» The Youngest Son of Sunyang
The Youngest Son of a Conglomerate - Chapter 248
[248]Heading Home 1
"I apologize. For having to tell you this..."
"No, no. Just letting me know in advance is thanks enough. But are you certain? That the Ministry of Justice is moving to apprehend me?"
"Yes. I have a fellow prosecutor from my class at the Judicial Research and Training Institute in the Southern District Prosecutor's Office. He was contacted by a senior colleague at the Ministry of Justice and seemed troubled. It was a secret order to report directly, without informing the higher-ups at the Southern District Prosecutor's Office."
The chief prosecutor wasn't mistaken. It was a fact that came from the lips of someone who received direct orders.
All sorts of thoughts swirled through his mind.
Could the one who should be sacrificed in this impeachment crisis be connected to him?
Was the prosecution attempting to tame the National Assembly members to lead the general election? And had they chosen him as the tool to tame them?
He shook his head.
Right now, it wasn't a question of 'why,' but 'who' he needed to find first.
"Chief Jang. Do you know who the higher-up is that issued this order?"
"I apologize. I haven't been able to ascertain that. Since the Ministry of Justice's Inspection Bureau initiated it, the highest authority we can currently identify would be the Director of the Inspection Bureau."
The Director of the Inspection Bureau is targeting *him*?
Absolutely not.
Only someone like the Minister of Justice or the Prosecutor General would dare to target him, the second-in-command of Sunyang.
"What's there to be sorry about? Anyway, thank you. I'll never forget this. Let's grab a soju sometime."
Lee Hakjae abruptly stood up.
He had to quickly find the knife aimed at him, and the one holding its hilt.
As soon as he parted ways with Chief Jang, he picked up his phone.
"Gather immediately. No exceptions. Conference room... No, that's not right. Come outside. You know the Japanese restaurant in Gwanghwamun, right? Thirty minutes."
Lee Hakjae, who had climbed into the waiting car, shouted at his driver.
"Gwanghwamun. We need to get there in 30 minutes."
"Yes, sir."
Lee Hakjae's sedan sped from Seocho-dong to Gwanghwamun.
As he pushed open the door to the Japanese restaurant, the owner came out and greeted him warmly.
"Welcome, Chief of Staff."
"Are the guys here?"
"Yes. This way..."
As he quickly entered the private room, his vision darkened.
As if they had committed a crime, only three men were waiting for Lee Hakjae, unable to meet his gaze.
It was almost embarrassing that he'd used the plural 'guys' when he entered. Only three?
"Sit down. And look me in the eye. Have you committed a crime?"
As they cautiously sat in their chairs, Lee Hakjae first drained a glass of ice-cold water.
"What about the others? Did they not come because they didn't know? Or did they know but chose not to come?"
"Well, I did tell them..."
"So, they don't want to come out because I'm no longer their superior?"
"Oh, no, Chief of Staff. They said they'd try to slip away if they could."
"'Try to slip away'..."
It was true that he felt resentment towards those who hadn't attended. But hadn't he been the one to send them off? He had even asked their new superiors to take these excellent talents and utilize them well.
Lee Hakjae let out an involuntary sigh.
He understood.
They might have thought they were a privileged class, wielding immense power under him, but in the end, they were just salaried employees.
They had to follow the orders of the person who paid them a high salary every month and had to be mindful of them. Only then could their annual salary increase and they get promoted, right?
Now, the person they needed to be mindful of had changed.
Jin Younggi and Jin Donggi were their masters.
Not much time had passed since they'd moved positions, so they must be very sensitive to their superiors' moods.
With only three people showing up at his phone call, Lee Hakjae truly realized that he was a bygone force.
"Chief of Staff..."
Perhaps feeling pity for Lee Hakjae's devastated expression, even the loyal few who had come had tears welling in their eyes.
"These bastards! Are you crazy? What are you doing? Are you actually pitying me?"
"Oh, no, sir!"
Lee Hakjae roared and stood up.
"I have no intention of cursing those who aren't here. They made a wise choice. I was foolish to call them like in the past, but you lot were foolish too. I'm no longer your superior, so there was no need for you to come."
