Chapter 15

Chapter 15. Why Is That Here?

Saturday morning.

The sighs I had let out all night seemed to fill the room.

It was because of the absurd contents written in the diary app.

[XX/XX.

Relics were discovered in Yangjae-dong.

This is unfair.

Management already seems to be searching for someone to blame.

How in the world was anyone supposed to know something like this in advance?]

And that wasn’t the end of the disturbing entry.

[XX/XX.

The Cultural Heritage Administration made an official announcement.

They suggested there may have been structural foundations from the early Baekje period, comparable to those at Pungnaptoseong Fortress.

Of all things, Baekje.

And early Baekje at that...

I’m screwed.

An indefinite stop-work order has been issued.]

More red entries followed after that.

They all said similar things.

It was the appearance of something that was practically the final boss of any construction project.

Historical relics.

And specifically, structural foundations from the early Baekje period.

Just imagining those words was terrifying.

The reason there were no dates was probably because this wouldn’t happen in the near future.

The relics would only be discovered after Seongun Group selected Yangjae-dong and began serious excavation.

Which meant the disaster would happen after an enormous amount of money had already been invested.

Nothing had happened yet.

And still, I could already picture the situation so clearly that a chill ran down my spine.

Of all things, early Baekje remains...

Considering their rarity, an archaeological excavation could continue endlessly.

If things like gilt-bronze crowns or ring-pommel swords started appearing one after another, the location could be designated as a historic site and the entire project canceled.

There would be nothing we could do.

No meaningful way to receive compensation either.

In construction, buried cultural relics were basically the same as a natural disaster.

Red text filled the diary app.

The only blue entry was still the one scheduled for Monday.

Kim Seokhun’s demotion.

The goosebumps from yesterday still hadn’t disappeared.

A time bomb that could explode at any moment.

I had to stop it somehow.

But I couldn’t submit a report saying, "I just have a feeling there may be relics underground."

I searched the computer all night.

National Heritage Information System.

Cultural heritage survey reports from the Yangjae-dong area.

Excavation reports.

Academic journals from archaeology societies.

The possibility was surprisingly high.

The Freight Terminal site was geographically close to Pungnaptoseong Fortress and Mongchontoseong Fortress, both core areas of the Baekje capital.

Yangjaecheon Stream had also long been considered an area where Baekje settlements or tombs might exist.

I marked red dots one after another on a map of Yangjaecheon in my notebook.

Baekje-era tombs and residential remains had been discovered around Umyeon-dong, Seocho-dong, and Bangbae-dong.

When I connected the points...

The Freight Terminal site sat almost perfectly in the center of the line.

How am I supposed to report this?

The moment I seriously considered the possibility of buried remains, the Yangjae-dong Freight Terminal instantly became unusable land.

I wished the diary app were a little kinder.

But the fact that the entries didn’t even have dates probably meant this was the current limit.

If only I knew what caused the app to update...

The Happiness Preview Function had appeared the first time I recorded a happy diary entry.

Should I start writing long diary entries every day?

I was starting to think I wasn’t using even half of the app’s potential.

Then my smartwatch vibrated.

It wasn’t the diary app I had been waiting for.

[Everything’s ready. Where should I go, Manager Kang?]

It was a message from Assistant Manager Park Jongil.

I had asked him to collect information related to the construction of the Freight Terminal more than thirty years ago.

A promise was a promise.

It didn’t matter whether I racked my brain in my rooftop room or in Mullae-dong.

I might as well do what I had planned while thinking.

There was nothing more I could accomplish by staying trapped in my room anyway.

Maybe I would find an answer there.

After sending Park Jongil the address, I drove to the Daeyoung Precision property.

I was glad I came.

The moment I stepped out of the car, my heart began pounding pleasantly.

Seeing the delivery boxes stacked in front of the rusty gate made the relic problem that had tormented me all night disappear from my thoughts for a moment.

Like a child receiving a present from Santa Claus for the first time, I forced myself to calm down and started opening the packages one by one.

An Indian-style tent and camping gear I had bought for weekend relaxation.

For now, I would set everything up in the factory yard.

