Chapter 231.2: Something I Wanted To Tell You (2)

Joo Chul-Bum ran over to greet Kang Chan as soon as he arrived at Namsan Hotel. Together with Seok Kang-Ho, they went up to the room to meet Oh Gwang-Taek, who looked as if he had just gotten out of the shower.

“Hey, kiddo. Hello, Mr. Seok. Please, have a seat,” Oh Gwang-Taek said. There was coffee that was prepared for them on the table that he gestured to.

“Director Kim Tae-Jin already gave me a quick rundown. He told me I have to leave as soon as my sentence is given, is that right?” Oh Gwang-Taek asked.

“Yeah, that’s probably what’s going to happen. You’re going to be accompanied by a few special forces soldiers, retired soldiers with skills that are on par with them, and some Yoo-Bi Corp employees. We need people like them at least until everything has settled a little,” Kang Chan informed.

“Are we going to be armed with guns and shit?”

Seeing Kang Chan nod, Oh Gwang-Taek wrinkled his nose.

“I heard it’s fucking cold over there.”

“Yeah?” Kang Chan lazily responded.

“Hey! Were you going to send me there without even knowing that? I heard you can freeze to death over there if your car happens to break down in the middle of the road,” Oh Gwang-Taek furiously protested.

“Then just don’t get in a car!” Kang Chan mockingly exclaimed.

“Ah, shit!” Oh Gwang-Taek groaned, lifting his mug of coffee. “I’m going through my men right now. Only the ones who want to join will be coming with me.”

“You should think about this carefully as well. This isn’t something that you should decide on a whim,” Kang Chan warned.

“All I did while I was locked behind bars was think. For now, Chul-Bum and a few other punks are going to be joining me. I told the rest to come if they wanted. Are you going to be there with us?”

“That’s the plan.”

“What about you, Kang-Ho Hyung-nim?”

“I have other things to take care of, so I won’t be participating this time,” Seok Kang-Ho responded.

“Hm? Why aren’t you going to be with this kiddo for this business?”

“It’s just how it ended up,” Seok Kang-Ho replied, dodging a direct answer.

“That’s a shame,” Oh Gwang-Taek said with genuine regret in his expression. “Anyway, I made plans to meet with Director Kim Tae-Jin this evening. He told me he wanted to introduce me to someone. Are you coming too?”

“I don’t know yet. I’ll have to see how my schedule plays out first,” Kang Chan replied.

“All right. Sounds good.”

Oh Gwang-Taek picked up a cigarette and offered it to them. They then lit up their smokes, putting a brief pause to their conversation.

“Hoo!” Oh Gwang-Taek exhaled a long breath of smoke and then looked at Kang Chan.

“I planned to move out of the country after getting out of jail,” he quietly began. “I wanted to start a new life, but I felt as if it was going to be impossible here in Korea. I was even ready to go to some random jungle. In that sense, Mongolia is like an opportunity for me. The fact that I don’t have to deal with paperwork and all that other crap makes it even better.”

“Just don’t forget that this going to be a dangerous job,” Kang Chan warned him again.

Oh Gwang-Taek nodded as he put his cigarette into the ashtray.

“It’s a hell of a lot better than going mad because I forced myself to do something I’m not even slightly familiar with,” he replied, still looking straight into Kang Chan’s eyes. “I’m going to think that I was born into a new life, so just protect me until I can walk again. I don’t know what kind of bastards the Russian mafia have, but I’m Oh Gwang-Taek. I won't fall behind in a battle of determination.”

“All right.”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t you ever tell me that you’ve changed your mind once we’re over there,” Kang Chan half-joked.

Oh Gwang-Taek simply grinned.

𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

***

“What do you plan on doing now?” Seok Kang-Ho asked.

“Why don’t we go to Misari and have a cup of tea?” Kang Chan suggested.

“On this freezing day?” Seok Kang-Ho questioned, turning toward Kang Chan in surprise. “We have to sit outside if we want to smoke, which will likely freeze our mouths shut.”

