How a Salaryman Became an Underworld Boss

Lee Ujin was about ready to tear his hair out in frustration.

Right in front of Tracy, he had texted Cha Jiham, demanding that he come and have a drink with them, only to receive a short reply: Busy. Ujin suggested that they start without him, but Tracy refused to hear of it. As a result, they had been sitting there for over half an hour without ordering either alcohol or appetizers, doing nothing but wasting time.

”Tracy, shouldn’t we just give up?”

”Wait a little longer. Jiham will definitely come.”

Bzzz...

At that moment, Lee Ujin’s phone vibrated on the table. The instant he saw the caller’s name, he answered at lightning speed.

”Do you have any idea how busy you must be if you’re only calling now?”

”Sorry. We had some important guests from America.”

”So you won’t be able to drink with us?”

”No. I somehow managed to make some time.”

”Perfect. I’ll text you the address.”

”Wait. Before you hang up, one question. Is Tracy there too?”

”My friend! You seriously have to ask?”

Beep.

Cha Jiham hung up without another word. Looking puzzled, Lee Ujin turned toward Tracy.

”How did you know Jiham would come after all?”

”I simply asked my grandfather to throw him out.”

”Ah, I see... Wait a second.”

Interrupting the conversation, Lee Ujin sent Cha Jiham the address of the bar before speaking to Tracy again.

”It seems you’ve been practicing Korean a lot since returning to America.”

In reality, Tracy’s dramatic improvement in Korean was a side effect of the two passionate nights she had spent with Cha Jiham. But because she had promised to keep quiet about the herbal tranquilizer he had taken, she had no choice but to come up with another explanation.

”If I want to marry Jiham, speaking Korean fluently is the bare minimum.”

”...What?! Marry him?”

”What? Am I not allowed to marry Jiham?”

”No, it’s just... that came out of nowhere.”

”No matter what happens, I’m going to marry him. You’ll help me, won’t you?”

”I’d be happy to help, but shouldn’t you first find out what Jiham himself thinks?”

”You’ll see. Jiham won’t have any choice except to marry me.”

At that moment, Tracy’s confidence was stronger than ever.

***

The moment I pushed open the bar’s door and stepped inside, Lee Ujin spotted me and waved.

Walking over to their table, I politely greeted the second guest.

”Gloria, it’s been a long time.”

”...Yes. Likewise.”

The moment she spoke, something inside me skipped a beat.

There was unmistakable embarrassment in Gloria’s voice. Apparently, she too was still unable to forget the incredible effects of the herbal tranquilizer I had taken before our first meeting.

For heaven’s sake... when is that damn medicine finally going to wear off completely?

”I was really surprised to hear you’d come to our country,” I said, breaking the awkward silence.

”Chairman Bongard strongly encouraged me to come to Korea with them, so I really didn’t have much choice.”

Only then did Chairman Bongard’s true intention begin to dawn on me.

He had clearly brought Gloria along to help pair me with Tracy.

Even his generous offer to give me thirty percent of the investment profits had probably been made with the same purpose in mind.

Personally, I wasn’t opposed to Tracy at all.

However, if things ever reached the point of marriage, I’d somehow have to overcome the enormous obstacle known as my grandfather.

There was no doubt he would firmly oppose an international marriage.

Deciding to postpone that headache for another day, I continued speaking with Gloria.

”I heard you’ve been extremely busy studying business management. Is it really okay for you to leave everything behind like this?”

”Our company ran into a few problems, so I had to put my studies on hold for the time being.”

The company run by Gloria’s grandfather, Chairman Gomez, was called McKesson and specialized in wholesale pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.

”What kind of problems has McKesson encountered?”

”If I explain it now, it’ll only ruin everyone’s mood. Let’s talk about it another time.”

”As you wish.”

Sensing the perfect pause in the conversation, Lee Ujin immediately waved over a waiter and ordered soju along with a generous selection of appetizers.

Before long, everything was brought to the table.

We filled each other’s empty glasses.

”Well then, here’s to meeting again.”

”Excellent toast. Cheers!”

