Mishimoto Yoshiaki
Leaning against the cold concrete railing on the terrace with a lit cigar in my hand, I look down into the garden at my three-year-old son, who is learning to swim in the pool with his nanny. I am more focused on the young woman's bottom — she sleeps with every other member of my gang and thinks I don't know about it — than on my son.
I tolerate her for two reasons. Firstly, my son likes her. Secondly, I like looking at her. Today, however, I'll be the one she voluntarily spreads her legs for in bed, screaming my name and begging me to stop. And if it's not voluntary, then it will be involuntary.
I take a deep drag on my cigar. The smoke lazily curls through the morning air, burning my lungs, but I enjoy the feeling. My eyes flit over her body in the green bikini, and my cock starts to harden.
I exhale the smoke, watch it disappear in the wind and try to imagine someone else in that green bikini. Suddenly, my erection disappears.
There is a muffled hum from the pool and the silence is broken only by the crackling of my cigar and the distant sound of water splashing. The air tastes strange today.
„Oyabun?" Nishimura, my personal bodyguard and right-hand man, snaps me out of my thoughts. The man who went through hell with me. I motion for him to come closer with two fingers. He is holding a neat tablet, which he hands to me.
„I have the new surveillance footage for you. It looks like one of his bodyguards was accidentally killed during a weapons handover that didn't go according to plan. Kim Hyeon, who was present at the meeting, confirmed this to us." He updates me on the latest surveillance information regarding my rival, Yoon Hyunjin. I want to defeat him as much as he wants to defeat me because I once killed someone close to him. I would do it again if it would help me finally get him. I nod, and another stream of grey smoke escapes from my mouth.
I scroll through the photos until I find one that catches my eye. In it, Yoon is getting out of a car, accompanied by his entourage of bodyguards. Everything looks like a carefully rehearsed play, except for one detail that catches my eye. His security detail is once again four men strong.
„Who is this?" I hiss, tapping my finger on the face of a boy who looks too young, with black hair tied in a bun on top of his head. I don't recognise him.
„We don't know yet, he's new." I look up at Nishimura over my sunglasses.
„What do you mean, you don't know?"
„He appeared overnight, none of us had ever seen him with Yoon before. We don't know who he is or where he's from. At first, we thought he might be a relative of Yoon's..."
„A relative?" I interrupt him sarcastically. „Really?" We all know that his only living relative is his sister.
„I mean, distant. But we know he's not. Anyway, he's too young to be his bodyguard, yet he is." He reaches for the tablet and scrolls forward two photos. „He even lives with him. There must be something more going on here." No kidding. I wouldn't have thought so.
„Go through all of Yoon's visits from last month again," I order coldly. „Check the airport arrivals from last month too. Something tells me that kid isn't even from around here." I put a cigar in my mouth, take a puff, and look through the rest of the photos on the tablet. The taste of tobacco is bitter, and I can feel the tension slowly building in my chest. Yoon seems to have no idea that I'm having him followed, which works in my favour. Maybe it's time to add fuel to the fire and provoke him a little.
„While you're taking care of these matters, I want you to arrange a meeting with Yoon. Come up with a reason, but I need to take a closer look at this."
„Sure, Oyabun, I'll take care of it," Nishimura nods. His face remains stony and his eyes are expressionless, as befits a man in his position.
I hand the tablet back to him and turn my attention back to the bitch in the pool. Nishimura follows my gaze. „Wakasama is talented," he remarks, referring to the fact that my son is able to swim without floats at the age of three.
„Of course, he takes after his father." I knew how to swim without the help of those inflatable contraptions, too.
„Aniki?" One of Nishimura's subordinates addresses him. He is his right hand. Kato bows to me and apologises for the interruption. Then he takes Nishimura away, leaving me alone on the terrace. Only me, the wind and a slowly burning cigar remain.
I look down. The swimming lesson is over and my erection has returned. I put out the rest of the cigar in the ashtray on the ledge and head downstairs with a single intention: To fuck the nanny.
... ༺༻ ...
A few days later, in the evening, I am interrupted in my study by a knock on the door. When I invite whoever is behind it to come in, Nishimura appears in the doorway. He looked tense, but his eyes were shining. That could only mean one thing. He had something for me that was worth my attention.
„Oyabun? May I come in?" I let him in, lean back in my chair and drink the contents of my glass of whisky. The alcohol slides down my throat and burns. I then place the empty glass on the table.
„What do you have for me?" I ask him. The look on his face tells me he has good news for me. It's been almost two weeks since I asked him to find out information about that boy.
„Your hunch was right," he begins. „Our people hacked into the airport records. The boy arrived exactly a month and a half ago." He hands me the tablet again and shows me the flight records for the journey from New York to Seoul under the name Jake Harris. „He was supposed to be staying at the Lassa Hotel," he continues „but after checking, we were told that the reservation was cancelled on the first day. So far, the only connection we have to him is his name and the place from which he flew to Seoul." I rub my chin and think about how we could find out more about Jake Harris. Every new detail could be a clue.
„How many people can we spare for a while at the moment?" I ask Nishimura.
„At the moment, we can spare a maximum of three people," he replies without hesitation.
„Okay, send them to New York. Make sure they move quietly but thoroughly. We have to try everything. Make yourself available to them at any time for any information they might need. He's twenty-three, so if he wasn't working, he must have been studying. Try to find out which colleges are in New York. They won't be private, so you can rule those out. Start from there and bring me back something I can work with." If I'm going to get to Yoon and bring him to his knees, I'll have to do what I've done before. Why would he keep some kid around? He must mean something to him. If that's the case, he could be his weak link, and I have to exploit that at all costs.
„Yes, Oyabun. I'll arrange it and send three of our men to the States today." He bows and leaves the office, but then stops in the doorway. „Forgive me, I almost forgot. Mr. Yoon has agreed to meet with you. The meeting will take place next week." I nod and let him leave.
When the door closes, I reach for the decanter and pour myself another glass of whisky, staring at the amber liquid. Maybe I've just figured out how to defeat Yoon once and for all.
... ༺༻ ...
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*Oyabun – termín pro bosse, používáno v Yakuze
*Wakasama – young master, čestný výraz pro syna nadřízeného
*Aniki – older brother, nebo čestný výraz pro staršího člena nebo vůdce
... ༺༻ ...
BLOOD DEBT (피의 빚)