Chapter 107
Chapter 107: Chocolate Daejanggeum (1)
Lee Won-ryong let out a long sigh as he stepped out of the prosecutor's office.
"Huuu……."
He then greeted Jang Hyeon-seung, the attorney who had defended him.
"Thank you for your hard work, Attorney."
"You worked hard too, Gate Master Lee. It ended well, so the prosecution won't be calling you back."
"Yes."
"Avoiding punishment itself will be difficult. Well, it's embarrassing to say, but wrong is wrong. If you're indicted, you should keep the possibility of detention in custody in mind."
Lee Won-ryong replied with a composed expression.
"I'm prepared for that."
Jang Hyeon-seung gave Lee Won-ryong a stern warning.
"Be careful for a while. There may be listening devices in your office, and your phone is likely being tapped too. Be cautious with email as well."
"Would the prosecution really go that far?"
Jang Hyeon-seung smiled and said,
"I would have, if I were in their position."
"……Yes. Thank you. Take care on your way."
A car arrived shortly after.
Lee Won-ryong got in. Strangely, Elder Jo Je-bin was in the driver's seat.
"You worked hard, Gate Master."
"Indeed. What a situation this has become."
Lee Won-ryong put a cigarette between his lips and lit it.
"Still no word from our lord?"
"No."
"Ah, truly……. I never imagined he would leave just like that without saying a word."
"Surely our lord had a greater purpose in mind."
"That must be it. I believe so too."
With the Poison Demon gone, the government had swept through the Red Dragon Gate.
There had been numerous crimes committed by the Red Dragon Gate over the years—more than enough to justify arrest—but thanks to Jang Hyeon-seung's defense and the weight of the Red Dragon Gate's charitable work, detention had been avoided.
The investigation itself had been absurd.
The charges were assault, extortion, and intimidation, yet the actual focus of the questioning was ‘Where is the Nameless Hero?’.
Since Lee Won-ryong truly had no idea, the prosecution even brought in a lie detector, but nothing could be uncovered.
The questioning went on and on.
‘What kind of relationship did you have with France?’, ‘Have you ever received money from France?’ and so on.
Every question was something he had never heard of before.
Elder Jo Je-bin, who was driving, asked with a worried tone.
"What should we do with our Red Dragon Gate now?"
"……I don't know either."
They were heading toward the Red Dragon Gate's headquarters when, at that moment—
A call came through to him.
"Hello."
—It's me, Gate Master Lee. It's Goe Sang-cheol.
It was the old craftsman.
"Yes. Father-in-law. Yes, the investigation went fine. Hm? Right now? Understood."
Jo Je-bin asked,
"What is it?"
"Craftsman Goe wants to see me now. At his workshop."
"I'll take you there."
When they entered the old craftsman's new workshop, Goe Sang-cheol greeted them with a grave expression.
"You've been through a lot, Gate Master Lee."
"Not at all. But I'm sure that's not why you called for me."
Goe Sang-cheol closed the workshop door, drew the curtains, and then pulled a letter from his breast pocket.
"What is this?"
"Read it."
Lee Won-ryong and Jo Je-bin read the letter and their eyes went wide.
"Who gave you this, Father-in-law?"
"A stranger. He said he'd been asked by someone else to simply deliver it to me today."
"Haaa."
Lee Won-ryong and Jo Je-bin looked at each other, then read the letter again.
A single line written on the letter.
"Hold your ground."
It was unmistakably their lord's handwriting.
Lee Won-ryong called out to Jo Je-bin.
"Elder Jo."
Jo Je-bin nodded.
"I understand. I'll relay the message to hold on and stand firm."
But Lee Won-ryong shook his head.
"No. Say it like this."
Lee Won-ryong leaned back comfortably into the sofa and corrected himself.
"Tell them all they need to do is hold on."
Lee Won-ryong's eyes were blazing fiercely.
***
I was loitering with Bo-reum in front of the École de Cuisine building.
"Can we just go in, Oppa?"
"Why not. We'll just say we came to see a friend."
"I'm not great at French. I should have brought Manager Kim."
"He's busy right now. I can handle the English."
"Hm?"
Leaving the anxious Bo-reum behind, I approached the École de Cuisine security guard.
"Hello. I want to meet my friend. Okay?"
"What?"
"Friend. Here. Chocolate swish-swish."
"What?"
Full of confidence in my English.
It seemed the guard couldn't speak English.
"Who the hell are you? Why did you suddenly show up and start babbling about chocolate? Get lost right now!"
