NFS 2.14

Joo Seung-ha had been lying motionless until Monday morning and forgot he needed to contact Seo Ahn-jae. Only after finishing a meeting with his tired body and eating lunch on Monday did he remember he needed to contact Seo Ahn-jae. Perhaps due to the heat, the outdoor lounge on the building’s rooftop was empty. Joo Seung-ha sat down in a shaded chair, took out his smartphone, thought for a moment, and then typed out a message:

[I’ll think about your proposal, but don’t call me for now. The designated driver service is also on break.]

Although it wasn’t a demand he could make proudly as someone who owed 700 million won from the other man, Joo Seung-ha wasn’t anxious. He felt like he had become the emotional superior, thinking ‘What are you going to do about it?’ It felt strange to him. He also felt guilty about taking advantage of the other man’s love for him.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t firmly reject the proposal to repay the 700 million won with his body because of his experience from 7 years ago. Though the love he tried to buy with money then had failed, the happiness he felt when Seo Ahn-jae had accepted him in that way was vivid in his mind. Thinking about it now, if Seo Ahn-jae hadn’t accepted him then, he might have been broken like garbage.

So, he couldn’t know what was right or what the answer was. Joo Seung-ha laid his smartphone face-down on the chair and breathed in the hot air. He wanted to smoke again. But what he missed wasn’t the addictive smoke of cigarettes. He just missed that act that made him forget everything and pass the time.

***

Although all the executives had gathered in the spacious conference room for once, the one who called the meeting seemed to be in his own world, staring intently at his smartphone screen. What is he looking at? Everyone wondered, and some began to murmur. If it weren’t for what the CEO was supposed to explain today, many would have burst out with their curiosity first. Since everyone knew why the CEO had been on a business trip for a week, they could only wait anxiously for Seo Ahn-jae to tell them the results.

“CEO.”

Secretary Choi called out to Seo Ahn-jae softly while reading the atmosphere in the room. Secretary Choi already knew that Ahn-jae had not achieved any results at the meeting with ‘SKY37’ that he had tried to persuade on the day he arrived. Even though he had stayed a few more days, the secretary knew it would be difficult to reverse the outcome and felt heavy-hearted about the whole thing.

“Leave him be, Secretary Choi. Even CEO Seo must have times when it’s hard to speak.”

Secretary Choi shot a disapproving look at Executive Director Hwang, who spoke as if trying to appear composed. Though he wasn’t openly laughing, he couldn’t hide his occasional smirks as if finding this situation incredibly amusing. They had already discovered through an internal investigation that he had accessed the contract, making him practically the culprit who had leaked the information. But they also knew that mere access wasn’t enough evidence. So Secretary Choi just looked at him with an even sterner expression.

“Secretary Choi, do you have something to say to me?”

“No.” As Secretary Choi mumbled and lowered his gaze, Executive Director Hwang addressed Seo Ahn-jae in an even more relaxed voice.

“CEO Seo, it seems like you have urgent business, so we can have the meeting later if you need to take care of it first.”

Executive Director Hwang was convinced that Seo Ahn-jae couldn’t even open his mouth because it was difficult for him to admit failure. Seo Ahn-jae glanced up at his consideration and finally spoke.

“No matter how urgent, we need to finish the meeting.”

Seo Ahn-jae slowly looked around at everyone with an expressionless face.

“As you’ve probably heard, SKY37 has demanded termination of their contract with Million.”

Seo Ahn-jae’s gaze swept over everyone again as he briefly announced the results.

“We’ve decided to terminate the contract.”

Sighs and concerns burst out from various corners from those who had held out hope.

“We should sue. Even if there are loopholes in the contract that allow them to escape, leaving such a precedent will cause problems with other contracted companies.”

One person spoke forcefully, but Executive Director Hwang shook his head and expressed opposition.

“SKY37 has moved their headquarters. The laws there are unfavorable to us, so if we proceed with a lawsuit, we’re bound to lose. There’s no need to fatten lawyers’ wallets with enormous legal fees.”

“But what about the losses from SKY37 pulling out when it’s Million’s flagship game?”

“We need to find new alternatives. If we don’t have money, we can get investments.”

Executive Director Hwang smirked and asked Seo Ahn-jae.

“Have you looked for alternatives?”

“Yes.”

At his short answer, the noise suddenly stopped and everyone turned to look at him. Executive Director Hwang maintained his smile but asked again with questioning eyes.

“What kind of alternative?”

“To explain the alternative, I’ll need to get into some messy details.”

