PAHO 47

The city lights were bright under the dark blue curtain that had fallen. Na Taebeom, who was staring out the window with a bored expression, suddenly checked the watch on his wrist. A card payment notification had come in, and he immediately checked the details.

[Card Authorization Notice]
Seoul Card (0926) Approved Na *beom 16,000 won (lump sum) Jungang Pharmacy

“A pharmacy?”

At the words he uttered unintentionally, Gil Useong, who was driving, glanced at the rearview mirror. Na Taebeom cleared his throat and waved his hand as if it were nothing. However, his eyes were still fixed on the watch. He had a sulky expression as if he wouldn’t use it at all, but now that it was in his hands, he did use it after all. He must have bought clothes too. I wonder what he bought. His gaze was a mix of satisfaction and curiosity.

“Are those new clothes?”

Na Taebeom, who was sizing up Nam Gyeonhwa as he got into the car, had a clueless expression on his face. He had clearly ordered him to buy new clothes, but the clothes he was wearing were practically unchanged from before, aside from the fact that they were new.

“There were no specific dress code regulations. As I recall, all the staff inside the center wore uniforms, so I focused on functionality.”

“Where did you buy the clothes?”

“Just a nearby underground shopping arcade.”

“So, which brand in the underground shopping arcade? There must be a maker.”

“There’s nothing like that.”

“Nothing?”

“I just looked around and bought clothes that seemed sturdy and would last a long time.”

The more he heard, the more unsatisfactory the answers became, and Na Taebeom’s brow deepened. Should I call Gil Useong right now and ask him to bring a spare Special Guard uniform? Oblivious to the gaze that was openly showing its disapproval, Nam Gyeonhwa, who was sitting pressed against the car door, suddenly seemed to remember something, rummaged through his pocket, and held it out to Na Taebeom.

“What is this.”

“You’ll know when you see it. That has a brand name, so you’ll like it.”

Na Taebeom, who had checked the condom and the receipt, let out a hollow laugh.

“You don’t need to give me this crap, you can just carry it around yourself.”

“I have no use for it, but you might meet someone other than me. It’s not very bulky, so just carry it with you.”

At the words that followed, Na Taebeom’s expression turned even stranger. If things had gone as intended, he was planning to go over the purchase history one by one and subtly tease him, but instead, he felt like he was being managed by Nam Gyeonhwa.

Due to the nature of Nakdo, where civil servants are not assigned by the state, security was handled by the Special Guard, and area management was handled by electing a union head for each shopping district or area every year, who was responsible for the administration, finances, and security gaps of that commercial district. Reappointment was impossible, but depending on performance, one could be assigned to a larger area or be promoted to a position directly under Wieyeonggwan.

As the clubs and casinos were extensions of Wieyeonggwan, the one who ultimately oversaw them all was Na Taebeom. Thanks to the long-standing gangster-style hierarchy that had been in place since the late eighties, there had never been any internal disputes. Although it was insular, once a position was secured, one was treated with respect, but in extremely rare cases, a subordinate would overthrow the existing union head and take the seat.

This was the state of affairs in Nakdo that he had heard from Gwon Jongdae.

Choi Pilwon, the union head of Number 12, who was in charge of the Namsan-dong pachinko street and was now sitting across from Na Taebeom, was a prime example of such a person. There was one reason for coming to the Nam-dong district out of all the many districts on his morning schedule. It was to gauge the situation of Choi Pilwon, who had only been in charge for a few months. Even if the previous manager was ousted and a new union head was installed, Wieyeonggwan would not impose any sanctions, but a face-to-face meeting was a natural step as they had to be wary just in case.

Unless there was a severe monsoon, Nakdo was unaffected by the changing seasons, so clothing was particularly liberal, but there was usually a certain level of formality when meeting a superior. However, the attire of Choi Pilwon that Nam Gyeonhwa was looking at was, even with a stretch of the imagination, far from formal.

In the midst of the blasting air conditioning, union head Choi Pilwon was wearing a tank top and a pair of jogger pants. Tattoos of what looked like Buddhist scriptures or something similar in Chinese characters were densely packed from his forearms, where the muscle definition was clearly visible, to his chest, making his already fierce impression, due to a scar on his cheek, look even stronger.

Na Taebeom, who had yawned, leaned his body sideways against the armrest. The fact that neither of them said a word made it seem as if they were competing in a contest of silence.

Knock, knock. A knock was heard in the bleak VIP room. The person who poked his face in after being granted permission was a rather delicate-looking man who appeared quite young. He approached carefully so as not to spill the drinks on the tray, placed the glasses down one by one, and then bowed to Na Taebeom and Choi Pilwon in turn.

“Please, have some. Director.”

Choi Pilwon, who smiled broadly and gestured to the glass with his chin, grabbed and squeezed the buttocks of the man who was waiting for the order to leave. The man, startled by the sudden molestation, glanced not at Choi Pilwon but at Na Taebeom, as if embarrassed. What is he trying to do. Nam Gyeonhwa, who was standing behind the sofa, turned his eyes away as if to ignore it.

“Go on out and buy yourself some snacks.”

After putting a bill in his pocket, the union head patted the man’s butt and sent him out before turning back to Na Taebeom.

