Chapter 12 : I’ll Kill You All (1) (Part-2)

“I built all of this on my own. I never begged you for help. And now, just because you messed up, you want to drag me down too? Just die alone! Don’t grab at my ankles!”

“I’m not begging for help. I’m here to offer a deal. Something you might want.”

“Don’t make me laugh. You’ve lost everything. Word is, even Incheon Port has already replaced you with a proxy CEO. So what exactly are you offering me?”

“If I regain HQ’s trust, I’ll be reinstated in no time. And once I’m back, you can have all the shipping company buildings in Gangnam—minus the Seoul branch.”

“B-Buildings? Which ones?”

“Jakyeong Tower and WW Building. You know—the 52-story and 40-story ones I told you about.”

President Han gulped.

Those buildings were worth years of department store revenue—maybe four or five.

And that was gross revenue.

To actually buy them, she’d need to run this little shop for decades.

“Ha. That’s if you get reinstated. How are you going to regain HQ’s trust?”

“I’ve got a plan. You know how I got here while GoldMyung’s attack dogs were chasing me? A mole I planted on Director Park’s team said one of their new recruits escaped and caused such chaos that the 1st team is in shambles and 2nd team got wrecked trying to pursue. That’s why they didn’t have many men left chasing me. Made my breakthrough easy.”

“What the hell? That’s nonsense. They probably just left fewer men to guard by mistake. What kind of rookie could cause such a commotion?”

“This rookie’s name is Min Cheol-woo. And from what I hear, he’s already taken down half of Team 1 and obliterated Team 2. Remember the collision on Seobu Expressway? That was Team 2 getting hit by grenades and a freaking RPG.”

“Wha—”

What kind of ridiculous story is this?

Han Siyeon’s tongue was getting longer, and her credibility shorter.

What, was she locked in a panic room for days and lost her mind?

Even if Assistant Manager Jeong went crazy, that still wouldn’t be believable—and now a rookie did all that?

Unreal.

“Just help me contact Min Cheol-woo. That’s all I ask. I’ll handle the rest.”

“What, you gonna storm GoldMyung Security and cut off CEO Kim’s head with your Korean John Wick?”

“Come on. Do I look insane? I’m not storming anything. Why are you suddenly turning this into fantasy?”
You’re the one who started with fantasy, the younger President Han thought, speechless.

“I’m going to Hong Kong.”

“Hong Kong?”

“Yep. Once I handle the issue over there, HQ won’t dare cast me aside. And if they try, I’ll just sell the samples and recipes to the U.S. or Russia.”

Going to Hong Kong…

So she’s planning to die, huh?

Now that was tempting.

If her sister and that Korean version of John Wick were both taken out in a single shot, the chaotic situation in Seoul would surely stabilize, and the flow of business would return to its usual seamlessness once again.

If she could successfully dispatch those two bothersome individuals to Hong Kong and eliminate them from the equation entirely, then the potential risks involved would be justified and deemed worthwhile.

“Alright. I’ll help you meet Min Cheol-woo. But do you even have a way to persuade him?”

“I’ve got my methods. Don’t worry about it. Just focus on opening your second and third branches. Your sister’s coming back from Hong Kong in glory.”

Yeah right.

Just die quietly and don’t drag my name into it, she muttered inside while reaching out and shaking her sister’s hand.

Both sides were fairly satisfied.

Cheol-woo seriously contemplated the idea of giving her a pistol—but ultimately made the decision to refrain from doing so.

There was no logical reason to place a firearm in the hands of someone who lacked both the knowledge of how to properly conceal it and the skills necessary to effectively use it in a high-pressure situation.

In the event of an emergency, she would likely end up surrendering the weapon to their adversaries without a fight, rendering the entire action meaningless.

They had already managed to evade the individuals pursuing them, and now they found themselves meandering through the various corridors and rooms of the hotel.

It should be a safe environment for them at this moment.

If there was any real threat looming, it would have most likely materialized during the night while they were asleep, rather than now in what seemed to be an otherwise calm and uneventful part of their journey.

“I’m starving.”

He’d felt it back at the food court, but now it was getting ridiculous.

Was he binge-eating from all the sudden physical activity and stress?

But the fact that he felt this hungry every single meal meant it wasn’t that.

