I Became a Black Market Tycoon with an Inventory - Chapter 34

—————

This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

—————

034-Security Training
34. Security Training
“Breaking news: Rising star Kang Ye-eun has been urgently arrested at Incheon Airport on suspicion of drug possession. Kang Ye-eun was arrested on drug possession charges while entering the country from Macau, and was found to be carrying a substantial quantity of narcotics.
Click.
Next story: Actress Kang Ye-eun, who has recently garnered widespread affection for her outstanding acting and appearance in the weekend drama ‘My Husband’s Wife,’ has been urgently arrested on suspicion of drug smuggling. For more details, we’re connecting with reporter Shim Jin-ha at Incheon Airport.
Click.
Kang Ye-eun is also under investigation for gambling abroad in Macau. The Police are reportedly conducting intensive investigations not only into drug use and possession, but also into violations of foreign exchange management laws in the process of overseas gambling and fund acquisition.
Click.
The production team of the weekend drama ‘My Husband’s Wife’ has issued a dismissal notice to Kang Ye-eun, who was urgently arrested due to recent drug use. The supervising producer stated, “We cannot cast an actress who has used and smuggled drugs. Reshooting will be inevitable, but we will discuss it thoroughly with the writer.” Additionally, advertisers who had used Kang Ye-eun as a model announced their position to claim damages, stating that Kang Ye-eun has damaged the brand’s value.
Click.
Actress Kang Ye-eun, who faces charges of drug use, drug smuggling, and suspicions of overseas gambling, appears to be facing permanent expulsion from the entertainment industry. According to sources, dramas and films that were under discussion for her appearance have all withdrawn their casting offers upon hearing the news of Kang Ye-eun’s drug charges. Her agency as well..
The television was flooded with news about Kang Ye-eun all day long.
No matter which channel I switched to, only reports about Kang Ye-eun continued to air.
Kang Ye-eun admitted to the drug use charges,
and said she would take time for self-reflection.
A man sitting on the sofa, quietly watching the TV,
pressed the remote and turned it off.
Click.
As the television went dark, silence descended in an instant.
The man rose and walked with heavy steps,
then swung his arm with full force.
Crack!!
With the sound, Han Min-su’s face, who had been standing in one corner, snapped to the side.
Han Min-su was bewildered by pain he had never experienced before, unsure of what to do,
The man who had struck Han Min-su’s cheek—
Han Chang-gi, Han Min-su’s father, was equally unable to contain his rage.
“Did I tell you to study? Did I tell you to run the business well? I only told you not to cause trouble! Just not to cause trouble!!!!!”
Unable to restrain himself any longer, Han Chang-gi struck Han Min-su’s cheek once more.
Crack!!
Blood seeped from his mouth—his lip had split open.
Yet Han Min-su could not even cry out in pain,
and could only swallow the blood-tinged saliva that filled his mouth.
“At such a sensitive time, you go to Macau and use drugs? And you brought drugs back with you? Do you have any sense at all? Even the most reckless fool should know the difference between what to do and what not to do.”
“Father, there’s been some misunderstanding.”
“It was in your bag without your knowledge? You call that an excuse? Did you think that would work? Then there’s something wrong with your intelligence.”
“That’s… the truth.”
“What? The truth? So you’re innocent? Then let me try making some money too. I’ll bring in containers full of drugs and claim I didn’t know they were there. Someone must have put them in. Then the Police and Customs will just say ‘I see’ and let me through. I’m innocent. Huh?? Tell me?? You bastard.”
“…”
“The shares I promised to give you—consider that void. I can’t give you a stake in the group only for you to sell it and use drugs. I won’t destroy my own son with my own hands.”
“You’re also dismissed from your position as division director.”
“All assets under your name are frozen.”
“Do you know how much money I spent getting you out? Do you have any idea how much Kang Ye-eun spent covering up the news about what she did?!”
“You were caught at the airport. On the spot. I paid off the airport police, the prosecutors, the police, customs, airport security, broadcast stations, the media, internet news—all of it.”
