House Of Cards (BTS EDITION)

The Boy pt.3

“Who do you believe to be the first insubordinate, Master Jeon?”

“Father said that a nightclub owner is dipping into profit margins to fuel his own vices. Now there are a great many clubs in Mapo-gu but most of them are personal investments for associates and not Haedogje Pa property. There is but one major chain in Mapo-gu and that chain is owned by Do Seunghoon.”

“Yes, you’re correct, Master Jeon. Do is the only owner of nightclubs in the district that belong directly to Haedogje Pa. The profits earned aren’t his to use, and a single won spent on personal vices is most certainly insubordinate behaviour.”

“I also know a rather wonderful story surrounding Do that matches with father’s information. Father said that the lost profits might be fueling snuff pornography. I know for a fact that Do had three dead bodies smuggled out of his own private booth in one of these nightclubs just two months ago. All female prostitutes, all severely strangled with their panties shoved in their mouths. I’ve been keeping tabs on him ever since and let’s just say his internet history is absolutely nightmarish.” Jungkook snorted and reached down to brush at the knee of his trousers before looking at Woo. “What are your opinions on this?”

“I believe that you’re correct, Master Jeon,” Woo said as he fixed his glasses. “Do is indeed someone you would call a…fucked up individual. What do you think are fitting reactions to his behaviour?”

“I’ve got an idea in my mind, a rather wonderful one. All you need to know about Do is that he will enter the meeting but he won’t leave. Now the second issue.” Woo asked him to explain this one to him and Jungkook settled back in his seat. “A certain drug dealer didn’t give us a tribute. Of the men gathered for this meeting there are exactly three dealers: Ahn Bohyun, Kim Dongwoo and Park Myungsoo. Each one covers different fields. Kim, he’s strictly m*******a and party drugs and he sells predominantly to foreign tourists and business people. Park supplies heroin. Ahn deals in cocaine. Now, based on their products I have an inkling of who it might be but I’m not entirely certain.”

“Who are you think, Master Jeon?”

“Ahn.” After a few seconds of silence he turned his head to look at the other man. “Coke’s being dropping of late, sales and profit. Ahn’s the only one of the three with a legitimate excuse for missing the deadline for a tribute. I expect that he’s been struggling to meet profit targets this month, which would explain it all.”

“What if it’s not Ahn, Master Jeon?”

“Well,” Jungkook glanced out of the window to see that the building was drawing close. That meant that they would be getting out of the car in a minute or so, so he had to hurry. “If it’s not him there’s no excuse for Park or Kim will suffer harsh consequences. My last issue to address is this: who would be willing to kill Mayor Jung?”

“…That would take some time to ascertain an answer to, Master Jeon,” Woo said after a moment of thought. The car pulled through a pair of wrought iron railings and then it was crunching over loose gravel to drive across the wide entrance lot. “I would have to check out networks.”

“I want him dead by the new year, so let me know when you have ample information.” He waited until the car stopped completely, engine dead and air still. Woo got up first and exited his side so that he could walk around the back of the car and open his door for him. Jungkook took a deep breath of the rather frigid fresh air and then he climbed out of the car. He fixed his jacket buttons as he did, smoothing the creases out of the middle and his waistcoat. Appearance was everything and some of these men would be seeing him for the first time. That meant that he had to carry himself with the same level of perfection that his father did. They were standing in a large lot at the front of the building. To his knowledge it had been a boarding house at some point, and it still served its purpose now for the tributes to be lodged in. Across the lot there was a large brick archway that led into a forecourt and thus to the real entrance of the building. Jungkook studied the weathered red bricks and pitted layers of cement between them as he prepared himself for it all.

“Woo, I trust your advice,” he said as he carried on fixing his suit jacket. His breath plumed out into the air like cigarette smoke. “But don’t advise against my punishment like you did last time. The one thing I have to show authority in is punishment.”

