Ad Maiora Semper [Vincenzo Cassano]

Chapter Six

Dragging the brush through her hair, Ha-yun was focused on the small mirror she'd set out on the desk. She'd woken up late for work and so she'd decided to do what she could in the office so that she didn't lose any of her wages. It wasn't like she was needed as of this moment anyway. She was wearing an off-white v-neck loose sweater which was tucked into a straight beige skirt that went just below her knees and finally a pair of nude stiletto heels that had a strap around the ankle.

Vincenzo walked forward and set a legal document on the table, "you're familiar with this?" He asked, and she glanced up above the mirror to see what he was talking about. "The main component in RDU-90."

"Yes, it uh, goes by the name coisonic," Ha-yun said, having read the document a thousand times.

"And coisanic is also an extremely addictive narcotic," Vincenzo said and all three of them looked at him in shock over that.

"It's an opioid?" Mr Hong asked, and Vincenzo nodded. "That's the first we're hearing about it."

"The expert said it was just a mild pain reliever," Ha-yun said, her brows tugged together out of confused.

"Babel lied to you. They'll do whatever it takes to get approved," Vincenzo droned, and none of them were particularly happy to hear the news.

"I shouldn't be surprised. If this drug gets approved Babel will be selling opioids."

"Yes, narcotic addiction will steadily increase," Vincenzo confirmed, "when that happens, more and more people will get desperate and pretty soon, you'll have a full-blown crisis like in the States."

"Then...this could potentially open the doors to illegal drug cartels," Mr Nam added on, and Vincenzo nodded.

"Like Italy, South America, North America and I'm just scratching the surface."

"In a small country like ours, the opioid problem would spread like the plague," Mr Hong pointed out.

"I don't even want to think about it, but if this goes through it's a slippery slope to kids being able to buy it," Vincenzo said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms, "it'll be in the schoolyards."

"The bastards! They have absolutely no morals. I just want to burn them to the ground even if it puts me in prison," Ha-yun looked at her father mortified. Who was going to make her breakfast if he was in prison? "That drug is a disaster. We have to stop it. I'm not going to let them do this," they were distracted by Vincenzo's phone going off and he reached into his pocket before standing to his feet to answer the call.

Ha-yun watched him intrigued as he answered and it took a short while for him to then leave.

"Ha-yun," Mr Hong called out and she looked over to her father confused, he threw over a stack of papers and she grimaced upon seeing them. With an annoyed sigh, she pushed her mirror over to the side and pulled the document over to herself grabbing onto a few highlighters and pens.

It was around an hour and a half later, she wasn't necessarily near the end of the stack of documents but she was at least half way through. Sometimes, well no most of the time, she truly hated her job. Her father was on the phone looking even more stressed than before which wasn't always a good sign.

"It's not hard at all. Believe me, I have a knack for turning the tables. I'm asking you to trust me we can win this," Mr Hong put down the phone before pulling out a form from an envelope.

"What is it?" Ha-yun asked confused, but he only went to head out. "Wait, dad?" She asked, pushing herself up from her feet and rushing after him, "dad, wait."