“Why were there so many witnesses? Damn it, seriously.”
“Honestly, I don’t care if you die doing drugs, but if you die, LK Group takes the hit. That’s why I’m keeping you alive. Go to the hospital and live there for three years.”
“Father!!”
“I’ve given you chances. I watched you act like a reckless fool, thinking that someday you’d come to your senses. But you’re beyond redemption. So just live as if you’re dead. When you leave the hospital, don’t do anything else. Eat the three meals I provide, use the bathroom, and sleep. That’s all you’re allowed to do. Don’t do anything else, don’t think about anything else, don’t move.”
“Father!!”
“As a father, I’ve done everything I can. You haven’t fulfilled your duty as a son, but I believe I’ve done enough in my role.”
At Han Chang-gi’s words,
Han Min-su’s expression—always bright and carefree—changed.
Worry appeared, anxiety appeared, fear appeared, terror appeared.
The thought of being cut off from everything he’d enjoyed terrified him.
He didn’t even want to be hospitalized.
And three years, no less.
But who the hell put drugs in his bag?
Was it that bitch Kang Ye-eun?
Still unable to grasp the situation,
Han Min-su’s mind fixated only on who had planted the drugs in his luggage.
He believed that if he found the culprit, his name would be cleared.
********
After returning from Macau,
I was preparing to head to the Training Center in Paju after two days of rest.
The next project hadn’t been decided yet,
but I needed to review what was lacking in this project
and practice new security tactics, so I received a message to report to the Training Center instead of headquarters.
The assembly time was 10 a.m.
Getting to Paju by 10 was too far.
I considered leaving the night before but decided to depart early in the morning instead.
I left the company dormitory at 7 a.m., ate a bowl of hangover soup at a 24-hour soup restaurant,
then took the subway and got off to catch a taxi.
I had tried to go by public transportation,
but I gave up because I’d have to transfer buses multiple times.
I just took the subway to a reasonable point and then caught a taxi.
That wasn’t a good solution either,
because the Training Center was located near Unnak Mountain, far from the subway even in Pocheon,
so I had to ride a taxi for quite a while even after getting off the subway.
If I’d known this, I would have just taken a taxi from the dormitory,
but I made a mistake.
Before that, the company had always provided transportation,
I hadn’t anticipated public transportation would be this inconvenient.
Still, having hurried out early in the morning,
I arrived right on time for the 10 o’clock appointment.
In fact, I got there thirty minutes early.
After a moment’s thought about what to do,
I walked to a nearby café to grab a coffee.
During training, I’d eaten and drunk coffee around here often enough to know the restaurants and cafés well.
On the way to the café, I spotted a familiar car.
It was the Team Leader.
I waved my hand.
“Team Leader.”
“Deputy Team Leader. What are you doing down here?”
He seemed to have encountered me on his way into the Training Center.
“I was just grabbing a coffee. Would you like one too? A hot latte, right?”
“Never mind that. Let’s go together. Get in.”
“Should we?”
I climbed into the Team Leader’s car.
“But where are your team members? Why did you come down here alone for coffee?”
“My team members? There aren’t any. It’s just me.”
“What? Just you?”
The Team Leader seemed slightly taken aback.
“Then how did you get here? You don’t have a car.”
“I took a taxi.”
“A taxi?”
“Yes.”
The café wasn’t far away.
I ordered a hot Americano, and the Team Leader ordered a latte.
I considered ordering coffee for the team members too,
but they were the type who wouldn’t even eat the chocolate I’d offered before.
I doubted they’d drink the coffee, so I didn’t order any.
It would be wasteful to throw it away.
The Team Leader didn’t order coffee for the team members either.
Back at the Training Center, as we were drinking our coffee, an SUV pulled in.
It was Jung Dong-hyun’s car.
I’d seen it several times during my commutes.
Memorizing vehicles and license plates had become a habit of long standing.
The car stopped, and Jung Dong-hyun got out from the driver’s seat while Ahn Ji-bin got out from the passenger seat.
Hwang Jung-jin and Park Moon-yong emerged from the back seat.
Whatever they found so amusing, they were laughing and grinning even as they stepped out.
