During the short 2-night, 3-day business trip to Yokohama, Seo Seung-hyun found himself entangled in unexpected and bothersome matters.
Itoko Musan, a mid-sized company that Seo Seung-hyun had been dealing with for a long time, attracted small investors to reinvest in overseas resorts or large-scale commercial developments within Japan. On the surface, they appeared to be a reputable company, but in reality, they acted as a money laundering operation, cashing out a portion of the investment or using bankruptcy and withdrawal from development projects to launder the investment money. Itoko Musan’s second-generation CEO, Izawa Hideyuki, had been in business with Seo Seung-hyun for about seven years. About a year ago, during the final stages of a 100 billion yen resort development project in Mexico, he had done Seo Seung-hyun a favor and involved him in the project against his will. (Of course, the resort development project had failed, and the 100 billion yen investment money had evaporated, turning into clean cash scattered to tax havens around the world.)
Seo Seung-hyun’s unintended involvement as a drug intermediary was due to that favor.
Izawa Hideyuki had decided to purchase approximately 2 billion yen worth of cocaine from Colombia, and he wanted Seo Seung-hyun to be the intermediary. Dealing drugs with cash was a typical method used by Japanese companies, but Itoko Musan had never turned its eyes to that side, so it was an unexpected request.
Drug distribution could be profitable, but it was also burdensome and came with significant risks. Seo Seung-hyun was not keen on getting involved. Moreover, with a transaction of 2 billion yen, even if he took his cut, the amount that would end up in Seo Seung-hyun’s hands wouldn’t be worth the trouble.
“The old man’s making a fuss for no reason, bringing up the resort deal from a year ago now.”
Seo Seung-hyun grumbled as he headed towards the waiting limousine in front of the building. The Itoko Musan executive who was walking beside him asked with a masked smile.
“Seo-daepyeonim, museun bulpyeonhan irirado issseupnikka?” (Representative Seo, is there something bothering you?)
“ii tenki desu ne. Kankoku to wa zuibun chigau.” (No, the weather is nice. It’s quite different from Korea.)
“Kankoku wa samui desu ka?” (Is it cold in Korea?)
“Nami mo kooru hodo desu. Mono o hakobu ni wa choudo ii deshou.” (The waves are freezing there too. It’s just perfect for moving things.)
“Sou desu ka. Kyoushuku desu ga, kono tabi wa osewa ni narimasu.” (I see. I’m sorry to trouble you, but I appreciate your help this time.)
The perfectly applied lipstick, giving the impression of a mask, added an air of formality to her smile. Seo Seung-hyun responded with a casual smile.
“Ichikou to wa nagai tsukiai da. Kore kurai no koto nara ikurademo sasete itadakimasu yo. Izawa-san ni mo, yoroshiku otsutae kudasai.” (Itoko and I have a long history of doing business. I can handle this kind of request easily. Please convey my regards to Mr. Izawa as well.)
Seo Seung-hyun spoke Kyoto-style, as if to say that he would do it, but it wouldn’t happen often, and he hoped that she would convey that message to CEO Izawa. The Itoko executive, who was from Kyoto, would surely understand the implied meaning. A slight crack appeared in her mask-like smile, but she quickly covered it up and bid farewell to Seo Seung-hyun with a bright smile.
The limousine door closed.
On the way to Haneda Airport, where Seo Seung-hyun was heading back home, Jang Young-hee, who had just returned, contacted him. He had to stop him from coming to meet him at Gimpo Airport since he insisted on coming to Haneda. Upon arriving at Haneda Airport, a journalist from a local newspaper also contacted him.
[Representative, I heard you went on a business trip to Yokohama. Was there anything significant?]
[Nothing important.]
Seo Seung-hyun held a shopping bag filled with famous brand chocolates in one hand and lightly tapped the smartphone screen with the other to send a reply.
[If there’s anything important, I’ll let you know in advance, so don’t worry.]
[I trust only you, Representative.]
A flashing emoticon was attached to the response. Seo Seung-hyun put his phone in the back pocket of his pants and walked out of the chocolate shop with light steps. The secretary who accompanied him on this trip, instead of Jang Young-hee, wanted to snatch the shopping bag from his hand, but Seo Seung-hyun ignored her eager gaze and leisurely took a round around the duty-free shop. After all, he was mainly interested in food, as buying even one wrong watch or a pair of shoes could result in a heavy “love call” from the airport customs office upon his return. The shopping bag was filled with all kinds of cookies, chocolates, and candies, covered in sugar and starch, and even the secretary’s hands were full before boarding time arrived.
The flight from Haneda to Gimpo was 2 hours and 10 minutes.
Before Seo Seung-hyun could finish the meal served in a formal tableware for a mere 2 hours and 10 minutes flight, the landing announcement echoed through the cabin. While the secretary hurriedly filled out two customs declaration forms, Seo Seung-hyun finished the remaining meal.
Jang Young-hee was waiting at Gimpo Airport.
Seo Seung-hyun greeted his secretary with open arms, expressing his happiness to see him again after just a week. However, he responded with a respectful bow, bending his waist deeply by 90 degrees. Seo Seung-hyun shrugged his shoulders.
As soon as they got into the limousine, the discussion about work began.
“I’ve secured three passports. All of them are registered as Japanese-American, so there shouldn’t be any suspicion.”
“Well done. What about Yang and President Lee?”
“Yang took care of the preparations in Bogota. He can leave for the trip anytime.”
“Then let’s plan the departure before Seollal (Korean New Year). How about New York?”
“As scheduled, the shipment of 17 points will arrive next week. Messina’s team manager handled it smoothly, so the process was easy.”
“I really like the way that guy handles things. Anyway, it’s going well.”
After hesitating for a moment, Jang Young-hee spoke again.
“And following your instructions, I released 200,000 shares of Seoran Motors. How about Executive Director Kwon?”
“Well, he’s pretty busy as expected. Dealing with the stock purchase must be chaotic.”
“Although the stock price is stable for now… should I release more?”
“I told Team Leader Yeo to wait until tomorrow and then release another 100,000 shares.”
“Then should we use the proceeds from the stock sale as liquid assets and budget for the Seoran project?”
“Oh, that’s fine. This time, President Lee decided to buy £100 million worth of securities in Gibraltar. Let’s use the stock sale proceeds for the budget first, and if we need more, we can consider bringing in other liquid assets later.”
“Okay, so the stock sale proceeds…”
“Leave it alone. I’ll be contacting Executive Director Kwon soon.”
Translator: To be honest, they lost me here. I have no idea what they’re talking about.
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