In a abandoned vehicle yard in an unknown location at the middle of the night,rows of rusted buses and old cars sit silently under the moonlight, forgotten and unused. The air is thick with dust and silence.
A sleek black car pulls up quietly. Kim Tae Won steps out, holding a thick book under his arm, the cover worn but sturdy, like a ledger.
He walks toward the back of a rusty bus, slipping through a hidden door behind it. The door creaks as he closes it behind him.
Tae Won descends a narrow, dimly lit staircase into a small underground room.
Rows of shelves stretch across the walls, filled with ledgers, files, and documents from countless companies, all neatly arranged like a private library.
Tae Won gently places the book he's carrying on a table, flicks on the light, and surveys the room with a smirk.
Tae Won smiled softly, almost lovingly :
"What a beauty…"
He traces a finger along the spines of the ledgers.
FLASHBACK OF TAE WON LIFE– ORPHANAGE – DAY
A young Tae Won, ragged and alone, stands by a cold window in a rundown orphanage.
Tae Won's stand outside the orphanage watching a couple holding a young girl taking her to their car. The girl seem happy. But for Tae Won who was still 6 years old at that time, nobody had come to pick him up for adoption but sees other children leave while he stays. He looks up in the sky and said:
"I was never wanted this.. Where is my parents? No one wanted to adopt a dirty orphan like me."
Some years later,teenage Tae Won, bruised and beaten, is helped up by a gang of tough ex-convicts. They nod to him, taking him under their wing , taking care of him and training him on how to fight. Soon later,Tae Won join them in kidnapping rich people children and collecting ransom. He also gets paid to beat up people.
Tae Won manage to enter a low tide college where he studies accounting, scribbling notes furiously, his face to pass despite the surroundings.
Soon after Tae Won, now a young man, started working in an accounting firm after his internship. But he was mostly verbally harassed due to going to a low school. He got angry and promised to have his own firm which he successfully did. He discovers discrepancies in a company ledger. The anxious director pleads with him.
Direction begging Tae Won :
"Please... I'll pay you. Ten thousand dollars(equivalent 14,016,318 won in Korean money). Just don't expose us."
Tae Won saw it as a opportunity not only to get rich so have enough power in his hand to able to control anyone.
Tae Won's eyes gleam with cunning as he plots, slowly gathering ledgers and building his empire with different companies and authority. Finally he opened his own firm through his connection and established a empire for himself. He said to himself:
"I realized power wasn't given. It was taken. With the right strings, the right secrets… I built my kingdom."
BACK TO PRESENT
Tae Won laughs softly, a dark, satisfied chuckle echoing through the quiet room as he remembers his past,how he had worked up.
Tae Won said to himself :
"All these years… all this work… And now, no one can touch me,not even you." He looks at Kang Do Hyun picture smiling.
He picks up the ledger again, flipping through it with reverence.
Tae Won's smile fades, replaced by a cold, calculating stare,a thought flashing in his mind.
Tae Won quietly :
"Oh…"
He grabs his phone and dials quickly.
TAE WON :
(into phone)
"Jung Myung. Look into Xiu Min's father. The Ambassador. I want everything that could be useful to me — family ties, dirty deals, political ambitions... everything."
He ends the call and exhales slowly,put the ledger in his hand on the shelf,staring into the shelves of ledgers again with cold precision.
THE NEXT DAY
INT. BUSAN METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT
The mood is tense and sour in Detective Team 1's office.
The team members enter one by one, their faces visibly angry and disappointed.
JIN HO :
(slams his bag down)
"What are we even supposed to do now?"
NAM WOO JIN :
(shakes his head)
"They took the case from us, just when we were finally getting somewhere. Now it's under Special Units.We are now going to hand over our work to them."
SOO HYUK
(bitterly) :
"It's always the same. We do the groundwork, get close, then boom — higher-ups shut us out. An officer even lost his life chasing this in the last operation involving Keunsa Company. And they still pulled us out."
Tae Young the youngest in the group said:"That includes Do Hyun too, right? , What is going to happen to him now?. It was his investigation."
SOO HYUK :
(nods slowly)
"They said he's 'on temporary leave'. Vacation in Seoul. After that, he's heading back to the States. That's it. All his work, gone just like that."
A heavy silence falls in the room.
Min Seok said :
(sincerely)
"Let's pay him a visit after today. At least let him know we appreciated him."
*SOO HYUK*
(quietly)
"Yeah… he deserves that."
INT. DEPUTY POLICE CHIEF'S OFFICE – SAME TIME :
A man in his late 50s, trembling slightly, is seen speaking on the phone.
His voice is low, nervous, and submissive.
Deputy Chief said:
(into phone)
"Yes… the case has been taken care of. They won't interfere again… Yes, yes, I promise…"
He ends the call and turns slowly.
Behind him, a man in a sleek black suit steps out of the corner shadows — Kim Tae Won.
He claps slowly, mockingly, then walks over and slaps the deputy lightly on the shoulder.
Tae Won said grinning :
"Good job. You see? We can all be useful to each other."
The deputy forces a smile, sweating, clearly terrified.
Deputy Chief said:
"I didn't know they were digging in the ambassador son case, I will make sure they don't but then… you'll keep your end of the deal? It won't affect the election? It worries the ambassador."
Tae Won leans in, voice sharp, said :
"Of course. As long as you continue to play your role, both him and you have nothing to worry about."
He taps the man's chest with two fingers, then turns and walks away.
Tae Won stop midway and turn back, saying to the deputy chief :" And one more thing, don't forget you both records are in my hand. If you try anything funny, you and the ambassador of what again? France will kiss your political power Good BYE."
The Chief nodded in fear and Tae Won walk out laughing wickedly.
The camera lingers on the Deputy Chief, who collapses in his chair, breathing heavily — like a man who just made a deal with the devil.