NOVEL NEXT Chapter 20.2
The Taste of Strategy (2)
A party?
I guess she’s talking about a ‘drug party’.
“If you’re looking for a fresh type of fun, it would be my pleasure to invite you. Although the annual fee is a bit expensive.”
“Hmm.”
I hesitated.
Since I’ve got the chance, I definitely have to attend and wipe them all out in one go, but the problem was my identity.
If they were all just average Joes then there was no need for concern, but a descendant of a major conglomerate might recognize me since I had left quite an impression back at the cruise party.
Madam Shim was quite the tactful woman.
She understood what I was concerned about and quickly followed up.
“Of course, we understand that you might wish to minimize the exposure of your identity. After all, in such tight confines, you might just run into someone you know.”
“That’s right, I am a bit worried about that.”
“With that in mind, we offer the use of masks to any willing participants. Our guests are free to choose whether to wear them or not. The atmosphere at the party will be lively, so no one will care either way.”
Rather than the lively atmosphere, I think no one will care because things would already be so sordid.
In any case, with that rule in place, I should be safe.
Otherwise, we can just send Mong-Doo in alone.
“How much is the entry fee?”
“For a young man like yourself, it’s six large ones.”
-These fucking scam-artists!
Black exploded.
Both Mong-Doo and I winced at the same time.
It felt like our eardrums had been punctured.
This may have caused her to think we were upset, as she continued speaking in a very soft tone.
“The price is a bit steep, but in return, there is no need to worry about the security. We are experts in this sort of business. We promise only the best quality.”
With a sales pitch like that, there was no way we could pull out now.
I nodded my head in agreement.
A satisfied smile spread across Madam Shim’s face.
“However it’s a bit difficult to pay right now, so how about I leave my car here as collateral. Then I can pay in cash on the day of the party.”
The car I had driven here was a Maserati Gran Turismo.
A high-end sports car that cost 200 million won.
“That’s fine with us. Chang-ah.”
The employee who was standing in the back approached me.
I handed him the key to the sportscar.
Madam Shim gave him a glance.
“I’ll give you his business card. His name is Chang-I, and he is my right-hand man who manages things on my behalf. Please consider him as my representative.”
“Pleasure to meet you, sirs.”
“Chang-I will of course take care of everything, from the details of the party to the after-service.”
“It will be my honor to serve you.”
Chang-I handed out business cards to Mong-Doo and me.
However, I had a strange sense of familiarity towards the design and lettering.
As I was frowning in puzzlement, I was almost electrified by the memory that came to mind.
This is…
“When will you be holding the party?”
Mong-Doo’s asked this question.
Madam Shim replied after a glance at the calendar hanging on the wall.
“The party itself is usually held in the middle of the month, but you will be notified of the exact date only a few days in advance.”
So it’s in the middle of the month.
There’s about two weeks left until then.
Mong-Doo and I got up out of our seats.
“As you are entrusting your car to us, we can offer you a lift home.”
“No thanks. I’m fine. I just need to call someone. The folks back home will only get suspicious if they see a strange car.”
“Oh my. Since that’s the case, please have a safe journey back home. We hope to see you back soon.”
With the appropriate greetings, Mong-Doo and I left the drinking party.
As we were leaving the store, a man was standing by the front door.
It was the waiter who had been assaulted by Moon-Joong earlier.
He bowed his head deeply to us on our approach.
His cheeks were still swollen red.
“Thank you very much for earlier.”
“…no need for thanks. Just get yourself looked at.”
After patting him on the shoulder, I left the store behind.
Then, after a few blocks, I ducked into a back alley while pretending to call for a taxi.
Hidden in the darkness, a van was parked.
“Any tails?”
“None. It seems they’re all busy trying to clean up the mess in the hall.”
We had backtracked slightly on the way here just to check if there was someone on our trail.
While pulling out our earphones, we got into the van.
Ugh. As the tension released, my insides had started to act up.
“I’ve sent a rough report to the boss by SMS.”
“Hmm. Even though we finally met Madam Shim, we didn’t gain much from it. If we screw this up, we might have to step aside and make way for the narcotics unit.”
Mong-Doo muttered worriedly.
I held down my inner nausea and shook my head.
“You’re wrong. We had a huge harvest today.”
“The drug party? Although it might have a large impact …. considering how much you spent, I’m not sure it was worth it.”
Black’s voice carried an undertone of apology.
Apart from the money that had been spent over the last three weeks, we even had to hand over the sports car as collateral.
Even if I was from a chaebol1, in his eyes I had sacrificed too much for too little.
In order to ease his worries, I laughed out loud.
“Don’t worry about it. I paid for the tab because I wanted to, and I’ll get the car back in time. That aside, we’ll make a huge catch on the day of the party.”
“A catch? Madam Shim?”
“Although Madam Shim is a priority, she’s not the only one we need to focus on.”
“Who are you talking about?”
“The remnants of the Fork Gang and Song Dae-Ak. As well as the Guma Gang.”
“What?”
Footnotes:
- The word chaebol is a combination of the korean words for wealth (chae) and clan (bol). The term refers to large family-owned businesses that typically have a lot of subsidiary branches. In this story, the Gogwang group is the applicable example.