Chapter 120. The Jung Family Assembles
Even construction workers had day and night shifts, yet when I arrived at the planned site, work was still in full swing despite it being almost ten at night.
Still, the information had come from future spam.
I needed to check whether there was anything else hidden behind it.
But to find something strange the moment I arrived...
They wouldn't even be able to put up the building until the budget was actually released.
The rush felt suspicious.
I temporarily ended my call and approached.
The workers glanced around nervously and began stopping their equipment.
"What are all of you doing out here in the middle of the night?"
On one side of the site was a mountain of sand.
And inside a pit at the center of the property, countless unidentified scraps had been roughly stuffed into sacks.
"There's some urgent work, so we're continuing through the night. Sorry about the noise, but please bear with it. We'll be finished in a few weeks."
I had eyes.
I could tell they were doing construction.
I stepped further into the property and looked carefully into the pit.
Powerful searchlights made everything clearly visible.
As I got closer, a rotten smell hit me.
"Hey, hey! That's dangerous!"
The workers rushed over and blocked me.
The pit was filled endlessly with what looked like industrial waste.
In front of it, cement that seemed to have just been dumped from a parked truck was slowly spreading across the ground.
"Isn't that garbage? Why are you just covering it up? What if the ground collapses later and the building falls over?"
"Come on. That's not garbage. The ground around here is weak, so we're actually reinforcing it."
"Are you sure? Should I climb down there and check myself? Want me to touch it and see whether it's as soft as baby cream?"
When I pressed them, the workers hesitated before sighing.
I wanted to get back and sleep before midnight.
There was no time to waste.
I climbed down into the pit and touched the waste myself.
Fine ash and hard chunks coated my fingers, enough to make me feel like I'd smoked for twenty years after only a few breaths.
It looked like something that had been used as fuel and then discarded.
I climbed back out.
"People really are something. I was wondering why you were doing construction at night. You people do honorable construction work. Should you really be doing something like this?"
"Hey! Don't blame us. Our only crime is pulling the trigger after being pushed onto the battlefield!"
One of the workers grimaced as he protested.
I took a moment to organize the information from the future video.
This was supposed to become Seongdam Engineering's domestic headquarters site.
Not only the headquarters, but a factory would be built here too, so the property was enormous.
And they were secretly burying garbage on it?
There was no reason Chairman Jung Jun would deliberately choose a garbage dump just because government money was paying for it.
If they were working in secret, then they must have wanted to finish this without Jung Jun knowing.
Only one scenario came to mind.
The original owner of the property was trying to make a killing off the government-backed project by hiding the waste and skimming money from the deal with ZJ.
There were probably one or two insiders at ZJ helping them too.
"I'm very close to Chairman Jung Jun. The man I know wouldn't build a facility on top of a garbage dump. Who told you to do this? Who is it?"
"..."
They looked like subcontracted dump-truck drivers who had been hired for the job.
If word got out that they'd participated in something illegal, it would obviously become difficult for them to find work in this field.
"How are we supposed to believe you actually know Chairman Jung?"
I immediately started a video call with Jung Tae-jin.
I turned the camera so both I and the workers were visible.
"What is this?"
"Looks like they're construction workers. They're working hard, so I called to encourage them. Say something to cheer them on."
Jung Tae-jin offered them a few reluctant words of encouragement and ended the call.
Only then did the workers believe me.
Their shoulders drooped.
"We don't know the details either. We're subcontractors of subcontractors. They said they'd pay double, so we took the job. Still, if they're paying extra for something like this, it's pretty obvious what kind of job it is."
"Really? What kind of job is it? Tell me. I won't tell anyone."
Even if there was no guarantee I would stay quiet, their best move was to talk.
That way, I could tell Jung Jun who was actually responsible instead of blaming them individually.
