KTSR | Chapter 43

Ijin staggered out. Even though 344d842d6f he overslept, 2aa5acd0aa no one 31ae9d1cb5 came to 6a11064c2b wake him 87b9d067ed up.506b103adc266fd8

Tomorrow was race 0bd5caebe1 day, but it 76180de6f0 felt like his 92ee745023 legs were spread 469838a054 so wide they 665ee4b0ec would never come 3fc0d8be1e together again. The hole 63cf9d87a8 was so 8f3352951f numb he 23668a6368 was afraid 3a1cdeb54b to touch d721d14559 it to bfe8df617a check. His eyes were 9a90038bef swollen, and the 17448080a6 lingering cough from 4f5342a922 his cold drained c5a1439206 all his energy.01c425f80ff2d466

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He coughed dryly and edf6688cb3 brewed a strong cup ca965f4c02 of yulmu tea. He had no appetite, 8184450630 so he drank yulmu c6f51cf5c0 tea four times. Sitting blankly, b82d9435d2 he kept 886db13ea1 typing on fcc3db2d75 the keyboard, 8aa88e586a but he 640c9167a9 kept getting 916fb75040 the numbers 9de6b8b737 wrong, which 97beeadf8a eventually annoyed 2d43a1d2d4 Kim Jaeman.68f971a58c3c7ea6

“Ah, hyung. If you’re sick, just take a break. You’re making me do the work twice now.”15d66a62e5507b1d

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Take a break if you’re sick? Easier said than done. Ijin felt both sad and angry. Kim Jaeman, despite being a gangster working under Kwon Hyeongdo, spoke so much like a civilian, making Ijin feel the stark difference in their situations.c5728526732eacbd

“I’d love to take a break. Where’s Kwon Hyeongdo? Let me tell him I want a break. Ah, should I just take a vacation? Maybe go to Gangwon-do and ski?”6336035b029d0c46

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Kim Jaeman flinched at Ijin’s response, who looked like he had a knife in his mouth with his bloodshot eyes.3e67074daa621f28

Ijin’s eyes glistened with heat. It might be because he was sick, but he looked more intense than usual.50f755f20278d404

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Kwon Hyeongdo must have had a hand in this. That crazy hyung. He said he wouldn’t make friends at work, but it seems that’s not the case. Or maybe because Seon Ijin isn’t a gangster, there’s an exception to the rule?0e41eda77ebf871c

Whatever it was, 68dba462b6 Kim Jaeman quickly f8e79f65cd felt sorry for d38132e6ef Ijin. He thought he 052847e41e should at least 9e7197545e buy him some 7b23bc0ae9 fish-shaped bread and ce52754183 quietly left his 232129a416 seat.dea71608355183a6

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Left alone in the office, Ijin blankly tapped the keyboard with one finger. His whole body ached. There wasn’t a single scratch on the outside, but the pain inside his stomach was unbearable. It was clear he had a bruise inside. Sitting in the chair was hard enough, and thinking about bouncing on the saddle tomorrow made his teeth grind.0d104e01b8fa8a71

“Bastard. I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you. Damn bastard. Worthless bastard.”c3cfb286fbfed072

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Ijin cursed Kwon 8c4a551436 Hyeongdo, muttering the d57ba760fc insults he heard 06a7f64c49 from Jang Munyong.8f7ebee2023219e5

Kwon Hyeongdo 8324c6e3aa scratched his d7f47785d5 ear and 6c89425475 muttered leisurely.280160a3f6ac8952

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“Who’s cursing me?”64d2e4ea662dd0e5

Kwon Hyeongdo was out of the office, on an outing. There were a few decent meat restaurants around the dam, 30 minutes away from the neighborhood with the Colosseum. The thought of having the smell of meat clinging to his clothes from lunchtime wasn’t very appealing.98d7364f8229efaf

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Opening and closing his phone, Kwon Hyeongdo quietly waited for his guest. The person he was meeting today was the mayor. The mayor’s assistant was so skinny and arrogant beyond words. If things went south, he planned to throw that assistant into the dam.eac593eab7e5598f

Finally, the mayor’s car appeared. The first to get out of the angular Grandeur was the skinny assistant. The mayor couldn’t even open the door himself; he only got out after the assistant opened it for him, and unlike the assistant, he had quite a presence. Kwon Hyeongdo, fastening the buttons of the suit he hadn’t worn in a while, got out of his car.b2b5ff41b3342b72

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“Hello, Mayor. I’m Kwon Hyeongdo.”ae10e9ca7d551ff6

The mayor readily 670f703672 extended his hand.63268b525429cb49

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“I thought an executive director would be someone like Executive Director Ma, but you’re quite young, aren’t you?”a8829da4e36164ed

