Unraveling Threads

“…Mr. Chairman, ‘Lee Hyeonsu’ has been released. Public interest in the traffic accident that day is gradually growing.”

Jo Hyeokjun gripped the cane, adorned with all sorts of diamonds, that his chief of staff had politely handed him from behind.
He was upright enough not to need a cane.
Jo Hyeokjun was simply in a foul mood right now.
His mouth felt rough, and heat rushed to his head.
The words the chief of staff was uttering from behind him were all absurd.

“To not even be able to solve something like this…”
“I apologize, Mr. Chairman. I have no excuse.”

The words were ‘that day’s traffic accident,’ but in reality, they meant that attention was being drawn to the ‘hit-and-run driver.’

“Hoo.”

Jo Hyeokjun surveyed the splendid garage and then let out a single sigh.
At that sigh, the chief of staff, who was reporting the situation to Jo Hyeokjun, squeezed his eyes shut.
Because usually, after that long sigh, something would come flying.
However, today was a little different.

Thump, thump! Thump!

Jo Hyeokjun raised the cane high and struck the multi-million dollar car like a madman.
The chief of staff, standing a few steps behind, couldn’t stand still, as if he himself were being hit, and kept flinching.

‘…If he had a gun right now, he would have shot it without hesitation.’

And the one being shot by that gun would probably not have been the car, but a person.
Perhaps it would have been himself, the chief of staff, or that stiff-necked lawyer.
Because for Chairman Jo, who cherished his cars like his own children, perhaps even more than his children, such an action meant that his anger had reached its peak.

Thump, thump!
CRASH!

A short while later, the red sports car, which had been beaten and beaten by the titanium cane, was so damaged that its original form was hard to recognize.

“Haa.”

Jo Hyeokjun let out another sigh and swept back his slightly disheveled hair from the recoil.

Tap!

Jo Hyeokjun, who had been wielding the cane like a weapon until just now, supported himself on the floor with it and asked without turning around.

“How much has been revealed?”
“The young master’s identity has not yet been exposed.”
“Send him to the Philippines right now. With a few men, until this situation quiets down. They’ll forget soon enough anyway.”
“Yes, Mr. Chairman. I will prepare it without any trouble.”
“Of course you will. And look into them. Two lawyers, a detective, and a reporter. I’m curious what they’re relying on to act so boldly.”
“Yes, Mr. Chairman.”

The chief of staff instantly recognized the people Jo Hyeokjun was talking about.

‘Cha Yohan and Won Youngoh, Choi Suhyeok and Baek Soeun…’

“Listen carefully, Chief Park.”
“Yes, Mr. Chairman.”
“I’ll let it slide this time because of our long-standing relationship.”

Swish.

Jo Hyeokjun pointed to the car, which was already crushed to the point of being a wreck, with the tip of his cane.
He still hadn’t turned around.

“If something like today happens again, then Chief Park will be lying there.”
“Thank you! I will keep that in mind, Mr. Chairman!”

Bow.

Chief Park bowed his waist ninety degrees to Jo Hyeokjun’s back.
He then backed out of the garage without turning around.
It was a natural exit, without bumping into anything or making a sound, as if it were a frequent occurrence.

Swoosh.

The huge garage door closed quietly.
His face was still full of anger, even after smashing one of his cherished cars.

“He said his name was Cha Yohan…”

He had liked his upright demeanor, which was unlike the recent youngsters who were busy groveling.
But.

‘You have to consider the situation when you stand up straight. How dare you act so stiff in front of me?’

If you’re stiff, you’ll eventually break.
Jo Hyeokjun took out his phone from his pocket.
And he called ‘K’, which was at the top of his call history.

Ring, ring, ring, click.

“It’s me.”

Jo Hyeokjun spoke without waiting for the other person to answer, revealing his arrogant tone without reservation.

“I’m very disappointed. I thought you were so confident, but you’re only this much of a person. I’m in a very difficult situation because of you. Do something about it.”
[…I will not make any excuses. As a token of my apology, I will compensate you with three times the contract fee, not twice as stipulated in the contract.]

Click.

“…Huh.”

Jo Hyeokjun stared at the disconnected phone for a long time.
Until his dumbfounded face was reflected on the blackened screen.
He picked up the cane again and smashed the already ruined car several more times.

CRASH, CRASH, CRASH!

The fragments of the shattered car flew in all directions, but he didn’t care.

“This bastard, and that bastard! Anyway, all the bastards these days are!”

Clang!

Jo Hyeokjun threw the cane with all his might.
The shiny titanium cane rolled with force and then stopped.
In the middle of the garage.
Where that problematic car had been standing.

Whoosh.

A man stood on the rooftop of a high-rise building, feeling the chilly autumn wind, and looked down.
He held his phone with his leather-gloved hands and slowly tapped his fingers a few times.
The entire view of Seoul was at his feet.
He briefly scanned the night view and then replayed the short phone call in his mind.

‘Cha Yohan…’

This was the third time already.
The third time that Cha Yohan, who should have been dead long ago, was alive and well, interfering with his plans.

‘Park Ingyu and Lee Hayeon, one organization, and this time…’

Once is a coincidence, twice is a mistake, but three times is a stage that can no longer be overlooked.
These were things that the original Cha Yohan could not have done.

‘They say people change when they die and come back to life. Is that what this is?’