We clinked glasses and drained them in one gulp.

”Oh, it’s been so long since I last drank soju that I think it’s already gone to my head,” Tracy said.

I could practically read her mind.

That flirtatious tone was a perfectly obvious hint that it was time to wrap things up and spend a passionate night together.

Naturally, I wasn’t opposed to the idea either, but leaving the table now would have been incredibly rude.

”Don’t drink so quickly. Eat some food, and you’ll be fine,” I gently tried to slow her down.

”Exactly! Hurry up and eat something,” Lee Ujin immediately chimed in, trying to help me.

Even so, Tracy didn’t seem willing to abandon her plan.

”The jet lag and the exhaustion from flying make alcohol hit much harder. Gloria, don’t you think?”

”I agree. But let’s at least finish what we’ve ordered, eat everything, and then leave.”

”...Fine.”

Reluctantly giving in, Tracy filled her glass with another shot of soju.

All we could do was quietly watch her.

As we continued chatting and drinking, Lee Ujin suddenly changed the subject out of nowhere.

”Jiham, Korea Investment was the one behind the operation to wipe out the Triad, wasn’t it?”

Only a very small number of people knew the truth behind the destruction of the Korean branch of the Triad.

How Ujin had learned about it remained a mystery.

Naturally, I had no intention whatsoever of telling him the truth.

”What makes you think that? I don’t know anything about it.”

”My father and Secretary Kang Inhan were classmates in middle school. I don’t think I need to explain any further.”

Secretary Kang Inhan was famous for keeping his mouth shut.

The chance that he had personally leaked such highly confidential information to Ujin’s father was absolutely zero.

That left only one possibility.

Ujin was simply fishing for information.

”Sorry, but I really don’t know anything.”

”Oh, come on. Stop pretending.”

At that moment, the conversation took an unexpected turn.

Watching our exchange with intense curiosity, Gloria suddenly spoke up.

”Ujin, did you just say someone wiped out the Triad? What exactly are you talking about?”

”Not long ago, the Chinese Triad operating secretly in our country was completely destroyed. In reality, Korea Investment was responsible, but the official reports made it look like it was entirely the police’s achievement.”

”And what kind of company is Korea Investment?”

”In simple terms, it’s a powerful venture capital firm that funds promising startups and helps them grow.”

”So it’s not a very large company?”

Lee Ujin shook his head.

”Its assets exceed thirty-five billion dollars, so calling it small would be impossible. As a matter of fact, Korea Investment is planning to acquire a 9.5 percent stake in the joint venture that’s being established to manufacture high-bandwidth semiconductors.”

”Wow. It’s much bigger than I expected. But it’s still only an investment fund. Leaving its capabilities aside, does it actually have the legal authority to wipe out Triad gangs?”

Lee Ujin instinctively glanced around before lowering his voice as much as possible.

”What I’m about to tell you must remain an absolute secret.”

”Should I swear on my grandfather’s life?”

”That’ll do. Nowadays they operate as a perfectly legitimate business in broad daylight, but in the past, Korea Investment was a criminal organization known throughout the entire country...”

I couldn’t allow him to keep talking.

I interrupted him without hesitation.

”Hold on.”

”What?”

”Where did you even learn so much about Korea Investment’s past?”

”My father held a very senior position in the Prosecutors’ Office before opening his own law firm. Do I really need to spell it out?”

That actually makes sense. If his father had been a high-ranking prosecutor back then, it’d be stranger if he’d never crossed paths with the country’s top underworld figures.

”Fine. Go on.”

”Gloria, where was I?”

”You said they were a nationwide criminal organization, but I’m not entirely sure what that means.”

”To make it easier to understand, think of Korea Investment as a mafia organization that once completely controlled our country’s criminal underworld.”

”Oh, I see.”

At that moment, something struck Lee Ujin as very strange.

Normally, the word mafia immediately made ordinary people think of danger and terror.

Yet Gloria and Tracy reacted with remarkable indifference, as though he were discussing something completely ordinary.

”Girls, aren’t you scared when you hear the word mafia?”

”Should we be?”

