Having finished his words, the Alpha leaned back leisurely against the back of the sofa, arrogantly crossing his legs.
“If it’s a timeout, both Teacher and I are screwed just the same. Both the item and the money are gone. Well, only the bastard who set that damned time limit lock will benefit.”
Time limit.
Seo Seung-hyun had already been notified about it by the auctioneer during his first auction in Shanghai. Not only Seo Seung-hyun but all participants of the auction must have been notified as well.
A laptop with a non-rechargeable battery.
The program installed on the laptop activates automatically as soon as the battery is drained, perfectly securing all data to a cloud server for the exhibitor to retrieve, and destroying the rest.
Investments worth hundreds of billions, even trillions, become zero in an instant.
And the item would appear again in another black market, this time with a new price.
To stop it, one must extract the recipe for the chemical weapon by entering a code before the battery runs out.
It was an utterly shitty system.
Everyone took on that risk by participating in the auction.
Including Seo Seung-hyun.
‘Those bastards really made quite a remarkable weapon to cause this much of a shitstorm, Executive Director Kwon Shin-woo.’
Seo Seung-hyun looked at Teacher with a smiling eye, cursing inwardly. And deliberately glanced at his wristwatch once. A wristwatch worth hundreds of millions, but insignificant compared to the numbers bouncing back and forth on their negotiation table like ping pong balls. The hands of the wristwatch ticked the time.
“What will you do?”
Seo Seung-hyun asked once again.
Teacher looked at him with his mouth closed.
The answer did not come easily, but Seo Seung-hyun already knew the outcome.
“Alright.”
Seo Seung-hyun stood up. A drawn smile was on his straight face.
“Then, 3:30 in the early morning would be good. I will send someone around 2 o’clock.”
“Let me know the place, and I’ll come.”
“Ah.”
Seo Seung-hyun slightly raised his eyebrows as if surprised.
“The place is… above the sea… I was going to send a helicopter, but are you really okay with that?”
Teacher frowned without answering.
Seo Seung-hyun let out a soft laugh.
“I bought a cruise ship this time. It’s currently near the Ryukyu Islands. Ah, a casino. These days, that kind of thing makes quite a bit of money. It also replenishes the cash supply. In international waters, whatever you do, it doesn’t matter under the laws of South Korea. The interior isn’t fully finished yet, it’s before opening, but anyway, there’s no better place for the transaction. If you’re interested in casinos, let me know. I’ll arrange a place.”
Afterward, Seo Seung-hyun slightly tilted his head to the side and smiled slyly.
“I’ll send a limousine on time. The helicopter will take off from Gimpo.”
The man who left those words adjusted his tie lightly, nodded slightly, and then left the room without hesitation.
That was the end of it.
With a final arrogant greeting, Seo Seung-hyun left the room without hesitation.
An employee was waiting in front of the room.
The professional, even more polite in the face of a substantial tip, smiled and escorted Seo Seung-hyun to the entrance.
Instead of the conspicuous heavy square limousine, a sleek convertible was waiting. The valet courteously opened the driver’s door for him. Seo Seung-hyun, who lightly climbed into the driver’s seat where the car key was already inserted, slid a cheque into the fingers of the employee about to close the door, just before closing it himself.
“I’m out of cash right now. Sorry.”
“No problem.”
The employee, who had already heard about this generous man from a colleague, smiled and bowed his head.
Vroom! The slender convertible roared out of character with a heavy engine rumble, emitting exhaust gases.
The sleek convertible cut through the night of Seoul.
Crossing the Han River and piercing through Namsan, it headed for a luxury hotel in Mapo. As the convertible slid into the front gate, a doorman quickly ran out. As Seo Seung-hyun got out of the car, he stuck a cheque in the vest of the employee who opened the door for him.
“I’m out of cash right now.”
Repeating the same words he said thirty minutes ago, Seo Seung-hyun straightened up and strode into the hotel lobby. Without hesitation, he pressed the top floor on the elevator. Rooftop lounge. As the elevator doors opened, the sparkling night view of Seoul through the front window unfolded. This time, it definitely suited Seo Seung-hyun’s taste.
Seo Seung-hyun stepped on the polished epoxy floor and headed towards the bar. At the far end of the semicircular bar, as sleek as the convertible he had arrived in, a woman in a sharp suit was sitting. The bartender had just placed a dry martini glass in front of her. Seo Seung-hyun stopped in front of her. A slight smile appeared on his lips.
“Director Moon.”
The chief prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office turned to look at him. One corner of her eye was scrunched up in displeasure.
“You’re early. I thought you would give me time for at least one drink.”
“The conversation ended quicker than I thought.”
Seo Seung-hyun replied as he pulled out a chair and sat down next to her. The bartender approached them. Before Seo Seung-hyun could order, Moon Hee-kyung beat him to it.
“Beer for this side.”