Lee Hakjae opened his wallet and placed a one-million-won check on the table.
"Eat well before you leave."
Lee Hakjae ignored their gazes and walked out.
The night wind in early March was still biting.
"Damn it... Couldn't they have waited until the 49th-day memorial service was over?"
* * *
"Brother. This doesn't look good. There are even rumors that they've secured enough evidence to issue an arrest warrant."
"Chief of Staff. I apologize, but there's nothing I can do to help. The ones who've drawn their swords now are from the core of the prosecution. There are plenty of prosecutors who would jump at their orders, no matter the cost."
"Perhaps it would be better for you to go abroad for a while? It could be for the general election, so please come back when things calm down after the elections. Three months at most."
Everyone Chief of Staff Lee Hakjae met was quick to back away.
"Chief of Staff. Cheongwadae is in an unspeakable state right now. We have to prevent impeachment. Making calls to the Ministry of Justice or the prosecution at a time like this would cause an immense backlash. I apologize. We'll contact you after we've put out the fire at our own feet."
Even Cheongwadae, his last hope, turned its back. Of course, considering they were in a far more desperate situation than him, it was only natural they couldn't help.
Lee Hakjae dragged his exhausted body into the car.
"Let's go home."
Soon after the car started, the driver's constant glances in the rearview mirror irritated him.
"Hey. What are you doing? Why do you keep glancing?"
"Oh, it's not that, but something has been bothering me for a few days. I think we're being followed."
"Followed?"
He turned his head to look back, but among the cars crowding the road, there was no way to tell which one it was.
"These bastards, really!"
Lee Hakjae pulled out his phone. He had endured and endured, but now there was no other way. It might escalate into an all-out war, but it was time to strike at the head of the other side. He first had to provoke the Minister of Justice, who was clearly acting on the head's orders.
He hesitated for a moment but eventually dialed the number.
Just as the ringing was about to stop, the other party answered.
— Oh my, Chief of Staff. It's been a while.
"Minister. I'll skip the pleasantries. I don't have the luxury of time."
— Huh? Ah, right. You must have suffered greatly, both mentally and physically, overseeing the Chairman's funeral.
"You pretend not to know, even though you know everything. I won't waste words. Stop it."
— What? What do you mean by that, out of the blue?
"If you truly don't know, it means there's a lack of cooperation with the Director of the Inspection Bureau, and if you're feigning ignorance, then I presume you've understood my words."
— The Director of the Inspection Bureau?
"Be careful. If I open my mouth, my story will spread far wider than the President's impeachment. If you think you can handle it, then by all means, continue."
Lee Hakjae, who had hung up first, gritted his teeth. If he threw out a bait like this, the one holding the hilt, not just the blade, would peek out.
However, it was the blades that appeared first, not the one holding the hilt. And of all places, it was right in front of Lee Hakjae's house.
"Mr. Lee Hakjae. I apologize for the late hour, but we'd like a moment of your time."
Two men in suits and one man in a jumper.
Lee Hakjae was utterly flabbergasted.
He had not expected the Minister of Justice to act so swiftly.
"Where are you from?"
"We're from the Financial Investigation Division of the Central District Prosecutor's Office."
"Did the Minister send you?"
"We only see the Minister on TV. Ordinary prosecutors like us simply follow our chief's orders."
"Voluntary accompaniment?"
The two prosecutors smirked and spoke.
"Since you're well aware, we won't mince words. Let's go for a moment."
The Minister of Justice couldn't possibly be unaware that Lee Hakjae was not someone who would meekly be dragged away, nor could he afford to be. He must have taken follow-up measures. Lee Hakjae wanted to know what those were.
"What if I refuse?"
"A warrant-issuing judge is on standby. If Mr. Lee Hakjae simply walks into his house now, a search warrant will be issued. Your home will be turned upside down. Will that be alright with you?"
"An arrest warrant is also being prepared. And there are photographers waiting at the Prosecutor's Office. Can you handle that?"