……Or maybe I was the one who couldn't.
Just as I was about to pull out the Mirage Fragrance from my pocket, I spotted Min-jeong walking inside the building with a sullen expression.
"Oh! This is my friend! Min-jeong! Min-jeong!"
"Oh my. Oppa!"
When I waved and called out, Min-jeong spotted me and came running out.
Apparently her French had improved—she said something in rapid French, and the guard opened the door.
"Have you been well?"
"Oppa!"
She suddenly rushed into my arms.
And then she burst into tears.
……Huh?
After patting her back for a while, she took us to a café near the École de Cuisine.
Min-jeong kept sniffling.
"Oppa, how did you get here?"
"We walked."
Bo-reum answered on my behalf.
"Who are you?"
"Ah, she's my—"
"Nemesis."
"Pardon?"
"I'm told your name is Min-jeong. Nice to meet you. I'm Bo-reum."
"Ah…… I see. You're beautiful."
Min-jeong stared at Bo-reum intently.
"You're pretty too. And you look young. How old are you?"
"20."
"Oh my. Just a baby."
Bo-reum, you're 26.
To me, you're basically a baby too, you.
"What do you do in Paris, Unni?"
"I'm studying here. University student."
"You don't look like a university student."
"I'm 26!"
"Shouldn't someone 26 have already graduated? Did you maybe go to the military?"
"What military! I'm a woman."
"What does that matter? Chief Han from Gukmubon went to the military, didn't she?"
"Well, that woman went through special forces, then the National Intelligence Service as a black operative, so she's a different case."
Bo-reum pressed on as if Min-jeong were saying something absurd.
"As for me, I took a leave of absence to build up my résumé here and there. Hm? Had to earn tuition, work part-time jobs! Hm?! So things got a little delayed."
This is somehow becoming a moment where I feel guilty.
"Everyone does that these days. Not everyone graduates early. Lots of my friends haven't graduated yet either. Ah, why am I the one making excuses?"
Bo-reum. Stop.
Our household's former pillar was getting increasingly pitiful.
I was flustered too.
A clash of sparks between two strong-willed women.
What's gotten into them?
"Oppa. It seems you came on a trip. With your girlfriend."
"……What?"
"You look happy."
"Hm?"
"Are you crazy? Me and Oppa?"
Bo-reum went absolutely ballistic.
"She's not your girlfriend?"
"I'm his little sister. Kim Bo-reum! And this guy is Kim Tae-yang!"
"Oh!"
Only then did Min-jeong's expression brighten.
"Oh my, I'm sorry! I didn't know."
"It's fine."
"But you don't look like Oppa Tae-yang at all."
"It'd be a disgrace if I did. I'm a beauty, and this guy is……"
"Hey now! Calling your oppa 'this guy'. How dare you say that to the Sun King."
"Let's not go there. Just drop it."
"My oppa is really handsome."
"My oppa, she says. Ha. Honestly……"
Bo-reum looked at me once, let out a scoff, and turned her head away.
Min-jeong crossed her arms and turned her head too.
"Late introductions—she's my little sister. Bo-reum, she's Kim Min-jeong. My part-timer."
"So this is Chocolate Daejanggeum."
"Yes."
"Waaah!"
And then Min-jeong suddenly burst into tears again.
Come on, what is this.
"Oppa! I'm not Chocolate Daejanggeum anymore. I'm sorry. Sob sob……"
I handed her a tissue and asked what happened.
"Why? What happened all of a sudden."
"Well, Oppa……"
Min-jeong began to explain the whole story from the beginning.
Coming all the way to Paris and enrolling at the École de Cuisine near Versailles had gone well enough.
Life in a foreign country, but Paris, with its own kind of romance.
And the chocolatier training she loved and had talent for was enjoyable too, she said.
But the problem was—
That she was simply too talented.
"At first, I was obviously worse than the other students here."
"That makes sense."
"Within 3 months I caught up with them. And now, a few more months in, I'm honestly much better than them! Not long ago, I even ranked 1st in the overall evaluation!"
Min-jeong dabbed at her tears with a tissue and exclaimed.
Good heavens.
To rank first in the world's premier chocolatier training institution within just a few months.
The bloodline of a family of Royal Head Cooks certainly couldn't be underestimated.
"Then why are you crying?"
"Well, because I was doing so well, I started getting resentment. Friends I thought were friends started bullying me, and the professors started picking on me too."
"What?"
"This program is a 2-year course. And apparently there's a second-year student graduating soon who comes from some distinguished family."
