CH97 | MCT

Cracking Park Jung-hwan’s Secret Vault (4)

“I don’t know.”

Oh Young-soon shook her head.

“You saw it yourself. The code here is so complex that no one can open it.”

“That’s right. The code is complicated. Instead of ID verification, you need a 16-digit code to enter, a 16-digit personal safe number, and a 16-digit safe opening number.”

“Yes. The code is a meaningless combination of letters and numbers. Without it, you can’t do anything.”

Han Cheong-ho smiled slyly.

“So, that’s why I’m asking you to hand over that code.”

“Can you even memorize such a complicated code?”

He couldn’t.

“I can’t either. Without the paper note that person gave me, no one can enter here.”

“What about your father’s code, the one he left behind? Where did you hide it?”

“I don’t have it.”

“But you said your father gave it to you?”

“It’s true. I don’t have it. He did leave something with me, but the code…”

Oh Young-soon abruptly closed her mouth.

Han Cheong-ho was smiling.

“What can I do? You just confessed you have no way out.”

Oh Young-soon bit her lip.

This devil easily spots any weakness.

As an innocent woman, she had no way to fight back.

That’s why she kept getting dragged around like this.

Clatter clatter.

Just then, the sound of a cart came, and the vault keeper appeared.

[Usage time is 5 minutes.]

Han Cheong-ho and Oh Young-soon quickly stood and approached the cart.

On the tray lay a paper with large letters.

“What’s this?”

<If the items inside the vault disappear, what will happen to the person in charge, Han Cheong-ho?>

An angry Han Cheong-ho crumpled the paper and threw it on the floor.

“Who pulled this stunt! Where did everything inside go?”

“The vault owner must have taken them. My husband.”

“If Your Excellency took them, would he have left a note like this? You foolish woman!”

“Who knows the code here?”

Everyone who received the code from Park Jeong-hwan ended up dead.

The same went for Secretary Song.

Even the person who came here with Secretary Song carrying the code was killed.

“No one can enter here without the paper note with the code. And there’s only one person who knows the code.”

It was a meaningless combination of letters and numbers, sixteen digits long each time.

You had to say it correctly in sequence three times to open the safe.

So no one could memorize it, and no one could remember it.

“I simply drew that conclusion by common sense.”

“What common sense? Common sense doesn’t work on me, Han Cheong-ho.”

Han Cheong-ho ground his teeth.

“Who’s trying to screw me over like this? Why this trick? What do they hope to gain?”

He glared at Oh Young-soon.

“If these three conditions aren’t met, no one risks danger. What could Park Jeong-hwan possibly gain by pulling a stunt like this on me?”

“I don’t know about your husband, but one thing is clear.”

“What’s that?”

“You’re in a lot of trouble right now.”

Suddenly, Oh Young-soon began to laugh.

“How about this? Let’s trade this fact for the photos and film.”

“What fact?”

“It’s written here. <The items inside the safe have disappeared.>”

Seeing the paper, Oh Young-soon realized what she had to do.

“How do you think your husband will react when he finds out? I’m curious about that too.”

Oh Young-soon knew that the documents were missing from the safe.

Han Cheong-ho didn’t need to think hard to picture what would happen next.

‘An angry Park Jeong-hwan won’t let me off easy! Not only have I botched the cleanup, but now someone else holds Park Jeong-hwan’s weakness!’

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

‘I have to shut her up somehow. If Oh Young-soon just says in front of Park Jeong-hwan, “There was nothing wrong with the safe,” then it’s over!’

Stopping her mouth was the only way to survive.

“Wait! Let’s have a proper conversation!”

“There will be no conversation. Hand over the photos and film. If you don’t, I won’t stay silent either.”

The photos and film had already been burned in front of Kang Tae-soo. They were gone.

No matter how much Oh Young-soon demanded, he couldn’t produce what didn’t exist.

“If you don’t bring the photos and film, I will tell my husband everything as it is — that everything inside the safe has disappeared, and that you’re responsible. What will you do then?”

