Mining And Construction Tycoon [EN]: Chapter 59

59. Preparing to Hunt Down Chungil (1)

After a long absence, I finally returned home.

I had left with light steps, but I came back laden with gifts.

Tae-soo arrived at his family home in the mining village of Gangwon Province.

“I’m home!”

His mother dropped the basket she was carrying when she saw Tae-soo.

Tae-soo smiled brightly at his mother.

“Tae-soo!”

His mother ran barefoot and embraced her son tightly.

Tae-soo returned the hug with equal warmth.

“Have you been well?”

“How did you get back so soon? Look how tanned you are. Have you been eating properly? You’ve gotten so thin!”

“Thin? I’ve been eating well and doing fine.”

“Welcome back, welcome back. You’ve worked so hard.”

His mother touched Tae-soo’s face, her eyes welling up.

Tears of joy.

“What? Tae-soo’s back?”

His father, who had been resting in the main room, hurried out as well.

He rushed barefoot to the kitchen, clearly overjoyed to see Tae-soo.

“What about the construction project the President entrusted to you? It can’t be finished already, can it?”

“It’s Parents’ Day. I came to give you these carnations.”

“No, what are you talking about? You flew all the way from the Middle East just to give me a flower?”

He couldn’t hide his bewildered, yet happy expression.

He had resigned himself to not seeing him for ten years once he left for the Middle East.

He had steeled himself so much…

“It’s not like I went to prison in the Middle East. I can come back whenever I want.”

“Airplane tickets are expensive…”

“Is it like I can’t afford to come back?”

“…”

It was 1973, and airplane tickets were indeed very expensive.

But Tae-soo didn’t care.

Seeing his parents’ faces was worth any price.

His mother nodded and smiled.

“Tae-soo, let’s eat first. Even if I have to send you right back to the Middle East, I need to feed my son a proper meal with my own hands.”

Tae-soo stopped his mother from rushing off to cook.

“Mother, please accept your son’s bow first.”

“Okay, let’s do that.”

Tae-soo bowed deeply before his parents.

Then, he pinned the carnations he had prepared onto their chests.

‘In my previous life, my parents passed away too early, and I never even got to do this for them.’

It was a time of poverty.

It was a naive time.

He had thought his parents would live forever.

Because Parents’ Day came every year.

“Please live happily for a long, long time. Just take care of your health. I’ll take care of everything else.”

Tae-soo prayed sincerely.

His mother hugged him tightly.

“Tae-soo, I’m already happy enough because of you. I’m so glad to see your face again. There’s no greater act of filial piety than this.”

“Don’t worry about us. From now on, you don’t need to worry about us on Parents’ Day or even our birthdays. Just focus on your own work.”

Tae-soo smiled and began handing out the gifts.

“These are cosmetics and perfumes from the West. And a bag and shoes made of high-quality leather.”

“Oh my, what is all this? Won’t people criticize an old woman like me for using these things? But the colors are really pretty, and the smell is so lovely.”

Even in old age, women are still women.

Cosmetics, perfumes, bags, and shoes were gifts that women always appreciated.

His mother couldn’t hide her sparkling eyes and constant laughter.

“This is for Father.”

“Foreign cigarettes? And even liquor!”

His father’s mouth also fell open in surprise.

“I promised you before, didn’t I? That next time, I’d buy you foreign cigarettes instead of Cheongja cigarettes [a common, cheaper brand].”

“To actually buy this precious thing!”

His father carefully examined the cigarettes.

“My mouth is itching so much, I can’t stand it. Let’s go outside and have a smoke.”

He followed his father out to the yard.

This time, Tae-soo lit the match and lit his father’s cigarette.

“You’ve suffered a lot going so far away.”

His father patted Tae-soo’s shoulder.

“You’ll face many hardships in the future too. Just stay healthy and don’t get sick.”

His father’s face showed a hint of apology.

At that moment, Han-soo, who was returning home after finishing work at the mine, saw his brother and shouted loudly.

“Hyung! [Older brother]”

“Oh, Han-soo, you’re here?”

“Is it okay for you to come back like this? What about the work in the Middle East?”

“Holee is handling it.”

“…”

Han-soo’s expression was strange.

