On a small bunk in the dark cabin, Woo Ho-geun lay alone.
Squinting against the sunlight pouring through the round porthole, he turned his head this way and that before finally forcing his heavy eyelids open.
"Ugh… my head."
Clutching his skull with one hand, he pushed himself up, a stabbing headache making him feel as if he'd been drinking all night.
His mouth was as dry as a desert, and his mind, still foggy as if the alcohol hadn't fully left his system, drifted through yesterday's memories like a dense mist.
"Damn it… I feel like my stomach's about to turn inside out."
Cursing, Woo Ho-geun fumbled for water, only to pause at the strange feeling pressing down on him.
The low ceiling weighed on him like the inside of a massive coffin, and wooden walls were fitted with foldable tables and storage cabinets.
Beneath the sheets, he could feel a thin, hard mattress, and the salty, fishy smell of the sea was strong in the air.
This was not the bedroom of the beachfront mansion where he had been staying.
"…Where am I?"
Frowning, he forced himself to grasp at yesterday's events. The only thing he could recall was drinking a canned beer given by a girl who claimed to work as a model after he had made a phone call in Seoul. After that, everything was a blank.
"Damn it… what the hell happened?"
Staggering to his feet, Woo Ho-geun approached the round porthole.
Outside, under a cloudless blue sky, he saw a marina orderly filled with yachts of all sizes.
Until now, he had assumed the floor's shaking was from lingering effects of the alcohol—but he was wrong.
The boat itself was rocking gently with the shallow waves.
"What the… why am I on a boat?"
A cold instinct told him something was very wrong, and his expression hardened.
At that moment—
Bang!
The cabin door burst inward with a deafening crash.
Immediately, burly men wearing bulletproof vests marked with "DEA" surged inside.
In their hands, they gripped pistols equipped with laser sights and MP5 submachine guns tightly.
"Freeze! DEA!"
"Move and you'll be shot!"
The harsh shouts reverberated through the cabin.
Woo Ho-geun froze, eyes wide, staring at the cold barrels of guns aimed at him.
"W-what… what is this?"
Even as he looked at the men forming a semicircle around him, he couldn't tell if this was real or if he was still wandering in a dream.
Amid the chaos in his mind, a masked DEA agent approached, holding a pistol aimed at him.
The agent pressed the gun to his head, grabbed his shoulder tightly with one hand, and roughly slammed him onto the cabin floor.
The rough contact of his cheek hitting the wooden floor made the reality of the situation finally sink in, and fear gripped Woo Ho-geun, making his body tremble uncontrollably.
"P-please… don't hurt me!"
"Shut up and stay still!"
The DEA agent pressed one knee onto his back, pinning him down.
The weight pressing against his entire body made it hard for Woo Ho-geun to breathe.
Meanwhile, the agent twisted his arms behind his back and bound his wrists with a thick cable tie pulled from his waist.
As the tie dug into his bare skin, Woo Ho-geun screamed in pain.
"Ahhh!"
"Quiet!"
The agent barked sharply, eyes blazing.
Terrified that he could die at any moment, Woo Ho-geun tried to stifle his cries. The DEA agent tightened the cable ties further, grabbed his bound arms, and roughly hauled him to his feet.
Still confused and unable to comprehend what was happening, Woo Ho-geun watched helplessly as the agents ransacked the shelves and under the bunk, searching the cabin.
Then one of the agents shouted, having found something.
"Bingo! Got it."
He tore open a small, tightly sealed bag—just slightly larger than a palm—with a jackknife, revealing a pile of white powder.
Skillfully, the DEA agent pulled out a field test kit and applied it to the powder. Instantly, it turned blue.
"Positive! It's cocaine."
At the word "cocaine," Woo Ho-geun's eyes went wide, and he desperately denied it.
"N-no, that's not mine! I don't even know why I'm here!"
But the man who appeared to be in charge snorted dismissively.
"Drag him out!"
The DEA agent holding him by the shoulder shoved him roughly from behind.
"Move!"
"N-no! Wait!"
Woo Ho-geun was forcibly dragged out of the cabin, his feet scrambling across the deck as he kept turning back and shouting.
"I'm telling you, I didn't do anything! Contact the embassy—the Korean embassy!"
But no one paid any attention to his desperate pleas.
Once off the yacht, he was loaded into a black van. Consumed by fear and despair, Woo Ho-geun couldn't think of anything at all.
***
In front of the large glass window showcasing a stunning night view, Seok-won sat in a single-person recliner, legs resting on the footrest, sipping warm tea while reading a book.
At the sound of a vibrating phone, he picked up the device he had set aside.
Seeing the number on the screen, he pressed the call button and asked in a slightly subdued voice,
"How did it go?"
[He was arrested by the DEA in Miami and is currently under investigation for cocaine possession and distribution.]
"They wouldn't let him slip away like a slippery fish, I assume."
[They found as much as one kilogram of cocaine at the scene, and both urine and hair tests came back positive. On top of that, he's suspected not just of use but also distribution. No matter how expensive the lawyer, he won't avoid prison.]
"He was using drugs while staying in the Bahamas, right?"
[Yes. He lived a very debauched life with women, alcohol, and the money he siphoned off for drugs. It made things easier for him, in a way.]
Since he had always been steeped in drugs, it wasn't exactly an unfair accusation.
Seok-won adjusted his grip on the phone and asked,
"How long do you think the sentence will be?"
[He won't be seeing the outside world for at least ten years.]
Hearing this, Seok-won's face lit up with satisfaction.
"What happened to the items Woo Ho-geun had?"
