12 Hours After Chapter 119

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

Tiriri, my cell phone rang . I went through my pants and picked up my cell phone . It was Vice President Jang .

“Boss . ”

“Yes, Vice President Jang . ”

“Blue E&M CEO Ahn Yong-kyun has just given us his resignation . He is going to quit his job and live in seclusion . ”

“… I see . ”

In the end, Ahn Yong-kyun seemed to have decided to leave the company on his own . It was late, but it was a reasonable choice . There was no point in enduring it . If he had had a stake, he could have persuaded directors and investors to resist, but he couldn't do anything with a two-percent stake .

“Yes, but it's strange that he quit so suddenly…”

Vice President Jang was also not aware of the situation of Ahn Yong-kyun . Well, there would be only a few people in the world who knew: me, Ahn Yong-kyun, and Tak Joon-gi, who had designed the scheme .

“But… there was a rumor . ”

“What rumor?”

“The CEO Ahn Yong-kyun regrets being invested in by us… That's the story . ”

“Really? Why?”

“At the time, didn't he sell us half of his stake, seven and a half million, when we invested in him?”

“Yes, he did . ”

“But now that it's doubled… it's a pity for him . I guess that's what he thought . That's fifteen million now . ”

I snorted, “No, he was short of money in the first place, so he asked us to invest… but did he say so?”

He hadn't had any money then . Now that the company was doing well, he must have thought, 'If I hadn't sold out then it would have been worth twice as much as now…'

I had saved him from the sea, but he would have turned into my enemy .

Vice President Jang spoke to me in a cautious tone, “… people are cunning animals, boss . ”

“That's right . ”

Until a few minutes ago, I thought, 'Even Vice President Jang doesn't know why he really quit . ' However, he might know the more important reason: money . It might be the main reason he had joined hands with Tak Joon-gi . Blue E&M's stock price had doubled since I had taken over, so it had been walking on the flat rates . Although he used to say, “This is what I like,” in the end, he seemed to think, “If I work hard for a company with a lower stake… it will be only good things for others”, and so he had decided to do the stock manipulation .

'Well… that's what it was…' I was thinking about it, but Vice President Jang told me, “Then who should we appoint as the next CEO?”

The next CEO? I briefly recalled the vice president, Kim Jung-kyun . When he had seen the situation had changed, he had called me quickly, and said, “I support your opinion, CEO Han . ” However, I couldn't give him the CEO position right away . I had also felt something through the case of Ahn Yong-kyun: people couldn't be trusted completely .

“… let's run the company through the acting vice president… but we will open a board meeting and talk and pick him to manage it slowly . ”

“Yes, then… do you want me to send you a list of directors?”

“Yes, and if there's anyone outside who's okay, please check that out, especially among those who have experience from European TV or YouTube . ”

“Yes, boss . ”

While talking on the phone with Vice President Jang, Seo's car arrived in front of the National Library of Korea .

Seo said, “We've arrived, boss . ”

I put my cell phone in my pocket and said, “Yes, this will take about half an hour . ”

“Yes, boss . ”

I nodded and stepped out of the car . Jang Geun followed me like a shadow . I said to him, “As I said… everything you hear from now on… is a secret, okay?”

“Don't worry, boss . That's basic as a bodyguard . ”

I clasped him on the shoulder with a smile, “Yes . ”

To be honest, I didn't believe him, as this guy just because he was my bodyguard . He was a junior of the training center I had known since elementary school, and he had been a pupil of my father, so I only believed in that . If he had been another bodyguard, I wouldn't have brought him here at all . I told him ahead of time on my way up to Montmartre Park .

“Oh, and… I'm going to meet someone now… Don't be too wary of him . ”

“What kind of person do you mean?”

“He's a foreigner, similar to you . He's a little odd-looking, but he's not a weirdo… No, he's weird, but he's not dangerous . Don't worry too much . Just mind someone else . ”

“Yes, boss . ”

I went up to Montmartre Park with him . I briefly recalled my first encounter with Crow in late July, when it had been so hot . But now in August, the trees, which had been scorching hot, were gradually changing color .

'It's almost autumn . ' But before the summer was over, there was something I had to do: send Tak Joon-gi to jail . I looked at the other side of the road for a moment, instead of going up to the park . There I could see the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, the very building that often appeared on the nine o'clock news when political bigwigs or conglomerate heads were taken away . It was not long before Tak Joon-gi would be coming in and out of the place .

I sat on the bench in Montmartre Park . It was the very bench I had met Crow the other day before . Not long after, Crow appeared . Fortunately, the stupid furry clothes were not there . Nevertheless, he was still visible . So was his race's strange appearance, and he took the same action .