He was happy and glad, but also a little annoyed and dumbfounded.

“Did Hyung give Father a flower?”

Han-soo looked at the carnation on his father’s chest.

Tae-soo shrugged.

Then Han-soo smiled as he took out a larger and more elaborate bouquet of carnations from a paper bag.

“It’s a bit smaller than I thought?”

That rascal!

Tae-soo slyly pointed to his father’s cigarette.

“Father really likes foreign cigarettes.”

Han-soo crumpled the paper bag.

The paper bag contained Cheongja cigarettes.

Han-soo took out a bottle of soju [Korean distilled spirit].

“Should I make ginseng wine or fruit wine for Father this time?”

“It’s okay. I bought him liquor.”

Fizz!

“Not bad, huh?”

“You too. That bouquet is really big.”

For the first time in a while, an invisible spark flew between the brothers.

Then Tae-soo’s mother said.

“It’s noisy, let’s eat. Everyone, eat first and then talk!”

In this house, the mother holding the ladle was the most powerful.

* * *

Han-soo came into Tae-soo’s room.

“Hyung, why did you say you wanted to see me separately?”

“There’s something I need to discuss with you.”

There was something he wanted to ask Han-soo to do.

There was something he wanted him to do in America instead of Tae-soo.

There was also something he needed to do in Korea.

“Hyung, aren’t you going back to the Middle East now?”

“No, I’ll have to go back soon. I came here because I have something to take care of.”

“Something to do?”

“I have a favor to ask of you, and I also want to meet Elder Jang Mal-dong. I’ll take you with me then.”

It’s something the three of us need to gather and discuss together.

Han-soo’s eyes widened.

“Hyung, did you cause a big accident in the Middle East? Do you need money? Are you going to take out a private loan?”

‘What does this guy think of me!’ Tae-soo thought.

“A private loan? It’s been ages since Elder [referring to Jang Mal-dong] quit that business.”

“Then are you going to get a bank loan?”

“No, I don’t need a loan either. I have something else to discuss.”

It was about meeting Jang Mal-dong, the arms dealer.

He was also thinking of meeting Jang Mal-dong, the bank president.

Because he had to prepare before the Middle East war started.

“We’re allies. We should share the good things.”

That was why Tae-soo had come all the way from the Middle East to Korea.

He was about to ask Han-soo to do some work in America.

But Han-soo made the first move.

“Actually, there’s something I wanted to say to you since you came back, Hyung.”

“What is it?”

“I’m thinking of joining the Central Intelligence Agency [CIA].”

“What?”

Tae-soo, who had been sitting leisurely, jumped up.

It was an unexpected statement.

Han-soo was called the ‘awl’ [a sharp, pointed tool, implying someone incisive and effective] of the Agency for National Security Planning [ANSP, South Korea’s intelligence agency] in his past life.

And now that guy is saying he wants to join the Central Intelligence Agency, the predecessor of the Agency for National Security Planning, of his own volition.

“Why all of a sudden?”

“It’s not sudden. I just suddenly had that thought while working at the mine.”

“What thought?”

“Is this really my job? Is it right for me? This is Hyung’s job…”

Tae-soo listened to Han-soo quietly.

“I’m bored with being stuck in one place, doing the same thing every day. I want to do something rougher. That’s what I thought.”

Tae-soo closed his eyes.

Han-soo was the type who managed kids and acted as a fixer even in the marketplace.

Being stuck in a mine, checking sales slips, accounting books, and land documents must be frustrating.

Honestly, wanting to keep Han-soo by his side was Tae-soo’s greed.

‘Han Cheong-ho sent Han-soo to the Agency for National Security Planning. Han-soo became a prominent figure in the Agency for National Security Planning. Was I being greedy?’

He guessed that Han Cheong-ho did that to separate the two brothers.

But in reality, Han-soo was well-suited for sharp work.

‘He has a good eye and a good sense of the flow. That’s why he predicts stocks well. I thought he’d be good at finance.’

Han-soo’s strength was that he was sharp and keen.

‘He’s good at pointing out the other person’s weaknesses and finding loopholes in the work. Information gathering is his specialty. Fast and accurate. This part is definitely a talent for inspection.’

He was a coveted talent in many ways.

