Chapter 199 - The Picture

Hyun Jung and Riggs arrived at KJ's mansion early the next morning. They were led into the living room by one of the servants. After a few minutes, KJ and Mirae came downstairs to talk to them. 

"I came as soon as I could!" Hyun Jung spoke up. "What's the big emergency?"

"We've opened the box," KJ revealed. Hyun Jung and Riggs were astonished. "The box we got from Busan?" Hyun Jung questioned. "You managed to open it?"

"Yes," Mirae replied. "And we wanted to show you what we found."

They laid out the picture on the table. Hyun Jung frowned as he held up the picture for Riggs.

"Who is this, CEO?" Riggs asked.

But Hyun Jung recognized the woman in the picture. "This is your mother!" he stated. "Song Sia."

He turned to Mirae. "You requested me to find information on her. But I couldn't find anything much outside of the information KJ had told me when we were kids."

"Did you find any picture which resembles this?" Mirae asked. "Or anything which may give us clues about the identity of this guy?"

Hyun Jung took a good look at the photo. "No," he admitted. "The photos and information about KJ's mother we got were up till her graduation from school. For the next few years, her whereabouts were unknown until she moved in with the Kwon family."

"So you're saying that there is no data on what she was doing at that time?" KJ frowned.

"No," Hyun Jung repeated. "Nothing."

They fell into a long thought. What was the mystery of Song Sia?

"If I may put forth a theory, CEO," Riggs spoke up.

"Proceed, Riggs," Mirae said.

"If Mr. Goo had mentioned that this box holds the key to the Cartel," Riggs went on. "Then isn't it possible that the man in the photograph may be connected to the head of the Cartel. Or he may be the head himself?"

Mirae glanced at the photo again. "If he's the head of the Cartel," Mirae muttered. "And if I judge by the date of this photo, then the man must have been in his fifties during that time…"

She felt KJ stiffen at that theory. Mirae did not want to voice it out loud but everyone was thinking the same thing. Was KJ's mother…

"No way," KJ denied. "She wasn't...she wasn't with the Cartel."

He would not believe it. His mother had no reason to be involved with a vile place like that. His mind could not fathom it at all. 

"KJ…" Mirae started, feeling hesitant. "Maybe your grandfather was against the marriage of your father and mother was because of the fact that he may have known that she was involved with the Cartel…"

KJ slammed his hands on the table, startling her. "My mother was not a part of it," he repeated. "Understand?"

Mirae and Hyun Jung looked at each other, while Riggs looked down. They knew that KJ would not be able to accept this theory.

"KJ it's just a theory," Hyun Jung assured him. "We might be wrong-"

"You guys are wrong!" KJ said flatly. "My mother was not a member of the Cartel. We don't even know who this guy is. He may not be part of the Cartel at all! Might even be her relative."

But somewhere in his heart, he knew that the man in the picture was part of the Cartel. Otherwise why would Goo Soo Bin give him this picture?

"We'll investigate further," Mirae said. "We'll just need time."

She needed to calm KJ down. But he turned on her.

"You don't believe this nonsense do you?" he challenged her. Mirae gulped.

"KJ I…" she bit her lip but KJ saw through her hesitation.

"Fine," he said shortly. "Believe waht you want."

Without another word, he stormed off. "KJ!" Mirae called behind him but he did not stop to turn. Instead, he got into the car, revved up his engine and drove off.

"He won't listen," Hyun Jung said as he stood beside her. 

"I know," Mirae sighed. "He's very angry."

"But we can't discount out the possibility that his mother may have been a member of the Cartel," Hyun Jung said. "With this...we have to be sure."

"You're right," Mirae agreed. "I'll send Riggs to Busan and tell our informers there to find any information on her."

Just then Mirae's phone beeped. She took it out to see a message.

"Ziko is back in town," she informed Hyun Jung.

"How do you know?" he demanded.

"One of my spies work for him," Mirae said. "He just informed me. He also mentioned that last night, Ziko visited a secluded place right outside of Seoul."

"Did he give any coordinates?"

"Yes," Mirae replied. "But the place is heavily guarded by Cartel's members. They're hiding something there."

"I'll have some of my informers posted there," Hyun Jung nodded. "But I'll have to do it discreetly. One of my senior officers is keeping an eye on me. I can't work too freely."

"Be careful," Mirae pointed out. "The police has many spies of the Cartel."

"I'll be fine," Hyun Jung shrugged. "Eli is taking care of some of the stuff on my behalf."

"If she can," Mirae said warily. "She's not exactly known for her calm head. It's a surprise Dasom and her did not end up killing each other."

Hyun Jung sighed. Catching the Cartel was turning out to be more complicated than ever. With so many restrictions and new enemies popping up, they were being cornered at every step.

"This informer of yours…" he said. "Can he help us in finding what Ziko is hiding in that building?"

"I think so," Mirae said. "I'll ask him."

"Alright," Hyun Jung said. "Let's focus on getting in there. Maybe that will help us to bait Ziko."

….

"Ziko is back," Junhyung commented. 

Ash, who was sitting in their new office, looked up from the doc.u.ments he was reading. "How did he take the news of Teppei getting captured?" he grinned.

"Not well," Junhyung smiled. "So how will we get rid of him? He's rallying people against us, you know."

"Which makes it easier for us to know who our enemies are," Ash replied as he stood up. They had finally established their new agency but he was operating it secretly. He was still a pariah in the eyes of the media which is why Junhyung was the puppet CEO while Nida handled the trainees. Ash was running it from the shadows.

"Right now we need to focus on beating Mystic Entertainment," Ash went on. "Our new group will go up against Six X, the most popular girl group of the country."

"How will you beat them?" Junhyung asked. "They already have an established fanbase-"

"Which lessened during their two year hiatus," Ash pointed out. "Fans are fickle. They'll jump into any fandom and leave old idols behind. Besides, younger idols are in the rage. They attract more fans. Especially males if you can market them the right way. And who said we'll play fair?"

"You mean…"

Junhyung frowned. He did not mean *that* did he?

"The game will be interesting," he said, leaning back with a grin.