Sevastyan
Instead of sleeping, Sevastyan flew back to the Yadro after filing his report from the hotel room.
It was extremely early in the morning when he landed via helicopter outside the compound.
If anything, February was even colder than January, or at least it felt like it.
Oscar, Ma, and Red had taken flights back to their usual postings.
It was just him trudging through the snow up to the front door.
Security guards met him and waved him through.
A young woman in the Yadro’s uniform of a big red skirt and too much lipstick showed him to a sleeping room.
Sevastyan took off his coat and his jacket, dropped his suitcase beside the bed and fell into the duvet on his face.
He didn’t even bother to pull back the covers.
If he didn’t undress or act like he was going to sleep for the night, his body would never completely pass out. He’d rest with one ear open.
A few hours later he pushed himself up, showered, dressed in his second to last outfit, and made his way down to the cafeteria.
One of the many girls in the red skirts approached with a handwritten note summoning him to the directors’ room in ten minutes.
He grabbed a scone and a coffee with a napkin and followed her through the hallways, finishing both before they arrived.
He handed her the empty coffee mug with the napkin stuffed into it and went through the door.
This was not the large meeting room from before, nor the council chambers he’d attended two days before.
Instead, it was a small, dark room where the walls were barely visible and the ceiling was the same color as the walls and floor.
There was one light above a round table.
The three directors sat on the far side of the table facing the door.
One chair only stood on Sevastyan’s side.
He stepped forward and pulled it out. “Directors.”
“Sevastyan,” Yekta said. “Sit. We trust your trip was safe.”
“Tolerable,” Sevastyan responded. He settled his hands in front of him on the table and folded his fingers together.
“As I said in the report, Black Flower took the deal. She was not happy, but she realizes the limits to her abilities to push. In the end, fixing her late husband’s reputation and putting her son’s marriage back on track was more valuable than revenge.
She’ll move forward with pushing for the arrest warrant, with the understanding that once that is used as leverage, she will be quiet about it until the situation changes.”
“And Bak Gyeong?” Bai Hui asked.
Sevastyan nodded towards Bai Hui, his only possible ally among the directors. “I am not recommending 5N be returned to his management.
“That goes beyond your purview to recommend for or against,” Yekta said, voice dangerously soft.
“Bak Gyeong has been siphoning money from 5N's earnings and sending it elsewhere while naming 5N as collateral against his debt,” Sevastyan said.
“We have no guarantee that he would not do so again. The fact he kept this quiet so long is suspicious. The fact that local factions of our ranks have also kept it quiet is suspicious. Even Black Flower was aware of the split ownership. Since I am not authorized to interact more with local groups,
I don’t have additional details. A quick search of court cases currently on file shows that Bak Gyeong is claiming he doesn’t own 5N at all. Which raises the question of who does. On paper, there are some claims that it is Gang Junseo himself, but we know that can’t be as it appears.
He would have been a child when the paperwork was drafted. It is, however, possibly a situation that will work in our favor.”
“How so?” Ruel, the third director said.
“Cut out all middlemen. Let him own 5N on paper as the court filings suggest.
He can serve us directly. Assign a handler and an accountant.
The highest return on investment would be to keep our expenditures low and divide the profit as little as possible.
So allow 5N’s independence from BBB3. We can set a percentage of profits to come our way annually, until the debt is paid.
As long as it is paid, we suspend the threat of the warrant and subsequent murder trial.
If Gang Junseo decides to quit or withhold payment, the charges can be reactivated.
Gang Junseo will be motivated to make that payment happen more quickly than Bak Gyeong.
I can pinpoint at least five trainees in his dormitories right now that have been recruited purely for training and selling into the black market.
He’s completely comfortable with continuing to negotiate last minute payments and siphoning off trainees to cover interest until he’s dead.
“Additionally, there is cause to investigate why he has been given such lenient repayment options by local Merchari. In most cases, such a slow or no repayment situation of this size would have been at the bottom of the ocean by now.”
“Careful with your tongue, Hand,” Yetka hissed.
“Slowly, slowly. Please,” Bai Hui murmured. “Sevastyan is still within the realms of comparing behavior and analyzing the case. We’ve all authorized more severe consequences for far less within our own domains.”
“You think Gang Junseo will go for this deal?” Ruel asked Sevastyan, getting the meeting back on track. “And do add in your own assessment.”
Sevastyan inclined his head towards Ruel.
“I think there’s a strong possibility. Gang Junseo has played his cards well to stay in front of his fans instead of retreating quietly. So far, he’s largely prioritized the safety of his group members and engagement with his fans. He’s not throwing accusations out nor making demands.
Given a chance to continue his career and quietly make this problem go away, he’s likely to take it.”
“I’m more comfortable having him under control,” Yekta said. “Who knows what he could be plotting, left to his own devices.”
“Making money, perhaps,” Bai Hui chuckled.
“I toured BBB3’s facility,” Sevastyan said.
“It’s a doomed organization. And a fire hazard. I took pictures if you would like to see them. We’re as likely to lose 5N to depression, suicide, or accident as we are to recoup any money through Bak Gyeong’s direction. Right now 5N is managing themselves on a shoestring budget.
I humbly suggest we let them. Less overhead cost, more profit. Bak Gyeong will have to spend heavily on drugs and security to keep 5N under control and performing for the public. If we negotiate with Gang Junseo directly,
he will keep his members in line without those costs and the risk of a fan noticing a shock anklet.”
None of the three directors spoke after Sevastyan finished. Sevastyan glanced from one to the other of the three and held his peace.
“What percentage do you give this operation’s possible chance?” Bai Hui finally asked.
“Sixty percent chance if we leave 5N independent and directly answerable to us for payment. Fifteen percent chance of any sort of salvage if we return the group to BBB3’s headquarters. Gang Junseo will choose violence over compliance. Bak cannot hold him, not in any functioning state.”
The directors glanced towards each other, silently communicating. Yetka seemed the most reluctant, but eventually all three nodded in agreement.
Sevastyan gave a sharp nod in return. “If that is all?”
“That is all,” Yetka dismissed him.
Sevastyan stood, starting to button his suit jacket.
Yetka spoke again, just as he touched the door. “If you are aiming to sit on the council, mind that you play well with others.”
Sevastyan paused. “The council?” He looked between the three directors, despite not being able to see their faces. “I will take that under advisement, should I ever aim so high.”