Without hesitation, Cheol-woo ordered four boneless chickens and two large pizzas.

He figured he could share leftovers with his sister—if there were any.

But everything disappeared in a flash.

Still hungry, he followed up with three bowls of jajangmyeon and two bowls of rice.

Gone just as quickly.

Now, he was full—but not “ugh, I’m gonna explode” full.

He could eat more, if he wanted.

A couple bowls of soy sauce egg rice for dessert, some ice cream, shaved ice… that might just hit the spot.

That would probably be really satisfying.

But considering how much they were going to move around today, stuffing himself probably wasn’t the best idea.

“Is my sister going to eat like a pig too?”

In Cheol-woo’s case, his senses had gone weird. His sister, on the other hand, had gotten strong.

The way she’d sliced through that hard skull with a shiny knife, or kicked a car seat clean off—

Clearly, they were both well beyond the realm of normal humans.

And this monstrous appetite might just be the side effect.

Were they going to end up spending a fortune on food?

Cheol-woo felt dizzy just thinking about it.

To keep eating like this, he’d have to make a lot of money.

“Let’s see…”

Cheol-woo wiped the gun oil off his hands, having just finished cleaning the weapons, then turned on his phone, which he’d powered off overnight.

A pile of missed calls and unread messages.

Most of them were from Manager Jeong.

His brows furrowed.

He flipped through them nonchalantly, but then a long string of texts from Jeong caught his eye:

-Rookie. Good luck on your first night shift.

-Rookie. Tell Assistant Manager Kim to pick up his phone.

-You little shit, where the hell are you?

-If you don’t tell me where you are, I don’t know what I’ll do. How old’s your sister again?

-Pick up the damn phone, you bastard.

A chuckle slipped out.

He could practically see Manager Jeong’s face changing expression as time passed.

They’d failed to kidnap his sister, and now he’d slipped away too.

Jeong must be going out of his mind.

But then the next few texts made Cheol-woo’s eyes narrow.

-Rookie. How long do you think you can keep running?

-Director Park said he’d cover your debts? You know we don’t make those kinds of offers. Either you go all the way, or you crawl back. Pick one.

-Every exit out of Seoul is blocked. Roads, air, sea—we’re covering them all. Try to leave, you’ll get caught immediately.

-Call when you’re ready to talk. We’re not unreasonable people.

His chest tightened with anxiety.

Right then, the phone rang.

It was Manager Jeong.

After a moment of hesitation, Cheol-woo picked up.

[“Rookie. Been a while since I heard your voice.”]

“Yeah, long time, sir.”

[“Looks like things went sideways. What a weird and unlucky mess. You should’ve just done your night shift and gone home.”]

“Not so much unlucky as… sabotaged. But yeah. It’s a mess.”

[“You saw the texts, right? I know what you’re thinking. You’re hoping if you keep running, shooting, blowing things up, eventually we’ll give up.”]

“……”

[“But you’re wrong. You know KMM Security? We can just abandon you. Stop covering it up, start chasing you down for real. You think we can’t pull off a gunfight in the middle of Seoul? We’ll blow things up ourselves and say it was a rogue subsidiary. Doesn’t touch the main group.”]

“….”

Translation: they valued him so much, they’d rather let the entire KMM Security team burn than let him fall into someone else’s hands.

Do you get it now?

[“Say something, asshole. I’m talking.”]

“Yeah. Got it.”

[“Then let’s end this little performance. Man to man, let’s talk in person. You’ve proven your worth—time to renegotiate your salary.”]

There wasn’t even a hint of anger in Jeong’s voice.

And finally, Cheol-woo understood what kind of people he was dealing with.

Not just crazy—completely, absolutely insane.

“Yeah, well. I’ll think it over and get back to you.”

[“Hey, you son of a—”]

Click.

He hung up.

Would he really get a raise and return to work if he went back now?

Probably.

Pretty high chance.

But after losing him once, they’d rebuild their fences and lock him down tight.

If he gave in now, he might as well be burying his bones in the KMM Group.

“Am I out of my damn mind?”

He shook his head and checked his notifications.

A new message had come in—from his sister.

The moment he read it, he could feel his blood pressure spike.

(Likely a meme or unrelated message, maybe a reference to something trending)