The Congressman Bows Low

Reporter Han chuckled.

– Does it make you feel better to pretend to care about other people?

“I’m not thinking about the kid, I’m thinking about you, Reporter Han.”

– What do you mean?

[Hey, don’t go off track!]

But Cha Jae-rim didn’t return to the track.

“If you just suck up all the good stuff and don’t take care of the aftermath, the work you’ve done will definitely come back to bite you in the butt.”

– Heh, are you worried about my safety now?

“It’s not hard to find someone to look after the kid, is it?”

– Thanks for your concern. I’ll take care of it myself.

“If you take care of the aftermath properly, I can be your source again next time.”

– That’s interesting.

“So please, I ask of you.”

– I’ll do what I can.

Reporter Han used those words as his farewell and hung up the phone.

Goo Young-jin barked at Cha Jae-rim, who was staring blankly at the disconnected phone.

[I’m the one holding the torch, why are you selling my torch without permission?]

“The old man’s torch is my torch, right? I’m the one who’s in the spotlight, aren’t I?”

[Just look out for yourself. Why are you volunteering to protect people you don’t even know?]

“If I just sold off those people I don’t even know, wouldn’t I be less than human?”

Goo Young-jin snorted and turned his face away from Cha Jae-rim.

Even as he did so, he thought.

Could this be the crossroads?

The crossroads between a storyteller politician and a careerist politician.

***

Other government offices watched as the Seongbuk District Office got pounded by the city hall and the police.

They set about dusting themselves off voluntarily before they got hit from the outside.

Old and young vermin like Manager Kang and Manager Park, who had been gnawing away at the nation’s granary, were struck by a bolt from the blue and dropped dead.

Even as he was being investigated, Manager Kang ran around frantically.

“I’m really innocent. I’m so innocent it’s driving me crazy! That bastard who reported me, he wasn’t really trying to die!”

“Whether he was trying to die or not, the fact remains that you committed corruption.”

“Corruption? What’s that little bit of corruption? I only pocketed a hundred million won over ten years. Don’t you guys pocket a little something when you do police work? Don’t you take a thousand or two won here and there for overlooking signal violations and speeding?”

“What? Police work?”

“It’s the same thing, isn’t it? We’re both just poor civil servants, so why are you doing this, really!”

“I may be a poor civil servant, but I don’t gorge myself on the nation’s granary like you, you little rat.”

Manager Kang scratched his head vigorously with his handcuffed hands.

“This is driving me crazy! If you’re going to arrest someone, go and arrest the bastards who are lining their pockets in the National Assembly. Not small-time criminals like me!”

“Oh, the prosecutors will take care of that.”

“That’s why this country isn’t developing. You’re all dereliction of duty, dereliction of duty! You know it!”

As Manager Kang raged and ranted, Manager Park, who was sitting next to him, tried to calm him down with a pitiful expression.

“Brother Kang, calm down. Just be still. Just…”

Manager Park’s voice trailed off as he choked up.

*

After the thieves were arrested.

The atmosphere in the Finance Department of the district office became increasingly chilly.

The Finance Director and the employees looked at Cha Jae-rim as if he were a monster.

Unintentionally, Jae-rim overheard the hushed whispers in the rest room.

“Hey, is Cha Jae-rim’s father the president of the Far East Daily?”

“He doesn’t have a father. He died a long time ago.”

“Oh, so does he have a video of the president of the Far East Daily? How is this possible?”

“Some people say the mayor planted him as a stooge.”

“The mayor put him here to cause this mess?”

“Well, maybe not the mayor himself, but someone under him might have tried to win Cha Jae-rim over.”

“Makes sense. He’s an outsider and doesn’t know anyone around here. Plus, he was kind of a loner in the office, so he would have been the perfect stooge.”

“If that’s the case, we won’t be able to rest easy even after this whole thing is over. When will he…”

“Oh, here comes Cha Jae-rim. Quiet, quiet.”

In the office, Cha Jae-rim was completely isolated.

No one would talk to him, and he was treated as if he were invisible.

