The luxury karaoke room pulsed with flickering neon lights. Kim Myeong-gil sat deep in the plush sofa with a relaxed smile on his face. He looked like a predator waiting for the right moment to strike.
His wife, Park Min-jung, clung to his left arm. Kim Jun-min and Im Jang-do sat across from him with stiff postures. Jun-min looked like he was sitting on a bed of needles because he had failed his last mission.
Myeong-gil was not angry anymore. He actually looked like he was having a good time.
The heavy door swung open and a massive man stepped inside. It was Kang In-beom. Myeong-gil flicked his wrist and the music stopped immediately. The hostesses left the room like a receding tide and left only Min-jung behind.
"Boss, you called?" In-beom rumbled.
Myeong-gil gestured to the seat beside him. "Sit."
Myeong-gil drained his glass in one go and looked at Jun-min.
"Jun-min. You said three kids showed up, right?"
"Yes, sir. And a girl joined them at the very end."
Myeong-gil shifted his eyes to Jang-do. "What did your investigation turn up?"
Jang-do opened a folder and started to read.
"Boss, you already know one of the boys is Kim Geon-woo. The other is a rookie boxer called Hong Woo-jin. They met during a championship. As for the third one called Joe, he is a retired pro from Japan who moved back to Korea. I sent my men to capture him but they failed. But that is not the main part. Boss, do you remember Jae-myeong?"
Myeong-gil nodded his head. "I heard he went missing. What about him?"
"Months before he joined us, Jae-myeong took a loan from a private lender. I tracked that trail and found a bookstore. It was closed when my men went there. But we found something better."
Jang-do slid several photos across the table. One photo showed a man in a wheelchair. It was President Choi. The girl from the subway, Hyeon-ju, was standing right next to him.
Myeong-gil's eyes narrowed instantly. "Well, well. Look at this."
He picked up a photo and his voice dropped to a low growl.
"Back in the day, I worked for someone named Choi Tae-ho. President Choi had five knifers working for him. Back then, he lent money to major corporations and had tens of billions in debt to collect. Whenever a debt went unpaid, Choi sent in his knifers. They would destroy an entire organization in a single day."
A flicker of memory crossed Myeong-gil's eyes.
"Even the biggest syndicates were terrified of President Choi's knifers. When I finally forced Choi out, the first thing Beom and I did was hunt those knifers down."
He looked directly at Jun-min. "Do you know why we did that?"
"Uh... no, sir."
"Because I was scared as fuck, too."
The room erupted in laughter. Min-jung looked at him with curiosity.
"Did you and In-beom take them all out yourselves?" She asked.
Myeong-gil shook his head. "No. We sent two entire gangs in as a single unit. We only pulled it off because they were not together at the time. If they had been in the same room, it would have been impossible."
"Wow. That is incredible, Boss." Jun-min stammered.
Myeong-gil's gaze turned as cold as ice.
"But in the end, I could not get rid of the two most important ones. Lee Du-yeong and Hwang Yang-jung. They were President Choi's left and right hands."
He toyed with his empty glass and stared at it.
"When I was just a low level lackey for Choi, I saw Lee Du-yeong once. He was a handsome kid. One time, a rival boss was stuck in traffic and smoking with his window down. He heard a motorcycle coming and turned his head. Lee Du-yeong rode past and carved the man's face open with a sashimi knife. His lip was flapping in the wind and there was blood everywhere. It was a hell of a sight."
"Shit... then who is Hwang Yang-jung?"
"They say he once crippled twenty gang members by himself. He cut their Achilles tendons. I heard he uses two blades at once and can land a hundred stabs in a minute. He is a complete psycho."
Myeong-gil let out a dry chuckle.
"If that bookstore belongs to Choi, it all makes sense. That senile old fuck must have crawled out of the shadows to save his pups."
He laughed again and the sound was loud and cold.
"Do you know how much money President Choi has? I bet he has at least fifty billion in cold cash."
"Fifty billion?!" Jun-min gasped. "Boss, that would cover our shortfall in one shot."
Myeong-gil nodded with satisfaction. "Exactly. It seems someone upstairs is looking out for us."
His laughter stopped and he looked at Jang-do and In-beom.
"Jang-do, Beom. I want you to stake out that bookstore. Bring me everything."