Seo Seung-hyun’s eyebrows slightly raised before settling back to their original position. The bartender’s eyes flitted between their faces, then smiled briefly and nodded once.
Soon, a slender glass of frothy lager was placed in front of Seo Seung-hyun.
Seo Seung-hyun leaned his elbow lightly on the bar, resting his chin on the back of his hand, and stared at Moon Hee-kyung. She boldly met his gaze, holding a dry martini glass in one hand.
“Do you find it amusing to mess with me like this?”
“Messing with you? I’m the one buying.”
“What an honor, to drink beer bought by the chief prosecutor.”
Seo Seung-hyun murmured softly.
Of course, the seasoned chief prosecutor was not fooled by his deliberately friendly grumbling.
“So.”
Her lips, coated with lipstick, moved dryly.
“What’s this interesting information?”
“These days, the chief prosecutor seems quite busy, doesn’t she?”
The question was met with another question. The chief prosecutor, who disliked wasting time, frowned. A hint of displeasure crept into her faintly wrinkled eyes.
“Since when did the prosecution become your backyard, CEO Seo?”
“One hears this and that.”
“We’re sensitive these days because of Seoran. Don’t stir things up unnecessarily. You’re not thinking of expanding SH now, are you… or maybe you’re considering entering politics?”
“Ha! What absurdity. Politics, me? Maybe if you were the chief prosecutor.”
“Can we stop wasting time?”
Moon Hee-kyung pushed her empty cocktail glass across the bar. The bartender approached. She pointed her finger tip at a whiskey bottle on the shelf to place her order.
“Two glasses.”
At the same time, Seo Seung-hyun gestured to the bartender.
“Take this away, please.”
Without any change in expression, the bartender perfectly smiled as he took away the untouched beer glass and instead placed two crystal glasses filled with golden Highlander whiskey in front of them. Seo Seung-hyun gently touched the surface of the glass with his fingertips, tilting his head to look at Moon Hee-kyung. His expression was calm.
“I have a list or two.”
Seo Seung-hyun continued lightly, almost humming.
“IG Logistics, Global Colgate, Haeju Forwarding, Gyeongup Trading… and about thirty others.”
The eyes of the chief prosecutor, who rose to her position by bringing down the sixty-year reign of a major conglomerate, narrowed. The corners of her mouth twisted unevenly.
“Did you call me all the way here just for that?”
“Hmm. Does that not satisfy our chief prosecutor?”
“Anyone not a fool knows about Gyeongup Trading’s tentacles list.”
Tap, tap, Moon Hee-kyung’s fingernails irritably drummed on the bar.
“There’s no evidence, no evidence to apply for a warrant.”
“Evidence can be found if you look for it.”
“CEO Seo. Did you call me here to waste my time?”
“Of course not.”
Seo Seung-hyun pulled the corners of his eyes down, creating a gentle smile.
“Let me repeat, evidence can be found, right?”
Moon Hee-kyung’s lips twisted. She snatched the glass and downed the liquor in one gulp. Thud. The bottom of the glass hit the bar, and she flashed an ambiguous smile.
“Alright. Let’s see. I’m curious about the plausible excuse you’ve brought.”
“There’s a drug deal.”
“Drugs?”
“Roughly worth two hundred billion won in cocaine.”
Her division, Criminal Division 4, specialized in economic crimes. She had no interest or curiosity in drug crimes, which were under the jurisdiction of the violent crime division, unless those drug cases were linked to economic offenses.
A spark of interest flickered in her sharp eyes.
“It’s trivial. A trivial scale. But….”
At Seo Seung-hyun’s significant pause, he grinned slightly.
“Yes, it is a trivial scale. But at least, wouldn’t it serve as a pretext for a search and seizure?”
A look of seriousness and skepticism slowly spread across her face. A heavy gaze of doubt, like a dark fog, swept over Seo Seung-hyun.
“A businessman like CEO Seo wouldn’t be bringing me this information for the public good… What do you want?”
“Well, it’s simple.”
A full smile circled the perfect shape of his lips and eyes.
“Chief Prosecutor. Let’s make a deal. With this, you can catch Gyeongup Trading, and I get what I want. How about it?”
Moon Hee-kyung hmm-ed and crossed her legs.
The relationship between the Chief Prosecutor of Seoul Central District and her wasn’t very good. As a rare left-wing high-ranking official in the central government, Moon Hee-kyung and the traditionally conservative elite chief prosecutor had been ideologically and politically opposed. If she could bypass the chief prosecutor and expose the corruption of past governments involved with Gyeongup Trading over decades, it might be a stepping stone to becoming the next deputy prosecutor, perhaps even leapfrogging to a higher position.
But.
Wasn’t the offer too sweet?
“It sounds too good to be true.”
“Ha.”
Seo Seung-hyun laughed dryly.
“Chief Prosecutor. Life isn’t like economics, it doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game. Why can’t it be win-win, good for both of us?”
***
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