The Congressman Bows Low

“It’s a small favor.”

– …What is it? Tell me quickly.

“The mayor will be holding a press conference soon, right?”

– Yes.

“Please let me stand next to him there.”

– What the hell are you–!?

Reporter Han Ho couldn’t help but blurt out in anger at Cha Jae-rim’s outrageous request.

“Is it not possible?”

– Do you think I’m the mayor’s follower or something? Look, I’m just a reporter. How could I possibly move the mayor to do anything? Even if I could.

“Aren’t you close with the chief secretary?”

– Even so…!

“If you do this for me, I can give you the names of the three people who gave Kim Shin-doo money.”

– What…!

“There isn’t concrete evidence, but with your skills, you should be able to dig up enough to nail them. Then Kim Shin-doo will be completely finished.”

– I can’t keep playing your puppet when the existence of the illegitimate child hasn’t even been confirmed yet.

“I understand. Then shall we end our transaction here? If you cut off Kim Shin-doo’s head and send him to prison, your value as a reporter for the Far East Daily will skyrocket.”

– …

“Make your choice. I think that doing this one last thing for me would be beneficial for both of us.”

Reporter Han Ho’s answer came in the form of a phone call from one of the mayor’s followers.

The mayor’s follower called Cha Jae-rim directly.

– Mr. Cha Jae-rim, this is Choi, the chief secretary of the city hall.

“Yes, hello. This is Cha Jae-rim.”

– The mayor has asked me to convey his request that you join him at the press conference to discuss the eradication of corruption in public office.

“Oh, has he now?”

A smirk spread across Cha Jae-rim’s face.

– He said that you’re a rare young man to see in this day and age. What do you think? It’s not a bad offer for you, is it?

“Yes, of course.”

It wasn’t just a ‘not bad’ offer.

A few days later.

Mayor Go Jin held a press conference.

Just before the press conference, Mayor Go and Cha Jae-rim met in the waiting room.

“Hello, Mayor. I’m Cha Jae-rim.”

“Oh, Mr. Cha Jae-rim. No, rather, I should call you Jae-rim. You’re so young.”

“Please call me whatever you’re comfortable with.”

Cha Jae-rim shook his hand while bowing and then slowly straightened his back.

Mayor Go smiled kindly.

“Jae-rim, you just have to stand quietly next to me.”

“Yes, I will.”

“Well, then shall we go out?”

The mayor buttoned up his suit and walked out first.

A barrage of camera flashes greeted him.

The flashes also rained down on Cha Jae-rim, who was standing next to Mayor Go.

Goo Young-jin, who was standing next to him, also basked in the flashes.

Goo Young-jin felt the flashes as cozy as the grace of God.

‘Ah…, it’s been so long since I’ve felt such a warm glow. This explosive media attention!’

Mayor Go Jin addressed the press, with Cha Jae-rim standing next to him.

“A few days ago, a small incident occurred. A certain young civil servant attempted to expose the tangled web of corruption in the public sector by risking his own death. It was a small incident. Fortunately, no one died, and the amount of corruption involved was small compared to other major cases.”

Mayor Go clutched the podium tightly as he spoke.

“However, this is not a small incident to me. I have been caught in a whirlpool of conflicting emotions. I am glad and saddened. I am glad that such a clean and spirited young man is protecting our Seoul city, and I am saddened by the corruption and decay that has spread like cancer throughout the city. I am also saddened that the only way this young man could expose that corruption was through his own death.”

As he spoke, the mayor reached out and held Cha Jae-rim’s hand, raising it up.

Immediately, the camera flashes erupted once again.

“This is that young man! For him, death was the only way, but for me, as the mayor of Seoul, there are many other options available to me without having to resort to death.”

Mayor Go gently lowered Cha Jae-rim’s hand.

“I am filled with an overwhelming sense of shame in front of this young man. Until this young man attempted to expose it with his own death, I was unaware of these facts. As the mayor, I am filled with nothing but shame.”

His confession was brief.

Mayor Go spoke forcefully.

“I cannot allow myself to feel any more shame in front of this young man. As of this moment, I am declaring a full-scale anti-corruption operation for the city of Seoul. We will arrest all those who steal and extort the hard-earned tax money of the citizens of Seoul, all those thieves who bear the name of civil servants!”

Without delay, Go Jin established the ‘Seoul Anti-Corruption Committee’ directly under the mayor and set about fulfilling his promise.

After they stepped away from the cameras.

Cha Jae-rim and Goo Young-jin returned to the rooftop room in Anam-dong.

As it was his first time experiencing anything like this, Cha Jae-rim’s legs were trembling, and as soon as he entered the house, he collapsed on the floor.

The tension was evident on his face.

“My face is all over the country now.”

Goo Young-jin’s face, on the other hand, showed no tension at all.

He was simply engrossed in calculating their next move.

[Hmm, if we could get him into this Seoul Anti-Corruption Committee, that would be ideal. It would be a good stepping stone for him to enter politics… But that’s probably too difficult.]

“Because I’m just a flash in the pan?”

[That’s right. If you were on that committee, it would just scatter attention. The attention needs to be solely on the mayor.]

“Still, are you not satisfied with this much?”

Goo Young-jin chuckled.

[A handful of fame has been bestowed upon you, who is nothing special. You’ve just managed to button up the first button.]

“But that fame is a double-edged sword, isn’t it?”

[That’s right. Because at the end of the day, you’re just a whistleblower.]

“I’ll be ostracized by the organization. No, I already am. I’ll be treated like a dangerous time bomb that no one wants to be associated with.”

[But I think you’ve been shown the signpost to Yeouido. The road ahead is long and winding.]

“That’s what you see in it. It’s all dark to me.”