“Go ahead. We’re all here to hear about it.”

Seo Ahn-jae nodded his head as if to say ‘Is that so?’ but his voice sounded like he found everything to be rather tedious.

“When I first heard the news that BMC was trying to contact and contract with SKY37, I was quite curious about something. Why now?”

He looked at everyone as if asking if they knew the answer, but it appeared no one knew. Seo Ahn-jae’s gaze stopped on Executive Director Hwang.

“Why now?”

Suddenly feeling singled out, Executive Director Hwang frowned in confusion.

“SKY37 is a good game company, so it’s natural to target them.”

“Why now specifically? Going through contract termination, being called bastards in the industry, and bearing troublesome lawsuit costs? While SKY37 is a good company, there’s certainly big risk involved. Furthermore, BMC has that famous R Company sandbox game. With such an incredible cash cow, why would they pull this stunt now on a game past its prime, not even a new investment? This was the purpose of this business trip. Let’s find out why.”

“Did you manage to find out?”

“Yes.”

Seo Ahn-jae’s answer came so easily again that the listeners felt rather deflated. Someone asked if there was a reason, but Seo Ahn-jae’s gaze remained trained on Executive Director Hwang the whole time.

“There was a spy who leaked the contract’s loopholes to BMC.”

“A spy? Wow, what a terrible person.”

Executive Director Hwang spoke exaggeratedly and shook his head at the others. However, he soon stopped at Seo Ahn-jae’s next words.

“But BMC wouldn’t have moved just because of such petty espionage.”

When Executive Director Hwang turned silently, Seo Ahn-jae openly turned his chair to face him.

“I asked why BMC jumped in like a calf with its behind on fire over just one contract.”

“Who did you ask?”

Though the question came from somewhere else, Seo Ahn-jae answered while looking at Executive Director Hwang, who also focused on Seo Ahn-jae, seemingly curious about what his answer would be.

“The CEO of SKY37. I thought he must have had questions too. Indeed, he knew the answer. But he was reluctant to let me know the information easily. So I firmly promised not to sue over this matter if he told me.”

Everyone murmured, expressing their dismay. What? Throwing away the chance to sue just to hear one reason? Only Executive Director Hwang was laughing.

“That answer must be worth that much.”

“It is to me. Because it satisfies my curiosity. According to SKY37’s CEO, BMC’s CEO apparently had an affair recently. The other party was the wife of a friend who was like family. While the two families were enjoying a weekend together, he couldn’t control himself and got caught doing something despicable. That’s not all. The relationship between the two had been going on for quite some time, and it turned out that the friend’s three-year-old son wasn’t his own child but BMC CEO’s child from the affair.”

At this soap opera-level content, people realized why Seo Ahn-jae had called it a messy explanation. However, no one understood how BMC CEO’s affair was related to this matter. Executive Director Hwang couldn’t contain his frustration and asked what it had to do with anything.

“The friend who was like family owns a game company collaborating with BMC, and because of this incident, they decided to terminate their contract, which was supposed to last until the end of this year, without an extension.”

Seo Ahn-jae seemed to finish his explanation as he briefly lowered his gaze to his tablet and checked something while scrolling through his screen.

“CEO, is that all?”

At someone’s question, Seo Ahn-jae added casually while continuing to scroll through his tablet.

“Ah, so I went to that friend’s company and proposed a contract with Million. Got their signature.”

“What game is it?”

“R Company’s sandbox game.”

Again, no sound could be heard. It was as if only Seo Ahn-jae existed in this conference room—not even breathing could be heard. The news that he had brought over BMC’s cash cow was delivered so casually that it was hard to believe. After a while, someone asked.

“Did you really make the contract happen?”

Seo Ahn-jae raised his eyes toward the sharp voice. His gaze landed on Executive Director Hwang again.

“Oh right, I can’t stand curiosity so I made a separate deal with BMC too. I said I would withdraw cleanly without a lawsuit if they revealed who the spy was who sent the contract. Executive Director Hwang, who do you think the spy bastard might be?”

Seo Ahn-jae’s lips slowly twisted upward. Usually, it would be a handsome smile worth staring at, but Executive Director Hwang was now frozen like a plaster statue, unable to make a sound. However, when he realized all eyes were on him, he forced out a smile.

“Well, I don’t know why CEO Seo is asking me.”

“Executive Director Hwang will have to run around dealing with lawsuits from now on, but if you’re not curious, I’ll explain later, whatever.”