One of the phishing organizations he had used as a means of laundering money had been caught by the police and dismantled, but he was not short of money.
And the source of his money was not blocked at all.
Even if he returned to Jo Hyeokjun three times the contract fee as compensation for failing to fulfill the contract, there was no significant damage.
However…
What was hit was his solid pride.
He had never failed once.
Whether by his own will or by the will of others.
Cracks were beginning to appear on his reputation, which could have been called perfect.
It was a situation that his pride could not tolerate.

‘I can’t let this go on any longer.’

It was getting more and more annoying.
But what was more important to him at this moment was not his cracking pride.
Because the right solution was to eliminate the variable that was threatening his pride.

‘It would have been fine if that bastard had just handled it cleanly. I can solve everything by getting rid of both Cha Yohan and Won Youngoh at this opportunity.’

As he had done so far, a few scenarios would be more than enough to easily get rid of two lawyers.

‘To use that bastard again…’

Vibrate.

Just then, the name of the subordinate he had been thinking of appeared on the screen.
It was the subordinate who had failed to eliminate Won Youngoh.
But something was a little strange.
The guys he controlled would not contact him first unless there was an unsolvable problem.
It was because of his orders.

‘Did another problem arise?’

Or…
A trap.
He familiarly manipulated the program a few times and answered the phone in a modulated voice.

“…What is it?”
[…….]

No answer came from the other end of the line.
He checked the tracking app he had turned on before answering the phone.

The calculation was not difficult.
It’s a common occurrence for a pawn to be toppled.

Click.

He immediately hung up the phone.
The man, using his eyes that were accustomed to the dark, chose a blind spot in the building and descended to the first floor in one go.

Thump.

He then threw his phone into a garbage heap in an alley with no surveillance cameras and walked away nonchalantly.

“The call has been disconnected.”

I gently shook the phone, whose screen had gone black due to the disconnected signal.
As expected, Choi Suhyeok’s nagging returned.

“I told you not to do anything strange, Lawyer Cha.”
“Let’s think positively. At least we got a few hints.”
“Haa…”
“Hints?”

The youngest detective asked back instead of Choi Suhyeok, who was sighing while looking at the ceiling.
I nodded and answered.

“We learned that he has a compulsion to use a voice changer when he calls, and that he has a quick sense of judgment to assess the situation in just a few seconds of silence.”

And that compulsion seems to be quite pathological.

‘If he’s running a criminal organization, that’s a possible story. But why is he doing something like this?’

Choi Suhyeok looked at me, who was lost in thought, and then turned his gaze to the youngest detective.

“Hey, maknae. We can’t get a location with this, right?”
“No, it was too short, so even if we did, it would probably only show Seoul.”

Thump.

I quietly returned the phone to Choi Suhyeok’s outstretched hand.

“What are you going to do now? Do you have a plan?”
“It seems my life is on the line, so what else is there to do but be careful?”
“I’m not talking about that, I’m asking for a concrete and specific plan. Is this a time for jokes?”

I shrugged once at Choi Suhyeok’s words.

“But I can’t just hide somewhere. The situation won’t be resolved just by avoiding it. In fact, in times like these, I need to be more proactive.”
“…Don’t act recklessly. Being proactive and being reckless are different things. Do you know how many times I’ve said this?”

[Four times.]

“Hmm… this is probably the fourth time?”

While I was recalling our past conversations one by one, the hologram, which had finished its calculation, handed me a cheat sheet.
Though Choi Suhyeok made a face that said he was really fed up with my answer.
There would probably be nothing more to come out of that phone.
Because the faint, flickering red light that looked like it was about to disappear had completely vanished when I handed the phone to Choi Suhyeok.
I grabbed my coat and left the conference room.

“Please take good care of the hit-and-run driver, Detective Choi. And please contact me whenever something comes up. Whether it’s night or dawn.”
“I need to sleep at that time too.”
“I know you won’t be sleeping.”
“You never lose a word.”
“Isn’t that what a lawyer is?”

I checked the time on my watch once and then looked up again.

“Let’s go. Just go, quickly.”
“Yes, I’ll be going then.”

I left the police station after saying goodbye to Choi Suhyeok, who was sighing and waving his hand away.
When I looked back after leaving the station, I saw Choi Suhyeok’s back heading towards the interrogation room.
A hologram appeared before my eyes.

[I don’t understand your actions this time either, lawyer. Was there a reason you made the call? It seems like you gave them a hint to run away.]

‘I wanted to check something.’

[Did you check as much as you wanted?]

‘I couldn’t check everything, but I think I checked some things.’

Because I also learned that the red light disappears when the evidentiary value disappears.
As soon as the call was disconnected, even the faint red light that had been flowing from the phone disappeared.

‘That means that number is no longer valid.’

Step, step.

I saw the parked car in front of me.
As if the smile I had been wearing inside the station until just now was a lie, there was no trace of a smile on my face reflected in the window now.

‘Whatever it is, it’s not a normal situation.’

Showing agitation is no different from showing weakness. In a situation like this, a shield of laughter was more useful.

Thump!

I sat in the driver’s seat and, after searching through my phone’s contacts for a long time, I found a number.
The screen that had been thrown onto the passenger seat flickered and then went dark.

[I’d like to make an appointment for a consultation. Urgent.]