”Well... not exactly. It’s just that your reaction wasn’t what I expected.”

”The reason we’re not surprised will become clear soon enough. Now, when are you going to answer my question?”

”What question... Ah, that one? There were rumors that Korea Investment handled the jobs that the police and the government couldn’t touch for one reason or another.”

”Is something like that really possible?”

”I think Jiham should answer that.”

Having tossed the hot potato into my lap, Lee Ujin promptly retreated.

I jokingly shook my fist at him before turning toward Gloria.

”You shouldn’t take everything Ujin says at face value.”

”Then what should I believe?”

”Korea Investment works closely with law enforcement. Their primary responsibility is ensuring that foreign criminal syndicates are unable to establish a foothold in our country.”

”So Ujin was telling the truth when he said they destroyed the Triad?”

”I won’t deny that.”

”But how do you, Jiham, have access to such confidential information?”

Lee Ujin still had absolutely no idea that I was the designated successor to the head of Korea Investment.

Knowing the truth would create countless unnecessary complications, so I decided to reveal only a tiny portion of it.

”I’m very close to Korea Investment’s Chairman Park Yeongil.”

”So Chairman Park told you personally?”

”You could say that.”

”Can you tell me how they destroyed the organization?”

Something about this conversation felt deeply wrong.

Gloria was showing an unusually personal interest in the Chinese syndicate.

”Before I continue, let me ask you something first. Gloria, do you have some connection with the Triad?”

”You tell your story first, and then I’ll tell you mine.”

”Very well. I’ll trust you. At the end of January last year, my younger sister became the victim of a hit-and-run accident.”

I briefly explained the major stages of the operation against the Korean branch of the Triad.

Naturally, I didn’t mention Saho’s extraordinary intelligence and impossible leaps, nor the delicate political maneuvering behind the scenes.

Those omissions inevitably left a few logical gaps, but I had no alternative.

”...In the end, everyone involved, except for Chen Shao and the man who personally murdered the witnesses, was sent back to China.”

”I suppose Triad Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui now dreams day and night of skinning you alive.”

”Most likely.”

”And what will you do if Triad members come here seeking revenge?”

”We have a saying: even an ordinary dog becomes twice as brave on its own doorstep.”

”Ho-ho. You’re much braver than you look.”

”Haha. You think so? Now it’s your turn. Tell me what happened between you and the Triad.”

”The American wholesale pharmaceutical and medical equipment market has its own Big Three. The company ranked third in sales is called Golden Health. Its headquarters are in California, and over the past year it’s been expanding at an alarming pace.”

Gloria paused briefly before continuing.

”The wholesale pharmaceutical business operates on enormous sales volume with extremely thin profit margins. Every company has roughly the same profitability. Yet Golden Health somehow manages to undercut everyone else by selling below the minimum sustainable cost.”

”Are you saying there’s some hidden objective behind their loss-making pricing strategy?”

”Exactly. We’re almost certain the Triad purchased Golden Health solely to use its distribution network for large-scale drug trafficking.”

”But you must have substantial evidence to suspect something like that.”

”Two years ago, Golden Health’s shareholder structure changed, and its largest shareholder became a man from China.”

”Don’t you think it’s a little excessive to base accusations like that solely on the nationality of the new owner?”

”If that isn’t the explanation, then there’s simply no logical way to explain Golden Health’s insane pricing strategy.”

”Hmm... I see what you’re getting at.”

At that moment, Lee Ujin interrupted again, clearly unable to contain his curiosity.

”Gloria, couldn’t you simply investigate Golden Health’s major shareholder and find out whether he has any ties to the Triad leadership?”

”Of course we investigated. On paper, he’s an entirely ordinary, unremarkable individual.”

”But that contradicts your grandfather Chairman Gomez’s conclusion.”

”My grandfather is convinced that Golden Health’s majority shareholder is simply using a false identity.”

”That certainly fits the way organizations like that operate. Still, what’s the name of this mysterious owner according to the official records?”

”We managed to find out his name.”

”Wu Weiliang.”

”What did you say his name was?!”