Chapter 46: It’s About My Friend

In his previous life Hyeon-seong was selected for the national team and won a gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

From the looks of things he originally declined the Asian Games next year.

But this time he refused the offer perhaps because of the favor I asked after coming back.

Was it the ripple effect of my actions that led to Hyeon-seong becoming a victim of a hit-and-run?

I didn’t expect this situation.

A bitter taste filled my mouth at the thought that I couldn’t prevent Hyeon-seong from getting hurt unnecessarily.

“It’s common for gangsters to choose construction as a legal business. But this is too suspicious don’t you think?”

“Yes I think so too. Should we look into it further?”

I shook my head at those words.

“Chief Ha said he’d look into it himself so let’s wait and see. You’re using the people he brought in right?”

“I’ve only taken over a few of them.”

“And they’re competent?”

“There’s no problem since they’re all people I already knew.”

I smiled as I looked at Manager Ma’s face.

* * *

Geukseong Construction President’s Office

A shout was heard followed by the sound of something shattering against the wall.

A burly middle-aged man was throwing objects at a man standing with his head bowed.

“Hey you crazy bastard! I told you to just keep him from competing not run him over with a car! Why did you make this unnecessarily big?”

“I’m sorry boss.”

“You son of a bitch! Bae Won-chun! Didn’t I tell you not to call me boss? Are we still neighborhood thugs? Can’t you do anything right? Tch what kind of business am I trying to run trusting guys like you?”

The man called Bae Won-chun could only bow his head unable to reply.

After fuming for a while the middle-aged man asked,

“So how is he? At least alive right?”

“He didn’t die but… His father is the chief of the violent crimes unit… The detectives are searching like madmen…”

“Sigh… That’s why you should have done it moderately!”

A wad of paper flew at Bae Won-chun’s face. Jo Hyun-gu glared at him as if he wanted to kill him.

“You didn’t leave any evidence right? We absolutely can’t be connected to this. You complicated what should have been a simple job I could handle so clean up the mess yourself. Even if you get caught make sure my name doesn’t come up got it?”

“Understood.”

“What about the kids who did the job?”

“I sent them to Gangneung.”

“They can keep their mouths shut right?”

“They’re kids who don’t even know your identity boss. Even if there’s a problem it won’t reach you.”

Only then did Jo Hyun-gu’s expression soften.

“That’s good then. Ah why did that kid have to be so stubborn when I told him to just step aside? Why did the little bastard have to make things complicated by being stubborn? Right Won-chun?”

“That’s right.”

Jo Hyun-gu changed his attitude and started comforting Bae Won-chun in front of him.

“Won-chun you know how I got this far right? It took 10 years to get rid of the gangster smell. Thanks to that we even avoided the war on crime. You all have respectable positions now don’t you?”

“Yes that’s right boss. Thanks to you we’re all living without being called gangsters.”

“That’s right. We should live respectably now. If the tail gets caught I’ll take care of the aftermath so you take care of it yourself.”

“Understood.”

He took out several bundles of 1 million won bills from the safe and threw them to Bae Won-chun.

“You worked hard. Now get out.”

Bae Won-chun took the money bowed deeply and left.

As the door closed the smile disappeared from Jo Hyun-gu’s face.

“That bastard can’t even do one job right. Should I just bash his head in?”

Even disguised as a businessman a gangster was still a gangster.

* * *

Hyeon-seong’s condition had improved a lot.

Hyeon-seong’s father kept going in and out of the local police station pressuring them to find the culprit while his mother stayed glued to Hyeon-seong’s side nursing him.

Hyeon-seong’s mother stood up when she saw me entering the hospital room.

“Mu-hyeok you’re here? Have you eaten?”

“Yes I ate before coming. Have you had your meal?”

“Why look Mu-hyeok’s getting unexpected royal treatment because of you. This is more like a hotel than a hospital room.”

Seeing Hyeon-seong’s mother’s smile made me feel better too.

While talking with his mother I looked at Hyeon-seong.

“Hey are you alive?”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“I don’t think I can keep our promise.”

