Martoons

Today: The blackmailing isn’t over.

Cast of characters

Mr Go

“A foreigner”

Scene: Mr Go’s office at Central Institute

*

Mr Go reflected then exhaled.

“I honestly don’t recall this Thomas thing. Why would I fire my most valuable employee?”

He added something he’d heard the foreigner say. “This conversation is way too serious.”

It was time for a bit of comic relief.

The foreigner stood menacingly in front of Go’s desk and the boss noticed that one of his sports jacket pockets was bulging quite considerably.

Go recalled a funny saying that the foreigner had taught him some days back. “Is that a banana in your pocket? Or are you just glad to see me?”

* Is this a good time to be cracking jokes? *

The foreigner had been fidgeting with that pocket and immediately played his next hand.

He plopped another video cassette on Go’s desk.

“This is going to hurt you more than me, but boss I have no choice. In fact, you don’t even need to look at this little ditty. Let me just say that it’s worse than the previous one.”

Go just shook his head in a ‘not-this-again’ way and efficiently removed the tape from his desk, putting it in the secure drawer and locking it again.

But he wasn’t ready to completely give in yet.

“I couldn’t fire Thomas if I wanted to. Miss No would kill me.”

“She wouldn’t, Mr Go. She respects your opinion. Use your power of persuasion with her. You’ve come this far haven’t you?”

And he pointed to the telephone.

Go liked his ego stroked yet raised his hand in resistance and then waved mildly. “Cannot call now.

She is out of town today at a friend’s function and won’t be back at Riverside until evening.”

He felt good being able to retreat behind the forced delay.

The foreigner was not cozy with the deferral and Go could read his body language.

In the foreigner’s mind, he didn’t want his scheme to unravel; in Korea a lot can happen in a matter of hours.

For Go, he didn’t want the foreigner to do something drastic in that time – like start showing his incriminating video material to people!

* Do you think the foreigner is going to do that? *

Go hesitated and cupped his chin in the pit between his thumb and forefinger, and then let out a long sigh.

The foreigner had already blackmailed him with the first video and now there was this second one.

The problem with blackmail was that it tended to be addictive to the blackmailer.

Who’s to say there weren’t other, more defamatory recordings?

Likely a stack of them in the foreigner’s possession, stashed somewhere.

After all, they’d been out on a lot of benders recently and Go drew a complete blank as to what he’d said or done at most of them after he’d downed a bottle or two of soju.

Some of the stories he’d heard back from the VIP room hostesses and love motel staff shocked him.

“I did that? What else did I do? Actually, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know!”

*

Tomorrow: Mr Go continues with his internal struggle.