“Thanks for the gift. I received it yesterday. The soft drink tastes very good.”

National Assemblyman Chulmo Kim looked at Taesu Ahn with satisfaction.

Taesu bowed to him deeply. Though his father was the chairman of Ohsung Group and he had the best entertainment company in Korea, Taesu took extreme care not to make any mistakes with Mr. Kim.

Kim was a powerful Assemblyman. He was a five-term congressman, and his standing in the ruling party was very solid. Some of his supporters even began to promote him as a presidential candidate. Though Mr. Kim did not have enough political clout to run as a presidential candidate, he was a promising politician with great potential.

“Haha, not at all, congressman. I’m afraid the soft drink box was too small.”

“Hahaha, the size is not important. What matters is the taste of the drink. I love it. Do you have any difficulty in doing business? As I received a good gift, I think I have to give you something in return,” he said. The soft drink box actually contained a wad of bills in kickbacks for him.

Taesu curled his lips at that.

In fact, there was a lot of stuff that he wanted. He wanted to punish Ani & Funny, a thorn in his side, and break the spirit of Soyun who was resuming her entertainment activities on TV.

But that was his own personal and trifle matter.

The reason he met Mr. Kim today was because of his father’s special direction.

“Have you heard about Bando Oil?”

Bando Oil was a Korean oil refinery company. Though it boasted a long history, it was small in size. But it was well known because of its many gas stations across the country.

“I know that company. I hear it’s in severe financial difficulty these days…”

“Do you happen to know that a US fund is trying to take it over?”

Of course, Mr. Kim was aware of that. The US fund OneStar was intensely interested in the takeover, and Mr. Kim met an executive of OneStar in person some time ago.

Typically, an oil refinery had at least several trillion won in capital funds, no matter how small it is. It was essential to ask for politicians’ help to take over such a company.

Only then did Mr. Kim figure out Taesu’s intention.

“It seems that the Ohsung Group is also interested in the takeover.”

“Haha, not exactly. But it just doesn’t look good that Korean refinery like Bando Oil is taken over by a US fund. I was thinking about the matter because it would be much better for a Korean fund like Ohsung Group to take it over.”

Mr. Kim laughed into his sleeve.

What te Ohsung Group wanted from Mr. Kim was simple: Ohsung’s takeover of Bando Oil.

If that’s what they wanted, 100 million won in the soft drink box was not enough because the takeover deal was simply too big.

“I wish you good luck. By the way, I have no idea how I can help in the takeover battle. I want to help you, but I might run into trouble if OneStar gets wind and blames me.”

Taesu also read his mind well.

And he didn’t want to wrap up his lobbying efforts by giving Mr. Kim just 100 million won.

“Haha, I don’t want to give you any burden. I know you have lots of staff around you these days. Let me send you several more drink boxes one of these days.”

“Hahaha, you’re making me very burdened.”

“Oh, don’t feel any burden. By the way, I’d like to wine and dine you this evening. Actually, I have a pretty young lady who joined my company today. Hey, Yonji, come on in.”

Taesu called someone outside. A young and pretty woman in her early 20s came in.

As soon as Mr. Kim saw Yonji, his eyes popped out. She looked like a virgin. She looked very pure and her figure was very sexy.

“This is Assemblyman Chulmo Kim, a powerful politician. Say hello to him.”

Yonji Choi introduced herself politely to him. As it was the first time for her to serve a man like him, she was kind of hesitating at the entrance of the door.

“Hey, what are you doing? Just walk up to him and fill his cup,” Taesu demanded.

Only then did she sit beside Mr. Kim.

It seemed she might run away if Mr. Kim did something weird to her.

But Taesu was not worried because she had a strong desire to be a star.

Besides, he made a huge downpayment on her.

“Treat him well. If he likes you, it’s a done deal for you to become a star. Isn’t it true, congressman?”

“Sure, I can give her a reward if a pretty woman like this can serve me well, hahaha.”

Taesu and Mr. Kim took turns inciting her to show her sensuality.

And she was harassed by Mr. Kim all through the night.

Yonji felt Chulmo’s abnormal sexual desire so disgusting that she vomited several times in the restroom. But she could not refuse it.

