My daughter lay in a hospital bed in Queens after a six-hour emergency spinal operation, and not a single member of our community association came to see her.
Armed with the eviction notice and Victor’s discovery, I met him the next morning. We drove to the commercial address listed on Min-jun’s $85,000 lien documents. Midtown Manhattan, I thought, a boutique private equity firm.
Instead, the address led us to a nondescript second-floor office above a bustling Asian grocery market in Flushing. The scent of kimchi and spices wafted up from below. A faded sign, mostly in Korean, bore only a single character: “Kang.”
Victor looked at me, a grim recognition on his face. “Boss Kang,” he murmured. “I’ve heard the name.”
We went inside. The waiting area was austere, with two stern-faced men sitting silently, their arms crossed. No plush carpeting, no city views. Just cheap office furniture and an oppressive quiet.
A woman with a severe ponytail led us into a small inner office. She gestured to a seat, then began to speak in rapid Korean, her tone cold and unyielding.
I told her I was Jae-hoon Park, the owner of Park Custom Tailors. I explained about Min-jun, the forged documents, the bank loan.
She barely blinked. “Min-jun Choi,” she said, her English clipped. “He borrowed money against your property title.”
“For a suit business?” I asked, desperation creeping into my voice.
She offered a dry, humorless smile. “Mr. Choi doesn’t have a suit business, Mr. Park. He has debts. Gambling debts.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed. “Baccarat? Mahjong parlors in Chinatown?”
The woman’s smile widened slightly. “He needed liquidity to cover mounting losses from his… recreational activities.”
She rose, signaling the conversation was over. “The terms are simple, Mr. Park. The debt is secured by your shop’s deed. We hold the deed. Payment is due.”
My blood ran cold. This wasn’t a bank. This was Boss Kang’s infamous underground loan network, a *kye* that preyed on desperate local merchants. Min-jun hadn’t just forged my signature; he’d sold my shop to a loan shark for his own reckless gambling.
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