The money spent just for the first auction was already one and a half billion, and the sunk cost for the operation in Bogotá was close to one hundred billion. The post-operation in Bogotá is expected to become even more complicated. Rumors that he won the goods at the Shanghai auction, along with rumors that he lost eligibility for the second auction, have spread, increasing the anticipated price of the auction items. Since it’s not a legal auction, there’s no such thing as a limit to begin with. How could the end of an unlimited bid auction be? At least one and a half billion, and if there’s competition, easily two to three times that amount.
The unfortunate situation where Seo Seung-hyun might have to add all of Xi Xiping’s one billion yuan and Evans’s sixty million euros, and then add his own money on top, might occur.
But no matter the amount.
Could that amount be compared to the opportunity cost of losing the goods?
“Since we’ve taken the job from Executive Director Kwon, we have to finish it. The bastard who wins the auction, whoever that might be, what kind of bullshit do you think he’ll pull off next with the goods?”
“…Either try to buy back the item sold in the first auction or find a buyer.”
“Right. Double, triple, five times. No matter how many times, I have to buy it back. But with Executive Director Kwon, considering the mobilization of funds at this point when the prosecution is biting at his heels, it seems barely manageable only if it reaches about two trillion. Unless he sells off all the shares of Soeran registered in his name. So, absolutely. It has to be resolved within one trillion. Otherwise, this whole fucking request turns into a loss.”
Seo Seung-hyun smiled wryly.
“What’s so pretty about Executive Director Kwon that I have to help him out at my own expense?”
He stood up. The chief secretary, ingrained with the old hierarchical order that subordinates shouldn’t sit when the boss is standing, also stood up promptly.
“Anyway, that’s the worst-case scenario.”
His long eyelashes slightly curled.
“Let’s put off worrying for now since everything is going perfectly as planned. First, let’s deal with Evans.”
He flicked his finger towards Young-hee.
“Prepare the car.”
“Yes.”
Jang Young-hee responded promptly.
Of course, what he was preparing was not just the limousine but also Seo Seung-hyun’s spare tie, suit jacket, coat, and scarf, covering a wide range.
As Jang Young-hee’s back crossed the living room to the corridor leading outside, Seo Seung-hyun placed his hand on Lee Young-jin’s shoulder. During the conversation between Seo Seung-hyun and Jang Young-hee, Lee Young-jin, who had momentarily lost his sense of scale for numbers, finally came to his senses (Lee Young-jin thought numbers like one hundred billion or one trillion were only seen in binary or quinary systems). He tilted his head back to look up at Seo Seung-hyun. As his head tilted back, Seo Seung-hyun’s face appeared along with the chandelier on the ceiling. A smiling face. The hand resting on his shoulder slowly crawled up to his nape. Long fingers and a broad palm gently wrapped around his jaw. That hand, capable of snapping his neck vertebrae instantly if so desired, strangely didn’t feel threatening at all.
Seo Seung-hyun looked down at him, gently holding the junction of his jaw and neck.
“How’s your body.”
Blushing crept onto Lee Young-jin’s face at the question.
The knotting had been three days ago. It had been over two days since the heat had subsided.
The aftereffects of knotting were more of a languid and sultry warmth than pain.
Lee Young-jin still found it hard to believe that what he experienced was knotting and heat.
‘Something went wrong.’
Or…
‘Maybe it was really just a cold. Or some vicious Latin fever.’
Having been ridiculed a few times for saying that, he didn’t hastily voice it out this time. Instead, he barely moved his lips.
“I’m okay.”
“Don’t overdo it.”
“I haven’t.”
The sex last night was overdoing it, but anyway, that was a different issue… Sensing his inner thoughts, the corners of Seo Seung-hyun’s mouth lifted. The atmosphere enveloping his body carried a dense and rich scent. Unable to withstand it, Lee Young-jin shook his head in escape, letting go of Seo Seung-hyun’s hand.
Seo Seung-hyun casually withdrew his hand and stepped back two steps.
“What about the club’s security?”
The topic changed instantly.
“Uh, I can enter anytime. Are we going in?”
“If it ends without entering, that would be best.”
Seo Seung-hyun checked his wristwatch as he spoke.
“Just in case, check San Andres Golf Club too.”
“Should I check with Ms. Yang too?”
“I’ve already handled that side. In case of any unforeseen circumstances, I’ll have to extract Xi Xiping myself. Well, if Xi Xiping gets even a scratch, it would really mean war, but Ms. Yang will take care of it properly, I suppose.”
Seo Seung-hyun looked down at Lee Young-jin.
His dry and soft hand gently tapped his shoulder once.
Then, bending his waist, he suddenly dropped a kiss.
“Ah.”
Lee Young-jin’s lips parted.
With a soft sound, their lips met again and again.
Lee Young-jin thought his heart was beating so hard it hurt.
While keeping his lips pressed, Seo Seung-hyun gently caressed his cheek with the tip of his index finger and whispered.
“I’ll send Young-hee after the auction ends, so come to Guaymaral with us in the car.”
Lee Young-jin tried to respond, but no voice came out as if his lips were sealed. Fortunately, Seo Seung-hyun kissed him again. Lee Young-jin mumbled his response while pretending to focus on the kiss.
Finally, Seo Seung-hyun left.
Lee Young-jin immediately moved.
