“Before that, take care of Lee Sa-seong first.”
At my words, the friendly drinking session instantly froze over like the Han River in the dead of winter. The playfulness vanished from Park Dong-soo’s voice, his expression hardening.
“Little brother, watch your mouth.”
“I don't think it's something that can't be said. Didn't I tell you from the very beginning when I gave you the information about the War on Crime? I told you not to tell Lee Sa-seong and to hide quietly on your own. Why do you think that was? I believe things like this will keep happening.”
At that, Park Dong-soo’s hardened face contorted.
“Shit. Who doesn't know that? You think I'm like this because I don't know? But still, he was the big brother I served. How can I go after him?”
At those words, I couldn't help but burst into laughter. We were the only customers, so the quiet street stall was filled with the sound of my laughter. However, the sound of my laughter only made the atmosphere heavier.
Park Dong-soo glared at me with cold eyes.
“You… are you laughing right now?”
“You still seem to think this is an era where gangsters talk about loyalty. The whole world knows that's bullshit. Are you the only one buried in the past, ignorant of a fact that even a passing high school student knows?”
“Hey!”
Park Dong-soo shouted. At that, Lee Sang-geun’s face, who was beside him, also stiffened. The smile vanished from my lips as well.
“Hoo…. If you won't do it, I will.”
“That’s enough, little brother.”
“Enough?”
I stared at him with a look of disbelief. Then, Park Dong-soo spoke forcefully, his eyes filled with resentment.
“Yes, enough. No matter if we're gangsters! Even if we're thugs who beat people up! We're people with loyalty. No matter how much the times have fucking changed, I don't want to change.”
“Ha~ You're so frustrating.”
It seemed there was no need to talk any further. I put down my glass and stood up. I sent a cold gaze in turn to Park Dong-soo and Lee Sang-geun, who were looking up at me.
“Let's just call off our agreement to work together. I'll help you out so there are no problems with this coup d'état business, but that's it.”
“Hey! Kim Mu-hyeok! Sit down.”
Park Dong-soo yelled, seemingly angry. But I was the one who was even angrier.
“Ha~ Mister, do you still see me as the high school kid from the hospital rooftop? Should I completely dismantle your organization for you? I think one phone call would do it.”
Park Dong-soo looked at me, at a loss for words. A domineering atmosphere settled between him and me.
“You've been through all this and you still don't get it? Or are you just ignoring me?”
I thought that if I didn't settle this clearly now and just let it slide, nothing would come of it. I came here intending to draw a clear line before we even met. Park Dong-soo was a good person… the problem was that he was too good of a person.
“Everything I've done so far has been a favor to you. Did I ask to receive anything from you, or did I beg you for help? Why do you keep making the faith I had in you disappear?”
“Hey….”
I firmly cut off Park Dong-soo, who was about to make some excuse.
“I've warned you clearly. Deal with Lee Sa-seong yourself by the end of this month. And prepare to advance into Seoul by October at the latest, then contact me. If he's not dealt with by the end of this month, I'll handle it myself.”
Park Dong-soo just looked up at me without answering.
“The moment he used Byeon Seong-ho to put a knife to me, he was no longer someone who could live in peace. Whether he ordered it or not isn't important. You should know that, right?”
I could see Park Dong-soo clenching the fist he had on the table.
“See what happens to Byeon Seong-ho tomorrow. I hope you make the right decision. I want to work with you. October. If you can't finish cleaning up Busan by then, then it's really over between us.”
“…Mu-hyeok.”
As the atmosphere grew hostile, I also warned Lee Sang-geun, who had been reaching for his ankle.
“Lawyer Lee, you should be careful too. I'll let it slide this time, but don't even think about pulling a knife in front of me. If you do, I'll make you watch as the things you hold most precious crumble to dust.”
I turned my back coldly. Neither Park Dong-soo nor Lee Sang-geun said a word. Pushing aside the cloth entrance of the street stall, I glanced back at them.
“If you resolve everything by October, I might even call you 'big brother' then.”
With those last words, I left the place.
‘Damn it….’
Walking to my car parked nearby, I had a bitter taste in my mouth. It was necessary to draw a line, but…. Still, I couldn't help but feel bitter.
