Chapter 22: Are You Serious, Director Yu?

“How much time do you need?”

Noh Ik-seon quickly repliedd

“Two weeks… No, one week will be enough.”

I stared intently at Director Noh’s face.

Viper was avoiding my gaze.

“Sigh… For now, prepare everything within a week and hand it over. I won’t report this to Grandfather. I’ve helped you get established enough, so why are you getting greedy? Wouldn’t it be better to live within your means?”

“…”

Noh Ik-seon blushed, unable to respond.

Clicking my tongue, I added,

“Grandfather is still in good health. Whatever schemes you’re plotting with your uncles, Grandfather knows everything. Be careful. I’m telling you this out of concern. Throughout history, haven’t dogs that bit their masters always been put down? I’ll see you in a week then.”

I turned to leave after saying goodbye, but Director Noh had no reaction at all.

As I opened the door and went out, Chief Ha was standing there as expected.

I flashed him a bright smile and said,

“Shall we go, Chief Ha?”

“It seems the talk went well, Young Master.”

“Yes, thanks to you.”

After that, I visited the other directors over the course of a week.

Bandit Shin Seong-il.

A former strongman who Grandfather had been supporting since he was young.

Perhaps because of this, he was the person with the highest respect and loyalty towards Grandfather among the Myeong-dong directors.

“Welcome, Young Master.”

From the first meeting, his reaction was completely different from the others.

In a friendly atmosphere, the handover of the ledgers and proxy bank accounts was completed. After sending Chief Ha out, I asked about the slush fund account.

“Ah, did you ask to retrieve that as well? Please wait a moment.”

Bandit opened a safe hidden behind a picture frame and took out an account book, handing it to me.

‘I guess this person didn’t have a separate pocket? But why did he side with Cheon Su-man and Cheon Su-han in my previous life?’

I was curious, but I couldn’t question him about future events.

I thanked Bandit and left.

Shin Seong-il followed me to the office entrance and bowed his head in farewell.

“Young Master, I’ll see you again next time.”

“Hmm, yes, see you next time. But Mr. Shin, the extreme honorifics are a bit burdensome. You can speak more comfortably from now on.”

“Hahaha, no sir. If I speak too comfortably, my dialect comes out strong and people misunderstand. I’ll just keep addressing you at this level of respect.”

“Is that so? Alright, if that’s what you’re comfortable with, go ahead.”

Thinking that I should keep a closer eye on Director Shin, I left the place.

And lastly, I visited Hammer’s office.

Hammer Yu Ji-gang.

Among the four Myeong-dong directors, he was the one with the longest career.

A man who always carried a hammer in his bosom.

Though somewhat small in stature, he was not a person to be easily dismissed.

Even though we had entered, he didn’t welcome us and just sat in his chair, doing his own work.

Chief Ha showed his discomfort but didn’t intervene.

“Director Yu?”

“Wait a moment. I’ll finish what I’m doing and then hand things over, so sit down and wait.”

He spoke without even looking our way.

‘Look at this bastard.’

I signaled Chief Ha not to step in and sat down on the sofa.

Thirty minutes passed.

Just as my patience was wearing thin, Hammer got up from his chair and approached.

“Sorry about that. I was organizing the ledger to report to the Chairman, so it took some time. You’re not upset, are you? Chief Ha? Young Master?”

Saying words that didn’t sound like an apology at all, he sat in the main seat, crossed his legs, and put a cigarette in his mouth.

After lighting the cigarette and taking a puff, he said,

“Check the ledger. There shouldn’t be any problems, but… If you find anything wrong, let me know.”

He said whatever he wanted, making it hard to find the right moment to get angry.

I could sense the shrewdness behind his ‘Hammer’ nickname.

“Then I’ll take a look.”

While I was examining the ledger, Yu Ji-gang blew out cigarette smoke and spoke to Chief Ha.

“Chief Ha, I hear you’ve been working hard lately? Changing diapers while escorting the Young Master around. That’s not the kind of work someone with your experience should be doing. It must be tough. The Chairman is too much. If it gets too hard, send him to me anytime. I’ll show him the ropes, A to Z.”

“That’s the Chairman’s grandson. Watch your words.”

“Come on, this isn’t the Joseon era. Calling him ‘Young Master’ is enough, what more do you want? That kind of thing is for loyal servants like you, Chief Ha. Don’t do that with me. I’ve been around the block in this business too.”

