"Ugh…my head…"
Yoon Seok-hyung woke up with a groan, clutching his aching head. He looked around the unfamiliar room in a daze.
"Where am I? This isn't my house."
He remembered drinking too much with Park Jong-bum, who had been so understanding and agreeable.
He recalled going to a room salon with Park Jong-bum for their third round of drinks, but after that, his memory was blank.
Then he saw a half-naked woman lying next to him in bed, and his face turned pale.
"W-what?! Who are you?!"
The woman woke up, rubbing her eyes.
"Oppa, you're awake? What's wrong?"
Yoon Seok-hyung was taken aback.
"O-oppa?"
The woman yawned and said,
"Don't you remember? Did you drink too much?"
"What…what is going on?"
"Director Park Jong-bum brought you here and asked me to take care of you because you were drunk. You really don't remember?"
He looked around the room, noticing the luxurious interior and realized it wasn't an ordinary place.
"Where…where are we?"
"The Royal Hotel."
"The Royal Hotel? We're at the Royal Hotel?"
The Royal Hotel was a five-star hotel in downtown Seoul. He had been there a few times with Assemblyman Lee.
The room rate was hundreds of thousands of won per night, far beyond the means of a low-level secretary like him.
"Park Jong-bum's contact information…I got his business card yesterday."
To understand the missing memory and the current situation, he had to talk to Park Jong-bum, the last person he was with.
He frantically searched his pockets for the business card.
As he searched his suit jacket, he felt something heavy in the inner pocket.
"What's this?"
He pulled out a stack of crisp, new 10,000 won bills, totaling 4 million won.
"What the hell?!"
He instinctively yelled, then quickly stuffed the money back into his pocket, conscious of the woman's presence. He muttered as he searched for the business card,
"Money? Money? That son of a bitch Park Jong-bum…"
As a low-level secretary, he didn't have much power, but that didn't mean there weren't temptations.
He wasn't immune to the lure of money, but he had always rejected such offers, knowing they could ruin his future political career.
But his vigilance had slipped.
"That bastard Park Jong-bum planned this from the beginning."
He glared at Park Jong-bum's business card, which he found in his back pocket. The woman snuggled up to him and said,
"You were amazing last night, oppa. I almost passed out."
Yoon Seok-hyung pushed her away roughly.
"Get out! I'm not in the mood right now!"
The woman's eyes widened.
"You were all over me yesterday, and now you're acting like this?"
He grabbed her shoulders and said,
"Keep your mouth shut about what happened here. Do you know who I am? I can ruin you with a single word. Don't you dare spread any rumors. Understand?"
The woman, intimidated, said,
"O-oppa."
"Who's your oppa?! Get out!"
She quickly got dressed and left the room. Yoon Seok-hyung hurriedly called Park Jong-bum.
He paced back and forth, muttering,
"Pick up, pick up."
Four million won wasn't a huge amount.
There were other secretaries in similar positions who had given up on their political aspirations and were obsessed with making money.
The purpose of bribing secretaries was simple.
All they had to do was subtly influence the Assemblyman's decisions during meetings or when he asked for their opinions.
It might seem insignificant, but their constant positive remarks could effectively change the Assemblyman's perception of a particular person or issue.
People were easily swayed by the opinions of those around them.
But unlike those secretaries who were blinded by greed, Yoon Seok-hyung still dreamed of becoming a politician, a member of the National Assembly.
This kind of money could ruin him.
[Hello?]
"You…"
He was about to yell at Park Jong-bum, but he stopped himself.
Yelling and arguing wouldn't help him.
The best course of action was to calmly persuade Park Jong-bum to take back the money and pretend nothing had happened. He took a deep breath and said,
"Director Park, did you get home safely?"
[Yes, Secretary Yoon. Did you have a good rest? I was worried because you were so drunk yesterday. I'm glad you called.]
"Haha, yes, I had a good rest, thanks to you. But Director Park, I don't remember much from last night, but wasn't the hotel a bit too much? And I was surprised to see a woman next to me."
Park Jong-bum chuckled.
[I wanted to treat you well since it was our first meeting. And I sent the woman to your room because I was worried something might happen to you if you were alone and drunk. Don't worry about it.]
"Is that so? Hahaha."
[Hahaha.]
Yoon Seok-hyung, listening to his insincere laughter, said, holding up the money,
"By the way, I found something in my jacket pocket that shouldn't be there. Did you put it there, Director Park?"
Park Jong-bum sounded puzzled.
[Something that shouldn't be there? I don't understand. Can you explain?]
"Money. Four million won. It's not mine, so it must be yours, right? You seem to have lost it. Come and get it."
Silence followed his words.
Yoon Seok-hyung, assuming he understood, sighed and said,
"I was surprised to find the money. It could be misunderstood, so you should come and get it as soon as possible. It could damage Assemblyman Lee An-jin's reputation if word gets out."