He grabbed his laptop and went to the desk. Turning on several monitors, images from sixteen divided CCTV feeds popped up. Lee Young-jin stared intently at one of them. A luxurious living room with a view of a lake and gentle green hills, Xi Xiping pacing back and forth with a tense look.
Lee Young-jin watched it for a moment, then looked away.
His fingers danced over the keyboard.
[你決定了嗎？ (Have you decided?)]
Xi Xiping’s shoulders twitched in the screen. He irritably pulled out his smartphone from his pocket to look. His eyebrows twitched. After some shoulder shrugging, a message popped up on Lee Young-jin’s monitor.
[告訴我。(Tell me.)]
[我會寄給你一條出去的路。(I’ll send you a way out.)]
[Throw away the damn translator. You’re Korean, right?]
Lee Young-jin blinked at the message, then placed his hands back on the keyboard.
[I’ll send you a way out.]
[Yeah, you’ve already said that. What route? Fuck. Call me.]
[That would be difficult.]
[What route.]
[A route for you to safely leave the club by yourself.]
[Is that possible?]
Xi Xiping seemed to curse as his lips moved in the screen.
[It’s possible. Just say you’ll do it.]
[Explain more then.]
[Don’t take the limousine going to the airport after the auction. You’ll leave through a route I’ll show you. A car will be waiting. Just get in.]
[How can I trust you?]
[Are you talking about trusting my abilities or my identity?]
[Both! Fuck, if I know who you are.]
Lee Young-jin wasn’t flustered.
He pressed a button, linking his smartphone to Bogotá’s terrestrial communication lines.
Xi Xiping’s room phone within the monitor began to ring. The young Chinese man flinched. He looked around and moved towards the phone with his smartphone in hand. The club’s internal number was displayed on the digital screen of the phone. Hesitantly, he picked up the handset.
“It’s me.”
Before Xi Xiping could respond, Lee Young-jin spoke first, not forgetting to turn down the laptop’s volume to the lowest beforehand.
[What, what the fuck!]
As expected, Xi Xiping yelled.
Only the sound of mosquitoes.
Lee Young-jin slightly increased the volume again.
“I borrowed the club’s internal line, so don’t do anything strange.”
[What, what are you?]
“I’m someone trying to help you.”
Lee Young-jin simply maneuvered the software with his mouse. The built-in IPTV in the center of the living room turned on, and a 3D blueprint of the Campestre Golf Club appeared.
“Currently, there are thirty-four security personnel hired by the auction side in the club and a total of seventy-two people including doormen, waiters, sommeliers, golf caddies, and other club service staff, along with you and six bodyguards from the other two auction participants who arrived earlier.”
Profiles of all employees with attached photos flashed by quickly.
[Wait, wait! Is that Lezhev? That bastard is participating in the auction? Fuck, how do I compete against oil money?]
“I don’t have the time or reason to explain that to you.”
All the pictures disappeared, and a 3D blueprint started to spin on the 105-inch oversized TV screen. Red arrows appeared over Xi Xiping’s room, the main building’s second-floor ballroom where the auction would take place, and a long rectangular single-story building on the east side of the club. A blue dotted line started from the second-floor ballroom, moved through corridors and down stairs, bypassed Xi Xiping’s room, and crossed a small back path connecting the buildings.
“After the auction ends, the auctioneer will personally come to your room to collect the payment and deliver the item. You have the payment ready, right?”
[In, in the personal safe…]
“Right. After receiving the item, send your men out first.”
A face of a Eurasian man with Western features, who looked to be of the third generation, appeared on the TV screen.
“He’s a club employee. This man will be waiting for you at the pantry stairs opposite your room. Not you, but he will be the one getting into the limousine.”
[The, the item?]
“Of course, you should have it. After sending your men out, you’ll take the item and directly escape through the back of the terrace. I will have already turned off the CCTV there for you. Then, follow the route I’m showing you now to the east side club staff parking lot. There’s a small pedestrian exit on the opposite side of the vehicle entrance. Exit there, and after walking 1.2 kilometers, you’ll reach a tennis club. A taxi will be waiting for you behind it.”
[Wait. You expect me to remember all that now?]
“Don’t worry. I’ll continue to give you instructions on your phone after the auction ends. Make sure your battery is well charged.”
Holding the handset, Xi Xiping looked around anxiously and whispered more quietly.
[What are you? What do you want? What’s the catch?]
“I don’t want a payoff.”
Really.
“I just… don’t want the item to end up in that person’s hands.”
Of course, he couldn’t honestly admit that he was planning to betray him and take the item for himself.
In one of the 16 split monitor screens, Xi Xiping’s pupils rolled around.
[So…]
He gulped.
[If I do as you say, I can safely get away with the item?]
“Yes. No need to worry about getting kidnapped by the cartel. And no need to bother your family either.”
[Fuck. You know that too?]
“It’s your choice. I’m just offering you a way to safely get out. Without having to deal with a kidnapping by the cartel. So, you won’t have to provoke your adoptive father or brothers and sisters… to help you escape.”
[What are you?]
Xi Xiping asked again.
[A big brother AI? Homeland security?]
Lee Young-jin didn’t laugh at Xi Xiping’s pitiful imagination. Instead, he simply replied, “Neither.” He was neither a big brother AI nor Chinese homeland security, just nothing at all.
“Are you in?”
[我操. (Fuck.)]
The response came back in Chinese.
Regardless of what it actually meant, it was clear it signified agreement.
Lee Young-jin ended the call and took a deep breath.
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