‘Childlike Greed’

“To make that happen, wouldn’t you need a father, Beom?”

A trace of a smile surfaced on Ikjae’s face for the first time in a while.

He was asking in a playful tone, but Beomgyo knew it was by no means a joke.

“What about me? After sixteen years, don’t you think I’ve earned that right?”

Aren’t you my son? You’re my stand-in. He had practically worn out his lips repeating those phrases while taking Beomgyo, his late friend’s child, everywhere with him. Perhaps now he truly wished to make those words a reality.

Sixteen years ago, Beomgyo had been taking care of his seven-year-old sister by day and running errands for the syndicate bosses by night, completely giving up on his own education. It was Ikjae who had pushed him out the door every single morning until he finally graduated high school.

When Beomgyo was constantly running around in gang fights and neglecting his only remaining family, it was also Ikjae who looked after his adolescent sister in his stead.

He was the person who first taught Beomgyo how to drink, and the one who corrected him by slapping his cheeks whenever he did something reckless…

To question the rights of a man who still kept a photo of Beomgyo’s high school graduation on his office desk would be an act of utter ingratitude.

When Beomgyo offered a silent nod without hesitation, the corners of Ikjae’s lips curved upward into a satisfied arc.

Turning back toward Junho’s memorial tablet, he finally brought the liquor glass to his lips and continued.

“I’ll take good care of Beomgyo, so leave your worries behind and rest easy now, Junho.”

Taking a sip of the exceptionally bitter alcohol, his eyes crinkled in a subtle, unreadable expression.

A steady stream of mourners lined up for the death anniversary of Junho, whose honor had been restored after sixteen long years.

While Changdae was boisterously laughing as he finally laid the gold watch down in front of Junho’s memorial tablet, Beomgyo was seeing Ikjae out.

Walking ahead while casually recounting a recent dinner meeting he had with the Commissioner General of Police, Ikjae suddenly stopped dead in his tracks right in front of his car, as if something had just crossed his mind.

“Ah, I heard there was a commotion at Heaven yesterday.”

Beomgyo had fully expected this topic to come up.

While it was true that Jo Changdae’s mouth was as light as a feather, yesterday’s incident was something that inevitably would have reached Ikjae’s ears anyway.

“I am sorry about Representative Im’s son.”

After all, the b*stard Beomgyo had beaten into the ground was none other than the eldest son of Representative Im Taewoo, the politician the Hakrim Group had lined up with.

Recalling that night’s events along with Im Junseong naturally brought to mind the kid he had left behind at the motel.

Beomgyo unconsciously clenched his jaw tightly, but Ikjae simply spoke up.

“You did well, man. Even Representative Im mentioned that the punk needed a proper beating. As long as you’ve completely shut their mouths, that’s enough.”

“Im Junseong was using drugs in the VIP room.”

“Oasis?”

At the mention of the drug, Ikjae’s brow furrowed with displeasure as he lit a cigarette.

‘Oasis’ was currently his greatest headache as well.

One might argue what a drug issue mattered to a criminal syndicate, but an unidentified drug circulating throughout their territory was indeed a problem that could not be casually overlooked.

Especially since it might very well be a plot by someone trying to ensnare Hakrim. Coincidentally, the timing couldn’t be worse.

“Representative Im is running for his third term this year. If an incident breaks out now, everything we’ve built collapses.”

They had barely managed to grab onto Representative Im’s line in an effort to finally step into the light. If a drug issue—one that wasn’t even theirs—exploded in their territory at a time like this, all their efforts might go down the drain just as Ikjae said. That was precisely why Beomgyo had personally intervened.

However, they hadn’t found any ledgers at the Daelim faction which they turned upside down yesterday, and Namsu, who had been beaten to a pulp, was doing nothing but spouting nonsense.

As of right now, there wasn’t a single shred of a clue… Ah, maybe that wasn’t entirely true…

“Representative Im mentioned he wants to have a sit-down with you sometime soon. You know his daughter, right? Apparently, she has a lot of interest in you.”

Kim Sena. Beomgyo was barely listening to Ikjae’s words as he pictured that young girl, when Ikjae patted him on the shoulder.

“Of course. For a partner for our Beom, she’s about the right fit.”

Even as the car Ikjae smirked and climbed into drove away, Beomgyo’s mind was entirely occupied by that kid.

Yesterday at the club, she clearly looked like she knew what that flower was.

Even while sitting crumpled on the floor with her lips completely torn, the moment her eyes met his, her immediate reaction was to hide the flower behind her back.

[You know what this is, don’t you?]

And her lying was incredibly clumsy. The moment he asked her directly, every bit of it showed plainly on her face.

[That drug. ‘Oasis’.]

Her complexion turning pale at the drug name he intentionally dropped, and above all, the needle mark left alongside a greenish bruise on the nape of her neck gave Beomgyo absolute certainty.

A kid who had gone far enough to use a needle. For a girl like that to know about Oasis, under normal circumstances, he absolutely should have interrogated her.

Yet, the reason he ultimately didn’t was pity. Though he tried to deny it, it was pity.

She just happened to be around his younger sister’s age. And he had heard that a girl like that had traveled down to Busan carrying a suicide note for a purpose other than a vacation.

