VDN Ch 9

Seo-oh came down the stairs with slow steps and paused for a moment. It was in front of Seok Nam-woon’s bicycle, which was parked in front of the building. He approached the bicycle and rang the bell attached to the handlebar.

Ting~!!

There was a helmet hanging on the handle, and on it was a sticker he hadn’t seen before. It looked familiar. It was because Se-han was collecting these stickers. Seo-oh looked at it for a moment and muttered softly,

“It doesn’t suit you.”

Seok Nam-woon has only been doing things that don’t suit him lately.

Ironically, Seo-oh realized that Nam-woon had left the rice behind because he genuinely cared about him, besides his words to throw away the rice. The usual Seok Nam-woon would have taken money but he wouldn’t have told him to throw away the thing he had given him. He would have laughed and mocked him, saying, “What’s wrong with giving a beggar food?”

But today was different.

Is this Seok Nam-woon’s pure kindness? It was something even a passing dog would laugh at. It must be his own misunderstanding. He could be acting. And he even heard something ridiculous.

“He’s someone precious to me.”

There was no such thing as a precious person to Nam-woon. To him, the only precious things are money and the position of successor. Above all, he preferred one-time meetings, going around meeting this person and that person.

However, his recent change in behavior made Seo-oh wonder.

“Has someone really come into his life?”

Seo-oh looked down at the white envelope he was holding. Considering the usual Seok Nam-woon, it would have been cleaner to settle things with money without any complications. But when he handed over the envelope, Seok Nam-woon made an unexpected face.

A hurt expression.

It was a ridiculous thing to say, but it really felt that way. And he seemed a bit angry too. Normally, when Seok Nam-woon was angry, he would scream at the top of his lungs or throw things around in a tantrum. This calm and cold expression of anger was the first time he had seen it from Seok Nam-woon.

And today… he threw an envelope full of money. That money-obsessed Seok Nam-woon.

Somehow, his heart felt strange. It was as if he had done something wrong. But he hadn’t done anything.

What happened?

He looked particularly tired. He had a somber atmosphere, different from his recent appearance, and dark circles under his eyes. Although it didn’t seem obvious, his voice was also lower than usual.

Seo-oh stepped outside the building and looked up. The lights were still on in Seok Nam-woon’s office.

After a while, Seo-oh shook his head.

“It’s none of my business.”

Then he quickly walked away.

After sending off Kwon Seo-oh, Nam-woon answered the rest of the phone call.

“Yes, go ahead.”

– Ahem, this is Gangbuk Police Station. We’re contacting you for a fact-checking investigation regarding a case of identity theft under Seok Nam-woon’s name.

“…….”

– By the way, do you know a 56-year-old named Oh Bae-kwon?

“Yes. He is someone precious to me.”

Of course, I don’t know who 56-year-old Oh Bae-kwon is, nor do I have anyone precious to me. After Nam-woon’s answer, the other party was silent for a moment before asking.

– You’re 56 years old?…

“I cherish him like an older brother.”

The man on the phone stuttered and raised his voice.

– What, that’s nonsense! Don’t joke around. This is a real situation.

“It’s not a joke. It’s not nonsense.”

Nam-woon imitated his tone of speech.

– Anyway, Mr. Oh Bae-kwon has stated that he made the purchase directly under Mr. Seok Nam-woon’s name.

“Oh really? How much did he say I sold it for?”

The man muttered under his breath, ‘Crazy bastard.’

– If this is true, Mr. Seok Nam-woon, you are involved in a major crime and could face more than 10 years in prison.

“How much are you getting paid?”

The other party seemed to be holding back their anger with superhuman patience in response to Nam-woon’s nonsensical talk. They decided to get straight to the point.

– We need to investigate the bank account in Seok Nam-woon’s name, so please tell us the four-digit bank account password.

“I don’t know.”

– Excuse me?

“I don’t know the password.”

Nam-woon was telling the truth. The real Nam-woon didn’t know the bank account password.

Fortunately, these days, the world is a better place, and you can do a lot with just a phone. Nam-woon’s phone had a banking app installed and he could authenticate his identity with Face ID. Thanks to that, Nam-woon could easily check that his bank account was almost empty. It was an era of convenience.

After Nam-woon’s words, there was silence on the other end. Voices shouting at someone else could be heard through the phone.

– Hyung! Should we take care of this Seok Nam-woon bastard? He’s been pissing me off. He says he doesn’t know the password?

– Maybe his IQ is in the single-digits? It makes sense that he doesn’t know! Just tell him to transfer the money!

It seemed like there was someone else with him, as a deep voice was also heard. The other person then asked Nam-woon again in a polite tone.

– Ahem! Then, please transfer 5 million won to the account number I will give you.

“I’m homeless.”

– No way

“Really.”

– Why is our Seok Nam-woon acting like this today?