I should call Myeong-soo and Hyeon-seong and go for a drink. Suppressing my irritation, I got into the car. The rough sound of the car door slamming shut echoed.
After Kim Mu-hyeok left, the two men drank in silence for a long time.
“Hoo….”
At the sound of Park Dong-soo's sigh, Lee Sang-geun poured him some soju. Raising his glass, Park Dong-soo drank the soju in one gulp and opened his mouth with a complicated expression.
“Sang-geun.”
“Yes, boss.”
“That bastard is one decisive son of a bitch, isn't he? It's fucking annoying, but I can't get angry. Yeah, he's right. Shit, what have I ever done for him that he'd get me out when I was about to be arrested?”
“Boss….”
After speaking, Park Dong-soo sat with a dark face for a long time before finally slamming his glass down on the table.
“You go find Brother Sa-seong. You've never met him, so it'll be easier for you to talk. Go and… tell him to go on his own. Tell him I'll take full responsibility for his family and look after them until the end. Got it? You can also tell him that's the best I can do for him.”
“…”
Park Dong-soo twisted his lips, his face pained.
“And… you can't make a living as a gangster with just brute force anymore. I know it too, I know what Mu-hyeok means. I know… but shit, it sucks. I'm only doing this because I have no money and no education, but still….”
“…I think so too.”
“Yeah, in the end, it's a world that moves according to money, isn't it? We have to adapt. After you meet Brother Sa-seong, let's clean up Busan neatly and head to Seoul. Let's live there extravagantly, without envying anyone.”
“…Yes, boss.”
Park Dong-soo, who had a hazy expression, soon shook his head as if to shake it all off.
“Let's worry about the headaches tomorrow. Today, let's just drink. Drink till we drop! That's the only way I'll be able to sleep.”
As Park Dong-soo raised his glass, Lee Sang-geun held his own with two hands and lightly clinked it against the bottom of his soju glass. The Jagalchi Market in midsummer. Outside, it was noisy with people's singing and conversation, but inside the street stall where the two sat, it was quiet, like a different world.
The next day, when Park Dong-soo went to the office, his body reeking of a hangover, he heard the news that Byeon Seong-ho had been found dead in his detention cell, having hanged himself.
Seoul Detention Center. In the lawyer's meeting room, Cheon Su-man was waiting for his younger brother. A moment later.
Cheon Su-han, who entered the meeting room with a prison guard, smiled happily upon seeing his older brother.
“Brother!”
“Hoo….”
Cheon Su-man sighed at the sight of him.
“Lawyer Park, can the two of us talk quietly?”
“Yes.”
The man called ‘Lawyer Park’ gave a look to the prison guard, who then uncuffed Cheon Su-han and left.
“Please talk. I will come back later.”
Lawyer Park bowed his waist in a greeting and left. The door closed, and the lawyer's meeting room fell into a brief silence. It was Cheon Su-man who spoke first.
He pushed a lunch box, prepared at a hotel, in front of Cheon Su-han.
“Eat first. Is the detention center food edible?”
“Ha~ It's fucking awful. I'm in solitary, but it's so damn cramped…. It smells terrible, too. I feel like I'm going to die.”
Lamenting, Cheon Su-han quickly opened the lunch box.
“Still, it's a place where people live, so money makes anything happen, huh? I can secretly buy cigarettes, and the guards treat me well, so it's bearable.”
Cheon Su-han stuffed his mouth full of food and mumbled. Cheon Su-man, who was watching him with a pathetic look, opened his mouth.
“By the way, Su-han.”
“Huh?”
Cheon Su-han, who had been eating for a while, lifted his head. Cheon Su-man was looking at him with an expressionless face.
“What were you thinking?”
“About what?”
Cheon Su-man continued to look at Cheon Su-han without a word. Sensing the unusual atmosphere, Cheon Su-han tilted his head.
“What? Why? Say something.”
“What's this about the pachinko machines, without even telling me? Did you get caught scheming something with Assemblyman Kim? And on top of that, your name is being thrown around as the main culprit? What the hell are you doing?”
Cough, cough.
Choking on Cheon Su-man’s words, Cheon Su-han coughed and looked for water to drink.
“Ha~ I thought I was going to die. That is… brother.”
