Chapter 216: Change of Plan (2)
Chairman Ji was put in a bad mood from the morning. There was only one reason why.
“Kim Han-Gyo asked to meet me?”
“Yes, Chairman.”
Chairman Ji wondered if the sun had risen from the west today when he had gotten the report this morning. That was how unbelievable it was.
“Why? I’m sure he has a reason to want to meet me.”
“I was not able to get it. I asked, but he kept giving vague answers about it being business-related.”
“That’s his usual excuse.”
Kim Han-Gyo was like this all the time; he was the kind of person who would nonchalantly arrive at meetings and then begin to talk about something that they had not planned on discussing. His secretive nature was one of the many things Chairman Ji did not like about Han-Gyo.
“What will you do, Chairman?”
The chairman simply answered, “He wants to meet, so I guess I could humor him.”
He decided to hear him out for now.
***
Chairman Ji arrived at the considerably deserted lake park that Congressman Kim asked to meet at. He stood silently in the rain while staring at the scenery, gloomily overcast by rain clouds. His secretary, who was holding the umbrella for the chairman, looked to his right.
“He’s here, Chairman.”
“Mm.”
Chairman Ji looked in the direction that his secretary was looking. Han-Gyo, his chauffeur, and two men that seemed to be bodyguards showed themselves.
Chairman Ji remarked while smiling meaningfully, “Not only did you call me out here on a rainy day, you even brought bodyguards with you? What are you planning?”
The excessively open location of their meeting aside, it was highly suspicious that Han-Gyo had brought bodyguards to a meeting between friends.
Han-Gyo laughed heartily as he was asked two questions at once.
“It’s been quite a while, old friend. You seem to have a lot of questions for me.”
“Can you blame me?” Chairman Ji replied. His words carried several different implications.
It took only a moment for Han-Gyo’s laugh to turn into a sigh.
“If we meet indoors, there’s a risk of the place being bugged.”
That had been how the Kim Chi-Yeol incident was exposed. Han-Gyo’s answer to the second question was just as simple.
“And I feel like there has been someone targeting me lately.”
“Are you talking about the ‘masked woman’ that you’ve been parroting lately?”
“Basically.”
.
The rainfall grew heavier as time passed.
Chairman Ji said while narrowing his eyes at Han-Gyo, “Get to the point before it starts raining heavier.”
Han-Gyo also preferred not to stay here longer than he needed to.
He asked, “What do you think about joining forces with me again?”
An alliance proposition; that was Han-Gyo’s main objective for meeting Chairman Ji today. Chairman Ji feigned a laugh.
“You want to make up after you backstabbed me first?”
“There is no such thing as eternal friends or foes. Friends can become foes, and vice versa, based on the situation.”
To Han-Gyo, words like loyalty and friendship were nothing but absurd notions. He was an immaculately calculative man; he judged people based on whether or not they would be of use to him. That was how he maintained his list of connections. Chairman Ji had known for a long time that this was exactly how Han-Gyo operated, so he did not even feel an ounce of disappointment. He had always been this kind of person. However, there was one thing on Chairman Ji’s mind.
“That masked woman must really have you on your toes.”
Even if other people slandered and criticized Han-Gyo, asking him if he thought he was in some sort of drama or if he was already seeing things, Chairman Ji knew that he was not lying. Chairman Ji of all people knew that Han-Gyo was not the kind of person to make up such an absurd lie.
Han-Gyo nodded to acknowledge Chairman Ji’s sharp assumption.
“A new enemy has appeared, so I’m thinking of focusing on eliminating that woman first before doing anything else.”
“That masked woman must know a considerable number of your secrets.”
Han-Gyo did not express a response in any way to that question. His tendency to never say anything that would disadvantage him had not changed. Chairman Ji softly smiled. He did not immediately give an answer to Han-Gyo’s alliance proposition.
Han-Gyo, who had been staring at him, suddenly mentioned, “I heard you’ve been actively backing other congresspersons. Like Congresswoman Hong Oh-Yeon, for example.”
Chairman Ji had ended up becoming the sponsor of congresspersons standing against Han-Gyo. The most important thing that a member of the National Assembly needed for their activities was money, and Chairman Ji had lots of it. His assistance couldn’t be any more reliable for Congresswoman Hong and the figures supporting her. Additionally...
“Vice President Park Hee-Woo of TP Entertainment also seems to be assisting them,” Han-Gyo remarked.
“...”
“I believe there is someone who has connected you to them,” Han-Gyo deduced. His eyes then suddenly turned sharper. “Is that someone Miss Kang Ra-Eun?”
Kang Ra-Eun was the only celebrity among the group of businesspersons and politicians. Han-Gyo couldn’t help but view her as the one who had brought them all together, since she was the only one in a different position among them. Not just that, Ra-Eun was the only one who had connections with Chairman Ji, Park Hee-Woo, and Congresswoman Hong Oh-Yeon separately for a while. Han-Gyo would naturally suspect her.
However, Chairman Ji answered Han-Gyo’s preposterous question, “Why in the world would Ra-Eun bring us together? My grandson likes her. That’s why I take her around on purpose.”
He purposefully covered for Ra-Eun’s identity, but Han-Gyo did not lower his suspicions despite his strong denial. Seeds of doubt were not removed so easily.