"What else could it be? Someone in sales at ZJ Trading and someone from Cheongwoo Cement are probably colluding and committing breach of trust. A middle-level decision-maker at ZJ Trading agrees to buy the land at full price in exchange for a few tens of millions in kickbacks, while the middle manager at Cheongwoo Cement reports that the land was sold cheaply because of the waste and pockets the difference."
People became geniuses whenever a few tens of millions of won were involved.
Jung Jun probably didn't know this, but someone around the level of the executive in charge of overseas sales at subsidiary ZJ Trading had deliberately purchased land filled with buried waste.
After all, they could later bill the Returning Company Support Center for the waste-disposal cost and have the government pay for it.
The property had originally belonged to Cheongwoo Cement.
They had apparently been illegally burying fuel residue and byproducts left over from cement production there for years.
Properly disposing of one ton of waste cost about 240,000 won.
Illegal dumping cost only around 60,000 won.
That was a difference of 180,000 won per ton.
If they were covering losses worth hundreds of millions at 180,000 won per ton...
How many tons of garbage were buried under this site?
The thought alone was horrifying.
Ten thousand tons, maybe?
"Seriously... But if we refuse jobs like this, how are we supposed to earn a living? If we say no because we want to act righteous, later they won't even give us legitimate work."
"Then who hired you? Someone from Cheongwoo Cement? Or someone from ZJ Trading?"
"What kind of question is that in a country like Korea? There's no such thing as only one side being responsible. Both."
Was he saying that if I exposed the men above them, these workers wouldn't get hurt?
Fine.
Then that's what I'd do.
"Does anyone here want to become the hero of Donggil-myeon, Cheonan?"
"What kind of hero?"
"Even a rough calculation tells me there are thousands of tons of garbage under here. And you're saying all of that is going to be cleaned up using your own tax money. Doesn't anyone want to become a tax-saving hero?"
"H-Here. My wage statement. Three hundred thousand won a day. In our line of work, that's practically elite treatment."
One of the workers, the same man who had spoken up earlier, came up to Seoul as a representative and showed us his pay statement.
The actual wage payment had been processed through Cheongwoo Cement headquarters in Samseong-dong.
"Ah... Three hundred thousand won a day definitely looks suspicious. Who in the world would turn that money down?"
Jung Tae-jin, who had come with me, frowned and looked pained.
It wasn't a company he managed directly, but the fact that someone at ZJ Trading had done something like this seemed to be stressing him badly.
"See? You do understand! To people above us it might look like pocket change, but to us it's huge. Huge. Even earning a few tens of thousands more a day means feeding our kids proper meals instead of kimbap. Would you turn it down if you were us?"
The worker began pleading even though nobody had asked.
He had boldly agreed to show his wage statement, but apparently he still felt embarrassed.
Good deeds were done by the rich, bad deeds by the poor.
I could understand him.
After checking the statement, Jung Tae-jin and I drove to ZJ Electronics in Suwon.
Apparently, that was where Jung Tae-jin's older brother, Jung Tae-geon, worked.
"Huh? Tae-jin. What brings you here?"
"Haa... This is a serious problem, hyung. Father's business is getting tangled up badly."
"What? Father's business? What is he doing these days? Seongdam Engineering, maybe? ...And who's the gentleman beside you?"
Jung Tae-geon looked completely different from Jung Tae-jin, but once you remembered Jung Jun's face, it was obvious they were brothers.
Jung Tae-jin had a sharp, refined appearance.
Jung Tae-geon had thicker bones and looked like the kind of guy who would've been showing off his strength as a kid.
I briefly introduced myself, then explained the situation in Jung Tae-jin's place.
The key point was simple.
ZJ Trading had transferred 1.2 billion won for the 1,500-pyeong property.
But Cheongwoo Cement had received less than 800 million.
The remaining 400 million had disappeared.
Middle managers from both companies had embezzled it.
After hearing the explanation, Jung Tae-geon pressed his temple just as Jung Tae-jin had done earlier in front of Cheongwoo Cement headquarters.
