CH102 | MCT

Taeyang Group (5)

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Cheongil Hotel in Euljiro, Seoul, was coming to a close.

“Wishing the Cheongil Hotel endless prosperity,” President Park Jeonghwan concluded.

Clap clap clap clap.

The prominent figures from political and business circles attending the event enthusiastically applauded.

Park Jeonghwan lightly raised his hand in acknowledgment and stepped down from the podium.

“Now, it’s time for the first shovelful of earth. All those participating, please come forward.”

Fifteen participants stepped up for the groundbreaking ceremony.

Among them, naturally, was Park Jeonghwan himself, with Han Cheong-ho standing right beside him.

One by one, the dignitaries lined up holding shovels.

Reporters swarmed around them, clicking their cameras rapidly.

Chachachacha...

In an instant, the groundbreaking was over. As the participants, wearing white gloves, raised their shovels and cheered, applause broke out.

Clap clap clap.

Park Jeonghwan and Han Cheong-ho’s gazes both instinctively turned toward one side.

Because of the blazing midday August sun, that spot was dazzlingly bright.

The glare reflected so fiercely that everyone’s attention was drawn there without realizing it.

It was Rahman, leading a group of bodyguards.

Beside him stood Kang Tae-soo.

“Tae-soo Kang, what brings you all the way here?” Han Cheong-ho asked, handing the shovel and white gloves he had used for the groundbreaking to his secretary Park.

Approaching Tae-soo with a smirk, Han Cheong-ho said,

“The Taeyang Group’s launch must have been a ghost town, huh? So who told you to hold your event at the exact same date and time as the Cheongil Hotel groundbreaking?”

Cheongil had planned this event late, deliberately to ruin the Taeyang Group’s launch ceremony.

“As you can see, I was busy with an important event and couldn’t pay attention to your show. Now that I’m here, you know I couldn’t abandon the famous guests gathered here.”

In truth, everyone who wanted to stay in Cheongil’s good graces showed up.

Not only top officials from various government departments but also bank presidents, except for Jangsu Bank’s head, were all present.

Because President Park was attending, Security Chief Cha Gi-beom and Secretary-General Kim Jeong-rim came along as well.

“Why would you ignore your own event and show up here without even getting an invitation?”

Uninvited guests were basically told to buzz off.

Tae-soo smirked.

“The Cheongil Hotel groundbreaking is far behind schedule. The demolition of the old building was finished long ago, and the designs have been ready for ages. I’m curious why it’s been delayed so much.”

That was because they had been secretly pouring personal funds into a secret vault of Park Jeonghwan.

Moreover, all because of a single piece of paper found in that vault!

The blackmail of the first lady and the money extorted from her had finally come to an end.

They had lost the golden goose — all thanks to Kang Tae-soo!

Han Cheong-ho pressed close and asked,

“How exactly did you get in there?”

“I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tae-soo replied, smugly shrugging his shoulders.

“Shall I go ask His Excellency myself? Whether he’s ever lost a cipher?”

“You bastard!”

Han Cheong-ho’s face turned pale.

At the moment Park Jeonghwan grew curious, Han Cheong-ho was already a dead man.

He lowered his voice as much as he could.

“Well then, you’re dead too! I may ring the bell, but you’re the one who dies! Got it?”

“Why would I die? I don’t know anything about this. Can’t I just ask?”

Gnash — Han Cheong-ho ground his teeth.

“Do you think you can get away with that? The moment you open your mouth recklessly, I won’t care about anything. No holds barred. Your whole family dies with you.”

“Well, I wonder if His Excellency even knows the first lady was being blackmailed.”

If Park Jeonghwan found out, it would be a disaster.

Because Oh Young-soon was naïve and timid, the blackmail worked—but if Park Jeonghwan knew?

“Oh Young-soon would never confess.”

“Do you really think so?”

Han Cheong-ho thought that Oh Young-soon was prepared to end it all with her death.

If that happened, she’d truly die at Park Jeonghwan’s hands.

Cold sweat dripped down Han Cheong-ho’s spine.