“Oh Young-soon!”

“I’m leaving first. Hohoho.”

Oh Young-soon had found a chance to escape Han Cheong-ho’s trap.

‘Who gave me this precious help?’

She must repay that person no matter what.

Oh Young-soon’s footsteps climbed the stairs lightly, as if she were flying.

“Damn it!”

Han Cheong-ho felt his throat tighten.

He roughly grabbed his tie and loosened it.

At that moment, the safe attendant spoke quietly:

[Your time is up.]

And then:

[Due to repeated violations of usage regulations, your privileges to use this place will be permanently revoked. Please empty the safe you were using.]

Han Cheong-ho’s panicked Japanese voice came through:

[Wait! Permanent revocation of usage privileges? Empty the safe I’m using?]

If Park Jeong-hwan found out, he would lose it.

[Goodbye.]

[Wait! I haven’t finished speaking yet!]

[You will have 5 minutes to move to the exit. If you remain here after 5 minutes, armed security will be deployed to subdue you.]

“Damn it!”

Han Cheong-ho ground his teeth.

‘Who pulled this stunt? If it were Park Jeong-hwan, one call would have settled this.’

But it wasn’t Park Jeong-hwan.

If it were, he wouldn’t have even suggested attaching his daughter to me to handle this.

‘Let’s think this through one by one, based on what I consider common sense!’

—Who’s trying to screw me over?

‘Someone who holds a grudge against me, who knows about Oh Young-soon and me, who’s sure I will definitely come here.’

Kang Tae-soo!

It’s that guy!

“Since Saudi Arabia, that safe’s existence has been used to stir trouble for Park Jeong-hwan. How did that guy even know the passcode?”

He couldn’t understand it.

So he moved on to the next question.

—Why pull such a stunt?

“To put me in a difficult position.”

And it had succeeded spectacularly.

Of all things, it was about the responsibility for the safe — Park Jeong-hwan’s weakness and secret.

There was no doubt Kang Tae-soo had deliberately written that paper.

“How on earth did he know all this and plan it? What kind of trick did he use?”

Han Cheong-ho’s eyes darkened deeply.

He pointed at the paper the safe attendant had thrown on the floor.

[Take it all away. Otherwise, we will dispose of it.]

[Throw it in the trash!]

Boom boom boom boom.

Angrily, Han Cheong-ho stormed up the stairs.

“Just you wait, Kang Tae-soo! I will make sure you pay this debt!”

Han Cheong-ho felt like he finally knew the answer to his last question.

—What does he gain from this?

“Borrowing a knife to kill someone (借刀殺人). He used Oh Young-soon to have Park Jeong-hwan kill me. All with a single piece of paper — so simple!”

A terrifying scheme.

Han Cheong-ho ground his teeth.

“Do you think I’ll fall so easily? I’m Han Cheong-ho! I will never collapse like this!”

He just had to think of a way — that was all.

“I’ll delay my return to Japan. Meanwhile, I must find a new weakness of Oh Young-soon! That’s how I’ll shut her mouth!”

His heart raced with urgency.

Han Cheong-ho hurriedly ran up the stairs.

* * *

As soon as Tae-soo returned to Korea, he headed straight to Myeong-dong.

Jang Mal-dong welcomed him.

“How did things go in Japan? They offered to assign armed men to you—why refuse? Weren’t you planning to seize the goods along the way?”

“I found a better way.”

Thanks to the passcodes he brought from Saudi Arabia.

“Looks like what we got from Park Jeong-hwan’s safe is quite valuable.”

Bundles of dollars, bearer bonds, negotiable certificates of deposit, gold made of pure bullion — all sorts of assets that are hard to trace the source of were piled up in Park Jeong-hwan’s secret safe.

Since these were to be smuggled abroad, the contents were mostly things easy to liquidate and unlikely to cause problems later.

But there were also some items that would require a bit of laundering.

