18. Protection

Jeong Suk slowly opens his eyes and blinks a few times to adjust to the dim light of the place he is at. His eyebrows knit together as he looks at his surroundings. He’s not where he was the last time he was awake.

Before, the place was like a warehouse and now it seems like he’s in a room with no walls and only a small lamp hung on the ceiling. The walls aren’t painted which only shows the grey of the cement; the floor has no mosaics and its cement is somehow soft.

There’s only a mattress in the other side of the room and nothing else. The door that leads to outside that prison is made of steel, containing a rectangle a little above the middle of the door from which there’s a view to both sides – out and inside the room.

Jeong Suk feels kind of exhausted as if he had been running for hours and hasn’t been sleeping either. As he doesn’t have enough strength to get up he stays sat on the ground not having anything else to do but stare around. He can’t even think straight as he isn’t able to reason because of the exhaustion.

As he looks around, his eyes land on his feet. He’s barefoot. Then he notices something heavy on his ankle – an iron leash. He tries to find the chain that connects the leash to somewhere else. He follows the iron chain until its other end and is able to measure more or less its length. The chain ends about a meter away, where it’s strongly placed on the ground.

Then a knock on the door is heard, making Jeong Suk look to where the sound is coming from. Without further warning the person from the other side opens the door and enters inside the room. It is the kidnapper.

He walks slowly in Jeong Suk’s direction. However, he stops in a somewhat safe distance from the man. He crouches down so he can be in the same eye level as Jeong Suk and gives him a smile.

“So, how are you feeling Mr. Nam?” The man questions not really wanting to know if his prisoner feels well or not.

“Why do you want to know? Why am I here?” Jeong Suk asks in a demanding tone of voice. He just wants an explanation so he can understand what’s going on.

The man sighs and moves his head a bit, trying to find the right words to approach Jeong Suk. He doesn’t have to think too much as Jeong Suk won’t have a choice after what he’s about to offer him.

“Mr. Nam I’ve heard that you’re a wonderful business man. You’re very successful in what you do, which is working with money,” the man starts, wearing a smirk on his face.

“Because you have a vast knowledge about how to deal with money, on how to get it and hide it, I have an offer for you. What would you say if you join me on my underground company?” He offers, referring to his smuggling and other illegal works. The smirk’s still there and the man’s words were far too friendly for Jeong Suk.

Jeong Suk glares the man as if not understanding what he’s trying to do. “What makes you think I’ll join you?”

The man let out a chuckle and finally got up. His legs were starting to hurt as the aging was starting to have a weight on him.

“I guess then I’ll have to pay a visit to your wife and three children. You see, this is a rather easy option for you. You join me and work for me and in that way you keep your family safe,” the man says as if it’s the easiest thing to do.

He looks at his rings as he blackmails the prisoner in front of him. The vibe he transmits is of someone quite maniac and inside him there’s nothing but evil. After all he wouldn’t be called the Seoul’s mafia boss if he wasn’t evil and greedy enough to climb to such high position. In every corner of Seoul, Choi Jin Ho - the Mafia’s boss real name – is feared and no one dares to cross his path.

“But, I’ll give you one day to think about it. That’s how generous I am,” he gives Jeong Suk a cynical grin and leaves with his body guard behind him. 

Jeong Suk sighs, closes his eyes and leans back, supporting his head on the wall. Has he never had such difficult decision in life. He doesn’t want anything to happen to his wife nor his children. They mean too much to him. However, working for the Mafia could cost him his life and who knows even worse things. He doesn’t know anything