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Chapter 304: Choi Eun-Tae (1)

I immediately told Lee Soo-Chan to meet me at Reverse Entertainment and hung up the phone.

Seeing my troubled expression, Yoo-Jin tilted her in confusion.

"I\'m sorry, Yoo-Jin, but I need to go. Something came up suddenly," I apologized.

"What\'s going on? You look really worried..."

"Don\'t worry. But I\'ll be a bit late today."

After reassuring her that it was nothing serious, I quickly headed to Lee Soo-Chan\'s office.

When I arrived, about 20 people including Lee Soo-Chan and Choi Dong-Hyuk were already gathered to form a combat team.

"Let\'s go. We don\'t have much time."

"Yes, hyung-nim."

They were prepared with masks, stab-proof vests, and baseball bats, but I didn\'t say anything given the urgency of the situation.

We split up into five cars and headed straight for Namyangju in Gyeonggi Province. Nalsae had a tracking device on him, so we were able to see his location on the app.

Just then, Choi Dong-Hyuk, who was in the front passenger seat, received a call. "Hyung-nim, it\'s a call from the surveillance team."

They reported that Nalsae had been dragged into an abandoned factory building in Namyangju.

The surveillance team closest to Nalsae right now was observing from a distance with binoculars as they were unable to gauge how many people were inside the building.

Choi Dong-Hyuk\'s face hardened as he suggested, "Hyung-nim, what if we send in the team first even if it\'s a bit risky?"

I shook my head. "No way. What if someone gets hurt? Let\'s go in together. No matter how urgent it is, I won\'t risk my men getting injured."

Choi Dong-Hyuk shook his head in admiration. "Hyung-nim, you\'re really something else."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Aren\'t you nervous? We\'ve been through this kind of thing before, but you\'re just a regular office worker."

Ever since I had come back from the brink of death, I suppose I had developed a stronger resolve.

"Stop talking nonsense and focus on Nalsae."

"Okay, hyung-nim!"

Choi Dong-Hyuk nodded and turned his attention back to the mission.

A short while later, we arrived at the location. We parked about 500 meters from the factory to avoid detection.

"Soo-Chan, did you prepare the masks?"

"Yes."

I took a deep breath, pulled on the mask, and even donned the stab-proof vest just in case. Then I turned to Lee Soo-Chan. "I\'m sorry. You\'re caught up in this because of me."

Lee Soo-Chan gave a small laugh. "It\'s also for Eun-Gi hyung-nim, so don\'t worry about it. And hyung-nim, you\'re one of us."

"Thanks."

We got out of the cars and grabbed our baseball bats, aware that the enemy might be armed.

Lee Soo-Chan looked back and reminded everyone, "We\'re here to subdue, not to fight. If things get dangerous, just block and retreat! Remember, we\'re not gangsters anymore. Got it?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Lee Soo-Chan, Choi Dong-Hyuk, and I led the way. Soon, we reached the location where the surveillance team was stationed.

From about 50 meters away, we could see the dilapidated abandoned factory.

Two members of the surveillance team approached us and bowed their heads. "We\'re sorry. The team protecting Nalsae was about to change shifts when they suddenly attacked..."

As they were about to kneel in apology, I grabbed their arms to stop them. "Why are you kneeling? Get up."

According to their report, there were currently four people inside the factory.

"But we\'ve been hearing screams from inside."

I exchanged a glance with Lee Soo-Chan. "It sounds like we\'re running out of time. Let\'s go."

"Alright."

Leaving the unmasked surveillance team behind, we quickly made our way toward the factory.

First, Choi Dong-Hyuk led the group and guided the younger guys as they swiftly moved to the factory\'s wall.

Seeing no one exiting the building, Lee Soo-Chan and I followed with the remaining team.

As we pressed ourselves against the wall to peek through the dirty windows into the factory, I could see Nalsae tied to an old chair with his hands bound behind him in the middle of the shabby factory.

His face was a mess, clearly the result of a severe beating.

At that moment, two men standing around him began to question him aggressively.

-Why the hell are you keeping so quiet? Just spill it!

-I heard you make a living off dirty work like taking paparazzi photos. So why\'s your mouth so tight now?

-Hey! Just tell us who President Choi\'s son is and we\'ll let you go.

-Yeah, let\'s make this easy for all of us. Kang Eun-Gi is the President\'s son, right? Otherwise, why would his people be protecting you? Doesn\'t make sense, does it?

I had expected Nalsae to spill everything under pressure, but surprisingly, he had kept his mouth shut.

