Chapter 22
Inside a moving car.
Rattle. Rattle.
The used car bounced through the alley.
Every time the brakes were pressed, the entire vehicle shook.
My body moved with it.
But my thoughts remained steady.
“Uncle.”
“Yes, Taesan.”
Kim Dong-su smiled, though his hands remained stiff on the steering wheel.
Inside that smile, I could see relief rather than tension.
The face of a man freed from debt was definitely different.
“You know the international marriage brokerage office you were preparing with Ms. Lin? How far along is it?”
“We only need to find an office.”
“Perfect. I’m thinking of opening it next to Grandma’s office.”
“Right next door?”
“Yes. It’ll be convenient for customers. Someone can come to borrow money and end up looking for a bride. Or they can come looking for a bride and end up borrowing money.”
“Ah... your ideas really are incredible.”
I gave a short laugh while looking outside.
I smiled outwardly.
But calculations were spinning rapidly inside my head.
I could never stop arranging the entire picture beforehand.
The office would only be the public face.
The real objective was somewhere else.
I wanted to use Vietnamese brides as a connection to reach Vietnam’s real estate market.
Buy land while it was cheap.
Wait for urban development.
Then sell it for several times the price.
A map of Vietnam was already forming in my mind.
The main risk was whether the brides would abandon their husbands and disappear.
The indicator that could control that risk was Trustworthiness.
I could predict with a single number whether a bride would remain beside her husband or run away.
Without realizing it, I pressed down on the corner of the documents.
I could feel the weight of that number.
It wasn’t merely a statistic.
It was a variable that could change the entire game.
“Don’t we need some kind of license?”
“It only requires registration, so we could start within this month.”
“That quickly?”
“Yes. Ms. Lin has the right appearance for it, and there are more foreigners around these days. I think the business will settle in quickly.”
I nodded briefly.
“She has persistence too. That matters most.”
My voice sounded casual.
But inside my head, faces that stayed to the end crossed with faces that ran away.
The car became quiet.
I opened the documents again.
With every page I turned, my fingers tightened.
The numbers and records made my resolve stronger.
“Uncle.”
“Yes.”
“Grandma gave me this because she thinks it’s impossible to recover, right?”
“I heard the husband’s hospital bills are enormous.”
I nodded and examined the records again.
Total debt: 120 million won.
The first loan was thirteen million won.
Then another fifteen million.
Then card loans.
The combined principal should have been much lower than 120 million.
But when interest went unpaid, that interest became new principal.
Interest accumulated on top of principal.
Then that interest became principal too.
It grew like a rolling snowball.
That was how the account book eventually showed “120 million won.”
On paper, the number might not look impossible.
But private debt pressed down far harder and deeper than ordinary calculations suggested.
Thinking about the person carrying that weight, I narrowed my eyes and sighed.
“Still, she paid interest for two years. She has the will to repay.”
“Yes. She simply had no money. She definitely had the intention.”
“Then it’s a matter of finding a method. We need to create a way for her to repay. That’s how we recover both principal and interest.”
At the word “interest,” Uncle frowned for only a moment.
“It’s even harder to squeeze money from someone who has nothing. Though your methods are different, Taesan.”
He seemed to be remembering what had happened to him.
“Uncle, there’s no such thing as a debt a loan shark can never collect. You simply need to find the right method. My methods are different from other loan sharks. And honestly, I’ll stop collecting personal debts soon anyway. Corporate lending is the flower of private finance, and I plan to become an investor.”
“I can see that. You’re different, Taesan.”
At that moment, the car stopped in an alley.
Old walls and rusted railings filled the view outside.
My fingers tightened around the envelope.
Now it was time to see the situation myself.
Jo Sun-ja’s office.
“Madam, the new car for Young Master Taesan has arrived.”
Manager Park bowed.
“Really? That old car is dangerous, isn’t it?”
“Yes. It could break down anywhere at any time.”
A memory briefly crossed Jo Sun-ja’s face.
A few days earlier, Kang Taesan had arrived in the awful used car he bought for himself.
The body creaked.
The brakes rattled.
It looked like the whole thing might collapse at any moment.
The moment she saw it, Jo Sun-ja called Manager Park.
[Find Taesan another car. What if he gets into an accident driving that piece of junk?]
That one sentence had been an order.
And today, the new car had arrived.
“But Manager Park.”
“Yes, Madam.”
“Do you think he can recover this one too?”
Manager Park hesitated.
“It doesn’t look easy. But Young Master Taesan is exceptionally clever. He may create another miracle.”
Jo Sun-ja put down her teacup.
“Whether he recovers it or not isn’t important. Money always comes and goes. Before you put someone to work, you need to see what kind of person they are.”
Manager Park nodded.
“I’ll remember that.”
She smiled briefly.
“Right. Let’s see what Taesan shows us this time.”
A multi-family house in northern Seoul.
We climbed the old stairs and pressed the bell.
The door creaked open.
“Is this Ms. Han Mi-suk’s home?”
“Yes, I’m Han Mi-suk. Who are you?”
I handed her my business card.
“We’re from Madam Jo Sun-ja’s office. We came regarding your debt.”
Her hand immediately tightened.
“We’re not here to frighten you.”
Kim Dong-su raised his palm.
“We’re not here to scream either. If necessary, we came to help.”
“Today, we only want to hear about your situation.”
