1979, Manager Kim is Inheriting Dictatorship! - Chapter 49



Only Krnovel

Episode 49

***

“Hey… Drink a little slower.”

“Ugh… I’m sorry. I can’t stand it these days if I don’t drink like this.”

“Anyway.. Anyway, so there was no contact from the police?”

“I don’t know.. I heard he caught it.. but he said he doesn’t have any money and told me to give it to him.. I have 3000 in overdraft in my account.. I don’t know what to do..”

The man in front of me is my old friend, Kim Jin-cheol.

He’s been my best friend since elementary school, the one I can talk to the most openly.

Although he was quite good at studying, due to his difficult family circumstances, he jumped straight into the job market without even graduating from high school.

“My friend!! Han Myeong-ho!! The most successful of my friends! A loyal bastard!!”

The drinking party is getting longer.

Jincheol’s face turned red, as if he had gotten really drunk.

“Hey.. hey.. I’m really drunk.”

“Ugh… Myeongho… I’m sorry… I also borrowed 2 million won from you···.”

“Hey.. We’ve known each other for years.. Don’t worry about it. I know everything about you..”

“I’m sorry.. I’m sorry..”

The reason Jincheol is having such a hard time is because he was scammed in a rental deposit a few months ago.

As soon as Jincheol graduated, he worked two or three jobs and saved up for several years, combined with credit loans and money borrowed from acquaintances to make 200 million won and rented a new villa.

Jincheol was extremely happy, saying that although it was a lease, the house was really nice and that he would no longer have to pay rent.

However, this property was a so-called tin can house that was endlessly invested in with the aim of so-called gap investment.

There was talk that this scammer had already swindled over a hundred people, including Jincheol, who had not received their deposits back.

“Let’s go in now.”

Before we knew it, it was already approaching 1:00 AM.

I grab Jincheol and get up from my seat.

“Okay.. I have to go in.. I have to go to work tomorrow too.. Myungho.. I’ll definitely pay you back that money. Don’t worry.. Just trust me! Kid. You know I’m the best Kim Jincheol in the world!”

“You’re being ridiculous. Drink moderately, Inma. Your mother will be worried.”

And after finishing the drinking party, I took a taxi.

“Going in!”

Jincheol tries to shout at me in a bright voice.

I ask Jincheol in a small voice.

“If you have a hard time, tell me.”

Still, I had more money to spare than Jincheol.

I could help you enough.

“Hey, I have some shame. Don’t worry. I won’t die, brat. I’ll go!”

“Okay.. go in.”

But the news that came a week later, making his last words that he would not die pale in comparison, was the news of his death.

[Obituary / Deceased: Jincheol Kim / Funeral home: Sojeong Funeral Home / Funeral: April 22nd at 7pm]

As soon as I saw the text, I wrote down my annual leave and ran to the funeral home.

The funeral home hadn’t even finished preparing the mortuary yet. His mother, his only family member, was screaming as if she had fainted in her seat.

I approached her and asked in a trembling voice.

It was definitely hard to accept that my friend, who had been fine until last week, had suddenly died.

“Uh…Mom…What on earth is going on···.”

She heard my voice and only then turned to me, barely able to stop crying and speak.

“Ah.. Myungho.. you’re here.. How did you come at this hour.. That’s.. Uh.. Our.. Jincheol.. Jincheol..”

She couldn’t say anything else and just covered her mouth and sobbed.

I could only sit there in a daze in front of the funeral home.

In the funeral home, there was a picture of him smiling brightly, contrasting with the voice of his mother sobbing.

And a little later, the cause of Jincheol’s death that was heard from the police who came to the funeral was none other than suicide.

He died alone, leaving behind a few notes.

And so, it was already 2 o’clock in the morning.

I could have used more vacation days, but I had to bring clothes and go home for a while.

I approached Jincheol’s mother, who was now staring at Jincheol’s picture with blank eyes, and spoke.

“Mom… I’m going to go home for a bit to get some clothes and I’ll be back tomorrow morning···.”

“Thank you… Myungho… I can’t tell you how lucky I am that you are here to watch over the funeral.”

“Please say whatever you want..”

Then, as if something suddenly occurred to her, she took an envelope out of her bag and handed it to me.

“I almost forgot this. Come to think of it, Jincheol left this for you···.”

I silently accepted the envelope she handed me and returned home.

Then I packed my clothes and took out the contents of the envelope she had handed me.

Inside the envelope was a letter and a large amount of money.

[Myungho. I’m sorry to have to write this. I don’t have the courage to live anymore. I never thought that all the hard work I’ve put into my life would go down the drain so quickly. It’s shameless, but if you have time, please stop by to see how my mom is doing. There’s no one else I can ask of you. And the money in this… It’s money I borrowed from you. I scraped it together here and there… But I’m still short about 50,000 won. Consider the 50,000 won short to help with my funeral. Take care, my friend. I’m going first. Please be happy and come back slowly.]

The total amount of money in the envelope is 1,957,400 won.

I don’t know how he collected the money, but it seemed like each and every one of them had his fingerprints on it.

I sat down on the spot and sobbed.

At the funeral, the emotions that I had been holding back suddenly exploded.

And I was angry.

“Hey you..! You fucking idiot···!!!”

What on earth did this kind and honest friend do wrong?

He was a friend who lived honestly without causing trouble to others since childhood.

Although his own life was tough, he was a friend who always lived while being considerate of others.

But I couldn’t understand why he had to die for this reason.

And then, on the TV that was on, a news report about the conman who drove Jincheol to death was playing.

