Chapter 77.2: Settling a Civil Complaint

Oh Gwang-Taek stumbled at around 4 am. Kang Chan called Joo Chul-Bum, and he urgently ran over with two younger guys.

“Look after him,” said Kang Chan.

“Understood, hyung-nim.” Joo Chul-Bum put his hands under Oh Gwang-Taek’s armpit, and the other two guys held his legs. They then walked away.

“How much do I have to pay?” Kang Chan asked the old woman.

“Just give me 50,000 KW.”

The old woman fully filled a cup with a brown liquid and brought it over.

“It’s brewed oriental raison water. Please drink this before you go,” the old woman told Kang Chan.

“Thank you.”

Kang Chan handed over the money and received the cup.

“That man has a good heart,” the old woman commented.

Could a gangster really be nice? Kang Chan drank the oriental raison water while suppressing a laugh.

“He’s a gangster so he seems to have been in situations where he had to hurt other people, but every time he does, he comes here alone, drinks a lot, and cries.”

That fucker did that?

The old woman looked at Kang Chan as she put the bowl on the tray, then continued, “A lot of people wanted this spot before. He relentlessly protected it all by himself so that I could somehow make a living because he knew that my son wasn’t well.”

The old woman dabbed her tears with her apron, seemingly filled with emotion. “After that, he got as mad as a hornet when I said I’m not going to take his money. That’s why I’m also taking 50, 000 KW today. That man would get too upset otherwise. I felt so bad for him when he went up to me and asked if I was rejecting his money because it came from a gangster.”

Kang Chan thought he could understand how she felt.

“I’ll get going. I enjoyed the food,” Kang Chan told the old woman.

“Come visit if you ever find yourself hungry at night. I won’t take your money since I know what you look like.”

“I’ll do that.”

Kang Chan left the shop in a good mood. He was thankful to the old woman for saying that.

He ran into Joo Chul-Bum who was walking out of the hotel when Kang Chan was stepping into the entrance of the hotel.

“We’ve taken Gwang-Taek hyung-nim to his room. Where do you plan on spending the night, hyung-nim?”

“Has that fucker always been a lightweight with alcohol?” Kang Chan asked.

“He was complaining that you’re just an absurdly strong drinker.”

Joo Chul-Bum burst out with laughter, then quickly regained his neutral expression.

Kang Chan immediately went up to his room. When he laid in bed, the tiredness that had been hiding swiftly engulfed him.

***

Kang Chan woke up around 7 am. He felt refreshed, which was good, but his left arm didn’t feel right. Kang Chan had no choice but to shower with his left arm raised after wrapping it with a towel over the bandages.

‘Is this fucker sleeping?’

Yesterday, Joo Chul-Bum had taken the clothes that Kang Chan took off, saying he was going to take them to the dry cleaners. As Kang Chan thought about what to do for a moment, the phone rang.

- Hyung-nim, are you awake?

“I’ve just finished showering.”

- An employee had gone up to your room but came back down because they thought you were still sleeping. I’ll be right up.

A moment later, Joo Chul-Bum brought over the clothes.

“Gwang-Taek hyung-nim is waiting at the restaurant.”

“Has he pulled himself together?” Kang Chan asked.

“He worriedly asked if we properly looked after you.”

They went downstairs while smirking. A female manage of the restaurant then accompanied Kang Chan to Oh Gwang-Taek’s table, who raised his hand while looking embarrassed upon noticing him.

“I’m sorry about yesterday,” said Oh Gwang-Taek.

“I drank alcohol in a good mood. Let’s go there again next time.”

An employee brought over food, and the two of them ate breakfast.

“I’ve essentially cleared away everything that I have, so I have about twenty billion won,” Oh Gwang-Taek told Kang Chan.

“That’s filthy fucking rich for a gangster.”

“It’s because my stake at the casino and the hotel are expensive,” Oh Gwang-Taek urgently swallowed the food and drank water, perhaps because he was choking up.