“Take a look at this.”

Tae-soo opened his briefcase and pulled out some pre-sorted documents.

“These came from Japan.”

“What’s this?”

“A list of pro-Japanese collaborators and the properties confiscated from them.”

“What?!”

Jang Mal-dong jumped in surprise.

His hands trembled as he took the papers.

“That’s right. These guys were the ones who fattened themselves up by collaborating with the Japanese.”

“See the ones marked here?”

“They’re all dead.”

Jang Mal-dong’s eyes flickered with emotion.

“Looks like Park Jeong-hwan was working with Han Cheong-ho on this.”

“Han Cheong-ho was a hardcore pro-Japanese collaborator. In the past, he even betrayed independence activists, and now he’s betraying his old pro-Japanese comrades.”

Jang Mal-dong clearly remembered.

Those people were not supporters of the independence movement since the late Joseon period.

They became information dealers to feed info to them and arms dealers to supply weapons.

“Han Cheong-ho, that bastard, used to roam around with Japanese police officers, ruining the very foundations of independence activist families. And now he was cleaning out these pro-Japanese collaborators with Park Jeong-hwan.”

Tae-soo nodded.

“Cross-checking the documents, it looks like he was collecting stocks under borrowed names, real estate under borrowed names, and bank accounts under borrowed names from these pro-Japanese collaborators.”

“Yeah, looks like that’s the case.”

“It seems like quite a bit of the assets belonging to those who fled to Japan were seized and taken as well.”

“When liberation came, a lot of those scared of retribution crossed over to Japan. Took their wealth with them, tightly secured.”

There was a huge amount of wealth that had been hidden away.

Enough that they had made detailed lists to keep track of it.

“Park Jeong-hwan probably can’t remember all of this anyway.”

“Yeah, when someone like Park Jeong-hwan has been receiving so much hush money for so long, even he can hardly keep track of how much has piled up in his safe. Ugh!”

Otherwise, why would there be a need to make lists of names and property?

“That’s what I think, too. Especially with stocks and real estate under borrowed names. Just selling these gold bars alone would fetch a hefty sum.”

“He must have hidden it away for a rainy day. Everyone with means sets aside offshore hidden assets. Ugh!”

Jang Mal-dong asked cautiously.

“Do you think the news that the safe was robbed will leak out? What’s your take?”

“Most likely, it won’t. Isn’t Han Cheong-ho skilled enough for that?”

“To think he would dare pull off such a bold stunt! You’ve got some nerve yourself.”

All of this was thanks to Jang Mal-dong.

— Han Cheong-ho was ruthlessly exploiting Oh Young-soon.

In such situations, there are only two possibilities:

“Either Han Cheong-ho is really the main man controlling things, or Oh Young-soon is being blackmailed.”

An escape route had already been prepared.

“If it’s just an affair, she wouldn’t dare utter a word. But if she’s being blackmailed, then thanks to me, Oh Young-soon would be able to breathe easier and might actively side with me.”

Jang Mal-dong laughed heartily.

“This will put Han Cheong-ho in quite a tough spot.”

Most likely, yes.

“So, now that the objective’s accomplished, will you put all this stuff back in the safe?”

“Han Cheong-ho and the First Lady took the initiative to move the secret safe. But even if they take it back, no one knows where the new safe is located.”

“Then what’s the plan?”

Taesu smiled slyly.

“Of course, I’ll take it for myself.”

He would claim the wealth that Park Jeong-hwan had hidden in the secret safe.

And this time, he also gained the weakness that Park Jeong-hwan had been desperately hiding.

The documents that Secretary Song had smuggled out.

The 1970 Korea-Japan Joint Agreement Plan on the Seventh Offshore Oil Field.

This plan contained a secret pact between Korea and Japan that had never been disclosed to later generations.

That was why Park Jeong-hwan had flown into a rage when Khalid sent just a single page from that notebook.

It was Park Jeong-hwan’s weak spot