Park Jong-bum said in a surprised voice,
[That's a strange thing to say.]
"Strange?"
[I gave you the 4 million won because you asked for it.]
Yoon Seok-hyung, slightly annoyed, said,
"What are you talking about? I would never ask for money. Don't play games with me."
Park Jong-bum said in an aggrieved voice,
[It's true! You kept talking about money, so I had no choice but to give it to you. I'm being wrongly accused!]
"I'm telling you again, take it back."
[I can't believe this. Just a moment. I never imagined I would have to use this.]
There was a rustling sound, and then Yoon Seok-hyung's own voice came from the phone.
["Give me 4 million won. That should be enough."]
The blood drained from his face.
The audio quality wasn't great, but it was definitely his voice, asking for money.
[I recorded it just in case. Can you hear it clearly?]
Yoon Seok-hyung stammered, his face pale,
"W-what… what is that? M-my voice?"
[Yes, you were very drunk yesterday, so I recorded it just in case.]
He stumbled at the word "recorded."
"Recorded? You recorded me asking for money?"
[Hello?]
Yoon Seok-hyung snapped back to reality and shouted,
"Director Park? You recorded me? Really? Delete it! Delete it right now!"
[Hmm…]
Park Jong-bum hesitated and then said with a chuckle,
[Why should I?]
"Yes, then I'll see you next time. Take care."
Park Jong-bum ended the call and smiled.
"It's done."
I chuckled.
"He fell for it."
"We have his weakness and bribed him, so we just need to manage him carefully."
Park Jong-bum smiled slyly.
"And then we move up the ladder."
They would start with the level-9 secretary, bribe him, and then gradually move up to the level-8, level-7 secretary, and eventually the chief aide.
Once they had a spy on the inside, it would be easy to control the rest. Eventually, Assemblyman Lee An-jin would be surrounded by people with a vested interest in pleasing us.
They would have them say good things about us, creating a positive image and portraying us as a trustworthy company. And that would complete the plan to build connections with National Assembly members.
"Then it's simple. We use Lee An-jin to expand our network to other Assembly members."
"As expected of Director Park."
Park Jong-bum, pleased with my praise, suddenly said,
"Oh, I almost forgot. I need to finish this."
He made a phone call.
"Did you get everything? Good. Then deliver it to me at the designated location. I'll pay you as promised. Thank you for your hard work."
I asked curiously after he ended the call,
"Who was that?"
Park Jong-bum smirked.
"The woman I sent to Yoon Seok-hyung. I had her record everything with a camcorder. Isn't it perfect? This is enough to ruin his career."
I applauded.
"As expected of Director Park. You're amazing!"
Maru just sighed, watching us.
***
Time flew by, and winter arrived.
The Korean economy was freezing over, but Chunha Trading was thriving.
The exchange rate, which had been around 800 won per dollar a year ago, had soared to 1,200 won, increasing our revenue by over 50%, as all our sales were generated overseas.
A year ago, we bought used clothes for 200 won per kg and sold them to China for 2.2 yuan, making a profit of about 20 won. But now, even if we received the same 2.2 yuan, it would be worth over 300 won after the exchange, a fivefold increase in profit. The same applied to our other businesses.
The secondhand electronic components department store was bustling, the Shenzhen factory was generating enormous profits, and the constant stream of bankrupt companies was filling our coffers.
"The fake identity is also active, and there are no problems."
The meticulously crafted fake identity had graduated from high school and started his business.
Despite his young age of 20, he had entered the secondhand goods market aggressively, acquiring a portion of the Korean market.
To make it even more convincing, we had purchased a warehouse and created a real company, staffed with loyal members of the Park Sol squad, and even conducted legitimate transactions.
I patted my belly and said,
"I wish things could stay like this forever."
Thanks to the rising exchange rate, Chunha Trading's overseas reserves had exceeded 1 trillion won, reaching 1.3 trillion won.
I had started from nothing, and although most of it was dirty money, I had become a trillionaire.
The TV in my office was broadcasting news about the economic crisis, but strangely, the worse the economy got, the more money I made. It was almost comical.
Then a newsflash announced that the government would hold a press conference at 10 p.m. at the government complex.
"What? A press conference?"
I scoffed at the sudden announcement.
"They're probably going to say that Korea's fundamentals are strong and there's nothing to worry about."
The Korean government had been parroting the same line even after the chain of bankruptcies in Southeast Asian countries. They insisted that Korea's economic fundamentals were different and that there was no crisis. I assumed this press conference was just another attempt to reassure the public.
"But… something feels strange."
My intuition started tingling.
I felt a strange sense of foreboding and sat down on the sofa, staring at the TV, even though I had never been interested in government press conferences. And at 10 p.m.,
The Korean government announced that they had requested an IMF bailout on November 21st. They had surrendered.