When his conversation with Chief Ha ended, he turned to me as I was examining the ledger.

“Young Master, can you understand it? Why don’t you just hand it over to Chief Ha? Don’t waste time, you do know what you’re looking at, right?”

His words kept coming with a sharp edge to them.

“Please wait.”

Suppressing my anger, I examined the ledger.

There was nothing unusual in the ledger.

It was suspicious that none of the Myeong-dong directors’ ledgers had any issues, but for now, the urgent matter was the bank account. So, I smiled and said,

“The ledger looks fine. Please give me the bank account now.”

“Bank account? What bank account?”

“Don’t you have a proxy bank account you’re managing?”

“Huh? You want that? Why should I?”

“The Chairman said to retrieve it.”

Hammer frowned and blew cigarette smoke towards my face.

“Huh, so if you say ‘The Chairman said to retrieve it,’ I’m supposed to hand it over? Tell the Chairman to come himself. Isn’t that the right thing to do? The Chairman entrusted me with it, so the Chairman should come to take it back. Don’t you think so, Young Master?”

Then Chief Ha’s cold voice was heard.

“Are you serious, Director Yu?”

Yu Ji-gang answered with a sardonic smile.

“Why would I joke after eating an expensive meal? Of course I’m serious, why?”

“…”

Chief Ha, seemingly angered, was about to stand up.

I raised my hand to stop Chief Ha.

Chief Ha, who had been glaring at Hammer, turned to look at me.

“Chief Ha, please step outside for a moment.”

“Young Master!”

“Just for a moment. We need to resolve this through dialogue. Please go cool off outside.”

“Sigh… Alright.”

He glanced at Yu Ji-gang once more before going outside.

“Director Yu, that’s enough joking around. Hand over the bank account now. And also give me the slush fund account that the Chairman secretly entrusted to you.”

“Seeing that you know about the slush fund account, it seems the Chairman is really planning to groom you properly. But so what? It’s the same as before. Tell the Chairman to come himself. Then I’ll hand it over.”

“Director!”

“Why are you yelling and making a fuss? Hey! I’ve been wiping the Chairman’s ass since before you were born, dealing with the fierce Central Intelligence agents in Myeong-dong. You’re not in a position to order me around with your head held high. Be satisfied with being called ‘Young Master’. The only one who can give me orders is the Chairman!”

It didn’t seem right for someone who had just invoked the Chairman’s name to say such things.

“Even the Cheon directors don’t order me around, so who are you to demand things from me? You little punk who’s barely out of diapers, how dare you!”

Yu Ji-gang put out his cigarette in the ashtray and took out a hammer from his bosom, placing it on the table.

“This hammer is the history of Myeong-dong and a witness to Myeong-dong’s loan shark market. Don’t act up in front of me, you little shit.”

“Sigh… You want to take this all the way, don’t you?”

“Hahaha, all the way? Hey, don’t think you’ll get the same treatment as me just because you’re the Chairman’s bloodline. You want us all to die together? If that’s what you want, just say so. I’ll relay it to the Chairman.”

What kind of confidence makes him talk like this?

All sorts of thoughts ran through my head.

His attitude is way out of line.

Even if he’s riding on the backs of the Cheon Su-man and Cheon Su-han brothers, he shouldn’t be in a position to rebel against Grandfather like this.

‘There must be something I don’t know.’

I decided to back down for now, though I could have confronted him.

“Director Yu, I’ll come back tomorrow. If you act like this again tomorrow, I won’t just sit back either.”

“Haha, is that supposed to be a threat? Let me show you what a real threat is!”

Yu Ji-gang picked up the hammer with a fierce expression and swung it.

The dark hammer aimed for my head and fell.

Without dodging, I glared at him.

The hammer flying through the air stopped just before striking my head.

Yu Ji-gang laughed and withdrew the hammer.

“Well, at least you’ve got some guts as the Chairman’s blood. You’ve got much better eyes than the other two directors. Get out. Tell the Chairman to come himself. Then we can end this nicely for everyone.”

As I stood up silently, Yu Ji-gang plopped back down and reached for his cigarette pack.

I reached out and grabbed the cigarette he had pulled out.

“If you don’t have the guts to actually swing it, why take it out?”