Ah… This stubborn idiot is talking about the promise even in this situation…

“Stop talking nonsense and don’t worry your mother. Right mother?”

“Hyeon-seong this boy’s not doing something foolish for the first time. Mu-hyeok you understand him right? Oh Hyeon-seong’s father will be here soon. I’ll step out for a bit you two talk.”

Hyeon-seong’s mother patted my back a few times with a smile before leaving the room.

I sat down next to Hyeon-seong’s bed.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine.”

Maybe it was because of Hyeon-seong’s smiling face but I felt even more furious.

“I heard you were beaten up at school before the traffic accident? Sigh… I’m sorry. I didn’t know until Myeong-su told me. I feel like I put unnecessary pressure on you just for my own comfort by becoming your friend.”

“It’s okay.”

“No it’s not. You suffered for years… I know everything. Shit this isn’t right.”

At those words Hyeon-seong’s eyes wavered as if he was also choked up.

The doctor had said that fortunately while his broken arm and leg were surgically repaired and wouldn’t affect daily life intense exercise would be difficult…

“I’ll definitely find the bastard who hit you and pay him back double.”

“Stop it. You don’t need to do that because of me.”

“Forget it just focus on getting better. When you’re up quit school and work with me. I’ll make your life better than your judo seniors coaches or director.”

“…This incident has nothing to do with the promise I made with you. It’s not a traffic accident.”

“I know. I know but I’m feeling a bit… I’ll handle it myself.”

Knowing my stubbornness Hyeon-seong didn’t say anything more.

“Don’t worry about anything and just rest. You haven’t been able to play or rest properly because of training all this time right? Think of this as a chance to rest.”

“Okay.”

There was no more conversation.

Hyeon-seong and I were close enough to understand each other without many words unlike with Myeong-su.

Just then Hyeon-seong’s parents came in.

“Oh Mu-hyeok was here?”

The father’s face didn’t look very good as he entered.

Seeing the father sigh as he looked at Hyeon-seong I stood up.

“Father shall we go have a smoke?”

“Sure. Hyeon-seong’s mom I’m going to talk with Mu-hyeok for a bit. You two stay here.”

“I told you to quit smoking!”

We went down to the first floor and sat on a bench with Hyeon-seong’s father.

As soon as we sat down Hyeon-seong’s father lit a cigarette and let out a big sigh.

“We can’t catch the tail. There are a few witnesses but no one remembers properly. We’ve checked all the repair shops in the area but there’s nothing special.”

“Don’t worry too much. Hyeon-seong’s awake now.”

“What else does that boy know how to do besides sports? He invested almost half of his life in sports even if he went astray a bit when he was young right? But now what? They say he can never do sports again does that make any sense?”

I couldn’t answer the father’s loud voice filled with agitation. No words could comfort the heartbroken father and Hyeon-seong…

After taking a long drag of his cigarette to calm down the father looked at me.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be yelling at you… Sigh…”

“No it’s okay. I’m angry too.”

“But it’s a relief right? They say there won’t be any problems with daily life. That’s enough isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll have to go down next week. Hyeon-seong’s mom will stay here. You come and go often okay?”

“Don’t worry I’ll keep an eye on things.”

“Won’t it interfere with your studies?”

“Come on father why are you being so distant? Don’t say things like that it’s interfering.”

“Sigh… What’s that boy going to do with his life now…”

The father’s lament echoed through the hospital.

When I arrived home after leaving the hospital Chief Ha was waiting for me.

It had been a week since I asked him.

“We’ve found the perpetrator. Would you like to see them directly?”

“Really?”

“Yes but to be precise they’re not perpetrators but criminals. It was just disguised as a traffic accident Park Hyeonseong was the specific target.”

‘Bad premonitions are never wrong huh?’

As the thought that Hyeon-seong was hurt because of me crossed my mind anger welled up.

I tried to stay calm but my voice came out a bit stiff.

“Where are they?”

“Handling it yourself…”

“Sigh… Chief Ha I don’t get involved directly in other matters. This is about my friend. He’s my person. Don’t make me say it twice. If you hand it over to Manager Ma I’ll meet with Manager Ma directly.”