[The so-called Seoul Villa King, who recently caused over 100 victims, is causing public outrage by saying that he is not a fraudster but just a failed investor. Whether he will be arrested has not been confirmed yet, but it could be as early as next month. .. .. ..]

And a few months later, I was unable to even grant Jincheol’s last request.

“Mother. This is Myeongho. I’ll go in.”

Sometimes, when I had time, I would visit his mother’s house to check on her well-being.

However, three months after Jincheol died, his mother ended up taking her own life.

[I’m sorry. I don’t have the courage to live without my son anymore.]

It was her short will.

And not only Jincheol and his mother, but two other victims also took their own lives after that.

And yet, the conman who led all four people to their deaths still shamelessly claimed that he was not a conman, but just a person who had failed in investing.

***

I looked around and saw that it was still dawn.

I had an old dream after a long time.

These were memories that were slowly fading away now.

Today’s dream was so vivid.

My whole body was covered in sweat.

He must have sweated a lot while sleeping.

I slowly got up from my seat and headed towards the restaurant.

In the kitchen, one of the employees on duty was dozing off on a chair.

He wakes up to the sound of me coming into the kitchen.

“Ah.. Mr. President, are you awake?”

He gets up quickly and greets me, wiping the drool from his mouth.

“I’m sorry for waking you up. Don’t worry about it. I just came to have a cup of tea.”

“Please sit down and I will get on the ride for you shortly.”

“Then, I have a favor to ask.”

He moves busily to get into the car.

As far as I can remember, he wasn’t an old employee.

I clearly remember that he was a new employee who had just joined.

‘The name… is definitely…’

“Was that Mr. Yoo Chang-ho?”

“Yes, that’s right. I’m truly honored that you remember me.”

“You are talking nonsense. Mr. Chang-ho, if it’s okay with you, would you like to have a cup of tea with me and chat for a bit?”

“Yes. It is an honor!”

Now I wanted to talk to someone.

He answers in a cheerful voice and quickly begins pouring himself two cups of tea.

While he was driving, many thoughts were running through his head.

The appearance of a friend I had briefly forgotten.

And the process by which he died.

And one more thought.

‘Am I perhaps pushing forward this policy based on personal feelings?’

I got the feeling that they were pushing forward and changing important national policies based on personal feelings.

As president, you must keep your national affairs and personal feelings separate.

But I began to doubt myself, wondering if maybe the past was lingering deep in my mind and I was trying to punish the conman.

“ha..”

And before I knew it, Yoo Chang-ho came back with two cups of tea.

“Mr. President, here you are.”

“Ah.. Thank you. I’ll enjoy my drink. Mr. Chang-ho, please sit over there too.”

He watched me for a moment and then asked with a worried voice.

“Mr. President, you are covered in sweat. Are you feeling unwell anywhere?”

“Ah.. It’s nothing. I had a dream a while ago.. but it’s not a very good memory, I guess.”

I drink the tea he gave me and calm down a little.

The citron tea he gave me was sweet and fragrant.

“It tastes good.”

“Thank you.”

Yoo Chang-ho seemed very nervous and his hands were shaking slightly.

“Mr. Chang-ho, can I ask you something?”

“Yes.. Yes..! Feel free to ask me anything, Mr. President.”

“No, Mr. Chang-ho, have you ever been scammed in your life?”

“Are you talking about a scam···”

His face began to darken rapidly when the word fraud came up.

“If you find it difficult to talk, don’t say anything. I guess I asked for nothing.”

“Ah… no, Mr. President. Actually, it wasn’t me, but my father was scammed badly a few years ago.”

“Father?”

He continued his story calmly.

“My father was an industrialist who went to the Middle East in the past to earn dollars.”

“But how did you end up being scammed?”

“That is… Actually, not long after I came back to Korea, my father had been in the Middle East for a long time and had been blind to Korea for several years. And then someone told my father that he was a Blue House employee and that if he gave me money, he would make me a lot of money.”

“It was a fraud.”

It was one of the most common fraud methods even in modern times.

The method was to approach victims by saying things like, “I know the Blue House well.” or “I’m an agent for the National Intelligence Service.” They would demand money, promising to help them make money, and then run away once the victim gave them the money.

“Yes, that’s right. My family was practically torn apart… My childhood was so difficult that it’s hard to even talk about it.”

“It must have been hard.. I feel like I brought up painful memories for no reason. I’m sorry.”

“Ah… No, Mr. President. But actually, more than anything else, after I was scammed, I had a hard time with the gazes of those around me.”

“The gazes of those around you?”

“Yes. My father was the one who was scammed.. There were many people around him who cursed my father for being scammed. ‘Why are you so stupid?’, ‘You’re being scammed because you’re greedy.’, ‘You should have investigated it more thoroughly.’ There were many people who criticized my father, the victim, rather than the perpetrator.”

Although it is clear that the victim is the one who was scammed and the perpetrator is the one who should be punished, there are many cases where people kill the victim twice by saying that the victim committed the fraud because they were stupid or greedy.

‘Social awareness may also be a problem…’

“Do you still hold a grudge against that conman, Mr. Chang-ho?”

“Yes.. Of course. I don’t even know where he is now, but I hope he gets caught and severely punished someday. However.. More than that, what I really want is for him to get the money back that he scammed me with. Punishment is punishment, but.. my father still has no confidence in anything he does because of the memory of being scammed by that guy. If possible, I hope he gets the money back and goes back to being the confident father he was when I was little.”

“Thank you, Mr. Chang-ho. It helped me a lot with a problem I was struggling with.”

An unexpected conversation provided specific direction on how to address this fraud.

It wasn’t just a personal feeling.

This was clearly a problem that had to be solved for the future of the Republic of Korea.