“Well, that’s not what I’ve come to talk about today,” Han-Gyo retracted first.
Like he had said, he had asked to meet Chairman Ji only to bring him to his side, not to question him about Ra-Eun.
“Do you need time to give me an answer?”
As Chairman Ji was about to open his mouth, they suddenly heard rustling noises from the nearby thicket. Han-Gyo nodded to his two bodyguards, who then simultaneously jumped in.
“Fuck...!”
Ma Yeong-Jun and Park Du-Chil, who had been in hiding, clicked their tongues.
***
“Who are you?!”
“Stop right there!”
The bodyguards were right on their tails. Yeong-Jun and Du-Chil had been on a stakeout to eavesdrop on Han-Gyo and Chairman Ji’s conversation, but they had ended up being seen by the bodyguards.
“Wh-What should we do, boss?!” Du-Chil asked after abandoning the umbrella.
“Isn’t it obvious what we have to do?” Yeong-Jun answered as he pointed in a direction to Du-Chil. “We’ll split up and run. Run with the thought of getting killed by Chairwoman Kang if you’re caught!”
“Yes, sir!”
The two of them ran in opposite directions, to which the two bodyguards also split up to chase after them. The one chasing Yeong-Jun panted heavily.
“Why is a guy that big... so damn fast?!” the bodyguard said.
Yeong-Jun had an extraordinary physique; he was simply overshadowed by Ra-Eun. He had long since surpassed the level of a run-of-the-mill loan shark after being trained by Ra-Eun and Team Leader So Ha-Jin.
Yeong-Jun jumped over the park’s wired fence and hid himself within the bushes. Moments later, the bodyguard that had been chasing him also climbed over the wired fence and exited the park’s perimeter.
“Where the hell did that son of a bitch go?!” he complained.
Just then, Yeong-Jun jumped out of the bushes and struck the back of the bodyguard’s neck with the edge of his hand, commonly known as the karate chop. However, it did nothing but cause the bodyguard to lean forward a few inches; he did not seem to have taken much damage.
“Who the hell are you?!” the bodyguard exclaimed in anger.
Yeong-Jun smiled bitterly. “People usually faint if you do this in the movies.”
Everything in films couldn’t be taken for granted in real life. The bodyguard could tell from Yeong-Jun’s attire that he was the one that he had been chasing.
“Idiot. You should’ve stayed hidden.”
The bodyguard got into a fighting stance. Yeong-Jun pulled up his mask that had slightly slipped down, focusing on keeping his face hidden. Now that it had come to this, running away was not an option.
‘I guess it can’t be avoided.’
Crack, crack!
Cracking of joints could be heard from all over Yeong-Jun’s body as he got ready to fight. The bodyguard was stunned in disbelief.
“You wanna go, you run-of-the-mill gangster?” he asked.
“Get ready to have this run-of-the-mill gangster beat the shit out of you,” Yeong-Jun answered.
His right fist flung toward the bodyguard’s face.
Whoosh—!
The sound of his swing cutting the air was abnormal.
‘He’s fast!’
Yeong-Jun, who the bodyguard had thought would be sluggish due to his size, completely overwhelmed the bodyguard from his first attack. He had barely managed to dodge Yeong-Jun’s attack, but that had been nothing but a trap.
“I swung slowly on purpose,” Yeong-Jun expressed.
“...!”
He had swung to miss on purpose to restrict the bodyguard’s movements. The bodyguard had focused so much on dodging Yeong-Jun’s right fist that he had completely missed the left fist coming his way.
Smash—!
Yeong-Jun dealt a devastating blow to the bodyguard’s side, bending his body like a shrimp.
“Kurgh, urghh...!”
Yeong-Jun grabbed the bodyguard by the hair and said apathetically, “Stay down.”
Wham!
The bodyguard passed out after a manly headbutt from Yeong-Jun. Yeong-Jun put his hat back on and sighed deeply.
“How should I explain myself?”
He was already dreading the punishment that he was sure to receive from Ra-Eun.
***
Yeong-Jun and Du-Chil had both managed to run away from the bodyguards without getting caught, but...
“We didn’t manage to find out what Kim Han-Gyo and Chairman Ji had talked about in detail,” Yeong-Jun reported to Ra-Eun while standing at ease.
Du-Chil, who was also standing at ease right next to Yeong-Jun, looked at Ra-Eun in fear while swallowing his saliva. The person that he feared the most had switched from Yeong-Jun to Ra-Eun.
Ra-Eun had an unreadable expression on her face with one leg over the other. But then, her expression suddenly changed.
“It’s okay. I don’t mind,” she remarked.
“You don’t?”
“Yeah.”
Yeong-Jun and Du-Chil were dumbfounded by Ra-Eun’s sudden merciful attitude. She would normally have never looked over such incompetence. However, there was a reason for her mercy.
“I already know what Kim Han-Gyo probably said to Chairman Ji.”
“How?”
Yeong-Jun and Du-Chil had not been able to hear a word of their conversation due to the heavy rainfall, so it did not make sense that Ra-Eun, who had not even been there, knew.
Ra-Eun revealed her secret, “I heard from Congresswoman Hong Oh-Yeon. She told me exactly what she had talked about with Kim Han-Gyo when he had suddenly come to meet with her yesterday.”
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