Double Junk - 100

[Hyunseong Daily, February 11th]

[Explosion at Banquet Hall! – Gangsters’ Power Struggle]

[A bomb exploded at Garden Restaurant in Dongdaemun-gu around 6:30 PM on the 10th night. Mr. Kim (48), who resides in Jongno-gu, infiltrated the restaurant with ten bombs strapped to his body.]

[According to police investigation, Mr. Kim was severely addicted to “philo-phon” and committed the crime under the influence of drugs. The perpetrator, Mr. Kim, died in the explosion.]

[On that day, there was a post-wedding reception for the nephew of Park, the leader of the Zhong Huo faction, a famous organization under Heo Wan. The police suspect a power struggle among gangsters and are searching for the mastermind of the crime. However, the investigation has become difficult due to Mr. Kim’s death.]

[Prosecutor Jung of the Seoul Prosecutor’s Office, who is investigating the explosion, stated that they would extensively investigate criminal organizations that disturb Heo Wan and assault citizens.]

[Fourteen attendees and members of the organization who were at the Garden Restaurant for the post-wedding reception died, and twenty were seriously injured. Fortunately, the children were gathered in the playroom and none were killed or injured.]

Seokju finished reading the article and closed the newspaper. A satisfied smile appeared on his lips.

Doojae, who was standing in front of the office door, nodded as Seokju spoke to him. He then proceeded to exit.

Doojae and the Yongma faction, who had done well in their tasks, would be moving north on a boat arranged by Seokju. There, they would establish themselves anew and conduct their business without interference from others.

As Seokju casually scanned through other articles in the newspaper, he lit a cigarette. He then rose from his seat and approached the window, observing the busy members of the organization.

“Fourteen dead and twenty injured…,” Seokju murmured to himself. Considering it was the wedding of Ki-heon’s nephew, many high-ranking officials from the Zhong Huo faction would have attended. The thought of numerous senior officials from the Zhong Huo faction being injured or killed made the satisfaction hard to savor.

Seokju chuckled. The smoke from his cigarette danced like waves.

He considered instructing his men to find out who was injured and how severe their injuries were. However, the commotion outside disrupted his thoughts.

A group dressed in black was entering through the main gate. Clearly, they were neither customers nor shop owners.

Members of the Taehoe faction blocked their way. As the burly men clashed, chaos quickly ensued. Curses could be heard echoing through the window into Seokju’s ears.

Seokju narrowed his eyes. The atmosphere was tense. If he remained passive, a brawl might break out within the company.

Seokju took a deep drag from his cigarette. The ash quickly diminished. He flicked it into the ashtray, then opened the door and stepped out of the office.

Seokju relaxed his long legs. His unblemished leather shoes tapped lazily. As he stroked his forehead, he glanced ahead. Across the spacious desk, Ki-heon was seated.

Ki-heon’s face, which Seokju hadn’t seen in a while, was slightly, no, considerably, marred. From his chin to his left cheek, it was as if his skin had been seared by fire, quite satisfyingly so. It was undoubtedly a wound caused by the bomb I had sent. Part of me felt a bit regretful. Even if his eyelids or lips had melted, it would have been fine.

Seokju licked his lips and whispered his annoyance at Ki-heon. He wished Ki-heon would feel anger every time he blinked or took a spoonful of rice, just as he felt anger towards Ki-heon every time he thought of Ajin.

Seokju repeatedly lit and extinguished his lighter. The flickering flame seemed to reflect in Ki-heon’s eyes, reminiscent of limbs flying in the explosion, blood splattering, and loved ones screaming as they died.

However, he quickly wiped away the expression from his face. Then, he smirked, tilting his lips to the side.

“My dear, when will Chairman Kang come to see me? I’ve been waiting and waiting, but I came first. Hmm?”

“Oh, really? Why did you wait? We’re not exactly working together.”

Seokju closed the lighter cap with a loud click. Dropping it onto the desk, he cast his gaze far across the office. It was an unabashed expression of his boredom with this meeting.

But Ki-heon laughed heartily without a hint of discomfort. He even shook his wrist adorned with a gleaming wristwatch.

“Haha, do we have to work together to meet? Seoul isn’t that big. We just bump into each other. Anyway, that’s why I’m here. I waited for him to come, but he didn’t.”