And the next day she was taken to a different drinking party. This time she was supposed to serve the Prosecutor General.

And the next day she had to serve different figures. She was forced to have drinks and sex with them. Though she hated it so much, she put up with it because Taesu told her, ‘Serve them just one month, and that’s it.”

***

A little late in the afternoon, Hyunwoo headed for Haenim School after briefly stopping by the Ani & Funny office.

He saw Duyoung ordering his assistants to check out the lab equipment.

They were moving the gasoline bucket to another spot in Duyoung’s lab.

Hyunwoo quickly joined them to chip in.

“Are you done with the experiment?” asked Hyunwoo.

“There is nothing like the end of an experiment. As it passed two months, I want to check out the difference now.”

“Hope there is a big difference.”

“Yea, that’s what I want. Can you bring that bucket over here?”

Duyoung pointed to a gasoline bucket near the window. It was the bucket Duyoung put there to check out the effect of the sun on gasoline.

Hyunwoo picked up the bucket.

But at that moment he heard a strange noise on the floor.

Rattling-

He felt as if a marble inside the gasoline bucket slightly rolled in it.

“Was there anything inside?”

Hyunwoo looked at the bottom of the bucket. He noticed something inside. When he examined it closely, it was a battery.

“My, who put it in there?”

Duyoung showed interest.

“Why? Do you see anything inside?”

“I see a battery inside. Looks like someone put it in there by mistake.”

Duyoung frowned momentarily. If his experiment did fail because of the battery, he would have to wait another two months to do it again.

“Can I just put my hand inside the bucket and pick it up?”

At his asking, Duyoung replied in an angry tone.

“No, just bring it over here. Who the hell put it there?”

When he said that much, he suddenly looked at Jamin. He remembered Mingyu experimented with a battery near the gasoline bucket several days ago.

“Did you do this?” Duyoung asked Mingyu.

He nodded and said, “I’m sorry. I just wanted to know how a battery could change…I planned to put it there for two days and then take it out, but slept on it completely.”

“I know you’ve got lots of curiosity, but you should be conscious of others. How would they feel because you disturbed their experiments? Next time, try to respect others’ experiments.”

“Got it. I’ll keep that in mind.”

As Mingyu showed he repented it sincerely, Duyoung didn’t want to blame him anymore.

In the meantime, they carried all the buckets containing gasoline in the lab.

Duyoung began to gauge any change in the gasoline in each bucket.

There was lots of things he had to check because he put the gasoline in various conditions. And he would have to spend at least two hours on gauging all the changes, so he didn’t hurry.

Actually, the gasoline bucket that Mingyu put a battery was the subject of the test today.

He took out the battery first. The battery was connected with two wires on both ends.

Duyoung giggled at that.

“If Mingyu wanted to do it right, he should have used bare wires, not covered ones like this.”

When he examined the wires carefully, there was a slight film being formed around the parts where the currents flowed.

The change must have happened in gasoline itself.

As if he found out the cause, Duyoung nodded.

“This must be the debris of microorganisms.”

Actually, he discovered it a long time ago. Microorganisms produced hydrocarbons in a fine debris. The debris stuck around the wires.

In no time, he finished all preparations to test all the gasoline buckets.

Let me come back around 9 pm after dinner.

He locked the door of the lab and came out.

The new house near Haenim School was originally built for Duyoung. Hyunwoo made sure it was built in a way that Duyoung should not feel any inconveniences when he had to move in a wheelchair not only inside the room but also when he moved to the school.

Thanks to this, Duyoung could handle most of his personal stuff without anybody’s help.

He took a brief break after dinner and then went back to his lab.

Hyunwoo followed him outside.

“Are you going back to the lab again? Please go to sleep early today.”

“I’ve got something to check out there. It won’t take long. Let me go over and check it quickly.”

“Let me go with you then.”

“Sure.”

The lab was double-locked because of security.

Duyoung checked the test equipment. He was supposed to test three types of gasoline.

He tested them one by one.

“What the heck is this?”

Duyoung suddenly said in an excited voice. He lowered his voice for fear somebody outside might overhear it.

“My, what is this? Hyunwoo, come here and look at it. I am not sure if I am seeing it right.”