Seung's Racing Club was what you would expect it to be on the outside.
There were large luxurious fields and between those fields were the racing tracks. Some were made from grass, others were dirt tracks or sand tracks. In pens near the tracks, there were horses and their jockeys, and several stables. When a pistol went off in the distance, a heated race would begin.
Overlooking the fields and racing tracks was a large Grand Stand. It was easily the size of a football stadium. It had private rooms, VIP suites, and over two thousand seats. Seated there was a large audience of luxuriously dressed ladies and gentleman, all chatting away and making bets. Near the entrance of the Grand Stand, in the betting ring, were bookmakers who were processing and recording the games and the winnings for the day. It was noisy, filled with the sounds of cheering, chatter, and presenters shouting over tannoys.
It seemed like a typical fancy Racing House, reminiscent of something you'd see at the Ascot.
When we entered the Grand Stand, many of the staff at the entrance bowed deeply towards us, "Welcome Sir Seung" they said in unison. One man in particular; with greying hair, who wore a tweed striped suit and had a rather ordinary face, greeted Kang Seung personally.
"It's a pleasure to see you here today Sir, are you here for the races or for the usual entertainment?"
"Sang Min" he greeted the man, "obviously the usual."
Kang Seung then gestured towards me, "I'm sure you've heard about my grandson. I've brought him today to break him in early to the fun side of the world. Kang Ho, say hello to Sang Min, he runs this fine establishment on my behalf and on the behalf of the lovely Golden Hoove."
I glanced at Sang Min and I immediately noticed that 'look'. The 'look' of a fellow predator. You know how animals recognise members of their own species by instinct, I immediately recognised it when I saw Sang Min. In the core of his eyes was a hunger, a hunger that required the blood of others to be satiated. I wondered how many people he had killed, it didn't seem like the number was small.
He also seemed to recognise me for what I was because he suddenly became more alert, his eyes seemed to widen and a small smile appeared around his thin lips. His smile only grew bigger when I bowed my head deeply towards him, "Pleasure to meet you Sang Min."
He nodded his head approvingly at my polite greeting, "You have a very interesting grandson Seung, a very interesting grandson indeed."
When Kang Seung heard Sang Min say 'interesting' twice he instinctively put his arm between us and gave Sang Min a wary look. "Yes he is interesting" he replied calmly.
Sang Min laughed lightly but his laughter didn't reach his cold eyes, "You must really like your grandson" he rested his hand on Kang Seung's raised arm, "Don't worry so much, I won't bite him."
There seemed to be a silent standoff between the two of them for a moment, but then Kang Seung burst into raucous laughter. His laughter was so loud that he made a few heads turn towards us.
"Well, then shall we leave."
Sang Min nodded, "Let's go."
We came towards a VVIP elevator. It was elaborately made with intricate artwork carved into the metal and granite on its doors. Just the crystal button used to call the elevator seemed costly. Sang Min used his ID Card and the lift pinged and the doors opened to a large space. The elevator was so big that it had a red velvet sofa inside and a butler at the corner who was serving drinks.
"Any refreshments?" Sang Min asked,
"I wouldn't mind a martini and perhaps some milk for the child"
Immediately I was given a bottle of milk and Kang Seung got a lovely martini. Every time I thought I got used to living with excessive wealth I was always surprised by something.
The elevator only had one stop, and that was 'U' which likely stood for 'underground'. The Elevator dropped for what felt like eight minutes, and when the doors opened we were in a whole different venue.
There were projections on the ceiling that made it feel like the night sky was above us. The walls were carved from stone and rich black granite that was smooth and cool to the touch. Tall stone pillars surrounded the entrance and on those stone pillars were hooves made of gold.
I heard Min Ho softly gasp.
As we walked beyond the entrance, the area opened up even further into a massive Casino. People were betting and gambling large amounts of money. If the spectators upstairs had been richly dressed then the people at this site were beyond that. Wealth oozed off the very fabric of their clothing.
Most of the people here wore masks, it was obvious why. This place was the centre of debauchery and illegal activity.
"What are you in the mood for?" Sang Min asked, "Some gambling, fighting, or something a bit more intimate?"
"Let's go for some fights, what matches are on today?"
"We have the Blind Bulldog versus the Weasel Kid that's just about to start, and then some newbies. You're also free to submit any of your own new fighters today as well."
"I know Blind Bulldog, he's our reigning champion, but I've never heard of this Weasel Kid before, who is he?" Kang Seung rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Oh, you haven't come by recently so you likely haven't seen him. A few weeks ago Lu Dong, the head of the Lu group from China, came to Korea for business, he's still here. He brought this fighter Weasel Kid with him. He's young but frighteningly strong and he's been winning every fight that he's been put in."
"Every fight?"
"Every fight."
"Then I definitely have to see this."
From the Casino area, we went to a new hall. It was a huge stadium with hundreds of spectators. People in masks cheering, shouting and screaming loudly. On the stage at the centre of this hall was a large cage.
"Hello everyone!" a loud voice boomed through the speakers. A short man wearing a black suit and a Plague Doctor mask was standing in front of the cage with a microphone in his hands. "Today's fight is the long-awaited match between Blind Bulldog and the Weasel Kid!"
Loud cheers erupted in the hall, so loud I felt the ground shake.
"You have five minutes to make your bets before the match starts."
Kang Seung whispered to William Kim, "Put five million (US dollars) on the Weasel Kid."
William nodded obediently and immediately disappeared towards the betting station.
Soon five minutes passed and projectors on the ceiling and the walls changed the stone cave and made it appear as we were in a Roman Colleseum, it was so realistic that the artificial sun almost felt real. The audience clapped and howled in anticipation.
"Now welcome Blind Bulldog and his master Chae Won-Il!!!!"
Cheers filled the hall as they came out. A rich young man in a velvet Versace tux strutted towards the cave. In his hands was a leash and attached to that leash was an old man. The only indication that this man was old was due to his long white hair. He wasn't frail but instead extremely muscular. He crawled on all fours like an animal. There wasn't a scrap of clothing on him, he was naked from head to toe.
A large screen allowed me to see him closer in HD, his eyes were cloudy and he was clearly blind, his body was covered in scars from both bullet and knife wounds.