“I won’t, Master Jeon. So long as Do is indisposed of and our tribute-less dealer is still breathing then any punishment should be fitting.”

“That’s exactly what I was planning on happening,” Jungkook said as he tightened his tie and slipped his hands into his trouser pockets. “So, let’s get this meeting started.”

Just like when Woo started his usual tirade about business deals and profile margins, and everything possibly in between, Jungkook found that his interests rapidly waned in the situation. It wasn’t that such matters bored him, for he understood that every single second in the world of business affected everything else: a cycle of chain reactions that would all be sparked from one tiny mistake. Jungkook understood this, and he understood all of the minute details that came with each aspect; from brokering to negotiating, to introducing standardised charges and flat rates for businesses. He understood it, but he didn’t want to hear it all. What he wanted wasn’t long explanations, handy graphs and predicted statistics. Jungkook wanted the facts. He wanted everything quick and straightforward because it made everything else move faster. Why spend fifteen solid minutes presenting useless information to make everything sound good when he could just be given an exact figure and a yes or no? That took twenty seconds at most. And yet every single man in the meeting seemed to want his fifteen minutes of fame.

“…and as you’ll see, Master Jeon, our latest investments are very beautiful.”

A file was placed down in front of him and Jungkook realised that someone had been talking to him this entire time. He furrowed his brow at the object before glancing over his shoulder at the man to see that it was Lee, Lee Dukwon. Ah yes, he was one of the skin dealers and so Jungkook opened the file. The sight he was greeted by was photographs of naked women. Jungkook had to resist the urge to sigh heavily. Was this meant to keep his attention in any way? It wasn’t working, and so he flicked through and then shoved the file away a few seconds later.

“All women, don’t you deal with men, Lee?”

“No, Master Jeon, my services provide only female clients.”

“…That’s half of the potential profit margin lost Lee, why?”

“It’s against my beliefs, Master Jeon,” Lee said, professionally composed smile wavering at this slightly.

“You have North Korean women illegally smuggled into the country from China and have an appealing catch about getting to f**k “authentic communist p***y” and you have beliefs?” Jungkook raised his eyebrows at this and barely suppressed a snort. “Start dealing in men by the new year or I’ll see that your taxes are increased.”

“But, Master Jeon-”

“Personal beliefs are a hindrance to effective profits, Lee. Haedogje Pa don’t run on personal beliefs, we run on rules. Stop favouring yourself before us, Lee, or there will be consequences much worse than increased f*****g taxes.” Jungkook spared a glance over at Woo to see that the man was silent and in no way objective. Good, he wasn’t taking any of that back. Then he turned back to look at Lee. “Sell skin or change your business ventures to cheap crack, don’t make me tell you again, Lee.”

“…Yes, Master Jeon,” the man said with a meek nod as he moved to collect the file and then went back to his seat across the table. Jungkook ran his eyes over the room for a moment, enjoying the few seconds of peace.

It was a long stretch of polished oak, richly coloured and solid to the touch. If he were to rap his knuckles on it it would make a sound much skin to a judge’s gavel. Along the length of wood there were six men, three on either side and him seated at the very top. Woo didn’t sit at the table but rather by the doors. It meant that he could watch it all like a hawk and should he have reason to voice a complaint he would get to his feet and move to lean down and whisper it to his ear. Jungkook always took great delight in watching his men and their flickering gazes, on him and then over to Woo: the silent witness. If he so much as moved in his seat then all eyes would move to him. The flooring of the meeting room was similar dark wood to the table and the walls were cream. The wall opposite to the door was a stretch of tall windows and the others were plain of decoration save for a single display directly facing Jungkook. Two flags were hanging, the national flag and one with the Jeon family crest printed with Haedogje Pa’s motto underneath. The crest was nothing more than the characters in black calligraphy over a white lotus on the black silk but it was one that anyone that belonged to Haedogje Pa would recognise. He studied the flags before swallowing a sigh and turning to the windows.