When Nalsae didn\'t respond, one of the men who was wearing a gold chain swung his fist.

Nalsae\'s head snapped to the side with a sickening thud.

-Hey! Get it together!

Barely conscious, Nalsae groaned.

-Ugh... I... I don\'t know... I don\'t know anything...

I immediately turned to Lee Soo-Chan upon watching the scene. "Soo-Chan, let\'s get him out of there. He hasn\'t talked yet."

Normally, I would have been more cautious considering the large open space around the factory and the multiple potential escape routes. However, getting Nalsae out before he could reveal anything was more important.

Lee Soo-Chan nodded and turned back to signal the team with hand gestures, the kind you\'d expect from military training.

Having caught the signal, Choi Dong-Hyuk moved forward with five others and kicked the door down with a loud crash.

As the door burst open, Choi Dong-Hyuk and his team rushed in followed closely by Lee Soo-Chan and me.

When we walked in, two men standing next to Nalsae shouted in surprise. "Shit! Where did these guys come from?"

"Fuck this, there\'s too many of them! Run!"

Realizing they were outnumbered, they bolted without looking back.

Choi Dong-Hyuk was the first to chase after them, but they were already a fair distance away.

"Catch them!"

The team desperately chased after the two men at Choi Dong-Hyuk\'s shout, but the kidnappers were already sprinting toward the opposite exit.

One of the two men shouted, "Hey! Start the car!"

We heard the sound of a car engine revving up on the other side of the factory as if there were more of them waiting outside.

As soon as the two men reached the exit, the door slammed shut behind them.

Choi Dong-Hyuk followed them and kicked the door, but it wouldn\'t budge perhaps because they had locked it from the outside.

A moment later, we heard the roar of the car speeding away.

Breathing heavily, Choi Dong-Hyuk called out, "Yung-Hoon, Sang-Cheol! Get in your car and chase them!"

"Yes, hyung-nim!"

While Lee Soo-Chan and Choi Dong-Hyuk scrambled to organize the pursuit, I approached Nalsae who was slumped over with his head down.

His face was swollen and blood was dripping from his split lips, but he kept muttering the same thing over and over.

"Ugh...I don\'t know... I don\'t know anything..."

I quickly moved behind him and untied his hands. "Mr. Beom-Jun!"

"Ughhh... I-I already told you I don\'t know anything..."

"It\'s me!"

As I freed Nalsae\'s hands, I removed my mask in front of him.

Nalsae flinched and slowly lifted his head. His swollen eyes struggled to focus, but they eventually locked onto mine. "Team Lead Jung...?"

"Yes, it\'s me."

Recognizing me, Nalsae suddenly began to laugh with his chest heaving. "Holy fuck. It\'s good to see you... ha ha ha ha..."

Instead of letting out a sigh of relief, he laughed like a madman while blood and saliva dripped from his mouth.

I looked around and asked for some water. One of the younger guys handed me a bottle, and I waited for Nalsae to finish laughing.

When he finally calmed down, he raised his trembling right hand. "I don\'t need water. Just give me a cigarette."

Lee Soo-Chan frowned after tidying up nearby, but I nodded. "If anyone has a cigarette, give him one."

I didn\'t particularly like the guy, but he had shown some loyalty. After all, anyone who kept their mouth shut while getting beaten to a pulp deserved at least that much.

One of the guys lit a cigarette and handed it to Nalsae, who took a deep drag with difficulty. As the smoke escaped his mouth and nose, he winced in pain.

Nalsae coughed and then sighed heavily.

"I knew you\'d come to get me. That\'s why I didn\'t say a word even when those bastards were beating me up."

The more he thought about it, the more upset and emotional he seemed to get as his voice trembled with anger and frustration.

"You went through a lot. But what exactly happened?"

After another drag of his cigarette, Nalsae began to explain what happened.

***

Recently, Nalsae resumed his search for Choi Eun-Tae\'s missing son under pressure from Kim Dong-Soo.

However, it turned out to be much easier than expected to locate the remaining candidates which caused some complications.

The candidates were supposed to be working at construction sites in the provinces, but most of them were at home due to the ongoing economic downturn.

Having met all the candidates in just a day or two, Nalsae had no way to stall for time. So he decided to lay low until I met with the Daeheung Savings Bank representatives.

Just as he was about to go into hiding, a group of masked men showed up and kidnapped him.

The rest was just beatings.