[Everything has been collected and sent to Seoul.]
Seok-won nodded slightly, pleased with the clean handling of the situation.
"Make sure the cleanup is thorough so there are no problems, and report the situation regularly."
[Understood.]
Ending the call, Seok-won set down his phone, a cold, icy glint settling into his eyes.
"With this, we can completely take care of Woo Ho-geun."
At first, the plan had been to forcibly bring Woo Ho-geun, who had fled to the Bahamas, back to Korea.
But, as with most chaebol, it was obvious he would drag out the trial, wait until public interest waned, and then receive an extremely light sentence—something like three years in prison with a five-year suspended sentence—and be released without consequence.
"Of course, because of the previous stock manipulation case, he can't entirely avoid a real sentence since he's still under probation. But with his money and connections… he won't serve the full term. He'll probably get out on parole halfway through."
The saying "justice for the rich, punishment for the poor" wasn't just talk.
Even if he were brought back to Korea, he would likely receive a punishment far too light for his crimes and strut around as if nothing had happened. That thought made Seok-won change his plan.
He decided Woo Ho-geun would pay for his sins abroad, not at home.
"He's just getting the punishment he deserves. No need to feel wronged."
Seok-won then sipped his warm tea as if nothing had happened and returned to reading his book.
***
Mapo, Daehung Group Headquarters.
A black Mercedes-Benz luxury sedan slid to a stop in front of the main entrance.
As Section Chief Choo Se-young rushed forward to open the rear door, Chairman Park Tae-hong, dressed in a cashmere coat, stepped out.
The air immediately tensed around his charismatic presence. Secretary General Gil Seong-ho, who had come out to greet him, bowed his head respectfully.
"Welcome, Chairman."
"Hm."
Chairman Park gave a slight nod and began walking, with Gil Seong-ho and Section Chief Choo promptly following behind.
Passing through the glass revolving doors and stepping onto the polished marble of the lobby, they were met by employees who quickly stepped aside or bowed their heads in greeting, startled by his commanding presence.
Park Tae-hong glanced over them once, expressionless, and crossed the lobby in measured, sharp footsteps.
Soon, he and his entourage entered a pre-arranged elevator and ascended.
Meanwhile, the employees, who had been keeping their heads lowered, unconsciously exhaled and straightened up.
"Chairman really exudes charisma every time I see him."
"Absolutely. The aura of authority coming off him… wow, look at my sweaty hands."
"Truly our chairman."
The employees murmured among themselves briefly before dispersing.
The lobby, which had frozen as if time itself had stopped, regained its energy.
At the same time, in the chairman's office, Park Tae-hong removed his coat and handed it to Jung Yoon-kyung, recently promoted to section chief, then turned to Secretary Gil Seong-ho and asked,
"Have you seen today's newspaper?"
Being a longtime aide, Gil Seong-ho immediately understood the reference and replied,
"You mean the situation with Executive Woo Ho-geun of Donghae Group?"
"Yes."
Clicking his tongue, Park Tae-hong unbuttoned his top shirt and settled into the main seat of the sofa.
"On top of embezzling company funds right before bankruptcy and causing Chairman Woo Yong-gap to undergo prosecution, now his son goes and causes an incident like this in the U.S.? Really, it's a national embarrassment."
"Indeed."
Though he spoke politely, Park Tae-hong still bore a grudge against Woo Yong-gap for attempting a hostile takeover of Midopa Department Store, and his expression radiated the desire to sue him to death.
"No matter how much money you have, if you mess up raising your children, all of it is for nothing."
Park Tae-hong said this with a self-satisfied grin.
"I'm not saying it just because they're my sons, but the younger one aside, even the elder isn't lacking in any way, right?"
"Of course not."
"Even at the presidential inauguration a few days ago, you saw for yourself. The way the other chairmen looked on with envy!"
Chairman Park Tae-hong had been formally invited to the ceremony and had attended with both of his sons in front of the National Assembly in Yeouido.
But the seat they were assigned wasn't just any VIP section—it was directly behind the dais, which was covered with blue and red carpets.
Seats on the dais were strictly limited to former presidents, visiting heads of state, diplomatic envoys, and specially selected distinguished guests.
Even among business circles, only chairmen from the top five conglomerates, like Sasung and Hyunwoo, could secure invitations.
Not only did Park Tae-hong take his two sons and sit proudly in that VVIP section, but President Kim Jae-chun, after taking the oath, personally reached out to shake hands and engage in a brief, friendly conversation with them. The memory alone was enough to make Park's chest swell with pride.
Even now, thinking about it brought a smile to his face.
Seated on the sofa, grinning to himself, Park Tae-hong caused Secretary General Gil Seong-ho to shake his head subtly.
He worried about what the staff would think, seeing their usually stern and charismatic chairman behaving so casually.
"By the way, what's the status of transferring the Nasan Department Store's Nonhyeon branch, which we recently acquired, to the younger son?"
Park Tae-hong asked suddenly, as if the thought had just crossed his mind.
"The contract was finalized yesterday as two billion won was deposited into the corporate account."
"Well done. That really lightens the burden of acquiring Nasan Department Store."
"And regarding the group's surplus funds you mentioned previously—placing them under Daehung Investments for management?"
"Why?"
"The preliminary discussions are almost complete, but the management fee they're requesting is quite high."
Park Tae-hong paused, raising his eyebrows.
"How much are they asking for?"
"They're requesting thirty percent of the profits."
"What?!"
The cheerful grin from earlier, while he had been proudly talking about his sons, vanished. Park Tae-hong's face darkened.
"Ugh… Seok-won, this guy really…"