Free Web NovelMa Seokdae stepped into the mountain lodge where Noh Ikseon was being held.
“You’re here, Chief Ma.”
Instead of answering, he gave a small nod.
“Where’s President Noh?”
“He’s in the room. Shall I drag him out?”
“I’ll go in myself.”
“Yes, Chief Ma.”
“Attorney, please review the contract and stand by.”
Ma Seokdae spoke to the lawyer who had come with him.
Attorney Hong Ikhyun gave a slight nod, sat down on the sofa in the living room, and opened his briefcase.
Seeing this, Ma Seokdae gave his men an order.
“Let’s go.”
A subordinate opened the door to the room where Noh Ikseon was locked up, and Ma Seokdae entered first.
Noh Ikseon, who had been smoking on the bed, stubbed out his cigarette when he saw Ma Seokdae and sprang to his feet.
His wrinkled hands trembled, showing clearly how afraid he was.
“Chief Ma, please spare me.”
“Sit.”
Unlike Noh Ikseon’s trembling voice, Ma Seokdae’s tone was cold and calm.
Noh Ikseon couldn’t respond and sat back on the bed.
Ma Seokdae watched him for a while, then took a wooden chair handed by a subordinate, set it in front of the bed, and sat down.
“Chief Ma······.”
“Only answer what I ask. From now on, if you open your mouth without my permission even once, you die.”
“······.”
At the cold threat, Noh Ikseon closed his mouth.
“Why did you do it? The Boss gave you a chance. All you had to do was follow orders, and you could have lived well for the rest of your life in that position.”
“Chief Ma, please spare me.”
“Whether you live or die depends on how you answer. Just tell the truth to my questions. I don’t want to torture anyone outside a battlefield.”
At Ma Seokdae’s chilling gaze, Noh Ikseon swallowed dryly.
He hadn’t dealt with Ma Seokdae before, but he knew better than anyone how terrifying Ha Myeonghun, the late Chairman’s confidant, had been.
And now Ma Seokdae had succeeded him as the guardian of Pyeongchang-dong. That made him terrifying.
“Why did you do it?”
“B-because it was too wasteful. Chairman Cheon allowed us to run side businesses before. But after President Kim Muhyuk took over, he ordered everything turned over to Chunha Group. I couldn’t accept it.”
At that, Ma Seokdae sneered.
Noh Ikseon was trying to rationalize his actions.
“Then you should have persuaded the Boss.”
“······He’s not someone who can be persuaded.”
“He listens to his men more than anyone.”
“That’s only to you, Chief Ma. Do you think he cares about the words of trash like us?”
“Then you failed to earn his trust.”
Ma Seokdae continued to question him, watching his reactions. Noh Ikseon, uneasy, still answered each time.
Checking the time, Ma Seokdae rubbed the back of his neck. Time to wrap things up.
“Fine. Then how did you raise the money? Other bosses said you invested the largest amount.”
“It was the money I saved until now.”
At that, Ma Seokdae suddenly pressed Noh Ikseon’s face down hard into the bed with his palm.
Then he grabbed his left pinky and snapped it backward.
With a sickening crack, the finger bent all the way back.
“Ugh! Ugh, ughhh!”
With his face crushed under Ma Seokdae’s hand, Noh Ikseon couldn’t even scream properly.
“I told you to speak only the truth.”
Mouth blocked, Noh Ikseon blinked desperately in signal.
Seeing it, Ma Seokdae lifted his hand from his face.
“Next will be two fingers.”
“Ugh······. Argh······.”
Unable to even clutch the broken finger, tears streamed from Noh Ikseon’s eyes as he groaned in pain.
“I’ll ask again. That money—where did it come from? You had more than the others. Whose money is it?”
“······.”
When he didn’t answer, Ma Seokdae grabbed his ring and middle fingers and broke them in one motion.
Another bone-cracking sound rang in the room.
“Arrrghhh!!”
Unable to endure, Noh Ikseon screamed loudly, clutching his ruined hand. But touching the shattered fingers only worsened the pain.
“Ugh, urgh.”
“Stop scheming and answer me. Didn’t you beg me to spare your life?”
“A-ah!”
Tears streaming, Noh Ikseon nodded violently.
“If you don’t want to answer, that’s fine. You still have plenty of fingers left. And if those run out, there are toes.”
A chilling smile spread across Ma Seokdae’s face. Noh Ikseon shuddered.
“I’ll ask one more time. The source of the money?”
“······I-it was investment from China.”
“China?”
“Y-yes.”
“How could you get investment from China? Did you really take Chinese money to run loan sharking in Korea? You’ve lost your mind.”
Ma Seokdae growled in a low voice, but Noh Ikseon avoided his eyes and stayed silent.
“······.”
“You know what we sacrificed to protect this loan sharking market? Countless men bled, and even the Boss’s dear man, Dongsu, died. And now you dare say you brought foreign money into our market? Do you still call yourself human?”
Kim Muhyuk had done everything possible to protect Korean lending from Japanese capital.
Thanks to that, Korea’s loan shark market was never devoured by Japan.
But now Noh ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) Ikseon was saying he had tried to hand it over to the Chinese.
“How long did you think you could hide it? You wouldn’t have done something bound to be exposed. You’re not that stupid, or you couldn’t have lasted this long.”
