Commissioner General Choi Dongyeong of the National Police Agency.

At times like this, a small lie was unavoidable.

"My mother is coming up from the province, but she's completely unfamiliar with Seoul."

"Hmm, I see. Then you'd better go meet her as soon as possible."

"Thank you for letting me leave."

I politely bowed to Team Leader Heo Yeongjin before hurrying out of the office.

Deputy Manager Woo Changhun, as though he'd been waiting for exactly this moment, immediately walked over to Heo Yeongjin.

"Team Leader, you knew Professional Jiham was lying just now, didn't you?"

"I did."

"How could you tell?"

"For his mother to leave Taebaek in Gangwon Province and arrive in Seoul at this hour, she would have had to board a bus in the middle of the night."

"Haha, so you knew all along! Then who was he in such a hurry to meet?"

"I'm sure he has his reasons. Stop sticking your nose into other people's business and get back to work."

***

The reception office of Korea Investment.

After receiving permission to enter, I stepped into the Chairman's office—and immediately froze.

Sitting comfortably on the sofa in the sitting area were none other than Hangang Group Chairman Yoon Jongu and his Chief Secretary, Song Dosok.

As I stood there by the door, hesitating while I assessed the situation, Yoon Jongu spoke first.

"Professional Jiham, don't mind me. I just dropped by to visit Chairman Park."

"Ah... yes, understood."

After giving a short reply, I bowed to Chairman Park Yeongil, who was seated at the head of the room, before quickly taking a seat on the sofa.

Without missing a beat, Park Yeongil grumbled at Yoon Jongu.

"And what position does Jiham currently hold at your company?"

"You always nitpick over the smallest things."

"Maybe he's just an ordinary employee in your company, but in mine, he's my successor."

"Oh, come on. From now on, I can call him Director too."

"Then promote him to Director at your company as well, and there won't be any confusion."

"Really? If he promises not to resign, I'll promote him immediately."

"Heh. Talking to you is absolutely exhausting."

After successfully silencing Park Yeongil, Chairman Yoon Jongu turned toward me with an inviting smile.

"Director Cha, what do you think of my offer?"

To become a Director at Hangang Group, one needed a rank equivalent to at least Executive Vice President.

That meant Yoon Jongu was essentially offering me an immediate promotion to that level.

Even members of the founding family typically needed at least ten flawless years of service before reaching Executive Vice President.

Meanwhile, I had only officially become a full-time employee today.

There was no way that could actually happen.

Obviously, Chairman Yoon was joking.

And common sense dictated that jokes should be answered with jokes.

"If you promote me straight to CEO, I'll seriously consider your offer."

"Really? Then I'll appoint you CEO."

Oops... I may have taken that a little too far.

I needed to fix the situation before it got completely out of hand.

"Chairman Yoon, I was only joking."

"I'm completely serious."

"My apologies, but I haven't reached the point where I'm capable of running an entire company."

"The position makes the man. Besides, our company is far better than this little flea-sized outfit, isn't it?"

"What?! My company is flea-sized?!" As expected, Park Yeongil exploded instantly.

"But it's true that our scales aren't even comparable."

"You old bastard..."

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Just as their argument was beginning to escalate, someone knocked on the door.

The secretary entered and handed Park Yeongil a note.

After reading it, the Chairman nodded knowingly.

"Show them in, and serve tea."

A minute later, Commissioner General Choi Dongyeong entered together with Superintendents Hong Ingi and Hwang Dongsok.

The three men stopped in their tracks for a brief moment after seeing who was already gathered.

With a somewhat awkward smile, Park Yeongil addressed Choi Dongyeong.

"Chairman Yoon is aware of the situation as well."

"That may be true, but..."

Understanding the Commissioner's concern, Park Yeongil continued.

"Commissioner Choi, you know Chairman Yoon is capable of keeping a secret, don't you?"

"Of course."

"Then there's no need for further explanation?"

"None whatsoever."

After everyone had taken their seats, the secretary served tea to each person present.

Taking a sip, Chairman Yoon Jongu turned decisively toward the Commissioner.

"Commissioner Choi, you know Cha Jiham works for our company as well, don't you?"

"Chairman Park informed me."

"I'm glad to hear it. Jiham is a key employee of our corporation. Therefore, I have every right to know what this matter concerns. What do you think?"

"I agree to a certain extent, Chairman Yoon. However, I do have some doubts about your statement that he's indispensable to the entire conglomerate."

"Ahem."

Yoon Jongu let out a dissatisfied cough.

Only then did Choi Dongyeong realize he'd made a mistake.

Yoon Jongu was the head of the country's largest conglomerate, one that had dominated the nation's economy for decades.

Meanwhile, Choi Dongyeong was merely the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency, whose term lasted only two years.

He held a powerful position today, but after retirement he would simply become another private citizen.

Considering that, it would have been wiser to humor the business tycoon—even if the conversation had begun as a joke—for the sake of his own future.

"Chairman Yoon, I apologize. I spoke too bluntly."

"If I were in your position, I'd probably think the same thing. Don't worry about it."

"Thank you for your understanding."

"If you promise to keep this confidential, I'll explain why Jiham is so important to us."

"I swear I'll take this secret to my grave."

"Excellent. Hangang Electronics, together with the American giant Endivia, the Bongard Investment Group, and Korea Investment, is preparing to establish a joint venture that will dominate the system semiconductor market. And the entire concept for this project was personally devised by Cha Jiham."

