VDN Ch 111

The man looked at each employee from head to toe with sharp eyes. Then he raised his hand and pointed at Nam-woon.

For a moment, Nam-woon almost blurted out, “Thank you for choosing me, sir!” but he managed to hold back and swallow his words. The man deposited 3 million won as an advance payment, left his contact information, and exited the office.

“You seem to be in a good mood, sir.”

“Is it because you’re used to being chosen at clubs but now you’ve been chosen here?”

Jang-mi and Yong-deuk whispered, glancing at Nam-woon. Ignoring them, Nam-woon checked the deposit details with a flushed face. The 3 million won from the man, combined with his savings, was enough to meet Chairman Seok’s demanded payments. Although he would be broke again after paying, he felt relieved to have extinguished the immediate crisis.

I’ll share the success bonus with Yong-deuk and the others, and maybe buy a new fan for the house if there’s some extra money,

The other day, Se-han’s back was covered in sweat. It was probably because the fan was not cool enough. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to save more money and buy a small air conditioner…. A smile spread across Nam-woon’s lips as he imagined Seo-oh and Se-han enjoying the coolness.

***

Time passed quickly, and it was now one day before he was scheduled to see Chairman Seok.

As soon as he thought of Chairman Seok’s face, it made his chest feel uneasy. Nam-woon felt anxious and went in and out of the bathroom for no reason. Was it because his anxious feelings were showing through his actions? Seooh approached him and asked.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

“…My stomach hurts, I ate too much.”

Nam-woon avoided Seo-oh’s gaze and replied nonchalantly. Then Se-han handed him a roll of toilet paper and said,

“Is your stomach hurting a lot? Wooni Hyung has already pooped six times.”

Had he been counting every time he went to the bathroom? A hot-headed Nam Woon grabbed his belly and rubbed it wildly with his palm.

“Kwon Se-han, you’re embarrassing your Hyung, why are you counting?”

“Ugh… Ehhh… Hyunggg, sorrry….

Seo-oh stared at the back of Nam-woon’s head.

***

A black car stopped in front of a gray building Nam-woon had visited before. A place he never wanted to visit again after that day. However, since Chairman Seok insisted that the payment be delivered in cash, he had no choice. Taking a deep breath, Nam-woon lifted his hand and felt his chest. He could feel the thick envelope tucked inside his jacket.

Yong-deuk, sitting in the driver’s seat, looked at Nam-woon through the rearview mirror.

“Are you okay?”

“Of course.”

“Just greet him and hand over the money right away. Since the amount is correct, there shouldn’t be any problems.”

“I’m going to get a stab in my ear. Yong-deuk, you’re nagging a lot today.”

Nam-woon smiled playfully and opened the car door. Yong-deuk followed him as he headed toward the building.

The elevator carrying the two quickly arrived at the floor where the Chairman’s office was located. They walked down the long hallway in silence. The secretary at the desk in front of the Chairman’s office recognized Nam-woon, stood up, and bowed slightly. She spoke in a businesslike tone.

“The Chairman is out at the moment. He instructed that you wait inside. He’s expected to arrive in 20 minutes.”

Nam-woon nodded and looked back at Yong-deuk.

“I’ll pay you back later, so why don’t you go to a convenience store or restaurant and get something to eat?”

“No, I’ll wait out front.”

“You didn’t even finish your cup noodles before you left, so go.”

As Nam-woon pushed him forward, Yong-deuk reluctantly started walking away. Even as he got into the elevator, he sent him a worried look.

Once the elevator doors closed, Nam-woon instantly returned to his expressionless face, as if the smile had never been there. He headed into the Chairman’s office and sat down on the leather sofa in the center of the room.

“……”

The inside of the room was eerily quiet. Only the tiny second hand of the clock broke the silence. Nam-woon, who had been sitting with his head down and his hands clasped together, suddenly straightened up and looked around the Chairman’s office.

The first thing that caught his eye was a large display cabinet filled with what appeared to be expensive items. Next to it was a bookshelf sparsely filled with thick books. Titles like The Entrepreneurial Mindset and What is Management? suggested they were business management books.

His gaze moved past a potted plant in the corner to the desk. The black nameplate engraved with the name “Seok Jin-cheol” gleamed, spotless as if it were brand new.