“Stop beating around the bush and speak clearly. Tell me if I can trust you, if we can do this together.”
At Cheon Su-man’s firm words, Cheon Su-han stared at him with a dazed look.
“…Did I commit some kind of crime? My in-laws told me to do it, saying there was no one else in the family they could trust with it. Should I have refused? They told me not to tell anyone, so I couldn't. Even so, how can you talk to me like that when I'm locked up in here? Have I ever disobeyed you?”
Cheon Su-han poured out his grievances as if he had been wronged. But Cheon Su-man’s expression did not change at all.
“Is that all?”
“What else? What? What else is there?”
“Just because Assemblyman Kim asked, you went ahead with it without telling me? A deal involving not just a few pennies, but hundreds of millions?”
“What power do I have? I live by reading the moods of my father-in-law, our father, and even you, brother. On top of that, now I have to read the mood of a nephew I never knew I had. What am I supposed to do?”
“You seem quite upset.”
“Of course I'm upset! Father didn't even think about saving me and just threw me in here. And you come here and treat me like a criminal. What am I, a pushover? I'm not some neighborhood punching bag, so why is everyone taking it out on me!”
Cheon Su-han finally raised his voice. But Cheon Su-man spoke nonchalantly.
“I told you I'd take care of you after the old man dies. But how can I trust and take care of a bastard who's been secretly filling his own pockets behind my back? Isn't that right, Su-han?”
“What?”
“I'll say this one last time. Just don't do anything. Just wait and do only what I tell you to. If you do, I'll make sure you have enough to live without any trouble. Don't be greedy, and know your place. Got it?”
“…”
“Think carefully while you're in prison. If something like this happens again, I'll have no choice but to think differently of you, won't I? Let's not fight amongst ourselves like those chaebol brothers.”
Cheon Su-han, who hadn't answered for a long time, finally dropped his head limply.
“…I understand. I'm sorry.”
“No need to be sorry. I, too, shouldn't have come all this way to say such things. But we have to be clear. It's not right for brothers to keep secrets from each other, is it? If you have any complaints about me, you can tell me anytime. I'll visit often.”
Cheon Su-man stood up from his seat, patted Cheon Su-han’s shoulder a few times, and left the meeting room. Different thoughts swirled in each of their minds.
‘Something is suspicious. I'll have to put someone on him so he doesn't get any funny ideas.’
‘At this rate, I'll just be used and thrown away. I have to find some way to survive.’
To Kim Mu-hyeok, it was just a small act of revenge, merely throwing him in a detention center, but it left a small ember between the brothers, Cheon Su-man and Cheon Su-han.
I had planned to return to Seoul with my friends, but I received a sudden call from my grandfather. I went up to Seoul alone, a few days early. Driving on the highway, I was lost in various thoughts.
‘In two weeks, the real-name financial system will be implemented.’
All stocks will plummet, hitting their daily lower limits repeatedly. As I was thinking about what I needed to do to prepare for the coming chaos, I arrived in Pyeongchang District before I knew it.
“I'm home, Grandfather.”
“You're early. Change your clothes and come out. There's somewhere we need to go together.”
“What? Somewhere to go?”
“You'll know when we get there.”
A little later, I rode with my grandfather in his car.
“Is your grandmother doing well?”
“Yes. She's in good health.”
“That's a relief. Were you happy to see your grandmother?”
“Yes!”
My grandfather looked at the broad smile blooming on my face with a somewhat bitter expression.
“It would have been nice if she had come to Seoul, too….”
“Perhaps… even if she had come to Seoul, she wouldn't have been able to stand it and would have gone back down. That's the kind of person she is. She's never once left Busan, so I thought a strange environment might be even harder for her. That's why I didn't insist.”
“Haha, still, your face has really brightened up after visiting Busan. You look good.”
After those words, my grandfather said no more. Was it just my imagination, or could I feel a sense of bitterness and disappointment in my grandfather's expression? I couldn't put into words this sense of disconnect I felt between the Old Man Cheon of the past and the grandfather of the present.
Finally, the car came to a stop. The place we arrived at was the home of the honorary chairman of Daehyun Group, a man who was the history of the Republic of Korea's chaebol and ranked number one among them.
< A Rift Between the Cheon Su-man Brothers? > End