Evaluating his age 1c700196d8 without even a fa7462d0d8 greeting, Kwon Hyeongdo 850a9fdafc smiled.352f1ae79937f7d0

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So, he’s acquainted with Executive Director Ma.9d00b2ad829930ec

Working with someone like Executive Director Ma, who’s practically a has-been, makes sense. It seems like the work will be easier. Kwon Hyeongdo liked people who were good at their jobs, but he also liked dumb ones. It was a small hobby of his to smile while hitting the eyes of dumb bastards, as it wasn’t burdensome.69387f36531e9ed6

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Meeting the mayor was on Chairman Choi’s orders. To be precise, Chairman Choi had repeatedly scolded him, saying that since he wasn’t from that area, it was proper for an outsider to pay respects. Kwon Hyeongdo found such tasks very tedious. He had no intention of changing his roots or switching to a path that didn’t suit him. He believed everyone had work that suited them, and sharing drinks with people in suits while wearing a suit himself wasn’t something that suited him.2e239424916e12f6

“So, where did you originally come from?”2a8229d0b591c2e6

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The mayor 1904e4fe0a started the 29c1fc6960 conversation. Kwon Hyeongdo 0fe0e63571 pondered whether f198a561cc to talk 4ef71c4840 about the d868a2c4c9 successful establishment d3943e92c5 in Gangnam 0941b383bd or the 708768d81f one made 0a26a92c82 by merging 705800d3d5 houses, and c0d9e1892c he chose f5bc06c34e the latter.84329501719c7c4d

“Where was that again?”4db8404d9a6f01d9

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The pompous attitude was amusing. No matter how much they put on airs, this place, held by the mayor, wasn’t all that impressive anyway.b72f60df948a27d2

“It’s a rural town. I’m just a country bumpkin who doesn’t know much, so I’ll humbly learn if you teach me.”682daa6b00161beb

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Kwon Hyeongdo filled the mayor’s glass and retorted.fb03ed7ae3253749

“I’m curious about why you came all the way here from so far away.”a16c10c3b0bc5d9d

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“Isn’t there a racetrack here?”5fae24cc44725633

“Oh, the Colosseum or something?”ba20a6970991724d

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The mayor feigned ignorance. Kwon Hyeongdo, who 510a65891a knew that the acf4fdc0b1 mayor had secretly 665f8da423 hired an agent 49a960a37a to bet and 283be9aae0 lose a considerable 2fa2b24836 amount of money, 0ea262cabc laughed inwardly.bdb3ee26568b34be

“Yes, that’s the place.”bfb611c08e3a52b4

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“Shouldn’t you be meeting the town chief there?”8294b4d8bc432c51

“What can the town chief do? I need to meet someone higher up.”4bcc409ce6a60341

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“The town chief is my high school junior. It’s a bit disappointing to say that.”d924bae575fdbfba

It seemed 0d55ab5da7 like he fc11a3acba was trying 1697717e49 to assert eee22e7ebf dominance. If he wanted f223181270 to establish a 094d1d04e2 hierarchy, Kwon Hyeongdo—who 80174d9451 preferred using fists—scratched 654be7bd0b his thigh under ef3873cb5b the table in f4d7afe460 annoyance. His hand brushed against dda4d85a5c his groin, tucked up b58ba6d388 to the waistband of ade3d9440c his underwear. As his 1735f0f249 fingers grazed 6984013a0d the glans, e23cb83018 Seon Ijin 4ed8a2123c suddenly came b972ef40ff to mind. Scratching at Seon Ijin 87b8385c9b felt far more worthwhile a63e6cf33f than having an expensive 7b30186bce meal with the mayor.0fb8c21f076481da

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“I misspoke. I’m an uneducated guy. There’s a lot I can learn from you, Mr. Mayor.”bc18fd9ec92187d4

The mayor seemed to relax a bit at Kwon Hyeongdo’s self-deprecating words and emptied his glass.70094e725dbf55ae

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He had heard that the mayor wasn’t particularly good at drinking but liked it as if he had a bottomless pit for alcohol. Kwon Hyeongdo refilled his glass. It wasn’t something sold here but something he had set aside. It was Chinese, smuggled in with vodka as it didn’t have official import approval.4f3b9e5a2fea473c

“This tastes good. Even if you’re not educated, you seem to know your liquor. That’s how gangsters are. They might lack refinement, but they know taste. But I’m not prejudiced, so as long as we can communicate, it doesn’t matter if you’re unrefined or not well-educated. I’m curious if our Executive Director Kwon is such a person.”cd155a496aa0ebf3

