Cold eyes looked down at Lee Young-jin. Lee Young-jin withstood the gaze from the front. One second…no, one minute, maybe ten minutes. Suddenly, the corner of the man’s eyes narrowed and his eyes and lips drew a gentle arc like the crescent moon.
“Good idea.”
Lee Young-jin got the correct answer.
Cold sweat ran down his back. At the same time, a heavy stone-like object that was cramping between both lungs came out with a feeling as if it was going to collapse, and a long breath came out without any time to control it. His flat rib cage rose and fell.
The man held out his hand towards him. His crooked eyes were tinged with a strange smile.
“Then, do we have a deal?”
Lee Young-jin stared at the hand for a moment, then strained his eyes to look straight at the man.
It shouldn’t end here.
No promise that came out of the man’s mouth could be trusted without security.
“No. I need collateral.”
“Aha, collateral.”
The man was mildly sarcastic.
“Good cover. But what did you prepare as collateral?”
“The terms of the deal were the lives of my two colleagues. So that means you still have my life. It’s not enough as a collateral condition.”
At the calm voice, the man laughed briefly.
“Great. Hmm. Okay. Then what should I do for you with your life as collateral? Give it a try.”
“…please tell me your name first.”
In this absolutely unfavorable situation for Lee Young-jin, even the slightest hint of the man’s identity was desperately needed.
Lee Young-jin hesitated a little, but continued without stuttering.
“You know my real name, but I don’t know anything about you. This is not a fair trade.”
“Hahahahahaha!”
The man let out a loud laugh.
“Haha, hahaha… fair trade, good. Great.”
He pulled a flat wallet out of his back pocket and pulled something out from inside. Tuk. Something crossed the table, hit Lee Young-jin in the chest and landed on his thigh. Driver’s license. His eyes groped over the shiny plastic surface. A picture that seemed to have moved the man in front of him as it was. And the name. Seo Seung-hyun.
Lee Young-jin slowly raised his head and looked up at the man.
The 34-year-old Alpha met his gaze as he sat loosely in the chair with his legs wide apart. The atmosphere unique to a man who was high-handed, arrogant, and born with power in his hands and had never been shaken. He tilted his head and torso to the left. There was still a trace of laughter on his lips.
“Great. What next?”
What followed was already decided.
Lee Young-jin knew only one way to intimidate people.
“Now sleep with me.”
There was no movement on the man’s face. He had the same expressionless smile on his face.
“I didn’t know I would be selling my body instead of collateral…”
“Wrong.”
Contrary to the wet eyes, a calm voice continued.
“Make a sex tape with me.”
“Ah, Chief Seo, please think about our side as well.”
Kim Kang-sik waved both of his hands in an exaggerated motion.
Kim Kang-sik was just entering his 50s and had a lot of experience as a middleman in Shanghai. He took pride in himself at noticing if things went bad and rolling out, but in reality, he used to get confused about what attitude to take in front of Seo Seung-hyun. Seo Seung-hyun, who emerged as a big player on this floor in recent years, was being high handed as usual. However, to go out in a low-key way was contrary to his youthful age.
Seo Seung-hyun’s ambiguous attitude also ignited Kim Kang-sik’s half-hearted attitude.
This young alpha was different from the ideal species that usually rolled on the floor on this side, as the man didn’t blindly force him, nor did the man lower himself gently at the sight of others. In this red land where black money gushed out like oil, there were a lot of big hands that had money, but among them, there were a lot of mutual friends who were robbed without knowing they were being robbed.
Was he satisfied?
Or should he just keep watching?
Kim Kang-sik couldn’t figure it out at all.
“Aren’t I doing this because I’ve given enough thought to President Kim’s position?”
Seo Seung-hyun, who sat with his long legs generously crossed and his upper body tilted at an angle, tilted his head slightly.
Kim Kang-sik laughed.
“On this side, who doesn’t know that you’re close to Seoran’s Executive Department Head Kwon? If I light up this side, many would bare their teeth, how can I add more, Chief Seo? The reason why I accepted last time was because I greatly appreciate Chief Seo’s side.”
“That is to say, President Kim.”
The corners of Seo Seung-hyun’s eyes fell obediently.
The gentle smile that floated on the sculpted handsome man’s face was calm.
“This is a strange situation. Let’s say that I’m close with Seoran’s Executive Director Kwon. But it’s really fascinating. There are few people on this side who know my face, but how the hell did rumors spread that I was involved in this incident? Is it like that one? The so-called identity theft? Did my personal information spread all over to this side?”
“Haha, no, Chief Seo. Isn’t Chief Seo a bit famous? And rumors just fly a bit fast here, you know? It’s like that when a competent person like Chief Seo shows his face and walks around, it takes a matter of seconds.”
Kim Kang-shik smiled broadly, and in an instant, his forehead twitched and his face hardened.
“Chief Seo, are you suspicious of me?”
“What are you talking about, President Kim? Why would I be suspicious of the President?”
“Haha, right? It’s been several years since I’ve been standing here and looking after Chief…”
“It is. It’s already been three years.”
Seo Seung-hyun shrugged his shoulders.
The corners of Kim Kang-sik’s mouth tilted crookedly, causing convulsions. The tails of his eyebrows twitched and his face contorted into a strange shape that wasn’t even a smile.