“Didn’t you say that gangsters from either China or Japan were going to come to Seoul if you leave it behind?”

“Yeah.”

“Then wait for now, but don’t do something that’ll get you in trouble.”

Oh Gwang-Taek looked like he didn’t understand what Kang Chan just said. The Chinese and Japanese forces had to be stopped one way or another until the announcement was made. Even if so, Kang Chan couldn’t explain the ‘Unicorn’ business to him.

“I’m just saying that we shouldn’t allow Seoul be engulfed by fights right now,” Kang Chan explained.

“Alright.”

“Don’t take away businesses in vain like what happens in movies.”

Oh Gwang-Taek smiled as if he found him absurd.

***

Kang Chan parted ways with Oh Gwang-Taek and immediately headed to the hospital.

He waited for a moment, then met Yoo Hun-Woo and got the bandages on his left arm removed.

“Jeez!” Yoo Hun-Woo frowned. “It festered. How are the other injuries?”

“I showered two times, and there weren’t any problems with them.”

“You didn’t drink any alcohol, did you?”

When Kang Chan didn’t answer, Yoo Hun-Woo’s expression became stern. “Mr. Kang Chan, this injury was severe enough to show the bone. If you were an average person, it would’ve been enough to put you in the hospital for two months.”

“I’ll be careful next time.”

After his injuries were disinfected and wrapped in bandages, Kang Chan got two shots. He felt relieved when Yoo Hun-Woo treated him.

After going out of the hospital, Kang Chan talked to Yoo Hye-Sook, then Seok Kang-Ho. Kang Chan told him to come out as he was wearing a suit and a shirt.

He met Seok Kang-Ho at a specialty coffee shop that was located between the hospital and the school. Kang Chan told him everything that had happened in the past two days.

“What’s the plan?” Seok Kang-Ho asked afterward.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

“Let’s observe the situation for now since it could reveal the reason we reincarnated.”

“But it’s not like you’re going to go back, right?”

“That’s true.”

Even if Kang Chan went back to the moment he got shot in the neck, his neck would still be in pain, and he’d still die.

“Wait. Wouldn’t that fucker Smithen know something?” Seok Kang-Ho asked.

“Would he know anything special when he just got dragged around?”

“Let’s just meet him.”

“It’s not a bad idea.”

The time had come for Kang Chan to meet Smithen again. Smithen was such a simple guy he’d rattle on about things Kang Chan didn’t even know about even if he didn't ask directly.

“I want to see Gérard, that fucker,” Seok Kang-Ho commented.

“You’d be surprised.”

“How different could that little fucking brat be?”

Kang Chan leisurely told him he got instant coffee from Gérard and that he still had Kang Chan’s lighter.

“That fucker! That just makes me want to see him even more now,” Seok Kang-Ho replied.

That topic ended there. They chatted for about an hour more and had a simple lunch.

“What are you going to do now?” Seok Kang-Ho asked Kang Chan.

“I’m already here anyway, so I’m planning on going to where the trainees are practicing the script.”

“I’ll head back to the school to teach the kids. Right, you should come to our house. Is next week okay?”

“Sounds good.”

Kang Chan talked to Michelle on the phone as he got up. He then took a taxi to Yeouido. On the way, the people on the radio continued to have conversations that strongly condemned the issue of sending money to North Korea. The taxi driver tried to talk to him a few times, but Kang Chan pretended not to notice and didn’t say anything.

When he arrived at the SBC broadcasting station, Michelle was sitting on a chair in the lobby. She ran over while smiling brightly.

“Boss!”

She now had the habit of throwing herself into his arms.

“You look really cool today!” Michelle looked him up and down with admiration on her face. As she did, she hung the pass on his jacket. The script practice room was on the third floor.

“It’s here.” Michelle opened the door and led Kang Chan inside.

“Hello!” Eun So-Yeon and the trainees got up and greeted Kang Chan.

“Boss, meet Pyo Min-Gook, the director.”