Unlike the sweat from the blazing August sun, this was a different kind of chill.

“Let’s not sully the first lady’s honor. We have to keep some lines. If Park Jeonghwan finds out, you and I are both dead. Let’s call it quits here.”

In fact, the one who sullied the first lady’s honor was none other than Han Cheong-ho himself.

But Tae-soo had no intention of telling Park Jeonghwan about any of this.

He didn’t want to destroy the family Oh Young-soon so desperately wanted to protect.

‘Park Jeonghwan’s secret vault is nothing but a minefield.’

Both Han Cheong-ho and Tae-soo were stepping on mines.

The moment either took a step forward, both would be caught in the explosion.

If talk of the vault came up, the secret documents and valuables Tae-soo had slipped away would be exposed.

Tae-soo would be in deep trouble.

“Then don’t cause trouble and get lost.”

Tae-soo brushed past Han Cheong-ho and headed toward Park Jeonghwan.

“I came to express my gratitude to Your Excellency.”

Tae-soo spoke calmly.

“Your Excellency, I’ve heard well the message you sent through your people at the Taeyang Group launch.”

Park Jeonghwan had ignored all of Tae-soo’s requests for a meeting until now.

Even knowing Taeyang Group was launching, he didn’t respond.

But when Tae-soo suddenly showed up demanding to meet, Park frowned.

“I have heard your first message sent through your people. Thank you sincerely for congratulating the launch of Taeyang Group.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

On the same day, at the same time, two completely different events were taking place.

Since Park Jeonghwan didn’t have a doppelgänger, it made sense that while he attended Han Cheong-ho’s event, he at least send congratulations to the Taeyang Group.

After all, it was the launch of a major conglomerate.

“I will also address the second matter Your Excellency entrusted to me, right here and now.”

At Tae-soo’s signal, Lee Chang-won, Noh Il-guk, and Rahman’s bodyguards simultaneously lifted their bags.

Seven black 007-style briefcases.

Each case bore the name of a company that Taeyang Group had recently acquired.

“As Your Excellency commanded, we will clear all debts immediately, right here in this very place.”

Tae-soo glanced around.

“The Taeyang Group has acquired a total of seven companies. We will pay off every debt owed by these companies in full, all at once. Therefore, I ask the bank presidents to come forward and collect the funds.”

The renowned political and business figures attending the event were stunned.

‘Didn’t he say he was ordered to do this at the Taeyang Group launch?’

‘Clear the debts of the newly acquired companies right now?’

‘How could they have prepared this kind of money in such a short time?’

‘I heard Taeyang was completely blocked from bank loans and investments recently.’

Tae-soo said, “Open the cases.”

Click. Click click.

All seven men holding briefcases opened them simultaneously.

Inside each 007 briefcase were tightly packed stacks of US dollars.

“We have prepared the exact amounts as requested.”

Just how much money was that?

No one could say a word; they just stared at the thick bundles of cash.

“To each bank president, please collect the amount your bank lent to the companies acquired by Taeyang Group. After receiving the funds, kindly complete the receipt confirmation and finalize any loan paperwork.”

“So it’s dollars, not won?”

“With the recent oil crisis, even banks are struggling to get dollars these days. That’s why we prepared it in dollars especially.”

Tae-soo looked directly at Park Jeonghwan.

“Your Excellency, what do you think? We have carried out your orders clearly, right before your eyes.”

Park Jeonghwan nodded with an indifferent expression.

“Good.”

Tae-soo gave another signal.

This time, Han-soo wheeled in a travel trunk.

Rrrrriik Rrrrriik.

Han-soo handed the trunk to Cha Ki-beom.

“This is the third matter Your Excellency mentioned.”

Park Jeonghwan glanced briefly at the Central Intelligence Agency agent standing beside Tae-soo.

The agent nodded gravely.

“Take it.”

Cha Ki-beom handed the travel trunk to one of his bodyguards.

He glanced at Tae-soo with a faint smile—one full of quiet pride.