The Minister of Justice's clear warning came out through the mouths of the ordinary prosecutors.
They were returning his own words right back to him.
Lee Hakjae, who had been glaring at the two ordinary prosecutors, slowly opened his mouth.
"My going-home time has gotten earlier since I quit my job. If you can finish before midnight, I'll go with you."
"Just the essentials. We promise."
"You'd better keep that promise. Otherwise, you'll see the Prosecutor General's slush fund account number splashed across tomorrow's front page with your own eyes."
The Prosecutor General's slush fund.
The shock delivered by those words froze the two prosecutors like ice.
"What are you doing? Lead the way quickly. I told you, we need to finish before midnight."
Chief of Staff Lee Hakjae shouted at the prosecutors as if they were his subordinates.
* * *
He sat in the Central District Prosecutor's Office interrogation room, drank a glass of water, and waited for a while.
It was an obvious tactic, but it always worked.
Especially when you don't know why you've been brought in, that anxiety is hard to bear.
He had come willingly to hear why the Ministry of Justice was hunting him down, but as the time passed, sitting there alone, he couldn't help but grow increasingly anxious.
The man who opened the interrogation room door and entered was familiar.
"Hello, Chief of Staff."
"I'm not doing well. But... who are you? Have we met?"
"I met you once at a dinner with the former Prosecutor General. I introduced myself, but it wasn't enough for you to remember me, Chief of Staff."
The business card he offered read: Ministry of Justice, Prosecution Bureau, Criminal Planning Division.
"Prosecution Bureau? They said the Inspection Bureau was involved, but now they've mobilized the Prosecution Bureau as well?"
"Rather than one specific department, various sections have stepped up. You could call it a kind of TFT."
"Have I fallen so far? To the point where a mere division chief, not even a bureau director, sits before me?"
"Isn't there a saying, 'When you leave home, you suffer like a dog'?"
Leave home?
It could simply mean that he had lost his power now that his connection to Sunyang was severed, but for some strange reason, the word 'home' felt heavy.
"One thing is clear: the Chairman's sons are either tacitly approving or actively complicit."
"Sunyang isn't a charity, so there's no reason for them to look after a former employee. Please don't ask any more. I don't know Sunyang's internal affairs."
"Then just tell me what you *do* know."
The Criminal Planning Division Chief placed a few documents on the table.
"A penthouse in Hong Kong under your children's names, a 15-story building in Seattle, USA, and a winery on the outskirts of France... Apparently, 'winery' means a place where wine is made. I just learned that now. I thought 'winery' referred to a wine fridge or something similar. Anyway, this is just the known assets, so if we dig deeper, I'm sure overseas accounts will also come pouring out, won't they?"
"We can talk about that once they 'pour out.' And as for overseas real estate, I just pay inheritance tax... Is there anything else?"
"It's not something that ends with just inheritance tax. You siphoned money through Sunyang's overseas subsidiaries, so you also need to consider issues with the Foreign Exchange Management Act and embezzlement. You're someone who knows how to avoid legal traps, so you're aware that an amount like this constitutes a serious crime, aren't you?"
Now that he knew their hand, it was time to subtly show his own.
"If you're thinking of putting me on the prosecutor's office photo line, forget it. Your superiors all know what I'll say to the reporters there. Reporters will be more interested in what comes out of my mouth than in overseas real estate, won't they?"
The division chief shrugged with an exaggerated expression.
"You're bluffing quite hard. We all know you have no intention of escalating this into a full-blown exposé. While you might endure personal harm, it would be equivalent to defiling not only Sunyang Group but also the grave of the late Chairman Jin. Surely, you wouldn't do that?"
"Whether it's a bluff or not, we'll see..."
They had each confirmed the other's cards for blackmail.
Then, it was time to confirm how to fold the game here. Since the 'blade-wielders' had started it, he had to listen to their demands.
"If you've played me for a fool this much, it's time to tell me what you truly want. Didn't you bring me here to tell me that?"
As the division chief scratched his head and equivocated, the door opened, and a middle-aged man entered.
"Stop suffering like a dog and go back home, Chief of Staff."