The last thing Nam-woon’s eyes landed on was a crystal ashtray sitting on the table. A cold sweat ran down his back. He picked up the ashtray and bent down, placing it under the table. As he straightened up, he noticed something he hadn’t seen before.

“…A safe?”

A square box was placed under the display cabinet. A keypad for entering a password was attached to the front of the box. Thump, thump. His heart started beating rapidly. Detective Jang’s words, which he had forgotten, flashed through his mind.

“Look at the logs. With this much extracted, there must be a drug with pheromone components somewhere. But every time we think we’ve caught them, they slip through our fingers.

“….What? Where else could it be? If it comes out of Chairman Seok’s office or home, that seems to be the only place.”

I hadn’t had the opportunity to search for the drug due to various other issues, but now I found myself alone in Chairman Seok’s office.

Gulp. Nam-woon swallowed hard and glanced at the clock on the wall. Five minutes had already passed since he arrived. There were about 15 minutes left until Chairman Seok was expected to arrive. If the Chairman was late, he might have more time.

There was a CCTV camera installed on the ceiling, but the red light was off. Most likely, a lot of illegal activities had taken place in this office. Cash transactions, corruption, and even assaults. There was a high possibility that today, when he was supposed to receive his payment, would not be recorded either.

Nam-woon thought for a moment before standing up. He had a gut feeling that this might be his only chance to search the office.

He quickly approached the safe and placed his hand on the keypad. He tried various combinations, starting with Chairman Seok’s phone number and anything else that came to mind, but the safe remained firmly locked.

“I should search elsewhere while I think.”

Nam-woon turned toward the desk and began examining it slowly, starting with its exterior. There was nothing particularly unusual.

Whoosh

The sound of the drawer opening rang out like a thunderclap. Nam-woon wiped the sweat from his hands on the waistband of his pants and looked inside. It contained basic office supplies, including ink and stamps, a fancy-looking fountain pen, along with several long, yellow packets. When he picked up one of the packets and shook it, he heard the sound of powder shifting inside. He quickly hid it in his pants pocket. It seemed like an ordinary supplement, but he couldn’t be sure.

He then opened the second drawer. It was filled with piles of file folders. He pulled them out one by one, flipping through the papers quickly. Despite concentrating on the contents, he didn’t find a single word related to pheromones or genetics. Finally, he opened the third drawer. clunk, clunk. It was firmly locked.

Before he knew it, Nam-woon was frantically searching the office. He even checked the bookshelf in his frenzy, and soon realized he had less than five minutes left.

He quickly stepped back in front of the safe. With his hand on the keypad, Nam-woon was lost in thought. Four? Six? Or maybe eight? He had no idea.

After contemplating for a long time, an inexplicable sense of déjà vu washed over him. A memory of seeing a similar safe came to mind. This is similar to the one I used in my shop…? At that same moment, a four-digit code flashed through Nam-woon’s mind. As if in a trance, his fingers moved.

3, 8, 0…

Just before he tapped in the last digit, he felt a slight breeze from somewhere. Then, with a bang, Nam-woon’s head slammed into the wall.

“Ugh!”

Then a cold shoe stomped mercilessly onto his body.

“Ugh.”

Nam-woon Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around his head. The ferocious kicks rained down all over his head, stomach, and thighs, everywhere. He curled up and endured the terrifying falling violence for what seemed like an eternity when suddenly the kicks stopped. A high-pitched voice came from overhead.

“So now you’ve stooped to stealing?”

Huff…Nam-woon gasped for breath as he opened his eyes. His vision was blurry from the impact, but he could make out Chairman Seok and two men in black suits standing behind him. Chairman Seok looked down at him with a cold, emotionless gaze, as if he were inspecting an object. Even today, his hair, usually slicked back neatly, was slightly disheveled from the violent movements.

That appearance reminded him of someone

Despite the brief pause in the assault, Nam-woon was unable to steady himself. In fact, his condition seemed to be getting worse. His head was throbbing and his body was shaking. Panic had set in because of Chairman Seok’s merciless violence and his past trauma.

“After taking in a filthy beast like you and raising you, now you try to bite the hand that feeds you? You should just do your job properly instead of stealing!”

A hard palm slapped heavily across his cheek. Smack! Nam-woon’s face whipped to the side. The cheek that had been unscathed a moment ago swelled up red in an instant.