Chapter 249: Finally Seeing the Boss of the Cutthroats

I had met Lee Hak-jae several times, shared a few drinks with him, and of course, he was the kind of guy who pocketed the customary bribes without fail.

“So, I finally get to see the face of the cutthroat boss.”

“Hey, cutthroat? That’s just what we call each other; civilians get offended if they hear it.”

“Civilians, huh? So now I’m just some nobody to you? Even though you eagerly accepted the money I gave you?”

“Let’s get the facts straight. It wasn’t you who gave me the money, Chief of Staff. You were just the delivery guy. I received Soonyang’s money.”

The head of the Inspection Department stated without hesitation that he had received money from a chaebol. This implied no one was watching through the two-way mirror, and there was no recording.

Go home. And Soonyang’s money…

Only now did I understand who had hired these thugs.

“I forgot you’re the type who’d stab the delivery guy without a second thought for the sake of whoever paid you.”

Lee Hak-jae spoke to the planning team leader, who stood stiffly at attention, startled by the sudden appearance of the Inspection Department head.

“You better choose your allegiances carefully. This guy you think is your lifeline couldn’t even look me in the eye when I was handing out money. Oh, there was this one time…”

“That’s enough.”

The head of the Inspection Department’s face contorted, and Lee Hak-jae even burst into laughter.

“Was it at a bar? Anyway, I flicked some cigarette ash into his drink. It was an accident, of course. But he just picked up the glass and chugged it down. Before anyone could stop him. Then, after wiping his mouth, do you know what he said? Haha.”

“Chief of Staff!”

The head of the Inspection Department yelled, trying to stop Lee Hak-jae, but it was no use.

“I’m grateful for anything you give me, Chief of Staff.’ That’s what he said. Hahaha.”

The head of the Inspection Department, his teeth clenched, glared at Lee Hak-jae before relaxing his expression.

“So, if you want to be treated like that again, just go home. What kind of state are you in right now?”

Lee Hak-jae threw back a retort.

“Is the owner of the house the reason I’m in this state?”

“They told me to tell you to come back soon.”

“Is that all? They seem to have misunderstood… I’m retiring. I don’t have any ulterior motives.”

“That’s why they specifically instructed me to train you to be an obedient dog and send you back. Go back and do as your owner commands. Then I’ll gladly receive the glass you used to drink my ashed cigarette from again.”

Lee Hak-jae glanced at his wristwatch and stood up.

“If I leave now, I should be able to get home before midnight.”

The head of the Inspection Department subtly blocked the door.

“I need to get a definite answer. I need to earn my keep, after all….”

Lee Hak-jae chuckled and said.

“My friend, your delusions are getting out of hand. You need to know your place. You’re just a message boy. Even if I look like a mangy dog, a single phone call from me can get you transferred to some rural prosecutor’s office. Move!”

Startled by his sharp outburst, the head of the Inspection Department cautiously stepped aside.

Once Lee Hak-jae disappeared, the two men left in the interrogation room sighed.

“Shall we go too? Seems like our work here is done.”

“Do you think this is enough?”

The head of the Criminal Planning Department asked with an uneasy expression.

“Share all the information we’ve secured with the Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office and the Chief Prosecutor of the Southern District Prosecutors’ Office. That bastard was right. We’re just message boys, so this is enough.”

The head of the Inspection Department patted the planning team leader on the back.

“Let’s go. How about some hangover soup?”

* * *

“Dong-gi. If you take one more step, I’m abandoning my loyalty to the Chairman. That’s my answer.”

Lee Hak-jae, having met Vice-chairman Jin Dong-gi early in the morning, tossed a thick envelope of documents onto the table.

“It’s been a while since I’ve heard that. Chief of Staff… no, Hyung-nim, calling me by my name.”

“Now that I’m neither Chief of Staff nor anything else, I can call you by your name, can’t I? Why? Does it bother you?”

“Not at all. It feels warm, that’s all.”

Jin Dong-gi’s wide smile showed he wasn’t lying.