Tae-soo wanted to keep Han-soo by his side and use him.

‘I didn’t want to raise him as a hitman for the chaebols [large South Korean conglomerates], using him for dangerous things like the Agency for National Security Planning or the Central Intelligence Agency.’

But it’s what he wants to do.

So Tae-soo steeled his heart.

It was time to tell Han-soo the cruel reality.

“Han-soo.”

“Yeah.”

“If you go into the Central Intelligence Agency, you have to live as the sword of power.”

“A sword?”

“Do you want to be a sword? This is what a sword does.”

Tae-soo pretended to hold a sword in his hand.

And he stabbed Han-soo deeply.

He stabbed the nervous Han-soo repeatedly.

“Stab, stab, stab! You have to live with other people’s blood on your hands and body like this. That’s the fate of a sword.”

Han-soo’s expression stiffened.

“Your ability? Your aptitude? What do you think it means to be recognized and succeed in the Central Intelligence Agency?”

“······.”

“A sword is recognized for its value when it is sharpened and discarded.”

“······.”

“That means you have to kill others more and better.”

Tae-soo pretends to drop the sword he was holding.

Han-soo felt as if Tae-soo’s hands were covered in blood.

“Living with other people’s blood on your hands is not easy. Are you going to live off other people’s grudges?”

Tae-soo held Han-soo’s hand tightly.

“Do you think you’ll be happy with the recognition you get with blood on your hands?”

Han-soo closes his mouth.

Now that he’s brought it up, Tae-soo is determined.

“Did you think your parents would like it if you went to the Central Intelligence Agency? Did you think it would be an honor for the family and a joy for your parents?”

It was a statement that hit Han-soo right in the heart.

How happy his parents were when Tae-soo went to the Middle East under the President’s orders.

At that time, Han-soo thought.

-I have to do national work, become an honor to the family, and make my parents happy.

-What if I work at the Central Intelligence Agency according to my aptitude and ability?

But the reality Tae-soo is talking about is a bloody path.

“Even if you wrap it up nicely, the essence is the same. A sword wielded according to the interests of the powerful!”

You must not hesitate to arrest innocent people according to orders.

At that time, the truth does not matter.

The purpose takes precedence over justice.

“A sword for infighting that only creates resentment! A sword for war! A murderer’s sword!”

Han-soo tightly closes his eyes.

“What parents would like their child to have blood on their hands? Why don’t you know that you can also be hit by the sword you wielded first!”

In his previous life, Han-soo and his wife were murdered.

A revenge killing due to resentment!

That was the name of the Han-soo couple’s case.

‘Han Il-kwon fueled it from behind, but in the end, it was done by a guy who was resentful because of the Agency for National Security Planning.’

In reality, not everyone who enters the Central Intelligence Agency, the Agency for National Security Planning, or the prosecution does only that kind of work.

But Han-soo made a name for himself as a hitman in the Agency for National Security Planning.

-A hitman coveted by political power brokers and chaebols!

The nickname given to him in the sense of a hidden talent was the awl of the Agency for National Security Planning.

It meant that he stabbed deeply and sharply.

‘In the end, Han-soo lived with his hands full of blood.’

His abilities were so outstanding that he stood out.

It is natural for talented people to take on such tasks.

Tae-soo felt bad.

“Han-soo, your aptitude, your ability, is perfect for becoming a sword. I won’t deny that.”

“…Hyung?”

“But even if you become a sword, you shouldn’t be used and wielded by others.”

Han-soo died wiping up other people’s messes and getting blood on his hands.

That’s a dog’s death.

Tae-soo had been heartbroken about that for a long time.

“To protect yourself! For the people you have to protect!”

Tae-soo held Han-soo’s hand tightly and said.

“I need you, Han-soo.”

“······.”

“Can’t you protect me, our parents, our company?”

Han-soo is visibly shaken.

“If we really have to see blood, can’t you be a surgical knife that cuts out the rotten parts of the company instead?”

A surgical knife is also a knife.

But it’s a knife that saves people.

“As the company grows, I’ll be out more, the enemies will be more numerous, and the company will rot from the inside.”

“······.”

“I can’t do it alone. Help me, Han-soo.”

Han-soo bit his lip tightly.

The corners of his eyes trembled.