"And then?"
"The overall evaluation includes all students across both years, and when I came in 1st place—sob……"
I could roughly guess the rest.
Envy and jealousy had come her way, and that so-called student from a distinguished family had apparently pressured the professors too.
So that was why the videos of Min-jeong doing her little ‘moe moe kyun’ hadn't been coming lately.
I spoke to Min-jeong in a low voice.
"……Should I have them killed?"
The air froze in an instant.
Bo-reum was startled.
"Oppa, are you insane? What kind of joke is that?"
I shrugged and laughed it off, and Bo-reum looked utterly baffled—
But Min-jeong didn't.
She knew what I had done that time at that entertainment bar.
I tried to change the subject and asked Min-jeong again.
"You're a scholarship student of Baekgyeong Department Store too. Your backing shouldn't be anything to sneeze at?"
"How could I ask for something like that……. It's already the grace of a lifetime that you sent me here, Oppa. I wouldn't want to cause unnecessary burden."
Well I never.
Look at her. The Min-jeong who used to be a delinquent—when had she started thinking like this.
I glanced at Bo-reum and even she seemed impressed, her expression slowly softening.
I asked Min-jeong.
"So are you struggling?"
"No."
"……Then?"
"I could endure that much just fine. I'm only here for 1 year since I enrolled on a special track, and I just need to finish and get my certificate. I can handle the eye-roll-worthy stuff. But……"
"But what?"
"Waaaang……"
Min-jeong started crying again.
At this point I was beginning to tire of it too.
[Kim Tae-yang suggests using Mirage Fragrance to soothe her. +1 Happiness]
Just then, Bo-reum sat down beside Min-jeong and put a hand on her shoulder, patting her gently.
"You've had it tough, Min-jeong."
"Sob sob……"
In Bo-reum's embrace, Min-jeong gradually calmed down.
Min-jeong lowered her voice and spoke quietly.
"Actually, I found out something shocking."
"What is it?"
"'Louise'—the 2nd-year student I mentioned."
"The one from the distinguished family?"
"Yes. Actually, even before I ranked 1st, she'd been racially discriminating against me and treating me terribly because I'm Korean……"
"Ugh. Those French people."
Bo-reum clicked her tongue.
When did you used to go on about the romance of Paris? You had your share of bad experiences too, didn't you?
Min-jeong continued.
"Anyway, I was staying late in the kitchen one night to practice, and when I stepped out to the bathroom for a moment, Louise and one of the professors came walking in."
"……"
"Since Louise and I weren't on good terms, I just hid. But then Louise started sprinkling some kind of white powder into the chocolate."
"What?"
Min-jeong went on.
"It seemed strange. Louise and the professor made the chocolate, then took it outside. A car was waiting, and they handed it to some rough-looking men in exchange for money."
"Could it just have been a regular sale?"
"The amount was enormous. It didn't look anything like the price of chocolate."
"Hmm."
"Louise came back into the school, and I was still hiding in the corridor, when my mom happened to call. Louise heard it and found me……"
"Oh no."
Even Bo-reum, who had been absorbed in the story, let out an unintentional reaction.
Min-jeong touched her own cheek as she recalled the memory.
"Louise's face went……completely white, and the professor suddenly slammed me against the wall, demanding to know what I'd seen……"
Bo-reum asked Min-jeong.
"Why would they be that panicked just over selling chocolate outside? Is it against school regulations?"
Min-jeong shook her head.
"I told you—the professor was there too. So it seemed like the school had already turned a blind eye to it. But the professor was furious and came down on me hard."
"So it's a transaction that involved a professor too."
No.
Listening to Min-jeong, I had a feeling I knew what that chocolate with the white powder was.
The chocolate I'd seen on the Black Market.
‘They put drugs in the chocolate and sell them.’
The very chocolate Kim Han-yang had spoken of.
What was strange was this—if they were distributing drug-laced chocolate, they could just make it anywhere and sell it. So why go to the trouble of making it at the École de Cuisine?
Was it chocolate being quietly circulated among the elite?
No.
With drug-laced chocolate, producing and distributing it just anywhere might draw police attention.
If the manufacturing and distribution were strictly controlled—
The least suspicious supply source for drug-laced chocolate might well be this École de Cuisine.
On top of that, the family of that student called Louise was itself suspicious.
I asked Min-jeong.
"That girl Louise. What's her full name?"
"Louise……Ferrand."
Ferrand.
The pieces clicked into place.