I thought he'd come close to me, when he suddenly kneeled down and said, “How have you been for the last month, boss?” performing the classic subordinate greeting .

Come to think of it, it'd been like this before . I stood up from the bench and spoke urgently, “Get up… get up . ”

Crow then stood up, as if he had not done anything . I caught a glimpse of Jang Geun, who was standing slightly away . Jang Geun, who usually didn't change his facial expressions, also looked a little surprised when he saw Crow . I nodded slightly and marked OK with my fingers . I said to Crow, “It's been okay . ”

“Next time, you know that modern greeting, just a quick nod?”

“Yes, boss . ”

“That's how we say hello to each other . ”

“Yes, boss . ”

“Sit down . ” I pointed to the bench with a gesture . Crow sat in the same place . I also sat down and said to him, “So, how was the investigation? Did it go well?”

As I asked, Crow took a brown envelope out of his arms and handed it to me instead of answering . It was thick, almost bursting . I opened it for a moment . There was a pile of A4 paper inside . Originally I was going to check the contents right here, but that would be too much . It would take me hours to read all of this .

'I think he's capable, but his sense is strange . '

I told him, “First of all, thank you, but… Do you know how to write emails?

He answered, “Yes, of course . ”

'Of course,' it was a natural story, but I didn't think it was natural for him .

“Then, I hope I can get it by email instead of doing this next time . It's a little… cumbersome, it's a waste of paper . ”

Crow, for the first time, rejected my request . “I'm sorry, but I can't . ”

“Why?”

“We have to meet our client in person and deliver the information . It's a rule . ”

“Oh, really? A rule?”

“Yes . We have some rules to follow . Master Crow has chosen them… and he likes things a little classic . So, when we give information, we need to meet the information requestor in person and deliver the information . Not just emails, but even handwritten mailed letters… everything like that is impossible . ”

“Well… I see . That's a very… like a crow . ”

At my words, Crow lowered his eyes for a moment, and said, “I see . I've… I've just realized that . ”

Either way, I couldn't help but accept that the rules were like that . It was me who felt sorry . I turned my head back to the report . Despite the large amount of paper, the title page read: 'The outline of the Bisang Construction stock price manipulation case . P11 . ' 'The circumstances of the reporter Kang Joo-hyuk who killed himself . P132 . '…

The table of contents was arranged that way . If I only wanted to see what was needed, I would find it in no time .

I said, putting the documents back in the envelope, “Thanks for all the work you've done, Mr . Crow . ”

“Yes, boss . Is there anything else you are requesting this month?”

“… No, I haven't thought of anything yet . ” That was what it was . It was just when I started the war with Tak Joon-gi, and I'd have to figure out what was lacking . There was no such thing yet . I would read this report and call him back .

“I'll be sure to call you by the end of this month . Please take a break . ”

“Yes, boss . ”

I picked up the envelope . But then, I remembered my thought of last time, 'Next time, I'll buy him something delicious and talk about it . ' So I turned to him again and tried to speak, “Oh, by the way, if there's anything you want to eat…”

Once again, he had disappeared from the scene . There was no sign of him at all . I turned my head . Again, he was not anywhere in the park, it was like I was haunted by a ghost . I got up from my seat . Then I called Jang Geun, who was standing far away .

“Jang Geun . ”

“Yes, boss . ” Soon Jang Geun came running fast .

“The man I was with… Did you see where he went?”

“… no, I was on lookout for a moment…”

“Well… yeah…”

He was already gone like a ghost . It was all right . I'd already got what I wanted, so I could ask him slowly next time if he wanted anything to eat . I was sure I would be calling him once a month anyway…

When I got home, I spent my time analyzing Crow's report . Crow's report had two surprises . First, the report's letters, which I naturally thought was printed out, were not printed at all, but written by a pen-and-pencil . The letters were neat, but slightly different from one another . All of them looked to be written by a pen .

'What the hell is this? Is this the classic rule?' It would have taken several more times to write all of this with a pen than to type .

'Huh, he is literally a reporter; a reporter in the classical sense . ' These days, a simple sports article was completely human hand-operated, compared to an AI's use .

'That's great… but what's greater…' The second was that the contents were vast but accurate . He was truly very capable . Some of the things I had asked were there . 'How did he know this?' It was an extraordinary level of information compared to his bizarre appearance and behavior .

'Customer Service was right…' I couldn't help but accept it . With this information, it would be very easy to send Tak Joon-gi to hell . It wrote about his crimes in detail . It would be difficult to write this accurately even if Tak Joon-gi were asked to confess everything .

'It's strange in many ways… although this one is strangely excellent . ' When I read the report, I thought about it and laughed .

Chapter end