If she got entangled with someone like him—and through Oasis of all things—it was blindingly obvious what would happen to the life of a kid whose circumstances were already tangled to the core.

He would hunt her down like a rat, and she would be squeezed dry like a threadbare rag.

There was no way a kid who still smelled of baby formula could be deeply involved with a drug ring expanding nationwide; at most, all she would know was a local distribution route.

That was an issue that could be resolved easily enough by dragging Haejung in front of Namsu. That was why he decided to turn a blind eye.

He was willing to generously send her on her way under the guise of buying her silence, yet he had no idea what that girl was thinking.

Suddenly craving a cigarette, Beomgyo knit his brows slightly and fumbled around his chest pocket. Right then, a vibration buzzed against his thigh.

Juliet

The screen of the phone he pulled from his pants pocket displayed the motel’s landline number. Bringing the phone to his ear after sliding the answer button, an unexpectedly youthful girl’s voice flowed out.

• Um, mister…

Kim Sena. Recognizing it was her, Beomgyo let out a dry, hollow chuckle.

“You haven’t died yet?”

“Yes, not yet.”

Holding the first-floor counter phone, Hanna answered while tracing a small slip of paper with her other hand.

The mobile number written on the slip was Seo Beomgyo’s number, which she had managed to get by asking Miju, the motel owner.

It was also Miju who had informed her that the Room 404 keycard he had thrown down last night was Beomgyo’s private room key.

[Don’t go looking for trouble and end up experiencing something truly horrific. Just listen to him if you can. As bad as he is, that b*stard is at least someone you can reason with.]

Miju, who had personally guided her to the room, offered that advice along with the information that Room 404 didn’t even have a spare key, telling her to rest easy. Despite that, Hanna had stayed awake the entire night.

Contrary to the man’s assumption, she hadn’t spent the night contemplating death. She had no intention of dying in the first place.

Even if she had hesitated for a brief moment, the fact that she lay awake worrying whether she might get sold off to a brothel or an operating table if she fell asleep proved her heart wasn’t truly set on dying.

• Smart choice. It’s a waste to just die. Isn’t this your chance to score a massive windfall?

Regrettably, it wasn’t for the reason heard across the receiver either.

He might wish for that, but Hanna had no intention of using this opportunity to secure a hefty sum of dirty money.

Illicit money always brought trouble. If anything, accepting that money would leave her completely uncertain of how she might get entangled with him later.

“There’s something I want to ask of you.”

What Hanna had sweated over all night was precisely the favor she hadn’t been able to voice to him last night.

“Instead of money… please let me meet the owner of that club from yesterday.”

If she went through this man, perhaps she could meet Yeji’s older brother.

“Mr. Seo Beom—”

• Ha…

She was about to say that she absolutely must meet President Seo Beomgyo, but the man’s heavy, raspy sigh cut through her ears first.

Just as Hanna’s shoulders stiffened unconsciously, he dropped a blunt counter-question.

• Why. “…”

• I’m asking what your reason is.

To answer that question, she would have to lay bare everything that had happened up until now. Unable to do that, Hanna bit down hard on her lip and leaned her back against the counter.

During the brief silence that followed, she tried to think of a plausible reason to convince him, but a piercing headache kept tripping up her thoughts.

Right then, the words Beomgyo had spoken flashed through her mind.

[You just need to give a reasonably childlike answer.]

Childlike. Repeating those words while cradling her forehead which was slick with cold sweat, Hanna squeezed out a delayed response.

“That person is higher up. If so, wouldn’t I be able to get even more money if I get it from him…?”

• …Are you f*cking with me?

Was that a sufficiently foolish, immature answer? Judging by his question, it certainly seemed so. Hanna slid down against the counter and slumped onto the floor.

The stretched telephone cord kept tugging at the receiver in her hand, but Hanna held on even tighter, speaking into the mouthpiece.

“Mister, you’ve probably guessed to some extent, but the truth is, I’m being chased. I do need money, but more than that… I just want to ask if this is an issue your boss can resolve.”

• Sh*t, what the…

At the man’s low curse, Hanna curled up and hugged her knees tightly. When she offered no further words, Beomgyo simply muttered that he would drop by tonight and hung up the phone.

He probably found it utterly absurd, but Hanna had no other choice.

This felt like her absolute last chance to meet Yeji’s brother, making her incredibly desperate.

With her body starting to ache as well, her mind kept wavering. If things continued like this, she felt she might ultimately make a choice she should never make…

Seo Yeji… Because she was terrified that she might truly want to live as that godforsaken girl…

The truth is, I am a friend of his sister. I have something to deliver regarding her. The reason she couldn’t say those words over the phone just now was because, deep down, she was still hesitating.

In case she changed her mind and chose to live as Yeji, she wanted to leave room to change her words, to pull her feet out…

As Hanna realized her own despicable inner truth that she couldn’t confess to anyone, a surge of bitter acid pooled in her mouth.

Beep, beep… Replacing the man’s voice, nothing but a grating dial tone echoed from the receiver. Setting it down, she buried her face deeply between her knees.

She earnestly wished for the night to arrive as quickly as possible.