Soon, though, they would sit on top of my new building, beneath the open sky.

I hummed while raising the poles and stretching the canvas over them.

Beautiful.

At this moment, I wasn’t even jealous of the little kid from the movie Parasite.

I sank deep into a reclining chair and took a sip of morning coffee.

Not the instant coffee I normally drank.

This was premium ground coffee brewed from a bag.

Its rich body filled my mouth with pure pleasure.

There aren’t relics buried under my property too, are there?

Pointless worry.

I had already confirmed several times that the diary app was real.

The only thing buried under my land was the waste-oil tank left by that shameless old man.

Monday is going to turn the company upside down.

Maybe the relaxation was already helping.

Even though I hadn’t slept all night, my mind felt clearer.

The stress had weakened.

I only needed to do my job.

Submit a report saying I suspected buried cultural relics.

Kim Seokhun might call me insane.

Even the director might point at me like I had lost my mind.

It didn’t matter.

If I were afraid of people looking at me that way, I would have quit long ago.

“Hello? Anyone here?”

Just as I finished arranging the camping equipment, the motorcycle I had been waiting for entered the yard.

“You’re from Majang-dong, right?”

“Yes, but... W-What is all this?”

The delivery driver carrying the meat I had ordered looked around in confusion.

Understandable.

I was preparing for a barbecue party in the yard of a nearly collapsing factory.

“Hahaha. It’s nothing. I’m just going to grill some meat with a subordinate.”

“Ah... I see...”

I think he misunderstood.

He probably imagined employees of a bankrupt factory sharing one final small barbecue.

Unable to hide his pity, the delivery driver left the meat and departed.

People really do see only what they want to see.

You needed to look beneath the surface.

Even someone like me, who had lived with that belief, had failed to see beneath the surface of the land in Yangjae-dong.

But what’s wrong with that guy?

Apparently, one more person was seeing only what he wanted.

Assistant Manager Park Jongil had arrived at some point.

He stood frozen with his mouth hanging open.

Screech.

Jongil had followed the address Jinhyeok sent.

The scene beyond the rusty gate left him speechless.

An Indian-style tent stood alone in the middle of a concrete yard.

Manager Kang Jinhyeok wore bright red work gloves and waved a gas torch around.

Apparently...

He had finally been kicked out of his rooftop room.

“M-Manager Kang... What in the world happened...?”

“Huh? What do you mean? Come sit down!”

Jongil sat across from Jinhyeok with a devastated expression.

His superior greeted him while waving a pair of tongs.

Even after falling into this kind of situation, Jinhyeok was still trying to keep his promise to buy him meat.

Jongil’s eyes grew hot.

“Manager Kang... What happened? What about your home...?”

“Home? Ah! I’ll stay here for a while. It has its own charm, doesn’t it? Feels like urban camping. Hahaha.”

“...Manager Kang...”

“What’s wrong with you? Don’t tell me you’re about to cry.”

Jinhyeok looked Jongil up and down in horror.

He hated seeing men cry.

And the tears of a mountain-bandit-looking man like Park Jongil were even worse.

“Hey, hey. Don’t do that. Why are you ruining such a good day?”

Unlike Jinhyeok, whose mood was excellent, Jongil’s nose grew red as frustration burst out.

“Good? What part of this is good?! If things were going to get this bad, you should’ve told me! You’re camping in the yard of an abandoned factory! Is it loan sharks? I’ll hide you somehow. Pack your things and come to my house right now! Okay?”

Jinhyeok stared at the passionately shouting Jongil.

Only then did he understand everything.

Jongil was seeing only what he wanted to see.

In his eyes, the expensive camping gear looked worse than a rooftop room.

A desperate emergency shelter.

“Come on. It’s nothing like that. Stop ruining the mood and give me the materials.”

“Ugh. You’re still thinking about work even after ending up like this?”

Unable to take it anymore, Jinhyeok shouted.

“Stop talking nonsense and give me the materials!”

“...H-Here.”

Pouting, Jongil handed over the stack of documents he had spent the morning collecting.

“I emailed some of the material too. There was way too much of it.”