As soon as I heard his story, I was certain of one thing. \'This was definitely the work of Choi Man-Sik.\'

There were only two people who would go to such lengths to obtain this information: Choi Man-Sik and Choi Eun-Tae.

Among the two, Choi Eun-Tae had arranged to meet with me and Daeheung Savings Bank directly—so it was unlikely he would resort to such extreme measures.

"But from what I heard, those guys seem to think Eun-Gi is President Choi\'s son. Is that true?"

Nalsae spat on the ground. "Yeah. They must\'ve seen people from Reverse Entertainment hanging around me and jumped to that conclusion."

At that moment, a chilling thought crossed my mind.

I immediately turned to Lee Soo-Chan. "Soo-Chan, are you able to get a message into the prison?"

"Yes."

"Then contact Eun-Gi right away and warn him. There\'s a chance they might target him."

"I-I got it."

Lee Soo-Chan quickly called his lawyer. "Mr. Kim! File for an immediate visitation and warn Eun-Gi hyung-nim that he\'s being targeted!"

As he explained the situation, Lee Soo-Chan\'s hand trembled slightly from the tension.

"Hyung-nim, they say they can reach the detention center in about ten minutes!"

Hoping nothing would go wrong, we helped Nalsae into the car.

I decided to deal with Choi Eun-Tae\'s matter sooner rather than later.

\'If I waited any longer, who knows what Choi Man-Sik might do?\'

With that thought, I called Director Jang Ki-Ho of Daeheung Savings Bank.

After about four rings, Jang Ki-Ho answered.

-Hello, Mr. Jung, How rare for you to call first. What\'s the occasion?

"Mr. Jang, please be honest with me. Are you trying to meet me because of the search for Mr. Choi\'s son?"

-What? No, no, that\'s not it at all!

"Is that so? Then I\'ll cancel our meeting tomorrow. Yoo-Jin has no interest in doing a commercial for the savings bank. Thank you for your time and I\'ll be hanging up now."

Just as I was about to end the call, Jang Ki-Ho\'s tone changed.

-Hey! Wait a second! Just hold on!

Now we were getting somewhere. The real Jang Ki-Ho, the enforcer of the Daeho faction, was coming out.

-Let me check with the big hyung-nim and call you back. Don\'t talk to anyone else in the meantime, got it?

"I\'ll give you ten minutes. The situation is really fucked up right now."

And less than two minutes later, I received a call from Choi Yung-Ho, the president of Daeheung Savings Bank.

-So, how did you find out we\'re looking for Mr. Choi\'s son?

Choi Yung-Ho\'s voice was filled with suspicion.

"Wouldn\'t it be strange if I didn\'t know?"

I explained to Choi Yung-Ho how I had come to know the information.

-We tried to be cautious, but it seems we weren\'t careful enough. But hold on a second! Does this mean Choi Man-Sik has already figured out who Mr. Choi\'s son is?

"I can\'t say for sure, but it\'s clear they\'re suspicious of Eun-Gi right now."

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line. It seemed the unexpected turn of events had thrown him off, but I couldn\'t afford to wait around.

"But why is he suddenly looking for his son now?" I asked.

Choi Yung-Ho let out a short sigh before answering.

-It\'s not really a question I should be answering, but... given the circumstances, I\'ll tell you. What reason does a father need to find his child? Mr. Choi is getting on in years and it seems his blood ties are becoming more important to him.

It didn\'t seem like there were any sinister motives behind finding his son, though I couldn\'t fully trust his explanation.

"Understood. Then please set up a meeting with him right away!"

-Got it. I\'ll get in touch with Mr Choi and I\'ll call you back.

The call ended with that.

I hadn\'t planned on meeting Choi Eun-Tae, but I had no choice given how things were unfolding.

As I saw Lee Soo-Chan making phone calls to someone, I leaned back in my seat and thought about how to handle things if Choi Man-Sik decided to target me.

At that moment, Lee Soo-Chan\'s lawyer called. "It looks like the visit is over, hyung-nim."

It should have been about the time they finished the visit at the detention center, so Lee Soo-Chan quickly answered the call.

However, I noticed Lee Soo-Chan\'s face going pale as he continued the call. His jaw clenched and he gripped his phone so tightly his knuckles were turning white.

"Soo-Chan, what\'s wrong?" I asked.

He didn\'t respond even when I called his name.

I called out again, more urgently this time. "Lee Soo-Chan! What happened?"

Lee Soo-Chan finally spoke with his voice trembling.

"Eun-Gi hyung-nim... he... he was stabbed."

"What?"