The Noh Ikseon Ma Seokdae knew was not that much of a fool.
“Who? Who was working with you?”
“Th-that······.”
“Want more pain?”
At Ma Seokdae’s chilling glare, Noh Ikseon trembled and spoke hastily.
“I-I’ll tell everything! Just please······.”
“Speak.”
“It was too early. If enough time passed, even the President couldn’t have stopped it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Exactly that. Once the ownership of Chunha Group changed hands, even the President couldn’t have stopped us.”
The words spilling from Noh Ikseon’s mouth were shocking.
Ma Seokdae listened, face frozen stiff.
“That’s all. That’s everything I know.”
“Crazy bastards.” ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
“It was too sweet an offer. They promised me the entire loan shark market. I’ve told you everything, now spare me.”
Ma Seokdae looked at him with contempt.
“Give up all your assets. Only then will I spare your life.”
“What do you mean······.”
“If your life isn’t worth it, don’t hand them over.”
Rising, Ma Seokdae gave an order to his men.
“Treat his fingers. Once that’s done, bring in Attorney Hong and get his signature on every transfer document.”
“Yes, Chief Ma.”
Leaving the room, Ma Seokdae headed out of the lodge to report to Kim Muhyuk.
“Once the papers are signed, send Attorney Hong back. Then break the bastard’s legs and······.”
At the end of Ma Seokdae’s cold gaze stood an iron cage full of starving hounds.
“Throw him in as dog feed.”
* * *
“Boss, what is this······.”
Yoo Seongjin stammered in shock. It was the first time I’d seen him like this.
“Exactly what it sounds like. President Noh Ikseon took Chinese investment, and the one who connected him was Director Kang Junwoo.”
Yoo Seongjin’s face went stiff, unable to speak.
“Even Noh didn’t know the full plan. Kang Junwoo would take Chunha Group, Noh Ikseon would take the loan shark market. And behind it all—Chinese money. That’s everything Noh knew.”
I poured tea into my cup.
It was already cold pu-erh, but still drinkable.
I sipped slowly, waiting for Yoo Seongjin to collect his thoughts.
“So Director Kang intends to rebel against me. Now I understand why you asked those questions earlier.”
“That’s why I asked. But what’s strange is your lack of reaction to Noh Ikseon’s capture.”
Grimacing, Yoo Seongjin replied.
“He was always unreadable. Rarely showed emotion. That’s why I had him lead the war with the Chinese syndicate······.”
“Frequent battles only gave him more contact with them. Of course they’d try to win him over. Controlling him would tip the battles in their favor.”
Massaging his face with a grave expression, Yoo Seongjin sighed.
“Now that I think about it, there were countless suspicious signs. Our lodgings exposed as if by ghosts, ambushes before reinforcements could arrive······ too many to count.”
“You never considered someone was leaking information? Anyone would find that suspicious.”
“My apologies.”
Today, I was hearing apologies from this man more than ever. I shook my head.
“I’m not asking for apologies. You should have investigated properly.”
“I did think it strange, so I told Kang Junwoo himself to check for a mole inside. But that was like asking a cat to guard fish. Ha······.”
Another deep sigh escaped Yoo Seongjin.
“Who exactly is he colluding with? Can you guess?”
“I don’t know. We’ll have to find out. Alone, he’d never dare betray me. Likely a few other directors are already in his pocket.”
“Anyone who knows of my existence won’t move easily. That’s why Kang Junwoo must have recruited only those who don’t know me.”
Both Yoo Seongjin and I turned our eyes to Chu Dongbin.
“I was never approached. If I had been, I would have told the Chairman.”
Yoo Seongjin nodded.
“Right. Dongbin, you would never betray me.”
“Director Kang must have known that too, that’s why he didn’t approach me.”
“Perhaps so.” ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
“Are you doubting me?”
Chu Dongbin looked wronged, while Yoo Seongjin smiled faintly.
“I just said you wouldn’t. I believe you.”
It seemed Yoo Seongjin trusted Chu Dongbin, despite his dishonorable discharge for assaulting a superior.
“By the way, why did you hit your superior in the army?”
“······.”
“Haha. There was a female sergeant in his company. At a unit party, the battalion commander molested her. Dongbin couldn’t stand it and floored him on the spot. Of course, he couldn’t stay in the army after that. But since they were at fault too, they settled quietly by discharging Dongbin without blowing it up further.”
Embarrassed, Chu Dongbin only smiled awkwardly, saying nothing.
“You beat a bastard who deserved it. Well done.”
The talk strayed for a moment, but soon returned to the matter at hand.
“So what will you do? Shall I take care of it?”
“No. It’s our organization’s business, I’ll settle it myself.”
I nodded.
“Then I’ll trust you, Chairman Yoo. And for this upcoming meeting with the Chinese, take someone else with you. It could be a trap to take you out.”
“Ah······. That makes sense. Everything fits now, even why they suddenly requested the meeting.”
“Then act quickly. Delay, and you’ll be the one caught. That would be a huge disappointment to me.”
If Yoo Seongjin was toppled by his own men, he’d be of no further use.
Catching the meaning in my eyes, Yoo Seongjin nodded with a hardened expression.