“Do you want to go back home, then?”

“It’s still too early to part ways,” Seok Kang-Ho refused.

Kang Chan walked out of the lobby and stood at the hotel entrance. Just then, he recalled the place that he went to with Kim Hyung-Jung last time.

“I just remembered a nice place. Let’s go,” Kang Chan said.

It wasn’t too far from the hotel either.

Kang Chan went with Seok Kang-Ho to the cafe where the large doll was holding up its thumbs and sat down at a table that had gas heaters turned on. Even though it was still quite early, the establishment already had quite a lot of customers likely due to the holidays.

He had already drunk a lot of coffee today, so he did what Seok Kang-Ho did and ordered some lemon tea instead. The sourness from the first sip he took made him tremble.

“Blegh!” Seok Kang-Ho exclaimed.

“Why would you order something like that?” Kang Chan scolded.

“Doesn’t ordering things like this make me look like a proper gentleman?” Seok Kang-Ho joked.

“You little shit!” Kang Chan jokingly exclaimed.

Whenever Kang Chan was with this bastard, he could chuckle about anything.

“Ick!” Seok Kang-Ho exclaimed again after another sip. After letting it pass, he then offered Kang Chan a cigarette. “Here, take this.”

They smoked a cigarette each.

“Are the preparations about done now?” Seok Kang-Ho asked.

“We have only put out the urgent fires. I’ll have about a week in Mongolia before you and the men are deployed to Africa. I’m planning to figure things out with the Russian mafia during that time so I can fly over in time. Until then, keep communicating with Gerard. Make sure you protect the men,” Kang Chan replied.

“Got it.”

“Don’t forget that those bastards are trying to get rid of our special forces team. Participating in an operation we had no information on was how we found ourselves in a trap that put bullets in our foreheads. Unlike back then, we have intel on this mission, but they might still have ulterior motives hidden behind this deployment. Make sound judgments and hang on until I get there.”

Seok Kang-Ho nodded.

“Now that Gerard has become the commander of the Foreign Legion’s special forces, make sure you discuss everything with him and ask for his thoughts.”

“Damn it!” Seok Kang-Ho complained.

“Hey!” Kang Chan reprimanded him.

“All right, fine! We only act that way because we can anyway. Did you really think I would fight him?” Seok Kang-Ho asked. However, it sounded as if he was saying, “I’m definitely going to fight with him!”

Kang Chan glared at Seok Kang-Ho.

“Okay, okay!” Seok Kang-Ho surrendered.

“Keeping our men safe comes before anything else.”

“Tsk, I know! Don’t worry!”

Kang Chan signed deeply, his eyes still on Seok Kang-Ho. He felt as if he was giving too much responsibility to a baby.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Well, anyway…” Seok Kang-Ho quickly changed the subject. “Why are you here with me instead of with Mi-Young on a day like this?”

“Just because. My heart’s been feeling strangely uncomfortable lately. It’s like something’s got a tight grip on it,” Kang Chan said.

“Is something bad going to happen?” Seok Kang-Ho asked.

“That’s not it. You know the feeling when both your arms are tightly held and you can’t move? I don’t want to meet with anyone and just want to be alone,” Kang Chan said.

Seok Kang-Ho tilted his head in confusion, but Kang Chan couldn’t explain it either since he didn’t even know why he felt this way.

“Why don’t we go get some drinks?” Seok Kang-Ho suggested.

“Sure, why not?” Kang Chan agreed.

“All right. Let’s have a few bomb shots of soju and let off steam from the past year,” Seok Kang-Ho said.

“Let’s do that,” Kang Chan replied.

Kang Chan and Seok Kang-Ho stood up and left the cafe.

***

Oh Gwang-Taek greeted Kim Tae-Jin and Kang Chul-Gyu when they entered his room. He then guided them to a sofa.

“This way,” Oh Gwang-Taek said.