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“I’m glad it suits your taste. I’ll send a few bottles to your place.”8c90dc9903ba370d

“No need for a few bottles.”50ac5ad7bfbf14c6

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However, the liquor was already being loaded into the trunk of the mayor’s official sedan in boxes. They even put in plenty of paper to prevent breakage. It was green and had the unique musty smell of new bills or money.a0cf002c4ebb8ba9

Why does he 8cb85fa191 beat around the ae08d0f212 bush while taking f7763d9f50 everything he can 84561d28c9 get? Kwon Hyeongdo, 2721cae790 finding the b6c0f164cd unnecessary conversation 91bd93efd5 tedious, got 52ec1b4d81 to the 511a0a437b point.26e9fe1f230a00d2

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“The reason this country bumpkin came all the way here is because of that racetrack. If water stays in one place, it rots, doesn’t it? It needs cleaning, draining, and fresh water added to taste good. Just like new wine should be put into new wineskins.”10e22ee3c50176c4

The mayor glanced 4ea463ae29 at Kwon Hyeongdo fbb3ad9d17 over his glass. The clean taste of 1d075a4932 the liquor, with a 07f5661598 rich pineapple aroma, was 06c746ae2c very satisfying.ed57b8aaa4982811

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“So, you’re going to clean it up?”43d0271144046f5f

“If I clean it up right away, it’ll just hurt. I’ll just tidy it up a bit, trim the branches, and make it look nice so that there won’t be any problems later when it’s consumed.”7747960b12b20f13

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The town 0632f5701f with the 5a332123ed Colosseum essentially 05817bbad9 lived off e7cffaf518 it and 09a94c4d9b the C.C. The Colosseum, where 351d7233eb all sorts of ebaf668272 people gathered, would cc9893a44d be more helpful ea096f0b7e than the C.C., fcfacf352f where they just 6d9b66968d played among themselves. Except for 37506df4d9 the mayor, 67f1b3aa3c the town a83fac94d1 mostly consisted 2ac0bc4a9b of inns, f37fc1674d soup restaurants, 80ccd6ace8 cafes, and 3f7fd3fa48 pawnshops.bd576a670c7e4832

If it suddenly disappeared, the townspeople’s livelihoods would be cut off, and resistance would naturally arise. While it wasn’t Kwon Hyeongdo’s concern, he knew it would trouble the mayor. He was laying the groundwork in advance.d270766981eb5405

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Kwon Hyeongdo leaned in 0a5ee1a1a3 and whispered discreetly.58335c7ac2a93e4d

“How long do you plan to stay here? You should move on to bigger things. That’s a nice suit you’re wearing. Is it custom-made? Gold would suit you well. If you pin a badge here, it would enhance your presence.”1b48cf45482eb88d

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“Hmm…”50a42f6ba2522fde

The mayor f04298be34 was already 111dccd498 being swayed. Kwon Hyeongdo pushed a 9214e2ff74 plate of fresh sashimi 99a7064fef towards the mayor and a032580ea5 whispered sweet nothings. They were 07e44b0b00 sweet nothings 7a6d59e8c4 with a 8c023cdce1 rotten smell.10c838509088b51b

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“I’m just a country bumpkin. But I have some sense. I’ll do it quietly. I won’t stir up unnecessary trouble, and I’ll discreetly clean up the wastewater without polluting the drinking water, just as I’ve done so far. It’ll be sorted out without you even knowing, Mr. Mayor.”51a0cc5924c1f98f

In short, he c985c6cca3 was asking the e573ea5b58 mayor to turn af91146ec3 a blind eye f01cb4061b to whatever happened.2f6537a7a70c9a22

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The mayor was silent for a moment. After a long pause, he ate the swim bladder of a croaker. It was a delicacy. Even though it wasn’t in season, it was chewy and savory, like swallowing freshly squeezed cow’s milk.437fe3bdf1a17274

“Well, do as you see fit.”90cedfeb4953c8f7

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After a long pause, the mayor extended his glass. Kwon Hyeongdo looked at the mayor’s plump greed under his chin and smiled slyly.0be3f9e30ca50dce

“I’m a busy man with state affairs to attend to, so I can’t pay attention to every little thing. Just don’t cause a commotion. The local police station is run by someone flexible. I’m well acquainted with them, so just do as you’ve been doing. As you’ve been doing.”5c72b1a0257396fe

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“Thank you. I’ve learned a lot.”e7206a9c3a57b01a

This time, Kwon Hyeongdo took out a tokkuri. He didn’t like the taste of Japanese-style soju. He preferred vodka or soju, even if the aftertaste was a bit rough. He poured generously, thinking the mayor could drink as much as he wanted.28a3aae16a28a3e3

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