"He'll play the decisive role in establishing that company," Song Dosok added, deciding to back up his Chairman.

"Oh... I see."

"If information about the project leaks, there are plenty of forces that would try to sabotage us. Please keep everything confidential until we officially announce it."

"You have my word."

"Excellent. Then let's return to the matter you came to discuss with Chairman Park."

Song Dosok stepped back, allowing Park Yeongil to take over once again.

"Commissioner Choi, before we get to the main topic, there's one thing I'd like to clarify."

"Please, go ahead."

"Why hasn't the police announced the destruction of the criminal organizations that were receiving narcotics from the Chinese Triad?"

"Allow me to answer that," Superintendent Hwang Dongsok said before his superior could speak.

"I'm listening."

"We dismantled thirteen gangs in total. The announcement has been delayed because we're still interrogating the surviving and captured criminals."

"So that's the only reason."

Having finished the brief exchange with Hwang Dongsok, Park Yeongil turned back toward Choi Dongyeong.

"How has the Chinese government reacted to the police Special Operations unit eliminating the Triad members?"

"I met with the Chinese Ambassador to discuss the matter, but no harsh protest was made."

"So it's safe to assume Beijing has chosen to turn a blind eye to the deaths of those gangsters?"

"I've reached the same conclusion as you, Chairman Park."

"By the way, what agreement was reached regarding the Triad members captured alive?"

"They've agreed to let our side prosecute them, but judging from their behavior, they're secretly hoping to be deported back to China."

"I see. And what's our government's position?"

"Frankly speaking, we have no desire to keep them here either."

"What do you think, Jiham?" Park Yeongil turned toward me.

After only a brief moment of thought, I answered.

"If I were in their shoes, I wouldn't want to return to China either."

"Why do you think that? Explain."

"China imposes much harsher penalties for drug-related crimes than we do. On top of that, they're members of the Triad."

"I understand the first reason. Why does the second matter?"

"China is currently conducting a massive nationwide crackdown on organized crime. Triad members know that perfectly well, so they'll do everything they can to serve their sentences here instead."

"Hmm... That's sound reasoning. So what decision do you think our government should make?"

"Chen Shao, who caused the hit-and-run, and Li Jiahan, who arranged the murders of the witnesses, should both be prosecuted and imprisoned here. As for the rest of the scum, send them back to China. That would be cleaner and better for everyone."

After listening to my answer, Park Yeongil turned toward the Commissioner.

"Commissioner Choi, what do you think of Jiham's proposal?"

"I completely agree. However, there's one problem. Chen Shao is demanding to be sent back to China."

"What's his reasoning?"

"He's exercising his right to remain silent, so we don't know."

My original plan had been to completely drain Chen Shao's personal accounts and force him to pay compensation.

But if the brat refused to talk, squeezing money out of him would become difficult.

It was obvious that Commissioner Choi had rushed to meet me precisely because of this deadlock.

To confirm my suspicion, I cautiously asked him, and he immediately nodded.

"Your instincts are exactly right, Jiham. How should we solve this?"

I already had an idea for making Chen Shao open his mouth and pay compensation.

However, since there was still a chance the plan might fail, I decided to keep it to myself for now.

"I haven't had time to think it through thoroughly yet, so I can't give you an answer at the moment. Do you have a backup plan if we fail to recover anything from Chen Shao?"

"Our country has a reward system for assisting in drug investigations, with compensation of up to five hundred million won. What if we used those funds to compensate Cha Hyeonji and the families of the murdered witnesses?"

"My sister and those witnesses never even knew the gang was involved in narcotics. If they accept government money under that program, it could create legal complications later."

At that moment, Park Yeongil interrupted.

"Jiham, what if I paid the compensation myself?"

"I'm grateful for your generosity, Chairman, but we'll recover every last won of compensation directly from Chen Shao."

"But you just heard the Commissioner say that little bastard has completely shut down."

"Leave him to me. He'll talk."

"Surely you don't mean..."

Judging from Park Yeongil's expression, I knew exactly what he was thinking.

"That bastard isn't even worth dirtying my fists."

"So you have another, more elegant way of making him talk?"

Bzzz... Bzzz...

At that moment, Superintendent Hong Ingi's phone rang.

The instant he looked at the screen, his expression changed.

He hurried out of the office, making it obvious that the call was extremely important.

A few minutes later, he returned and reported to Commissioner Choi.

"Chen Shao's father secretly entered the country under a false identity."

"His father... You mean Chen Zhihui, the Triad's Vice Chairman and second-in-command?"

"Yes, Commissioner."

"And why has he come?"

"Most likely to rescue his son at any cost and take him back to China."

"Hmm... That would make perfect sense."

I smiled inwardly.

Everything was falling perfectly into place.

If we squeezed Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui himself, we could easily extract three times the compensation.

After rapidly organizing a plan in my head for dealing with the high-ranking Triad leader, I addressed Choi Dongyeong.

"Commissioner Choi, may I be present during your meeting with Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui?"

"You must have a good reason for asking."

"I intend to make him personally pay full compensation to my sister and the families of the witnesses."

"And how exactly do you plan to do that?"

"Chen Shao is Vice Chairman Chen's only son. And if we make use of that fact..."