“Did someone stop by?” Kim Tae-Jin inquired.

“Kang Chan and Kang-Ho Hyung-nim just left.”

“I should’ve called him in advance to see you together then. Anyway, let’s start with the introductions. This is Mr. Kang Chul-Gyu, the senior of mine whom I told you about. Kang Chul-Gyu Sunbae-nim, this is Oh Gwang-Taek, the owner of the company that will be taking over the mine.”

“Kang Chul-Gyu,” Kang Chul-Gyu greeted with a nod.

“Oh Gwang-Taek,” Oh Gwang-Taek reciprocated.

The two stood across from each other as they exchanged a handshake.

“Please, sit down,” Oh Gwang-Taek urged.

“Sir, take a seat at the head,” Kim Tae-Jin suggested.

Kang Chal-Gyu took him up on his offer.

“Would you like some coffee?” Oh Gwang-Taek asked.

Kim Tae-Jin looked at Kang Chul-Gyu. The latter nodded in reply.

Brief silence permeated the room as Oh Gwang-Taek brought new cups and poured them coffee.

“He will be taking charge of the training for the employees you’re taking, Mr. Oh. He will also oversee the entire security operation for the time being. I hope you understand and cooperate,” Kim Tae-Jin said.

Instead of replying, Oh Gwang-Taek just glanced at Kang Chul-Gyu.

“As far as we know, the Russian mafia is armed with new firearms. We have to exercise extreme caution,” Kim Tae-Jin said.

“Understood, sir,” Oh Gwang-Taek responded.

“Do you know how to handle firearms?” Kang Chul-Gyu asked Oh Gwang-Taek, lifting his gaze from the coffee cups.

“I was just a gangster. I’ve been in and out of jail since I was young, so I didn’t even get to go to my mandatory military service. The only guns I’ve ever touched were a few stolen pistols from Japan and recently one that I took from some guy after a fight,” Oh Gwang-Taek replied without any hesitation. “How should I address you? I don’t think Sunbae-nim works, and Hyung-nim doesn’t seem right either…”

“Something that fits,” Kang Chul-Gyu interrupted him.

“Let’s go with Executive Kang for now. He will be a temporary executive at Yoo-Bi Corp anyway,” Kim Tae-Jin chimed in.

“All right,” Oh Gwang-Taek replied before looking at the clock. “Director Kim, it’s a bit early, but there’s a decent Korean baekban restaurant nearby. Would you like to have a stew with a glass of soju? It’s the end of the year too, so it would be nice to celebrate. I can call Kang Chan and invite him too.”

“Will he have time?” Kim Tae-Jin asked in doubt.

“It’s the holiday season. If he’s busy, we can just go without him,” Oh Gwang-taek said.

“I’m fine with that.”

Kim Tae-Jin looked at Kang Chul-Gyu.

“Thanks, but I’m not going to drink. You and President Oh can drink together. I’ll head on home now,” Kang Chul-Gyu told him.

“Why not? You can’t drink, sir?” Oh Gwang-Taek asked.

Kang Chul-Gyu just responded with a smile.

“I see. All right. Let me give Kang Chan a call now,” Oh Gwang-Taek said instead of extending the invitation to Kang Chul-Gyu again. He picked up his phone and pressed the call button.

“It’s me! I’m going to have some soju with Director Kim Tae-Jin at the baekban place out front. Want to come?” Oh Gwang-Taek asked. Immediately after, he grinned at Kim Tae-Jin. “You punk! You should’ve called me if you were going there. I’ll head over there with the Director, so order a spicy fish roe soup for us.”

The way Oh Gwang-Taek set his phone back down and chuckled was enough for everyone in the room to know what Kang Chan had said over the phone.

“He says he’s already there with Kang-Ho Hyung-nim. Let’s head over,” Oh Gwang-Taek said, turning around to pick up his coat.

Looking between the two, Kang Chul-Gyu interjected, “How old is this Mr. Kang Chan?”