บท 12: Chapter 11: The First Strike
The quiet determination that had settled in Hyun-soo's chest the night before hadn't faded by morning. If anything, it had hardened. He felt more grounded, focused. But as the reality of the plan took hold, so did the immense pressure. Staying in Seoul and building something from the ruins of Soorin while staying out of Chairman Kang's crosshairs was a dangerous balancing act. One wrong move and everything they'd fought for could collapse, or worse—end in their deaths.
His apartment, once a sanctuary, now felt more like a war room. He had cleared the clutter and replaced it with documents—old contracts, financial records, and spreadsheets, everything he could gather on Soorin and its associated companies. He needed to understand every inch of the empire that had once been his life so he could rebuild his own from the shadows.
A knock at the door broke his concentration. His heart skipped a beat. Was it Mi-jin again? No—she'd left after their conversation, not wanting to get pulled deeper into the mess he was about to dive into. He wasn't expecting anyone.
When he opened the door, Soo-jin stood there, her expression as unreadable as ever. She stepped inside without a word, glancing around at the sea of paperwork and grimacing slightly.
"You look like you're preparing for a court case," she said dryly.
"I'm preparing for war," Hyun-soo replied, his voice calm but with an edge that hadn't been there before.
Soo-jin raised an eyebrow and sat down at the table. "Good. We're going to need that mindset if we're going to pull this off."
She spread a file in front of him, filled with printouts, surveillance photos, and handwritten notes. "I've been busy too," she said. "While you were here playing strategist, I was digging. You wanted to know who the real players were behind Soorin? Well, here they are."
Hyun-soo's eyes scanned the pages, his stomach tightening as he saw familiar names—high-ranking executives, politicians, foreign investors. But beneath the surface were the names of shell companies, offshore accounts, and the shadowy network of criminals tied to Soorin's finances. The sheer scope of it was staggering. This wasn't just about dirty deals or bad business; this was an intricate web of power and influence that stretched far beyond Seoul.
"These are the people Kang won't touch," Soo-jin said, leaning in. "He's playing it safe by gutting Soorin and taking what's left for himself, but the ones behind all of this? They've been pulling the strings from the start, and they'll keep doing it unless we take them down."
Hyun-soo felt a cold sweat prickling his skin. "You think we can take them down?"
"We can't do it all at once," Soo-jin replied, her voice low and sharp. "But we don't need to. We find the cracks, the weak links. These people may seem untouchable, but they're not. If we hit them where they're vulnerable, they'll either crumble or turn on each other."
Hyun-soo stared at the notes, his mind racing. Soo-jin was right. The more he looked at the names, the more he realized that these people had weaknesses—old rivalries, hidden scandals, untraceable money that could suddenly become very traceable. If they could expose the right people at the right time, it would create enough chaos to give them leverage.
"And Ji-eun?" Hyun-soo asked. "Is she on board with this?"
Soo-jin nodded, though her expression tightened slightly. "She's in. She's been quiet, but that doesn't mean she isn't calculating her next move. The collapse of Soorin hit her harder than she lets on, but she knows this is the only way forward."
Hyun-soo sighed, feeling a flicker of sympathy for Ji-eun. Her entire world had come crashing down around her, and she had played a direct role in its destruction. He couldn't imagine the kind of emotional burden that carried, but he knew they needed her sharp mind to get through what was coming.
Soo-jin's gaze lingered on him, as if she could sense his hesitation. "Don't go soft on her, Hyun-soo. Ji-eun's stronger than you think. She's already survived this long in a world that would've eaten us alive if we'd been in her shoes. She's going to be fine."
Hyun-soo nodded, though a sense of unease remained in his gut. He couldn't deny that Ji-eun's loyalty was still a question mark. She was as much a part of the world they were trying to dismantle as her father had been, and he couldn't help but wonder where her true allegiances lay. But for now, they were all in the same boat, and he couldn't afford to doubt her—not yet.
---
Later that afternoon, Hyun-soo met with Ji-eun at a small, discreet café far from the corporate towers where their former lives had thrived. She was dressed simply, her usual business-like appearance replaced by something more subdued—almost casual. Her face, however, was as unreadable as ever.
"You're not hiding well," Ji-eun remarked as she sat down across from him. "If I can find you, others will too."
Hyun-soo ignored the jab and got straight to the point. "Soo-jin's been digging. She's found a lot of names, a lot of connections that go deeper than I thought. We can use that."
Ji-eun tilted her head slightly, considering his words. "And what exactly do you plan to do with this information?"
"We use it to leverage the people who are controlling Soorin from the shadows. We don't take them all down at once—it's impossible. But we pick them apart piece by piece, make them turn on each other."
She raised an eyebrow, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. "It's a dangerous game. You're playing with people who have no limits. They'll come after us if they even suspect we're trying to expose them."
"We're already in danger, Ji-eun," Hyun-soo replied firmly. "We either act now, or we let Kang and the others destroy what little we have left. I'm not going to spend my life looking over my shoulder, waiting for someone to tie up loose ends."
For a moment, Ji-eun said nothing, her fingers lightly tapping the edge of her cup. Then she looked at him, her eyes hardening. "Fine. I'm with you. But we need to be smart about this. Kang isn't the only one watching us. My father's old allies are still out there, and if they realize what we're up to, they'll move fast."
Hyun-soo nodded, feeling a strange sense of relief that she hadn't hesitated. He needed her on his side—there was no question about that. But it wasn't just her intelligence he needed; it was her ruthlessness. Ji-eun knew how to play the game better than anyone.
"We move quietly," Hyun-soo said, his voice low. "We start small, use the information Soo-jin's gathered to find the cracks. Once we have leverage, we go after the bigger players. We need to hit them where it hurts without drawing too much attention to ourselves."