"This... Haa. Are you sure?"
"There could be some misunderstanding, but considering the circumstances, you definitely need to investigate."
Jung Tae-geon dropped heavily into his chair.
"We can't let this rumor spread. This is insane. So Cheongwoo Cement already committed one illegal act, right? Even if we fix everything properly, that's still a problem. Ah... This is becoming a headache."
"We still have to fix it. If we leave it alone and everyone gets blamed together later, what then?"
Jung Tae-jin finally lost his patience and pushed back, but Jung Tae-geon answered coolly.
"Kim Hyun-tae is already watching us with his eyes wide open, desperate for something to bite into. If this gets out, he'll make a scene saying some chaebol chairman got caught trying to skim money and sacrificed innocent employees like cutting off a lizard's tail. You know how much that bastard hates this project."
I didn't know about Cheongwoo Cement, but image was extremely important to ZJ.
If they got dragged into Kim Hyun-tae's media campaign, they'd have to spend quite some time dealing with the fallout.
I understood why they were hesitating.
But I could say with certainty that leaving things alone would be worse.
Now that the problem had already surfaced, they couldn't cover it up like Cheongwoo Cement had.
The sooner they cleaned house themselves, the less criticism they'd receive.
They needed to move quickly.
"Wouldn't it be better to identify everyone involved, discipline them immediately, and disclose it to the media yourselves?"
I finally stepped in with my opinion.
Jung Tae-geon thought for a moment.
"I should ask Father. He's probably dealt with things like this many times..."
Jung Tae-jin checked a number and made a call.
Probably the chairman's office at ZJ Heavy Industries in Busan.
Jung Tae-jin had told me that ZJ Heavy Industries was the company Jung Jun cherished most within the group.
"What is it?"
Jung Jun answered.
"Yes, Chairman. It's Tae-geon. You're directly handling the contract for Seongdam Engineering's Cheonan site, right? Through ZJ Trading?"
"Me? No. You think I'm that idle? Once the acquisition was confirmed, I left all of that to Myung-seon."
"Myung-seon... You mean Team Leader Kim Myung-seon?"
While the call continued, Jung Tae-jin explained who Kim Myung-seon was.
I didn't think I needed all the details, but according to him, Kim Myung-seon was head of ZJ Group's communications team, had Jung Jun's trust, and was also serving as a president-level executive overseeing ZJ Trading.
The moment he heard the name Myung-seon, Jung Tae-geon began grinding his teeth.
"We've learned that the original owner of the planned site sold ZJ Trading land containing hundreds of tons of buried waste."
"What?"
Maybe it was because he was a major businessman, but that explanation alone seemed enough for Jung Jun to understand the entire situation.
"We're thinking of launching an investigation immediately. What should we do?"
"Are you eight years old? The whole country is already screaming about how tight the budget is, and you're asking whether you should leave something like that alone? Are you a minor? A little kid? Ever since elementary school, every time somebody hit you, you'd run straight to me crying. You still haven't fixed that habit?"
An enraged Jung Jun tore into Jung Tae-geon without mercy.
"What did I always tell you? If you look at something and know you're going to get hit, take the damn punch quickly and get it over with! Did you step into the ring expecting never to take a punch? It's a natural disaster, a natural disaster! Stop dragging your feet. Get over to ZJ Trading right now, crack Kim Myung-seon's head open if you have to, and find whoever's responsible!"
Then he hung up.
Exactly.
What had I said?
Even if they had gone to ask some ancient sage for wisdom, the answer would've been the same.
Why bother asking for advice just to get yelled at?
"Hyung. Should I handle it?"
Jung Tae-jin asked.
Jung Tae-geon shook his head.
His eyes were burning with anger.
Chairman Jung Jun had cursed him out thoroughly, and now he was furious.
"Kim Hyun-tae. Kim Myung-seon... I'll bury both Kim bastards within a week. First, let's go tear Kim Myung-seon apart. Follow me."