“Do you know me?”

Once again, the voice faded away.

– Hyung! It seems like this Seok Nam-woon bastard has caught on.

– What? How could he! He’s an empty-headed fool! He fell for it last time, too. Is that guy really Seok Nam-woon?’

The man asked again.

– Excuse me, you are Mr. Seok Nam-woon, right?

“I’m Seo Nam-woon.”

-…yes?

“I am Prosecutor Seo Nam-woon from the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office. So, you’re telling me to make a bank transfer now?

The other party suddenly became silent as if they had eaten honey. Nam-woon quickly added,

“If you hang up, you will be sentenced for an additional 5 years for obstructing public duties.”

The man’s voice grew distant as he checked the phone number.

– It’s Seok Nam-woon’s number, alright…

Nam-woon replied nonchalantly,

“Are you talking about that person again? I changed my number recently, but why do I keep getting calls looking for that person?”

Nam-woon slightly pulled the phone away from his ear and pretended to give someone an order while turning his head towards the window.

“Hey, hey, look into it. Quickly.”

But coincidentally, he saw Kwon Seo-oh standing still outside the window. “Why hasn’t he left yet? What is he doing there?” Kwon Seo-oh was staring at Nam-woon’s bicycle. His expression wasn’t clear from above, but somehow, the way he was standing was very ominous.

“No way… Is he going to destroy my bicycle?”

He worried for a moment about losing his only means of transportation but Kwon Seo-oh soon left the spot. Over the phone, the sound of the man arguing heatedly with someone he called “Hyung” could be heard.

– Hyung! This guy says he’s a prosecutor?

– What? A prosecutor? Stop talking nonsense! If he’s a prosecutor, then I’m a judge!

“It seems real! He just told someone to look into it… He says he’s Prosecutor Seo Nam-woon from the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office! It looks like his number has been changed!”

“What?”

Suddenly the deep voice fell silent and started looking for someone.

– Where did the newbie go!

– He said he was going to the convenience store earlier…

“Did this guy go to eat cup noodles during work hours? Hurry up and catch him, I’ll call his home! And give me that!”

After a moment of clattering noise, Nam-woon’s caller changed. It was the guy who was called “Hyung.”

-Ah, are you the prosecutor, sir?

“Ah, are you the boss?”

Nam-woon asked, and “Hyung” responded with a threatening voice.

-Prosecutor my foot. Stop showing off, Seok Nam-woon Just send the money quietly, okay?

Then, a system notification appeared.

[A review has arrived. Would you like to check it?]

[▶Yes]

[Umpyeong Errand Center]

[Welfare Satisfaction: Corporate Average -0.1]

[Interview Difficulty: Industry Average -0.1 ]

[This is a sh*t company. There’s one boss and one employee, and both are fucking idiots. And I got caught by the boss here while scamming people online and ended up working for free. I’ve escaped now. The errand work is really…”

[Current Employee. I joined as a newbie not too long ago, although saying I joined is an overstatement. I was practically caught. They said they’d refund my money if I worked, so I agreed for now. But I hardly have any work to do… I’m just hanging around. It’s frustrating that they don’t let me use my phone. The work is easy.]

Under the name of Umpyeong Errand Center, there were people’s reviews. “Is this scraped from the internet?” Nam-woon quickly scanned the shiny text and then asked the person on the other end of the phone in a meaningful voice,

“Is this Umpyeong District?”

He heard the other person gasp for breath.

“Let’s see… two employees and a new recruit came in recently—an errand center, right?”

– Well, um.

[Please access Seok Nam-woon’s Bank app and check the account for the past 3 months.]

Nam-woon opened the app right away. There was a transfer record of three million won about 2 months ago with a memo for Umpyeong District. These are real. They scammed three million won last time, and this time they tried to get two hundred more.

Nam-woon spoke leisurely, hiding his anger.

“That guy Seok Nam-woon transferred three million won last month.”

– Oh, prosecutor, that’s not what I…

“This time you increased it to five million won? Who else did you scam besides Seok Nam-woon? Confess before we get everything out of you.”

Then “Hyung” immediately tucked his tail and threw out an apology.

– I’m sorry, Prosecutor! But we really didn’t scam anyone else!

“Would you believe that if you were me?”

– No, really, we only scammed Seok Nam-woon!

It was absurd. Of course, it’s fortunate that there are no other victims, but why did they only scam him?

“What grudge do you have against Seok Nam-woon? Why are you only taking his money?”

– Well, that’s…

The man suddenly slurred his speech and fumbled his answer.

“It doesn’t make sense to take money from just one person without a reason. You know that turning yourself in will lead to a reduced sentence, right?”

As Nam-woon spoke quietly, he suddenly raised his voice.

– Yes! I have a grudge! That bastard Seok Nam-woon stole my boyfriend!”