Ji-eun smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes. "You're starting to sound more like me every day."
---
For the next several weeks, Hyun-soo, Ji-eun, and Soo-jin worked in near isolation, weaving together their plan piece by piece. The first move was to target one of Soorin's lesser-known investors, a man named Park Dae-ho. He had been a silent player in the background, funneling money into the company's most questionable projects, all the while keeping his name out of the public eye. But Soo-jin had found something—a trail of financial irregularities that could link him to multiple shell companies connected to criminal syndicates.
Park was low enough on the totem pole that taking him down wouldn't draw immediate attention, but high enough that his fall could cause ripples. If they could force him to turn on some of Soorin's other corrupt backers, they could start the chain reaction they needed.
One night, as they sat in Hyun-soo's dimly lit apartment, discussing their next steps, Soo-jin leaned forward, her voice quiet but urgent. "We need to get him alone. If we confront Park in public, he'll deny everything. He's a coward, but he's not stupid."
Hyun-soo nodded, feeling the tension mounting. "I'll set up a meeting. Make it seem like I want to discuss old business ties, something low-key. Once we've got him in a quiet space, we'll push him."
Ji-eun smirked. "And when he realizes he's cornered?"
"We give him two choices," Soo-jin said coldly. "He either works with us to expose the others, or we take him down with everything we have."
"And if he refuses?" Ji-eun asked, her voice taking on a dangerous edge.
Soo-jin exchanged a look with Hyun-soo before replying. "Then we make sure he can't refuse."
Hyun-soo's stomach churned at the thought of what they were planning. This wasn't a corporate negotiation—it was blackmail, plain and simple. But he knew they had no other option. If they wanted to survive, if they wanted to fight back against the monsters pulling the strings, they had to become monsters themselves.
The game was about to change. And if they wanted to win, they had to be willing to play by the same ruthless rules that had trapped them in this web in the first place.
---
The next week was a blur of careful planning and sleepless nights. Hyun-soo set the wheels in motion, arranging a meeting with Park Dae-ho under the guise of discussing old business ties from their Soorin days. It wasn't difficult to get the man to agree—Park had always been the type to show interest when there was money on the table, especially in the aftermath of Soorin's collapse. He probably thought Hyun-soo was desperate, trying to salvage whatever scraps of his career he could find.
But desperation wasn't on Hyun-soo's mind anymore.
The meeting was scheduled for a private lounge—a place Park felt safe, secluded, and away from prying eyes. It was the perfect location for what Hyun-soo and the others had in store.
---
Hyun-soo arrived first, dressed in his sharpest suit, projecting the image of a man who still held some power, despite everything that had happened. Park arrived a few minutes later, looking overconfident, as if he had already decided that Hyun-soo was nothing more than a minor inconvenience.
"Hyun-soo," Park greeted, flashing a tight smile as he settled into the plush chair across from him. "It's been a while. I heard about the mess with Soorin—rough time, eh?"
Hyun-soo forced a smile, keeping his tone casual. "You could say that. But, as they say, every collapse presents an opportunity."
Park raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "An opportunity, you say? Interesting. I always figured you'd find a way to land on your feet. So, what's this about?"
Hyun-soo leaned forward, his smile fading, and lowered his voice. "I'm not here to talk about Soorin's failure, Dae-ho. I'm here because I know how deep you're in with them. And I know what you've been hiding."
Park's expression faltered, the easy confidence slipping just slightly. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Hyun-soo's eyes hardened. "You've been moving money for Soorin's criminal partners for years, using offshore accounts and shell companies to hide the transactions. I have evidence—enough to bury you."
For a moment, Park said nothing, his face frozen in a mask of disbelief and growing panic. When he finally spoke, his voice was shaky. "You're bluffing."
"I don't bluff," Hyun-soo said coldly, pulling out a small folder from his briefcase and sliding it across the table. Inside were copies of the documents Soo-jin had uncovered—bank transfers, names of shell companies, and the clear paper trail leading back to Park.
Park's face paled as he flipped through the pages, his hands trembling. "How… how did you get this?"
"Doesn't matter," Hyun-soo replied. "What matters is what you're going to do next."
Park looked up at him, wide-eyed, a bead of sweat trickling down his forehead. "And what exactly do you want?"
"You're going to help us," Hyun-soo said, his voice low and dangerous. "We want the names of the other players—the ones still hiding in the shadows, controlling the money, pulling the strings. You give us what we want, and you walk away from this. Otherwise, I'll make sure every piece of evidence lands in the hands of the authorities."
Park swallowed hard, glancing nervously around the room as if expecting someone to swoop in and save him. "You can't—these people… they'll kill me if I talk."
"They'll kill you if you don't," Soo-jin's voice cut through the air as she stepped out from the shadows, revealing herself for the first time. Her cold, calculating gaze made it clear that this was no empty threat.
Ji-eun followed close behind, standing by the door to ensure no one interrupted the meeting. "You have no choice, Dae-ho," she added softly, her voice a deadly whisper. "Help us or go down with them."
Park's face crumpled in defeat. He knew he was cornered. After a long, agonizing silence, he nodded, his voice barely above a whisper. "Alright… I'll do it. I'll give you what you need."
Hyun-soo leaned back, the tension in the room easing just slightly. "Good. You've made the right choice. Now, let's talk."
---
The game had changed, and Hyun-soo, Soo-jin, and Ji-eun had taken the first step. They had secured Park's cooperation, and with it, a new chance to dismantle the empire of corruption that had swallowed Soorin—and them—whole. But as they left the private lounge that night, Hyun-soo couldn't shake the feeling that they were walking an increasingly dangerous tightrope. Every move they made from now on would draw more attention, more enemies.
The shadows were closing in, and the line between hunter and hunted was growing blurrier with every passing day.
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