Chapter 34: When Loyalty Runs Dry

Chairman Cha's eyebrows shot up.

“Are you insinuating that I sold my own son at a high price?”

“Who’s insinuating? I mean it. If it were Woo Kwang’s daughter and Taesung Chemical, I’d even consider divorcing my oldest son and arranging a remarriage.”

“Enough.”

“I’m congratulating you. You know that. Hahaha. This is a celebratory drink from your little brother.”

“A congratulatory drink…? Then I’d better drink it.”

Without waiting for one another, the two brothers downed their drinks in one gulp.

The older brother had wild ginseng liquor, the younger had straight soju.

Trickle.

Now there were only two glasses left.

“Yoon-seong, the two of us went through hell, dragging that tiny company up to where it is now.”

“Yes, after taking over that cement plant left behind by the Japanese, we went all in and even set up a construction company. That’s how we made it here.”

“It was tough, no doubt. We worked day and night, rebuilt Seoul from the ruins of war. We paved roads, built bridges, set up schools, built homes and sold them. You carried the bricks, I hauled the cement.”

“We really rolled in construction site dust every single day, gritting our teeth. Determined to get rich. To live better, more grandly than anyone.”

“There was always trouble along the way. Money laundering for politicians, covering for scum, dealing with thugs and loan sharks. Incidents never ceased.”

“Thanks to that, I’ve been to prison twice, haven’t I? Hahaha.”

The drink tasted bitter.

So the liquor kept going down, one glass after another.

Chairman Cha downed his drink in one shot.

Thump. Trickle.

“This is the last glass, Yoon-seong.”

“Then I’ll make this my last as well.”

The younger brother emptied his glass at once.

Then, picking up where he’d left off earlier, he started babbling again.

“If we land the subway contract, Taesung Construction will hit the jackpot overnight! It’s the subway that runs through Seoul! It’ll become the daily means of transport for commuters! Whenever people think of Taesung Construction, they’ll remember Subway Line 2 first! The company stock will shoot up to the heavens!”

Even as the older brother sat, unable to finish his drink.

“Yoon-seong, I told you this was the last glass, yet here you are, going off on a tangent again.”

“Woo Kwang Construction’s president is out front at the hotel. He said we should team up as in-laws and put in a joint bid with Taesung this time. What do you think?”

“Hah…!”

“We’ve got no reason to refuse, do we? When opportunity knocks, we have to answer. If Woo Kwang really decides to block us, we’ll never get the subway contract. You know that, right?”

Chairman Cha threw back his last glass.

It was that comment that did it.

“Damn it!”

He hurled his empty glass.

The porcelain cup flew past Taesung Construction’s president’s head and crashed into the wall.

The shattering echoed as shards scattered everywhere.

Taesung Construction’s president shrank his neck like a startled turtle.

“H-Hyung-nim, what’s gotten into you?”

“You clueless bastard. Yoon-seong, why did you do it?”

“Pardon?”

“Why did you betray me?”

The color drained from the president’s face.

He sensed this was no ordinary conversation.

“H-Hyung-nim?”

“So, a good opportunity came and you just couldn’t let it slip? You wanted Taesung Construction that badly?”

“...!”

“You fool.”

Chairman Cha’s gaze turned icy cold.

“You go on and on about Taesung’s future, blabbering about a subway contract that’s not even in your hands, and you squandered every chance you had to own up to your mistakes.”

“M-My mistakes…?”

“Secretary Kim, bring it here!”

“Yes, Chairman.”

Secretary Kim immediately produced the prepared materials.

Chairman Cha threw the documents one by one in front of the Taesung president.

“This is your double ledger, this is the promissory note Taesung was supposed to block, and this is the land title for the apartment construction site you tried to sell off.”

“Aren’t those all from the safe in the Taesung president’s office?”

The Taesung president seemed instantly sober.

But Chairman Cha did not stop.