Each of them held a coffee in their hands.
I would have regretted buying coffee.
The team had six members,
the Team Leader came separately,
I took a taxi,
and the remaining four came in one vehicle.
The moment they got out of the car and saw us, they greeted only the Team Leader.
“Good morning, Team Leader.”
“Good morning.”
“Did you rest well?”
The Team Leader spoke with a hardened expression.
“Keep to the schedule. It’s already past ten.”
The Team Leader’s mind appeared turbulent as he spoke.
********
Bae Hyun-seok’s mind was turbulent.
The petty and childish behavior displayed by team members who had gotten along without trouble for so long.
Bae Hyun-seok felt ashamed instead.
I know.
Why it is, what they’re thinking.
From the very first meeting introducing Gong In-bae as vice team leader, they made it so obvious—how could I not notice?
Glaring at the vice team leader as he greeted them,
rushing out the moment the meeting ended,
deliberately creating mistakes by overlapping routes during training,
even sending him on unnecessary errands.
I know it all.
Yet I pretend not to because this too is part of Gong In-bae’s test as vice team leader.
Getting along well with team members is also one of the abilities a team leader must possess.
However, Gong In-bae seemed more focused on the operation than on blending in with the team.
When I told him to go out for a bit in Macau and look around,
I thought he would refuse and wait with the team,
but he left before I even finished speaking.
It was just a courtesy offer.
Was it that difficult?
Did he want to be alone?
I felt sorry.
Especially today, coming all this way alone by taxi—I felt even more apologetic.
Conversely, my sympathy for Ahn Ji-bin grew.
Ahn Ji-bin must hate this situation very much.
She probably thought the vacant vice team leader position in Alpha Team was hers.
But then a twenty-four-year-old kid came as the vice team leader.
Of course, from Ahn Ji-bin’s perspective, this had to be uncomfortable.
I had to swallow it anyway.
I had to swallow it without showing it.
Even if Jung Dong-hyun, Hwang Jung-jin, and Park Moon-yong below him insisted it didn’t make sense,
even if Ahn Ji-bin pushed for her to become vice team leader,
Ahn Ji-bin would step forward first to soothe the team members,
and instead look after Gong In-bae, the vice team leader.
That’s what a team is.
Foolish bastards.
If you keep huddling together like that, do you think the vice team leader would cling to you asking to fit in with you all?
Or would the vice team leader title be yielded to Ahn Ji-bin?
If you made such a concession, would the company say, “Oh, you switched among yourselves? Understood, we’ll process it”?
If Gong In-bae, unable to endure the ostracism, quit,
would the vice team leader position go to Ahn Ji-bin?
This incident settled it.
Ahn Ji-bin could never become vice team leader even if Gong In-bae left.
The vice team leader acts as team leader in the team leader’s absence.
They must check the parts the team leader is too occupied to notice.
But Ahn Ji-bin wasn’t qualified.
If Ahn Ji-bin had wanted to become vice team leader,
she shouldn’t have ostracized Gong In-bae—instead, she should have embraced him.
Even if there were minor issues, she should have brought him into the fold as a team member.
But Ahn Ji-bin ordered team members around like subordinates,
and excluded Gong In-bae, whom she didn’t like.
She clearly knew he lived in the dormitory,
and knew he had no car, yet she never once asked him to come along.
Meanwhile, they met among themselves and had coffee together.
One team, but you take those you like and leave behind those you don’t?
You’d promote someone like that to vice team leader?
It would never happen in Alpha Team under Bae Hyun-seok as team leader.
It was like a seven-year-old refusing to eat rice because he didn’t like the side dishes.
Given time, the child would be the one going hungry.
Bae Hyun-seok had no intention of making new side dishes for a child throwing a tantrum.
He would clear the table instead.
“Today we’ll conduct protection training after a long time. Today will focus more on individual training rather than tactical drills. Specifically, we’ll focus on combat training to subdue opponents. Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
It was Ahn Ji-bin whose eyes sparkled at the mention of combat training.

—————

This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

—————