“Anyway, Chief Seo also needs to be careful with this incident. This auction incident, your move was quite big and to do it in the middle of the day…”
Kim Kang-shik put the cigarette that had burned to the end of the filter back into his mouth and sucked. His thick fingers pressed and rolled the pipe then pressed it into the ashtray. The wriggling lips belched out acrid fumes of formaldehyde and dioxin.
“It’s not that I don’t trust Chief Seo, but you already know. This side has rules. If you stir up public security once like this, several lives will fly away. Then? Please say something to Seoran. Please don’t mess around with our side. Gently, gently. Chief Seo, you’re good at that. Because you’re close with Executive Director Kwon. Right?”
“Gently. Of course. I’m pretty good at that.”
“Good. Good. I hope to see Chief Seo’s skills soon.”
He slammed both of his fat thighs with his palms, then stood up.
“I’ll go check it out, Chief Seo. Contact me when you get back to Seoul.”
“Of course.”
Seo Seung-hyun smiled and got up from his chair to follow Kim Kang-shik. The four feet covered shoes slithered across the floor thickly covered with poisonous smoke.
Seo Seung-hyun’s hand grabbed the doorknob in front of Kim Kang-shik. A large hand with veins on the back of his hand pushed the door open. Kim Kang-shik moved his foot toward the half open door and nodded his chin.
“Thank…”
“By the way, President Kim. How many years have I been CEO and you still call me Chief? Please look after my face in front of the lower guys. Okay?”
“Ah, s-sure. Haha. CEO Seo, yes. Right. The former CEO Park is still attached to my mouth… Didn’t former CEO Park go to Vietnam?”
“Was it Vietnam or the Philippines?”
Seo Seung-hyun tilted his head just like when he smiled.
“Was it both?”
At the same time, power entered Seo Seung-hyun’s grasp. Kwadang! The door was closed again.
“Aaaagh! My, my feet! Chief Seo, what is this…!”
“CEO.”
“C-CEO Seo, now, what…”
Seo Seung-hyun didn’t care, grabbed Kim Kang-shik by the back and threw him away. Kim Kang-shik, who was well over 100 kilograms with his flesh and muscles, rolled across the floor. Crash, thump, bang, thud, wham! His body rolled to and fro, crashing into the legs of the heavy stone chairs and tables. The slippery shiny shoe nose accurately captured the rib gap beneath the bulging fat and muscle. Kim Kang-shik let out a miserable moan like a pig’s squeal.
“Kghuoo….”
“Haha, goodness. Fck. You’re so fcking good at lying. President Kim, your skin is really thick. Isn’t it?”
“Kukkuk, C-Chief Seo! No, CEO…kuh, ugh…”
“What? This side’s rumors are a bit fast? Do I look like someone who doesn’t know that?”
The shoes stepped on the back of a thick hand. In an instant, the bones were shattered and a scream rose.
“Gently? Ha. Alright. F*cker. I’m good at doing gentle things. Where else can you find a gentleman like me?”
The foot landed on the elbow this time. Crack. Kim Kang-sik’s body, which was like a hill, jumped up and down.
“How much did you get from selling my new product, President Kim? Where did you sell it. Aren’t there a couple of cubs who want to buy it? Huh? Since this happened, I should open the auction. Rather than watching strangers sell my personal items and make money, I’ll sell it and make money. Right?”
Thud, thud, crack, puck, thump, squeak, squeak.
Every time his foot stepped on Kim Kang-shik’s body, fragments of broken bones bounced off the expensive suit fabric and muddy blood flowed through the cracks in the floor boards. Under the hem of the wriggling Kim Kang-sik’s suit, the metal gun barrel dripping with blood was helplessly pushed out and fell.
Seo Seung-hyun bent his knees and crouched down in front of Kim Kang-sik’s nose. As he bent over, the buttons on his taut vest and shirt were pulled hard as if about to spring off at any moment. Drops of blood that had just splashed on the surface of the shiny silk tie slowly flowed down. His hand picked up the pistol rolling on the floor. The wet muzzle hit the back of Kim Kang-sik’s nose and mouth, which were covered in saliva and vomit.
“President Kim. Who says you have to carry a gun in front of the ideal species?”
Beneath his slippery fingers, the metal barrel of the Walther PPK collapsed in half. With a rattle, the crooked German automatic pistol tumbled across the floor.
“If you were really worried, you should have take out your gun and entered the room while aiming. Hah? President Kim, did you meet the ideal species only once or twice?”
“Kugh, kuh, keo…”
“Don’t worry. It’s not once or twice that I stepped on a person, and I never stepped on someone to death.”
Kim Kang-sik howled with his throat bubbling with saliva. An ideal species’ fingertips, which casually distorted the steel gun a moment ago, patted Kim Kang-sik’s forehead, then took out the crumpled cigarette pack from the blood soaked breast pocket.
Seo Seung-hyun, who got what he was aiming for, lightly raised his body. He climbed over Kim Kang-sik’s twitching body and returned to the couch. He snuggled comfortably into the soft couch, leaned his upper body on the armrest, and took out a cigarette. Some were broken, but some still survived. Along with the worldwide anti-smoking craze, he was also quitting smoking, but from the moment Kim Kang-sik blew smoke toward him, he couldn’t stand the craving for nicotine.
Seo Seung-hyun put a cigarette in his mouth. He inhaled the poison, a mixture of tar and nicotine, deep into his lungs. The flame burned out at once, quickly burning half of the pipe. Cigarette ashes dangled from the end of the butt and fell down.
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