Chapter 46

Chapter 46: The Family’s Condition #2

After eating An Eun-young’s stamina food, Tae-hyuk looked around the house .

‘It’s a little strange that there’s nobody at home when we’re studying together . ’

Tae-hyuk had studied at An Eun-young’s house for a month now . However, he had never met her family even once .

‘Was her father the director of a general hospital? Her mother is also at the hospital for treatment . ’

She said that her father only came home around once a week . He understood why the two people weren’t visible . But the problem was her older sister .

‘Runaway…’

Tae-hyuk quietly looked at An Eun-young’s face . She talked casually, but he could see the deep darkness within her eyes .

“Eun-jeong unni doesn’t get along with my father . She isn’t interested in studying, and goes out to play every day . Therefore, he forced her to enter a boarding school . That was the beginning of the incident . ”

Tae-hyuk sensed something and asked in a small voice .

“Did your sister go to L high school?”

“Yes . It is a prestigious school with a high placement rate . ”

“And your sister is 25 years old this year?”

“T-that’s right . How did you know?”

Tae-hyuk closed his mouth . He hadn’t thought there would be a relationship like this .

He had memories of the next 14 years . Most of his memories were about criminals and the prison . Then there was the moment when he was about to receive the death penalty .

The problem was the day before the death penalty . At that time, he had met something that wasn’t human . It had gaping holes for eyes and a mouth that was ripped up to the ears . Whenever it laughed, red blood dripped down its face . In the end, Tae-hyuk didn’t know who it was . He just remembered that he had made a deal with it .

It had talked about the deaths of Ha-ran and Tae-min . Seo Tae-min had become a lawyer to save Tae-hyuk, but he struggled to find evidence until the end, where he was murdered and sunk under the sea .

Seo Ha-ran was fired after it became known that her brother was a murderer . She had become involved in a multi-level marketing scheme with a friend . The result was her ruin . She lost everything and committed suicide .

This was the future that Tae-hyuk remembered . The reason he didn’t want to be reminded of this was because the multi-level marketing scheme had caused the destruction of Ha-ran . Ha-ran was 25 years old this year, and she also went to L high school .

Was all of this simply a coincidence?

Tae-hyuk made a scary expression without saying anything, causing An Eun-young to wave her hands in front of his face .

“Oh, sorry I was thinking of something else . Continue the story . ”

Tae-hyuk said with a casual expression .

“Y-Yes . ”

An Eun-young resumed the explanation .

Her sister Eun-jeong thought of the school as a prison and went outside to play everyday . Then she met the leader of a bad group and they fell in love .

“… Unni left a letter saying she was sorry and vanished . She even took all of the gifts at home . Dad went crazy and removed Unni from the family register . It was the first time I’ve seen Dad so mad . ”

“But how did you learn that she was involved in a multi-level scheme?”

“Hmm, that was a few days ago . I was coming home and a man on a motorcycle came with a note for An Eun-jeong’s little sister . ”

“Did you see the man’s face?”

An Eun-young shook her head .

“He was wearing a helmet . This is the note . ”

Tae-hyuk took the piece of paper that An Eun-young gave him and confirmed the contents .

‘An Eun-jeong is in danger of falling into a multi-level scheme . Tiwai International . ’

It was suspicious, no matter how he looked at it .

“Did you tell your father?”

“No… He tore it up as soon as I give it to him…”

Tae-hyuk had a strange feeling when he looked at An Eun-young, who didn’t care about her own safety . She believed in herself more than her parents .

He felt like he was chewing a mouthful of sand .

“Maybe this is better left to the police . ”

An Eun-young’s hands started shaking at Tae-hyuk’s firm answer .

T-that’s right… S-Sorry . I-I just wanted to consult with Tae-hyuk so, don’t, I don’t want to be a burden . ”

Tae-hyuk felt a knot in his chest . Was it possible to end it this way?

A multi-level company was a seemingly legitimate business with no problems showing . If there was a report to the police, then they would say that it was wrong . What would happen if a full-fledged investigation was started? There would be little difference . A few people in charge would be sent to prison, but they certainly couldn’t get a hold of everyone in the multi-level scheme . They would just move on to another company with a different name and sign .

Tae-hyuk sighed slowly .

‘Yes . This is the deal . If An Eun-jeong is really Noona’s friend, then I will plunge into this case . If there isn’t a connection, then I will consult Kang-suk hyung . ’

Tae-hyuk pulled out his phone to send a message to Ha-ran .

–Noona . Did you have a friend called An Eun-jeong in high school?

Beep .

He pressed the Send button . What answer would come back? Tae-hyuk swallowed his saliva . 30 seconds passed before there was a reply .

–Yes . Noona’s friend . It has already been a few years since I’ve met her . Did she contact you on my old phone? Tell her to call me .

Tae-hyuk’s mouth trembled . As expected, Ha-ran and An Eun-jeong were friends . An Eun-jeong had drawn Ha-ran into the multi-level company world . If he helped An Eun-jeong now, then he could shatter the future of Seo Ha-ran, who fell into ruin due to the multi-level marketing scheme .

Tae-hyuk looked at An Eun-young, who seemed like she was about to cry . What if he suddenly changed his mind and said he would help?

‘Oh . Wait . There is that method!’

Seo Tae-hyuk was reminded of a game that could be called a man’s romance .

