#74 Cheon Tae-san and Lee Yong-hyun. Chairman Cheon and Lee Yong-hyun had smiles on their faces, as if they were old friends meeting after a long time. To those who didn't know the situation, it was a perfectly ordinary sight.
“Shall we go in?”
“Let's.” Without another word, the two walked side by side.
Chairman Cheon, too, seemed familiar with the layout of the mansion, walking with unhesitating steps. A short while later, the two men had sent everyone else away and were sitting opposite each other in a spacious drawing room. It was Lee Yong-hyun who spoke first.
“Chairman Cheon, what wind has blown you all the way here in person?”
Chairman Cheon did not answer, instead setting down the teacup he held in his hand.
“Why are you silent? Didn't you come here because you have something to say? It's not as if we're on terms to share tea like this, as we were in the old days.”
Lee Yong-hyun gave a playful shrug. But Chairman Cheon's expression was stiff. The words that soon came from his mouth were a declaration, a proclamation.
“Stop it. What you are trying to do now.”
Chairman Cheon said, as if he knew everything.
“What are you talking about?”
“What you intend to do to my grandson. If you do, I will take it as a sign that you truly intend to see things to the end with me.”
“Ha! Chairman Cheon. What on earth are you talking about?”
As Chairman Cheon looked at Lee Yong-hyun, who was feigning ignorance, his eyes seemed to pierce through everything.
“No matter how distracted you may be, are you the type of person to take a hit and stay still? Absolutely not.”
The smile vanished from Lee Yong-hyun's face.
“If anything happens to Mu-hyeok, at that moment, I will be prepared to throw away everything I have to bring about your downfall.”
Chairman Cheon, on the other hand, twisted the corner of his mouth into an expression that was hard to tell if it was a sneer or a self-mocking smile.
“I am not unaware that you were involved in my daughter's death. You must also know why my sons ended up the way they did. It was all because of your greed. What more could you possibly want?”
At that, the expressionless Lee Yong-hyun suddenly burst into laughter.
“Haha, because of my greed? Look here, Chairman Cheon. What would I have gained by killing your daughter? You know it too, don't you? I understand you want to shift all the blame to me, but that was your children's greed.”
Chairman Cheon's eyes trembled violently. Lee Yong-hyun smirked, as if mocking him.
“You were always like that. A ruthless man, yet endlessly weak when it came to your family. Your children may not have known, but you only pretended to be cold to them, thinking it would make them strong. Do you think I wouldn't know?”
Lee Yong-hyun glanced at Chairman Cheon's hands, which were beginning to tremble slightly, and then moved the teacup away from the table.
“Yes, I killed her. At the request of your son. The reason? Is such a thing necessary? Well, if I had to give one, it's because while you wouldn't, your children would become my limbs. All for killing just two people. Didn't you also do anything as long as it made money? It's troublesome for you to think I am the cause of everything now.”
Lee Yong-hyun continued to speak without the slightest change in emotion, as if he were telling someone else's story.
“Originally, I was going to kill that son as well. One must never leave behind future troubles. But it seems your son couldn't bring himself to kill his own nephew. He probably never imagined that little brat would return as a hunting dog that would tear out his own throat.”
“You….”
Chairman Cheon's voice began to tremble. But Lee Yong-hyun remained completely composed.
“Look here, Chairman Cheon. I am Lee Yong-hyun. You'll see things to the end with me? Do you think such a threat would work on me? You can't do it. If you truly intended to, you would have mobilized everything to fight me the moment you learned I was the one who ordered your daughter's death. In the end, you couldn't do it because you were scared. Scared of losing everything you have.”
Lee Yong-hyun said, as if he knew everything. Having known each other for so long, and being so similar, the two men knew each other all too well. Lee Yong-hyun clicked his tongue at the speechless Chairman Cheon.
“Yes, I was thinking of getting rid of Kim Mu-hyeok. To be honest, I wasn't planning on doing it right away. I was thinking of getting rid of him after you died. But he got rid of the servant I had planted. I don't know how he found out. I've been preparing for over a decade. For the time after your death. And that little blood clot, Kim Mu-hyeok, has ruined it all. Now, is there any reason for me to let him live? Tell me.”
Lee Yong-hyun lifted the teapot from the table and poured tea into an empty cup, studying Chairman Cheon's face. Chairman Cheon's head was bowed.