“I was going to meet your older brother, but I came to you instead. At least you’re capable of having a conversation.”

“You made the right choice. All my older brother does is yell and shout, isn’t that right?”

Jin Dong-gi opened the envelope Lee Hak-jae had thrown and examined its contents.

After looking through it for a while, Jin Dong-gi frowned.

“You abandoned your loyalty to Father a long time ago. Seeing that you’ve meticulously collected even these things, it looks like you’re fully prepared to stab him in the back at any moment?”

“I couldn’t do it a third time. My kids are growing up. I didn’t want to keep showing my children standing in court.”

He had been in and out of the Prosecutor’s Office countless times. He had also heard not-guilty verdicts in court more than a few times.

But he had received actual prison sentences twice. Although he didn’t serve time due to suspended sentences.

Jin Dong-gi, still frowning, shook his head.

“You didn’t trust our father. He never asked anyone to take the fall three times. It always ended after two.”

“It ended after two times because there were plenty of guys to take the fall. But when I take the fall, it’s because there’s no one else to replace me. If there’s no one to replace me, the Chairman is the type to send someone to jail three, even four times.”

Jin Dong-gi relaxed his expression and put the documents back in the envelope.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. Do you think Father spared Hyung-nim because he was scared of these documents? Not at all. He felt bad for making him take the fall twice, so he didn’t use him as a bullet shield anymore. Our father wouldn’t even bat an eye even if you had a truckload of this kind of evidence.”

“What?”

“Look at me. Do I look scared?”

Jin Dong-gi handed the envelope back to Lee Hak-jae.

“Take it to the police or the prosecution. You can even leak it to the media.”

“If you had read the contents properly, you wouldn’t be saying such things so easily.”

“I did read it. Illegal gifting, tax evasion, internal transactions… This is nuclear bomb level. The media will jump on this like a fish to water.”

Lee Hak-jae knew why Jin Dong-gi was acting so nonchalant.

Even if the media makes a fuss, it will only last a month at most. Soonyang is a place with the power to silence the noisy world in just one month.

However, silencing them comes at an enormous cost. Especially when there’s clear evidence of illegal activity like this.

They would have to pay at least several hundred billion won in taxes and fines, and both vice-chairmen would have to hold public apology events.

Meanwhile, he would be the one serving time in prison.

But Lee Hak-jae knew that Jin Dong-gi was not the kind of second-generation heir who would waste hundreds of billions of won and endure the humiliation of a public apology just to put him in jail.

“Then you must know the price for this too?”

“I do. But this time will be different.”

“No. It’s the same pattern, and the result will be the same.”

“Being cornered must have made you lose your mind?”

As if to mock Lee Hak-jae’s certainty, Jin Dong-gi turned on the TV.

The TV was broadcasting breaking news.

As of 11:55 AM on March 12th. 193 out of 271 members present voted in favor. The impeachment motion is passed in accordance with Article 65, Section 2 of the Constitution!

The National Assembly’s impeachment committee submits the original copy of the impeachment resolution to the Constitutional Court!

“Didn’t you know it was today?”

“So? Isn’t it something that anyone who’s in the know would have guessed? There’s nothing new about it.”

Jin Dong-gi tilted his head as if surprised.

“Oh dear, how long has it been since you stepped away from the field that you’ve lost your touch?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t you understand the significance of the President’s impeachment? It’s giving us a free pass.”

“A free pass?”

“The impeachment is what’s captured the eyes and ears of the entire nation. For the next couple of months, no one will care about the power struggle between us brothers and the Chief of Staff. In other words, the President’s impeachment is a free pass for the prosecution and the media to completely ignore the evidence you’re about to submit.”

Lee Hak-jae was speechless.

It would all be over in two months.

Soonyang Group would flood the media outlets with advertisements as if nothing had happened, and the reporters would be indulging in lavish drinking sessions with generous tips every day.

The prosecutors who covered up this incident would receive promotions and bribes, or they would resign and transform into high-paid lawyers for Soonyang Group.