Seokju licked the inside of his cheek. He found listening to Ki-heon’s pointless chatter quite unpleasant. Moreover, facing his ruined face was not agreeable either.

At that moment, Ki-heon gestured with his chin towards the line of guests seated in the spacious office lobby.

“Wow, damn. There are so many people here. Our company is like a beehive, buzzing away. Jealous, Chairman Kang. Huh? Jealous.”

The guests were all business owners in Seoul. Some had come to make new contracts, while others had come to collect their debts on the agreed-upon dates.

The guests, who had come in light footsteps, were now hunched over, avoiding eye contact and keeping their heads down as they faced the sudden appearance of Ki-heon. It seemed they had all been Ki-heon’s clients before.

“If Chairman Park also comes as a guest, I will write the contract generously for him.”

Seokju said as he lit his cigarette. Then, with a lazy gesture, he lit the end of the cigarette. Soon, wisps of smoke drifted lazily.

“For me? Generously?”

Ki-heon pointed at himself with his index finger, asking incredulously. Seokju raised an eyebrow and nodded. Ki-heon laughed heartily, tapping his desk with his hand.

“All right, good. Hmm, okay. It’s Kang’s merchandise that’s dominating Seoul these days. I need to get a taste too. I’ll think it over and soon give you an answer.”

“Yes, of course.”

Seokju replied indifferently. The conversation, which circled around without reaching the main point, was not entertaining at all. Perhaps Ki-heon felt the same frustration. He pulled his chair forward and leaned closer to the desk.

“Oh, right. I came to talk about this.”

“What is it?”

“A few months ago, you sent a gift, right? It was sent to a weird place, so I didn’t even know I had received it. I was quite surprised since it was something I treasured, but you only sent half of it.”

Seokju shrugged his shoulders as if he didn’t understand what Ki-heon was talking about. Then, with a short sigh, he nodded his head. It seemed he was talking about Jin-geol’s head. There was no reaction on the day he received it. He seemed to have received the report just now.

“And I received the wedding gift well. It was very large and impressive, wasn’t it? Chairman Kang even took care of my nephew’s wedding. Thanks to that, half of the groom’s face flew off. His mouth wouldn’t close. The bride ran away, terrified.”

“…”

“Ah, Busan Ssannais are like what? Distributing dollars. It’s incomparable to a Seoul bumpkin like me.”

Ki-heon shook his hands wildly, trembling with excitement. All he had given was just one grenade. It was understandable, considering he received dynamite in return.

However, Seokju didn’t smile. He just stuck a cigarette between his index and middle fingers and stared at Ki-heon intently. Ki-heon continued to ramble excitedly, despite Seokju’s passive listening.

“I thought it was cute when the drug dealer first brought grenades. But then, that guy had bombs strapped to his waist. I’ve never seen such an explosion in my life. It was like, ‘Is this guy really going to blow up like that?'”

As he finished speaking, Seokju furrowed his brow. He awkwardly ran his finger between his thick eyebrows as if feeling embarrassed.

“Oh… about the wedding? Chairman Park’s nephew got married? Hmm, I didn’t know. If I had known, I would have sent flowers or something. White ones.”

“But… an explosion? It seems like you had a big fireworks show. Too bad. If I had known it was going to be a good spectacle, I would have gone to see it.”

Seokju emphasized “white” in his sentence. If he meant white flowers, they were usually used at funerals. Just as Ki-heon was about to say something, Seokju interrupted him by snapping his fingers.

“Oh, no, no. You’re talking about that. It was at the Garden Restaurant, right? I saw it in the news. I thought your face looked a bit roughed up. Was it because of that?”

“Haha…”

“A lot of people were injured and killed… You must be feeling pretty bad. You need to find the mastermind soon.”

“Well… my close police friends promised to find them, but I told them not to bother. This kind of thing happens when you’re involved in gang activities.”

Ki-heon waved his hand as if it was settled. Then, he pointed at the cigarettes in front of Seokju. “Chairman Kang, can I have one too?” Seokju kindly took out a cigarette and handed it to him. Ki-heon leaned forward and lit it himself.

Seokju waited for him to light the cigarette. However, Seokju only slid the lighter in front of him without lighting it.