Cha Jae-rim smiled bitterly.

[I divide politicians into two categories.]

“Those who take bribes and those who don’t?”

Goo Young-jin shot him a sharp look and then spoke calmly again.

[Careerists and storytellers.]

“What does that mean?”

[Most politicians are the latter, careerists. They build a decent career in their field, make connections in the political world, and then debut on the political stage.]

“And storytellers?”

[Storytellers are politicians who emerge with a solid personal story, a personal brand. Storytellers are rare. But when they do become big, they become really big.]

Many individuals who have ascended to the presidency possess unique stories, regardless of how their stories are evaluated.

Someone who risked their life to resist military dictatorship.

Someone who became the president of a major corporation at a young age.

Someone who kept running in elections that were sure to end in defeat, crying out against regionalism.

Compared to such stories, Cha Jae-rim’s whistleblowing was rather shabby.

Still, it was a remarkable story for a twenty-four-year-old.

Cha Jae-rim smiled and asked,

“Which type are you, old man?”

[I’m a typical careerist. I graduated from Seoul National University. I got a master’s degree in political science from Wisconsin and came back to Korea to work as a follower to an influential person for a while.]

“Work as?”

Goo Young-jin was silent for a moment.

As he succinctly recounted his past, he recalled the old days when he was on the well-paved highway to success.

Ah, the faint glory of the past!

His voice trembled slightly.

[I worked at the party’s policy research institute and was known as a ‘policy wonk’. Then, in the 1988 general election, I was nominated as a proportional representative and entered the National Assembly.]

“Wow, you really were on the fast track to success!”

[After that, the old man who had been representing my hometown constituency passed away right before the next election. I succeeded him and was elected five more times in a row. That’s how I became a member of the National Assembly.]

“As you said, you’re a very typical ‘careerist’.”

It is difficult for careerist politicians to become president.

But they can make presidents.

Behind the scenes, Goo Young-jin organized his own faction, raised and lowered the party’s banner, and pulled the strings.

The criticism of the people was directed at those puppets he had put up, and they became scapegoats. Goo Young-jin stayed behind the scenes, quietly making the most of the situation.

He didn’t bother to mention the glorious but shameful past he had enjoyed.

Cha Jae-rim smiled and crossed his arms.

“So which path do you want to lead me down, old man? Storyteller or careerist?”

[At first, it was the latter. Because it’s a path I know well.]

“Not anymore?”

Goo Young-jin replied with an expression that asked if he had to explain the obvious.

[How many decades would it take to start as a 9th-grade civil servant and become a careerist politician? There’s no guarantee that you’ll make it even if you do it that way.]

“Is it easy to become a storyteller?”

[That’s why the incident involving Manager Kang. We wrote the first chapter of the first act of your story.]

Once things had settled down a bit, Reporter Han Ho called Cha Jae-rim.

Goo Young-jin looked at Reporter Han Ho’s name on the black-and-white LCD screen and said.

[That’s a call to remind you of your promise. Answer it.]

Cha Jae-rim nodded and answered the phone.

As soon as he answered the phone, Reporter Han Ho said right away.

– Are you satisfied?

[Let me take this call. You just be a parrot. ‘Yes, I’m satisfied. Thank you for your help.’]

Cha Jae-rim glanced at Goo Young-jin and followed his coach’s lead.

From then on, Cha Jae-rim’s words were Goo Young-jin’s words.

“Yes, I’m satisfied. Thank you for your help.”

– Let’s not waste any more time. I have no intention of dealing with Mr. Cha Jae-rim any further, so don’t even think about trying to get out of this.

Cha Jae-rim chuckled.

“Yes, of course. I’ll send you the address and the names of the people who gave Kim Shin-doo the money by email.”

-Mr. Cha Jae-rim, if this is a lie, even in the slightest…

“There must be hundreds of ways to cook me for slander. I don’t have the guts or the ability to handle that.”

– …Fine.

“I’m very grateful to you, Reporter Han. Thank you.”

– Don’t thank me. I got a good story out of it, so it was mutually beneficial.

After saying that, Reporter Han Ho paused for a moment before speaking again.

– But by now, wouldn’t it be okay to tell me?

“Tell you what?”

– How you got your hands on two of Kim Shin-doo’s weaknesses. Did you used to be an errand boy for him or something?

“No, I’ve never met Assemblyman Kim Shin-doo in my life.”

– But how…

“Even if you ask me that, I can’t tell you.”

Reporter Han sighed lightly.

– Well, fine. Then just one more thing.

“Yes.”

– Why didn’t you deal directly with Kim Shin-Doo? I would think an assemblyman would be a better target than a small-fry reporter.

“Are you saying that I should have used this as an excuse to blackmail Kim Shin-doo?”

– I would have.

“Do you think Kim Shin-doo would have done what I asked out of fear?”

– Hmm…

“He would have sent some thugs to either cripple me, paralyze me, or kill me. One of the three. That’s the kind of guy Kim Shin-doo is.”

– You talk as if you know Kim Shin-doo well.

“Of course I do. Otherwise I wouldn’t be able to talk about his illegitimate child.”

– …Fine. Well, Kim Shin-doo has a funny fate. I wonder what kind of expression he’ll make when he finds out that his career is being destroyed by a mere civil servant.

[That’s it. The deal is done. Wrap it up and hang up the phone.]

That was what Goo Young-jin had coached him to say, but Cha Jae-rim glanced at him and continued speaking.

“I’ll need reliable protection for the illegitimate child. It would be best if you could find him a supporter, either an individual or an organization.”

[Look here! Don’t say useless things. Hang up the phone!]

Cha Jae-rim ignored Goo Young-jin’s shouting.