“This is the Taesung stock you secretly bought under borrowed names, these are the bearer bonds, these are the gold bars, these are overseas properties, and these—these are stacks of dollars.”

“You even broke into my secret family safe?”

Finally, the president screamed.

The things Chairman Cha tossed rolled across the table and dropped to the floor.

“T-This is theft! How could you do this to me, Hyung-nim…!”

“Theft?”

Chairman Cha’s eyebrows rose.

“That’s right, I broke open your safe. If you’re so aggrieved, report me to the police.”

“No, Hyung-nim!”

“And since you broke into my company’s safe, I’ll hand you over to the prosecution.”

“T-The prosecution?”

“Embezzlement and breach of trust. That’s a minimum of fifteen years.”

“Hyung-nim!”

“What? You think I won’t do it?”

“...!”

Taesung’s president’s face turned ashen.

Chairman Cha’s nickname was the Flaming Bulldozer.

His specialty was ramming through anything—making the impossible happen by sheer force.

“What a shame, Yoon-seong. You’ll have to celebrate your sixtieth and seventieth birthdays in prison.”

“Hyung-nim, please! Not the prosecution!”

“If you hate the prosecution, shall I send you to the KCIA instead?”

“...!”

Getting dragged into the KCIA, you wouldn’t come out in one piece.

The Taesung president knew that all too well.

“H-Hyung-nim…!”

“The only reason you ever got to sit in that chair was not because you were any good. It’s because you were my little brother.”

Chairman Cha’s voice was frigid.

“It would’ve been fine if you skimmed off a little. But you crossed the line. You dared to try and snatch my son’s livelihood? Then what, you think I won’t take your family’s bread away, too?”

Thud!

Taesung Construction’s president fell to his knees.

“I was wrong, Hyung-nim! Please, just this once!”

“The last chance I gave you, that golden opportunity—you wasted it all on excuses, complaints, and empty fantasies.”

Chairman Cha turned away.

“When the wild ginseng liquor runs dry, so does loyalty. That’s as far as our brotherhood goes.”

“Hyung-nim, I’ve committed a mortal sin! It’s true! If you forgive me just this once—!”

“You think ‘I’m sorry’ is enough?”

Too much had happened to be swept away by mere words.

It was he who had run in the opposite direction.

“What I gave you, what you siphoned off, what my son earned—you’ll cough it all up.”

“T-That—!”

“Or should I make your whole family cough up everything too? Want to go to prison hand in hand as a family?”

“Hyung-nim! My wife and children are your sister-in-law and nephews, aren’t they? Please, at least spare them!”

Taesung’s president stammered.

“N-No need to be so cruel with family, is there? Out of seven brothers, the war killed and scattered us, and now it’s just you and me left.”

He shuffled on his knees and clung to his brother’s leg.

“Hyung-nim, I’ve really committed a mortal sin! If you want to vent your anger, do it to me! I’ll shut up and take whatever beating you want! So please—!”

“Let go, will you?”

Blinded by rage, Chairman Cha grabbed whatever was on the table.

It was a soju bottle.

Terrified, the president clung desperately to Chairman Cha’s leg.

“I’ve been to prison twice! When there was a tax audit, when the prosecution came after us, I went to jail in your stead!”

The president’s voice trembled with tears.

“Hyung-nim, my youngest daughter is getting married this spring. I have to walk her down the aisle. So please, just this once—!”

Chairman Cha’s hand holding the soju bottle trembled.

He wanted to bash his brother’s skull in right now.

“Huuuu…”

He let out a deep sigh, his insides twisting and his guts threatening to burst.

Panting for a while, Chairman Cha squeezed his eyes shut.

“Leave Taesung.”

“Yes.”

“Cough up every cent you embezzled. That’s my son’s earnings.”

“Of course.”

“Every share of Taesung stock—whether you secretly bought them or I gave them to you—turn them all over. Not a single share left.”

“I understand.”

“And everything Secretary Kim brought—leave it all.”

“Yes.”