Watching his expression harden, I grinned, baring my teeth.

“The moment you swing it, you’ll die too. Did you think I’d be scared just because you pretended to swing it? Cut the crap. If you want to live, have the account ready by tomorrow.”

I opened my clenched fist, letting the crushed cigarette fall in front of Hammer’s eyes.

I turned around.

“See you tomorrow. Let’s see if you can act the same way then.”

I added those words before closing the door.

Chief Ha and Hammer’s subordinates were looking at each other.

Chief Ha’s expression relaxed when he saw me unharmed, and he said,

“Is the conversation over?”

“We agreed to come back tomorrow. Let’s go.”

“Alright.”

We left the office, passing by Hammer’s subordinates.

While driving, Chief Ha asked what happened in the room.

“Well, there was a bit of a confrontation. He tried to hit me on the head with his hammer.”

Screech!

The car came to a sudden stop with a loud noise.

Before I could react to the sudden brake, Chief Ha turned from the driver’s seat to look at me in the back.

“What did you say?”

“Calm down. We’re in the middle of the road.”

Sure enough, honking and cursing started coming from behind us.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“He stopped just before hitting me. More importantly, let’s get going.”

“Alright.”

The car slowly started moving again.

Finally arriving at the Pyeongchang-dong house, Chief Ha and I headed straight to the study to report to Grandfather.

“What?”

“He said the Chairman should come to receive it himself.”

“…Hehehe, interesting. Very interesting. And then?”

“He tried to hit the Young Master with a hammer.”

“What?”

Chairman Cheon looked at me in surprise at Chief Ha’s words.

“He stopped before it hit me. I’m not hurt anywhere, so don’t worry.”

“Are you really not hurt anywhere?”

“No.”

Usually, Chairman Cheon treated me formally in the study.

But upon hearing that I was almost hit with a hammer, he changed to the appearance of a grandfather worried about his grandson.

“Sigh… What is Ji-gang thinking?”

Chairman Cheon muttered to himself.

“Myung-hoon, what do you think is the reason for his behavior?”

“I don’t understand either. I’ve heard that he competed with you when he first entered Myeong-dong. But since I started serving you, he has never shown such behavior… He was strange today. It felt like he was deliberately trying to provoke us.”

“Is that so? He was like that, you say? So what did you decide to do?”

Receiving Grandfather’s gaze, I answered,

“I told him I’d come back tomorrow and to have the accounts ready.”

“Oh? Are you confident? You could get hurt.”

“It’s a task you entrusted to me, so I have to do it. I can handle it.”

Chairman Cheon smiled contentedly at those words.

For a while, only the sound of fingers tapping on the desk filled the study.

After organizing his thoughts, Chairman Cheon spoke to Chief Ha.

“Myung-hoon.”

“Yes.”

“Handle this matter yourself.”

“You mean personally, sir?”

“Yes.”

“Understood.”

“You can retrieve everything by tomorrow, right?”

“Yes, Chairman.”

“And besides the proxy accounts, there’s one more slush fund account. Get that one too.”

“Yes.”

Chief Ha answered without showing any doubt about the slush fund account he didn’t know about.

“Go out and handle it quickly. You decide how to deal with it, just make sure there are no problems and clean it up neatly.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

Chief Ha bowed and left.

After Chief Ha went out, Grandfather looked at me with worried eyes.

“Listen, you don’t need to do dangerous things to get my approval. I told you to learn the business, not to do rough work, didn’t I?”

“We can’t avoid difficult and rough work while doing loan shark business, can we? You’ve been through it all too, Grandfather. I can handle it.”

“That’s… I’ll make sure you can work comfortably. There’s no need for you to follow the path I walked. You don’t have to push yourself.”

This was a completely different reaction from my previous life when I had struggled from the bottom.

“You know I didn’t grow up smoothly either, right? If I can’t handle someone like him, how can I hope to succeed you?”

“Hehehe, this rascal.”

Chairman Cheon, who had been laughing for a while, suddenly became serious and said,

“Leave this matter to Chief Ha. Watch how Chief Ha handles it and learn. Understand?”

“Yes.”

That was the end of my conversation with Grandfather.

The next day

Chief Ha brought all the accounts.

“Did he hand them over without resistance?”

“Yes.”

“I didn’t think he would give them up so easily.”