Everyone knew how angry Seo Ahn-jae was when he used profanity with a smile like that, and their looks at Executive Director Hwang changed. So you’re the culprit. Executive Director Hwang moistened his lips with his tongue in disbelief and raised his voice.

“What the fuck…Do you even have evidence that I’m the spy? Lawsuit? Bring it on. I won’t stay quiet either. CEO Seo, you shouldn’t falsely accuse people. What happens if I sell all my company shares right now? How long do you think you’ll sit in that seat and be called CEO?”

“Executive Director Hwang, I never said I would sue you over the spy issue. Well, I’ll do that too, but the lawsuit that’s putting fire under your feet is different, isn’t it?”

“W-What are you talking about?!”

Executive Director Hwang shouted, slamming his fist on the table. Seo Ahn-jae looked indifferently at the table he had hit before meeting his gaze. Seo Ahn-jae’s voice was incredibly gentle, unlike the angry displays Executive Director Hwang was making.

“How is General Manager Erin doing?”

At the sudden mention of his wife’s name, Executive Director Hwang hesitated and became wary.

“Why bring up Erin suddenly?”

“I just met her during this trip. Executive Director Hwang, you shouldn’t be dating around so actively because you’re lonely alone in Korea. Your partners change five or six times a month. Moreover, some are minors.”

Executive Director Hwang’s eyes widened to the point of tearing up. Humiliated by the exposure of his private life, he slammed the table again and burst out in anger.

“Fuck, what the hell are you saying?!”

“I told you, didn’t I? That it would end up being a messy explanation.”

Seo Ahn-jae replied calmly and added as if annoyed by the whole thing,”I’m telling you this because you still don’t seem to understand about the lawsuit. General Manager Erin is extremely heartbroken. So she’s prepared for the lawsuit very thoroughly. According to General Manager Erin, she said she’ll take everything away. Oh, and I gave her some advice. To freeze our company shares first. As you know, since those were given when recruiting both of you, General Manage Erin’s share is quite substantial. So…”

Seo Ahn-jae, as if finished with his business, stood up and made his final announcement to the petrified Executive Director Hwang, “Keep making those shitty threats. I’ll listen with a smile.”

***

Just because there had been no contact from Seo Ahn-jae for a few days didn’t mean peace came to Joo Seung-ha. On Thursday, his car broke down. It had been 5 years since he bought the cheap used car. He’d had it repaired several times, and each time was advised to scrap it, so this wasn’t even on the level of the consecutive misfortunes that had befallen him. Still, why now of all times? Joo Seung-ha briefly resented the heavens. When he called a tow truck and went to his regular car center, the owner shook his head gravely.

“Everything needs to be replaced. You’re lucky it stopped in the parking lot. If it had stopped in the middle of the road? You’d be dead. The car was thinking of its owner.”

While giving a treat to the yellow dog kept at the car center, Joo Seung-ha asked hopefully, “How much would it cost to fix everything?”

A figure in the hundreds of thousands came from the owner’s mouth. It was certainly a large sum but was it because he owed 7 billion won that hundreds of thousands now it seemed like just an “Oh, I see” level? But because he didn’t have those hundreds of thousands right now, he had to let go of the car that had been his legs for so long. Though it was just a cold, breathless chunk of metal, Joo Seung-ha found it hard to give up easily. But after briefly placing his hand on the car’s body, he stepped back.

“How much could I get if I scrap it?”

While the owner left to check, Joo Seung-ha couldn’t take his eyes off the car. Strangely, abandoning the car felt harder than leaving home for the goshiwon.

“It looks like they’ll give you 600,000 won for it.”

The owner announced the amount almost to the point of shouting as he came out of the office. “I negotiated hard to get you that much.” Joo Seung-ha showed a faint smile to the owner who was showing off.

“Yes, thank you.”

***

Friday, just as Seo Ahn-jae arrived at the meeting Park Hyo-joon had mentioned, he stopped and immediately checked when a mail notification appeared on his smartphone. It contained the results of having Joo Seung-ha followed and even provided new information.

[Mr. Joo Seung-ha’s car broke down and was scrapped.]

No car. Seo Ahn-jae felt good about that. Joo Seung-ha’s deficiency could become his fortune. Though he wouldn’t receive material help, this incident could make Joo Seung-ha crumble a bit more. Every time he crumbled and spaces appeared, it created gaps and opportunities for him to enter. Just like how his mother had created an opportunity for him. Since it wasn’t bad news, Seo Ahn-jae could face President Kang patiently when they met next.