“...Yes, you're right. I was scared, the fact that everything I've built up until now could disappear. I endured it, even knowing. Even knowing you killed my daughter.”
Lee Yong-hyun nodded his head as if to say, ‘See?’
“I have nothing left to lose now. Only that child, Mu-hyeok, remains. I've abandoned my children, and I've abandoned my other grandchildren. The only one I have left is Mu-hyeok.”
When Chairman Cheon lifted his head, the trembling in his eyes was gone.
“But what do you think will happen if you lay a hand on even that? What would I, who has nothing left to protect, have to fear? Yes, perhaps I cannot defeat you. But one thing is certain. You will have to be prepared for considerable losses. As you said, I too am a man who would do anything for money. You know better than anyone what I am capable of.”
Lee Yong-hyun swallowed dryly.
“No reason to let him live, you say. Go on, try it. You, as you are now, might be a worthy opponent. If I give up everything, that is. Do you want to try?”
The gazes of the two men clashed in mid-air. In the end, it was Lee Yong-hyun who spoke first.
“Haa... alright. I'll let him live as long as you're alive, as I originally planned. But tell him to stop provoking me. Unlike you, I can drag you into the abyss without having to give up everything. Don't forget that. I am holding back a great deal for the sake of our past connection.”
He spoke as if taking a step back, but Lee Yong-hyun was not one to back down so easily.
“This is as far as it goes. I'll consider my debts to you settled with this. If you continue to chip away at my power... there will be trouble not only for you, but for your grandsons as well.”
Lee Yong-hyun was mistaken, thinking that Chairman Cheon was behind everything, not Kim Mu-hyeok. But Chairman Cheon did not show any sign of it and simply nodded. For now, he still needed to be a shield for Mu-hyeok.
“Well then, I will be on my way.”
“Why don't you stay a little longer? Drinking tea like this, just the two of us, after so long reminds me of the old days. It's nice.”
“We have come too far down a winding path to reminisce about memories. If you hadn't coveted Myeon District, we would still be on good terms. Isn't that so?”
“It would have been fine if you had just yielded a little.”
Chairman Cheon, who was getting up from his seat, let out a hollow laugh.
“Nonsense! Do you know what those Japanese bastards are like? They are the kind of people who ask for one thing at first, and then demand ten the next. They are not to be trusted.”
“Don't live trapped in the past. No matter how much you try to stop it, the private loan market will fall into the hands of the Japanese. Because I intend to make it so.”
“It's not that I hate them because they're Japanese. I just don't want them entering my territory. Don't even think about it until I'm dead and buried.”
The conversation between the two ran on parallel lines. Deciding that further conversation was pointless, Chairman Cheon turned his body.
“The next time we see each other will be at your funeral or mine. I won't see you out. Be on your way.”
Lee Yong-hyun's words followed Chairman Cheon as he left the drawing room. Manager Ha helped Chairman Cheon out of the drawing room and guided him to the car. The car carrying Chairman Cheon quickly left Lee Yong-hyun's mansion.
“Are you alright?”
Manager Ha, who was driving, asked with concern for Chairman Cheon.
“I'm fine. I'm just a little tired from going out after such a long time. I need to get some sleep. Wake me when we arrive.”
“Understood.”
Chairman Cheon closed his eyes, looking exhausted. The memory of his first meeting with Lee Yong-hyun surfaced before his eyes. He reminisced about the old days until they arrived in Pyeongchang District, and then he fell asleep.
Gangnam in Seoul was the district that gangsters coveted most. This was because it was lined with all sorts of entertainment establishments in Yeoksam and Seolleung, and just managing them brought in a great deal of money. In a room salon that, until recently, had been managed by the Baek-ho faction, Park Dong-soo and Kim Mu-hyeok were sitting.
“You've worked hard.”
“They served it all up on a silver platter. If I couldn't handle this, I might as well just drop dead. Wouldn't you agree?”
“Haha. Have you absorbed the remaining members?”
“I need people for middle management now, so I sorted through them. I took in those who were worth taking and retired the ones who weren't.” “Don't let your guard down. This is a world where people will stab you in the back at any moment, isn't it?”
“Hoo... more importantly, how long do you think Su-hyeong and my son will get?”