He had been by Park Jeonghwan’s side when the president issued orders to the Central Intelligence Agency agents.

“Tell him the amount and payment schedule for the bribe will depend on how he handles this.”

“He’s to kneel, bow his head, and beg.”

“If not, the Taeyang Group that launched today will be disbanded by tomorrow.”

The president intended to crush Tae-soo beneath his heel.

He wanted to break the spirit of this young upstart rising as a chaebol.

“No matter how much a chaebol rages, they’ll always be under me.”

“The bigger a company grows, the more it belongs to the state.”

“If he doesn’t submit to me, that company won’t even exist.”

That was why Park Jeonghwan had deliberately blocked Taeyang’s bank loans.

He froze their lines of credit using the acquired companies’ debts as leverage.

And he demanded an enormous bribe so outrageous that it could never be paid, under the pretext of the group’s launch.

But Tae-soo didn’t bend. Instead, he cleverly fulfilled the president’s demands.

Surprisingly, Park Jeonghwan wasn’t angry that his plan failed.

Instead, he was smiling.

“Your Excellency, I’ve resolved all the matters you entrusted to me, right here and now.”

“Good.”

Park Jeonghwan smiled with satisfaction.

“You handled this better than I expected. I like it. This is what I want to see.”

He abandoned the idea of forcing Tae-soo to kneel.

“If he stood up by overcoming the trials, he deserves recognition.”

Few could pull off such a feat.

Even the chaebol heads who kowtow before Park Jeonghwan had never managed this.

So those others would forever crawl beneath the president’s feet.

“Pride is something you build yourself. Just like you, Tae-soo. You earned that right with your own hands.”

Then Park Jeonghwan looked around at the bank presidents.

“Now that you’ve collected the loan repayments, the ban on loans to Taeyang is lifted effective immediately.”

Han Cheong-ho’s face turned ashen.

“Y-Your Excellency!”

If Park Jeonghwan stopped here, it would be a disaster.

The loan freeze, the investment ban, and the demand for immediate debt repayment of the acquired companies—

Han Cheong-ho had expected Tae-soo to collapse, begging and crawling on the ground.

Begging for mercy, just once.

Then Han Cheong-ho planned to demand one thing:

“Bring me what you said you have. Then I’ll let you breathe.”

That was how it would go.

It wasn’t something to be resolved here and now.

They had spent half a year pushing Tae-soo into a corner before this could be made to happen.

“Tae-soo, how did you prepare such a huge sum? A guy who can’t even get bank loans—what trick did you use?”

Han Cheong-ho knew.

How Tae-soo had gotten all that money.

It had to be the funds stolen from Park Jeonghwan’s secret vault.

“This is really suspicious. We’ll have to track the money flow. Maybe after a tax audit and a trip to the Central Intelligence Agency, he’ll finally confess.”

The malice in Han Cheong-ho’s eyes was unmistakable—he was determined to drag Tae-soo off to the Central Intelligence Agency no matter what.

That’s when Rahman, who had been silently listening to the interpretation, stepped forward.

[Han Cheong-ho, can’t you see me?]

Everyone could tell at a glance—this man was clearly royalty, his presence dazzling and unmistakable.

[I’m the one who lent the money. So what are you going to do about it?]

Han Cheong-ho pressed his lips tightly shut.

He hadn’t expected this.

[You think I don’t have that kind of money? You want to arrest me and interrogate me? Do you think the Saudi royal family would just stand by and watch that happen?]

Of course not.

There was no way the Central Intelligence Agency could just snatch a Saudi royal.

Nor could they fly all the way to Saudi Arabia for a tax investigation.

“Damn it, Kang Tae-soo! He’s slipping through my fingers again!”

Han Cheong-ho ground his teeth in frustration.

Tae-soo smugly shrugged his shoulders.

The money was technically Tae-soo’s own, but who cared?

Thanks to Rahman acting as his shield, Tae-soo had managed to avoid a lot of trouble—and he was more than happy about it.

Park Jeonghwan looked over at Rahman.

“Saudi royal family?”