Cha Jae-rim tried to ignore it, but he couldn’t completely turn a blind eye.

The price he was paying for doing what was right, even though it wasn’t wrong, was higher than he had thought.

Even Goo Young-jin, who couldn’t stand to watch, clicked his tongue and scolded the people in the office.

[How can you all just pretend you don’t know him? You’re not even human! You know what Kang and Park are like, and yet you didn’t even try to help… Ugh.]

Cha Jae-rim knew that he was lashing out to appease his conscience.

Goo Young-jin glanced at him with a smile and said simply,

[Don’t worry too much. I don’t think you have much longer to work here.]

“Am I getting fired?”

[Not fired. Just wait and see. My guess is it won’t even be a month.]

Goo Young-jin’s prophecy came true exactly.

Cha Jae-rim was summoned to the district mayor’s office.

Ever since he had stood next to the mayor in front of the cameras, Cha Jae-rim had known that the trajectory of his life would be significantly altered.

But he had never once imagined that he would have a private meeting with the mayor.

Even though they worked in the same district office building, Cha Jae-rim had hardly ever seen the mayor’s face in the year he had been working there.

It was only possible at events attended by the entire office staff, such as the opening and closing ceremonies, and even then, he would only hear the mayor’s speech from a distance.

“Why would the mayor want to see me?”

[It’s time for you to leave here.]

“What do you mean?”

[You’re a bomb. A time bomb.]

“…I’ve felt that very deeply these past few days.”

[This time, it ended up being resolved in a fairly appropriate way, but there’s no telling when you’ll stick a knife in the mayor’s back.]

“What would I have to gain by going after the mayor?”

[Even if you deny it, that’s not what the mayor thinks.]

Cha Jae-rim asked, walking as slowly as possible to the mayor’s office.

“Then why is he calling me?”

Goo Young-jin chuckled as he watched Cha Jae-rim’s anxiety.

Knock knock.

Cha Jae-rim knocked and entered the mayor’s office, his back slightly bent.

The mayor, who had been working, took off his glasses and placed them on the table, and then offered Cha Jae-rim a seat.

“Ah, sit down.”

“Yes, thank you for your time.”

The mayor personally poured Cha Jae-rim a cup of coffee and took a few sips of his own.

Then he set down the cup with a thud.

He studied Cha Jae-rim’s face for a moment before speaking.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“No, I’m worried that I may have unintentionally caused you trouble.”

‘Trouble? You caused me a lot of trouble.’ The mayor smiled wryly and replied.

“No, I should have looked into it more carefully before it burst open. I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s not your fault.”

“Well, it must be hard for you in many ways. You must be aware of how your colleagues are looking at you, right?”

“Yes. I know it’s because of what I did.”

The mayor spoke to Cha Jae-rim in as gentle a voice as possible.

“Yes, yes, I understand. That’s why I’ve been thinking…”

“Yes.”

“What do you think about a personnel exchange?”

“A personnel exchange?”

“Yes, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I could do for you, and this seems to be the only option.”

It meant that he was being asked to leave the district office.

Having been forewarned by Goo Young-jin, Cha Jae-rim was not taken aback.

He nodded.

“If you’re being so considerate, I’ll do as you say.”

Seeing Cha Jae-rim accept his proposal so readily, the mayor let out a deep sigh of relief.

“You’re leaving after doing such a good job, so please leave with a good feeling.”

“Yes, Mayor. I’m sorry, but… just one more thing.”

“More?”

The mayor’s eyebrows twitched.

More?

This decision was not only for his own survival but also for Cha Jae-rim’s sake.

After recklessly dropping a bomb in the district office and blowing it up nicely, this low-ranking employee was now asking for more.

And so brazenly, without even changing his expression.

The mayor chuckled.

Cha Jae-rim looked straight into the mayor’s eyes.

“Please open the way for me to go outside of Seoul, not just within Seoul.”

“Outside of Seoul?”

The mayor wasn’t even chuckling anymore.

“Yes, there must be people who want to work in Seoul, so I think it will be possible if the mayor helps.”