“He’s quite pretty for a boy, isn’t he?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t looking.”

Na Taebeom, who answered as if annoyed, drained the green tea that had been served to him. The union head, who was staring blankly at the sullen face, put down his glass. Soon, an accountant brought a file folder and handed it to him.

“As you’ll see when you look it over, I received a proper handover from the last union head. Sales have also stabilized since the blockade was lifted.”

Na Taebeom, who was leaning crookedly on the armrest, let Choi Pilwon’s rambling words flow past him without any emotion. The number of customers per day, net profits, and so on were all things that could be checked in the regular reports. Of course, the more meticulously he checked, the less work he would have later, which would be convenient, but since one district’s assets had some effect on other districts, even if someone tried to embezzle, it would be found out quickly.

Nevertheless, the reason for creating such a meeting to see the union head separately was closer to an intention to re-educate him on the power structure. It was necessary to clearly imprint upon him that even if he had taken the union head position through insubordination, he was ultimately under Wieyeonggwan in order to prevent a recurrence.

Nam Gyeonhwa, who was naturally positioned opposite Choi Pilwon as he stood guard behind Na Taebeom’s sofa, felt a sense of unease at his occasional glances. He would pretend to drink his tea, glance once at Na Taebeom, and then look over at Nam Gyeonhwa. That kind of gaze usually boiled down to one thing. Sexual curiosity.

“Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve seen the man standing behind you before.”

At those words, Na Taebeom tilted his head back and glanced up at Nam Gyeonhwa, then flicked his eyes with an expression that said, “What are you talking about?”

“Of course you haven’t. This is the first time I’m meeting with Mr. Choi alone.”

“That’s not what I mean. Usually, you’re accompanied by guards dispatched from the Special Guard, aren’t you?”

“He was dispatched from the Special Guard too.”

At that, his eyes gleamed with even more interest.

“He was dispatched from the Special Guard.”

“What about it?”

Na Taebeom, who had been indifferent, asked sharply. Choi Pilwon cleared his throat.

“It may be presumptuous of me to say this on the rare occasion of our meeting, but I heard that you’ve taken up a new hobby lately, Director. And seeing a new face in the midst of that, I was just curious about your relationship.”

“What exactly is this new hobby.”

“The Northeast union head said that these days you’re more interested in fucking men in the ass than in beating them up.”

It was something that couldn’t be said so easily without a considerable amount of contempt for the other person. Na Taebeom stopped Nam Gyeonhwa, who was about to step forward, with his arm and stood up. Grabbing the sofa, Na Taebeom leaned over as if to surround Choi Pilwon and grinned.

“Who in the Northeast?”

“Well, it was something I heard in passing at a general meeting, so I don’t remember it well either.”

“You just pointed him out as the Northeast union head with your own mouth, so why can’t you suddenly remember?”

At the unusual conversation, Choi Pilwon’s aides who were standing around exchanged glances. Seeing the clear signs of them plotting something, Nam Gyeonhwa grabbed a nearby chair. At the same time as the screech of the chair legs dragging, a group of large men burst in through the partition wall.

“Stop them from getting out!”

As someone shouted loudly, they surrounded the VIP room in an instant, as if they had been waiting. Nam Gyeonhwa, defending his back with the chair, scanned his sides and front. Roughly six or seven of them. They were armed, and they were big. He had made an emergency call as Gwon Jongdae had told him to, but he couldn’t tell if he could handle them alone until the Special Guard arrived from the headquarters.

“Don’t you understand the situation even after seeing what’s happening.”

“What? The situation where you’re being a fucking asshole?”

“Haha, let’s just let go for a second and, let’s talk this through calmly. Director.”

Choi Pilwon, still being held by the collar, gestured to his surroundings with a sidelong glance. Nam Gyeonhwa, who spotted one of the large men rushing in recklessly, urgently pulled him out of the way. The moment a nail-studded club that was swung mercilessly grazed his head, his vision blurred slightly, and his forehead quickly became damp. It felt like blood was flowing, but there was only a burning sensation, and it wasn’t a serious injury.

“The riot squad will be here in ten minutes, so we should first get out through the gap in the broken wall…”

Nam Gyeonhwa, who had turned back to Na Taebeom without much thought, fell silent when he met his face. He shook off the hand on his shoulder and took a step toward the swarming men.

“Hey.”

It was an ambiguous call, unclear who he was addressing. Na Taebeom immediately pointed to one of them with his chin.

“You with the bat, I’m talking to you.”

The man who was pointed out frowned but did not come forward easily. Na Taebeom suddenly rushed at the group and grabbed the collar of the man holding the bat. The massive body was dragged out like a plastic sack.

Before the staggering man could even get into position, a fist struck his face. It was exactly where the brow bone was. Splat. Blood scattered to the floor, and the man, dropping the bat, covered his face.

“There’s a saying, ‘everything in moderation.’ And a baseball bat is not my idea of moderation.”

Na Taebeom cracked his neck from side to side and shook his hands.

“I didn’t warm up because I came in a hurry, but this is perfect.”

Grabbing the ashen-faced man’s hair, he grinned.

“How many hits do you want?”