Pyo Min-Gook looked somewhat feminine and seemed to be in his mid-forties. He held out his hand with a kind-looking smile. Kang Chan then greeted the writer, an actor that was said to be quite famous, and the rest of the staff.

“Would you like some coffee, Mr. President?” Eun So-Yeon came toward him, but Kang Chan shook his head. He had drunk too much of it since yesterday, and he even drank more with Oh Gwang-Taek and Seok Kang-Ho before coming here.

“How are you?” Kang Chan asked.

“I’m working hard,” Eun So-Yeon looked happy.

The inner part of the room had a friendly atmosphere. The inner part of the room had a friendly atmosphere. In fact, even the highly reputed actors were polite and didn't grumble at Kang Chan, who was the President of a drama production company.

“You look good,” Kang Chan told Eun So-Yeon.

“Thank you.”

“Do you need anything?”

“Um, I want to have a group dinner with the people here.”

Kang Chan looked at Michelle. There was no way that she didn’t have money, but she looked like she wanted him to pay for it as the President anyway.

“Alright. Decide on a reasonable place and time with Michelle.”

“Thank you, Mr. President,” Eun So-Yeon happily answered.

Kang Chan greeted everyone. Afterward, he went down to the lobby with Michelle and sat on the sofa. At that moment, his phone rang. It was Yoo Hye-Sook.

“Yes, mother.”

- Hi Channy! Can you talk?

Yoo Hye-Sook sounded like she was feeling very awkward.

“Yes. What’s wrong?”

- Um, are you at the broadcasting station?

“Huh? How did you know?”

- It seems like my friend and her daughter are in the area. I got a call asking me to allow them to greet you. If you can’t, I’ll just tell them you’re busy.

Does she need to be this apologetic to her son?

“It’s okay, Please tell them to come see me. I’ll meet and take care of them.”

- I’m sorry, Channy.

“As I said, it’s alright.”

After Kang Chan ended the call, he told Michelle about his situation.

“You should’ve told me something like that earlier,” said Michelle.

“Would it be a problem?”

“There are about three to four empty roles. Or we can just create one. A lot of actors ask to just appear on dramas with the condition that they return the base performance fee.”

“I don’t want that to happen.”

“I’ll take care of it.” The look in Michelle’s eyes showed she was getting horny, but a middle-aged woman and a daughter arrived in front of Kang Chan while hesitating.

“Um…”

“Yes? Are you the one that called my mother?” Kang Chan asked the middle-aged woman.

“That’s right. Did she tell you?”

“Yes. Please speak comfortably to me.”

“Oh jeez! That’s not right.”

Kang Chan politely greeted her and her daughter. She looked average, but Yoo Hye-Sook’s honor was on the line.

Kang Chan introduced them to Michelle so they wouldn’t be upset, and the sly Michelle pretended to barely understand Korean.

“She said you should come to the office tomorrow,” Kang Chan explained.

“Thank you! Thank you!” The mother and daughter profusely thanked Kang Chan. They then left the broadcasting station with bright expressions.

“Since she’s only filming a few episodes, we’ll just hand over the script for those parts. She’ll have to train intensively. There won’t be a lot of instances where she would be with our trainees either,” Michelle told Kang Chan. She’d take care of it and do a good job.

Kang Chan got up from his spot.

“Boss, can you spare some time on the weekend?” Michelle asked.

“Why?”

“I want to drink beer.”

“Alright.”

Michelle went into his arms with a bright expression, so he stroked his back before leaving the broadcasting station. He was now thinking of going home and resting.

After going out of the broadcasting station’s entrance, he walked over to a taxi.

‘What’s this? Is it because I’m tired?’

He was strangely irritated, so Kang Chan looked around his surroundings.

1. oriental raison water, or ???, is a hardy fruit tree found in Asia that helps treat hangovers. Its scientific name is Hovenia Dulcis.

2. This is based on the idea that actors with good reputations may also be a snob and won't talk to other people, especially those who aren't celebrities like Kang Chan. But they're nice to him because he's a president of a company in their industry and they have no reason to be rude to him