Chairman Cha gestured with his hand.

“Go home. Spend New Year’s with your family.”

“Thank you, Hyung-nim.”

“Remember this. You owe Seong-jun a debt.”

“Yes, I’ll repay it, no matter what. If Seong-jun ever runs into trouble, I’ll step in and shoulder it for him.”

Taesung’s president bowed deeply.

With a long sigh, he staggered away, footsteps weak and unsteady.

Chairman Cha glared fiercely at his retreating back, then turned around.

“Secretary Kim, get a full confession from that bastard. Every detail about how he colluded with Woo Kwang and laundered the money.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Damn it.”

Chairman Cha felt like a thousand fires burned inside him.

He uncapped the soju and drank straight from the bottle, barely pausing for breath.

He could feel the liquor burn all the way down his throat.

His chest blazed as if scorched deep inside.

It wasn’t just the strength of the alcohol.

He had hardened his own heart.

“Chairman, you’ve had too much. Please, that’s enough.”

Secretary Kim tried to stop him.

“Let me be. The bastard might have avoided prison, but I’ve scraped everything out of him.”

Secretary Kim silently handed over a note.

The handwriting was crooked, like a child’s.



Chairman Cha set down the soju bottle with a deep sigh.

-Don’t worry. Everything will be alright.

He could almost hear his grandson’s voice.

“Secretary Kim. As promised, deliver all this to Jeong-hyuk. And shake down the entire Taesung Construction executive team, recover every last thing they siphoned off.”

It was all because my precious boy brought me Woo Kwang Construction’s bribe ledger.

He did a great deed; he deserves a great reward.

This is for our Jeong-hyuk.

‘My precious child! Already showing such devotion at your age. Cleaning up every fly clinging to your father’s plate.’

The more he thought about it, the more he adored him, the more proud he felt.

“While you’re bringing a present to Jeong-hyuk, let Seong-jun know too. Tell him Taesung Construction’s president has changed.”

Chairman Cha folded his arms.

“Not just advanced Japanese civil engineering know-how, but the Woo Kwang bribe ledger too—this credit should go in my son’s name!”

Now that the flies had been cleared out, it was time to go all out for the subway contract!

“Woo Kwang struck first, so there’s no point blaming me for being ruthless!”

Chairman Cha ground his teeth.

“If it were my real brother, maybe. But you lot, who aren’t even blood? I owe you nothing!”

Thanks to Woo Kwang’s meddling, the last remaining bond between brothers was broken.

He might have been incompetent, he might have been lacking, but he was still my brother.

“I can’t do business with those without a shred of business ethics! I won’t form in-law ties with families that lack even basic morals!”

The conclusion was already made.

“Secretary Kim, tell Seong-jun to attend the Year-End Night with his wife and children!”

The Year-End Night was an annual charity gala attended by leaders from politics, business, and every field.

Chairman Cha intended to make it clear in front of everyone.

Who the true master of Taesung Construction was!

“You think Taesung will collapse just because we lose a single chemical company?”

The difference between Taesung and Woo Kwang!

“Did you send out the blackmail letters properly?”

“Of course.”

“To everyone who took bribes from Woo Kwang, and even those who didn’t, without missing a single one?”

“Yes, the contents vary a bit, but all sent.”

“Good! Then everything’s set. We’ll go and make a real scene that day!”

Chairman Cha leapt to his feet.

Without looking back, he left the Taesung Hotel suite.

He didn’t spare a glance for the soju bottles and glasses his brother had left behind—he only took the wild ginseng liquor bottle.

And, of course, the note from his grandson.

That, he could neither ignore nor throw away.

---

Ding-dong! Ding-dong ding-dong!

The sharp-eyed bodyguard, self-proclaimed number two, Chief Yoo Jong-tae, came running to report.

“Young master, Secretary Kim is here with a present!”

Oh-ho!

Not a bribe, but a present!

Well then, I’ll run out with open arms!