“Yang Su-hyeong and the other enforcer-level members will get a few years. But we've hired the best lawyers, so let's wait and see. They will reduce the sentences as much as possible without my direct involvement. It cost a lot of money, though.”
“Thank you.”
Having taken Gangnam into his grasp, Park Dong-soo had now truly established himself as a big shot in the gangster world.
“Who's managing Yeongdeungpo?”
“I left it to Director Lee. Geukdong Construction is also there, and I just don't have enough trustworthy guys.”
“Don't just retire the guys with a bit of a name for themselves; give them suitable positions and have them manage things. They won't be able to bare their fangs recklessly anymore. But from now on, absolutely no threatening or extorting civilians.”
Park Dong-soo wore a troubled expression.
“The Gangnam guys have plenty of ways to make a living, so they won't do that kind of thing, but it's not so easy elsewhere. My words only have weight if they have something to eat. And you put a stop to drugs too, didn't you?”
“Absolutely not. No drugs.”
“Why? You think drugs won't be distributed just because we don't do it? The Chinese triads are already starting to get into drug trafficking.”
“Let them be. For the time being. We can just use the power of the law to crush them. There are no other major factions left that can keep you in check, Boss Park, are there?”
“What do you mean, none? There are the old-timers in Gangbuk, and you can't ignore the Gwangju faction in Jeolla Province or the Jagal faction in Daegu. With the three factions that used to rule Gangnam wiped out, I don't know when they might make a move.”
“You can't go to war for the time being. If something like that happens again, the police and the prosecution won't be able to look the other way.”
Thanks to the President's firm resolve and Chief Prosecutor Yoon's efforts, most of the boss-level members of the three Gangnam factions had been arrested. They were all designated as heads of criminal organizations and could face sentences ranging from a minimum of seven years to a maximum of the death penalty. However, the situation was not entirely positive.
Just as Park Dong-soo said, there was no telling when another faction might attack. After all, it would be easier for other factions to deal with just Park Dong-soo than with the three factions that were in Gangnam.
“Let's take this opportunity to properly unify Seoul.”
“What?”
This thought had occurred to me while talking with Andrew of the Genovese family in America. If we could also divide interests through negotiation rather than war, just like the mafia, and control them that way, wouldn't we be able to resolve things without needlessly drawing public attention?
“Let's unify Seoul into a single organization. Not through war, but through negotiation. Even if the interests are distributed, all the authority will come to you, Boss Park. Won't it be easy if you just persuade the old-timers?”
No matter how much money the gangsters earned, it wasn't a particularly large sum to me anyway. I wasn't backing this guy just to receive some chump change from Park Dong-soo. For my own purpose of raising Park Dong-soo to use in the war against the yakuza, it was necessary to reduce needless fighting.
“Will you give it a try? Don't worry about the money.”
“It won't be easy.”
“You already have Busan, and if you reorganize Seoul into a single faction, you'll have two cities. The capital of the Republic of Korea and its second city. Once that happens, the other gangsters, already weakened as much as they can be by the War on Crime, won't even think of challenging you, Boss Park. You will naturally come to rule the underworld of the Republic of Korea.”
In a country with a government that wields strong legal authority, all gangsters pretended to operate within the bounds of the law. Befitting a violent organization, they would use violence and intimidation without hesitation when necessary, but they still carefully walked the line between legal and illegal. Prime examples are the yakuza in Japan and the mafia in America.
In the end, they couldn't escape the framework of being a violent organization, but they at least didn't openly wage war. Because the government would not leave them be. If you went a little south of America, you would find drug cartels more powerful than the government, but that structure was only possible because the government's power was weak.
A normal country would try to manage its violent organizations.
“I'll give it a try.”
“You already have two spheres of influence in Seoul, don't you? And you said the only big organizations left are the old-timers in Gangbuk?”
“Their strength isn't the problem. The problem is the connections they've built up over their lives and the pretext that they have the respect of the other thugs. It'd be nothing for us to win if we went to war right now.”
“Exactly. So try talking to them.”
“Alright, I get it. I'll get it started.”
The Gangbuk old-timers would probably accept. When the Japanese yakuza and Gangnam joined hands to take over the Korean underworld, the Gangbuk old-timers went under them to preserve their positions. Respected by the thugs, huh?
I wonder.
They are just has-beens, trapped in their former glory.
< Cheon Tae-san and Lee Yong-hyun. > End