“Understood.”

Chief Ha didn’t try to stop me a second time.

Shortly after I left for the place where they had caught the guys with Manager Ma.

It was that abandoned factory where we had dealt with Hammer.

* * *

“So Mu-hyeok went himself?”

“Yes that’s correct.”

After Kim Mu-hyeok left Chief Ha had cme to the study to report to Chairman Cheon.

“Who is it?”

“They were young kids. They said they were acting on someone’s orders but we’ll need to investigate further for answers.”

Chairman Cheon’s brow furrowed.

“It wasn’t a simple hit-and-run? This has gotten interesting. He went with Manager Ma?”

“Yes I handed it over to Manager Ma. There shouldn’t be any problems since the people on standby all know him.”

Chairman Cheon nodded and fell into thought for a while stroking his chin.

Soon he looked up with a strange smile on his face.

“Myung-hoon you step back now. I want to see how Mu-hyeok handles this.”

“Understood.”

“How do you think he’ll handle it?”

“From what I’ve observed of the young master he won’t handle it sloppily. He can be incredibly cold-hearted when necessary. Though he’s affectionate towards his own people.”

“Is that so?”

The corner of Chairman Cheon’s mouth twitched for a moment.

“It might be presumptuous of me but I tried to advise him that he should refrain from getting directly involved in such matters. However he firmly stated that he was doing this because it involved his friend so I didn’t try to stop him further.”

“You did well. You should just help moderately. If we’re going to spoon-feed everything we might as well grab anyone off the street and have them do it.”

“Understood. I’ll just observe.”

“Yes report to me how he handles it. It’ll be interesting to see if he asks for help or if he’ll handle it to the end with his own power.”

An excitement unbecoming of his age appeared on Chairman Cheon’s face as he spoke.

* * *

As we opened the factory door there were several men inside. They exchanged greetings with Manager Ma through eye contact and took positions near the door.

Inside there were three men kneeling on the ground.

Manager Ma brought a chair and set it down for me to sit.

When they heard us the men raised their heads but quickly lowered them again after meeting my eyes.

I sat on the chair and examined them.

Even being generous they’re not much older than me.

“You’re younger than I thought. Who ordered this?”

The one who looked to be in slightly better condition among them despite their battered faces spoke up.

“I’ll tell you everything. Just please spare our lives.”

“Just tell me who ordered it and why. Don’t make me ask twice. It’ll be tiresome for both of us if you drag this out.”

“B-Bae Won-chun hyung ordered it.”

“Who’s that?”

“I don’t know. He’s a senior from our neighborhood who sometimes gives us pocket money. We know he’s a gangster.”

I looked towards Manager Ma.

“That’s the same name as the executive director of Geukseong Construction.”

I couldn’t help but sneer at the obvious ploy.

Looks like they tried to cover their tracks but…

“I see. What else?”

“Huh? W-We don’t know anything else. He just gave us some money and told us to push him once and then go stay in Gangneung. It’s the truth.”

“How much did you get?”

“What?”

I shifted my gaze to Manager Ma.

One of the men standing by the door approached with a steel pipe.

“I-I’ll talk! I’ll ta- Aaagh!”

He struck the man who had questioned me a few times. The man rolled on the ground screaming.

“Stop.”

At my word the man wielding the steel pipe stopped and returned to his position as if nothing had happened.

The man who now looked even worse than before crawled on the ground making whimpering sounds.

“I told you not to make me ask twice. Don’t question me it’s annoying.”

“Y-Yes…”

“How much did you get?”

“W-We got 500,000 won each.”

Three people so 1.5 million won huh?

I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.

They shattered half of Hyeon-seong’s life for just 1.5 million won.

“Manager Ma how long would it take to bring in Bae Won-chun?”

“Give me half a day. I’ll have him here tomorrow.”

I nodded and stood up.

“Beat those bastards up properly and throw them in a corner for now. I’ll decide after meeting Bae Won-chun. Don’t kill them.”

“Of course.”

I turned and left the factory with Manager Ma. The sounds of beating and pleas for help faded away as the door closed.