Meanwhile, he would be preparing for trial in jail, burdened with all sorts of accusations.

Seeing Lee Hak-jae’s hardened expression, Jin Dong-gi’s lips curved upwards.

“It seems like you’ve finally realized that the pattern is different this time. Thanks to the 193 National Assembly members, we can get away without any significant damage, and only the Chief of Staff will stand trial. Oh, but there is some good news. You standing trial won’t even make the news, so your children won’t have to see it.”

Lee Hak-jae knew that Jin Dong-gi’s scenario wasn’t far from the truth.

“What you want from me is the establishment of a holding company, right?”

“What else could it be? Finish it perfectly and retire cleanly. We’ll make sure your severance package is substantial enough.”

Jin Dong-gi revealed a bit more of his genuine thoughts to Lee Hak-jae, who remained silent.

“Honestly, I’m quite disappointed in you, Chief of Staff. Father must have asked you for your opinion on the succession, but you never once sided with me, did you? Isn’t it obvious that I’m the right one to be the successor among us brothers?”

This time, the corners of Chief of Staff Lee Hak-jae’s mouth turned up.

“You still haven’t escaped that delusion? The Chairman and I agreed on the assessment of who should be the successor. And it wasn’t you.”

Jin Dong-gi shouted in disbelief.

“Young-gi hyung is better than me? What’s the criteria? Greed? The drive to push forward recklessly?”

“You’re still mistaken. Jin Young-gi being born the eldest son is all there is to it. But to the Chairman, the eldest son was very significant. He just reaped the benefits of that.”

Jin Dong-gi’s expression twisted even further.

“Don’t tell me it’s Yoon-ki…?”

Lee Hak-jae nodded.

“The Chairman and I weren’t wrong in our thinking. Look at Yoon-ki now. Even though Do-jun and Oh Se-hyun helped him, he stood tall in the media landscape where established powers abound. What about you? Even if you mobilized all of Soonyang’s resources, would you be confident in dominating a field in ten years?”

Jin Dong-gi couldn’t answer confidently.

“I guarantee Yoon-ki will dominate the Korean entertainment market. If that guy hadn’t just goofed off when he went to study abroad, if he hadn’t been interested in culture and arts, the Chairman would have passed the group on to Yoon-ki a long time ago, wouldn’t he? Instead, you guys would have inherited something like a golf course or a foundation.”

“So that’s why Father poured so much affection onto Do-jun?”

“That’s part of it. If Do-jun wasn’t so young, he would have been a threat to you guys. Or has he already become a threat? He already took 10%, after all.”

“I acknowledge Do-jun too. That’s why we’re transitioning to a holding company to prevent any threat. If my older brother and I grow to a point where we fear Do-jun… we won’t just stand by and watch.”

“You’ve got that much from the Chairman, haven’t you? Heh.”

Lee Hak-jae almost said, ‘He inherited the blood of both parents.’

When they can’t win through legitimate means, they resort to any methods, regardless of whether they are illegal or criminal, without hesitation.

Lee Hak-jae threw the documents he had brought back onto Jin Dong-gi’s desk.

“Take another close look. If it’s something you can ignore, mobilize the prosecutors and stab me. Let’s have a knife fight. I’m prepared to get hurt badly.”

“Hyung-nim!”

“Don’t make me cringe. What’s with the ‘Hyung-nim’!”

The casual remark carried a significant weight.

Lee Hak-jae left the Soonyang Group’s main building, leaving behind a hardened-looking Jin Dong-gi.

His heart wasn’t at ease as many employees who still considered him the second-in-command of Soonyang bowed their heads to him.

The employees who bowed to him just now would soon point fingers at him, branding him as a rogue who betrayed the Chairman’s trust and embezzled Soonyang’s money.

Lee Hak-jae realized he had grown old. He used to not care about other people’s gazes and perceptions, but suddenly, the meaning of the word ‘honor’ weighed heavily on him.

He returned home listlessly at 5:15 PM, just as the President’s authority was suspended, and the Prime Minister began acting as the President’s proxy.