“Hmm…”

The mayor hesitated to answer and pondered it, tracing the rim of his teacup with his finger.

Cha Jae-rim was annoying.

He had to be grateful to be kicked out, but he was saying he would decide where he wanted to be kicked out to.

‘Well, I guess it won’t hurt me if he leaves the city willingly.’

The further away he went, the better.

The mayor turned his gaze towards Cha Jae-rim.

‘Fine, let’s hear him out.’

“So where do you want to go?”

“Jeongju.”

“Jeonju?”

“No, it’s in the same province, North Jeolla, but it’s Jeongju.”

“Jeongju. Is there a particular reason?”

“It’s my hometown.”

Cha Jae-rim smiled.

A few days ago.

Cha Jae-rim and Goo Young-jin had realized they had something in common as they were talking.

They both had deep ties to Jeongju.

[But don’t you have any friends? How can it be that you’ve been in the news and not a single person has called you?]

“I don’t have many friends.”

[You don’t have many, or you don’t have any at all?]

Cha Jae-rim smiled wryly.

“Well, I have a few in my hometown.”

[Your hometown? I thought you were from Seoul.]

“I came to Seoul for the first time to take the civil service exam on the train.”

[Oh, really? Where are you from originally?]

“Jeongju, North Jeolla Province.”

A strange look came over Goo Young-jin’s face.

[Really? Well, this is a disappointment.]

“A disappointment?”

[My constituency is Jeongju.]

“Oh… is that right?”

[How do you not even know who your hometown congressman is?]

Cha Jae-rim replied with a blank face.

“Why, should I know?”

[Of course you should know.]

“If you were a good politician, I would know even though I’m not interested.”

[Are you blaming me now?]

“I didn’t say that.”

Goo Young-jin pulled a crestfallen face.

He advised Cha Jae-rim to go to Jeongju.

[I know Jeongju like the back of my hand. Even if you go into politics, you can’t start in Yeouido right away. You have to start in your local area. So of course you should choose Jeongju. And since it’s your hometown, there’s no reason to hesitate.]

Cha Jae-rim agreed with Goo Young-jin.

It was a hundred times better to go to his hometown than to go to a place where he had no connections.

Hearing that Cha Jae-rim would go to Jeongju, the mayor slowly nodded.

Although he thought Cha Jae-rim’s request was a bit excessive, there was no point in provoking a bomb that was slowly becoming defused.

“Fine, I’ll do that. Sign over the deed to the house you’re living in now. It won’t take long.”

“Thank you, Mayor. I’ll go back to my hometown and just work quietly.”

“Yes, you have a long road ahead of you, so let’s just stick to our duties as public servants.”

You’re not a reporter.

“I will. Thank you, Mayor.”

“Yes, yes. Farewell.”

Fare thee well, and may we never meet again.

The mayor felt as if a toothache he had been suffering from had finally gone away.

His words about packing up and leaving right away were not just idle words.

He really did send Cha Jae-rim out of the district office immediately.

This time, even Goo Young-jin was surprised by the mayor’s lightning-fast decision.

[I guess he must have found you really annoying. He was like a flash of lightning.]

“That’s good enough for me.”

[But that guy was so damn scared. Try doing that with someone else. Not the mayor, but the governor or something.]

The quickly decided transfer was a good excuse for the people in the Finance Department.

A good excuse to skip Cha Jae-rim’s farewell party.

The Finance Director ended his relationship with Cha Jae-rim with a brief handshake.

The director thought that even a handshake was too much for him.

“Good luck.”

“Yes, Director.”

Cha Jae-rim didn’t bother to say things like thank you, I’m so grateful, even though they were just empty words.

The Finance Director hated Cha Jae-rim, but Cha Jae-rim also hated him.

Without even making eye contact, they exchanged a brief, perfunctory goodbye, and Cha Jae-rim’s connection with the Seongbuk District Office came to an end.

On his last commute home from the Seongbuk District Office, Goo Young-jin chuckled and asked.

[Any regrets?]

“Not at all.”

Cha Jae-rim smiled broadly.