A single fluorescent light flickered overhead.
Hyeon-ju, Joe, Woo-jin, and Geon-woo stood side by side, looking down at the three men tied to chairs in front of them.
"Should I wake them up?" Woo-jin glanced over at Hyeon-ju and shrugged. Like he'd just pulled off something impressive.
Hyeon-ju snorted, ignored him entirely, and looked at Joe. "Why'd you bring these guys in?"
"Think about what would've happened if we let Jae-myeong walk." Joe crossed his arms. "These two already showed their faces. The second Jae-myeong reports up the chain, the organization moves and your whole operation is finished."
Geon-woo and Woo-jin quietly looked away. Just a little while ago, Hyeon-ju had been ready to cut them both loose. If Joe hadn't stepped in when he did, they'd be out on the street by now.
"Even so." Hyeon-ju's voice stayed cold. "We kidnapped Jae-myeong. The people behind him aren't going to sit on their hands."
"They won't." Joe nodded. "But it would've been the same either way. The moment Jae-myeong told his superiors that someone approached him, the organization would've started digging into Geon-woo and Woo-jin. Geon-woo has his mother. She would've been in danger. You would've had to shut everything down."
Geon-woo's expression hardened. 'Mom.'
"But this way," Joe continued, "it'll take them time just to figure out why Jae-myeong disappeared. We use that time to get everything out of him. And most importantly — who this guy is actually working for. That's what we need to know."
Hyeon-ju was quiet for a moment. He wasn't wrong.
"Wake him up." She looked at Geon-woo.
Geon-woo grabbed the basin of water beside him and threw it straight into Jae-myeong's face.
---
"Ugh—!"
Jae-myeong's head snapped up. His eyelids dragged open heavily. The light was too bright. He tried to move his wrists, but the rope bit into his skin.
His vision came back slowly. Four faces took shape in front of him.
One of them was Joe.
"You son of a—!" Jae-myeong's eyes went wide. "Let me go right now! Do you have any idea what you're doing?! Do you know who's behind me?! You want to die?!"
Joe just leaned against the wall, arms crossed.
Woo-jin stepped forward. He lowered his voice and narrowed his eyes. "Who's behind you? What's the goal? Are there others working with you?"
Jae-myeong pressed his lips together and said nothing.
"Hey." Woo-jin's voice rose. "You deaf? Start talking!"
Jae-myeong turned his head away. Wouldn't even make eye contact.
'Damn, it's not working.' Woo-jin cursed inwardly.
He pulled the other three into the corner and whispered. "This isn't going anywhere. This guy's not going to break easy. We need to try something else."
"No we don't."
Joe said it quietly, pushed past Woo-jin, and walked straight up to Jae-myeong.
Then, without a word, he raised his hand and slapped him across the face.
Crack—!
"Hey—" Jae-myeong gritted his teeth.
Joe slapped him again. Other cheek this time.
Crack—!
"You piece of—"
Crack— Crack— Crack—!
Jae-myeong held out at first. Cursing, shouting. But Joe didn't stop. No rhythm, no anger, no expression. He just kept going.
At some point, the cursing stopped. Groaning took its place. Then came the tears.
"Please, just wait—"
Joe didn't stop.
"I'll talk! I'll talk, so just—" Jae-myeong's voice broke as he hung his head. "It's Smile Capital. Smile Capital is the one behind all of this!"
Only then did Joe's hand go still.
A short silence.
"Should've just said that from the start." Joe muttered, shaking out his hand. His palm had gone red. "Now my hand hurts."
Jae-myeong lifted his swollen face. Tears ran down his cheeks. "Your hand hurts?! What about my face?!"
Joe looked down at him, eyes narrowing.
"...What did you just say?"
"Nothing, sir."
---
Hyeon-ju stepped forward and crouched down in front of Jae-myeong, bringing herself to eye level.
"Why is Smile Capital suddenly going this hard to rake in money?"
Jae-myeong sniffled. "The boss needs cash. Fast. So he's pushing to pull it in as quick as possible."
"Why does he need it so badly?"
"I don't know."
Joe glanced over at Jae-myeong.
Jae-myeong flinched. "I really don't! But... I did hear something. The boss is lending money to some local chaebol. There's an abandoned building, one that got shelved during COVID. They're trying to develop it into a hotel. That's what the funding's for."
"How much per identity?"
"About fifty million won each."
From the side, Woo-jin sucked in a sharp breath. "Ten IDs and that's five hundred million."
Hyeon-ju thought for a moment, then kept going. "How long have you been running this?"
"About... about half a year, I think."
"Half a year. They must've made quite a pile."
"Probably."
"And the loan sharks you ripped off — they're just sitting on their hands? Not going to the cops?"
Jae-myeong let out a bitter laugh. "They go to the cops, they get investigated too. They can't. My guess is they're trying to track it down themselves, but..." He trailed off. "Doesn't seem to be going too well."
Joe crouched down in front of Jae-myeong. His voice dropped. "Smile Capital's key members. All of them."
Jae-myeong's mouth closed.
Joe slowly opened and closed his palm.
Jae-myeong looked away. "...The boss is Kim Myeong-gil. He's the CEO. Doesn't show his face much, but once he decides something, that's it. He sees it through to the end. Cold. Scary."
"Next."
"Kang In-beom. He's the second-in-command." Jae-myeong cleared his throat. "He and Myeong-gil met in prison, apparently. Been together since. The rough stuff — that's mostly In-beom."
"More."
"Kim Jun-min. They call him the Strategy Management Director. He's got connections with the police. Uses them to keep the organization off the radar, and when they want to expand."
Joe nodded. "Anyone else?"
Jae-myeong hesitated for a moment. "Im Jang-do. Myeong-gil keeps him close. He handles the dirty work alongside In-beom."
Joe stood up.
Hyeon-ju rose slowly and turned to face Joe, Woo-jin, and Geon-woo.
"Here's the plan."
All three looked at her.
"We find the loan sharks Yang Jae-myeong conned. And we recover what was taken from them — for a commission."
Woo-jin's eyes lit up. The math was already running behind his face. "At one percent, that's already thirty billion won."
"We charge two."
"Two percent—!" Woo-jin's mouth fell open for a second, then snapped shut into a grin.
Geon-woo had been quiet through all of it. He spoke up now, his voice careful. "But if the loan sharks lose money... doesn't that come back on the people who borrowed from them?"
Woo-jin looked at him. "What do you mean?"
"Think about it." Geon-woo said. "They lose money, they need to make it back somehow. So they go after their clients harder. The ones who can't pay..." He stopped.
The basement went quiet.
Hyeon-ju looked at him. "You're right."
Geon-woo gave a small nod.
Nobody said anything else. They all knew what was behind the numbers. People like Geon-woo's mother — who had knocked on that door because she had nowhere else to turn, and lost her café anyway.