“Eun-young, I’m bored . Do you want to play Rock Paper Scissors? If you win, then I’ll help you with this case . Instead, if I win, help me with my newly developed magic…”

An Eun-young turned red with anger and threw out her hand to play Rock Paper Scissors .

Tae-hyuk, who was trying to lose intentionally by using the ‘Gambling’ skill, felt like crying . It was the door of truth that he never wanted to see!

@

“Tiwai International… it’s a multi-level company that was created 10 years ago, and will continue to operate for the next 14 years . ”

Tae-hyuk muttered as he looked up at the 15 story building in front of him . This building was all Tiwai International . Usually, a multi-level company had around 1,000 members, and had billions of won in assets . That’s why it had such a great building . At least 10 times… No, more than 100 times .

There was a cardinal rule . If you don’t make other people your co-worker, then don’t bother going out . Maybe they were half trapped in the building .

‘It isn’t a building but a dungeon . ’

The inside was illegally modified like a maze . People wouldn’t be able to get out fully without knowing the way .

First, he came to look at the situation . But it seemed like he had to prepare properly before entering .

‘There are janitors and security guards going in and out . ’

Tae-hyuk suddenly came up with a good plan to infiltrate Tiwai International . He would pose as a janitor to go inside . In order to do that, he needed clothes .

‘This is when the Internet marketplace is useful . Let’s see… The janitor uniform…’

In the old days, his guard uniform was commissioned from a uniform company . It took a lot of time .

Compared to that, Internet deals were easy and quick . A secondhand store selling janitor uniforms that boasted five million members caught his attention .

‘… Should I trade with Wang Grandmother Uniforms? It has a truly unique flavour . ’

He travelled a few stops on the subway in order to make a direct deal with the person . Tae-hyuk made the right deal . After 30 minutes, he was able to get his hands on exactly what he wanted .

‘Then I’ll change in the toilets . ’

He dressed as a janitor in the subway toilets and made his head damp with water . He used cream to appear haggard and now looked like a janitor . Then he went back to the entrance of the building where he was stopped by a security guard .

“What are you doing?”

Tae-hyuk used Voice Modulation to sound older .

“Kim-ssi’s body isn’t good so I came to replace him . ”

The guard looked Tae-hyuk up and down .

“Hrmm . I didn’t hear about such a thing . ”

“That’s why I came to tell you . ”

“Oh, is that so? Then go in . ”

“Yes, keep up the good work . ”

In a building of this size, there were at least 10 janitors going in and out . At least one of them would have a surname of Kim .

Tae-hyuk shrugged and entered the building .

‘The beginning is good . The problem is where to find An Eun-jeong . ’

The building appeared to have many rooms on each floor . But there were 15 floors . It would take a few days to search through each room . There was a loud noise from the entrance .

“I-I-I’m sorry . I’m late for a new employee seminar . ”

A woman in a suit was talking to a security guard . Tae-hyuk smiled as he looked at the scene from afar .

‘An Eun-jeong has showed up in the wild . ’

He found the person he was looking for . It was a more mature face than the one he saw in the photo . She was wearing a khaki suit and had makeup on his face . She literally felt like a new employee . But when he looked closely, he could see some similarities to An Eun-young .

An Eun-jeong took the stairs on her high heels . Surprisingly, this building didn’t have an elevator . It was so that the members couldn’t run off easily .

Tae-hyuk slowly followed behind her .

@

The seminar sat down the new people that the employees had brought and explain the company’s system . A middle aged man turned on a projector and was giving a speech .

Tae-hyuk snuck through the back door and casually sat in the back . He had changed from the janitor clothes to normal clothes .

In the seminar room, dozens of men and women of various ages were sitting . An Eun-jeong was among them .

‘Is she a frivolous person?’

A person with this type of mentality . Everyone in the room responded together, even if they didn’t understand . Obviously, more than half the people in this room had frivolous characters .

The middle-aged man spat out .

“Remember the IMF in 1997? Do you know what caused it?”

People raised their hands .

“People buy and sell foreign goods . Doesn’t everything overseas look luxurious?”

The man said .

“Do you all know? Some will teach you from the textbooks . But I won’t . In fact, it is something that all big companies and the government can’t do . ”

The man shook his head and plausible graphs and interviews with experts appeared on the projector .

“In the end, the big companies will wrong people in order to save money . But what will happen to them? All those who work are forced into early retirement . Their business goes into debt and they commit suicide . Your siblings living at home will have to clean the kitchen . It is due to overconsumption? People want to travel abroad or have foreign cars . How will you get your hands on these?”

The people in the seminar room were all quiet .

“So, you have to put survival above other people’s lives . Regardless of the labour reform, people do what they can to live as cheaply as possible . If you say that it is hard then your efforts aren’t enough . Let’s compromise . Share the pain . Squeeze them more . Who will defend the salary of more than two million won that you will receive here?”

No one raised their hand .

“Do you know why? It is because things aren’t distributed properly? Distribute it . Is it distributed properly? That is the question . You should get paid as much as you can . So we have developed a new marketing system for you . Now, please pay attention to the screen . ”

The people who had been distracted 10 minutes ago, started listening to the man . Tae-hyuk stared at the man who caught the crowd’s attention . His eloquent words sounded plausible . His charisma overpowered the audience .

‘Choi Sung-yeol . You were here . ’

One of the blacklist members . The scammer Choi Sung-yeol was here .