Jinhyeok had ordered him to gather information going back more than thirty years.

Since Jongil normally focused on analyzing current commercial districts, the request made no sense to him.

“Good work.”

“Of course. You told me to dig up everything from thirty years ago. It was brutal. But why do you even need this?”

“I’m not certain yet, but I think there’s a strong possibility that cultural relics are buried there.”

“...R-Relics???”

Jinhyeok casually dropped the shocking statement.

Jongil, unlike him, was even more stunned than when he had first entered the yard.

“What? Where did you hear something that ridiculous?”

“I didn’t. Right now, it’s only a feeling. I’ll know more after checking the material. For now, grill the meat.”

Jinhyeok had promised to buy him beef.

He opened the ice box and handed some over.

“What’s this white stuff?”

“Huh? You’ve never eaten beef makchang? It’s really good. I had a hard time ordering it from a famous place in Majang-dong.”

Normally, Jongil would have complained that this wasn’t what he meant by beef.

But because he still misunderstood Jinhyeok’s situation, his eyes became moist again.

“No, no. I’m grateful for anything. My heart’s already full. I’ll grill it perfectly for you!”

Sizzle.

Thick, pale beef makchang landed on the heated grill.

Fat dripped onto the charcoal and made a pleasant sound.

“Wow. It’s kind of sad how wild this is, but the atmosphere is amazing.”

“You still think I’m hiding from loan sharks?”

“Aren’t you?”

Jongil stared directly at Jinhyeok while grilling.

Jinhyeok might avoid saying things.

But he wasn’t someone who lied.

“No. Nothing like that. You don’t need to worry about money. Eat as much as you want.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I just wanted to try eating in a place like this.”

“Hmm. If that’s true, then that’s a relief...”

After temporarily stopping Jongil’s tears, Jinhyeok moved inside the Indian tent.

“You can actually focus on work in a place like this?”

“These are relics. If we screw this up, our entire team is dead.”

Jongil shook his head helplessly.

Jinhyeok plugged his laptop into the extension cord he had prepared and sat at the low table.

Then he began reading quickly through the materials.

That was how Jongil’s one-man eating show began.

Beef makchang grilled over charcoal was truly incredible.

When he bit into it, rich savory juices filled his mouth.

It tasted completely different from the pork makchang he usually ate.

Jongil’s cheeks quickly filled with food.

“Manager Kang, this is seriously delicious. You really aren’t eating?”

Jongil asked with both cheeks full.

Jinhyeok couldn’t answer.

“Why? Do you really think there are relics?”

“...W-What is this?”

Jinhyeok stared at Jongil from inside the tent.

On the monitor was a clipping from a newspaper more than thirty years old.

“The newspaper clipping you emailed me. Where did you find this?”

“That? Probably from an integrated old newspaper database. I pulled everything that included ‘Yangjae-dong Freight Terminal’ as a keyword.”

Jinhyeok laughed in disbelief at Jongil’s incredible ability to collect information.

Then he looked back at the screen.

[Shocking Testimony. Yangjae-dong Freight Terminal Construction. Cement Was Poured Over Pottery Fragments.]

[Excavation worker A testified that construction was immediately stopped after pottery-like fragments were discovered.]

[Ready-mix truck driver B testified that dozens of concrete trucks filled the pit overnight.]

[Evidence discovered suggesting workers at the site received hush money.]

How did news this huge disappear?

Jinhyeok’s expression turned serious as he thought about the era.

It had been a time when Gangnam development and infrastructure expansion were treated as national priorities.

There had been countless cases where aggressive development buried cultural heritage.

On top of that, the article had been published by a tiny local newspaper.

It probably never reached the major media companies.

Maybe someone threatened them over false reporting.

Maybe they were paid off.

There were plenty of ways the story could have disappeared quickly.

The diary app had already confirmed that relics existed.

Now there was only one thing left.

How could he make everyone else believe it?

“Seriously, what is it?”

Jongil entered the tent and looked at Jinhyeok’s laptop screen.

A name had been typed into the search bar.

[Mun Dae-gi, Reporter, Munsan Ilbo]

The man Jinhyeok needed to meet immediately.