"A deal..."
"Trading money and power. Isn't this exchange of these two quite common? It's nothing out of the ordinary."
Prosecutor Bae Jae-hwan, after staring at me intently for a while, chuckled lightly. "The prosecutor said you're quite different from the average trust fund baby. I understand why he said that."
"How am I different?"
"You have a talent for saying brazen things without a care and making them sound quite convincing."
"The person giving is allowed to be brazen. Since the people who will keep nibbling at my trust fund will keep showing up anyway. Don't you think that way?"
There are plenty of merchants willing to sell the power they possess. Aren't there about 2,000 of them?
"This... you're quite skilled at making people uncomfortable. All right, I get it. I'll come back with a properly crafted product to sell."
This person knows how to understand spoken words well.
Trust, faith, loyalty... someone who knows that a mutually satisfying trade is a far better long-term relationship engine than those things.
"I'm in a hurry. I hope you can bring something good within a month. I'll pay generously."
"It seems like Prosecutor Lee Kang-sik is even more in a hurry. The one in a hurry often ends up getting the bigger piece."
"Oh, this is the first deal, so I'll make a pre-payment. Please make it as if there were never a Cheongju assignment. I want to encourage you to work harder and expect good results."
Director Bae smiled happily and nodded his head. "Thank you for assisting this prosecutor."
"I should be the one to thank you."
"Really?"
"Out of the six people you mentioned, one of them might be in a situation where they need to take off their clothes. Is there a suitable candidate?"
"Take off their clothes?" Director Bae was taken aback, asking in surprise.
"I've thought about it, even for a worst-case scenario. If someone is in more urgent need of money than doing the prosecutor job, they can take the fall. They would be the one to carry the gun. In return, we will hire them in our Miracle Legal Team with their lawyer qualification." I addressed his concern that he couldn't easily answer. "Even if they lose their lawyer qualification in the worst case, it's okay. After all, those who have studied law will still have the foundational knowledge. The company needs legal knowledge, not a license."
"You seem to be planning something big."
"As I mentioned, I'm preparing for any possibility."
"I will check. If I find a friend thinking about opening a law firm, they will be more than welcome."
If you can make in one year what you could earn in ten years as a lawyer, there's no reason to hesitate.
"Then, I'll be waiting. Let's get our act together for this first deal."
Director Bae gave my outstretched hand a firm handshake.
"Checking out the prosecution was the right choice. The real power lies with the Financial Supervisory Service."
"Have you figured out what they're up to over there?"
"Our company, as well as you and me, are being investigated all the way down to individual transactions. They've started tracing the funds that came in when we established Miracle Korea." Oh Sehyun stated it matter-of-factly, but a hint of anxiety was evident in his tone.
"Do we have anything to be concerned about?"
"We've been dealing in billions, not millions. Even if they scrape together the scraps, it's still a few hundred million. We label it as tax reduction, but to them, it's tax evasion. It's an issue of legal interpretation. If there's any evidence, the National Tax Service will come after us."
"I'm getting a bit nervous."
"In the worst-case scenario, we might have to pay taxes and penalties. We have enough money to cover that, so it's fine. Haha."
"Isn't this about more than just money?"
Looking at my stern expression, Oh Sehyun laughed. "How far are you willing to go?"
"If you draw a sword, you must strike at least once. I'm not going to cut off their heads and put them in a bag."
My expression became even graver. Not wanting to reconcile means that the Sunyang Group and Miracle will clash.
Can we really hurt the unassailable fortress that is Sunyang? Or will it be the other way around, with us getting hurt?
These worries are clearly visible on my face.
"In the worst-case scenario, you said that we can pay a penalty, right? If we can solve it with money, it won't cost us much. There's no need to back down."
Confirming my resolution, Oh Sehyun let out a deep breath.
"Do you have the weapon ready?"
"Yes. There's a prosecutor named Lee Kang-sik in the Financial Investigation Division of the Southern District Prosecutor's Office. He's the one who needs to go to Cheongju soon. Can you cancel his personnel order?"
"Is this friend our hitman?"
"Sort of. We've gathered insiders within the prosecutor's office to strengthen our power."
"That shouldn't be a problem. The Southern District Prosecutor's Office isn't a high-ranking position."
"Alright then. Let's wait to see how sharp our insiders will be when they come."
And before a month had passed, our hitman arrived with a weapon worth using.
"We haven't put any manpower into internal transactions or pushing for deals. Instead, we focused on tracking overseas companies... and this is what we found."
Oh Sehyun eagerly grabbed the documents presented by Lee Kang-sik. He meticulously examined every number and even let out a low whistle. It meant that these were solid pieces of evidence.
"The Financial Investigation Division of the Southern District Prosecutor's Office is quite remarkable. You've managed to uncover this!"
"Well, many people engage in off-the-record funds, and the sums involved are significant. It's tough to expose and deal with them... but we've delved into tax evasion, and we've found the right evidence."
"Wouldn't it have been difficult without help from the United States?"
"I was fortunate enough to participate in a legal training program there. It's a benefit given to Seoul National University alumni, but they occasionally let someone like me slip in for appearances. I had a close friend who was a third-generation Korean-American. He helped me out."
"What is it? What did he do?"
Pointing to the documents, I asked, and Oh Sehyun laughed heartily.
"It's about siphoning dollars. The money that slipped out of an account linked to the United States."