Chapter 33
Hansarang Mart.
After capturing the off-the-books transaction taking place inside that gloomy warehouse...
I arrived at the office earlier than usual the next morning.
It was still early.
No other employees had arrived yet.
A pleasant silence filled the office.
There was also the warm smell of WG Instant Rice in the air.
The factory had been running through the night, producing enormous quantities.
This was the time when those products were being shipped across the country.
In one corner of the break room...
Boxes of instant rice samples were stacked neatly.
I smelled the rice and sat at my desk.
Then I transferred the photos and videos I had taken from my car the previous night onto my computer.
Lee Sejun's greasy smile filled the monitor.
His face as he accepted the thick brown envelope full of cash from the dumping wholesaler.
Every ugly moment remained clearly recorded.
Seeing it again made my expression harden.
Lee Sejun...
He was feeding himself by chewing up the company's money like that.
He's insane.
The more I watched, the angrier I became.
Still...
I forced myself to calm down.
These photos and videos alone would probably be enough for me to go straight to CEO Jeong and destroy Lee Sejun.
Breach of trust.
Embezzlement.
Disruption of the distribution network.
If an off-the-books transaction of this size was discovered even at a major corporation...
It could lead directly to criminal charges and detention.
But I did not want to rush blindly.
Lee Sejun had created more than ten suspicious marts around Gwangju and nearby areas.
Hansarang Mart...
The place I saw yesterday...
Was not even his largest account.
Its order quantity did not rank near the top.
This was only the tip of the iceberg.
And for something like this to continue...
A manager-level employee had to approve it.
Manager Jang Woojin.
It was almost impossible without either his silent approval...
Or his active participation.
I needed to tie Manager Jang and Lee Sejun together and take them down at the same time.
If I exposed everything now...
They might simply sacrifice one person as the tail and escape.
I could not act carelessly.
I needed something deeper.
And I needed to find it quickly.
At that moment...
The office door suddenly opened.
A noisy figure entered.
Im Sanghyeon.
“Yaaawn... Good morning!”
He stretched and yawned so widely his mouth looked ready to split.
The moment he saw me...
He jumped.
“Inwoo?”
“You're insanely early.”
“Now that you got A rank, your eyes are practically shooting lasers.”
“You came early too.”
“I drank last night, and for some reason I woke up before dawn.”
“I figured I'd come here and sleep a little.”
I laughed.
“Was yesterday fun?”
He clicked his tongue dramatically.
“Don't even ask.”
“I was drinking with some people from planning while looking at the instant rice sales numbers.”
“Everyone talked about you nonstop.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“They wouldn't stop praising you.”
I shrugged.
“Well... I guess they wanted to congratulate me.”
Im Sanghyeon shook his head and changed the subject.
“Oh, right.”
“That bastard Lee Sejun left before quitting time yesterday.”
“Did he?”
“Yeah.”
“He normally attends every company dinner so he can brag about himself.”
“But yesterday, he left like he had some urgent appointment.”
I naturally nodded.
He really had had an urgent appointment.
A cash-filled envelope worth millions of won was waiting for him at the warehouse.
Since the subject had already turned toward Lee Sejun...
I asked something.
“Sanghyeon, by the way...”
Even though we were alone in the office...
I looked around before lowering my voice.
“Do you know anything about Lee Sejun's family?”
“You mean his parents?”
He tilted his head.
“Yeah.”
“I thought you might know something.”
There was probably no employee more curious about other people than Im Sanghyeon.
He smiled and nodded.
“Of course.”
“I don't know everything, but I know a little.”
“As expected of you.”
“I think Lee Sejun's father used to run a huge distribution vendor company.”
My eyes widened.
“A distribution vendor?”
“Yeah.”
“I think it was food-related.”
“I'm not completely sure.”
“How did you even find that out?”
He thought for a moment.
“I think I heard it from the owner of one of our regional distribution agencies in Honam.”
“I heard his father once controlled distribution for processed foods from several major companies.”
“But it's a company we don't know?”
“Lee Sejun never talks about his father in detail.”
“So I don't even know the company name.”
“And it felt awkward to ask.”
Im Sanghyeon wrinkled his nose.
“But I vaguely remember something from when we first joined.”
“He bragged in front of Manager Jang that several of his first accounts came through his father's connections.”
“Really...”
“Yeah.”
“I don't know which company it was.”
“But I'm pretty sure it was food distribution.”
Then he tilted his head.
“Why are you asking about Lee Sejun's father?”
“No reason.”
“I was just curious.”
“Suddenly?”
He blinked.
“Look at the car he drives.”
“And his watches.”
“We already knew there's no way an assistant manager's salary could pay for that.”
“I was just wondering how rich his family must be.”
“True.”
“He changed cars again recently.”
