IDTE 06

Chapter – 06

He handed me a thick envelope while I was frozen in place.

“Everything is written here in detail. Since this is your area of expertise, read through it, and if there’s anything you need to mark separately, go ahead.”

Inside the envelope, my eyes fell on densely packed text on plain white A4 sheets.

Anyone could tell it was a standard agreement form. The only problem was that the contents went far beyond the usual scope.

“You just said engagement?”

“Yes.”

“Is the concept of engagement you have very different from mine?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Do you like me, by any chance?”

For the first time, his expression seemed to flicker with a trace of disbelief.

“I don’t even like you, so what kind of engagement is this?”

“Then… should I just like Yuminha?”

My headache grew worse. Probably because of that psycho’s absurd words.

“Have you ever liked anyone?”

“Want to know?”

“No. I figured you probably haven’t.”

The more I thought about how ridiculous I must seem to him—how I’d been blamed for all sorts of things because of them—the more my anger rose.

“This decision is also necessary for you. Because of me coming to find you earlier, Myungcheon will be even more determined to bother you.”

“You knew it would put me in trouble if you came looking for me, right?”

“Think what you want.”

I was utterly dumbfounded. So that meant this guy knew I’d be in a difficult position and yet was using me for his own convenience.

And all while talking about some nonsensical engagement.

“No.”

“I’ll give you some time to think.”

“The more I think, the more I don’t want it. You do know that drafting this kind of agreement is absurd in the first place, right? I won’t agree to it.”

“Understood.”

Without hesitation, he turned his back on me.

“By the way, you’re going to have a lot of trouble for a while. Those lowlifes in Myungcheon… time is all they have.”

I couldn’t stand to listen to him any longer.

“I’ll handle my own matters. You don’t need to worry about it.”

“I meant that this deal won’t make Yuminha lose out.”

He, who had kept a considerable distance from me, approached and handed the envelope back into my hands.

Even the crinkling texture of the paper sent shivers down my spine.

“Think carefully about what you need right now, and who can help you with it.”

As I tried to leave his office, his voice caught me.

“One day only. Today’s offer is valid.”

A lunatic. I needed to get as far away from him as possible. Physically, and relationally.

Boldly, I rushed out of Sungjin Capital, my heart pounding uncontrollably. I tried to suppress it as I walked home.

The moment I arrived home, I reached for a notebook tucked in the far corner of the top shelf.

The dust sticking to it tickled my nose. I couldn’t even remember how long it had been since I last opened it.

―The End of Conflicts Over Illegal Loan Repayments… Tragedy of a Self-Employed Man in His 40s

Mr. A, who had operated a restaurant in Gangdong-gu, Seoul, was found dead in his business premises on the 7th while engaged in a legal dispute with a loan company over illegal loan repayments.

He had borrowed about 30 million won from an unauthorized loan company…

They demanded early repayment far ahead of the agreed date and conducted intense collection… other victims as well…

It happened in 2005, when I was ten years old.

That’s when my father passed away. I was too young to remember much.

Maybe I subconsciously tried not to remember.

But one scene was always vivid in my mind: the unreasonable early repayment demands of that loan company.

“No, how can you suddenly change your mind and ask for it in a week?”

“We can’t help it! If we don’t settle this now, we’ll be in big trouble!”

I vaguely remember the conversation between my father and a frightening-looking man.

“If we don’t settle, it’ll be a big problem…”

“Twenty years ago, when those bastards were devouring other loan companies and running rampant… we should have washed our hands of it then.”

Something clicked into place. Frantically, I grabbed my phone and called my mother.

After several rings, I heard her familiar voice.

[Our daughter, giving me a call?]

“Mom, sorry to call suddenly. I need to ask you something.”

[What is it?]

An awkward silence followed.

Even after all this time, it was never easy to talk about Dad.

“Back when Dad… you know, passed like that… I heard the loan company suddenly pressured him to repay quickly…”

[…Yeah, that happened.]

“Do you remember why they did that?”

[Minha, why are you asking this out of the blue?]

[Just… it’s been on my mind lately.]

Another long silence.

[Well… they did come out recklessly saying it had to be settled quickly. I heard that their company went under not long after.]

“Didn’t you hear anything about other companies forcing their way in?”

[It’s been too long. But it was weird… I think they said they needed to settle quickly too.]

I tried to calm my racing heart, but controlling my breathing was difficult.

[Minha? Are you okay? Are you sick?]

“No! I’ll hang up now, thanks Mom!”

I hurriedly ended the call and searched through the remaining materials I had about Sungjin. They weren’t entirely legitimate, but I had kept the few I could.

Sungjin Association had entered the financial business in 2005. I could see the circumstances that allowed them to dominate the market unnaturally.

No matter how big Sungjin was, could they really take over a settled market so easily?

I threw the notebook on the desk into the corner of the bed. Only then did my tears break free.

Something had always felt off. The unnatural way everything had unfolded back then…

Twenty years ago, Sungjin Capital pushed hard to monopolize the illegal financial market.

Other companies, desperate, forced early repayments on debtors, and my father was one of the victims.

I remembered overhearing my father’s lament that the public defender he hired didn’t help properly.

Perhaps he didn’t want to get caught in the backroom fights of gangsters.

Tears burned across my face.

To think all this was behind my father’s death… It was Sungjin Capital itself that killed him.

The anger and grief ignited in my chest did not subside.

I had to take revenge on Sungjin Capital. I had to. There was no going back to the time when I didn’t know.

But this couldn’t realistically go to court.

It happened twenty years ago, and the pressure from illegal lenders for early repayment itself couldn’t be challenged.

Then how could I destroy Sungjin Capital?

“Let’s get engaged, with me.”

I pictured Doihyun’s arrogant face.

Perhaps… this was the best opportunity to infiltrate Sungjin Capital from the inside.

No, what am I thinking. Pull yourself together, Yuminha. Stay rational.

The deep despair that had been buried in the darkness rose endlessly along the streetlight’s reflection on the window.

I felt as though I might suffocate in this hopelessness.

Some time later, the faint light of morning began to filter through the window.

After I made up my mind, I took out the envelope. The phone number printed on the business card inside was clear.

It was terrifying. Everything that had happened to me, and everything that would happen…

Yet my heart was steadily solidifying along with the passage of time.

The phone rang only briefly.

“This is Yuminha.”

A few seconds of silence, then a response.

[Where are you now?]

It was Doihyun.

―Arrived

Only two words. So typical of Doihyun.

It was before 7 a.m.—early, yet he arrived shortly after hanging up. Curious.

Had he not slept? Or did he always live like this?

I opened the dusty villa door. The chilly morning air hit my lungs.

“Surprising.”

At the edge of the cold, he appeared. Wearing only a white dress shirt, no jacket, he looked unusually fresh.

“I thought it would take the whole day.”

“…Thinking about it, it doesn’t seem like a bad deal for me.”

I handed him the signed documents and met his gaze. I would no longer avoid him.

The sharpness of his eyes under those thick brows seemed fiercer today.

Doihyun’s eyes didn’t avoid me either.

“Nice gaze. You must have gotten what you wanted.”

A smile flickered across his face. I couldn’t hide my surprise.

“Whatever it is, I hope luck’s on your side. Skills alone probably won’t be enough.”